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Lasantha
Wickrematunge |
No
other profession calls on its practitioners to lay down
their lives for their art save the armed forces and, in
Sri Lanka, journalism. In the course of the past few
years, the independent media have increasingly come
under attack. Electronic and print-media institutions
have been burnt, bombed, sealed and coerced. Countless
journalists have been harassed, threatened and killed.
It has been my honour to belong to all those categories
and now especially the last.
I have
been in the business of journalism a good long time.
Indeed, 2009 will be The Sunday Leader’s 15th year. Many
things have changed in Sri Lanka during that time, and
it does not need me to tell you that the greater part of
that change has been for the worse. We find ourselves in
the midst of a civil war ruthlessly prosecuted by
protagonists whose bloodlust knows no bounds. Terror,
whether perpetrated by terrorists or the state, has
become the order of the day. Indeed, murder has become
the primary tool whereby the state seeks to control the
organs of liberty. Today it is the journalists, tomorrow
it will be the judges. For neither group have the risks
ever been higher or the stakes lower.
Why
then do we do it? I often wonder that. After all, I too
am a husband, and the father of three wonderful
children. I too have responsibilities and obligations
that transcend my profession, be it the law or
journalism. Is it worth the risk? Many people tell me it
is not. Friends tell me to revert to the bar, and
goodness knows it offers a better and safer livelihood.
Others, including political leaders on both sides, have
at various times sought to induce me to take to
politics, going so far as to offer me ministries of my
choice. Diplomats, recognising the risk journalists face
in Sri Lanka, have offered me safe passage and the right
of residence in their countries. Whatever else I may
have been stuck for, I have not been stuck for choice.
For
there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame,
lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.
The
Sunday Leader has been a controversial newspaper because
we say it like we see it: whether it be a spade, a thief
or a murderer, we call it by that name. We do not hide
behind euphemism. The investigative articles we print
are supported by documentary evidence thanks to the
public-spiritedness of citizens who at great risk to
themselves pass on this material to us. We have exposed
scandal after scandal, and never once in these 15 years
has anyone proved us wrong or successfully prosecuted
us.
The
free media serve as a mirror in which the public can see
itself sans mascara and styling gel. From us you learn
the state of your nation, and especially its management
by the people you elected to give your children a better
future. Sometimes the image you see in that mirror is
not a pleasant one. But while you may grumble in the
privacy of your armchair, the journalists who hold the
mirror up to you do so publicly and at great risk to
themselves. That is our calling, and we do not shirk it.
Every
newspaper has its angle, and we do not hide the fact
that we have ours. Our commitment is to see Sri Lanka as
a transparent, secular, liberal democracy. Think about
those words, for they each has profound meaning.
Transparent because government must be openly
accountable to the people and never abuse their trust.
Secular because in a multi-ethnic and multi-cultural
society such as ours, secularism offers the only common
ground by which we might all be united. Liberal because
we recognise that all human beings are created
different, and we need to accept others for what they
are and not what we would like them to be. And
democratic... well, if you need me to explain why that
is important, you’d best stop buying this paper.
The
Sunday Leader has never sought safety by unquestioningly
articulating the majority view. Let’s face it, that is
the way to sell newspapers. On the contrary, as our
opinion pieces over the years amply demonstrate, we
often voice ideas that many people find distasteful. For
example, we have consistently espoused the view that
while separatist terrorism must be eradicated, it is
more important to address the root causes of terrorism,
and urged government to view Sri Lanka’s ethnic strife
in the context of history and not through the telescope
of terrorism.
We
have also agitated against state terrorism in the
so-called war against terror, and made no secret of our
horror that Sri Lanka is the only country in the world
routinely to bomb its own citizens. For these views we
have been labelled traitors, and if this be treachery,
we wear that label proudly.
