The unsolved murder of Maiylvaganam Nimalarajan

• There were no vehicles to take him to the hospital due to the curfew imposed in Jaffna; by the time the land master reached the OLR church Jaffna, he had succumbed to his injuries
• The case was dissolved by the Jaffna Magistrate Peter Paul under instructions of the Attorney General on May 4

Many Sinhala and Tamil journalists were killed in Sri Lanka during the past years, As per the Sinhala journalists’ cases inquiries are ongoing in the Court due to the pressure of the International Media organisations and human rights organisations. However the Tamil journalists’ cases have not moved from the beginning; BBC Jaffna Correspondent Maiyilvaganam Nimalarajan’s case was dissolved by the Jaffna Magistrate Peter Paul under instruction of the Attorney General on the 4th of this month.   

44 Tamil Media personnel were killed during the war including Media employees, either the judgement was not given or the investigations have not moved further so far. Among the assassinated Tamil Journalists Sivaram (Taraki) and Nimalarajan are pioneers in the Sri Lankan Media field.   

Nimalarajan was a Jaffna born journalist completed his secondary education at Bambalapitiya Hindu College, when his father was attached to the government press Colombo; after the 1977 communal riots Nimalarajan’s family moved and settled down in Jaffna.   

44 Tamil Media personnel were killed during the war including Media employees, either the judgement was not given or the investigations have not moved further so far

Nimalarajan started his career as a circulation clerk in “Murasolie” which was a Tamil daily published in Jaffna in the mid-eighties. Murasolie and Eelamurasu newspaper offices were bombed by the IPKF in October 1987 when the war began between the LTTE and the IPKF.   

In 1990 Nimalarajan joined as a Staff Reporter in the Eelanatham newspaper which was published by the LTTE. In 1996 security forces took over the Jaffna peninsula, from 1997. Nimalarajan started to writing in the “Ravaya” as a columnist. During this period the BBC Sinhala and Tamil services used him as their Jaffna reporter; many Colombo based print and electronic medias also used Nimalarajan as their Jaffna Correspondent.   

Nimalarajan gave hot news for his medias as a war correspondent. If anything happened in the north during those days the story appeared in the Colombo based media and International Media in a few minutes time; Nimalrajan was the Media king in the north during those days; the reason was he had close relationships with the bottom to top level people; from executive officers to minor employees of the state and private sector, top level to ordinary level officers in the tri-forces, taxi drivers, pavement hawkers etc.   

He was acting like a media bridge between Sinhala and Tamil journalists, whenever southern journalist visited Jaffna, they called Nimal, before they left Colombo; he would fulfill their needs, because night time curfew and travel restrictions were imposed in Jaffna during those days. When the Chemmani grave yard was unearthed and fifteen skeletons were recovered, and 75 local and International journalists were flown to Jaffna, Nimal assisted them.   

He was a social activist too, when he was the secretary of the “North Lanka Journalist Association” the North Lanka Journalist Association donated a netball net, ball and some books to the Tamil youth who were in the custody at Kankesanthurai detention centre and gave biscuits to the patients who came for treatment at the Jaffna hospital during Christmas time.   

On 19th of October 2000 a helicopter crashed in the Jaffna lagoon, he gave the story to the BBC Sinhala and Tamil services, while he was listening the story which was being broadcast in the Sinhala service, however he never lived to listen to the story being broadcast in the Tamil service. He was shot by a unidentified gunman through the window. A grenade had also been thrown into the room, in which he was writing the story; his wife had desperately called the EPRLF Varatharajaperumal wing and conveyed the news of the shooting to them, they had come in a tractor, because there were no vehicles to take him to the hospital due to the curfew imposed in Jaffna; by the time the land master reached the OLR church Jaffna, he had succumbed to his injuries.   

The investigations were pending in the Jaffna Magistrate Court over the last fifteen years. The case was dissolved by the Jaffna Magistrate Peter Paul under instructions of the Attorney General on the 4th of this month.