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Author V.V. Ganeshananthan goes beyond labels to tell the story of war, terrorism and Lanka’s Tamil community in Brotherless Night

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3 years ago

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Ganeshananthan, 43, American writer and journalist of Lankan Tamil descent, says she wants to dismantle the very language of terrorism

The opening line of V.V. Ganeshananthan’s sophomore novel, Brotherless Night, will give you pause. Maybe you’ve settled down in an armchair with a cup of tea, or maybe you’re leaning against a shelf in a bookstore, on the prowl for your next big read. Either way, the opening line will disarm you.

“I recently sent a letter to a terrorist I used to know.” In a way, the line speaks to the specific challenges of documenting the Sri Lankan civil war. Thousands of narratives clamour for precedence, and no single strand of politics, empathy or logic can do justice to them all. What Ganeshananthan, 43, American writer and journalist of Lankan Tamil descent, seeks to do is bring obscured voices back into the conversation. And for that, she first dismantles the very language of terrorism.

“I recently sent a letter to a terrorist I used to know.” In a way, the line speaks to the specific challenges of documenting the Sri Lankan civil war. Thousands of narratives clamour for precedence, and no single strand of politics, empathy or logic can do justice to them all. What Ganeshananthan, 43, American writer and journalist of Lankan Tamil descent, seeks to do is bring obscured voices back into the conversation. And for that, she first dismantles the very language of terrorism.

“One of the things that the rhetoric of terrorism seeks to do is to make the terrorist unintelligible,” says the author over a Zoom call from Minneapolis, where she teaches creative writing at the University of Minnesota. “The majority of people who have been referred to in that way are not unintelligible. Discussing their motivation doesn’t justify it, it just tries to understand it and to think about how someone might have arrived at that point

Ganeshananthan had been working on her first novel, Love Marriage (2008), about a Sri Lankan family fractured by the civil conflict, when she stumbled upon a significant piece of research. In 1987, a Tamil Tiger had gone on a widely-publicised hunger strike at the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple in northern Sri Lanka. His speeches were broadcast on some TV channels, and people from all over the Jaffna peninsula came to watch and to participate. After 12 days of abject theatricality, he died.

“The incongruity of that setting, the broad spectrum of people who were in attendance, the different stories that people were attempting to tell, and the way that those stories argued with each other… It was one of the first ways that I found my path to the point of view that I eventually used in Brotherless Night,” Ganeshananthan says.

Even though her book isn’t really about the hunger strike, it does manifest a lot of its broader themes. What motivates someone to become a militant? What makes them a martyr? And what happens, then, to the people they love and who love them? The character of Sashi, an aspiring doctor, coming of age during the first years of the war, was initially conceived to be the vantage point from which Ganeshananthan could question the events surrounding the hunger strike. Eventually, she emerged as a quiet but resolute protagonist in her own right.

“Sashi sometimes doesn’t actually know if she is doing things of her own volition or not,” says Ganeshananthan. “Sometimes she is and people think she is not, and sometimes she isn’t and people think she is and sometimes she herself can’t tell the difference.”

As the novel progresses, Sashi’s expression of her free will grows stronger, nurtured by University of Jaffna professor Anjali Premachandran. This character was inspired by real-life professor and activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, who was assassinated allegedly by the LTTE for speaking out against their atrocities, and was most recently commemorated by Shehan Karunatilaka in his Booker-winning novel The Seven Moons of Maali Almeida. Interestingly Thiranagama’s sister, Nirmala Rajasingam, narrates the audiobook for Brotherless Night.

The book is the product of over a decade of research into the Sri Lankan civil war, which saw Ganeshananthan poring over written accounts, unearthing old photographs, and speaking to those who had lived through it first-hand. Over the course of her conversations with survivors of the war, she repeatedly came across narratives that hadn’t often been documented.

In one chapter in the book, a militant comes to Sashi’s neighbour’s house and asks her to prepare food for his battalion. “How generous of you to say ‘ask’ when she has no choice,” Sashi’s brother Aran responds, articulating the sort of coded coercion that was often imposed on the civilian community.

“Some of that coded language is easier to represent in fiction,” Ganeshanthan says. “The form itself has an elasticity that allows me to represent truths of the community without subjecting them to a kind of verification that might be painful. I don’t think the people who went through this should have to prove it.”

