By Jamila Najmuddin
“God has made a terrible mistake” are the only words which keep reverberating through the walls of 27 year old Dushyanthi Malaravan’s tiny apartment.
Her three year old daughter is aware of the tensed atmosphere surrounding her house and keeps demanding to see her grandfather, who she knows is missing.
The last she remembers is being in her grandfather’s arms while he held her tight in the busy streets of Colombo when both made their way to a children’s park, late in the afternoon. But her memories of her grandfather are fading and as she cries for him everyday, the only answer she receives is that he will be home soon.
The family of abducted Vice Chancellor of the Eastern University, Professor S. Raveendranath has little to say. The only question which his two daughters keep repeating is “where is our father?”
Professor Raveendranath’s wife is unable to speak due to fear and refuses to accept that her husband is not near her anymore. She stares at her front door from morning to night and brightens up at the sound of the doorbell, only to be disappointed that the person who has arrived home is not her husband.
“My mother is very sick and does not speak to anyone. She is a diabetic patient and the little she speaks, it is only to ask whether we have heard from our father. She forces my husband to call the authorities everyday, querying if they have heard from my father. But we are disappointed everyday because no one seems to have any information,” Dushyanthi Malaravan, daughter of Professor Raveendranath told The Sunday Leader.
Still a mystery
While her family has been eagerly awaiting information on the abducted Professor for five months, they are disappointed that the authorities have little to answer. As the whereabouts of the Professor still remain a mystery they are surprised that they have todate not received a call demanding for ransom, like in most other abduction cases in Colombo.
“If the abductors want ransom, we are willing to pay them. My father-in-law has already given in his resignation as Vice Chancellor. What more do they want? It has been five months and we have received no information. Are we just to forget about him and watch the authorities bury his case under the deepest files?” son-in-law of the abducted Professor, Dr. M. Malaravan queried.
As the days keep passing with no information on the Professor’s whereabouts, the family keeps praying and urging the government and international community to take all necessary steps to ensure that the Professor is returned home safely. While the rumour mill has already begun to spin that the Professor’s health is deteriorating due to him suffering from high blood pressure and heart disease, the family remains hopeful and confident that the Professor is safe and sound. The family also remains hopeful that although the government has todate, provided few answers, the international community however will begin immediate investigations on Professor Raveendranath’s whereabouts, understanding the plight of the family.
The family has already approached international human rights organisations such as the UN Human Rights Council, Human Rights Watch, Amnesty International, ICRC and several scholars associations in the US.
Expedite investigation
The family has also informed Pope Benedict XVI , the National Christian Council, the Canadian Prime Minister and many politicians from the United Kingdom most of who have written to President Rajapakse, urging him to expedite the investigation.
The family also last week wrote to US Assistant Secretary of State for Central and South Asian Affairs, Ambassador Richard Boucher, the EU and other diplomats in Sri Lanka, urging them to take necessary action to ensure that the Professor reaches home safely.
The letter states that following the abduction of the Dean of the Arts Faculty of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka, Dr. Bala Sugamar by unidentified gunmen who demanded Professor Raveendranath’s resignation in September 2006, in the months thereafter, the Professor received repeated death threats demanding him to resign his post.
The letter also states that following such threats, the Professor rendered his resignation on October 2, 2006, but it was accepted by the University Grants Commission only on January 19, 2007 and forwarded to the President’s office thereafter for official approval.
“But unfortunately the resignation has not been accepted by the President’s office so far. In this background could you please take all necessary action and make arrangements to accept his resignation by the President’s office as we know that his resignation is the prime demand of the abductors. We also humbly request you to talk to the higher authorities to find the whereabouts of Professor Raveendranath and ensure that he is returned safe without any delay and do everything possible to safeguard our life as well as the life of our beloved father, thus attempt to ease the pain of the members of the family who are under a great deal of pressure,” a letter written by the family to Higher Education Minister Visva Waranapala stated.
The letter further stated, “We have with great pain of mind and body approached very high authorities with political powers to intervene in this matter and facilitate his release from captivity. But it has been of no avail.
Omimous silence
There is ominous silence from all quarters and no progression in this issue. The official investigations have yet to present credible evidence as to the identity of the abductors.”
Soon after Professor Raveendranath was abducted on December 15, last year, his family lodged a complaint at the Dehiwela Police and within the same week met President Mahinda Rajapakse who assured that all necessary steps would be taken to ensure that the Professor is returned home safely.
