When The Brashest Of The Brashest Backs You…. Thank You Lasantha

Thankfully I was working with an editor who was brasher than me. Lasantha Wickrematunge was not your typical editor; he was not even your typical star journalist. He was, put simply, Lasantha Wickrematunge.

- Amantha Perera

Back to April 2002, the then UNF government and the LTTE had signed a peace deal and the A9, never fully accessible in the preceding 15 years, was set to open. LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran was also planning to hold a presser. I was desperate to get to both.

There were several impediments. The costs – this at least could be eased by pooling resources with others. The biggest problem was, I was down the pecking order at the Leader. There were several others above me in seniority.

I approached the news editor to figure out whether anyone was going up North. He was not very enthusiastic, not at the prospect of reporting, nor, much more so, at the idea of sending me.

Deflated I sulked back to my desk. Then to make matters worse, I got a call from a good friend who said he was on his way to North. He said he would wait for me in Vavuniya for a day. That was it, my desperation got the better of me. I approached Lasantha.