Memories of Lasantha Wickrematunga

by Pearl Thevanayagam

" Lasantha’s life was snatched away that cold cruel day on January 08, 2009 by the government of Mahinda Rajapakse who could not stomach his exposes and his chilling murder in broad daylight brought international attention to Sri Lanka’s intolerance of media freedom for the first time."

(January 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) I recognized the dimunitive figure in the dim corridor of Lanka Oberoi as that of my Sunday Leader boss Lasantha Wickrematunga on an evening in 1995. He was clad in T-shirt and wearing Bata slippers and hardly could be mistaken for a five star hotel guest.

I was emerging from the suite of a contact from India over a story and both my boss and I passed each other without not so much as a hello.

This was the hallmark of an investigative journalist and I was pondering what Lasantha had up his sleeve. True to form his expose was that President Chandrika Kumaratunga was attending the birthday party of Asitha Perera. And she came through the backdoor.

Lasantha was seen the next day scribbling furiously and the President was not the best pleased to be told to the nation that she was seen partying till well after midnight while she should be attending to her duties as the President of an 18 million population.

As I sit here in front of my computer wondering what made Lasantha tick and what cruel fate took away the life of an inveterate and ingenious journalist exactly two years ago today who feared no one and who did not care tuppence for what others thought as long as he had a scoop.

Lasantha’s life was taken away in the prime of his life and in the peak of his career and I still seethe with anger at his obvious carefree attitude towards his own life and more importantly forgetting he adored his wife Raine and children Avinash and Ahimsa. He doted on his family although they came second to journalism. Raine was a tower of strength to him and I know for a fact she is an articulate journalist who could fill in the blanks when Lasantha was busy fishing for stories on governing politicians.

Lasantha’s life was snatched away that cold cruel day on January 08, 2009 by the government of Mahinda Rajapakse who could not stomach his exposes and his chilling murder in broad daylight brought international attention to Sri Lanka’s intolerance of media freedom for the first time.

When Lasantha put his hands in his pockets and start nibbling lunch from his staff and making dry jokes we knew that week’s Sunday edition would be a belter.

He used to virtually lock me up in a room whenever I returned from the North and East to stop me from recounting my adventures to others instead of getting on with writing the report.

Or if I brought in a scoop on an erring politician (he would have given me the tip in the first place) he would spice it up and add important missing details and you would wonder how he came across these.

Lasantha was no ordinary journalist. He was simply a gifted journalist. And he feared no one.

May his soul rest in peace and may Raine and her children draw strength from Lasantha who is surely looking over them from wherever he may be.