by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
The Country is going mad with venomous hatred! Highly educated
professionals and intellectuals are at each others throats over the internet. The
racist gobbledygook put out against each other by those on either side of the
ethnic fence makes one want to puke. One is appalled and aghast at the
depths of depravity to which members of two cultured races could descend to
Even as vocal warriors battle it out on their computers the real Mccoys are
fighting it out on the battlefields of Muhamaalai, Mandaitheevu and Maavilaaru.
Death, destruction and displacement is at its highest. The propaganda war is
on at full scale with T. Ruth being killed again and again and again
Death has become a mere word. The number of deaths is a simple statistic.
Life is "nasty, short and brutish". Humanity is at its lowest ebb..."Oh to be far
from the madding crowd and away from this ignoble strife".
Even in such vile atmospheres where life and death are fast becoming
meaningless a single man's or woman's death too cannot have any meaning.
Yet there are people whose deaths diminish all of us. Their departure leaves us
sad and shattered. The loss is not to the nearest and dearest alone but to all of
humanity.
The death of Ketheeswaran Loganathan called generally as "Ketheesh" was
one such instance. One more person capable of rising above hatred and
insanity in present day Sri Lanka is no more. With his departure one more
Tamil who wanted his people to live with equal rights in a united Lanka and
champion that cause in the face of danger has been done away with. Only a
few of us are left now.
Ketheeswaran or Ketheesh was of Jaffna origin (Thunnalai South) but born and
bred in Colombo. He studied at St. Thomas's College Mt. Lavinia and Loyola
College, Madras before proceeding to the USA for higher studies. He was the
scion of an elitist Tamil family.
His father was the legendary banker and economist Chelliah Loganathan.
There was a time when Loganathan , General Manager of Bank of Ceylon was
regarded as a powerful financier wielding much influence in Sri Lanka.The
bank's lending policies caused much controversy.Buddhika Kurukularatne in
his eminently readable Sunday column refers to a description of Loganathan by
the journalist par excellence Denzil Peiris. “Like a Sea Street chettiar, Mr. C.
Loganathan sits in his York Street office with his greasy fingers on the national
economy.”
Ketheesh born in 1952 was two years older than I. He was the youngest in
the family. Chelliah and Thilakavathy Loganathan had six children. Ketheesh
had three elder sisters Gowri Tharmaratnam, Vasuki Maheswaran and Lalitha
Yogasundaram and two elder brothers Sathananthan and Sritharan..
His sister Gowri passed way recently. She was married to Tharmaratnam a top
economist at the World Bank. Another sister Vasuki is married to Maheswaran
a medical doctor in the US who I think is the brother of former Jaffna MP
Yogeswaran. Ketheesh himself was married to Bhavani Kumarasamywho
worked in the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES) until recently and is
presently attached to Centre for Policy Alternatives (CPA)
Ketheesh had pronounced left leanings. One of his father's brothers
Tharmakulasingham was a well - known Samasajist leaders of an earlier
vintage. Tharmakulasingham who contested the Point Pedro Constituency in
1947 on the LSSP ticket was a very popular leftist who died at a very early age
amid tragic circumstances. Many people feel that had Tharmakulasingham lived
he would certainly have become a prominent leader of the left movement. In a
way Ketheesh inherited this leftist legacy.
Ketheesh Loganathan received a Bachelors degree in Business Administration
from Georgetown University in Washington , USA and a Masters in
Development Studies from the Institute of Social Studies at Hague,
Netherlands. He also worked on a masters degree at the Institute of
Development Studies in Sussex, UK.
Ketheesh belonged to a segment of Jaffna Tamil society that lived and studied
outside Jaffna but retained a positive love and interest in the land of their
ancestors. Life for this category would have been entirely different if there was
no ethnic oppression in Sri Lanka. Even then it was possible to have gone
abroad and lived a life of luxury and seclusion from Sri Lankan politics.
But some of these people did not do so. Instead they chose to engage in
political struggle and worked for the emancipation of the Tamil people in a
united Sri Lanka. They were able to see both sides of the question and bring a
sense of balance and moderation to the prevailing discourse that was often
rabid. The ability to see both sides and understand the other mans point of
view is often a great blessing. But in contemporary Sri Lanka it was a curse.It
often made you an outsider in both camps. Ketheesh belonged to this rare
breed of persons.
At the time of his death Ketheesh was Deputy Secretary - General of the
Secretariat for coordinating the peace process (SCOPP) and Secretary of the
All Party Representative Committee (APRC). This makes him appear as a pro-
government "establishment" man. The eulogies heaped on him by the "Govt
guys" reinforces this impression. This is perhaps the unkindest cut of all.
The life and times of Ketheeswaran Loganathan would demonstrate that he
was at no time a toady of anyone least of all a Govt in power. He was a fiercely
independent man of thought and action. Let there be no mistake Ketheesh was
a Tamil Nationalist. Not of the variety that has descended into violence and
barbarity but of the kind which believes in a negotiated settlement ensuring
Tamil rights through federalism in a united Sri Lanka. This is a vanishing
species but some of us are around still.
