Anglican Communion News Service - Digest News

It is with great shock and surprise that we have learnt of the recent acts of violence in our country. The attack on the MTV Media Station and the assassination of Mr Lasantha Wickremetunga, the senior journalist of the Leader Group are clear indications of the state of the freedom of expression that is available in our country today. These are only the latest incidents of a long lasting threat on the media and on the freedom of expression. We hasten to condemn these treacherous acts unequivocally in the hardest possible manner and express our heartfelt condolences and the assurance of our prayers to the family of Mr Wickrematunga.

It is extremely unfortunate that the authorities have failed thus far to either identify or bring the perpetrators to justice in respect of the earlier instances. Hardly any findings of the commissions and committees that had been appointed to inquire into such incidents have come to light, which is not a strange experience in our country, but an expression of the lack of responsibility by the people. It may even amount to a violation of their basic fundamental rights. Sadly this can further lead to reasonable doubts in the minds of the general public about the identity of the perpetrators.

Similar acts of violence that have gone unheeded lead to a reasonable belief in the minds of people that the perpetrators, though unidentified possess a lot of dangerous information connected with themselves or their activities that should be suppressed in their own interest. Hence the attacks and the complete destruction and the termination of lives of those who could have had the courage to expose such information. If so, it is a very unhealthy situation and a complete breakdown of law and order in the country and it will be extremely difficult to prevent people losing confidence in the democratic institutions in our country and in turn it will pose a definite threat to democracy that we have protected for decades in our society.

While appealing to people who have been denied the effective services of the persons and the institutions that have been destroyed to stay calm and extend their assistance to the authorities to bring the perpetrators to justice, we request all those who are responsible for maintaining law and order in our country to take all necessary steps to protect the lives of our people and the institutions.

The Rt. Revd Kumara Illangasinghe
The Bishop of Kurunagala