Rajani

Rajasingham was brutally gunned down at Thirunelvely, as she was cycling back home from the Jaffna University. She was Professor of Anatomy at the Jaffna medical faculty. The 35 year old mother of two daughters was also a human rights activist, feminist, critic of narrow nationalism and opponent of irresponsible militarism. Her husband,Dayapala Thiranagama in a recent article on Rajini has referred to the manner in which she was killed. Here is the relevant excerpt; “The armed confrontation between the Tamil Tigers and the IPKF was at its peak at the time and no dissent was tolerated. She had had links with the LTTE and had treated injured Tamil militants before at the inception of Tamil tiger militancy. Then they were only a small band of armed men. Times had changed. Her assassins had been waiting for her on her way home after work at the Medical Faculty and she was gunned down near her home in Kokuvil, Jaffna on 21st September 1989 about 4.00pm.”

“They came behind and called her by name. Then she was still sitting on the bike, turned back and looked at them. Eyewitnesses say that she tried to cover her forehead with her bare hands seeing the gunmen pointing the pistol at her head. They demonstrated extraordinary cruelty against a woman who had only her bare hands to cover her head against the bullets. Even after she fell on the ground they shot the back of her head with two bullets to make sure that she would not be alive to criticise them again. They showed no mercy towards the woman who had showed them such compassion and had treated them when they were injured. Her young daughters hearing the gun shots wondered who the victim would be this time.”

When Rajini was killed there was some confusion initially about who her killers were. Some university students staged a protest demonstration blaming Tamil armed groups functioning as lackeys of the Indian army. This was so because Rajini had very often clashed with the Indian officials on issues of human rights violations.

Subsequently it became clear that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was responsible.but Rajini herself had a premonition of her death and in a letter to someone she was close to, had said that her killers would be sons nurtured in the womb of Jaffna.

No one has officially claimed responsibility for her killing and several attempts have been made by those close to the perpetrators to deflect blame elsewhere. Despite these moves the people at large knew who the killers were though not many dared to say it publicly at the time.

It is now clear that two of Rajini’s students at the Jaffna medical faculty played a dirty role in the killing. They did not pull the trigger personally but as members of the LTTE’s “intelligence” wing had supplied the info on the basis of which she was killed by a tiger hit squad. One of them functioned later as a doctor in the LTTE medical unit. Both are abroad in a European country now. The identity of the actual assassins is unknown.

Many years later the Eelam Peoples Demovratic Party (EPDP) Parliamentarian and “Thinamurasu” weekly Editor Nadarajah Atputharajah alias Ramesh attempted a whitewash of the LTTE by claiming that the “Mandaiyan Kuzhu” (Mandaiyan group) of the pro-Indian Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) had killed Rajini.

Ramesh at that time had begum associating clandestinely with the LTTE. Though the EPRLF “mandaiyan group” had killed several people regarded as being pro-LTTE that outfit had not killed Rajini. But Ramesh wilfully distorted the truth. He was in turn killed at Wellawatte on the orders of EPDP chief Douglas Devananda.

Two decades have passed since Rajini was killed.The passage of time however fails to erase the indelible memories of Rajini among those who knew her. Her brutal murder will not be forgotten.

Whenever the human rights violations of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam are referred to in detail her name will always crop up. Whenever the tragic plight of women caught up in Sri Lankas long drawn out “Machismo” war is highlighted her murder will be focussed upon. Whenever the story of how the Tamil liberation struggle went terribly wrong is discussed the murder of Rajini Thiranagama will always be an issue cited.

She was truly a heroine of our times and an unforegettable symbol of its enveloping tragedy. As former UN special rapporteur on violence against women and current special representative of UN Secretary-General on Children and Armed conflict Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy observed.

“Rajini had a vision for her people, the Sri Lankan Tamils. She envisioned a time when they would live in peace and dignity enjoying democratic rights and freedoms. Standing against oppression and brutality in all its forms, she is a beacon of light for a community living in fear and struggling for self-respect. She will never be forgotten; an icon for everyone in Sri Lanka fighting for freedom”.


What is less-known is the fact that Rajini who passed away 20 years ago was also an old student of Jaffna college. Both Rajini was born in February 1954 and studied at JC from grade one till she entered varsity (Rajini had for a short period been at Chundikkuli Girls College in Jaffna).

She entered University in 1973.

The first major military operation undertaken against the LTTE by the Indian Army was codenamed “Operation Pawan”. Pawan meant strong or gusty wind. The Palmyrah tree would sway dangerously against strong wind and at times be even uprooted but would never bend.

It was under similar conditions after the LTTE provoked the Indian Army into war in 1987, although with deaths on a much smaller scale, when Rajani and some of her colleagues set about writing the Broken Palmyra with a view to placing in public how the civilians were victimised by all the armed parties. Rajani busied herself talking to hospital staff to write about how the LTTE firing at the advancing Indian Army column and running away resulted in scores of civilians and staff being killed by the latter. She talked to families where women had been raped. She recorded how an LTTE provocation of firing at a tank from Kokkuvil Hindu and escaping resulted in a tank firing a shell at a classroom killing 30 refugees.

Rajani had no illusions about the LTTE and was in greater danger as an ex-LTTEer challenging the outfit. One cannot fully explain the rationality or otherwise of decisions taken long ago. It was as an act of meaningful defiance that she decided that the book should be published with the names of all the authors.

If Rajani were alive today she would have done the same for the victims of the war now ended and challenged the ideologues on both sides who boast of their military genius at the expense of the people. She would not have stopped there. She believed that the people should be mobilised and structures built to consolidate their gains. In 1987, the first act in which she played a leading role was to talk to the Indian Army and reopen the University of Jaffna, as an available structure that could become a base for others. She was sometimes almost alone in the Medical Faculty with a few loyal labourers getting the Anatomy Department back into shape.