Many
people suspect that The Sunday Leader has a political
agenda: it does not. If we appear more critical of the
government than of the opposition it is only because we
believe that — pray excuse cricketing argot — there is
no point in bowling to the fielding side. Remember that
for the few years of our existence in which the UNP was
in office, we proved to be the biggest thorn in its
flesh, exposing excess and corruption wherever it
occurred. Indeed, the steady stream of embarrassing
exposés we published may well have served to precipitate
the downfall of that government.
Neither should our distaste for the war be interpreted
to mean that we support the Tigers. The LTTE are among
the most ruthless and bloodthirsty organisations ever to
have infested the planet. There is no gainsaying that it
must be eradicated. But to do so by violating the rights
of Tamil citizens, bombing and shooting them
mercilessly, is not only wrong but shames the Sinhalese,
whose claim to be custodians of the Dhamma is forever
called into question by this savagery, much of which is
unknown to the public because of censorship.
What
is more, a military occupation of the country’s north
and east will require the Tamil people of those regions
to live eternally as second-class citizens, deprived of
all self respect. Do not imagine that you can placate
them by showering “development” and “reconstruction” on
them in the post-war era. The wounds of war will scar
them forever, and you will also have an even more bitter
and hateful diaspora to contend with. A problem amenable
to a political solution will thus become a festering
wound that will yield strife for all eternity. If I seem
angry and frustrated, it is only because most of my
countrymen — and all of the government — cannot see this
writing so plainly on the wall.
It is
well known that I was on two occasions brutally
assaulted, while on another my house was sprayed with
machine-gun fire. Despite the government’s sanctimonious
assurances, there was never a serious police inquiry
into the perpetrators of these attacks, and the
attackers were never apprehended. In all these cases, I
have reason to believe the attacks were inspired by the
government. When finally I am killed, it will be the
government that kills me.
The
irony in this is that, unknown to most of the public,
Mahinda and I have been friends for more than a quarter
century. Indeed, I suspect that I am one of the few
people remaining who routinely addresses him by his
first name and uses the familiar Sinhala address oya
when talking to him. Although I do not attend the
meetings he periodically holds for newspaper editors,
hardly a month passes when we do not meet, privately or
with a few close friends present, late at night at
President’s House. There we swap yarns, discuss politics
and joke about the good old days. A few remarks to him
would therefore be in order here.
Mahinda, when you finally fought your way to the SLFP
presidential nomination in 2005, nowhere were you
welcomed more warmly than in this column. Indeed, we
broke with a decade of tradition by referring to you
throughout by your first name. So well known were your
commitments to human rights and liberal values that we
ushered you in like a breath of fresh air. Then, through
an act of folly, you got yourself involved in the
Helping Hambantota scandal. It was after a lot of
soul-searching that we broke the story, at the same time
urging you to return the money. By the time you did so
several weeks later, a great blow had been struck to
your reputation. It is one you are still trying to live
down.
You
have told me yourself that you were not greedy for the
presidency. You did not have to hanker after it: it fell
into your lap. You have told me that your sons are your
greatest joy, and that you love spending time with them,
leaving your brothers to operate the machinery of state.
Now, it is clear to all who will see that that machinery
has operated so well that my sons and daughter do not
themselves have a father.
In the
wake of my death I know you will make all the usual
sanctimonious noises and call upon the police to hold a
swift and thorough inquiry. But like all the inquiries
you have ordered in the past, nothing will come of this
one, too. For truth be told, we both know who will be
behind my death, but dare not call his name. Not just my
life, but yours too, depends on it.
Sadly,
for all the dreams you had for our country in your
younger days, in just three years you have reduced it to
rubble. In the name of patriotism you have trampled on
human rights, nurtured unbridled corruption and
squandered public money like no other president before
you. Indeed, your conduct has been like a small child
suddenly let loose in a toyshop. That analogy is perhaps
inapt because no child could have caused so much blood
to be spilled on this land as you have, or trampled on
the rights of its citizens as you do. Although you are
now so drunk with power that you cannot see it, you will
come to regret your sons having so rich an inheritance
of blood. It can only bring tragedy. As for me, it is
with a clear conscience that I go to meet my Maker. I
wish, when your time finally comes, you could do the
same. I wish.
