Lasantha Wickramatunga shooting: What to expect in next few hours…
Posted by Ajith on January 8, 2009
1. President condemns the attack.
2. Media Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa condemns the attack.
3. Minister Maithripaala Sirisena condemns the attack
4. Wimal Weerawansa condemns the attack
5. President orders an investigation. (Given the frequency of the activity now, he should consider outsourcing)
6. All state media publish President’s order, but not the act itself.
7. Few bloggers openly express their pleasure
8. Bloggers reveal how Lasantha Wickramatunga was associated with terrorists
9. An email makes rounds suggesting Lasantha Wickramatunga shot himself in a suicide mission to collect insurance of US$ 6,000,000,000.
10. Same email says this is an attempt to undermine what happens in Kilinochchi (or Elephant Pass or wherever) and definitely not a threat to media freedom which is safe and sound under a leader who hears to Buddhist sermons every Poya day…
You are free to add to the list…
fuzzy... said
Basil Rajapakse supported by Dallas Allahaperuma and Co. are responsible for it. I’m not too sure Mahinda himself is incharge of affairs of Sri Lanka. This is a known fact, and here I say it… Any opposes, is disposed of. This included the attempt on Minister Maithripala Sirisena! Victims include: Sripathi Sooriyarachchi, MTV/MBC, Jeyaraj Fernandapulle, Lakshman Kadirgamar, T.Maheswaran, R.Raviraj and so many more I’ve lost track…
Dinali said
You are very clever Ajith.
But this is a very old list. We’ve seen this since the time of J.R. Jayawardane, R.Premadasa & Chandrika.
We’ve also seen what happened to the Library in Jaffna, General Denzil Kobbekaduwa, Lalith Athulathmudali, Richard Soyza, Unus, Batalanda, Sooriyakanda and thousands more….
Where were you then? Were you born in 2005?
Ajith said
ජන. 08 – අත්තිඩිය ප්රදේශයේදී අද දහවල් වෙඩි ප්රහාරයකට ලක් වූ සන්ඩේ ලීඩර් පුවත්පතේ කර්තෘ ලසන්ත වික්රමතුංග මහතා මීට ටික වේලාවකට පෙර අභාවප්රාප්ත විය. (www.ethalaya.com)
Lasantha Wickramatunga, Chief Editor, Sunday Leader, succumbed to his injuries sometime back.
Lasantha, You bravely stood for the Media Freedom of the country. How sad somebody wanted to silence you in this brutal in human manner. We respect your audacity. We appreciate the role you played. While paying our highest tribute to you we pray the shameless barbarians who call them ‘patriots’ will be brought to justice as soon as possible, though it would only be wishful thinking under present regime.
Join the Face Book Group ‘Our Tribute to Lasantha Wickramatunga’ to condemn this inhuman act done in the name of patriotism.
common sense said
what is the advantage shooting in television stations and killing a media person by the government at this stage ??? then they should have done it before these Kilinochchi success and all… Now who wants to create problems in Colombo?
I hope anwers are there and very clear …
Deane said
Commonsense seems to be not so common. Shooting journalists wasn’t about Killi. Did you really think the LTTE was pouring over the Sunday Leader for intelligence?
Killing journalists was just pure power-politics, what better time to eliminate some of your oldest fores, when the nation lauds you has a hero?
Indeed the answers are clear.
Ajith said
Killinochchi or no Killinochchi, one thing is clear. Someone wanted to silence both Sirasa TV and Sunday Leader – the most powerful opposition media. Both acts are done in a very professional manner. Forget the motive. How many in this country can do these acts?
Truth will eventually triumph!
Thilak said
Dear Ajith,
Our thoughts are with you on these trying times. I know how you must be feeling about the Killinochchi defeat and most of all the Sirasa attack and now Lasantha although you try not to show it. Events which should not have happened in a country like Sri Lanka.
How is Mr. Raja Mahendran feeling? He must be devastated after all he has done for this country. Please convey our deepest sympathies to him and your wife.
ethnichybrid said
I am ashamed to be Sri Lankan. Let me predict what we will do. We will do absolutely nothing. By next week, all will be forgotten. Lasantha will be no more, he will be buried or cremated and we will still carry on our petty little lives, doing the petty little things we always do, until the next atrocity. Let us get on the streets and protest. What is the opposition doing? Do something. Do anything. We cant just sit here and do nothing.
ethnichybrid said
I am ashamed to be Sri Lankan. Let me predict what will happen. We will do nothing. Next week Lasantha will be forgotten. We will continue with our petty little lives. Wake up people. Something has to be done. One day it will be you, then there will be no-one to help you, cause you didnt do something when these atrocities were being committed.
surannga said
To add to your list..