When the Indian Army found out about the preprint edition of the Broken Palmyra they quickly acquired copies and three different intelligence teams were assessing them. They were annoyed, sometimes on spurious intelligence, but generally took it up as well as one might expect. While fighting the LTTE and setting up the conscript Tamil National Army was dirty business, there was also at some level in the Indian Army sensitivity to democratic freedoms.

Quote from Broken Palmyrah
“Within this tragic history there is still an attempt by concerned people to think coherently of the future. There are debates going on as to the correct path for survival, organisation and possible breakthroughs. There is, especially in the North, a limited attempt at organising at the grass-roots level, so as to handle the repressive situation and violence from all sides. These are very small beginnings indeed. For the people, any solution to the brutal and intense violence has to come from within the communities and cannot be imposed from outside. The development of these internal structures is a long and arduous task, a process which is only just beginning to be comprehended.”

Our obeisance to terror within the community, and our opportunism and lack of principles in the face of many internal killings, have made it easy for external forces to use the same weapons to control us. Thus if the people are to regain their lost self-will and dignity, they will have to move towards a principled collective response. We have to assert universal values to which we are both emotionally and intellectually committed.

It is the lack of such commitment that enabled us to come to terms with murder, when it concerned others’ sons, and then, watch helplessly in panic when the cancer, allowed to grow, threatened our own sons. We are now paying the price for our past indifference.

As individuals or small groups in our neighbourhoods, places of work, unions or associations, we must question our past, understand where we went wrong, and rediscover our principles. We must be conscious of the message of past experience, that in standing up for others we also stand up for ourselves. This course requires courage; and, no other is open to us. We have tried to play safe in the past. The result was mass murder from several sources. Non-combatant civilians too became unarmed front-line troops facing the wrath of advancing armies. The future looks even more bleak, with the rapid growth and consolidation in southern Sri Lanka of forces of narrow political vision. This opens the door for further involvement by external forces. Let us not remain forever unprepared and continue trapped in the logic of passivity-hoping against hope that someone else will bring us deliverance.


    It was on the 21st of September,1989 that the cruel hand of fate took away the precious and accomplished life of Rajani.

   
    It is very tragic that Rajini should suffer such a horrible death at such a young age.She didn’t deserve that at all. Her two girls were very young at that time and were home awaiting the return of their mother.

    Rajani killing was a pointer of how the Tamil armed struggle had taken a wrong turn and was doomed to fail. We see the results now

    Neelan, Rajini, Kadiragamar, Raviraj and innumerable others of the same ilk . They were not only an immeasurable loss to Tamils but to larger humanity. We need such individuals more than any other country.

    As time went on I could not understand the statistical aberration of such a large percentage of a community accommodating such inhuman murder of one’s own as necessities in the path towards liberation. I tried to argue with my Tamil friends that Kadiragamar was no traitor but this great intellectual saw clearly that LTTE was destroying Tamils and feared a point of no return and supported the war effort in the same vein as the great scientist and humanitarian Einstein supported the development of atomic bomb – but to no avail.

    When the innocent civilians were trapped in last show down how I wished if only those great Tamils were alive!
   
    I was in my teens when her muder was known; Like quite a lot of people, I was confused who did that; However, it did not last longer; The moment LTTE (local ) connected people started to mud-sling her character, it was becomiong clear; Even I had an argumant who tried to defame her character (Is it called character assasination?); My point to him was clear; ‘Even if what you say is correct, who gave the authority to murder her”. I did not believe what he said; However, I did not want to argue in that direction.

    Later, I became wise and stopped arguing like that; It was quite a wise move .. I am alive today; One of my well-known (I do not say how he is known/linked to me as this may identify me;) was not that lucky. He was an open mouth arguing kind of guy; Shot to death during IPKF days. It was 15 years later that I came to know that. on that fateful day, who ‘spied’ his movement was, somehow well known to me. I was nauseating. To this day, after knowing it was him, I did not atempt to contact him and I do not want to see him in future;   

    I agree blunders have been made one too many times and now we pay the price. Its time for entire Eelam Tamils to unite regardless of their past differences as one nation and liberate our people from political,social and cultural oppression .

    I just can’t simply understand how we, a decent, tolerant and educated community, allowed this to happen. How on earth most of our community knowingly or unknowingly supported this monstreous LTTE or for that matter any other armed war loads or so called tamil liberators? How did we swap angel Ranjini for a monster Praba? LTTE, EPDP, EPRLF, PLOTE, TELO, etc, etc they are all killers of their own people but the irony of the situation is these killers are also our people! How did we allow this to happen?
   
The first time I read THE BROKEN PALMYRAS in UTHR website I was moved. I don understand how people who can kill such a nice human being, a brave soul, can be liberator of their own people. LTTE not only failed in their own exercise of liberating the innocent tamil people they have also killed all future prospects of tamil people. One after another they killed real fighters of the Tamil cause, Rajini was one of them, people like Rajini had the courage to stand up against all oppression, fight for their cause. I have also viwed a movie made by her daughters NO MORE TEARS DEAR SISTER in you tube, it was so touching I really cried after viewing it.
   
She had made the mark and shown the way and made prophecies we can still hang on to. Lets thank her postheoumosly and salute the brave woman of a true spirit and a true witness of Jesus.

I still remember those dark days in my student life. 1989 was the hell, whether life was in North or South.

    Tigers were gunning down their opponents and ENDLF and other groups abducting ( Kidnapping) boys on the road for forceful recruitment (notorious Volunteer Force or Thonder paadi set up by IPKF). We were un able to get out of our houses to go to school or Tuition classes or even temple. In Southern areas of the country the situation was extremely bad ,and I heard many pathetic stories when I moved to Colombo. Sinhala boys told me that they had to sleep in their backyard throughout night to escape from illegal abduction and killing

    My house was very close to Prof. Rajini’s house on Navalar road and second cross road intersection. We initially thought she was gunned down by EPRLF ,
    I am ashmed that I lived in jaffna then and did not utter a word of protest about Dr Thiranagama’s killing.
Those who played a part in her killing ( however small should come clean with the truth. They owe it to the family and tamil people at large.

