It was bitter irony that at the very moment that the Sri Lankan armed forces were achieving their greatest feat in the war against the LTTE – the opening of the long-closed highway to Jaffna – armed assassins were striking in Colombo, and effectively slamming shut the door to media freedom in the country. On 8 January 2009, at a crowded intersection, armed men on four motorcycles surrounded Lasantha Wickrematunge, the outspoken editor of the Sunday Leader newspaper, and proceeded to shoot him dead, all in a high-security zone next to an Air Force camp. The timing of the assassination has since proven so counterproductive for the Colombo government that President Mahinda Rajapakse has been led to speak of a conspiracy, even an international one, aimed at discrediting his government and diverting attention from its military triumphs.
Providing a rather different perspective in the Parliament, meanwhile, the leader of the opposition, Ranil Wickremesinghe, pointed the finger for the assassination (and other crimes) at a team within the military-intelligence wing, albeit one operating independently of government control. "Today it is the opposition and the media who are the targets," he said in the immediate aftermath of the attack on Wickrematunge. "But a similar fate can befall the government and the cabinet tomorrow. I am talking on behalf of the entire House now." He furthermore called for "this motorbike squad" to be placed under the supervision of a deputy inspector-general of police. Government spokespeople, meanwhile, have claimed the attack to be the work of anti-government elements – possibly even the LTTE, which is deemed to be capable of anything, especially if it is destructive.
President Rajapakse and his government appear to be focused on a single agenda, to a far greater extent than any previous Colombo government. Since this administration took over, in November 2005, concerns about human-rights violations, rule of law and corruption have consistently met with governmental denials. Particularly over the past two years, the government's programme for the country has been to defeat – militarily – the LTTE, which it has regularly claimed would lay the foundation for peace in Sri Lanka. The success that the government has met with thus far in this campaign has been entirely due to its willingness to fight the LTTE on its own terms, with no price being considered too high to pay. Resources and lives alike have been poured into the war at an astonishing rate, with those suspected of being LTTE supporters or members being abducted and/or killed in all parts of the country. Since the beginning of the year, Colombo has been celebrating its victories in the north – particularly its gaining of control over the entire length of the A9 Highway to Jaffna – as decisive events that herald the dawn of peace. There can certainly be no doubt about the military and psychological blows that these gains have struck against the LTTE. For instance, it was only during his annual Heroes Day speech this year, on 27 November, that LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran (or Pirapaharan) laughed off the potential capture of Kilinochchi as a pipedream. However, any illusion that the LTTE had either a plan or the strength to salvage its fortunes in Kilinochchi was quickly proven unfounded with the fall of its administrative capital at the dawn of the New Year.
Exactly a week later, the government's 9 January recapture of the Elephant Pass military base, which stands at the gateway to the Jaffna peninsula and which was lost in 2000 during a catastrophic battle, was a significant morale booster to the Sri Lankan military. Over recent years there were several abortive efforts made to recapture the area, but these all ended in costly debacles. This time, however, the military thrust proved too strong for the LTTE. In the coming weeks there is every reason to believe that the government will make further territorial gains that will effectively end LTTE rule over the inhabited parts of the north. At that point, the only remaining strongholds – if that word can still be used – will be the dense jungles.