Kethesh Loganathan
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Kethesh Loganathan (full name Ketheeswaran Loganathan)(1952-2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil political activist, a Human Rights advocate and deputy secretary general of the government's peace secretariat (SCOPP).[1]. was among the fiercest critics of the ethnic separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and the LTTE are widely blamed for his death. The group has neither accepted nor rejected the blame for his assassination.[2]
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[edit] Biography
Loganathan was born in Colombo,though the Loganathan's family originally from Puloly-Vadamarachchi in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. His father was a prominent Banker Chelliah Loganathan, the former General Manager of Bank of Ceylon. He studied at St. Thomas’s College Mt. Lavinia and Loyola College, Madras before proceeding to Georgetown University and later the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands.
[edit] Political career
After completing his education, Loganathan returned to Sri Lanka and worked as a social science researcher and with Marga Institute in Jaffna. With the outbreak of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983, he joined the EPRLF, a Tamil militant group that eventually became a rival to the LTTE. Loganathan's role was essentially academic and political, rather than military, and he left the group in 1994. He continued to work as an author and journalist. He along with his good friend Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu had helped form an independent think tank named the Center for Policy Alternatives and served on its board of directors till March, 2006.
[edit] Human Rights advocacy
Loganathan was increasingly critical of the LTTE on human rights grounds; he particularly criticized the rebels for their use of child soldiers and intolerance of political dissent. In March 2006, President Mahinda Rajapaksa offered Loganathan the post of deputy secretary general of the government's peace secretariat.
[edit] The assassination
Loganathan was assassinated by a single man who called himself as from the 'CID', as told by his family members. [3]. [4][5] and Human Rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch[6], UTHR[7] and other Sri Lanka observers have also held the LTTE responsible for this murder.[8]
[edit] Speculation about motives
Some refer to the fact that the website Nitharsanam.com, which they say is connected with the LTTE, accused Ketheesh as a traitor[9][10] soon after his death leading to many commentors on the Sri Lankan civil war such as David Jeyaraj, Dayan Jayatillake and Rajan Hoole, to conclude that Mr. K. Loganathan was killed by the LTTE[11]. However, such a connection is denied by Nitharsanam.com[12].
[edit] See also
- State terrorism in Sri Lanka
- Sri Lankan civil war
- Tamils assassinated by the LTTE
