Victor, the Friend of the Foreign Press

This article was written by Amal Jayasinghe, Bureau Chief of Agence France-Presse in Colombo to commemorate Ravaya Founder/Editor who's first death anniversary fell last month.

- Amal Jayasinghe Bureau Chief Agence France-Presse Sri Lanka / Maldives

To most Sri Lankans, Victor Ivan was an editor marked by his role in the failed 1971 JVP insurrection. To the foreign press, he was more than a revolutionary turned reporter.

What many may not know is his close association with foreign correspondents and visiting journalists during one of the most turbulent periods since the 1971 JVP-led insurrection, in which he himself was involved.

When a new association for foreign journalists in Sri Lanka was formed in mid-1988, Victor was one of the first Sri Lankan editors to strongly support it. He later became an Associate Member, a category opened within the Foreign Correspondents' Association (FCA) to those interested in the work of foreign correspondents. This was a time when international media attention was sharply focused on Sri Lanka after it signed a controversial peace pact with neighbouring India to try to end Tamil separatism, but instead ended up fighting the separatists.