NPC says Jeyaraj assassinated for backing military campaign

The National Peace Council said Minister Jeyaraj Fernandopulle had been targeted as he had been a supporter of the government’s military campaign, the executive director of the NGO said in a statement issued on behalf of its governing council.
The following is the full text of a statement headlined ‘Path of violence and war is too costly,’ issued by the Norwegian funded NGO: "The assassination of Minister of Highways and Road Development, Jeyaraj Fernandopulle and the killing of 14 others including some of the country's athletic stars, and the injuring of over 80 others by a suicide bomb attack at a new year Marathon race adds to the long list of political leaders and civilians whose lives have been cruelly taken due to the long unresolved ethnic conflict. The National Peace Council condemns this bombing which is suspected to be by the LTTE. Targeting of civilian events for violence is reprehensible.
Minister Fernandopulle belonged to both a religious and ethnic minority and could have played a greater role in rebuilding relations between the ethnic communities and the warring parties. Instead he was a proponent of the government's strategy of military confrontation with the LTTE which claimed his life. At the same time he assisted civil society groups such as ours when it fell within his domain of authority despite our critical stances.
Minister Fernandopulle was one of the government's key speakers, and his absence will be felt at the forthcoming Eastern Provincial elections where he would have played an important role. We urge the government to ensure that all high risk candidates at these elections, icluding leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress Rauf Hakeem whose security is being sought to be reduced, should be provided with additional security.
Once again we urge the government to reconsider its strategy of violence and war towards the resolution of the ethnic conflict. The loss of life and the disruption to the life of the people make it clear that the path of violence and war is too costly for any democratic society to bear. We also urge the LTTE to make it known in a convincing manner that they will be ready to respond positively to political initiatives, instead of persisting in their campaign of violence and war."