In another chapter, the government requests all Tamil boys of a certain age to come in for what they claim will be a simple security check, necessitated by the increase in anti-state violence. Citizens are made to believe that if they comply, they will be absolved of all suspicion. Instead, all the boys who present themselves for checking are detained without cause, and released only after the women of Jaffna protest.

“There have been stories of women in the war, but the ones that have taken centrestage have by and large been of women who took up arms,” says Ganeshananthan. “The stories I grew up with were of women civilians who were doing things like helping their elderly move homes every time they got displaced, or studying by candlelight, or waiting it out in their houses when there was shelling. I have a lot of respect for these women.”

In many ways, Brotherless Night is a feminist novel, one that centres on women, students and civilians whose lives have been disrupted by war. It is a novel that exalts domestic labour and caregiving as valiant war-time efforts, and especially honours the sacrifices made by the medical fraternity.

It is also, in a way, a coming-of-age novel dedicated to young people whose lives have been defined by a conflict they had no choice but to respond to. “I’m not interested in justifying atrocities committed by either the state or non-state actors. What I am interested in, is restoring all people to the conversation,” Ganeshananthan signs off.  (The Hindu)


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Physical development must be matched by the enrichment of people’s inner lives through aesthetics and culture – PM

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8 hours ago

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2026/10/16

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Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that while a country develops its roads, buildings and economy, the inner lives of its people must also be enriched through aesthetics, culture and creativity. Development cannot be measured solely by improvements in physical resources, and the empathy and the appreciation of the arts is a key aspiration of the new era of renaissance.

The Prime Minister made these remarks while inaugurating the ’Aluth Wessa’ Cultural Festival and Exhibition, organised jointly by the Kandy District Secretariat, the Department of Cultural Affairs and the Kandyan Cultural Center on 15 October at the Kandy District Secretariat.

During the event, the Prime Minister also presented awards to artists from the Kandy District in recognition of their outstanding contributions to the arts.

Addressing the gathering, the Prime Minister further stated: “Kandy is a place where we can best experience the value of our country’s historical, artistic and cultural heritage. The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic, the wood carvings of Embekka, the murals of Degaldoruwa, the Kandyan dance tradition, and the contributions of renowned artists such as Pani Bharath, Dr. Ananda Coomaraswamy and Minnette de Silva have helped shape a distinctive cultural identity unique to Kandy.

During the recent disaster, when the people of Kandy faced immense difficulties, people from districts such as Galle, Matara and Kalutara voluntarily came forward to extend tremendous support. Their empathy and commitment deserve our sincere appreciation. Following the disaster, several initiatives are already progressing rapidly to help Kandy recover and rebuild. These include restoring the Upcountry railway line, repairing damaged houses and rehabilitating historic temples that were destroyed through the Central Cultural Fund. Through our education reforms, we aspire to nurture a generation that goes beyond professional knowledge and skills, developing artistic sensitivity alongside human values and compassion.”

The event was attended by the Most Venerable Naramapanawe Ananda Thero, Anunayake of the Asgiri Chapter of the Siyamopali Maha Nikaya and Chancellor of the University of Kelaniya, along with members of the Maha Sangha and other religious leaders. Also present were Central Province Governor Dr. Suranga Fernando, Members of Parliament Jagath Manuwarana, Thanura Dissanayake, Thushari Jayasinghe and E. M. Basnayake; the Mayor and local councillors, Kandy District Secretary Indika Udawatta, Divisional Secretaries, public officials, artists, parents, and children.

(Prime Minister’s Media Division)

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Review of the operations of the 1818 Hotline introduced to report drug-related information

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9 hours ago

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2026/10/16

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A discussion to review the operations of the 1818 hotline and progress made in its implementation was held on Thursday morning (15) at the Presidential Secretariat, under the chairmanship of Secretary to the President Dr Nandika Sanath Kumanayake. The hotline was introduced as part of the ‘A Nation United’ national operation to eradicate the illicit drug menace.

The hotline was established to enable the public to provide security authorities with accurate information on drug trafficking, distribution and any related suspicious activities taking place across the country. Members of the public anywhere in Sri Lanka can submit information through this service, with the confidentiality of informants fully protected. The information received is acted upon promptly. Operating from the ‘A Nation United’ Media Centre, the service is coordinated under the direct supervision of the Presidential Secretariat and the ‘A Nation United’ National Steering Committee. It enables members of the public to provide information to security authorities securely at any time.

The discussion also focused on the first anniversary of the ‘A Nation United’ national operation, which falls on 05 November and measures to strengthen its effectiveness in protecting future generations from the drug menace and building a safe, drug-free society.

