Lasantha, the undaunted realist

This column joins the people of this country to salute Lasantha Wickrematunga the undaunted fighter for the establishment of a transparent, secular, liberal democratic Sri Lanka.

I was one of his admirers who repeatedly warned him of the danger he faced. “Saba! Don’t worry,” he laughed out loud every time I cautioned. “It’s better to die than be silent.” He had been finally silenced. I am sure he would have been thrilled to see that so many people were with him. They stood by him.

I was not his close associate. I am 26 years older than him and I struck to tame journalism, having served at Lake House for 41 years. But as political reporters we used to bump into each other at press conferences and social events. Being strict teetotallers, we gravitated to the same corner where we shared thoughts.

My first meeting with Lasantha was in 1981. He was then a cub reporter at the Sun, where he joined after his studies in England. His interest being politics, he was assigned to cover a press conference held by Rural Industrial Development Minister S. Thondaman, leader of the Ceylon Workers’ Congress. Lasantha was keen to get an exclusive interview with Thondaman and I helped him.

Thondaman was a good judge of men and matters. He took an instant liking for Lasantha. Thondaman saw in Lasantha a young journalist willing to look at the other side. He told me, “He looks different from other Sinhala journalists.”

When I was reading the ‘last editorial’ on Sunday in The Sunday Leader my eyes started tearing. In it he had spelt out his and his paper’s ‘angle.’ I quote that portion in full because that portrays Lasantha.

“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.”

Lasantha was what he was because he believed in transparency, secularism, liberalism and democracy. That was his mission. He was totally committed to it.

Whenever we met, we talked about the ethnic problem. There were occasions when we talked as representatives of our races: I as a Tamil and he as a Sinhalese. We always agreed we must continue to be what we were born and that was what enriched our motherland.

Once he raised the eternal Sinhala fear and asked: Won’t the Sri Lankan Tamil join hands with Tamil Nadu Tamils and smother the Sinhala race?” I told him that that would never happen. And I told him that though both speak the same language and follow the same cultural norms, the Sri Lankan Tamils have evolved a separate identity and they will never permit it to be swamped by the Indian Tamils. “We are proud of our sub-nationalism, the Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism. We wish to be Tamils and Sri Lankans.”

He told me he had also discussed that matter with his colleague D.B.S. Jayaraj and he had also told him the same thing.

We discussed at length about Tamil grievances, especially during the year-long 1984 All Party Conference, which we covered together, and young Lasantha was by then a convinced supporter of the devolution process. That was the period when Velupillai Pirapaharan was one of the many Tamil youth leaders and was beginning to emerge the first among them.

Lasantha was one of the two Sinhala journalists – the other was Mervyn de Silva – who were disappointed when President J.R. Jayewardene scrapped the All Party Conference and returned to the military option. I remember young Lasantha commenting, after government spokesman Lalith Athulathmudali announced the cancellation of the political process: “We have missed a chance.”

In this context, please read what Lasantha, a mature journalist, wrote to be published in the event of his slaying:

“…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.”

I was at Kataragama on Friday evening when the Sinhala people lighted crackers to celebrate the recapture of Elephant Pass. Tamils were embarrassed. Lasantha understood the long-term implications of military occupation. Now read his words:“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.”

Lasantha was warned repeatedly of the dangers of voicing such views. He had been offered official favours. He had been offered facilities to migrate to other countries. He refused to accept them and made use of his acid pen to reveal instances of fraud and misuse of power. And the most touching thing is that he prepared to face the inevitable… the slaughter.

For him: “But there is a calling that is yet above high office, fame, lucre and security. It is the call of conscience.”

Lasantha! the people, especially the Tamil people, are with you.