By P.K. Balachandran, IANS
Colombo : Commandos rescued a Sri Lankan minister who was held hostage for hours and then beaten up by employees of the state-owned TV station here Thursday after he allegedly assaulted one of its top officials.
Labour Minister Mervyn Silva, who once asked the Tamils to go back “to their homes in India”, was confined to a room by thousands at the Rupavahini station after he allegedly assaulted the news director, P.M.D. Chandrasekara, for not featuring him in a telecast.
When Silva was being escorted away by commandos, with Sri Lankan television stations beaming live the high-voltage drama, the employees pounced on him and thrashed him even as the police meekly watched.
Television stations, including Rupavahini, telecast live the happenings at the TV station. Millions across the country watched it all in their homes.
Silva had earlier told the angry crowd that he had done nothing wrong, but would nevertheless “apologise” to Rupavahini.
The ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) pledged to take action against Silva. General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena described Silva’s conduct as “unbecoming” of a minister.
From the TV station, Silva headed straight to the Colombo National Hospital and got himself admitted for treatment of injuries.
The minister was incensed when he found that Rupavahini’s programme on President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s tsunami anniversary function held in Matara in southern Sri Lanka Wednesday did not show him speaking.
Silva has been a bigwig in the Matara district unit of the SLFP.
Once his assault of the news director drew thousands of employees charging at him, the minister took refuge in the office of the TV’s chairman, along with his guards.
The staff threatened to beat him up if he came out. Repeated appeals by Media Minister Lakshman Yapa to spare the minister fell on deaf ears.
Eventually, the police handcuffed one of Silva’s guards from the ministerial security division, who had assaulted some station staff. After Silva was whisked away by the commandos, the staff beat him black and blue.
A man who has got into many a fracas before, Silva had assaulted journalists in January this year in an attempt to break up a meeting of the United Peoples Movement (UPM) in Nugegoda.