Sri Lanka: Did they or didn't they - a situation comedy in the making

Did Duminda Silva and his thugs murder Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra? Gotabhaya says they didn't but an eyewitness says they did. Who are we to believe? The Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, who as we have stated before is the President's own brother, or the lowly driver of the deceased vehicle. Did officers from the Special Task Force raid the house of the Western Provincial Minister of Tourism, Transport and Highways or didn't they? The Deputy IGP, R.W.M.C Ranawana, says they didn't, Nimal Lanza, the minister, says that they did.

l by Stewart Sloan 

(October 19, Hong Kong, Sri Lanka Guardian) The recent murder of Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra by Dumina Silva has set off a series of events and intense criticism of the ruling regime.

The response of the Rajapakse government has surprised even the most hardened critics of the regime. Despite eyewitness testimony as to the identity of the murderer no action has been taken to arrest him and to add insult to injury Gotabhaya Rajapakse, the president's brother and tame Secretary to the Ministry of Defense, has pressurized the police so that they do not include the prime suspect's name on the 'B' report.

Cries from the public to rein in the politicos who hire their own security details (who are mostly made up of thugs and criminals) are gaining volume and in typical fashion some of them have used the situation to cause problems for their opponents. What is highly amusing in this is that the 'opponents' are from the same political party.

Nimal Lanza, the Western Provincial Minister of Tourism, Transport and Highways is threatening legal action against the Sri Lanka Police because they raided his house without a warrant. Shock! Horror! Cries of disgust! That the Sri Lanka Police could do such a thing as to raid someone's house with a warrant! Doesn't this fool know that the Sri Lanka Police raid houses and arrest innocent people without a warrant every day of the week! 

What happened next? 

After no less a person than the President himself rushed to Lanza's house to 'consol' him the situation became even stranger when the Deputy Inspector General of Police, R.W.M.C Ranawana denied that the police had even raided Lanza's house. 

So, in typical Sri Lankan fashion the entire thing becomes a 'did they' or 'didn't they' question. And to continue along these lines:

Did Duminda Silva and his thugs murder Bharatha Lakshman Premachandra? Gotabhaya says they didn't but an eyewitness says they did. Who are we to believe? The Secretary to the Ministry of Defence, who as we have stated before is the President's own brother, or the lowly driver of the deceased vehicle. Did officers from the Special Task Force raid the house of the Western Provincial Minister of Tourism, Transport and Highways or didn't they? The Deputy IGP, R.W.M.C Ranawana, says they didn't, Nimal Lanza, the minister, says that they did. Unfortunately for the Deputy IGP, Lanza is high on the list of the President's arse kissers so once again, who are we to believe?

Has anyone ever thought that the daily politics of Sri Lanka would make for an entertaining situation comedy?