I was a student of Rajani’s father Mr.Rajasingaham who was very good in double maths.  She was very courageous person. She was one of few people honestly love our society. Her death was a great loss of our society as whole. LTTE made mistakes many times by wiping out intellectuals. I read many times her book call “Broken Palmyrah”. As she said on this book as below she correctly predicted “Tigers” fate 21 years ago and wrote as, “The Tigers’ history, their theoretical vacuum, lack of political creativity, intolerance and fanatical dedication will be the ultimate cause of their own break up. The legendary Tigers will go to their demise with their legends smeared with the blood and tears of victims of their own misdoings. A new Tiger will not emerge from their ashes. 0nly by breaking with this whole history and its dominant ideology, can a new liberating outlook be born.”
    What a tragedy for Thiranagama family,though Rajini acca physically illuminated in this world ,she lives in every body’s memory until now.She could have easily settled in UK and had a comfortable life but she wanted to serve the people and ultimately sacrificed her life.We lost a lot of people to LTTE’s gun and list is too long.
Eyewitnesses say that she tried to cover her forehead with her bare hands seeing the gunmen pointing the pistol at her head.

    Heart-ripping . In the name of freedom-fighting, the LTTE turned into monsters.

    We had lost a mother, and for the community, a very clever young professor who would have done much more to the society if she were still there;
   
    Rajani’s loss was irreplaceable or humanity.
    This is one of the huge mistake made by LTTE

    Maybe the LTTE feared Rajini as she was capable of directly confronting them and in the process damage them. Maybe they wanted to convey a warning to Nirmala. Maybe they wanted to silence the UTHR (J).
    Rajini will be remembered as a true liberator of our society not like those “fake sole representatives…” and she is not alone there are lot of them in our society but they have been silenced by the “fake sole representatives…”
    She was brave enough to encounter them and paid the price.
    அநீதி எங்கு நடந்தாலும் அநீதிதான் அதை தட்டி கேபவன் மனிதருள் மாணிக்கம்
 

    The herculian effort of Professor Rajini is in essence to change the way the things are, her choice of supporting LTTE with the spur of the moment decision despite Mr. Dayapala’s disaproval seems a fatal mistake.

    while the youthful energy of these charactors are with anybody at somepoint of time in their life span it is the decisions one make seals their fate.

    It is so sad to read the loving father , husband’s point of view and how the poor little daughters were waiting for their mothers return while she was trying save her head with bare hands while her murderors ready to shoot.!!!!!

    As a father of two kids I am so deeply disturbed with the picture in my mind and so saddened by the loss of otherwise picture perfect family life these two great individuals could have had with the two daughters unless they tried to change the world!.

    The message for those who are alive and thinking of how to build a nation of peace loving people is the ultimate sacrifice these folks made thanks to so called liberations , movements and so forth.

    So eventually was it worth to fight for a seperate land and loss all you have as a community or try to see the world with open eyes and move beyond mere race and fight all forms of injustice, corruption, negligence and achieve a better society devoid of class, creed, etc.

    Isn’t it what these folks really scrificed their lives for?
    The ‘Broken Palmyrah’ will ‘blossom’ still if people realize this and work towards that in all communities.

 
    There were so many atrocities committed by both the LTTE and GOSL against their own people. Remember 1989
    “Beehsana Samaya” when partly chopped off female bodies were strewn all over Southern villages. Those girls were too fighting for a cause they believed in.

    Regarding the mixed marriage of Rajini, I would like to
    mention, that there were many in the history of SL.
    Sinhala kings brought Queens from South India, and that is why every buddhist temple has got a Hindu Kovil
    for the Queen to worship. This practice shows that
    although our two communities were/are at each others
    throats we have had good times too. I hope there will be
    more good times in the future than killing each other.

    Rajini made the ultimate sacrifice for speaking out.
   
    The Diaspora and the remaining LTTE have to be willing to come clean about their activities- it is not enough criticizing only the failings of the government in Sri Lanka to protect its Tamil children. The LTTE has by killing great people like Rajini and hiding cowardly behind a veil of silence shown their callous disregard for the very people they represent.

    It is by not having their actions criticized that they found themselves almost completely wiped-out in Sri Lanka.
    Tamil Diaspora (perhaps not the Tamils living in Sri Lanka) want the illusion of a heroic LTTE to remain alive.
    I have purposely refrained from attacking the conduct of the Sri Lankan government too much as I feel the current problem for the Tamils is actually the ghost of the LTTE rather than the actions of the government. That does not mean I support or condone the government actions.

    In a war, especially a third world war, where both parties are extremely brutal extrajudicial killings are far too common. Why are the Diaspora pretending to be shocked by the way the LTTE was defeated? Is the killing of the LTTE by the Sri Lankan government, perhaps in cold blood and certainly ruthlessly, any different to the hundreds of policeman and Tamil people who have fallen foul of the LTTE and been tortured and butchered? I don�t see any difference. If truth be told I find the conduct of the government infinitely better than what the LTTE has done in the past. Ruthless yes- but better than the LTTE. Is that good enough for a government as opposed to a terrorist (supposedly) organisation? That is a debate that one needs to conduct in the context of a third world conflict.
   
    May Rajini and the other brave and great intellectuals taken away in their prime continue to live in our minds and to continue to guide us towards a just solution.

 When I was at Srilanka University, following a degree in sciences, the proportion of Tamils to Sinhalese was around 65% to 35%. This was just before standardisation. However it was the Sinhala students who used to top the batches very often. This shows that there is no difference between the intellectual ability between the races. However the Tamils were harder working due to their circumstances. However because I lived some time in Jaffna, I found that opportunities for higher education was much more streamlined and facilities available to Tamil children in Jaffna when compared to Sinhala students who lived outside the Colombo district. This may be due to many good educational institutions setup in Jaffna by Christian missionaries years back.

