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Janaka Perera Assassination And ThePatriotic Card

| by Tisaranee Gunasekara

Traitors should be given capital punishment.

Gotabhaya Raapaksa !The "sland # $.%.&'(')

! *eptember +, &'(-, Colombo, *ri anka Guardian) A /ormer TT0 colonel 1ho

pleaded guilty /or the assassination o/ 2aor General Janaka Perera 1as given a &'3

year prison sentence this 1eek.

General Perera 1as murdered by a Tiger suicide bomber in &''4. A popular /igure

1ith *inhala e5tremists because o/ his role in the long 0elam 6ar and his hardline

political vie1s, he oined the 78P in &''4 and 1as made the party9s chie/ ministerial

candidate /or the 8orth Central Province. The 78P lost but General Perera topped the

overall pre/erence vote count.

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"t 1as no secret that General Perera 1as on the TT09s hit list. :e 1ould have got all

the protection he needed had he oined the 7P;A. . The soldier turned

diplomat>..politely turned do1n the o//er>.. The meeting ended 1ith Raapaksa

sounding a note o/ caution that he 1ould then have to /ace the politicalconse?uences.

The harassment started soon a/ter. :is re?uest /or security 1as re/used by the patriotic

government, compelling him to seek udicial intervention. The *upreme Court ordered

the @e/ence 2inistry to provide protection and Gen Perera 1as given seven police

guards. .. The petition 1as to cite @e/ence *ecretay

Gotabhaya Raapakse, Police chie/ Jayantha 6ickramaratne and Army Commander

*arath ;onseka, among others. The petition reportedly stated, =The Government has

/ailed to provide security to the petitioner despite the /act that the General Public

regard him as a 1ar hero and the TT0 regard him as an enemy>.due to the /act that

he holds the political vie1s o/ the 78P .

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and the manner in 1hich the *iblings use the patriotic card.

;rom a *inhala supremacist point o/ vie1, Gen. Perera 1as un?uestionably a patriot.

:e /ought against the TT0 his attitude to issues such as human rights and the ethnic

problem placed him in the company o/ *arath ;onseka and Gotabhaya Raapaksa.

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*imilarly 1e should have the ability to de/eat all internal enemies that are /ound in our

midst. The manner in 1hich Gen. Janaka Perera 1as treated, both in li/e and in death,

demonstrate 1ho the Binternal enemies9 really are and ho1 the 1ar against them 1ill

be conducted.

The Bdivide9 bet1een patriots and traitors 1ill be sho1cased again, once thepresidential election season begins. The traitor label 1ill be used to attack opposition

candidates, especially those 1ho are likely to 1in minority support. The task o/

physically attacking opposition gatherings might even be outsourced to various

Bpatriotic organisations9 such as the