Heinous crime

THE gruesome abduction and murder of D. Sivaram, well known journalist and Editor of the informative website, Tamilnet, meets with our strongest condemnation. It is a dastardly crime which shouldn't go unpunished.

The coldblooded murder of this journalist who made a name for himself as an outspoken commentator on developments pertaining to Sri Lanka's ethnic conflict, will go down in the post-independence history of this country as yet another heinous crime which has its roots in the local culture of intolerance and hatred, spawned by prolonged violence and conflict.

Writing sometimes under the pen name of Taraki, Sivaram had very decided views on our ethnic problem, which deserved to be respected, however much controversial they may have proved in some quarters.

Taraki was exercising a democratic right which needed to be accommodated because a democratic polity is unthinkable without a plurality or diversity of opinion - which is, in fact, the lifeblood of a democratic society.

The brutal silencing of Taraki, therefore, signifies that the forces of intolerance are still very much alive among us.

Besides, we are witnessing the dogged persistence of our decades-long culture of violence. Whereas ideas need to be fought with ideas, what the foul murder proves is that the ways of democracy have and are suffering steady erosion.

We call upon the Government to leave no stone unturned until the perpetrators of this murder are brought to justice.

The silent but peace-loving majority in this country are bound to cry out for the swift administration of justice and the worst which could befall this case is for it to join the long list of seemingly unresolved killings in the bloody history of the local ethnic conflict.

The fact that Sivaram functioned among us for long proved that there was considerable democratic space in Southern Sri Lanka, for the free expression of ideas.

Those of the ilk of Sivaram proved that Lanka's democracy was resilient enough to accommodate diverse opinions and views. The savage murder of Sivaram, however, proves that the forces of intolerance are still seeking avenues to surface.

Accordingly, the Sivaram killing should serve as a warning that no efforts should be spared by all freedom-loving sections to ensure the steady and substantial democratization of the Lankan State. In fact the further democratization of the Lankan State shouldn't be treated as separate from the task of resolving the ethnic conflict.

For, enhancing the quality of local democracy would lead to a swifter resolution of the conflict. The successful completion of the latter task would have the effect of containing political violence.