SRI Lanka is no stranger to political violence…. It was reported that a shooting at a political rally [on Friday], held by the JVP in Hambantota, resulted in the killing of two [people]…. This event is all the more shocking as it comes at a time when elections have not been officially [announced] and the public [was] under the impression that gatherings were permitted…. But the peace has been disturbed and the JVP as well as the government have promptly started trading dialogue. Government ranks have been … insisting that the breakaway faction of the JVP was responsible for the shooting….

The JVP has vociferously denied this by stressing that since Hambantota is the electorate of the president, there is no possibility for the shooting to be done by anyone other than some faction supported by the government…. Be that as it may there can be little doubt that the main concern here is for the further breakdown in law and order as well as the freedom for political discussion and engagement….Rather than trading opinions of who may or may not be responsible for it the government must conduct a fair and transparent investigation into the incident and bring the … offenders to book. In incidents of this nature speculation … can outshine the larger issue at stake, that of democracy and the freedom to campaign freely….

…The government itself has admitted that the ferocity … of criminals in the country has increased and this shooting is merely another example of how serious the environment has become. If such an incident is allowed to go unaddressed …

eventually all political parties will have to face the same danger. Many politicians have died in Sri Lanka’s violent past…. Yet without a war and [with] three years of peace the fact that this culture should rear its head again is as much a threat for the future as well as for political engagement…. — (June 18)