On Sept. 21, 1989, while riding home on her bicycle, Dr. Rajani Thiranagama was shot in the head by a member of the Tamil Tigers. A professor of anatomy, mother of two, and co-founder of the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) (UTHR(J)), Thiranagama dedicated her life and used her leftist and feminist politics to defend the rights of civilians brutally affected by the war in Sri Lanka.
On the evening of Sept. 25, 2009, about three hundred people gathered in Colombo’s Bandaranaike Memorial International Conference Hall to commemorate Thiranagama’s 20th death anniversary and her contributions to dialogues of democracy and human rights in Sri Lanka. The event was solemn, yet energized with creative reflection on Thiranagama's legacy, especially as it pertains to the rights of women and the need to reinvigorate a silenced and decimated Sri Lankan civil society.