The CPA's executive director Dr. Packiyasothy Saravanamuthu summed up
Ketheesh aptly and succintly in a statement.-
"Kethesh Loganathan was a valued colleague, a former Director of the Centre
for Policy Alternatives (CPA) and the first head of its Peace and Conflict
Analysis Unit. He was a passionate advocate of human rights, an unflinching
champion of the rights of the Tamil people and of an end to the ethnic conflict
in Sri Lanka with democracy, justice and dignity for all."
" Whilst Kethesh was an ardent and proud nationalist, he brought the same
fervour, passion and commitment to the cause of unity in diversity, multi-
culturalism and a settlement of the ethnic conflict based on meaningful power
sharing. He uncompromisingly believed that the liberation of a people could not
be founded on fear, the celebration of death, the negation or even suspension
of basic democratic values. This made him a stringent and fearless critic of the
LTTE for their insistence on being the sole representatives of the Tamil people
and for their reliance on terror, repression and violence."
It would be a great injustice to Ketheesh's memory if one were to view his life
only through the present prism. His was a life that dedicated itself to service
and sacrifice for the betterment of humanity. After returning from abroad he
worked as a researcher at the Marga Institute (77 - 79) and Social Scientists
Association (79 - 81). He worked on issues of development and under
development.
It was then that his father now retired launched an enterprise aiming to
generate funds and economically develop the badly neglected and deprived
North - East. Possessing a romantic streak and a wistful nostalgia for an
"imagined" Jaffna Ketheesh went to Jaffna and took charge of his father's
project. At the same time he co - founded another institution for North - Eastern
development called DEREC ( Centre for Development Research, Education
and Communication) in Jaffna in 1981.
It was during this stay in Jaffna that Ketheesh's life was taken over by
revolutionary politics.. October 1981 was the time of the First Congress of the
newly formed Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). A close
and trusted friend joined the EPRLF and convinced Ketheesh that he too must
do so. So Ketheesh joined what was then a revolutionary political organization.
The 1983 July anti - Tamil pogrom changed life drastically for Tamils. Different
people responded differently. Ketheesh went to Chennai and became a full
time activist of the EPRLF. Having independent means he did not lead a
commune or camp life like many of his other comrades. He stayed in a flat
within walking distance of the EPRLF's Eelam Peoples Information Centre
(EPIC) at Choolaimedu and attended office dutifully.
It was during this period that Ketheesh forged a firm friendship with the lovable
Pathmanabha alias Ranjan who was EPRLF Secretary - General at the time.
Ketheesh and Varatharajapperumal were the EPRLF representatives at the
famous Thimphu talks in 1985. He also represented the EPRLF in many
negotiations with and without publicity.
Then came the Indo - Lanka accord of 1987. Ketheesh returned home but took
no part in the pro - Indian EPRLF North - Eastern Administration. He went to
Hague and continued his higher studies.Kertheesh also got affiliated to the
"Conflict Resolution Programme" of the Peace Research Institute in Oslo,
Norway and was awarded a two year research fellowship at the Agriculture
University of Norway to complete a study on the "Plantation system in Sri Lanka
and the search for sustainable development".
After Padmanabha was killed by the LTTE in 1990 June Ketheesh's role in the
EPRLF began decreasing. Though he remained in the movement it was a case
of being " in but not of". His relationship with the new leader Suresh
Premachandran also deteriorated. Ketheesh continued to represent the EPRLF
in public fora including the Mangala Moonesinghe select committee. Finally in
1994 Ketheesh formally quit the EPRLF but remained on friendly terms with
many activists.
Re-entering Academia Ketheesh served as a research consultant at the Centre
for Policy research and Analysis (CEPRA). He authored the book "Sri Lanka:
Lost Opportunities" in 1996.
Ketheesh also took to journalism. He functioned as Consultant to the short -
lived "Week- end Express" where he wrote a popular column "Truthfully
speaking" under the pseudonym Sathya. He later wrote articles as "Sathya" for
the Daily Mirror too. In 1998 he was awarded the Hubert Humphrey Fellowship
and was enrolled for a year at the College of Journalism in Maryland University.
Thereafter Ketheesh joined the Centre for Policy Alternatives and was in
charge of the peace and conflict analysis unit. He played an important role in
forging the "roadmap to peace" blueprint with the objective of taking the Oslo -
facilitated peace process forward.
Soon Ketheesh became critical of the direction the peace process was taking.
He felt that the strategy of dealing with the LTTE alone was not a positive one.
Instead Ketheesh felt that there should be an emphasis on human rights,
pluralism and democracy for the Tamil people. Child conscription and
exterminating of those with alternate political views by the tigers was particularly
upsetting. Ketheesh became openly critical of the process and the conduct of
the LTTE. This was not a popular position to take and soon Ketheesh was
becoming increasingly isolated.
