Religion Hindu Name Kethesh Loganathan | Role Political figure Education Georgetown University | |
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Assassinated August 12, 2006, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, Sri Lanka | ||
Kethesh Loganathan (full name Ketheeswaran Loganathan, 1952–August 12, 2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil political activist, a Human Rights advocate and deputy secretary general of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP). He was among the fiercest critics of the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which was widely blamed for his death. The group has neither accepted nor denied responsibility for his assassination.[1]
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Upbringing
Loganathan was born in Colombo, although the Loganathan family originally came from Puloly-Vadamarachchi in Jaffna. His father, Chelliah Loganathan, was a former General Manager of the Bank of Ceylon. Kethesh studied at St. Thomas’s College Mt. Lavinia and Loyola College, Madras before studying at Georgetown University and later the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague, Netherlands. He gained a master's degree in development studies.
Political career
After completing his education, Loganathan returned to Sri Lanka and worked as a social science researcher and with the Marga Institute in Jaffna. With the outbreak of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983, he joined the EPRLF, a militant Tamil group that eventually came to rival 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. Along with his good friend Paikiasothy Saravanamuttu, he helped to form an independent think tank, named the Center for Policy Alternatives, and served on its board of directors until 2006.
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.
The assassination
Loganathan was assassinated outside his home by a man who claimed to be a member of the Criminal Investigation Department. [2]. [3][4] Human Rights organizations such as Human Rights Watch[5], UTHR[6] and other Sri Lanka observers have held the LTTE responsible for this murder.[7]
Motive
The website Nitharsanam.com, which is connected to the LTTE, accused Ketheesh of being a traitor. Tamilnet and Nitharsanam announced his death before it was confirmed by the Kalubowila Hospital, where he was admitted after being shot. [8][9] Soon after his death, many commentators on the Sri Lankan civil war, such as David Jeyaraj, Dayan Jayatillake and Rajan Hoole, concluded that Loganathan was killed by the LTTE[10]. However, this is denied by Nitharsanam.com[11].