Hunger Striker Earns Meal Ticket

Dean Nicholas
By Dean Nicholas Last edited 164 months ago
Hunger Striker Earns Meal Ticket

One of the two students who went on hunger strike during the Tamil protest outside Parliament last year has won a legal case against newspapers that claimed that he was secretly scoffing burgers. Parameswaran Subramanyam's 23-day hunger strike, aimed at pressuring the UK government to push for a ceasefire in northern Sri Lanka, left him needing hospital treatment. Six months later, the Daily Mail and The Sun ran stories that claimed he was in fact chomping McDonald's chow on the sly, allegations that they now accept were "entirely false". Both titles have published the requisite apology (buried deep in the paper, no doubt) and paid substantial damages to Mr. Subramanyam, who says that he has been ostracised by both his family and the wider Tamil community.

Last Updated 29 July 2010