We’d probably receive an email tomorrow from a god damn patriot saying that Lasantha shot himself to claim his life insurance. I wonder where our country is heading. There’s no room for alternative views or criticism. People do not have patience to listen to others. If you are against me, I kill you. Is this the democracy we are going to offer to the people in North once they are being ‘liberated’? They would die under Prabhakaran’s dictatorship rather than living under Rakapakse’s star class ‘democracy’.
sri lankan said
11. Ranil Wick say I know the killer and let you know when the situation is OK.
12. FMM stage a massive demonstration in front of the Fort Rail way station with the participation of 25,000,000,000 people.
13. Sirasa starts broadcasting voice cuts from “ordinary people” from cinnamon garden to thanamalwila.
14. As another incident pops up everything is forgotten (Mr Ranil Wick assured that he will do his best against Eastern Election but nothing happened, )
Richard said
Forces are ready for the final push. Undestandably they too will have heavy casualty numbers and eventually win the war. Even CNN was pro-american during war. So, the journalists at a time like this should be pro-Sri Lankan than being pro-tigers. So, those who do not understnd this lesson seems at the receiving end these days though nobody approves killing or setting tv stations on fire. journalists themselves should have a self restraint at a time like this.
Vasantha tee said
Uddhayak thiyenakoto mewaghe dewal wena eka saamanya deyak…….. Can anyone shoot Mervin Silva like this” I bet can’t…
DD said
Lasantha was an asshole BUT a really good sort and HUMAN BEING. He definitely didn’t deserve to be shot. Despite all I say and my support to for the war, this is definitely a NO. This is crossing the line. Lasantha I mourn your loss, and the loss of a voice, a true Sri Lankan.
Budu Saranai, Devi Pihitai.
Dhammika Dharmawardhane
common sense said
Ajith,
i am against any killing.. but as you say both these acts are done very professionally.. take the incidence of Sirasa attack. why they didn’t have security cameras?? they capture every poster put up on walls in the midnight, but no security cameras on their own backyard?.. do you think Sirasa is the most powerful media ? i do not think so.. they do harm more than anything else to the whole society. .. and Lasantha too had terror backing all his time.
Do not simply categorize these are attacks against media… motivation is much more dangerous…
kk said
hoo hoo good list.
P said
its amazing how some people who comment here can actually be happy over the killing of a fellow Sri Lankan…!
Sam said
I was thinking other day who we (Sir Lankans) should kill next. And Lasantha was top of my list. Thought of writing a blog – thought it would be sarcastic – but didn’t wanted to sound evil, so I back off.. I’m glad I didn’t wrote it. Since it is not more a joke any more. I had more in people in the list I made in my mind. That includes anyone in media who make rumors about Sangitha too. mob-ism is a great way to rule Sri Lanka and it been like that for a long time now. and I believe it will stay that way for quite sometime too.
dula said
i like to take you back in time
who killed Denzil Kobbakaduwa?,who killed Lalith Athulathmudali?
the sirasa attack and this inhuman shooting of Lasantha Wickramatunga reminded me of this confusion.
චන්දරේ said
අයියා, මොනවහරි ඕනෙ වෙල වගේ සද්දේ දාන්නේ…දෙන්නම් ඕනෙ නම් මොනව හරි බඩ පිරෙන්න. අපිට ජාති දැම්මොත් දෙනවා මූන සිරස ස්ටූඩියෝ එක වෙන්ඩ.
කුඩු ලාල් said
අඩෝ චන්දරේ, මොනාද බං උඹ මේ බ්ලොග් වල කරන්නේ? අන්න ලොක්කා උඹව හොයනවා හෙට තව ගේමක් බාර දෙන්න. කියපං බලන්න පුලුවන්නම් හෙට අපි රට ජාතිය බේර ගන්නේ කාගෙන්ද කියලා? අපේ රණවිරු මල්ලිලාටයි දේශප්රේමී සර්ලටයයි මේ වෙලාවේ නොදෙන සප් එක කන්ඩද බං? අඩෝ, රණවිරු මල්ලිලාට ගරු කරපං අරීරීරීද? උන් නිසා නේද අපි අද මෙහෙම දෙයියන්ට වැඳලා ඉන්නේ?
rane84 said
Some of the replies that ppl have left for your post here is disturbing. Its chilling that 1) anyone can still support this government 2) anyone can have that much hatred within them to rejoice the killing of another human being. It is a time when evil is flourishing because good people sit back and do nothing. The few people who are brave enough to do it, has the end result that Mr Wickramatunga saw today. There is noone left to stand up to this terrorising regime left within Sri Lanka. The Lalith Athulathmudalis, Gamini Dissanayakes, Premadasas have all been disposed of. Your party needs to organise itself better, it needs to take on the real task of defending our people. Be they Tamil Sinhalese or Muslim. Someone needs to stand upto the government. The UNP has to stop sitting idly and issuing statements. Please convey this msg to your leaders.
