Lasantha: Unbowed and unafraid to the very end
By Risidra Mendis-Jan 08 2020Today, 8 January, is just another day for many people. But for the journalists who worked at 'The Sunday Leader' many years ago, it was the day that their beloved Editor-in-Chief Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated in broad daylight, on Attidiya Road, while on his way to office.
Lasantha was regularly threatened, and even assaulted, and had his house attacked, for the controversial stories he published in 'The Sunday Leader' every week. But on 8 January 2009, Lasantha paid the price with his life, for a paper that he published with so much passion and determination. His eldest son, Avinash, was 19, his daughter, Ahimsa, 17, and his younger son, Aadesh, 10, when he breathed his last at the Kalubowila Hospital, on that fateful day.
'If they kill me, don't stop printing!'
Lasantha's solid training of his journalists certainly went a long way that day, when the decision was made, despite the grief and shock, to go ahead with the printing of 'The Sunday Leader' that weekend. While their Editor-in-Chief lay dead in the hospital, Lasantha's journalists sombrely sat down at their desks and started writing their copies, in preparation for the weekend issue.
Working for 'The Sunday Leader' had its ups and downs, because of the controversial stories that Lasantha wrote without fear. We never knew when the office would be attacked, set on fire, or bombed, but we worked on because we were trained by an Editor who knew no fear when it came to journalism.
Sometimes he would tell us, "If you hear loud blasts, just get under your desks," or "If they kill me, continue the paper, don't stop printing!" This was the man who led us fearlessly from the front, never asking of us anything he himself would not do, and placing his life on the line every single day, to bring the truth to Leader readers, and expose corruption relentlessly.
Lasantha's team of journalists
It was in September 1998 that I first walked into 'The Sunday Leader' office in search of a job. I had no experience in journalism, but sat in front of Lasantha for an interview. After asking me if I had any writing experience, to which I replied "no," much to my surprise he said, "We can train you, can you start work tomorrow?"
Lasantha had no problem about giving a newcomer a chance at becoming a journalist, which is why his Editorial Desk was filled with young girls and boys just out of school. No matter if we were young or old, the work certainly got done and 'The Sunday Leader' hit the newspaper stands every weekend with controversial and juicy stories for the public to digest.
Today, many of those newcomers who had no clue about what journalism was all about hold high positions in the Media field, thanks to the hands-on, immediately thrown into the deep end to sink or swim style training that Lasantha gave them many years ago. Undoubtedly, the highlight of Lasantha's legacy is the stable of journalists he trained and left behind to keep fighting for what is right and hold the line in the face of challenges.
To his journalists, Lasantha was not a Boss but more a friend, a father, a confidante and even a shoulder for some to cry on. His doors at office were always open for anybody to walk in with whatever problems they had, be it personal or official.
Jolly mood and wide grin
One of the first signs of Lasantha being out of his room was the sound of terrible, off-key whistling along the corridors of the office. His singing was even worse! His jolly mood and wide grin would always lift the spirits of even the most stressed-out journalist. Lasantha was so child-like, always playing the fool and making us laugh, making us forget the bad pay and long hours, and want to do more and go the extra mile for him every single day.
Saving our papadum during lunch was a difficult task if Lasantha was around. He would walk out of his office and peep into our lunch packets and say "what do you have?" and calmly take the papadum. If there was no papadum, he would say, "Today no papadum!" and smile charmingly and walk away.
He enjoyed jumping out of corridors and scaring the young journalists, much to their embarrassment. He would do this to just about everyone. He also thoroughly enjoyed prank calling journalists from various rooms in the office. Lasantha didn't believe in ringing the bell in his room to summon the office assistant, and could forever be heard shouting for Sandanam or Ganesh down the corridor.
His first wife, Raine, who also worked at 'The Sunday Leader', had a good rapport with us (then young) journalists. Raine's room was always full of us chatting to her when taking a break. But the sound of Lasantha's voice along the corridor shouting "Raine!" at the top of his lungs would see us sprinting out of her room.
Raine could never understand why all of us would run out of her room to avoid Lasantha. Well, Lasantha was our Boss!
But way back when Raine and Lasantha worked for the 'Sun newspaper', Raine was a Sub-Editor and Lasantha a cub reporter who trained under her, learning the ropes in journalism, so it was clear to us that Raine never considered Lasantha as her Boss!
