The United National Party (UNP) Colombo District MP Ravi Karunanayake yesterday said in Parliament that it was politicians who should be held responsible for the proliferation of firearms in the country.

Moving a Private Member’s Motion proposing that if anyone is found in possession of an unlicensed weapon, he or she should be charged under the breach of criminal law with a mandatory jail sentence of 20 years. Karunanayake hailed Defence Secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa’s vow to take action against those who failed to surrender illegal firearms in their possession.

He said it was a timely move. The country has been freed from terrorism and we need to appreciate the government’s role in ridding Sri Lanka of illegal weapons.

Karunanayake blamed India for arming Tamil civilians against the government in the eighties, thereby paving the way for a war that prolonged for three decades. At a time when there was peace in Sri Lanka, its neighbour India, had attempted to create problems in this country by supplying weapons to certain elements.