Nittewa said
Dear Friends,
Lasantha died fighting for your right to know.
The time has come to let the Government know that ENOUGH is ENOUGH!
Will you stand up and be counted or will you sit and wait till the wolves come for you?
Don’t just argue online. Come together tomorrow (9th) at noon in front of Lake House. Let us show this Government that the people are serious about democracy.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.
angeleyes said
The only positive about Mahinda Rajapakse and his gang of brothers is the ruthlesness with which they destroy the LTTE, unfortunately that same ruthlessness, unethical inhuman injustice is shown to anyone who stand in there way. The attacks on Sirasa and on Lasantha W are intended to be clear signals to anyone who would voice an opinion against mahinda and co.
The saddest part is that the people seem to be willing to tolerate his dictatorship for the sake of the war. But does he have a genuine interest to finish the war? No chance, since he knows more than anybody, that the war, and the hope and expectation of the people that the war is just about to be won will keep him in power. “jayagrahanaya atha langa!” This is a very catchy election slogan for hot blooded, patriotic sri lankans, who will continue to vote him everytime he chants this – and he knows it.
But he DOES NOT have an interest, nor does he have the intellectual capacity to solve the ETHNIC issue, crushing the LTTE is one thing…solving the ethnic issue is a different story altogether… and he is not capable of it, he knows it…and he knows too, that he cannot survive politically if the war ends…
so begins ruthless, unethical dictatorship. A complete thug as President, who knows no other way to rule…other than keeping people hanging on to the hope of winning a war, and exploiting that very hope to carry out any injustice as he pleases…
Ajith Bandara said
People in Sri Lanka are not Idiots.
I believe the Government knew everything..They planned this…They did this. They bombed the SIRASA TV by sending Army People. and secondly Killed Lasantha.
I dont see any future for this government.Former President Premadasa and Chandrika Bandaranaike’s Government was much better than this government. Brotherhood of the top management does
Kanchana said
I am so sad and heartbrocken to hear about Lasantha,s fate. This is the down fall of Sri Lanka even beyond an unfailed state. Why do YOU keep eradicatiing all potential leaders and intelligent people in this brutal way? How can we claim to be real practising Buddhists if we plan on killing , assasinating destroyinh our own resources. What is happeing to my Nation? Where is Justice!! PEOPLE , HOW LONG ARE WE GOING TO TURN A BLIND EYE TOWARDS THIS IRATIONALITY OF POWER HUNGRY BEGGARS?
LET US GET TOGETHER TO SAVE OUR NATION, EVERY SINGLE ONE OF US
කුඩු ලාල් said
යකෝ මේක ඔක්කොම කඩ්ඩෙන්නේ ලියලා තියෙන්නේ. මේ බො…ගෙ පුතාලට බැරිද සිංහලෙන් ලියන්න අපි වගෙ සාමාන්ය පාටකයන්ටත් තේරෙන්න කාරිය. මේක සිංහල බවුද්ද රට ඩෝ! බුදුන්ගේ දේශය. කවුද ඩෝ සිංහල බවුද්දයට පාර්ට් දාන්නේ? දෙනවා මූන සිරස ස්ටූඩියො එක වෙන්ඩ. අරී අරී…අදත් අපට ජාතිය බේර ගන්න යන්න තියෙනවා. ඕං කැපුනා. බයි බායි.
Vidhya Kamalasabayson said
First instinct would be to say ‘we are appointing two or three police commissions to look into the matter’….this has always been the case following every attack / assassination. but thereafter, it is forgotten. i think its up to us to put an end to this. investigations are unheard of after the lapse of a month or so. it is the responsibility of those concerned to conduct investigations until the end result is obtained and not merely throw it away.
Harsha said
Its very unfortunate that the politicians have spread so much hatred so some cant even differentiate between what’s right and wrong. Lasantha wasn’t a terrorist. He didnt support terrorism.( I know some brainless/brainwashed people may get hurt but that’s the absolute truth). Lasantha had political inclination and that happened to be with the UNP.
I am a staunch supporter of mahinda R and his courage to wage war against the most ruthless terrorist org. in the world. Having said that, I hate him for this murder. for all those brainwashed/brainless people i mentioned before, I can only feel sorry!
Priya said
Lasantha was unmatched as a Journalist who expressed truth. He was a shining star too bright for the eyes of the brothers 4. May he rest in peace and may his wife, children and all family members be blessed with Gods grace to live with their loss.
Choppey said
Ane yako.Ratata barinam umbalatawath wadak athideyak karapan boru tharrka karanne nathuwa.Umbala thamai niyama kalakanni
Tharanga said
Nonsense…wake up people…these guys work for media firms and what those firms want is to make profits at any cost!! They sometimes give out sensitive information or make weird news just make their newspapers sell like hot cakes.
