The Killing of Nadarajah Raviraj

There is anger on the streets of Colombo. Nadarajah Raviraj, a young, articulate and media savvy Tamil member of parliament was shot dead outside his house by unknown gunmen last Friday.

No one knows for sure yet who killed him. Raviraj was part of the Tamil National Alliance, an amalgamation of opposition Tamil political parties, who are largely seen as political proxies of the Tamil Tiger rebels.

Raviraj spoke fearlessly both inside and outside parliament about alleged human rights violations by the security forces. He represented the volatile Tamil Majority Jaffna district in the Sri Lankan Parliament.

Hundreds joined a procession as his body was taken to the Town Hall.

The crowd was a mix of Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslim. People surrounded the hearse with posters reading "Shame".

"We want an end to war" shouted some women in the procession. "Our government is a donkey" shouted some others.

His Parliamentary colleague and MP from the Vanni district Selvam Adaikalanathan told me the he suspected a government minister to be behind the killing.

" Douglas Devananda had threatened Raviraj many times, he did so inside parliament as well. I suspect his party the Eelam Peoples Democratic Party has done this." Adaikalanathan told me.

Douglas Devananda is a staunch opponent of the Tamil tiger rebels and has himself survived many attempts on his life.
" It is a political accusation, just mud slinging. There is a school of thought that says that it is the LTTE who eliminated him because he was seen as a future threat." Devananda told me when I met him at his residence in one of the most high security localities of Colombo.

" The government is committed to investigate and punish the guilty. Already the president had said that we will get neutral foreign experts for the job. " he adds

But TNA MPs like Adaikalanathan say they have no hope from any government investigation. "There have been so many political killings, have any of them been investigated...have any if the guilty been punished. How can we trust the government this time. Adaikalanathan says.

But for Raviraj's family all this talk is now irrelevant. As preparations are made to take the body to Jaffna for the last rights, Raviraj's mother breaks down.

"Why did they have to kill my son...what did he do to them, why did they kill him so ruthlessly." she wails as his children look on with tears in their eyes.
(Photo : Rajesh Sundaram)