In Honour of a Dinky-Die War Correspondent, Muralidhar Reddy

thuppahi

2 years ago

Michael Roberts

Because my sister Estelle’s birthday fell in early May, I visited Sri Lanka from late April 2009 to circa July 2009 when the Sri Lankan armed forces were on the verge of overcoming the LTTE and its Eelam struggle. It so happened that the journalist representing the important Tamilnadu publishers of The Hindu and Frontline was none other than Muralidhar Reddy (in residence near Thurstan Rd). I had met Reddy once at Sanjay Srivastava’s home in Delhi (1995?) and he sought me out with requests for articles to be placed in Frontline.

This initiated a fruitful set of exchanges. It also brought me friendship with another Indian journalist, Kanchan Prasad — whose photographic skills have provided me with some invaluable war ‘tales’ in camera-mode: so that all the four photos of Murali-in-the war-zone are shots snapped by this intrepid lady …. a Lyse Doucet in Asian mould.

So, it is with an immense depth of sadness that I heard of Murali’s demise at a relatively early age via an email from Kanchan. This essay is a testimonial to Muralidhar Reddy’s honesty of purpose and rejection of coloured testimony directed by partisan political slant. MURALI ….. This is one warm hug and embrace for your dedication to truth in reportage.

In counterpoint to your own rejection of the camera, it is going to be a set of tales that includes camerawork. My apologies, good mate.

Murali seated with overall SL Army commander Shavendra Silva in the operational HQ at some point in early 2009 …. evidence of the trust in his reportage which encouraged the SL Army to take him to the Nandhikadal seashore arena everyday in the last 8-9 days of the war in May.