   One agency that has remembered Rajani is the National Film Board of Canada.
    The land of the Maple leaf has made a name for itself in the realm of
    documentary films. “No More Tears Sister” – the anatomy of hope and betrayal is the title of an 80 minute film on the life and times of Rajani Thiranagama produced by the Canadian Film Board.. It is written and directed by Montreal
    based Canadian film maker Helene Klodawsky. The narrator Michael Ondatatje
    the Sri Lanka born reputed author now domiciled in Canada. A novel feature in
    recreating the life of Rajani is the portrayal of her mother by Sharika the younger
    daughter now in her early twenties.

   
    Unlike most recreations of a contemporary personality the story of Rajani
    provided a stiff challenge for the filmmakers. There was very little documentation
    or authentic correspondence. Many of those who knew her or were associated
    with her were too scared to be filmed. Moreover filming in Jaffna where Rajani
    grew up, lived and died was out of the question because of the political climate.
    One also supposes that an element of screcy had to be maintained at all times
    due to the sensitive content and theme of the film.

    Despite these problems that would have defeated most film makers of Cinema
    verite Helen Klodawsky has accomplished her task well. She was fortunate that
    family members and a few fellow human rights activists and feminists were
    courageous enough to come out openly. Rajanis parents the Rajasinghams,
    sisters Nirmala, Sumathy and Vasuki, Daughters Narmada and Sharika, husband
    Dayapala Thiranagama and some unnamed activists have all been interviewed
    and the life of Rajani unfolds on screen through their accounts mainly.

    The vivid and perceptive comments made by Nirmala and Dayapala are the chief
    strengths of the film. The story of Rajani is inextricably inter- twined with that of
    her elder sister Nirmala a political activist cum feminist in her own right. Rajanis
    story cannot be told without without relating the story of Nirmala also. In that
    sense this film is as much about Nirmala as it is about Rajani. Nirmala has broken
    her long “public” silence on Rajanis death in this film. While not dwelt on
    forcefully the film leaves no doubt in the viewers mind about the forces behind
    Rajanis assassination.

    Dayapala Thiranagama comes off very well. Both Rajani and he came from
    contrastingly different backgrounds. He provides many fresh insights into
    Rajanis life. The scenes showing Nirmala and Dayapala in conversation are
    illuminating. A revealing moment of truth for anyone familiar with the rise and fall
    of the Tamil liberation struggle would be the one where the comment is made
    that political activism is no longer the armed struggle but that of upholding
    human rights.

    The story of Rajani is interwoven with the violence of the ethnic conflict in Sri
    Lanka. What made Helen Klodawsky the daughter of a concentration camp
    survivor herself take up this tale? This is what she says – “I wanted to understand
    how ethnic conflict and national struggles impact women – be they victims of war,
    militant fighters or peace builders. I wondered whether there was a feminist
    critique of both state and guerilla violence It was well known that the Sri Lankan
    military and the opposition Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam were both guilty of
    torture, illegal detention, disappearances and extra – judicial executions. I wanted
    to explore whether women were, on the one hand, torn between loyalties to their
    ethnic communities and on the other hand the community of women. Did
    oppressed minority women imagine fighting injustice in different ways than their
    male counterparts?

    The story of Rajani Thiranagama – her courageous life, unique vision and tragic
    assassination – offered a compelling narrative to pose many of my questions.
    Rajanis evolution into a spirited champion of the Tamil peoples rights in the
    seventies and eighties paralleled the escalation of ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka.
    Moved by her peoples complex struggle against ruthless state violence, she
    believed Tamil militancy was the answer and joined the Liberation movement. But
    when she witnessed the corruption and cruelty within, she felt compelled to
    document what she saw and urged her people to resist blind adherence to any
    leader or movement. Embracing feminism and a belief in human rights, she felt
    that women in particular were the primary casualties of war.

    I believed that by following Rajanis life story and the circumstances surrounding
    her untimely death, several themes could be explored. Nationalisms anti –
    nationalism; the lives of women as both participants and innocent victims of war
    and the belief in armed struggle vs a critique of militarism.

    Though “No More Tears ” is set in Sri Lanka, a similiar story might have been
    explored in Africa, other parts of Asia, the middle – east, Eastern Europe or Latin
    America. In the sixties and seventies, Rajani was part of a generation of young
    political activists in post – colonial societies around the world – activists who
    dreamed of radically transforming their societies to achieve equality and justice
    for all. But this idealism continues to be ruthlessly thwarted by narrow nationalist
    agendas in countless Countries.

   


    it is very sad that the Tamil community tend to forget or ignore those who cared for them Rajini was one of them. Her contribution towards the betterment our Tamil community is immeasurable.

    As for her assasians, it was Bosco the former LTTE ‘intelegience’ deputy who fired the shots. It was Dr, Sooriyakumar and Dr, Darmendra who provided all the details about Rajini’s movement.
    My condolences to the family of Rajini, specially her children and husband who somehow would have found a way forward. For many of us she is a heroine. but what is the use of a dead heroine to her children who would have cried a million times for her warmth. many a time when I reflect on the death of all caught up in the conflict whether LTTE or its sympathisers or the innocent or the GOSL soldiers at the end of the day they all left behind loved ones. I say once again War is an ugly wastful excercise.

    I sincerely hope that her family is recovered from this loss and somehow time would heal all wounds. May her memory live fresh in the hearts of those who loved her till the end of time.
   
  

    Selvi was born into a peasant family in Semamadu, a village about 80 miles south of Jaffna.
    Selvi was a Tamil language poet from Jaffna in Sri Lanka. A third-year student in Theater and Drama Arts in the University of Jaffna.

    She was the founder of a feminist journal called Tholi and was a gifted young poet who in her work deplored the carnage brought about by the Sri Lankan civil war. Selvi also produced two plays, one about dowry payments and the other about rapes.

    Selvi was arrested by the LTTE on August 30, 1991. The day before her abduction she was about to star in a play about the role of women in the Palestinian intifada.

    She was a prominent member of Poorani Illam, a women’s center in Jaffna, which gives support to women traumatized by government bombing raids and bereavement.
   
