Tributes to Kadirgamar flow in; the World condemns the slaying of the Foreign Minister
[August 15, 2005 - 10.00 GMT]

Tributes from the around the world continue to flow, in honour of the late Lakshman Kadirgamar. Sri Lanka’s erudite Foreign Minister was assassinated last Friday night, August 12, 2005. The general feeling of shock and disbelief is accentuated in all the tributes, while each one of them condemns the perpetrators of the crime.

The Oxford educated eminent technocrat Lakshman Kadirgamar served as Foreign Minister from 1994- 2001 and again from 2004-August 2005. He did much to repair Sri Lanka’s tarnished image as a nation which oppresses it minorities. Kadirgamar was a true democrat and believed in pluralism and peaceful coexistence. His relentless efforts to persuade the world, that terror is no way to resolve problems led the Western powers to proscribe the Tamil Tigers and this incurred him the wrath of the militants who chose to view him as a traitor, Kadirgamar being an ethnic Tamil himself. It was common knowledge he was high on their hit list since 1995. 

Heralded by many as ‘a hero of our times’ and ‘Sri Lanka’s most credible voice for peace internationally’, his death leaves a major void, the President in her address to the Nation yesterday said “His brutal murder creates a vacuum that will be well nigh impossible to fill”.

Among the scores of messages received by the President is a very personal note from former PM of India, I K Gujral who says, “A dastardly bullet deprived you and the Nation of a committed friend who had faith in your leadership and a minister whose diplomatic skills remained un-matched.”

“As you know my relationship with Lakshman transcends the national boundaries. In two decades of our friendship, he helped us to understand, like no one else, the essential spirit of Buddhist compassion that your society had re-discovered through pain and sufferance! He has given his life to bequeath to the people of Sri Lanka and to us across the straits, the high moral of dedication to a cause that was so dear to him!” continues the message.  

Others who expressed grief were Prime Minister of Japan Junichiro Koizumi, PM of Bangladesh Khaleda Zia, Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu, J. Jayalalithaa, Governor of West Bengal Gopalkrishna Gandhi just to mention a few.

As a mark of respect to the slain minister the meeting of the SAARC Standing Committee of Foreign Secretaries postponed the meeting and described Minister Kadirgamar as “a close friend”.

Today Sri Lanka honours her patriot noted for his professionalism, dedication and simplicity with a State Funeral, to be attended by many distinguished dignitaries, such as India’s Minister of Foreign Affairs Natwar Singh and other dignitaries from the SAARC region and beyond. Today, August 15 has also as been declared a Day of National Mourning. 

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Last Updated Date: August 15, 2005 - 10.00 GMT