Parliament

Emotions ran high when Parliament met last week, just days after the Kebitigollewa massacre with MPs coming to near blows on Tuesday, soon after the House observed a minutes silence in memory of the victims of the LTTE attack.

JVP Parliamentary group leader, Wimal Weerawansa, proposed the minutes silence after he made a statement regarding the incident, calling for a banning of the LTTE in Sri Lanka and a concerted and united effort to fight terrorism.

Except for two TNA MPs namely, M.K.Eelaventhan and Jaffna district MP Selvarajah Kajendran, all the other MPs including several Tamil National Alliance (TNA) MPs, stood to observe the silence.

It was an emotionally charged TNA MP Nadarajah Raviraj, who walked into the Chamber as the minutes silence was ending and protested, that such a tribute should be paid not only to the Kebitigollewa victims but to the civilians killed in the north and east as well.

"Are the people being killed in the north and east not civilians?," he shouted and along with Eelavenathan, Kajendran and a few other TNA MPs walked towards the Speaker's chair.

Unlike other instance where most JVP and Government MPs ignore the antics of the TNA legislators, their tempers too flared up and soon a lot of pushing, shoving and shouting erupted between the TNA and JVP MPs as well as a few Government legislators.

Amidst the commotion, Speaker W.J.M. Lokubandara suspended sittings, but the unrest continued for more than 15 minutes with the Sergeant-at-Arms and his deputy, with several MPs trying to separate the two opposing factions and push them back to there respective sides in the house.

A very angry Colombo district UNP MP, T.Mahenswaran too joined the TNA side and managed to hurl a book at the JVP MPs as well as break a light on one of the MPs tables. A heated argument also took place between UNP parliamentarian Naveen Dissanayake and TNA MP Eelaventhan, while the majority of the UNP MPs kept out of the scuffle.

Things calmed down after the house resumed and the Speaker announced that a meeting of party leaders would be held to discuss the issue further.

The compromise solution was for the TNA Parliamentary group leader R.Sampanthan, to make a statement the following day which he did detailing several atrocities committed against Tamil civilians in the north and east allegedly by members of the security forces.

Following his speech Mr. Sampanthan proposed a minutes silence for "all civilians killed in the senseless violence," to which MPs of all sides stood once again.

Aturaliye Ratana Thero, Jathika Hela Urumaya MP though had the last word saying, JHU monks stood only for the memory of civilians killed, but that they did not endorse the TNA charges, that security personnel were responsible for the killing of any civilians.

With the second observance of a minute's silence, things settled down, but it was difficult to comprehend why such a proposal could not have been moved by senior government ministers who were present on Tuesday, to avoid a confrontation among the MPs.

On an adjournment motion moved by the United National Party (UNP), the entire day on Wednesday was dedicated to the debating of the Kebitigollewa massacre.

While condemning the senseless killing of civilians, the UNP also placed a considerable amount of blame on the Government for the incident, especially for the lack of security in the areas including its lack of commitment to the peace process. The LTTE came under attack mainly by the JVP and JHU, with the JVP's Wimal Weerawansa stressing that even if the Government was willing to give a federal or any another solution, the question was if the LTTE was willing to accept any such solution.

"The LTTE is threatening to wreak destruction in the country if we don't do things their way. Are we going to get scared of these threats or are we going to unite to fight this terrorism?" he asked. JHU MP, Ellawala Medananda Thera piped in as well saying, some response should be expected for the blatant aggressions against innocent civilians.

"We will not take the law into our own hands but the state must protect innocent Sinhalese civilians who are living in the vulnerable areas," he said.
UNPs Dr. Rajitha Senaratna commented that it was the poorest of the poor, who were directly affected by the cruelty of terrorism.

"That is the reason we are against the war.
That is why we want to find a peaceful solution to this problem," he said.
While Eelaventhan pointed out that he and his colleagues were equally saddened by the deaths of the Sinhalese civilians as they were by the death of Tamil civilians, saying "We were the first to condemn the attack on the bus.

“Lives are valuable to us whether Sinhalese or Tamil," he said. Many of the speakers at the debate came from Anuradhapura, the district in which Kebitigollewa is situated, and despite party differences, it was agreed amongst all, of the need for adequate security for residents of the area as well as a solution to the problem of people leaving villages in fear of further attacks. However, Leader of the House Nimal Siripala de Silva said, the Government had taken all necessary measures to protect the villagers in the areas.

On Thursday, the UNP moved another adjournment motion, on the alleged irregularities of fertilizer imports, to have taken place since the government took office.