Anyone familiar with Lasantha W.'s writings even before the advent of the CFA knows that he ultimately championed co-habiting with evil- the LTTE. He did not believe in confronting this evil or exposing its true nature to the world. Instead he believed in negotiating with evil, compromising with evil, appeasing evil, and actually covering up evil behind NGO terms such as "confidence-building."

If any of you truly support what Lasantha W. stood for, then I advise you not to condemn his murderers but to advocate co-habitation with them. If you don't like Mahinda or Gotabhaya, write platitudes about how the only way to neutralize them is to flatter and co-opt them. If you're afraid of getting killed, sign a CFA with Fonseka and throw away any shred of self-dignity to save your skin.

Of course it's possible that four men with guns and iron bars dressed in black were able to make their escape without drawing attention to themselves after attacking their target

I find this regular notion that since the assasins escaped they must be part of — or protected by — the GoSL/military aparatus to be a bit of a fallacy. My parents live in Attidiya, and I've spent a lot of time in the area. I've driven around this area at all hours of the day and night, and in all these years, haven't once stopped by police or the military. So I see no reason why the assassins couldn't have escaped easily in broad daylight without any collusion by the security aparatus. Armed criminals commit murders regularly in the city and get away with it — are they all GoSL assassins?

I frankly don't know who sent these assassins. Even if they are indeed government operatives, their escape doesn't add credence to this theory.

Would the finding of the murderer of Lasantha bring us peace? I am not sure.

Let us start thinking of turning a new leaf.

In my humble opinion to achieve peace and good governance with transparency and accountability in any country, the system of governance must be made truly democratic. The powers of the Parliament (the decision making supreme body of a country) should be split and separated and each of the separated powers must be handled by different groups of persons specifically elected and empowered by the people for the purpose of handling each set of the separated powers or duties as the case may be, so that no single group has the full power. All the groups together will make the whole. The country is not divided but the powers of parliament are divided or separated.

If the government or armed forces were not complicit in the murder, how did these armed gunmen mounted on motorbikes make their escape despite the fact that almost every street near the area of the attack has a police checkpoint?

As far as the government not needing to kill lasantha, don't you think that now is the best time? Already we have begun to forget about it or feel too helpless to do much. Already editors are feeling the inevitable chilling effect of the murder- how many will dare to say -in the case that once the ltte is defeated the president declares that there is no need for a political settlement, that the 13th amendment will work just fine as it is (when clearly with its powers being so easily swallowed by parliament that it cannot devolve power effectively)- that he is wrong and that grievances do exist? Now is when mullaitivu is all we can think of and the murder of an editor will fade.

Personally I don't see how the opposition could do it. They are too inept to even organise a protest rally, let alone carry out a murder of someone prominent.