Tamil student among teammates killed at Fort Railway station
February 6th, 2008
by K. Thirukumaran
“D.S. is a different kind of school. In fact, it is unique because here all ethnic and religious groups live under the same roof, in peace and harmony. This is exactly what the world requires. It is a global need which we practice at the college,” this is what Principal, Ashoka Senani Hewage, said about D.S. Senanayake College in a media interview in 2006.
This school community, is in an unbearable agony and grief stricken as seven of their students belonging to their baseball team and their coach died in the Fort Railway station bomb blast.
Among the student teammates who died is Rajarathnam Rathiswaran, a GCE O/L student from the Tamil medium at D.S.
[Rathiswaran’s mother-pic:daily mirror.lk]
D.S., the Gregory’s Road school, opening its doors on February 10th, 1967 is a beacon of learning in Sri Lanka’s three mediums of instruction and a model to be emulated all over the country. No public educational institution has ever newly opened doors offering instruction in Sinhala, Tamil and English mediums for several decades prior and never since then in Sri Lanka, and to rise in such prominence in learning, sports and student discipline.
Founding of D.S. was a vision of then Education Minister I.M.R.A. Iriyagolla, during the Premiership of Dudley Senanayake. And largely realised during the tenure of founding Principal Ralph I. T. Alles, who was assisted by enthusiastic teachers and parents. They laid the groundwork-to show what is possible in Sri Lanka-an institution of learning that prides model harmony among all of Sri Lanka’s ethnicities. And even the agony of the Fort blast too embodied this hallmark.
“This is the first time in the history of the school that we have experienced such heartbreak. All activities in the school have come to a standstill as we are trying to get over this shock and heartbreak,” said the principal to The Morning Leader of Feb 6th.
[Vasantha Rajarathanam mourns with other relatives over the body of her son Rajarathanam Rathiswaran during his funeral at the family residence in Colombo February 5, 2008-Reuters Photo via Yahoo! News]
The newspaper further said:
“Family members of Rajarathnam Radeeswaran, the GCE O/L student from the Tamil medium who died along with his other team mates have stated that they have lost the only ‘winner’ in their family. The family living in the less developed Sri Dharmarama Road, Dematagoda had many dreams and hopes about their son, Rathiswaran, who excelled both in studies and sports. Rathiswaran had confided to a friend that it was his dream to pull his family out of poverty, someday.”
Other teammates perishing with Radeeswaran - Kolitha Kumara Mahamudalige (20), of Hokandara, Vimukthi Sajan Thewarpperuma (19), of Kalutara North, Supun Hallala (17) of Angoda, Dinuth Priyasanka (17) of Agalawatta, Thiwanka Thisera (18) of Dehiwala and Eranda Chaturanga (22) of Colombo 7, and their coach, Malinda Arumadura.
Six of the team had died on the spot at the Fort railway station in the afternoon of Sunday, February 3, while the other two had later succumbed to their injuries. Fourteen people died in the explosion-among them are two 12 year old students, one from Holy Family Convent, Dehiwala and another from Seeduwa. A railway worker and a police sergeant too died in the blast.
Entry Filed under: transCurrents News Service
25 Comments Add your own
1. Jack Point | February 6th, 2008 at 2:01 am
this is one shitty war.
2. Sinhalese | February 6th, 2008 at 7:20 am
Any Comments from DEar LTTE members here? Come on- condemn this attack as well as you are condeming SL Security forces attacks. Be fair.
3. Janaka | February 6th, 2008 at 7:41 am
Nothing comes to mind…
4. Ratna | February 6th, 2008 at 8:37 am
My sincere condolences to the family and friends of the students died.
Note:- In our days, by 15 or 16 years of age you are done with GCE O/L. I am surprised to see 20, 22 year olds still in school!!
5. Resident of Markham | February 6th, 2008 at 8:59 am
When I read the news about the incident I myself dropped tears for the brutal way the the incident has taken place. Especially by lady suicde bomber. I suppose this woman must be an arrogant ant not human being and the person instgated should have been another lunatic and not a human being. Srilanka would have produced more Murali and Aravinda Silva who was an old boy of the school. I hope and pray that the person behind this will get the same treatment by god.
6. TamilM | February 6th, 2008 at 1:52 pm
My sincere condolences to the families of those who died in fort and in buttala. the war has to end. Civilians are the only victims inthis bloody war. Stop the war!
7. roshann wickremesinge | February 6th, 2008 at 1:53 pm
I feel really sad and sincere condolence for his family. Any one weather sinhala or tamil must be condemn this cycle of violence. Sinhalease allways beleive, sinhala srilankan government claims, when they kill innocent tamils as terrorist. otherway ltte terrorist bomp innocent civilian target, tamils never condemn but tamil goons of srilankan government condemn the atrocities. This sort double standard mentaality must be stopped.
sinhala budhist fascist and ltte fascist must be codmned by civilised world.
I beleive only way out this peaceful separtaion like chechoslavakia. There is no alternative.
8. Argonot | February 6th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
The perpetrators of this crime are not humans,they are cowards and lead by psychopaths. My deepest sympathy to all those who have lost their loved ones and to those who have been injured.
