Photo credits: Colombo gazette
Twelve years ago on 24 January, journalist, political analyst, and cartoonist Prageeth Eknaligoda was reported missing, exactly two days before the presidential election in 2010, which Rajapaksa won.
Eknaligoda’s wife, Sandhya, insisting that the truth be revealed, sought guidance from a higher power today, after having said that she had given up faith in authorities and the judiciary system. This morning, Sandhya shaved her head at a Kaali temple in the outskirts of Colombo during a special pooja.
Sandhya's initial advice from the police was that ‘getting abducted was fashionable’ and that she should go home and wait for him, carelessly dismissing her husband’s disappearance; twelve years on and nothing has changed.
It is said that Eknaligoda, a former employee of Lanka E-news, disappeared following an anonymous phone call which led him to a mysterious meeting due to his research and publishing on the usage of chemical weapons in the Sri Lankan military.
Thus far, Sandhya, mother of two teenage children has attended over 100 court hearings, regularly facing abuse for her determination in obtaining justice for her husband’s disappearance to no avail. Although things did take a turn for the better during Sirisena’s governance, changes in the government over the years have made any further progress difficult.
It is widely believed by lawyers and the Eknaligoda family that his disappearance may also be related to a booklet Eknaligoda was developing on nepotism, still present under the current administration. Suspicions have typically fallen on the Rajapaksa brothers who have been in power time and time and again. See more here.
Eknaligoda is unfortunately not the only person missing in Sri Lanka, many other journalists, activists, Tamil, and Muslim civilians are still missing. A Tamil journalist Sugirtharajan, who worked as a correspondent for Uthayan and Sudar Oil newspapers was killed exactly four years before Eknalidoa's disappearance on 24 January 2006. Comparably, Sugirtharan was killed due to his key role in exposing the Sri Lankan government’s attempted coverup of the Trinco 5 where five Tamil students had been killed by the Sri Lankan Special Task Force.