Lasantha was quite the party animal too, although he would not drink alcoholic beverages. Despite his workloads on a Friday night at the office, Lasantha was once seen dancing at the office Christmas party while holding onto a page and checking it all the while!
Despite his light-hearted ways with us, Lasantha never took no for an answer when it came to stories for the weekend paper. He would always say "there are many stories out there" and encouraged his journalists to get on the road and find those stories. He wasn't a strict Editor, but he made sure his journalists did their part and brought in unique and investigative stories that many would hesitate to report.
How it all began
Lasantha was born on 5 April 1958 in Kotahena to Harris and Chandra Wickrematunge. He Studied at St. Benedict's College Colombo and did his O/Ls and A/Ls in England. In 1981, he joined Independent Newspapers Ltd.
(Sun/Weekend) as a reporter. In 1983, he joined the Upali Group (Island newspaper).
He married Raine Amarasinghe in 1987 and passed out as an Attorney-at-Law and obtained his Law Degree in 1987/1988. Lasantha has three children - Avinash, Ahimsa and Aadesh - who presently reside in Australia.
Lasantha worked as a junior to Criminal Lawyer Ranjit Abeysuriya from 1988 to 1994 and contested the Colombo North Seat under the SLFP in 1989. He was appointed Private Secretary to Opposition Leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike in 1989, and started the Suranimala column in The Sunday Times in 1989.
He assumed duties as Editor-in-Chief of The Sunday Leader newspaper in 1994, and was subjected to many threats and assaults by governing parties, for the unbiased stance of the paper. Lasantha and Raine were assaulted by hired goons in 1995 and their home in Kandewatte Terrace, Nugegoda, came under machine gun fire in 1998.
A six-month ban on the Leader Publications printing facility was imposed in 2000. 'The Sunday Leader' fought the ban in the Supreme Court and emerged victorious. A move was then made to arrest Lasantha, after a story on a proposed presidential bunker was published in 2006. In 2007, 'The Sunday Leader' office was attacked and set on fire. Finally, Lasantha was assassinated on 8 January 2009.
Lasantha's story
While the death of Lasantha came as a shock to Raine and her children, she published her book 'And Then They Came For Me - The Lasantha Wickrematunge Story' in 2013, where she says: "Soon after Lasantha was killed in January 2009, people asked me whether I was considering writing a book on his life. Indeed, it was a remarkable life, an inspiring story that certainly needed to be told. However, at the time, shattered as I was trying to make sense of what had happened, floundering around in an attempt to pick up the pieces and move on our emotionally fragile children, the last thing I could think of was writing Lasantha's story. I couldn't even bring myself to read accounts of his death in the Media or watch any of his old television programmes."
"My daughter Ahimsa and I once fished out a tape from a trip we had made to Movie World in the Gold Coast some years back. As I was about to hit the 'play' button, we both froze, we became painfully aware that we simply couldn't bring ourselves to watch those recordings of Lasantha on that wonderful trip. It was too distressing. It took almost three years for the wounds to begin to heal and enable me to take a detailed look back on my life with Lasantha and sit down to write what was to become this book," Raine explained.
She adds: "I hope you enjoy the story of Lasantha, a man who knew no fear, a man who armed with nothing more than a humble pen, tons of courage and a stoic resistance to the bullying and harassment meted out to the Sri Lankan Media in general and himself in particular, strove to change for the better, the society he lived in, to foster independent thinking and instil hope in a people for too long subjugated by those more powerful. A man who consistently called for accountability and transparency in our leaders, while laying bare their many transgressions. A man who within his newspaper pages forged a battle against the oppressive jackboots of tyranny."
Unbowed and unafraid
Today, it is 11 years since Lasantha was assassinated, and it is shameful, pathetic, and utterly disheartening to see how little progress has been made in the ongoing investigation into his assassination. A memorial service to mark the anniversary will be held at his graveside today, at Borella Kanatta, at 9:00 a.m.
Lasantha's family, friends, and colleagues still wait for the day when his killers, who still roam free, are brought to book, and justice is done on behalf of an Editor who spoke for everyone, who stood tall and stayed the course - unbowed and unafraid to the very end.
