08/14/2010
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The Island
Amidst the devastation and indiscriminate violence, the decades of war were also marred by targeted political killings. Here, many remember August 12th as the anniversary of two prominent figures assassinated by the LTTE; Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar in 2005 and Tamil democracy activist Kethesh Loganathan in 2006. Lakshman during much of his engaged political life was at the helm of Government as Foreign Minister. Kethesh on the other hand, had a diverse past; as militant, journalist, NGO researcher and finally as an official in the Government Peace Secretariat. In thinking about the current political conjuncture, on the challenges of engaging state policies and state reform, I want to return to the politics of Kethesh, who was my mentor and my friend. Over the decades, I have relied on many Tamil activists to understand the challenges of Tamil politics and Tamil dissent. However, when it came to thinking through the questions of Tamil democracy, of transforming militant and militarised politics into the realm of social justice and democratisation, of drawing from displacement and exile into engaging the political process and changing our political culture, Kethesh was the formidable intellectual influence.