Under the Shadow of a Sharp-Edged Blade:

Thamilini’s story

by Manjula Fernando

Subramaniam Sivagami alias Col.Thamilini

Under the Shadow of a Sharp-Edged Blade, an autobiography written by former LTTE women’s political wing leader Subramaniam Sivagami alias ‘Colonel’ Thamilini, has stirred a hornet’s nest.

While sections of the Tamil political leadership and some bureaucrats viewed it with resentment even before it was released last month, the ordinary Northerners appreciate Thamilini’s perspective of the war, driven by a hunger to know what really happened and to get an insider’s view.

The 268 page book carrying eight photographs in 11 chapters was released by Thamilini’s husband Jeyakumaran Mahadevan on March 19, 2016 at a modest ceremony at the Kilinochchi Cooperative Hall sans a chief guest. The Chief Speaker at the event was Mahadeva Nilanthan, a writer and political analyst based in Jaffna. Although local politicians including members of the TNA were invited for the event, no one turned up.

Earlier, an attempt by the Jaffna Police to block the book launch was stopped with the intervention of DPF Leader Mano Ganeshan and film director Dharmasiri Bandaranayake.

The Sunday Observer interviewed Mahadevan last week to gain an insight into the mind of the author of the controversial book - his late wife. He said Thamilini did not write her autobiography with the intention of offending anyone. Her effort was to tell the truth, he said.

In later years

Thamilini’s autobiography is being translated into Sinhala and English and the translations will be ready by April this year.

Excerpts...

Q: How did you meet Thamilini ?

A: I was staying in London at the time. A mutual friend who was in London introduced me to Thamilini. I got her number and we spoke on the phone. She was at the Poonthottam rehabilitation centre at the time, spending the final days of her detention.

We did not know each other before. I had heard her name but I did not have any interest of knowing her then. When she was released from Punthottam, she was handed over to her mother. She had five sisters and a brother. Her father had died when she was about 12 years.

Q: After marriage did you return to the UK?

A: I returned after a month but came back to Sri Lanka in six months. I was a retail manager with a chain store. I had to resign before I came to Sri Lanka due to my wife’s illness.

Q: What gave her the idea to write her autobiography, did her cancer diagnosis play any part in that ?

Under the Shadow of a Sharp Edged Blade - the book cover

A: She began writing much before she was detected with the terminal illness. At the time of her diagnosis, she had almost finished writing the book. She started in early March 2015 or so.

When was she diagnosed with the terminal illness ?

A: Around June 2015. She was at the Kalubowila Hospital and then she was transferred to the Maharagama Cancer Hospital.

Q: Has she criticised her former leader (Prabhakaran) in the book ?

A: No it was not her intention. Her book is an autobiography. She has written about her feelings and thoughts. It is a candid account of her own experiences in the LTTE. As a political leader she was involved with the people. She even visited the Eastern Province after the tsunami to help the people.

Q: Some including, members of the TNA have criticised her book. The critics allege that her book will dilute their claim in Geneva – the demand for an international investigation on war crimes allegedly committed by Government Security Forces?

A: I am not interested in politics. Some people argue that the book is pro government and it is anti-LTTE. But what she had done is to describe the incidents as she witnessed them. Her thinking about the war and everything that happened. She had recorded everything the way she saw it. She has also written about the lapses on the part of the military as well.

Q: There was opposition to launching the book in Jaffna. Certain politicians demanded not to release the book at all. Nevertheless, the book was launched early this month. What has been the response so far?

British Tamils pay tribute to Thamilini. (Pic: tamilpolity.com)

A: It worries me that no newspaper, not even the Tamil newspapers have published any reviews of the book. I do not know the reason. But many ordinary people attended the book launch.

I sold 200 copies of the book at the launch. I feel that people want to know what really happened, they appreciate different perspectives of the story. But I feel there are others who fear her book.

Q: Was she sad that the war had to end like that and that it was perhaps not the perfect ending for the Tamil people ?

A: The Sinhala version will come out in April. It will also be translated into English. I would like readers to coin their personal opinion about the war, based on the things she discusses in the book.

Q: She was with the LTTE for 18 years. She was the women’s wing leader. When did she join the LTTE? Did she, at any point, say that she regretted her role as an active LTTE member?

A: She was the leader of the women’s section of the political wing. She did not talk about any regrets of being a member. At the moment there was no other option, she was overwhelmed by the suffering of the people. She joined the movement in 1991 at the age of nineteen. She went to the LTTE all by herself, not with a friend or anyone. By that time she had completed her G.C.E. Ordinary Level and was studying for her G.C.E. Advanced Level examination. Due to the unsettled situation, the AL examination was postponed in her area-Paranthan. She could not sit for the examination and complete her A/Ls.

Q: As a British citizen you could have released the book in an European country, perhaps to a much more receptive audience. Why did you choose Sri Lanka to launch the book?

At the book launch

A: I could have launched it in Europe. But the message in the book is for our people.

We did not discuss her past much, as we already know about her role.

When she said she wanted to write this book, I gave the okay, I did not want to change or influence her.

The book is all her thinking. She even had plans to write more books about the struggle. I have read Rosa Luxumberg’s letters. So I thought this book will also give a different perspective on what happened. It should be viewed and read with an open mind.

Q: The opposition to the book and its release, did it come as a surprise?

A: She had some concerns about the opposition the book would receive from some quarters and how it will be received by certain people.

But she still wanted to tell the truth to the people. I know that she did not write with the idea of offending anyone.

Q: How soon will it be available in bookstores ?

A: I am working on it these days. All local bookstores will have the book [in all three languages] in the near future.

Mahadevan said he wanted to take part in the country’s reconciliation process, to work towards bringing the communities together and he would appreciate if it is in the name of his late wife, to perpetuate her memory.