Photo courtesy of Lanka Leader
It has been 21 years since the murder of journalist Ayyathurai Nadesan. Nadesan is considered to be the first journalist killed during the tenure of a United People’s Freedom Alliance (UFPA) government.
No investigation has been conducted into Nadesan’s murder for many years. Both local and international media, as well as human rights organizations, have pointed to the Karuna Amman faction that broke away from the LTTE in connection with the murder. Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan, alias Pillayan, the former Chief Minister of the Eastern Province and a close associate of Nadesan under Karuna Amman, is currently in custody in connection with the 2006 abduction and disappearance of a university vice chancellor in the Eastern Province.
The Batticaloa Journalists’ Association is planning to demand an investigation into the murder of Nadesan, according to its head, Shashidaran Punyamurthy. He emphasised that justice for his colleague should be pursued through a formal investigation rather than relying solely on an annual commemoration. Nadesan’s nephew, lawyer Sugash Kanagaratnam, has also expressed his intention to call for a thorough investigation into the killing.
“The people feel that the justice denied during the Rajapaksa regime, the justice denied during the Ranil regime and the justice denied during the Maithri regime will, at the very least, be delivered during the Anura Kumara regime,” said Ilangai Tamil Arasu Kachchi MP Gnanamuttu Srinesan, who participated in the commemoration held in Batticaloa. He also expressed confidence in the possibility of justice being served.
JVP–SLFP alliance
The year 2004 began with the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the JVP and the SLFP, setting the stage for the formation of a new political front. At the time, there was growing uncertainty about whether the LTTE and the UNP government would continue to uphold the ceasefire agreement.
Amid this backdrop, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe’s government had made notable progress with a covert strategy to divide the LTTE. As part of this plan, Eastern Province LTTE commander Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan, alias Karuna Amman, defected from the organization and began operating under the aegis of the government’s military.
The JVP-SLFP alliance, launched on January 20, 2004 under the banner of the UPFA, expanded further with other parties including the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna, Sri Lanka People’s Party, Deshavimukthi Janatha Party, Communist Party, Lanka Sama Samaja Party, National Congress and Muslim National Unity Alliance also joining.
All these parties, which were directly opposed to the ceasefire and the peace process, united under the betel leaf symbol in April 2004, won the parliamentary elections, and formed the government. Douglas Devananda’s EPDP, Rauff Hakeem’s SLMC and Arumugam Thondaman’s CWC also joined the alliance.
The season of terror in Batticaloa
Batticaloa has been a region marked by conflict, much of it deliberately instigated. It was one of the initial targets of state-sponsored Sinhalese colonisation. The Gal Oya Development Scheme followed by the Mahaweli Development Programme significantly altered the area’s demographic composition. Successive governments took measures that exacerbated tensions between the Tamil and Muslim communities, leading to numerous incidents of violence. Various paramilitary groups backed by state forces were active in and around Batticaloa, further contributing to the region’s instability.
Facing death threats from a paramilitary group Virakesari reporter Nithya, based in Batticaloa, fled the country to save his life. His replacement, Kumaraguru, worked in the media for only a short period. Due to threats from government security forces, he too left journalism and eventually went abroad.
The Virakesari position vacated by him was later filled by Ayyathurai Nadesan, who was born in Nelliadi, Jaffna. A graduate in economics from the University of Jaffna, Nadesan was initially a school teacher and later served as a revenue officer. He also held the position of media secretary for the North-Eastern Provincial Council under Chief Minister Varadaraja Perumal. When the council was dissolved by President R. Premadasa’s government, Nadesan returned to his role as a schoolteacher in the hill country. However, he moved back to Batticaloa to serve again as a revenue officer.
Nadesan, who was politically inclined toward the Communist Party during his time in Jaffna, consistently advocated for unity between the Tamil and Muslim communities in Batticaloa. He was more than just a development reporter; he played a key role in highlighting the suffering of the people of the Eastern Province to a wider audience.
Rajkumar Subramaniam, who was the President of the Sri Lanka Tamil Journalists Association at the time, told the website Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka that Nadesan’s book written in support of the Tamil people’s right to self-determination stands as a powerful testament to his political insight. He noted that Nadesan clearly went beyond the boundaries of a typical regional journalist.
Nadesan falls amid echoes of gunfire
As usual, on the morning of May 31, 2004 Nadesan was on his way to the Batticaloa Revenue Department for work. Assassins, who had been lying in wait, shot him multiple times and killed him. They escaped unharmed through a nearby military checkpoint. The murder was widely attributed to the Karuna Amman faction that operated under the patronage of the government military.
A devoted father of four, Nadesan chose to remain in Batticaloa despite repeated threats to his life, driven by his deep connection and commitment to his hometown. He had been a key force behind the formation of the Eastern Lanka Journalists’ Association and was serving as the Vice President of the Tamil Journalists’ Association at the time of his death. With over 20 years of experience in journalism, Nadesan was recognised for his dedication and impact, receiving the Best Journalist of the Year award at the Editors’ Guild Media Awards 2000.
Nadesan, who consistently stood for Tamil-Muslim as well as Tamil-Sinhala cooperation, actively worked to foster unity across communities. His colleague, Shanthavarasa, shared this recollection with Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka web site.
“During the ceasefire, we, as the Eastern Lanka Journalists’ Association, organized a tour to Vanni and Jaffna. About 35 Tamil and Muslim journalists from the region took part. Nadesan was the driving force behind this initiative. He also participated in the Sinhala-Tamil dance festival organized by the Hiru group in Colombo…Nadesan called me from Colombo and said that the Sinhala Heritage group…had come to disrupt the event. But he told me firmly that he wouldn’t leave until the programme was completed.”
This illustrates Nadesan’s unwavering commitment to peace and cross-cultural solidarity even in the face of hostility.
Local and international media outlets, along with human rights organizations, issued strong statements condemning and protesting the killing of Nadesan.
However, no investigation was ever carried out into his murder and no suspects were arrested. Amid increasing repression, media organizations in Batticaloa gradually began to disintegrate. Prominent journalists who had worked alongside Nadesan such as Shanthavarasa, Thurairatnam, Vedanayagam and Chandrakumar chose to go into exile. Many others left Batticaloa and returned to Colombo while the remainder remained silent out of fear or caution.
A memorial for Nadesan is held annually in Batticaloa but these gatherings have largely become symbolic events as no genuine effort has been made to investigate his killing in the 21 years since.