Sri Lanka Narrow Escape

The parliamentary committee room erupted with applause when Sri Lankan President Junius Jayewardene walked in. It was the ruling United National Party's first caucus meeting since Jayewardene and Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi had signed the historic July 29 accord aimed at ending four years of bitter civil strife in Sri Lanka. Obviously enjoying the tribute to his peacemaking efforts, Jayewardene smiled and then called the meeting to order.

He did not have long to savor the accolade. Less than 20 minutes later, as an aide leaned past the seated President, a door burst open and a shot was fired at Jayewardene. The assistant caught the bullet in his back and collapsed, critically wounded. Then two grenades exploded, one bouncing on the table in front of the President before it landed twelve feet away. The hail of shrapnel sent officials scurrying for cover. "There was pandemonium," said Cabinet Minister Abdul Majeed. "The room was filled with smoke, and members were shouting all sorts of things."

The grenade blasts, which shattered chairs and tore holes in the yellow- green carpet, left District Minister Keerthisiri Abeywickrama dead and ten people injured, including Prime Minister Ranasinghe Premadasa, who was sitting next to Jayewardene. Miraculously, the President escaped unharmed. Still wearing his bloodstained clothes, Jayewardene within hours delivered a nationwide radio address. "We intend to carry on our work," he said, "irrespective of the evil forces ganging up against us."

The task he referred to was to put into practice a month-old peace accord that gives members of the Tamil minority substantial local governing powers in the parts of the country where they predominate. The Tamils, most of them Hindus, make up 12.5% of the island's 16.7 million inhabitants and are concentrated in its northern and eastern provinces. Since the pact was signed, separatist Tamil guerrillas have ended their war and have begun to lay down arms under the watchful eyes of 7,000 Indian peacekeeping troops.

The Sinhalese majority, however, remains bitterly opposed to the accord. There is widespread anger that the Sri Lankan government has granted far too many concessions to the Tamils. Even after the assassination attempt, a few Sinhalese thought poorly of Jayewardene and his hand in the accord. "He sold the sovereignty of our country," said one Sinhalese student. "The only way to get it back is to get rid of him." Soon after the attack, a previously unknown Sinhalese group, called the Patriotic People's Movement, claimed responsibility, but the killers had immediately fled the scene. By week's end, no arrests had been made.