I was 10 years old when Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated

By Shanthi Pillai

The year was 2009. On 8 January, the army recaptured Palaly from the Tamil Tigers in efforts to reach the Jaffna Peninsula. I was a 10-year-old girl growing up in Colombo then and I was in year five. 

That morning, I was sitting behind my desk when a teacher dashed into our classroom with terror across her face and loudly told my English teacher that Lasantha Wickrematunge had been shot. I recall my teacher being in discomfort for the remainder of the class. At the time, I didn’t quite understand the impact his death had on Sri Lanka and what his assassination was going to mean for the future of dissent in the nation.

When my sisters and I got home, we couldn’t understand why all the grownups were so upset. I recall watching my parents and grandmother all huddled across our television set, sadness etched on their faces. As they all watched the events surrounding Lasantha’s death unfold all night, I recall at one point my grandmother saying through a tear stained face that we had lost our voice that day. 

Throughout my life, I’d often hear the name Lasantha Wickrematunge in heated debates at family gatherings and dinners, where the state of Sri Lanka’s politics and the brutal civil war were argued, however as a child, I didn’t fully understand the significance of these discussions.

After migrating to London soon after the war ended in 2009, my sisters and I became so accustomed to the culture of the UK that we lost touch with our roots and heritage. It wasn’t until the 2022 economic crisis in Sri Lanka that I became passionate about learning my background and what our family members had suffered and had to overcome. 

Colombo post-Lasantha Wickrematunge

Today, my father describes Colombo post-Lasantha Wickrematunge as a very frightening time. He says there was a climate of fear that prevailed. Tamil civilians were being killed even in the self-declared no-fire zones as the fighting between the Government forces and the LTTE raged. After the defeat of the LTTE, it is believed many were executed by the Government security forces and hundreds disappeared.

While the so called war on terror waged in northern Sri Lanka, the war’s toll on Colombo was its crackdown on the press as all shades of expression were very closely tied to the conflict. The Government continued to deny journalists unrestricted access to thousands of displaced people living in camps, blocking any reporting on their experiences in the war and the conditions they were forced to face in the camps. At the same time, unprecedented levels of violence against media personnel engaged in critical reporting had contributed to a standard of fear and self-censorship that had deprived the people of Sri Lanka of their right to information on what was taking place.

Lasantha Wickrematunge was one of Sri Lanka’s only voices that spoke authoritatively about the Government and Tamil Tigers conduct of a brutal war. He was the nation’s fiercest resistance fighter against the Rajapaksa despotism and was viewed as the biggest obstacle to what was happening in the north. He was put on a traitor list published on the Defence Ministry’s website and lawyers that represented him were also threatened. Lasantha was relentless in exposing the human cost of war and the media campaigns and vilifications he faced by State sponsored media were unending.

A one man army

In many ways, Lasantha was a one man army and he became a saviour to the Tamil people everywhere. His resilience also earned him a reputation as being one of the most powerful enemies of the Government. When speaking about the nature of war and censorship, Lasantha said it was our duty not to accept anything the Government tells us at face value and that it is his duty not to allow the press in Sri Lanka to be brow beaten or censored and to tell the outside world about the horrific nature of the war in which we were involved.

Lasantha Wickrematunge came from Sri Lanka’s majority Sinhalese. He understood his Sinhala privilege and understood that when in a position of power or privilege, it is up to you to correct the wrongs and ills that befall vulnerable peoples. Lasantha fought hard for Tamils and he put his life on the line for racial justice. His death ushered in a new era of self-censorship and silence in the media. It became clear that his assassination was crucial to the crimes that needed to be committed against Tamil civilians. I feel a strange sense of guilt knowing that this warrior lost his life in a fight for my rights and it motivates me to live the best life I can in his memory. This is how I believe all Tamils can honour him for all he did for us. 

Today, hundreds of Tamils are in a battle to uncover the truth about their family members who disappeared during and after the civil war. The images of these mothers holding up pictures of their missing relatives are a constant reminder of the trauma of the conflict 16 years later. These war torn families have engaged with several domestic mechanisms to no avail. 

When reflecting on the war’s damage on Colombo’s civil society, I think of the famous photograph from the Lasantha Wickrematunge funeral, where his three children are huddled across their father’s casket. That image has become ingrained on the national consciousness as a defining image that symbolises the blood-stained legacy of the Rajapaksa era, this along with the countless other heart-wrenching images of grieving mothers holding up photographs of their missing children and family members. 

This year represents the 16-year anniversary of the assassination of Lasantha. I can’t imagine what Sri Lanka would be today for Tamils had Lasantha been here. Lasantha saw the social problem in the armed conflict against the Tamil insurgents and for that, I feel indebted to him. He saw that it was not the evil of the entire Sinhala race but the oppression perpetrated by a certain segment of the Sinhalese, which kept Tamils in chains. 

So much has been written and said of this iconic crusader and his legacy. It is my personal view that years from now, his legacy will not be of the greatest journalist and reformer in Sri Lanka but for his immeasurable campaigns for equal and fair treatment of all citizens that cost him his life. Lasantha stood unbowed and unafraid till the end of his inspiring life. The assassination of Lasantha Wickrematunge will forever be etched in not just my memory but the memories of Sri Lankans who lived through these historic times.