Sri Lanka, Aug. 17 -- Twenty years is a long time. I often think of Kethesh Loganathan over these years, even though I had actively known him for just four years. My father had been in touch with Kethesh for decades, and his introduction began a friendship and collaboration with Kethesh which suddenly ended with his assassination on 12 August 2006.

The Tamil community and the country as a whole have lost tremendous activists whose lives were cut short by a violent political culture. Their passion for social change could have reshaped the future of the country, if they had lived to make fuller contributions in the political and economic realms. I write about Kethesh here, because I feel it is important that the younger generations know ...