The government is under heavy flak for shielding Labour Minister Mervin Silva with the JHU, a constituent of the SLFP-led coalition, and trade unions joining the insistent call for action against the National List MP and his henchmen.

Both SLFP bosses and the Colombo Police have been accused of turning a Nelsonian eye to the minister’s antics and going out of their way to shield him.

The JHU chided SLFP General Secretary Maithripala Sirisena for his recent statement that the Gods would punish the minister for his recent attack on a Sirasa crew assigned to cover the opening of the second carriageway of the Kelaniya flyover on August 4.

Accusing the minister of targeting the media, particularly the Maharaja Television Network, the JHU demanded that the minister should be either tied up or removed from the government.

The latest attack on Sirasa came close on the heels of a gang led by the minister allegedly attacking a shop owned by a JVP activist in the Polonnaruwa District. JVP frontliner Anura Kumara Dissanayake accused the government of using the minister to target opponents.

``Was this a part of Mahinda Chintanaya?’’ he asked.

Sirasa has revealed the identities of several henchmen of the minister who had been present when equipment belonging to the Sirasa crew had been seized.

JHU spokesman Nishantha Sri Waranasinghe said President Mahinda Rajapaksa and the SLFP-led government should act immediately.

Accusing the government bigwigs of trying to appease the public and the media by making statements critical of the minister, Waranasinghe said the people expected the government to act without waiting for divine intervention. There was no point in issuing statements critical of the minister unless the government neutralized the threat posed by him to the society, the JHU spokesman said.

Mass Media and Information Minister Anura Priyadharshana Yapa last week said that he was embarrassed and dejected about the minister’s antics.

The JHU spokesman warned the failure to crackdown on the minister and his gang would cause people to lose confidence on the law enforcement mechanism and judiciary. It would also leave a huge black mark on the Rajapaksa administration, he said, emphasizing that it would be the responsibility of the President to rein in the minister.

The All Ceylon Government Medical Officers’ Association has severely criticized Media Minister Lakshman Yapa Abeywardena for pointing out that there were both politicians engaged in violence and doctors raping patients.

Dr. Geeshantha Dassanayake of the Association said there was absolutely no need to connect the attacks on the media and last year’s alleged murder at the Negombo Base hospital where a doctor had been remanded for allegedly raping a patient before throwing her out of a sixth floor window.

Responding to our queries, he said there was an urgent need to punish the minister without clouding the issue by dragging unrelated incidents.

Poddala Jayantha said the government should be ashamed of the ongoing wave of attacks on the media. Accusing the government of targeting the media, he said the attacks on SLRC workers and The Nation’s Associate Editor, Keith Noyhar hadn’t been investigated.

Media organizations Friday held a protest near Temple Trees to pressure the president to take action against the minister and prevent threats on journalists for being critical of the government, human rights violations and atrocities against the civilian population.