 | |
| Type | Weekly newspaper |
|---|---|
| Owner(s) | New Era Publications Limited |
| Founded | 30 January 1982 |
| Language | English |
| Ceased publication | October 1987 |
| City | Jaffna |
| Country | Sri Lanka |
| OCLC number | 38072237 |
The Saturday Review was an English-language weekly newspaper in Sri Lanka published by New Era Publications Limited. It was founded in 1982 and was published from Jaffna. It ceased publication in 1987.
The Saturday Review was founded in 1982 by K. Kanthasamy, K. C. Thangarajah and others. [1] The paper was published by a company called Kalai Nilayam and its first editor was S. Sivanayagam. [2] [3] [4] The first edition of the paper was published on 30 January 1982. [5] [6] The paper was bought by New Era Publications Limited in August 1982. [2]
The Saturday Review was shut down by the Sri Lankan government on 1 July 1983 using the recently passed emergency law - the Emergency (Miscellaneous Provisions and Powers) Regulations 1983. [2] [5] The police sealed the paper's offices the next day. [2] [7] Fearing arrest, Sivanayagam escaped to Tamil Nadu, India in September 1983 with the help of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). [5] [8] The bans on the Saturday Review and another paper, the Suthanthiran, were lifted on 24 January 1984 but the papers were subject to strict censorship by the government. [9] A fundamental rights petition contesting the government's ban on the Saturday Review was heard by the Supreme Court with leading lawyer S. Nadesan acting for the paper. [10] [11] [12] The petition was dismissed by the court.
Gamini Navaratne took over as editor of the paper in February 1984 when the newspaper was restarted. [13] As the civil war escalated newspapers published from Jaffna came under pressure from both government forces and the rebel militant groups. The Saturday Review ceased publishing in October 1987. [14] There were attempts to revive the paper in 1988 but these came to an end with the kidnap and murder of Kanthasamy in June 1988. [14]
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was a Tamil militant organisation that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. Its aim was to secure an independent state of Tamil Eelam in the north and east in response to the state policies of successive Sri Lankan governments that were widely considered discriminative towards the minority Sri Lankan Tamils, as well as the oppressive actions—including anti-Tamil pogroms in 1956 and 1958—carried out by the majority Sinhalese.
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a civil war fought in the island country of Sri Lanka from 1983 to 2009. Beginning on 23 July 1983, there was an intermittent insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, which fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam in the north and the east of the island due to the continuous discrimination against the Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government, as well as the 1956, 1958 and 1977 anti-Tamil pogroms and the 1981 burning of the Jaffna Public Library carried out by the majority Sinhalese mobs, in the years following Sri Lanka's independence from Britain in 1948. After a 26-year military campaign, the Sri Lankan military defeated the Tamil Tigers in May 2009, bringing the civil war to an end.
Anton Balasingham Stanislaus was a Sri Lankan Tamil journalist, rebel and chief political strategist and chief negotiator for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, a separatist Tamil militant organisation in Sri Lanka.
The burning of the Jaffna Public Library took place on the night of May 31 to June 1, 1981, when an organized mob of Sinhalese individuals went on a rampage, burning the library. It was one of the most violent examples of ethnic biblioclasm of the 20th century. At the time of its destruction, the library was one of the biggest in Asia, containing over 97,000 books and manuscripts.
David Buell Sabapathy Jeyaraj is a Tamil Canadian freelance journalist of Sri Lankan origin. He currently writes articles for two Sri Lankan newspapers, The Daily Mirror with his own column in it and the Daily FT, and also runs his news blog, dbsjeyaraj.com.
Sinnathamby Sivamaharajah was a Sri Lankan Tamil newspaper publisher, politician and Member of Parliament.
Uthayan is a Tamil language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by New Uthayan Publication (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 1985 and is published from Jaffna. Its sister newspapers is the Colombo based Sudar Oli. Uthayan was the only newspaper published from Jaffna which did not cease publication due to the civil war. The newspaper has been attacked several times, a number of its staff have been murdered by paramilitary groups and other forces, and it regularly receives threats.
Sudar Oli is a Tamil language Sri Lankan daily newspaper published by Mass Media Syndicate (Private) Limited, part of the Uthayan Group of Newspapers. It was founded in 2000 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspaper is the Jaffna based Uthayan. The newspaper has been attacked several times, a number of its staff have been murdered by paramilitary groups and other forces, and it regularly receives threats.
The Sunday Leader is an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the Iruresa (Irudina) and the defunct The Morning Leader. Founded by brothers Lasantha Wickrematunge and Lal Wickrematunge, the newspaper is known for its outspoken and controversial news coverage. The newspaper and its staff have been attacked and threatened several times and its founding editor Lasantha Wickrematunge was assassinated.
Suresh Kumar and Ranjith Kumar were minority Sri Lankan Tamils working for the Uthayan – a Tamil newspaper published from Jaffna. Uthayan has been specifically targeted for its independent reporting by the Sri Lankan military and the paramilitary group EPDP. They were killed on May 2, 2006 during an attack on the Uthayan office.
Somasundaram Nadesan, QC was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, civil rights activist and member of the Senate of Ceylon.
The Northern Province is one of the nine provinces of Sri Lanka, the first level administrative division of the country. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but did not have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was temporarily merged with the Eastern Province to form the North Eastern Province. The capital of the province is Jaffna. The majority of the Sri Lankan Civil War was played out in this province.
Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries.
Freedom of the press in Sri Lanka is guaranteed by Article 14(1)(a) of the Constitution of Sri Lanka which gives every citizen "the freedom of speech and expression including publication". Despite this there is widespread suppression of the media, particularly those critical of the government. Sri Lanka is ranked 165 out of 180 countries in Reporters Without Borders's Press Freedom Index for 2014. Freedom House has judged the Sri Lankan press to be not free. During the civil war Sri Lanka was one of the most dangerous places to be a journalist. The civil war ended in May 2009 but, according to Reporters Without Borders, murders, physical attacks, kidnappings, threats and censorship continues and that senior government officials, including the defence secretary Gotabhaya Rajapaksa, are directly implicated.
Kalasuri Ratnadurai Sivagurunathan was a Sri Lankan journalist, lawyer, academic and editor of Thinakaran.
Subramaniam Sivanayagam was a Sri Lankan journalist, author and editor of the Saturday Review, Tamil Nation and Hot Spring.
Events from the year 2013 in Sri Lanka.