    Thiagarajah Selvanithy or (Selvi) from Sri Lanka a International PEN award winner in 1992, who abducted and executed by the LTTE.

    In 1997, LTTE sources acknowledged that she was executed along with another dissident one Manoharan also a final year University student. Although their opposition to the LTTE was non-violent, they were both executed in the LTTE’s prison camps.
   
    Not only Rajini, Selvi, Mrs Yogeswaran etc. The list is much longer. What about those three female school principlas who were shot and killed on 30 Oct 1995 when they defied the order of the LTTE expelling 500,000 Tamils from Jaffna to Vanni. What did Ralangi of SLBC and her husband did to get killed in 2003 in Colombo.

    VP is out and now we have a vision. The vision is fusion with all other Sri Lankans and live together raising our tolerance level to the maximum.
   

    Yes Rajini’s death and a host of other murders of dedicated Tamil people by the LTTE has irredeemably undermined the Tamil people. That’s why the community runs around in circles like headless chickens.

 
    She was one of the dedicted and well qualified Anatomist in Sri Lanka. She dissected Thileepan?s body marvellously spending months without distorting his face. It was one the finest dissected body we ever come across even in the rest of the world. She respected him for his commitment. She wanted to keep him eternal in the formalin box. They took that even with them when they evacuated in 1995.

    These all cannot be recognised by them as they never had that type of mind set. We not only lost social conscious human rights, women rights activist, we have lost a good scientist from our society.
    Dr. Sooriya kumar is in UK. He was the head of the LTTE’s so called medical wing and was mainly instrumental in bringing Pirapakaran’s daughter to Ireland. He is the brother of Newton who was a high profile LTTE intelligence cardre and was abducted and killed by Karuna in 2005. it was rumorued in 1999 that Dr. Soori administered a wrong injection to Anton Balasingham, as a punishment he was removed from the post and sent to UK.

    Dr, Darmendra worked in Mulankavil and Vavuniya hospital but I don’t know where he is now. As for Bosco he died in 2000 due to illness, but some suspect that he was poisioned by ‘insiders’
 
We are not animals. We have been desensitized as a people and have by action or inaction begun to accept killings of human beings as normal. As a people we have begun to turn a blind eye to the suffering of other human beings. We have branded ourselves as Tamils, Sinhalese etc. We have created our own languages and cultures. This is well and good as long as these do not divide and harm a community. Especially because these are all man made. When we are born, we do not come to this world with all this branding and name tags. Unfortunately, these are the reasons over which we kill each other. We are human before anything else. Creating dissension among a group of people is as easy as it comes. You create or emphasise a difference. Then you exploit that and give leadership to it so that you have a following. This is called the divide and rule method. This is how the British and few other empires won their wars. It was one of their best employed military strategies which was put to good use with successful results. They used this with good effect in Sri Lanka. We as humans have so many weaknesses. This why it is so easy to exploit these weaknesses.
 world would have supported/saved them.

    Having a vision is not an issue. The issue here how to achieve the vision.The LTTE was off track in achieving this vision. Rajini predicted this along with lot of others the only differece is she encountered with LTTE and tried to change their way of operation inorder to save our community, vision and also LTTE from disaster but she paid the price for this.

    If she had done so Tamils in Sri Lanka would have been saved from disaster like this would have achieved something when compared to nothing now.

I am from a very poor background and I must thank Late Mr. C.W.W. Kanankara for my education.
  
 There were many Sinhala areas where the children did not have educational facilities comparable to Jaffna. My opinions are based on true life observations as I lived in Tamil areas as well as very poor Sinhala areas. I was privileged but they were not and my heart bled. I have also seen the extreme poverty and hardships in tea estate Tamils and often asked the question why the fight for Tamil rights started among more effluent Jaffna Tamils. No one under what ever circumstances has the right to take away life. It cannot be justified. Buddha said happiness is a state of mind. It took me long years to understand this was correct. Similarly thinking our rights are deprived and we are being treated poorly is a state of mind because among humans we can always be treated poorly. Even our own siblings may do that. Then do we take the gun or change our attitude?
   
Prabakaran had everything: territory, international support and committed fighters. Senior journalist SHYAM TEKWANI, who has covered the LTTE and Sri Lanka for almost three decades tracks the alarming rise and astonishing fall of a man who sought to live to fight another day, but found only death at the hands of his nemesis.

   