Professor Raveendranath’s son-in-law, Dr. Malaravan, has also contacted all concerned parties and has been in constant touch with Human Rights Minister Mahinda Samarasinghe and the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka. Dr. Malaravan has also contacted an official of the Karuna faction by the name of Mahesh and although the group had declined to meet the Professor’s family, they had been agreeable to talk over the telephone.
The family had also got in touch with the Tigers through the SLMM and local ICRC officials but are yet to receive an official response from them.
Recollecting the incidents of that unfortunate Friday in December when Professor Raveendranath was abducted, his family members said that the Professor had been extremely tensed due to repeated death threats he received despite moving to Colombo from Batticaloa. “My father-in-law was a very quiet man and did not tell anyone of the threats. However I had informed my wife to keep checking on him every half an hour by calling him on his mobile phone, because I knew the situation,” Dr. Malaravan said. He added that the Professor’s family had left Batticaloa and moved to Colombo solely due to the threats.
Tyre puncture
On December 15, Professor Raveendranath had attended a Science Forum at the Sri Lanka Association for Advancement of Science in Colombo 7. According to Dr. Malaravan, a vehicle belonging to the Trincomalee campus picked up Professor Raveendranath in the morning in order to drop him at the venue. The Professor had then informed the driver to drop him at the meeting and take the vehicle for repairs due to a tyre puncture.
When the Professor did not arrive home for lunch that day, the Professor’s elder daughter had repeatedly called him on the mobile but was unsuccessful as the telephone had been switched off. The family had then contacted the Chairman of the University Grants Commission who had been scheduled to meet the professor at 4 p.m that day for an urgent meeting.
“When I called the Chairman he told me that he too had been waiting for my father-in-law, but he had not attended the meeting. I knew at once that something was wrong. The Chairman then told me to lodge a complaint at the Dehiwela Police. At the same time I informed the Civil Monitoring Mission and inquiries began,” he said.
The next few days, several officials from the government such as Presidential Advisor Basil Rajapakse and President’s Secretary Lalith Weeratunga too held regular discussions with the family members and assured them that everything possible was being done.
Doing their best
However five months later, the only reply that the authorities and the government can provide the family is that “they are doing their best.” The family members had also informed President Rajapakse and the Defence Secretary to accept the Professor’s resignation which they believe is the cause of his abduction.
Five months later, the family has not received any official response from the President’s office, stating that they have accepted the resignation
“The President’s office has to realise that they need to accept the Professor’s resignation due to the family’s concern. Despite the family informing all the officials in the government of our concerns, we have only received e-mails and faxes,” Dr. Malaravan said.
The CID too had also visited the family members soon after the Professor’s abduction and assured that all necessary steps would be taken to expedite the Professor’s release. Despite no information of the professor’s whereabouts being received, the family continues to contact the authorities everyday, hoping for some new information.
Cheating commission
The family however is yet to lodge a complaint with the Presidential Commission of Inquiry and remain doubtful if they would do so. “We have informed the necessary authorities. So far our belief of the Commission of Inquiry is that it is merely a cheating Commission,” Dr. Malaravan said.
He added, “We are not interested to know who has abducted my father-in-law. We are not concerned whether it is the LTTE or the Karuna faction. Even in the future, after my father-in-law is released we will never ask him who had abducted him and neither will we divulge any information. I also assure everyone that the Professor will not take up his post as Vice Chancellor and also never visit the university again. We only want him to return home safely.”
Professor Raveendranath’s family will continue to hope that very soon their beloved father will walk in through the front door. His daughters say that the day he went missing, a light stopped burning in their hearts as they had not merely lost a father, but had also lost a friend and a teacher.
His family will continue to pray each day and hope that all other families of abducted people who are also suffering a similar fate will find their loved one’s very soon. “Every time some one is abducted, the abductors need to realise that a family has lost a son, a father or a brother. We want our father home safely,” is the fervent plea of Professor Raveendra-nath’s daughters. [theSundayleader.lk]
It was Dr. W. Dahanayake, who ridiculed the U.N.P. in the fifties of the last century by saying it was not the United National Party but an Uncles Nephews Party. How aptly that descriptio fitted the grand old party of the Senanayakes, Kotelawelas, Jayewardenes and Wickremasinghes is debatable. However there is a political party in Tamil Nadu across the palk straits that could be appropriately termed an Uncle Nephews party.That party is none other than the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham (DMK) ruling Tamil Nadu.