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And Not To Yield: The Life and Work of Lasantha Wickrematunge

Photo courtesy of The Guardian

The recent war was officially over by the time I came to Sri Lanka a few years ago but it was a country still recovering from protracted violence. Lasantha Wickrematunge was made known to me via the yearly commemorations that took place by his graveside, in keeping with the Sri Lankan cultural tradition of honoring the memory of a family’s departed loved ones, by remembering them annually on the date of their death anniversary as well as their birthdays.

I noted that journalists in their 30s and 40s seemed to write and speak of him a decade after his death and more with great respect. And that all of those who did so were, in my opinion, among the best writers of journalism in Sri Lanka today: the young editors and deputy editors of some of the most significant contemporary digital media platforms, many of whom had spent some time working at The Leader.

Citizens of this country have been through a turbulent several decades. Those living here throughout terror attacks, civil unrest,

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Lasantha Wickrematunge

Sri Lankan journalist (1958–2009)

Lasantha Manilal Wickrematunge (Sinhala: ලසන්ත වික්‍රමතුංග, Tamil: லசந்த விக்கிரமதுங்க; 5 April 1958 - 8 January 2009) was a high-profile Sri Lankan journalist, politician, broadcaster, and human rights activist who was assassinated in January 2009.^[1]

Wickrematunge was the founder of The Sunday Leader newspaper and Leader Publications and was a virulent critic of the Mahinda Rajapaksa government,^[2] and had been locked in a legal battle with Gotabaya Rajapaksa,^[3] who was defense secretary at the time and was spearheading the battle against the LTTE rebels. His assassination sent shockwaves across the country,^[4] as he was one of the nation's most influential journalists and most-well-known political figures and raised questions about freedom of expression in the country. Wickrematunge's murder was widely condemned across the world.^[5]The Daily Mirror called it the "biggest blow" to media freedom in Sri Lanka, and the Editors Guild held the government responsible

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Assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge

2009 murder in Colombo, Sri Lanka

Lasantha Wickrematunge, a Sri Lankan journalist, politician and human rights activist, was fatally shot and assassinated in Colombo, Sri Lanka on January 8, 2009.^[1] It is believed that he was killed due to his journalistic work critical of Sri Lankan politicians. His murder was widely condemned across the world. The Government of Sri Lanka also expressed shock at the killing, pledging to do everything in its power to catch his killers.

Background

Due to his work as an investigative journalist, Wickrematunge faced a number of threats and attacks leading up to his assassination. In 1995, masked assailants pulled Wickrematunge and his first wife, Raine, out of their car and attacked them with clubs. Raine later stated that death threats had become part of the routine of their lives: "There were so many threatening calls. 'We are going to kill you. We are going to kill your children.'"^[2] In 2002, Wickrematunge's then-wife left Sri Lanka due to the constant threats against the