As for
me, I have the satisfaction of knowing that I walked
tall and bowed to no man. And I have not travelled this
journey alone. Fellow journalists in other branches of
the media walked with me: most of them are now dead,
imprisoned without trial or exiled in far-off lands.
Others walk in the shadow of death that your Presidency
has cast on the freedoms for which you once fought so
hard. You will never be allowed to forget that my death
took place under your watch. As anguished as I know you
will be, I also know that you will have no choice but to
protect my killers: you will see to it that the guilty
one is never convicted. You have no choice. I feel sorry
for you, and Shiranthi will have a long time to spend on
her knees when next she goes for Confession for it is
not just her owns sins which she must confess, but those
of her extended family that keeps you in office.
As for
the readers of The Sunday Leader, what can I say but
Thank You for supporting our mission. We have espoused
unpopular causes, stood up for those too feeble to stand
up for themselves, locked horns with the high and mighty
so swollen with power that they have forgotten their
roots, exposed corruption and the waste of your
hard-earned tax rupees, and made sure that whatever the
propaganda of the day, you were allowed to hear a
contrary view. For this I — and my family — have now
paid the price that I have long known I will one day
have to pay. I am — and have always been — ready for
that. I have done nothing to prevent this outcome: no
security, no precautions. I want my murderer to know
that I am not a coward like he is, hiding behind human
shields while condemning thousands of innocents to
death. What am I among so many? It has long been written
that my life would be taken, and by whom. All that
remains to be written is when.
That
The Sunday Leader will continue fighting the good fight,
too, is written. For I did not fight this fight alone.
Many more of us have to be — and will be — killed before
The Leader is laid to rest. I hope my assassination will
be seen not as a defeat of freedom but an inspiration
for those who survive to step up their efforts. Indeed,
I hope that it will help galvanise forces that will
usher in a new era of human liberty in our beloved
motherland. I also hope it will open the eyes of your
President to the fact that however many are slaughtered
in the name of patriotism, the human spirit will endure
and flourish. Not all the Rajapakses combined can kill
that.
People
often ask me why I take such risks and tell me it is a
matter of time before I am bumped off. Of course I know
that: it is inevitable. But if we do not speak out now,
there will be no one left to speak for those who cannot,
whether they be ethnic minorities, the disadvantaged or
the persecuted. An example that has inspired me
throughout my career in journalism has been that of the
German theologian, Martin Niemoller. In his youth he was
an anti-Semite and an admirer of Hitler. As Nazism took
hold in Germany, however, he saw Nazism for what it was:
it was not just the Jews Hitler sought to extirpate, it
was just about anyone with an alternate point of view.
Niemoller spoke out, and for his trouble was
incarcerated in the Sachsenhausen and Dachau
concentration camps from 1937 to 1945, and very nearly
executed. While incarcerated, Niemoller wrote a poem
that, from the first time I read it in my teenage years,
stuck hauntingly in my mind:
First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the Communists and I did not speak
out because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not
speak out because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me and there was no one left to speak
out for me.
If you
remember nothing else, remember this: The Leader is
there for you, be you Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim,
low-caste, homosexual, dissident or disabled. Its staff
will fight on, unbowed and unafraid, with the courage to
which you have become accustomed. Do not take that
commitment for granted. Let there be no doubt that
whatever sacrifices we journalists make, they are not
made for our own glory or enrichment: they are made for
you. Whether you deserve their sacrifice is another
matter. As for me, God knows I tried.
 IN
RECOGNITION OF A HERO…
UNESCO
will today Sunday, May 3, posthumously award its
prestigious Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom Prize to
slain Sri Lankan journalist Lasantha Wickrematunge,
editor of The Sunday Leader, who in an editorial
(reproduced above) that shocked the press freedom world
predicted his assassination, which eventually took place
on January 8.
