Subramaniam Sivanayagam ( ta, சுப்பிரமணியம் சிவநாயகம்; 7 September 1930 – 29 November 2010) was a Sri Lankan journalist, author and editor of the ''Saturday Review'', ''Tamil Nation'' and ''Hot Spring''.

Early life and family

Sivanayagam was born on 7 September 1930 in Kokkuvil in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. He was the son of Sattanathar Subramaniam from

Vannarpannai Vannarpannai ( ta, வண்ணார்பண்ணை) is a notable suburb within the Jaffna town municipality in the northern Jaffna District in Sri Lanka. It is home to many cultural institutions that are important for the Saiva revivalism o ...

and Kanmaniammal from Kokkuvil. He was educated at Kokkuvil Hindu College and Jaffna College. He then joined Ceylon Law College but left after two years without completing the course. Sivanayagam married Subadradevi, daughter of A. Navaratnarajah. They had two daughters (Sivanangai and Sivanarayani).

Career

Sivanayagam joined the editorial staff of the ''

Ceylon Daily News The ''Daily News'' is an English-language newspaper in Sri Lanka. It is now published by the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited (Lake House), a government-owned corporation. The newspaper commenced publishing on 3 January 1918. D. R. Wije ...

'' in 1953. He later wrote a column in ''

The Times of Ceylon ''The Times of Ceylon'' was an English language daily newspaper in Sri Lanka published by Times of Ceylon Limited (TOCL). It was founded in 1846 as the ''Ceylon Times'' and was published from Colombo. It ceased publication in 1985. History The ...

''. He then worked for the ''Daily Mirror'' (1961–69), J. Walter Thompsons (1970–71) and Ceylon Tourist Board. Sivanayagam became the first editor of the '' Saturday Review'' in January 1982. After the Black July riots of 1983 the Sri Lankan government banned the ''Saturday Review'' and Sivanayagam, fearing arrest, fled to

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

where he was in charge of the Tamil Information Centre and Tamil Information and Research Institute. He contributed articles to several journals. He became editor of the newly created ''Tamil Nation'' journal in October 1990. After the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

Rajiv Gandhi Rajiv Gandhi (; 20 August 1944 – 21 May 1991) was an Indian politician who served as the sixth prime minister of India from 1984 to 1989. He took office after the 1984 assassination of his mother, then Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, to beco ...

in May 1991 Sivanayagam was arrested under the National Security Act and imprisoned without charge. He was abused and tortured by the Indian police. After being released Sivanayagam sought asylum in France in 1993.

Later life

Whilst in France Sivanayagam founded and edited the ''Hot Spring'' journal. He later moved to London. Two books written by him were published: ''The Pen and the Gun'' (2001) and ''Sri Lanka — Witness to History — A Journalist’s Memoirs'' (2005). He returned to Colombo after contracting bone cancer. Sivanayagam died on 29 November 2010 in Colombo.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sivanayagam, S. 1930 births 2010 deaths Alumni of Jaffna College Alumni of Kokkuvil Hindu College People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan editors Sri Lankan journalists Sri Lankan Tamil writers