Veteran journalist, former editor of leading alternative-stream newspaper Ravaya has passed away yesterday (19) being under treatment at a hospital. The funeral will take place today (20) in Galle, information from close associates stated. Ivan was 75 at the time of his demise.

He has served as the editor of Ravaya for nearly two and a half decades. Ivan was notable in the journalism field as a veteran journalist, hard-line critic, and a media-freedom advocate. He authored several books, specially criticising Sri Lankan politics and power struggle. 

Ivan was a staunch Marxist, and was a member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) in its early days and had been a frontline figure in the 1971 JVP insurrection under the alias ‘Podi Athula’. Later he diverted from party politics and joined fulltime journalism.