On
January 13, we wrote the following about this remarkable
press freedom hero:
There
are many graves throughout the world where these heroes
are resting. And as sad as that sentence can make us
all, the saddest part is that almost the totality of
those who murder journalists on this planet are, in this
very moment, enjoying the spoils of their crimes
scot-free.
For
every silenced voice, there are many more who profit
from his or her misfortunes. In other words, this is a
very lucrative crime, which is repeated time and again
in many parts of the world.
Something extraordinary
One of
these repetitions, which took place in Sri Lanka on
January 8, did something extraordinary. He managed to
keep his voice loud and clear even after he was gunned
down. I am talking about Lasantha Wickrematunge, the
editor of Sri Lanka’s The Sunday Leader, who, in a
twisted version of Gabriel García Márquez’s Chronicle Of
An Announced Death in the form of an editorial, predicts
his own murder and fingers the ones who allegedly were
planning it.
Wickrematunge also foretells that those who would commit
his murder would never be brought to justice and holds
the very President of his country, a former close friend
of his, as the ultimate responsible party.
Today,
Joe Thloloe, president of the jury, said, “Jury members
were moved to an almost unanimous choice by a man who
was clearly conscious of the dangers he faced but
nevertheless chose to speak out, even beyond his grave.
Lasantha Wickrematunge continues to inspire journalists
around the world.”
Mutual understanding and reconciliation
The
award will be presented by UNESCO’s Director-General,
Koïchiro Matsuura today, Press Freedom Day, in
Doha,
Qatar,
under the theme of mutual understanding and
reconciliation.
WPFC
led the 2009 Guillermo Cano nomination of Mizzima News
Agency, the leading exiled organisation providing news
and information about Burma and the deeds of the
repressive military junta that is ruling the country
with an iron fist.
“Using
the technology and techniques of the new media to
maximum effect, Mizzima has shown itself to be a media
David to the military Goliath of the Burmese
government,” the WPFC nominating stated.
Defending or promoting freedom of expression
Created in 1997 by the Paris-based agency’s Executive
Board, the UNESCO/Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom
Prize is awarded annually to honour the work of an
individual or an organisation defending or promoting
freedom of expression anywhere in the world, especially
if this action puts the individual’s life at risk.
Candidates are proposed by UNESCO member states, and
regional or international organisations that defend and
promote freedom of expression.
The
$25,000 prize, financed by the Cano and Ottaway family
foundations, is named after Guillermo Cano, the
Colombian newspaper publisher assassinated in 1987 for
denouncing the activities of powerful drug barons in his
country.
Previous winners include Lydia Cacho (Mexico, 2008),
Anna Politkovskaya (Russian Federation, 2007), May
Chidiac (Lebanon, 2006), Cheng Yizhong, (China, 2005),
Raúl Rivero (Cuba, 2004), Amira Hass (Israel, 2003),
Geoffrey Nyarota (Zimbabwe, 2002), U Win Tin (Myanmar,
2001), Nizar Nayyouf (Syria, 2000), Jesus Blancornelas
(Mexico, 1999), Christina Anyanwu (Nigeria, 1998) and
Gao Yu (China, 1997)
Widow
of the late Lasantha Wickrematunge, Sonali, will be the
recipient of the award and the $25,000 prize.
Investigation:
Nothing yet
The
murder trial of the slain Editor in Chief of The Sunday
Leader Lasantha Wickrematunge was postponed to May 14
and the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate ordered the police to
submit the final investigation report on the next date.
The
police failed to appear before the Mt. Lavinia
Magistrate when the case was taken up last Thursday
(April 30).
When
The Sunday Leader queried as to why the police failed to
appear before the Mt. Lavinia Magistrate, Police
Spokesperson SSP Ranjith Gunasekera said that he does
not know as to why the police failed to turn up but
added that they would be present at the next hearing
date.
SSP
Gunasekera said that investigations in to the
assassination of Wickrematunge are ‘still in progress,’
but could not say anything further.
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