Honesty and integrity paid off

At a time when Sri Lanka is being targeted for a ‘Bull’s- Eye Killing’ by foreign bully boys (UK Channel 4 inclusive) who have been denuded for doing more harm than good in devastating many other stable countries in the world on the premise of protecting ‘human rights’ and saving civilian life, some of our types, who were born in the motherland, bred, educated to professional standards and afforded golden opportunities to settle down contentedly abroad, and at home, have been exposing themselves as ungrateful scamps rather than protecting the very motherland which nurtured them.

With that backdrop, this column wishes to focus on a true Sinhala son who is celebrating a long fought battle single handed for the last 15 years from London, to prove his mettle, love and gratitude to his motherland by upholding Sinhala tradition and the language by publishing the first ever Sinhala newspapers from London.

Creating history

A journalist by profession, Daya Ananda Ranasinghe needs no formal introduction. As a veteran journalist, who had worked for many leading newspaper groups in Sri Lanka for the past 30 years, took the plunge to launch and edit his own Sinhala newspaper Lanka Viththi in 1997.

It created history by being the first ever Sinhala newspaper published outside Sri Lanka and soon entered the worldwide web (www.lankaviththi.com) where the readers from any part of the world could access through Internet.

To publish a newspaper by an individual is not an easy task. Much needed capital is primarily the very heart of the operation and the advertising revenue becomes its blood.

If the heart is starved of blood the result is untimely death! In that context, Daya needed iron guts and absolute commitment to stand up for 15 long years and say, “I did it my own way" without any subsidies from the government or any other Sri Lankan institution based in London. Here is an individual who is worthy of recognition and a newspaper that needs propping up by Sri Lankans both at home and abroad. I take my hat off to Daya who made his dream come true and sustained it for 15 long years.

In the absence of any financial backing from anywhere, Daya has been able to exhibit his diligence with the help of a handful of dedicated Sri Lankan volunteer expatriates who assisted him in areas such as distribution, graphic designing and IT aspect of the operation.

Resolve

Daya Ananda Ranasinghe's resolve to sustain Sinhala language from its fast approaching extinction and aiming at promoting the Sinhala culture and heritage among the expatriate Sinhala Diaspora living in the UK and other parts of the world has paid off. Today, as Lanka Viththi is celebrating its 15th anniversary, Daya Ananda Ranasinghe is a satisfied journalist who is reaping the benefits out of his dedicated work.

The Sinhala tabloid which started with a few hundred copies 15 years ago now goes into thousands in circulation and distributed among other countries such as France, Italy, Sweden, USA, Latin America, Australia, Middle East and in Sri Lanka.

Its concept of maintaining harmony within Sri Lankan society and the prime aim of developing the intellect of Sri Lankans and to act as a guiding beam of light to the young children of Sri Lankan parents has been to educate the community in multiple ways to show the right path to lead a peaceful life as good citizens wherever they live. Amidst all fiscal restraint in publishing a newspaper from London his patriotic stance is further exposed when Lanka Viththi newspaper gets circulated totally free of charge with hardly any major advertising to support it financially.

Versatile character

True to the dictum, ‘Mother and Motherland are nobler than heaven’ which is carried under the masthead, the journal offers to the enlightened reader with relevant news, views, reviews and opinions of the readership.

Over a period of 15 years Lanka Viththi has been able to establish its position in the printing world as a sine qua non for Sri Lankans in London.

Every month the newspaper serves as a forum for discussion and debate on social, political, educational and cultural matters with contributions ranging from the editorial, feature articles, Sinhala Kavi (poetry) from specialists, prominent journalists and most importantly the active readership to whom the pages have been readily open for suggestions and constructive criticism.

Daya Ananda Ranasinghe’s character is versatile ranging from being a renowned poet, Sinhala song lyrics writer, scriptwriter for Sinhala films and as an amateur singer (with his own CD). In 1982, Daya Ananda won the best creative scriptwriter of the year OCIC Award in Colombo for his film Adhistana (Determination) that represented Sri Lanka in the Film Festival in Manheim, Germany

Lanka Viththi has always maintained a policy of a united Lanka and a united people and to campaign against all types of conflict-ridden ideas and actions which would only weaken the nation and the people.

On its 15th anniversary, Daya Ananda Ranasinghe sends a message to the readership of Lanka Viththi through the editorial as follows:

“The writing material we use in Lanka Viththi publications along with our honesty and integrity are not borrowed from any other source for the mere sake of publishing a newspaper, but they are moral ethics deeply ingrained at the very core of our heart which have been imbibed into ours system. Such robust qualities don’t just disappear from us whatever hardship that may come our way as real challenges.

It’s with deep sense of responsibility we pronounce that we do not adopt a dual life style - one for the sustenance of life and the other for the sake of editing a newspaper! To sum up in a nutshell, when you open Lanka Viththi, you see and feel nothing but our Heart Beat!”

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