Chelvy Thiyagarajah
Encyclopedia
Thiagarajah Selvanithy or (Selvi) from Sri Lanka
a International PEN award winner in 1992, who was abducted and executed by the LTTE.
family in Semamadu, a village about 80 miles south of Jaffna.
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 rape
s.
or LTTE, a rebel group fighting for independence for minority Sri Lankan Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
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.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
a International PEN award winner in 1992, who was abducted and executed by the LTTE.
Biography
Selvi was born into a peasantPeasant
A peasant is an agricultural worker who generally tend to be poor and homeless-Etymology:The word is derived from 15th century French païsant meaning one from the pays, or countryside, ultimately from the Latin pagus, or outlying administrative district.- Position in society :Peasants typically...
family in Semamadu, a village about 80 miles south of Jaffna.
Activism
Selvi was a Tamil languageTamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
poet from Jaffna
Jaffna
Jaffna is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna district located on a peninsula of the same name. Jaffna is approximately six miles away from Kandarodai which served as a famous emporium in the Jaffna peninsula from classical...
in Sri Lanka. A third-year student in Theater and Drama Arts in the University of Jaffna
University of Jaffna
Jaffna University is a public university in the city of Jaffna, Sri Lanka.- Overview :Jaffna University has four campuses; Thirunelveli, Marathanamadam, Kaithady and Vavuniya...
.
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
Sri Lankan civil war
The Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...
. Selvi also produced two plays, one about dowry
Dowry
A dowry is the money, goods, or estate that a woman brings forth to the marriage. It contrasts with bride price, which is paid to the bride's parents, and dower, which is property settled on the bride herself by the groom at the time of marriage. The same culture may simultaneously practice both...
payments and the other about rape
Rape
Rape is a type of sexual assault usually involving sexual intercourse, which is initiated by one or more persons against another person without that person's consent. The act may be carried out by physical force, coercion, abuse of authority or with a person who is incapable of valid consent. The...
s.
Abduction
On August 30, 1991, Selvi was arrested by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil EelamLiberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
or LTTE, a rebel group fighting for independence for minority Sri Lankan Tamil people in Sri Lanka.
The day before her abduction she was about to star in a play about the role of women in the Palestinian intifada
First Intifada
The First Intifada was a Palestinian uprising against the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian Territories. The uprising began in the Jabalia refugee camp and quickly spread throughout Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem....
. 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.
Execution
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.See also
- Assassinations attributed to LTTE
- Human Rights in Sri LankaHuman rights in Sri LankaMajor human rights groups such as Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, as well as the United States Department of State and the European Union, have expressed concern about the state of human rights in Sri Lanka. Both the government of Sri Lanka and the separatist Liberation Tigers of...
- Sri Lankan civil warSri Lankan civil warThe Sri Lankan Civil War was a conflict fought on the island of Sri Lanka. Beginning on July 23, 1983, there was an on-and-off insurgency against the government by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a separatist militant organization which fought to create an independent Tamil state named Tamil...