International   

LTTE blamed for Ampara blast; 11 killed, many injured

AMPARA (SRI LANKA): A bomb exploded in a crowded restaurant in the heart of the town on Friday evening killing 11 persons and injuring 25 others. The explosion in the popular New City Café, just 11 hours before the first-ever Eastern Provincial Council election, has shattered peace in the east.

New City Café was the last stop of this correspondent, who was in the town for a feel of the election eve atmosphere, for lunch at 4 p.m. A little later it was torn to shreds. The perpetrators of the carnage targeted a Muslim-dominated district with the poll campaign assuming communal tones. Elements of various parties have been attempting to convert the campaign into a Tamil-Muslim question. The government has blamed the LTTE for the explosion.

The projection of Rauf Hakeem as the chief ministerial candidate by the opposition United National Party (UNP) and the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (SLMC) alliance has been seized by opportunist elements to whip up a whispered campaign among Tamils.

The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), which has teamed up with the break-away LTTE group TMVP, is hoping to benefit from the “traditional Tamil-Muslim” antagonism.

The question is being tossed freely in the east whether a Tamil Chief Minister is acceptable to Muslims and vice-versa.

The ruling party is also leaving no stone turned to appeal to the Muslim voters. Ampara town and other parts of the district are full of giant cut-outs and posters of President Mahinda Rajapaksa being hugged by his Iranian counterpart Mahmoud Ahmadinejad during his recent visit to the island nation.

There is little doubt that the President is staking every thing to ensure victory for the alliance stitched by him. However, the question of who will be the Chief Minister in case the ruling alliance manages a majority is far from settled. TMVP leader Pillian has a serious contender in one of the former SLMC leaders who defected to the ruling side on the eve of the election.

At least a dozen Ministers are camping in the east with their political war machinery. President himself addressed an election rally via satellite a day before the campaign closed with promises to usher in a new era in the province if the ruling alliance is elected. In contrast, the opposition campaign is low-key.

It is difficult to say what impact the Ampara blast will have on the voter turnout since contrary to all apprehensions the campaign itself passed without any major incidents of violence.

As per the Lanka Polls Watch, an NGO monitoring the election, as of Friday it received 87 complaints of poll-related violence and malpractices.

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Stories in this Section

Hizbollah in control of most of Beirut
Medvedev warns on boundaries
LTTE blamed for Ampara blast; 11 killed, many injured
Obama’s focus on November
Ex-model in Cabinet
“Col” Karuna may face deportation
CA meet in two weeks
Morales to stand in recall vote
U.S. for elected regime next year
Australia to deport 11 “illegal” workers
Pakistan not for another war over Kashmir

Copyright © 2008, The Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu