Archive for the ‘Lasantha Wickremetunge’

Commemorative lecture on second death anniversary of Lasantha Wickrematunge

DSCF5698

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter” ~ Martin Luther King Jr, (15 January 1929 ~ 4 April 1968), (Activist, Clergyman, and prominent leader in African ~ American Civil rights movement) A commemorative lecture to mark the second death anniversary of Sunday leader editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was held today. This is the first commemorative lecture to pay tribute to Late Lasantha Wickrematunge, who was killed on 8th of January 2009 in Ratmalana, suburb of Colombo. Christopher Warren, former President of the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) delivered the key note address titled ~ “Role of Media in Post-War Democratization”. Candles were lit around the cement monument of pen with a human hollow to pay tribute to the journalists who sacrificed their lives. The monument stands on a barrel painted in white. The monument was created by the Vibhavi Academy of Fine Arts (VAFA). A large number of human rights activists, diplomats, foreign and…

Continue reading »

Two years hence, the murder of an Editor

srilankan-lw_vigil1

Image courtesy Canadian Committee for Press Freedom Two years ago in Ratmalana – the suburb of Colombo I grew up in – Lasantha Wickremetunge was murdered in broad daylight. Every weekend, as I pass the spot he was killed on the way to see my parents, I wonder how many others remember him today, the significance of that place, his work, life or legacy. Photos taken from the memorial service held in the morning at Lasantha’s grave in Colombo. Courtesy Vikalpa Groundviews published a number of articles, including poems by award winning poets, condemning Lasantha’s murder and celebrating his life. In Memoriam: Lasantha Wickremetunge, Editor in Chief, Sunday Leader is a collection of this writing, and the debates they generated that are still, tragically, resonant today. Following Lasantha’s murder, our website transformed to black for a week, as a mark of protest and defiance. In March 2009, we reproduced in full a letter from Sonali Samarasinghe, herself a senior journalist…

Continue reading »

Beyond the war psyche in Sri Lanka

Dust is finally settling on the euphoria generated by last year’s military defeat of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).  Old concerns naturally give way to the new and a year later, people have different realities to grapple with including how to keep their home fires burning. For President Mahinda Rajapakse and the government elected on an overwhelming  ‘gratitude vote’ for providing political leadership to crush the Liberation Tigers militarily, the post war call is to rebuild the lives of 22 million people-beyonds the rubble of yesteryear. If winning the war was no mean task, leading this country post war to new heights and to achieve its true potential will prove a bigger challenge. This requires a collective and concerted effort to go beyond the war psyche that continues to grip Sri Lankan society. Two crucial elections have been fought and won by the incumbency this year largely on the emotional premise of ‘a public demonstration of gratitude’ (read…

Continue reading »

The murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge: A letter to the President and a record of shame

[Editors note: The following text is from a speech at the Platform for Freedom event commemorating Lasantha Wickremetunge's brutal murder a year ago. The widow of the slain editor, Sonali Samarasinghe Wickrematunge, also sent a strongly worded letter to President Mahinda Rajapaksa on 4th January 2010, which can be read in full here. Both the text of the speech and the letter were sent by Sonali to Groundviews for publication.] Lasantha was murdered on January 8, 2009 in broad daylight as he drove to work. According to witnesses eight men on four motorcycles surrounded his car and bludgeoned him to death. The brutal killing took place some 200 yards from one of Sri Lanka’s largest Air Force bases. Now a year later, Lasantha’s murder remains unsolved. Indeed, as with the 13 other dissident media workers brutally slaughtered since President Mahinda Rajapaksa assumed the presidency just four years ago, there has been no serious investigation of his murder. And I am confident…

Continue reading »

On Lasantha Wickremetunge, media freedom and human rights in Sri Lanka: Interview with Dilrukshi Handunnetti

“Governments usually don’t take notice of silent majorities” says well known investigative and environmental journalism Dilrukshi Handunnetti in this video interview with Groundviews. To commemorate Human Rights Day 2009 (falling on 10 December) Groundviews interviewed a number of leading activists in Sri Lanka to find out their perspectives on current challenges facing human rights in post-war Sri Lanka. In general, activists featured were asked to comment on the Sri Lankan State’s protection of human rights, the nexus between human rights and human dignity and opportunities for greater human rights protection over the coming years. Dilrukshi is a lawyer by training having specialized in international law. A journalist for over 17 years, she has extensively covered the areas of politics, conflict, environment, culture, and history and gender issues. The interview focussed on media freedom and the freedom of expression in Sri Lanka. Dilrukshi flagged the use of the reprehensible Prevention of Terrorism Act (PTA) post-war and against independent media through the…

Continue reading »

Mervyn Silva publicly admits to killing Lasantha Wickrematunge and grievously attacking another journalist

[Editors note: The original page of this story and the entire Lankanenewsweb.com site are blocked in Sri Lanka for publishing a report on the President's son. We are therefore re-posting this story on Groundviews to flag enduring concerns over media freedom and the safety of independent journalists in post-war Sri Lanka and also the Sri Lankan Government's continuing censorship of information on the web. See the Groundviews Special Edition on Lasantha Wickrematunge for the public outrage and comments over his murder earlier this year. No culprits have been brought to book to date.] “Lasantha from the Leader paper went overboard. I took care of him. Poddala agitated and his leg was broken. Now a fellow in my electorate is trying to stand against me. I now tell him in his own hometown, I will give him only seven more days. If he does not resign as chairman of the Kelaniya Pradeshiya Sabha, don’t blame me later on. You’ll don’t find fault…

Continue reading »

Is the President hiding Lasantha Wickremetunge’s killers?

We reproduce in full a letter from Sonali Samarasinghe Wickremetunge to the IGP asking him to record ‘very important details’ known to the Sri Lankan President and at least one other senior government minister, based on the minister’s own admission, pertaining to the identity of her husband Lasantha Wickremetunge’s killers. The Editor in Chief of the Sunday Leader and one of Sri Lanka’s best known journalists, Lasantha Wickremetunge was murdered on 8th January 2009 en route to work, in broad daylight and on a busy road. The murderers, whoever they are, have yet to be captured. Groundviews was told that no newspaper in Sri Lanka was willing to carry this letter in full. Therein too lies a story of the pervasive nature of anxiety and fear in Sri Lanka, and the conditions facing independent journalists and media. We publish this letter in the hope that sustained domestic and international pressure to reveal the identity of Lasantha’s killers, especially as they…

Continue reading »

None Other Than Mahinda Rajapaksha!

Lasantha Wickrematunga faced his last moments at an unusual time at an unusual place. From the moment he left home the day he was murdered, he was aware that he was being tailed. He informed his friends of this fact on the phone. One friend had advised him to immediately go to a safe place. Lasantha’s reply was that ‘…at most, I will be killed.’ He had realised that if he had gone to a safe place, it would only be postponing his death for a few more days. He was an unarmed man driving his own car. There is no safety for the civil population of this country. If someone decides that another should be liquidated, it is a dead cert that it will happen any time. The moment I heard Lasantha was shot, I made my way to the Kalubowila hospital. On the road, I was reminded of the trip I took to the same hospital on a…

Continue reading »

THE MURDER OF AN EDITOR

“…The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity… …And what rough beast, its hour come round at last, Slouches towards Bethlehem to be born?” WB Yeats, ‘The Second Coming’ I have a particular problem with the murder of journalists, especially editors of newspapers. The Editor’s Guild and Publishers Society of Sri Lanka annually host an awards ceremony at which the final presentation of the evening, the pinnacle prize (distinguished by a different hue from the others), is for Journalist of the Year. That award is named after my father, Mervyn de Silva. It was not donated by me or any member of his family. It was instituted by the premier organizations of the profession to which he dedicated his life. Lasantha Wickrematunge was an Editor of a mainstream English language newspaper. He was thus a member of that tribe of which my father was a renowned elder. I do not know who killed him, but…

Continue reading »

Ashes at the Stake – For Lasantha

I remember the day I heard Richard was killed Almost twenty years ago. Far away in the diaspora I sat all night My back bent and still. Regimes shifted, People still disappeared into the night Witches, burnt at the stake A sacrifice, An offering.. In the name of the nation, Today I heard Lasatha was killed. “One of us” who spoke for the “them”, Burnt at the stake.. Another offering.. In the name of the nation. Far away in the diapora I have sat still With a bent back. For much too long. Slowly The Ashes Gather momentum… Francesca USA Repost This Article

Continue reading »

Attacks on Media

“What’s going on just now? What’s happening to us? What is this world, this period, this precise moment in which we are living?” –Michel Foucault Two incidents that happened within a period of 48 hours signified a major blow to media freedom and democracy in Sri Lanka. In the first incident, the main complex of Sirasa TV was attacked and its equipments were destroyed. According to reports, this attack was carried out by about group of 20 armed persons. The second incident that happened in day light on busy road in a Colombo suburb was the killing of Lasantha Wickramathunga, the editor of Sunday Leader by unidentified gunmen. All circumstantial and historical evidence has made me feel that these cowardly attacks were carried out by a group of people who have the backing and the blessings of the government and the government machinery. Sirasa media people were attacked many a time by a Minister of this Government. There were reports…

Continue reading »

Protest march by lawyers over Lasantha Wickremetunge’s assassination

Video courtesy Vikalpa video. For details, read The murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge and Sri Lanka’s future. Repost This Article

Continue reading »

One of Us

During civilized periods in the history of kingdoms courtiers, or the king’s person himself, in audience with the gadfly, would offer the fellow death or exile. These days assassins butcher their fly in daylight near security checkpoints in front of bewildered subjects. My Lord, Dutugemunu, slayer of wild beasts in northern jungles, why must we kill brother Lasantha, shed our own blood? Indran Amirthanayagam, January 11, 2009 Repost This Article

Continue reading »

Blood wanted, urgent!

Blood wanted, urgent! Quick, all you friends Can you please help To find more blood To immerse this whole nation In the red, life-giving fluid? The mighty Tsunami With all its geo-force Just wasn’t enough To cleanse our land. In any case Blood is thicker than water And that’s just what The good doctor ordered. Wanted, top urgent: Burgher blood, Muslim blood, Sinhala blood, Tamil blood and Veddah blood – To spill on our land By the truckload So that it’s bathed And turns everything into A deep crimson red! When our ‘patriots’ say ‘fight to the last drop’ They really count on us To keep the supply flowing Year after year! A, B, AB and O Negative and positive: These are but western myths Created to confuse our pure minds, To mislead our good people, To undermine our heritage, And our great civilisation Going back to millennia. In this resplendent isle All men, women and children Come with pure…

Continue reading »

Chandrika Kumaratunga responds to Dayan Jayatilleke’s comment on the murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge

Through a comment emailed to the Groundviews, former President of Sri Lanka Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga reacts to the brutal murder of Lasantha Wickremetunge, Editor in Chief of the Sunday Leader a few days ago. She responds to a comment by Sri Lanka’s Ambassador to the United Nations in Geneva, Dayan Jayatilleka, who noted earlier on Groundviews that “Lasantha had guts, which is more than I can say for the cowardly barbarians who murdered this unarmed man.” Read her pithy response, published exclusively on Groundviews here. Read Dayan Jayatilleke’s riposte to Chandrika Kumaratunga’s comment here.   Please follow the debate as it evolves here. Repost This Article

Continue reading »
Page 1 of 212

About 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!"

cezarneaga.eu