Weligama PS Chairman killing cause for serious concern

The killing of the Chairman of the Weligama Pradeshiya Sabha Lasantha Wickramasekera is a shocking reminder that violent crimes in this country continue unabated despite the Police Department’s much publicised crackdown on crime. The killing is all the more shocking because it took place inside the Weligama PS building where the victim was meeting with members of the public as it was Public Day. The assassins fled the scene after the shooting and the fatally wounded man was taken to the Matara Hospital where he died.

This killing is a serious cause for concern for all and as Opposition leader Sajith Premadasa pointed out in Parliament, such crimes pose a threat to national security.

The words of Public Security Minister Ananda Wijepala are not particularly reassuring. His thinking is that the slain man was connected with those in the drug trade and hence a violent death was awaiting him sooner or later. His premise is, “those who live by the sword, will perish by the sword” and that political parties should think twice about who they choose to give nominations to during elections to exclude such characters.

Other NPP MPs too have voiced such sentiments while promising full investigation into the killing.

Let’s face it. The hands of the majority of politicians are not clean and the JVP-led Government should know more about it than anyone else. The JVP has been responsible, along with the LTTE for eliminating elected representatives of different political parties. 

Whatever the case with regard to the slaying of the Weligama PS Chairman, a Government in power cannot wash its hands of the crime. Such incidents only bring back memories of a time when elected officials were all too often the victims of suicide bombers and gunmen. Maybe the hands of some of those killed were not clean but that doesn’t mean one can endorse such crimes and blame the victim.

In the past few years, political violence has receded even though there are the usual skirmishes during election time but killings are rare. The last elected representative to be killed was former MP Amarakeerthi Athukorala during the heydays of the Aragalaya. Yesterday’s killings should be taken seriously and the Police and the Government must act to apprehend the killers and not hide behind excuses that the victim had links to drug dealers.

The Police Department has been showing off its big catches involved in the drug trade in the country of late and also of carrying out checks all over the country. The statistics given are mind-boggling. Over five million individuals were searched from January to September this year. Instead of just putting such news out into the public domain, what is needed is for the Police to work with better intelligence and undercover operatives if the anti-drug campaign is to be a success.

The Government will launch a National Campaign to Eliminate Drugs and Organised Crime on 30 October at the Sugathadasa Stadium with the intention of eradicating the drug menace and dismantling organised criminal networks. Previous Governments too have put on some mega shows of this nature but they have fallen by the wayside after a while.

The country has seen a record number of shootings this year, over 70 with over 40 deaths. The latest death will become just a number but if elected representatives are shot dead while they are inside a government building, it does little to build public confidence in the Police or the Government.