    1989 ம் ஆண்டு செப்டெம்பர் 21ம் திகதி, எங்கள் அன்புக்குரிய மெடம் யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழக மருத்துவபீடத்தில் தன் கடமையை முடித்து விட்டு வீட்டிற்கு போகும்போது வீதியில் வைத்து கோழைத்தனமாகசுட்டுக் கொல்லப்பட்டார். அவரையும் அவரது நேர்மையையும் நேருக்கு நேராக முகம் கொடுக்க முடியாத ‘தமிழீழ விடுதலைக் கோழைகள் முதுகுப் புறமாக வந்து அவரைச் சுட்டுக் கொன்றனர். இந்தக்கோழைத்தனமான கொலையைக் கண்டித்து மருத்துவபீட மாணவர்களும் ஏனைய பல மாணவர்களும் எமது கைகளால் சுவரொட்டிகளை எழுதி யாழ்ப்பணம் எங்கும் ஒட்டினோம்.அப்போது எமது விடுதலைப்போராட்டத்தைப் பற்றி எனக்குள் எழுந்த உணர்வை நான் பின்வருமாறு ஆங்கிலத்தல் எழுதினேன். இதுவும் ஒரு சுவரொட்டியாக அப்போது ஒட்டப்பட்டதுFree Doom& Free Dumpist our Freedom…?இன்றோடு எங்கள் மெடம் கொல்லப்பட்டு 16 வருடங்கள் ஓடிவிட்டன. அவர் கொல்லப்பட்டு 15 வருடங்களின் பின்னராவது அவரைப்பற்றி ஒரு திரைப்படம் எடுக்கப் பட்டிருப்பது மிகவும் நன்றிக்குரிய விடயம்தான். ஆனால் இன்னும் அவரைக் கொன்றவர்களைப் பற்றிய பல உண்மைகள் சரியாக வெளிவரவில்லை என்பதுதான் மிகக் கவலையான விடயமாகும். இதற்கு முக்கிய காரணம் எம்மிடமிருந்த தத்தமது உயிர் பற்றிய பயம் பிரதானமானதாகும். அதேவேளை நாம் உண்மைகளைச் சொன்னால் அவற்றை ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளும் மனோநிலையில் எமது சமூகம் இருக்கிறதா என்ற சந்தேகமும் எனக்கு உண்டு. இன்றல்ல 1989இல் மெடம் கொல்லப்பட்ட போதும்கூட அவரை யார் கொன்றார்கள் என்ற உண்மையை எமது சமூகம் வெளிப்படையாக ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளத் தயாராக இருக்கவில்லை என்பதை நான் கண்டேன்.அப்போதும்கூட பலருக்கு அந்த உண்மை தெரிந்திருந்தும் அதை வெளிப்படையாக ஏற்றுக் கொள்ளுவதற்கு துணிச்சல் இருக்கவில்லை. ஆனால் அந்த உண்மையை தமக்குள் மனதளவில் ஏற்றுக் கொண்டவர்களும் பலர் இருந்தார்கள் என்பதும் மறுபக்க உண்மைதான். அவ்வாறு உண்மை தெரிந்து உள்ளுக்குள் வேதனைப்பட்டுக் கொண்டிருந்தவர்களில் நானும் ஒருவன். அன்று ஏனைய பலரைப் போன்று எனது உயிர், எனது எதிர்காலம் என்று நானும் இந்த உண்மைகளை எனக்குள் போட்டு அமுக்கிக் கொண்டேன். தற்போது நான் என் நாட்டை விட்டு வெளியேறி வெளி நாடொன்றில் ஒரு வைத்தியராக பணியாற்றிக் கொண்டிருக்கிறேன். ஆனால் இன்னும் நாட்டில் பல ஒடுக்கு முறைகளுக்கு மத்தியில் வாழும் இலட்சக்கணக்கான தமிழ் மக்களோடு ஒப்பிடுகையில் எனது எதிர்காலத்திற்கும் உயிருக்கும் இவ்வெளிநாட்டில் அதிக உத்தரவாதம் இருக்கிறது. அந்த வகையில் மெடத்தின் கொலை தொடர்பாக எனக்கு தெரிந்த சில உண்மைகளை இன்றாவது வெளியிடடுவது எனது கடமை என்று நினைக்கிறேன்.எமது அன்புக்குரிய மெடம் கலாநிதி ராஜினி திரணகம அவர்கள் சுட்டுக்கொல்லப்பட்ட போது நான் அங்கு மருத்துவபீட மாணவனாக இருந்தேன். அவர் எங்களுக்கு வெறும் உடற்கூற்றியல் விரிவுரையாளராக மட்டும் இருக்கவில்லை. அவரின் வகுப்புகள் எப்போதும் மிக உற்சாகம் நிறைந்ததாகவே இருக்கும். தனது அன்றாட விரிவுரைகளுக்கு அப்பால் எமது சமூகப் பிரைச்சினைகளைப் பற்றி சிந்திக்கும் திசையிலும் எம்மை மிகத்திறமையாக அவர் எடுத்து செல்வார். அப்போது அவரின் பரந்த அறிவையும் ஆழமான சமூக உணர்வையும் நாம் கண்டோம். எமக்கு அவற்றை புரிய வைப்பதற்காக சிறந்த திரைப்படங்கள், நாவல்கள் அவர் படித்து ரசித்த கவிதைகள் பலரின் உலக அனுபவங்கள் என சகலவற்றையும் எந்தவித தடங்கலும் இன்றி மள மளவென எம்முன் எடுத்துச் சொல்வார். அன்றைய கால கட்டத்தில் யாழ் பல்கலைக்கழகத்திற்குள் நடந்தவைகள் இப்போதும் ஓர் திரைப்படத்தைப்போல் என் மனதிற்குள் ஓடுகின்றன.இந்திய இராணுவத்தினரதும் அவர்களோடு சேர்ந்து இயங்கிய ஏனைய தமிழ் ஆயுத இயக்கங்களினதும் கெடுபிடிகள் மிக அதிகமாக இருந்ததால் விடுதலைப் புலிகள் இயக்கம் யாழ்ப்பாண பல்கலைகழகத்தையும் தமது மறைவிடங்களில் ஒன்றாக பாவித்தார்கள். புலிகள் இயக்கத்தின் நபர்கள் மட்டுமன்றி அவர்களின் ஆயுதங்கள் கூட பல்கலைக்கழகத்திற்குள் சில ஊழியர்களினதும் மாணவர்களினதும் உதவியோடு மறைத்து வைக்கப்பட்டிருந்தன. இந்த உண்மை பல்கலைக்கழகத்தில் உயர் மட்டத்தில் இருந்து கீழ் மட்டம் வரை பலருக்கும் தெரிந்திருந்தது. இதற்கு எமது மருத்துவ பீடமும் விதிவிலக்காக இருக்கவில்லை. இதனால் யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழகத்திற்குள் மாணவர்களிடையேயும் விரிவுரையாளர்களிடையேயும் புலிகளைப்பற்றி பேசுவது மிக மிக அச்சம் நிறைந்ததாக காணப்பட்டது. இந்த அச்சத்தின் காரணமாக அன்று புலிகள் இயக்கம்தான் சில மருத்துவபீட மாணவர்களின் உதவியுடன் மெடம் ராஜினி அவர்களை சுட்டுக் கொன்றது என்ற உண்மையைப்பற்றி எவரும் வெளிப்படையாக பேசத் துணியவில்லை. அதுமட்டுமன்றி அக்கொலையைச் செய்தது இந்திய இராணுவம் அல்லது அவர்களோடு நிற்கும் ஏனைய ஆயுதக் குழுக்களில் ஒன்று என்ற பொய்யான கருத்தையே பலரும் பரப்ப முயற்சித்தனர்.மெடம் அவர்கள் கொலை செய்யப்படுவதற்கு சில மாதங்களுக்கு முன்னர் இருந்தே புலிகள் இயக்கத்தின் உளவுப் பிரிவைச் சேர்ந்தவர்கள் மருத்துவ பீட மாணவர்களின் உதவியுடன் எமது வளாகத்திற்குள் நுழைந்து அவரை வேவு பார்த்தார்கள். மெடத்தோடு நெருங்கிப் பழகிய மாணவர்கள் பலருக்கு இவ்விடயம் தெரிந்திருந்தும் அதை எவ்வாறு வெளியிடுவது என்ற அச்சம் அவர்களிடம் காணப்பட்டது. அதே நேரம் இக்கொலையாளிகளை உள்ளே கூட்டிவந்த சில மாணவர்களும் கூட மெடத்தோடு மிக நெருக்கமாக பழகிக் கொண்டிருந்தார்கள். அவர்களின் முக்கியமான இருவரை நான் இங்கு பெயர் குறிப்பிட விரும்புகிறேன்.