Culture of Impunity?

On the 1:st of January 2008, the Sri Lankan parliamentary member, Thiagarajah Maheswaran, went into the hinduistic temple, Ponnambala Waneshwarar Kovil, in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Shortly after he had finished his prayers he was gunned down. He succumbed shortly after due to the bulletwounds. Maheswaran was a devout hindu, living in Wellawatta-area of Colombo, also known by the nickname “Little Jaffna” due to its heavy population of tamils. As a parliamentarian he tried to see to the needs of the tamil population, especially the ones living in and around Colombo which are subject to discrimination from the government as well as having to cope with LTTE extorsionists. He was an avid critic of the present government and had just a few days before his death threatened to reveal sensitive information about governmental connections to death squads operating in the southern part of Sri Lanka. As a devout hindu, the Maheswaran family announced that funeral rites will be held in accordance to hindu traditions. After three days of public display, the body of late Maheswaran was carried from his home to Kanatte Cemetary in the Borella-district of Colombo. A special permission was granted the widow, Vijeyakala Maheswaran, to cremate the body. Thousands of people participated in the procession as well as the funeral, among them, parliamentary members, political party leaders, union leaders and civil society representatives. Shops and business' closed down in various parts of Colombo as an act of solidarity. Political manifestations and chants echoed in the streets that condemn what the general public see as a political murder. Accusations were directed towards the president, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Banners with Maheswarans photograph along with the slogan “Stop Political Killings!” were carried by the mourners. Hundreds of posters with the text “President Responsible” were floating above the procession. Being a politicial in Sri Lanka is not a life without risk. It is not the first time a politician has been murdered in Sri Lanka. The hope of finding the perpetrator/perpetrators are slim, looking at the result from previous high-profile killings. Civil society organisations are accusing the government for running a "culture of impunity" in Sri Lanka where its free to kill anyone that criticize the president, government or governmental policies.