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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

Published

3 years ago

2023/04/30

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.

“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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Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya meets Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom

Published

3 hours ago

2026/05/21

Priyan

Prime Minister Dr Harini Amarasuriya currently undertaking an official visit to London, United Kingdom, to participate in the 43rd Commonwealth of Learning (COL) Board of Governors Meeting 2026 held a bilateral meeting with the Yvette Cooper MP, Foreign Secretary of the United Kingdom ON Wednesday [20]. The Prime Minister was accompanied by Sri Lanka’s High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, Nimal Senadheera, along with officials from the Sri Lankan High Commission.

During the meeting, the Prime Minister conveyed Sri Lanka’s appreciation to the United Kingdom for the support extended in the aftermath of Cyclone Ditwa, including ongoing rebuilding and recovery assistance. The Prime Minister also commended the United Kingdom’s support in facilitating increased bilateral trade and exports for Sri Lanka.

The Prime Minister briefed the UK delegation on Sri Lanka’s recent economic developments and policy priorities, the Government’s commitment to advancing human rights and reconciliation, as well as Sri Lanka’s positive growth trajectory.

The two sides also exchanged views on current global geopolitical developments, challenges in the energy sector, and the importance of enhancing regional connectivity and long-term energy security.

Both sides also emphasised the importance of strengthening structured academic mobility frameworks while ensuring fairness, clarity, and integrity within migration systems.

They also reaffirmed their commitment to further strengthening bilateral cooperation between the two countries in areas of mutual interest.

[Prime Minister’s Media Division]

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Suspects involved in sureties controversy granted bail

Published

10 hours ago

2026/05/21

Sahan Weerasooriya

Kapila Chandrasena

Airbus bribe case:

Colombo Additional Magistrate Lahiru Silva yesterday (20) granted bail to Mohamed Riswan and Mohamed Irshan, who allegedly received money to stand as sureties for the late former SriLankan Airlines CEO, Kapila Chandrasena. They were identified as residents of Sanchi Arachchi Watta, situated next to the Hulftsdorp court complex.

Chandrasena was found dead at his brother-in-law, Aravinda De Silva’s residence, at No. 38, Pedris Road, Kollupitiya, on 8 May.

The Magistrate also granted bail to B. A. Tissa and Perumal Ganesh, who arranged for Riswan and Irshan to stand as sureties for Chandrasena, who is under investigation for allegedly receiving a USD 2 million bribe through his wife to facilitate an Airbus deal. They, too, residents of Sanchi Arachchi Watta, were granted bail on two personal bail of Rs. 500,000 each.

Airbus had to pay USD 4 billion in penalties after admitting it had paid huge bribes to secure contracts in 20 countries. Sri Lanka is among them.

The Magistrate directed that the Grama Niladhari should certify their residence and the relevant certificates submitted to court and to establish the financial status of those who stood as sureties for the four persons.

The court was told that Mohamed Riswan and Mohamed Irshan obtained 17 Grama Niladhari certificates from January till May 2026. On the basis of a statement recorded from Keselwatta Grama Niladhari S. Nilantha Silva police informed court that the first suspect had obtained 10 certificates and the second person seven.

Fourth suspect Ganesh had first met those who stood as sureties, on 05 May, in the court premises and struck the deal. Crime OIC of Keselwatta Police, Sub Inspector K.W.D. Anuruddha, told court that Mohamed Riswan, Mohamed Irshan and B. A. Tissa hadn’t even known who Chandrasena was and were not related to him in anyway, according to investigations. Police requested that the four persons be further remanded.

The Magistrate granted them bail and set the next hearing for 25 June.

Legal sources said that such illegal practices were rampant, and in this particular case the Court Registrar should have been able to see that the sureties were very much unlikely to be relatives of Chandrasena.

By Shamindra Ferdinando

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Steps underway to safeguard Sri Lanka’s maritime heritage

Published

10 hours ago

2026/05/21

Sahan Weerasooriya

The government has initiated a major conservation drive to protect its fragile northern marine ecosystems, with top government officials pledging stronger action against environmental degradation, destructive fishing practices, and Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) fishing in the country’s northern seas and adjacent islands.

A high-level discussion chaired jointly by Deputy Minister of Environment Anton Jayakody and Deputy Minister of Defence Aruna Jayasekara was held on Tuesday (19) at the Ministry of Environment to formulate an integrated strategy aimed at safeguarding Sri Lanka’s maritime heritage and accelerating marine conservation initiatives.

Senior naval officers, top environment officials, conservation experts, and representatives from several state agencies attended the meeting, which focused heavily on the declaration of new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) in the Northern Province.

Among those present were Secretary to the Ministry of Environment K.R. Uduwawala, Chairman of the Marine Environment Protection Authority Samantha Gunasekara, Director General of the Coast Conservation and Coastal Resource Management Department Prof. Turny Pradeep Kumara, Conservator General of Forests Palamakumbura, officials of the Department of Wildlife Conservation, and senior ecologists from International Union for Conservation of Nature.

Officials stressed that the protection of Sri Lanka’s northern marine zone was essential not only for biodiversity conservation but also for sustaining the livelihoods of fishing communities and strengthening the country’s maritime standing internationally.

A major concern raised during the meeting was the increasing ecological destruction caused by IUU fishing activities. Ministers warned that such unlawful practices posed a severe threat to marine biodiversity and the economic stability of local fishermen.

The discussion also focused on intensifying surveillance operations and strengthening law enforcement mechanisms to combat destructive fishing methods, including dynamite fishing, unauthorized spearfishing, and the use of banned fishing gear that continue to devastate coral reef ecosystems and endangered marine species.

Attention was also drawn to governance and infrastructure shortcomings within fishing harbours, with officials identifying the lack of proper management systems and formal regulatory mechanisms as major vulnerabilities contributing to environmental degradation.

As part of the proposed conservation strategy, several islands and surrounding marine zones in the Northern Province have now been identified for official declaration as Marine Protected Areas.

Authorities clarified that the establishment of MPAs would not undermine the livelihoods of local communities but instead promote sustainable fishing practices while opening new opportunities for eco-tourism development.

Officials said these protected marine zones could eventually be developed into internationally recognised eco-tourism destinations, generating fresh economic opportunities for the Northern Province while enhancing Sri Lanka’s environmental credentials globally.

The meeting further highlighted that the declaration of new MPAs would reinforce Sri Lanka’s commitment to international biodiversity conservation obligations and demonstrate the country’s role as a responsible custodian of the Indian Ocean’s marine resources.

A proposal was also made to establish a multi-sectoral working group comprising representatives from the Ministries of Tourism, Fisheries, Defence, Environment, and Justice to implement a coordinated mechanism for the protection of coastal and marine resources under the leadership of the Ministry of Environment.

Officials described the initiative as another significant milestone in Sri Lanka’s broader journey towards building a sustainable biosphere and ensuring long-term environmental security for future generations.

By Ifham Nizam