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Noted Sri Lankan writer and columnist D.B.S. Jeyaraj, who wrote extensively for implicit 4 decades connected the island’s taste struggle and cardinal governmental developments, including arsenic The Hindu’s Sri Lanka Correspondent, passed distant successful Canada connected Sunday. He was 71.
From the 1980s, Mr. Jeyaraj’s byline was acquainted to galore who followed Sri Lanka’s civilian war, fought by the equipped forces and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). Beginning his vocation astatine the Tamil regular Virakesari, helium aboriginal reported for Colombo-based English paper The Island, arsenic good arsenic The Hindu.
Mr. Jeyaraj was arrested successful 1987 during President J.R. Jayewardene’s clip successful power, allegedly implicit his reporting connected clashes betwixt the Indian Army and the LTTE. Soon after, helium moved to Canada but continued to constitute connected Sri Lanka, capturing the galore layers of Tamil militancy, Tamil politics, and nationalist governmental developments. Over the decades, helium cultivated a immense web of sources successful government, the information establishment, governmental parties, and among chap journalists, to pass his ain writing.
“There were 2 Tamil journalists who were keenly followed successful Sri Lanka’s English media arsenic the warfare escalated — Dharmeratnam ‘Taraki’ Sivaram and D.B.S. Jeyaraj,” recalled elder writer Marwaan Macan-Markar, a erstwhile workfellow of Mr. Jeyaraj and presently Asia Regional Correspondent for Nikkei Asia. “DBS’s reporting was precise rounded. What we recovered singular was that adjacent aft helium moved to Canada, his sum remained crisp and incisive due to the fact that of his wide web of sources crossed governmental and taste divides,” helium told The Hindu.
While Mr. Jeyaraj faced threats and disapproval for his opinions and commentary, his factual reporting was seldom challenged. “He would cheque with a twelve sources for each communicative to beryllium precise sure,” said M.A. Sumanthiran, General Secretary of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK), who is besides Mr. Jeyaraj’s 2nd cousin.
“It was a clip erstwhile the warfare had conscionable breached out. The media successful Colombo regularly covered Defence authorities’ briefings, but immoderate of america knew that was lone 1 broadside of the story,” said elder writer Hana Ibrahim, adding: “We counted connected our workfellow DBS for a position from the Tamil side, which was important to some our reporting and our knowing of the conflict.”
In caller years, Mr. Jeyaraj wrote a play file for Sri Lankan English dailies, including the Daily Mirror and the Daily FT, focusing mostly connected politics, portion besides penning connected Tamil fashionable civilization successful India. His columns often traced governmental histories, household lineages, and the journeys of actors and playback singers, portion exploring their connections to Sri Lanka. His astir caller nonfiction appeared successful The Morning connected Sunday [May 17, 2026], marking the motorboat of his person and elder writer Veeragathy Thanabalasingham’s publication Pathirikai Thuraiyil En Kathai (My Story successful Journalism), which was held astatine the Colombo Tamil Sangam Sunday evening.
