Rajani Thiranagama

Dr. Rajani Thiranagama
Dr. Rajani Thiranagama
Born	(1954-02-23)23 February 1954 Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Died	21 September 1989(1989-09-21) (aged 35) Jaffna, Sri Lanka
Occupation	University lecturer
Spouse(s)	Dayapala Thiranagama
Children	Narmada Thiranagama, Sharika Thiranagama

Dr. Rajani Thiranagama (née Rajasingham) (23 February 1954 – 21 September 1989) was a Tamil human rights activist and feminist who was allegedly shot dead by Tamil Tigers cadres after she criticised them for their atrocities. At the time of her assassination she was the head of the Department of Anatomy at the University of Jaffna and an active member of University Teachers for Human Rights, Jaffna branch of which she is one of the founding members.

Rajani was born in Jaffna, in northern Sri Lanka, to middle-class Tamil Christian parents. She was the second child of the four female children. She followed her primary and secondary school education in Jaffna and in 1973, she entered the University of Colombo to study medicine. At university, she became actively involved in student politics.

During her stay at Colombo University she met a politically active student leader from Kelaniya University named Dayapala Thiranagama. Dayapala was from a rural Sinhala Buddhist background. Rajani broke ethnic and religious barriers and married Dayapala in 1977. They had two daughters: Narmada, (1978), and Sharika, 1980. At present Rajani's husband and Narmada live in England. Sharika is currently living in California, married to the anthropologist Thomas Blom Hansen and is teaching at Stanford University. In 2005 Sharika portrayed her mother's role in the documentary film on Rajani called No More Tears Sister.

1978 Rajani begins her first posting as an intern medical doctor at Jaffna Hospital. After the completion of the intern, in 1979 she travelled to Haldumulla, a small village situated near Haputale to work as a medical doctor. By 1980 she returned to Jaffna as a lecturer in anatomy in the newly formed Faculty of Medicine at the University of Jaffna. By this time, Jaffna was a battle zone in the early stages of Sri Lanka's civil war. Many were leaving Jaffna for Colombo or migrating to other countries including the United Kingdom, Canada, and Australia.