Govt silent on illegal arms in circulation

By Our defence investigator

(November 07, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The government has not decided to remove the arms from the Tamil paramilitary groups following the end of the military campaign of the LTTE in May 2009. The government supporting Minister Douglas Devanand’s EPDP, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan alias Pillaiyan of TMVP and Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan alias Karuna Amman, the Vice President of the President Mahinda Rajapakse’s SLFP are carrying arms unhindered in the conduct of their business.

The breakaway LTTE group PLOTE activists too are said be armed and are using them to exert their territorial control in Vavunia in the north central Sri Lanka.


Apart from the above groups some questionable ministers in the Presidents mammoth ministerial body and some Provincial Government members of the President’s party are allowed to carry pistols by the Defence Ministry. All those carrying arms are closely linked to the President and his brother Gotabaya Rajapakse, the Defence Secretary.

During the Southern Provincial Council elections, the ruling party candidates had used pistons to silence dissent. It is claimed President’s close ally Sajin Vaz Gunawardena and Dr Mervin Silva are the notorious of those holding pistols. According to sources Sajin Vaz Gunawardena had pulled the pistol tied to his leg and held it on the head of a Muslim man with whom he had a heated altercation in a meeting. The appearance of the pistol brought about the peace that Sajin had wanted.

The guns carried by these men are said to be contributing towards killing the media men and silencing the civil society. The government is not showing any willingness to clamp down on them fearing the political climate will change to its detriment.

-Sri Lanka Guardian