Venerable Madovita Vajira Buddhi Thera, Director (Piriven) of the Ministry of Education, Higher Education and Vocational Education, Ravi Seneviratne, Secretary to the Ministry of Public Security and Parliamentary Affairs, Prince Senadheera, Secretary to the Ministry of Buddhasasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs, Roshan Gamage, Senior Additional Secretary to the President, Attorney-at-Law Priyantha Weerasooriya, Inspector General of Police, H. S. K. J. Bandara, Director General of the Department of Government Information, Gamini Senaratne, Commissioner-General of Buddhist Affairs, Chathuri Pintu, Director of the Department of Christian Religious Affairs, Y. Aniruthanan, Director of the Department of Hindu Religious Affairs and M. S. M. Nawaz, Director of the Department of Muslim Religious Affairs, also attended the meeting. A group of officials representing the tri-forces and other relevant government institutions were also present.

(President’s Media Division)

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SJB: Govt. trying to reappoint Jayakody, who resigned from Cabinet amidst coal scam

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14 hours ago

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2026/10/16

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MP S.M. Marikkar

Marikkar claims coal losses more than twice Treasury bond scam

By Shamindra Ferdinando

The SJB has accused the NPP government of trying to create an environment conducive for the re-appointment of Kumara Jayakody who resigned on 17 April 2026 over a coal scam perpetrated in 2025.

Colombo District MP S.M. Marikkar Tuesday (13) alleged that Jayakody’s successor Anura Karunathilaka was spearheading the efforts at the behest of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake.

Addressing the media at the Opposition leader’s Office at No. 30, Sir Marcus Fernando Mawatha, Colombo 07, Marikkar said that the NPP was busy propagating a lie that the losses amounting to Rs 15.68 bn could be entirely recovered by way of penalties and funds held as deposits in line with the supplier. The Opposition MP placed the amount held by the government at Rs 16.48 bn.

Marrikar claimed that the NPP’s propaganda project to whitewash Jayakody was meant to bring Jayakody back into the Cabinet of ministers in January next year. The top SJB spokesman said that the findings of the Sectoral Oversight Committee (SOC) on Infrastructure and Strategic Development report on the losses suffered by the use of substandard coal had been used to back the government move.

The inquiry was held into procurement for 2025/2026 seasons made from Trident Chemphar, an Indian company whose selection was questioned by the National Audit Office in a special report submitted to parliament before the vote on no faith motion against Jayakody.

Marikkar said that the NPP in its haste to build a case for Jayakody’s return to the cabinet had conveniently forgotten that six of the 25 shiploads of coal ordered from Trident Chemphar were never delivered. In a desperate bid to cover the shortfall, the government paid Rs. 2,284 million above the market price in emergency procurement. As the SOC had rejected the tests conducted by an Indian company and ordered fresh tests on substandard coal, an additional Rs 26.6 mn had been paid to an Australian lab, MP Marikkar said, explaining other losses caused by the corrupt deal.

Marrikar explained how the procurement of substandard coal altogether cost the taxpayer nearly Rs 20 bn while the government engaged in a project to clear Jayakody. The former minister is also indicted in the Colombo High Court in an earlier corruption case.

Marrikar emphasized that the government should accept responsibility. Comparing the action taken in respect of 2015 and 2016 Treasury bond scams and the coal scam, MP Marikkar said that the losses caused by Trident Chemphar fraud was double the Treasury bond scam. A future government would investigate the coal scam and punish all those responsible. The NPP under any circumstances couldn’t bring back Jayakody to the cabinet as he was directly responsible for the fraud, the Colombo District lawmaker said.

At the time the UNP perpetrated Treasury bond scams, Marikkar represented the UNP parliamentary group which made desperate bids to protect the bond thieves.

The SJBer refused to answer questions regarding any other issue. Marikkar reacted angrily when a journalist sought to raise a group of SJB MPs meeting the Most Ven Thibbatuwawe Sri Sumangala Mahanayake Thera of the Malwathu Chapter in Kandy. Then the MP accused a section of the media of trying to suppress the coal scam by raising other issues. Marrikar vowed that they wouldn’t allow Jayakody’s return to the cabinet. The NPP government’s reputation had been devastated by the coal scam and current efforts to cover up the direct involvement of Minister Jayakody would not succeed, he said, warning the NPP should be prepared to face the consequences.

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