Nadarajah Raviraj would have celebrated his 46th birthday this year. In the spirit of citizens’ journalism, unionblackcolombo remembers his friend, killed in November 2006 in a video exclusive to Groundviews.
Located at the Centre for Policy Alternatives in Colombo, Sri Lanka, Groundviews is a citizen journalism website that uses a range of genres and media to highlight critical perspectives on governance, reconciliation, human rights, the arts and literature, democracy and other issues. The site has won two international awards, including the prestigious Manthan Award South Asia in 2009. The grand jury's evaluation of the site noted, "What no media dares to report, Groundviews publicly exposes. It's a new age media for a new Sri Lanka... Free media at it's very best!"
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Watching this reminded me of Vijaya Kumaratunga, ex-President Chandrika’s husband – the popular film actor who became a popular politician. Like Raviraj, he too seemed to have been able to bridge communities. And like Raviraj – he too was killed …
Perhaps that’s why there’s so many extremist characters in Sri Lanka’s political sphere – all the moderates get killed off.
I agree that it’s really important to remember that these people existed and tried to make a difference, so that at least there is some hope for future peace.
Raviraj sacrificed his life to lift Sri Lanka from it’s present internal turmoil to bring harmony to all the citizens of his beloved country. It is sad to see the voice of a selfless leader was silenced by gruesome assassination. Hopefully, his memory will continue to be the reminder to all the leaders to resolve their differences and bring long awaited peace to the island. People of Sri Lanka deserves no less!
RBL
Thank you for the compelling YouTube documentary. Abductions, killings and execution style murders of innocent people have gone on long enough in our island, the serendipity of the Indian Ocean. The only crime they committed was to express a political view or be a political activist or be an aid worker. It was the hapless Tamil civilians first 25 years ago. Later it was the Tamil politicians and journalists and aid workers. Now any journalists who expose the truth are unsafe. The scale of this lawlessness is abhorrent to our rich shared heritage and is an anathema to our shared moral and spiritual values.
How can one or a few rob all of us of peace and harmony and the right to the
pursuit of life? The attack on liberty and freedom just freaks me out.
This clip not only captures Raviraj’s spirit, but also highlights the fact why the Tamils have lost faith in the system.
I was a classmate of Raviraj. Every time I went to Sri Lanka, Raviraj was always there to help with anything and everything that us expats needed. I remember asking him once why he never says no. His answer was: “If I help you, you will keep coming back and eventually you will help the people here”.
Thanks for sharing this story. For me it offers a helpful reminder of how much we can gain by being wiling to offer challenge and to broker dialogue with our political opponents and just how much we can loose from political life if we don’t guard against attempts to quosh debate.
I found it very moving, and think that unionblackcolombo combined the personal and political stories of Raviraj’s life in a really powerful way. I hope that one day before too long unionblackcolombo will have the chance to remember and celebrate Raviraj in the free and peaceful Sri Lanka to which he dedicated his life.