Sangam.org - Ilankai Tamil Sangam
Association of Tamils of Sri Lanka in the USA
Jeyaraj and The Sunday Leader
Dear Editor,
Mr D B S Jeyaraj, a Canada-based journalist has been writing in the Sri Lankan newspaper The Sunday Leader over the last two or three weekends about an alleged incident in Killinochchi where a Tamil from Britain was supposedly detained by the LTTE. In the course of the story Mr Jeyaraj has gone on to say that the man was subsequently released only after the British authorities had pressured Mr Anton Balasingam in the UK. This was denied by Mr Balasingam. Mr Balasingam’s denial was carried in TamilNet and other media.
I wrote to the Sunday Leader expressing disappointment that the story was carried without confirming the facts.
Presumably this letter was forwarded to Mr Jeyaraj who then referred to the writer and another Tamil, who had perhaps also written on this matter to the Sunday Leader, in a derogatory manner.
In the Sunday Leader of 27th March Jeyaraj referred to this writer and Mr. Thangavelu obliquely as Thangam and Singham by saying, "The editor was also challenged to carry Balasingham's statement made to Tamilnet and not to The Sunday Leader. It was clear that the authors of these missives ranging from "Thangam" in Scarborough to "Singham" in Melbourne were acting in concert"
(This writer was unaware of letters being written by others and hence ‘in concert’ appears to be another of the speculations for which Mr Jeyaraj is now gaining quite a reputation)
In the Sunday Leader of 3rd April Jeyaraj went on about this writer and to Mr Thangavelu by stating in his article that "Tiger acolytes like Pararajasingham of Melbourne and Thangavelu of Scarborough who flatly deny the whole incident and accuse journalists of writing fiction."
It is clear that our letters written to the Sunday Leader have gotten Mr Jeyaraj’s goat.
I would therefore appreciate the below letter being published in your columns along with this letter to you.
Enclosed my letter to the editor of the Sunday Leader.
Yours sincerely,
Ana Pararajasingham
PS: Here I think Mr Jeyaraj has also got my place of residence wrong. It is Sydney and not Melborne.
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The Letter that got Jeyaraj’s Goat -
The Editor
The Sunday Leader
Colombo
Dear Editor,
It is with some dismay that I now understand that the article written by D B S Jeyaraj re arrest and detention of a UK resident was unsubstantiated.
For sometime now I have been an admirer of the bold journalism of The Sunday Leader and am now disappointed that the writer or The Sunday Leader for that matter had failed to check their ‘facts’ with Mr Anton Balasingam whom the article reported had been pressured by the UK Govt.
It is, I believe basic journalistic practice to have such claims checked/confirmed before an article is published.
I think it is only appropriate The Sunday Leader reports this denial by Balasingam the same exposure that was given to the 'story' by Jeyaraj. By failing to do so, The Sunday Leader will not only lose its credibility but alas become just another Sri Lankan newspaper engaged in propaganda.
Yours truly,
Ana Pararajasingham
| POSTED APRIL 7, 2005 | The views and opinions expressed are not necessarily those of Ilankai Tamil Sangam, USA, Inc., its members, or its affiliates. |
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