D. B. S. Jeyaraj

Jeyaraj's journalism career began in April 1977 as a staff reporter for the Tamil language Virakesari.[3][5] He worked as the paper's correspondent in Batticaloa.[3] He moved to the English language The Island in November 1981.[3] Initially he reported on trade union and customs issues but was later assigned to cover Tamil politics and militancy.[5] He also wrote the popular "Behind the Cadjan Curtain" column for its sister newspaper, the Sunday Island.[7][8] He was deputy editor of the Saturday Review for a period and Colombo correspondent for The Hindu.[5] He was fired from The Hindu for exposing atrocities committed by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF).[9]

Jeyaraj was in Jaffna in October 1987 when war erupted between the IPKF and the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).[3] After collecting documents, photos and other information on the war's impact on civilians, Jeyaraj returned to Colombo via the jungles.[3] The Island carried his report, including an interview with LTTE deputy leader Mahattaya, on October 25, 1987.[3] Jeyaraj was arrested on October 26, 1987 and interrogated by the Criminal Investigation Department on the notorious fourth floor.[3] A police officer told Jeyaraj that they would "keep [Jeyaraj] quiet until the Indian Army finishes the job".[3] After five days he was produced before the courts and released on bail but was ordered not to leave the country.[3] His friends advised him to travel abroad and Jeyaraj came up with the idea of applying for an overseas scholarship to overcome his travel ban.[3] With the help of Neelan Tiruchelvam he applied for the Nieman Fellowship at Harvard University.[3] After several appearances in court the Attorney-General's Department finally acknowledged that Jeyaraj had no case to answer and he was discharged.[3] He was accepted for the Nieman Fellowship and, although he no longer faced imprisonment in Sri Lanka, he decided to accept the offer.[3] Jeyaraj left Sri Lanka on September 14, 1988.[3]

The violence in Sri Lanka increased and Jeyaraj's friends, including Richard de Zoysa, advised him not to return to Sri Lanka.[3] He graduated from the Nieman Fellowship in June 1989.[10] He then went to Toronto, Ontario, Canada to stay with a cousin. After a few months he was preparing to return to Sri Lanka when, in February 1990, de Zoysa was abducted and killed.[3] A fearful Jeyaraj chose to remain in Canada.[3]

Jeyaraj, together with some partners, started a weekly Tamil newspaper, the Senthamarai, in Toronto in October 1990.[3][11][12] The newspaper's, and Jeyaraj's, neutral editorial stance vis-à-vis the Sri Lankan Civil War was viewed with suspicion by both government supporters and LTTE supporters.[12] On February 14, 1993 Jeyaraj, his wife and friends were returning to their car after watching a Sinhala film at a cinema at the Ontario Science Centre when two young Tamil men approached Jeyaraj.[11] They asked him if he was the editor of the Senthamarai and if he had written anti-LTTE stories.[11] Jeyaraj told the men that it was not the right place to talk and to call him tomorrow.[11] Two more men appeared from the shadows and assaulted Jeyaraj with baseball bats and metal rods, breaking his leg and injuring his head.[11][13]

In June 1993 Jeyaraj and his wife started a fortnightly, later weekly, Tamil newspaper on his own, the Muncharie.[11][12][14] The newspaper reported on LTTE's losses, including those on Operation Thunderstrike and Operation Riviresa, whilst other Tamil newspapers glossed over the losses.[12][13] In 1995 advertisers, distributors and retailers of the Muncharie began receiving threats from LTTE supporters.[11] One shopkeeper is assaulted and a van burnt.[11] Copies of the newspapers were seized and dumped.[13] As the threats and intimidation continued the Muncharie circulation and revenue fell and in April 1996 it ceased publication.[11][12][13][14] Jeyaraj continued to receive threats from LTTE supporters.[11] Jeyaraj blames the World Tamil Movement, a Toronto-based LTTE front, for the threats.[12][14]

When The Sunday Leader started in 1994 Jeyaraj contributed weekly articles from Canada but after a few months stopped due to his workload on the Muncharie.[15] Following the closure of the Muncharie in 1996 Jeyaraj took up freelance writing, writing a weekly column for the Sunday Island.[8][15] In 1997 he resumed working for The Sunday Leader, writing a column called "Searchlight".[15] By 1999 he had stopped writing for the Sunday Island and started writing a new column, "Cross Currents", for The Sunday Leader.[15] He also wrote The F-Word column for the paper and the Minor Matters column for its sister newspaper, The Morning Leader.[15] In 2007 he stopped writing for The Sunday Leader and moved to The Nation and its sister newspaper The Bottom Line but a change in ownership forced Jeyaraj to quit in 2008.[15][16] He then started writing for The Daily Mirror.[15] He has also resumed writing occasional articles for The Sunday Leader.[15] In 2014 he started writing a column about films, "Spotlight", for The Daily Mirror's sister newspaper, the Daily FT.[8]

Jeyaraj has also written articles for Frontline and Tamil Times.[8] Jeyaraj has been associated with several news blogs including federalidea.com, transcurrents.com, tamilweek.com and dbsjeyaraj.com.[17] He obtained Canadian citizenship in 2004.[3] He visited Sri Lanka in October 2013 after an absence of 25 years.[3]