Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar incident
Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar were minority Sri Lankan Tamils working for the Uthayan – a Tamil newspaper published from Jaffna. Uthayan has been specifically targeted for its independent reporting by the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitary group EPDP.[1][2] They were killed on 2 May 2006 during an attack on the Uthayan office.
Background[edit]
In Jaffna – which is under Sri Lankan army control – journalists, human rights activists and civilians have lived under constant fear. These killing are part of series of killing, abduction and attacks on the Tamil Media in Sri Lanka.[3][4][5] These killings, abductions and threats are seen as part of the dirty war launched by Mahinda Rajapaksa government.[6][7]
Incident and reaction[edit]
Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar were killed after a Uthayan published a cartoon mocking Douglas Devananda the leader of EPDP a paramilitary group allied with the Sri Lankan Army.[8] Armed Gunmen entered the office of Uthayan in army controlled Jaffna on 2 May 2006 and demanded to see the editor R. Kuhanathan and finding he was not there opened fire and the two employees died instantly.[9][10][11]
References[edit]
- ^ Gunmen set fire to Tamil newspaper’s press
- ^ Jaffna paper beats the odds
- ^ Tamil media caught in ongoing conflict Archived 2010-07-12 at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Intimidation of Tamil media.
- ^ Press Freedom, World Review, June - November 2006
- ^ Fact-finding report by the International Press Freedom Mission to Sri Lanka
- ^ White van 'terrorises' Jaffna
- ^ Media Terror in Sri Lanka's Jaffna
- ^ Gunmen 'kill two' at Jaffna paper
- ^ "Jaffna's media in the grip of terror". Reporters Without Borders. 24 August 2007. Retrieved 30 August 2020.
- ^ "11th anniversary of Uthayan killings remembered". Tamil Guardian. 3 May 2017. Retrieved 22 February 2023.