அவர்களில் ஒருவர் வடமராட்சியை சேர்ந்த சூரி எனப்படும் சூரியகுமாரன் மற்றவர் முல்லைத்தீவைச் சேர்ந்த தர்மேந்திரா என்பவர்களாவர். புலிகள் இயக்கத்தின் உளவாளிகளும் கொலைகாரர்களும் சூரியோடும் தர்மேந்திராவோடும் மருத்துவபீட வளாகத்திற்குள் நின்று கதைத்து பேசுவதும் வளாக சிற்றுண்டிச் சாலையில் தேனீர் அருந்துவதும் அப்போது மிக வெளிப்படையான நிகழ்ச்சிகளாக இருந்தன. புலிகளின் சாவகச்சேரி பொறுப்பாளர் கேடில்சின் சகோதரரான காண்டீபன் என்னும் பிரபல கொலையாளியும்கூட தர்மேந்திராவோடு தேனீர் அருந்துவதை நான் பலமுறை நேரடியாகப் பார்த்திருக்கிறேன்.1989 செப்டெம்பர் 21ம் திகதியன்று, 2வது எம்.பீ.பீ.எஸ் பரீட்சையின் இறுதி அங்கம் முடிவடைந்து மெடம் வெளியே வரும்வரை காத்திருந்த புலிகளின் உளவாளிகளில் ஒருவன் வீதியிலே தயாராக நின்றிருந்த கொலையாளிக்கு இரகசியமாக சிக்னல் கொடுத்தான். அதைச் செய்தவன் வேறு யாருமல்ல. அங்கு பணியாற்றிய பாதுகாப்பு உத்தியோகத்தர் செல்வக்குமார் என்பவனே. மெடம் தனது சைக்கிளில் வளாக பிரதான வாசலால் வீதிக்கு இறங்கியதும் அவரை சைக்கிளில் பின் தொடர்ந்த கொலையாளி அவரது தலையின் வலப்பக்கத்தில் முதல் வேட்டைத் தீர்த்தான். பின்னர் அவர் கீழே விழுந்ததும் இன்னும் இரண்டு தடைவைகள் அவர் தலையில் சுட்டுவிட்டுச் சென்றான்.இந்த கொலையாளி யார் என்பதையும் நான் இங்கு சொல்லவேண்டும். புலிகளின் உளவுப்பிரிவில் பணியாற்றியவரும் கொலையாளியுமான பொஸ்கோ என்பவனே அவன். பொஸ்கோவை சாதாரண மக்களில் பலருக்கு தெரியாது. ஆனால் மெடம் கொல்லப்படுவதற்கு இரண்டு மூன்று மாதங்களுக்கு முன்பிருந்தே பொஸ்கோவினதும் இன்னும் பல சந்தேகமான நபர்களினதும் நடமாட்டம் மருத்துவ பீடத்திற்குள் அதிகரித்திருந்தது. பொஸ்கோவிற்கு வயது 30 – 35 இடையில் இருக்கும். எப்போதும் மற்றவர்களை சந்தேகத்தோடு குரோதத்தோடும் பார்க்கும் அவனது விறைப்பான முகமே அவனைக் காட்டிக் கொடுத்து விடும். இந்த பொஸ்கோ சூரியோடும், தர்மேந்திராவோடும் அமர்ந்து வளாக சிற்றுண்டி சாலையில் தேனீர் அருந்துவதை நானும் பல மாணவர்களும் கண்டிருந்தோம். முதலில் எனக்கும் இவன் யார் என்று தெரியாது. எம்மோடு படித்த ஒரு மாணவனே எங்களுக்கு பொஸ்கோ யார் என்ற உண்மையைச் சொன்னான்.மருத்துவ பீடத்திற்குள் இவனின் நடமாட்டம் பல தடவைகள் இருந்ததை நானும் சக மாணவர்களும் கண்டிருந்தோம். இவை எல்லாவற்றிற்கும் மேலாக இக்கொலை நடக்கும்போது அச்சம்பவத்தை நேரில் பாக்த்த ஓர் மாணவன் இன்னும் உயிருடன் இருக்கிறான். அந்த மாணவனும் நானும் ஒன்றாக திரியும்போதும்கூட பல தடவை பொஸ்கோவை நாம் கண்டிருக்கிறோம். அன்று அந்த மாணவனும் நாங்களும் இணைந்து, ‘புலிகள் இயக்கமும், அதன் கொலையாளி பொஸ்கோவும், அவனுக்காக உளவு வேலை செய்த சூரிய குமாரனும் தர்மேந்திராவும்தான் மெடத்தின் கொலைக்கு பொறுப்பு’ என்று கூறியிருந்தால் நாங்கள் ஒருவரும் இன்று உயிருடன் இருக்கமாட்டோம். எனவே என் சக மாணவன் கண்ணால் கண்ட அந்தக் கொலையை யாரிடமும் வெளியே சொல்லாதே என எச்சரித்தவர்களில் நானும் ஒருவன். மெடம் கொல்லப்பட்ட மறுதினம் அவரின் உடல் மருத்துவ பீடத்திற்கு கொண்டு வரப்பட்டபொழுது யாழ். பல்கலைக்கழகத்தின் பல மூத்த விரிவுரையாளர்கள் அங்கு சமூகமளிக்கவில்லை. ஏன்..? காரணம் அவர்களுக்கும் இக்கொலையை செய்தவர்கள் யார் என்று நன்றாக தெரியும்.சூரி, தர்மேந்திரா ஆகிய இருவரோடும் நெருங்கி பழகியவர்களும், புலிகளின் கொலைகார அரசியலுக்கு ஆதரவாக இருந்த பல மருத்துவபீட மாணவர்களுக்கும் இந்த உண்மை நன்கு தெரியும். மெடம் கொல்லப்பட்டு விட்டார் என்ற செய்தி மருத்துவ பீடத்திற்குள் பரவியதுமே சூரி, தர்மேந்திரா உட்பட அவர்களின் நண்பர்களின் முகங்களை நான் பார்த்தேன். அவர்களின் முகங்களே உண்மையை தெளிவாக வெளிப்படுத்தின. அவர்களைக் காட்டிக் கொடுத்தன. எனது கண்களைக்கூட அவர்களால் நேரடியாக பார்க்க முடியவில்லை. தங்களுக்கு கல்வியை போதித்து வழிகாட்டி, எதிர்கால மாணவ சமூகத்திற்கு கலங்கரை விளக்காக நின்ற அந்த ஒப்பற்ற மேதையை சுட்டுக் கொன்றுவிட்டு அவர்கள் இன்று வெளிநாடுகளில் சுகம் அனுபவிக்கிறார்கள். சூரியகுமாரன் இன்று இங்கிலாந்தில் வைத்தியசாலை ஒன்றில் வேலை செய்கிறான். அன்று அந்த தாயின் இரு குழந்தைகளை அநாதையாக்கிய இக்கொலைத்திட்டத்தின் பிரதான சூத்திரதாரிகளில் ஒருவனாகிய இவன், இன்று தான் உயிர்களைக் காப்பாற்றும் வைத்தியனாக வேஷம் போடுகிறான். இவர்கள் நாளைய சமூகத்தில் பெரிய மனிதர்களாக உலவ நாம் அனுமதிக்கலாமா? இந்த நாகரீக உலகத்தின் முன்னால் இவர்களை நிறுத்தி அம்பலப்படுத்த வேண்டாமா. நிட்சயம் அதை நாம் செய்ய வேண்டும்.எனது அன்புக்குரிய சக மாணவர்களே நாம் நீண்டகாலம் மௌனமாக இருந்துவிட்டோம் எமது கண் முன்னால் நடத்தி முடிக்கப்பட்ட இந்த அநியாயத்தை மூடி மறைக்க புலிகளும் அவர்களுக்கு ஒத்து ஊதுபவர்களும் இன்னமும் முயற்சி செய்கிறார்கள். ஆனால் நடந்த உண்மை வரலாற்றில் புதைக்கப்பட்டு விடக்கூடாது என்பதற்காகவே நான் இங்கு இதைப் பதிவு செய்கிறேன் இது தொடர்பாக நீங்களும் உங்களின் மனட்சாட்சியின் அடிப்படையில் உண்மையை சமூகத்தின் முன் வைக்க கோரிக்கை விடுக்கிறேன்.