This also placed him under LTTE threat. Increasingly pressured, Ketheesh
once consulted Lakshman Kadirgamar and obtained some security measures
for his protection. Ketheesh quit the CPA early this year with the objective of
taking up duties as research director at the Bandaranaike Centre for
International Studies (BCIS). But he changed his plan when Mahinda
Rajapakse offered him the Deputy Secretary - General position at SCOPP. He
took up duties on March 29th this year. In July he became Secretary of the
APRC.
This was a difficult decision for Ketheesh and he did consult some friends
before taking it.Personally I think it was a grave misjudgement on his part as I
feel that Mahinda Rajapakse has a not so well hidden agenda for war rather
than peace. The Peace Secretariat under PTB Kohona has become a
propaganda tool for Sinhala supremacist ideology.
Yet Ketheesh took the plunge with two objectives. One he was naively optimistic
of gradually influencing the regime positively. Two he felt someone like him
should be embedded in the power structure that was virtually without any Tamil
of significance in order to contain the anti - Tamil impulses.
Despite his background and good intentions Ketheesh received flak from the
Sinhala hawks. Sinhala expatriates objected to his appointment overtly and
branded him an" Eelamist" and "Kotiya". The JVP and JHU worked against him
covertly. The JVP paper "Lanka" had a nasty article about him on Aug 6th.
Meanwhile Ketheesh himself was becoming uncomfortable and frustrated in his
new assignment. For one thing an undeclared war was being waged with the
SCOPP cheering from the sidelines. The All Party Conference was becoming a
time - buying charade without any meaningful direction.
More importantly the impunity with which human rights violations were being
committed by the armed forces troubled him greatly. He began trying to collect
as much information about these as possible. According to informed sources
Ketheesh was greatly agitated about the massacre of 17 aid workers by the
security forces in Muthur
Those who know Ketheesh well were of the opinion that it was only a matter of
time before he quit the SCOPP and APRC. Being a man of principle and
conscience Ketheesh could not have compromised with "evil" for long. Also he
was not the kind of person to subordinate his personality to the whims and
fancies of the powers that be.
Sadly "Yaman "the God of death visited Ketheesh first. It was on August 12th
the first anniversary of Lakshman Kadirgamar's death. A Police team in plain
clothes regularly checked up on Ketheesh due to security reasons. This was a
security measure arranged for by SCOPP I believe. On that fateful day some
"new" faces appeared at his residence 1B Windsor Avenue off Vanderwert
place, Dehiwela.
Instead of asking for "Mr. Loganathan", as was usual, they asked for "Mr.
Ketheeswaran". Somewhat suspicious Kethees hesitated between front door
and gate insisting on some identification. Instead the assassin fired a 9 mm.
Five rounds were fired with three hitting him. He was taken to hospital but died
upon admittance.
Given the murky conditions prevailing in Sri Lanka his killing was not an open
and shut case. Both Mahinda Rajapakse and Palitha Kohona were quick to
accuse the LTTE .None can rule the tigers out. The LTTE website
"Nitharsanam" described Ketheeswaran as a traitor and "junior Kadirgamar"
and threatened to expose Ketheesh's "nefarious" activities. Nothing followed.
Another website referred to him as an "ex - EPRLF" member forgetting that the
EPRLF Suresh faction is now within tiger folds
Though Ketheesh had for long remained an LTTE critic and often stated his
views openly the tigers had not targetted him. If the LTTE was now responsible
why did the tigers do so? was the question on the Tamil grapevine. Though the
killers spoke fluent Sinhala they could have been an underworld gang given a
killing contract by the LTTE. If the LTTE was indeed responsible the only
plausible reason seemed to be Ketheesh joining the SCOPP and possibly his
role in tha APRC.
The CPA statement observes thus -
" Whilst the identity of his killers has not been established and no single
organisation or actor has the monopoly of political killing in the current climate
of division and violence in our country, the LTTE’s record of assassinations of
political opponents and Kethesh’s public profile as one of their most trenchant
critics, invariably marks them out as prime suspects. We call on the LTTE to
refute this by unequivocally condemning his murder. We call on the
Government of Sri Lanka to conduct a speedy and impartial investigation into
Kethesh’s murder and to ensure that the perpetrators are apprehended and
brought to justice."
So far the LTTE has "officially" ignored Ketheesh's killing. There has been no
statement denying responsibility. The Government is said to be investigating
the murder but given past history there is little chance of a breakthrough. Of
course many innocent Tamils will be detained and interrogated. Some Sinhala
officials will become richer and release some of them. As time goes on
Ketheesh Loganathan will become one more statistic but will often be cited as
proof of LTTE wickedness.
C. Loganathan was a devotee of the Thirukketheeswaram temple dedicated to
Lord Shiva in Mannar district. That is why he named his youngest son
Ketheeswaran. May the soul of Ketheesh break the cycle of rebirth and attain
heavenly bliss at the feet of Lord Shiva.
Contact: D.B.S. Jeyaraj [djeyaraj2005@yahoo.com ]