Once, a container truck of SL army was toppled and it was full of high tech weapons. The SLA have cleared the area because the last thing they wanted to happen was letting LTTE know about their weaponry. But some reporter and his crew had that video recorded. Therefore the SLA had nothing to do at that moment but to destroy that tape. They did and what was the result?? A bunch of these stupid media people were protesting against the government saying that was a breach of media freedom or something. What idiots?! These kinda silly events made organizations like Amnesty International to spread a bad image over the world about our country.
Once again, there was a teenage girl raped and all her details here kept hidden for her own benefit. But one TV channel had her face shown in the TV!! Why? Because they know that people will watch their news because they have shown something extra. Why? Because they can get popularity and hence it can make them earn more, at the cost of that poor victim.This is what media is all about. They have brainwashed people making them to believe that truth reported will always do good. True maybe, but do you know the big talking USA didn’t allow the media to report on Gulf war?? Those people were not even allowed to step out to the battle scene and what the world has seen about the war, are just some fake video tapes. Not the real war. But why did they do it? Because they ‘wanted to do their job’ and they knew that these media agencies can ruin it by showing the ‘truth’ to the rest of the world.
Everywhere in the world, politics is a dirty game. But when you have misleading media, a power hungry opposition, a crumbling down economy, a bunch of corrupt politicians, inefficient government organizations, dollar funded NGOs, LTTE pro developed countries urging you to go back to peace talks and with a terrorist plague in the country, you cannot rule it with democracy and human rights. It is a dream only. Step back into the real world guys.
Taking someone’s life is pretty bad and I condemn that seriously. But when you compare the soldiers who dedicate their lives for the country and what these truth revealing heroes do at their comfy Colombo apartments, making a living with disastrous political propaganda, he just got what he deserved. It seems pretty obvious why people accuse the government about this incident but do you think Lee Kuan Yew led Singapore to its state today with no blood in his hands??
Just look back at latter 1980s where the government ‘made’ DJV an enemy of local security forces, initiating massacres everywhere. This happens everywhere in the world, when you do things which aren’t supposed to do. if you really sympathize this guy with all what he did, please go and ask your parents about Premakeerthi de Alwis, and his fate. Though he was innocent and was such a talented jewel of a person, he also did what he is not supposed to do. How about Lalith Athulathmudali? Denzil Kobbekaduwa?? Don’t forget that this still is pretty much Sri Lanka nonetheless.This world sucks…May Lasantha rest in peace..
Ranjith Malagala said
Dastardly criminal act. Shame on all Sri Lankans, living here or abroad.
Predominantly sinhala buddhist governments encourage these cowardly acts.
No buddhist clergy have the guts to speak against this kind of taking human lives. He was only a journalist , doing his job. He may be right or wrong ,
but why kill him ?, Hide your heads in shame – all lankans.
deco said
Well I always wonder why people say things and dont act on that. Telling is not enough. Its common that the UNP doesn’t see any good in the current government.
fuzzy... said
When you have dufus’s like the one called “common sense”, no wonder the country has mayhem. Having CCTV cams n recording a cowardly act has a daylight of difference that Mr.Common Sense doesnt seem to have the sense to realise. Inside an org., you work with employees, and in the outside world, we need to comprehend with idiots like you! Now that’s the difference my friend. And thats exactly why you act upon cowards who act the way they do. And talk about professionalism, the 119 which was informed even before the goons enter the TV station, dont turn up until they are gone (roughly half hour). Now that’s a piece of professionalism for you…
then there are ppl like choppey, who am sure the real choppey himself wud be ashamed of.
And my dear self professed brainiacs from amongst you who blog, no one is against the war. No one as a Sri Lankan opposes for bastards like Praba to be shot in broad day light, however most of us dont profess to suppost all the curroption within. And Lasantha is someone who stood up for it, both curruption as well as manipulation… Unfortuantely, our country has a majority who call themselves as people with “Common sense” and so forth, but find it hard to distinguish between what’s of face value and otherwise… why else would nw not the goons thrive?
Harsha said
Well said Fuzzy!!!! people like Choppey(who couldnt put few english words together) should read your comment over and over again…hahahah….Choppey on the chopping board!!!!
Choppey said
Ranjith ,Fuzzy & Harsha.Umbalanam puduma molay amaru karayo ban.Api wage Ganja tikak gahala.deiyane kiyala pattakata wela hitapanko.mona karumayakda umbala gewanne…
Warren said
We are a dharma raajya nation who light crackers when someone is assassinated.What a lovely country and to the fellow bloggers who are happy about Lasantha’s death there will be a day you lose someone you love just wait for that day and see how you feel and the killers and their families there will be a day of judgement for everyone may God Save you then.