   
  

    ரெலோ எதிரி. ஈபி எதிரி. மகிந்த எதிரி. இந்தியா எதிரி. அமெரிக்கா எதிரி. ஜரோப்பா எதிரி. முஸ்லிம்கள் எதிரி. கருணா, பிள்ளையான் எதிரி. புளட் எதிரி.
    புளியம் பொக்கணை பொன்னம்மாக்கா மகளை அனுப்ப மறுத்ததாலை அவவும் எதிரி…
    அசையும் அசைய சொத்து எழுதிதர் மறுத்த அனைவரும் எதிரி…

    ரஜனி மாதிரி உள்ளதை சொன்ன அனைவரும் எதிரி…

    “There is a story, probably apocryphal, about the successful mission of Swami Vivekananda to Chicago in 1893. One American industrialist invited Swami to visit his newly built meat-processing plant. The massive plant had been designed with a huge inlet with a diameter of 15 ft on one extreme and four smaller outlets with a diameter of 2 ft on the other extreme.

    The industrialist boasted to Swami: “We push live cattle into the inlet at this end and in 10 minutes, we get clean meat, bones, hide and waste material separately in the four outlets from that end. What do you think of this production line?”

    Without missing a beat, the great Swami delivered the kicker: “That’s fine. But, if you send back the clean meat, bones, hide and the waste material from that end, can you retrieve the live cattle at this end?”

    The overall theme of the book, Broken Palmyra, reflects the concern Swami Vivekananda had for the live cattle in this story. In essence, “What went wrong? Had we been led by a casual acceptance of violence as a tool to disregard the value of all life?” (p.184).

    One can also equate the symbolism of the meat-processing plant of the Chicago industrialist to the lives of youth who happened to be in the Jaffna peninsula in the 1980s decade. All had been pushed into the meat-processing plant (equated to the Eelam struggle) and the products which were delivered in the outlets seem to be of diverse categories; some meat, some bones, some hide and some waste material.”
   
    The civil war also indirectly enabled many to gain refugee status and settle in Western countries, thereby gaining better education and job opportunities and a higher standard of living, than if they had stayed back and entered the meat processing plant. Ironically, with their new found wealth in the West, many actually sponsored keeping the meat processing plant going at full speed back home.
  
    Will the tamils have the courage and decency to erect a memorial in the heart of Jaffna listing all the names of the tamils killed by the LTTE, and the circumstances in which they died. This can be called the Tamil War Memorial.