Murdered journalist Nimalarajan remembered in North-East

The 23rd anniversary of the murder of Tamil journalist, Mylvaganam Nimalarajan, was commemorated at the Jaffna Press Club and at the Vavuniya Press Club on October 19th. Nimalarajan was one of the few independent reporters in the Tamil homeland who contributed to both local and international press. Nimalarajan’s murderers, who shot him to death in his house in a high-security zone, are yet to be prosecuted. 

Nimalarajan and colleagues protesting the bombing of the Uthayan newspaper. The protest was held on the 31st of August, 1999.

(Photo courtesy of TamilNet.com)

The murder, which took on a night when a curfew had been declared, was a high-profile assassination that it is widely accepted to have taken place with the complicity of the Sri Lankan security forces. The two unidentified gunmen who had forcibly entered the journalist's house, slit the throat of Nimalarajan, shot him in the head in his room while he was working on a report at point-blank range, and threw a grenade into the house, in which his mother and his 11-year old nephew were injured. 

Read more about the investigation into his murder:

British war crimes police arrest man over murder of Tamil journalist in Jaffna

The search for Nimalarajan’s killers proves why international justice is the only way

Mylvaganam Nimalarajan murder suspect remains under investigation says British war crimes police

British Metropolitan Police release suspect in the murder of Tamil journalist

In 1998, he reported on the Chemmani mass grave, where over 600 youths were forcibly disappeared by the security forces. Earlier in the year of his murder, he had reported on the bombing of the Uthayan newspaper in Jaffna, in which the Eelam People’s Democratic Party (EPDP) was implicated. At the time of his murder, he was reporting on the rigging of the Parliamentary elections, in which he had alleged that rigging had taken place in Kayts, an islet in which the EPDP maintained a stronghold. At the time, the EPDP was known for maintaining a group of armed personnel, working closely with the security forces, and being politically aligned with the People’s Alliance government, which won 7 out of the 9 Parliamentary seats in Kayts. 

Protest held on 24th October 2000, condemning the murder of journalist Nimalarajan. The Protestors are seen wearing black cloth around their mouths.

(Photo courtesy of TamilNet.com)

His funeral was attended by thousands of people the next day. The funeral was followed by multiple protests throughout the North-East.