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Iqbal Athas spoke truth to power with rare courage, discipline, and integrity

Daily FT

January 17, 2026

SRI Lanka mourns not merely the passing of a journalist, but the silencing of a conscience that spoke truth to power with rare courage, discipline, and integrity.

- By Chris Dharmakirti

Iqbal Athas spoke truth to power with rare courage, discipline, and integrity

I speak not only as an admirer of Iqbal Athas’s work, but as someone who had the profound good fortune to work under him for five years spanning a General Strike, a Presidential Referendum, Several Elections, Communal Riots of 83, Genesis of the Ealam conflict, Indian backed militant groups, attack on Supreme Court judges, and a variety of incidents including the search for Upali Wijewardena»s crashed Lear jet and many other stories now long forgotten.

We were part of his investigative journalism team at Independent Newspapers in Colombo—during a time when no politician, public official, or institution was spared the scrutiny of the daring journalism he encouraged us to pursue.

Under Iqbal Athas, journalism was never a trade; it was a calling, governed by ethics, justice, and an almost sacred respect for facts.

We were taught to report with no fear and no favour. Assertions were meaningless unless supported by evidence. Facts were never taken at face value—they were verified, then verified again, and often a third time, against credible and independent sources.

This story is from the January 17, 2026 edition of Daily FT.

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