Lakshman Kadirgamar

“Ragi’s dad has been shot dead.” was the message I got from my aunt yesterday at 15:48 EST; a couple of hours after the shooting. My instant reaction was utter shock that his father was murdered. It took me a split second to remember that Ragi’s dad was Lakshman Kadirgamar, Sri Lanka’s foreign minister. I wasn’t going to blog about it, but I couldn’t stop thinking about it last night.

I thought about the first time I passed by Mr. Kadirgamar’s home and remembered how heavily fortified it was. Someone said: “He’s the one who declared the LTTE as a terrorist organization, so his life is in danger.”. Sadly, it seems they got to him. BUT who is “they”?

I heard they’ve arrested 2 foreign nationals and there are a lot of theories going around as to who’s responsible. During my last few days in SL I did notice that the GoSL appears to want to provoke another war. Thus, it wouldn’t surprise me if this is some sort of government conspiracy. The LTTE has denied involvement and has stated that there are groups within the SLA (Sri Lankan Army) that have a hidden agenda to sabotage the CFA (ceasefire agreement). Right now, I wouldn’t be too quick to blame the LTTE. I guess we’ll just have to see how this pans out.

The president has declared a state of emergency. “During a state of emergency, authorities have the power to detain, without charge, anybody suspected of involvement in terrorist activities.” (Taken from CTV.ca article). This means that the next time a cop says: “Oh, you’re Tamil.” They can haul you off to jail for no apparent reason and say that you could be a terrorist. This has happened to a few people we know.

In the end, as Mahangu’s article concludes: “We should all be praying that this doesn’t mean war.” Please pray for the people in Sri Lanka. Ragi, if you read this, I’m very sorry for your loss and my sincere condolences to you and your family…