In a grave and urgent call to national conscience, eminent lawyer and patriot Panduka Keerthinanda has expressed profound alarm over the spiraling state of insecurity in Sri Lanka, warning that the country is fast becoming a place where “the value of life means nothing.” His words come at a time when rising gun violence, failed governance, and a culture of impunity are shaking the nation to its core.
Keerthinanda, no stranger to personal tragedy, speaks not as a politician or opportunist but as a wounded witness to Sri Lanka’s darkest days. In his youth, he suffered a trauma that few can fathom: his father, Tudor Keerthinanda, a senior executive committee member of the United National Party (UNP), was assassinated in cold blood during the 1988/89 insurgency. His mother was maimed for life, and their family vehicle burned as gunmen fired indiscriminately after hurling a crude bomb into the car in a Colombo suburb. It was a massacre that stunned the nation.
Now, decades later, the cycle of violence appears to be returning, and Keerthinanda fears the state is once again failing to uphold its most basic duty: the protection of life.
Since the election of Anura Kumara Dissanayake and the National People’s Power (NPP) coalition, the situation on the ground has deteriorated rapidly. Sri Lanka has witnessed over 30 shooting incidents, resulting in at least 25 deaths in just the first quarter of 2025. Organized criminal networks have grown bolder, the police seem overmatched, and public trust is evaporating.
“This isn’t just a law-and-order issue, this is a collapse of conscience,” Keerthinanda said. “If the government doesn’t wake up, we will not be able to claim to be a civilized nation. The blood of our people cannot be spilled so easily, so meaninglessly.”
Adding fuel to the fire are two deeply troubling cases that have gripped the public’s attention: the deaths of schoolchildren at the Altaire Building, hastily declared a suicide despite anguished objections from a grieving mother of one of the victims and the mysterious death of Australian national Caleb Delano Alexander at Colombo’s upscale Crescat Residencies – another case that appears to have been swept under the rug with minimal investigation.
In Keerthinanda’s view, these examples underscore a terrifying truth: “We are now a country where not only are people killed but the truth is buried with them.”
The ongoing economic downturn, lack of investor confidence and inexperience in governance are creating a volatile environment. But for Keerthinanda, the red line has been crossed not with fiscal mismanagement, but with the loss of reverence for life itself.
“The duty of any nation begins with the protection of its people. When you can’t even offer that, what legitimacy do you claim?” he asked, visibly distressed.
He also called out what he sees as a hollow performance by state institutions, noting that even the sacred 10-day exposition of the Buddha’s tooth relic in Kandy saw the death of a devotee standing in the long winding queue, the streets turn into makeshift dumps and toilets, reflecting a broader societal breakdown. “If we can’t even manage sacred gatherings with dignity and sanitation, what does that say about our priorities?” he questioned.
Lawyer Panduka Keerthinanda is not simply making a political statement. His appeal is rooted in decades of personal pain, legal insight, and love for his homeland. As one of the few voices rising above the noise, he ends with a solemn warning:
“If this trajectory continues, we will not be debating democracy or economics, we will be sifting through ashes. And this time, there might be no rebuilding.”
The country is listening. The government must now decide. Will it continue to ignore the signs, or rise before it’s too late?
It’s great to hear that a well read and seasoned Lawyer like you come forward for all of us. I wonder whether the current government has a clue on maintaining Law and order within the country. Their main focus is campaigning .