A spate of gruesome murders in the South have left many shocked. A man and his two children were gunned down in broad daylight. Another was killed in the middle of a Colombo courthouse. A Sinhala journalist has had four guests on his talk show killed and is now receiving increased police protection. This surge of assassinations, coming just months into Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s presidency, has brought to light the longstanding ties between Sri Lanka’s political and military institutions, and their criminal networks that operate with impunity. From torture and kidnappings to cold-blooded murders, for decades these networks have enjoyed the protection of powerful political figures and been activated at their behest. Left unchecked, they are continuing to wreak havoc.
Recent revelations, including those surrounding the assassination of Aruna Vidanagamage and the courtroom murder of Ganemulla Sanjeewa, serve as chilling reminders of the deep-rooted criminal nexus between Sri Lanka’s political elite, the military, and underworld figures. Vidanagamage’s previous confession about his involvement in the Rajapaksas’ “dirty work” underscores the extent to which political patronage has enabled these gangs to operate freely, often with the complicity of the Sri Lankan military and police.
The connections between the state and these criminal groups are not isolated incidents but part of a larger, systemic issue. The use of military-issue weapons like T-56 rifles in targeted killings and the direct involvement of trained military personnel, demonstrates the clear connection to the state security forces. As Dissanayake recently acknowledged, the military itself is embedded with underworld gangs. He candidly spoke of how soldiers can commit murders and safely return to their barracks, shielded by political protection.
This is not an accident; it is a critical feature of Sri Lanka’s military institution.
For decades, the military was able to activate these same networks and paramilitary forces to abduct, torture, and kill Tamils during the armed conflict. They were the ones who operated with impunity, orchestrating atrocities. They were the groups that abducted journalists and assassinated critics unchecked. They were the organisations that afforded the ruling Sinhala elite and the armed forces a veneer of separation as these crimes took place. The lack of accountability for these violations has allowed those networks to thrive. As recent events have demonstrated, they remain active and powerful.
That the latest wave of violence comes as the ruling National People’s Power (NPP) government looks to crackdown on the Rajapaksa clan is also not a coincidence. Sri Lanka’s public security minister even linked the murders to the ongoing probe into the Easter Sunday attacks, claiming the seemingly criminal gang murders were connected to attempts to investigate the 2019 bombings. This comes on the backdrop of long reported connections between the Rajapaksas and those that carried out the bombings of churches and hotels. Tensions have been brewing in the South. Violence, it seems, is never far off.
There are two things that Dissanayake and his government must now do if they want to halt it.
Firstly, it is to acknowledge that Sri Lanka’s institutions are entirely rotten, from the commanders at the top giving orders to execute, to the infantrymen at the bottom pulling the triggers. Unhindered and fuelled by decades of racist, egregious bloodshed, it is not simply a case of a few rotten apples. The entire system must be reconstructed. There is no hope of reform by tinkering around the edges.
Secondly, the Sri Lankan president must break from his intransigence towards holding the island’s military and political establishment accountable for the atrocities they have committed. The only way to tackle the rising violence is through ensuring perpetrators are brought to justice. This is a demand that Tamils, who have long borne the brunt of state’s genocidal brutality, have made abundantly clear.
If Dissanayake continues to ignore those calls, that political-military-criminal nexus will continue to fester and the violence may only worsen.
Editorial, Tamil Guardian