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Lasantha's Last Editorial!
And Then They Came For Me
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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.
But 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 expos‚s 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 Niem”ller. 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. Niem”ller 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, Niem”ller 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.
Courtesy:
http://www.thesundayleader.lk/20090111/editorial-.htm
Related: Goddbye Lasantha...Read
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