Thousands mourn slain Jaffna journalist

[TamilNet, Saturday, 21 October 2000, 14:09 GMT]
More than four thousand mourners took part in the funeral of the slain Tamil journalist Nimalrajan Saturday as he was laid to rest in the cemetery of the church of Konjanji Maatha this afternoon in Jaffna town around 3.30 p.m. Posters condemning his killing came up in many parts the peninsula. Black flags were also flown in the town. Meanwhile, in Colombo, the opposition Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) charged that the EPDP was behind the Nimalrajan's killing.

Journalists, members of the clergy and public officials spoke at the journalist's funeral. Mr.C.V.K Sivagnanam, the chairman of the of the Jaffna Multi-Purpose Co-operative Society, said that the Nimalrajan's murder is an indication that Jaffna is about to be covered by dark clouds.

Mr.Thavachelvam, a freelance journalist in Vadamaradchi who spoke at the funeral said "those who killed Nimalarajan might now hunt for me as well. But I will not submit or yield to their threats. A group that took the votes of the Jaffna people and got a ministry thinks that it can threaten and intimidate journalists and establish their anarchic writ here. Jaffna journalists should not limit their actions to merely condemning Nimalrajan's murder. They should expose the perpetrators"

A leaflet issued by the Jaffna University Students' Association titled "Is this Rehabilitation in Jaffna" charged that a group that feared the truth will come out from Jaffna murdered Nimalrajan.

"The party which got the Ministry for Rehabilitation (North) has rewarded the people with a murder. Nimalrajan was murdered to cover up the genocide of Tamils by the Sri Lanka army and the perpetuation of the group's anarchic rule" the leaflet by the Jaffna University Students Association said.

The leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party is the Minister for Northern rehabilitation and Notheastern Tamil affairs. The EPDP did not send a representative for Nimalrajan funeral today.

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