Memorial Day of Vallipuram Arutsothinathan (Sothi Brother)
Memorial Day of Vallipuram Arutsothinathan (Sothi Brother), a veteran journalist and patriot of Kilinochchi – 16.01.2007
The reporter became the news….16.01.2007 (Kilinochchi’s senior journalist Vallipuram Arulsothinathan) “Kanagapurachothi” – This is how they call Sothi Annai. A senior journalist from Eelanatha. We lost him on 16.01.2007 due to illness. We thought Sothi Annai had a fever. He had not been feeling well for a few days. He did not tell us that he had cancer. He had told us only when he was going to Colombo. It was as if he knew that “he would not return”…
He had worked as an office reporter for Eelanatham newspaper since 1993. Sothi Annai is a reporter who knows a lot about the directors and employees of government and private institutions in Kilinochchi and the activities of those institutions. Sothi Annai has generally written a lot of news related to problems for the people. He was also a trainer for new journalists who were coming to work as journalists. He would take them on his motorbike.
The LTTE had recaptured Kilinochchi from the Sri Lankan forces that had captured Kilinochchi during Operation Satjeya through Operation Oyadha Alagal 2. During the time the forces were stationed in Kilinochchi, the Sri Lankan forces had massacred many people who had gone to visit their homes and plucked coconuts, and many have disappeared to this day. During the time that Kilinochchi was recaptured, the remains of many people were found while cleaning the roads and lands. Sodhi Anna was one of those who knew well whose land the remains were on and whether any of the people in those remains had been disappeared. Sodhi Anna was more than a journalist but also a social activist. On 17.01.2007, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) conferred the status of “Patriot” on Sothi Annai for his social service and media work, and the Tamil Eelam Political Secretary S.P. Tamilchelvan honored him by placing the Tamil Eelam national flag on his body. Even though Sothi Annai is no more, his memories travel with us.
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