The 25th anniversary of the murder of Tamil journalist Nimalarajan Mylvaganam was marked in Jaffna and Batticaloa this week, as his colleagues gathered to remember his life and demand justice for his killing.
At both the Jaffna and Batticaloa Press clubs, Tamil journalists, activists and civil society colleagues fathered to light candles and garland a portrait of Nimalarajan, who was killed at his home in Jaffna 25 years ago.
Nimalarajan contributed to the BBC for over six years, as well as the Tamil daily Virakesari and Sinhala weekly Ravaya.
He was murdered as he was writing for the BBC at home one evening. According to the BBC,
His father was repeatedly knifed and his mother and young nephew badly injured by a hand grenade explosion in their sitting room.
All this took place during curfew hours in a high security zone in Jaffna close to several military check points.
The Committee to Protect Journalists stated shortly after his death:
“The assailants shot the journalist through the window of his study, where he was working on an article, and threw a grenade into the home before fleeing the premises. The attack occurred during curfew hours in a high-security zone in central Jaffna town.”
“Local journalists suspect that Nimalarajan's reporting on vote-rigging and intimidation in Jaffna during the recent parliamentary elections may have led to his murder.”
The government-aligned paramilitary group the Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) are suspected of carrying out the killing. The Sri Lankan Attorney General's department ordered the release of the suspects involved in the murder case. At least two other suspects were thought to have been abroad.
In February 2022, the Metropolitan Police’s War Crimes Team arrested a 48-year-old man in Britain over Nimalarajan's murder. The man was later released.
Read more here: British war crimes police arrest man over murder of Tamil journalist in Jaffna
His mother, Lily Theres Mylvaganam, who fought relentlessly seeking justice for her son, passed away in Canada in 2021. His father, Sangarapillai Mylvaganam, told Reporters Without Borders in 2010,
“This has been 10 years of suffering for our family. But my son’s memory is still alive. I would like people to remember him as a courageous journalist who served his community. The government could relaunch the investigation into my son’s murder if it wanted to. It is a question of political will.”
“We want justice to be done.”
Last month, the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP) released a report detailing the failures of Sri Lanka's police in investigating Nimalarajan's murder.
The report concluded that Nimalarajan's case was a "text-book case of investigative failure" and Sri Lanka's culture of impunity allowed the murders and disappearances of 44 journalists to occur on the island between 2000 and 2010.