9. Nandam. | February 6th, 2008 at 10:02 pm
It is sad that any human being has to die through violence such as this. This is in no way different from the way innocent tamil civilians die in the north. Both should be condemened. Such incidents, when they happen closer to us here in Colombo, gives us a taste of what is happening in the North every minute for so many years.(People living in fear of when the next Bomb would fall on them. When such fear is accumulated then you get people who would do anything- including suicde bombing.) People react only when it hits them close. Maybe the suicide bomber had that in her mind. who knows????
10. Yenmozhi | February 7th, 2008 at 12:29 am
“I feel like I lost my own child” Sivalingam, who taught Commerce to late Rajaratnam Ratheeswaran, shared his moment of grief. How many of us feel for others?
The innocent civilians are getting caught in this never ending conflict. May it be North, East, West or South civilians casualties are encountered on daily basis. Fear-filled people are becoming suspicious of each other and hatred grows.
I pay tribute to those who were killed and my heartfelt sympathies are for the families. May their souls rest in peace.
11. Kulasen | February 7th, 2008 at 6:07 am
It’s time that the Tamils and Sinhalese part for good.
12. Kulasen | February 7th, 2008 at 6:09 am
God created us to live well and be free. Why disturb each other when the world so big. Let us part and respect each other’s freedom
kulasen
13. Justin | February 7th, 2008 at 8:54 am
War is cruel. Killing is wrong. Some sensible person must explain to Mahinda and his government that they will never win this war. It will only cause more deaths.
Start peace talks immediately without sacrificing further lives.
14. nadesan | February 7th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I agree, I think it is time for the Sinhalese and tamils to part. The Tamils should continue returning to Tamil nadu and the rest to Canada and other parts and live with Tthe whites with tamil as a third class language. Thanks to Gotabaya, its curtains time.
15. nadesan | February 7th, 2008 at 12:24 pm
someday we will both live in peace
16. True patriot of Sri Lanka | February 7th, 2008 at 3:13 pm
This question Is the to people/Institutes/Governments/countries in the world who are still supporting the LTTE:
Are you still supporting these maniacs after such attacks on people of Sri Lanka whether be Sinhala or Tamil.
OPEN YOUR EYES…AND LOOK AROUND. DONT GO BLAMING THE SRI LANKAN FORCES. They are doing a great job in holding on to ONE SRI LANKA. If LTTE stops their nasty work, the Forces can peacefully attend to other essential requirements. They are human too..!!!
17. N | February 7th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
This is the true face of war, unless nationalists on both sides realize this there will be no peace.
18. Oru Manithan | February 8th, 2008 at 4:14 am
To,#14 - nadesan
“I agree, I think it is time for the Sinhalese and tamils to part. The Tamils should continue returning to Tamil nadu and the rest to Canada and other parts and live with Tthe whites with tamil as a third class language. Thanks to Gotabaya, its curtains time.”
How about Sinhalas return to Bangladesh and Orissa
and let the Veddas live in peace.
19. Devinda Fernando | February 8th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Is there any surpirse here that a Tamil was killed? The LTTE have been slaughtering Tamils for decades. All those who dont tow the line of the LTTE have been eliminated. Others that live and fight back like Douglas and Veerasingham are constantly living under the treat of death. But then if the LTTE does not physically snuff out their lives they snuff out their credibility by labelling them as Traitors like Karuna…
Let me ask you people this? If Karuna wanted peace, and what he said is he left the LTTE because Prabhakaran did not want peace and wanted to continue fighting….? Why do you people hate him for defecting? You never had a problem when he was killing Sri Lankan Armed forces and Police did you?
20. Devinda Fernando | February 8th, 2008 at 10:03 am
*** It’s time that the Tamils and Sinhalese part for good. ***
If you wish, I will be sorry to see the Tamils leave, I personally think they bring a great cultural addtion to the island but if you feel they need to leave then by all means let us not force you to stay.
21. Jay | February 8th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
I am an old boy of DS. True to it’s colours it always held it’s multi ethnic diversity of students very high. Although the attitude of the some students and teachers changed since 1983. Said that it is an institution that has and is produced and producing very high cailbre successfull students/citizens of the world. My deapest sympethies to all student’s families of DS who lost their loved ones.
If only the majority of SL would open their eyes and asked questions (including some bloggers here) to the atrocities that they have brought upon their tamil brothers and siters for the last 60 years of Sinhala chavunistic ruling, this would have never happened. Now the suffering is not for the N&E but the South too, hence the reaction, which the tamils have raised for the last so many years.
Ask your self this question: “why are the Majority if not all the tamils of SL are feeling the same way?” as I have described above. If you can find the real unbiased answer then you and me are true patriots of SL, and we can find the peace in this beautifull island, without parting.
22. Jack Ranasinghe | February 13th, 2008 at 8:08 pm
So what if one of the students was a Tamil? Does it make the outcome better or worse? Does it excuse anything?
Terrorism is terrorism. Irrespective of who planted the bomb. The SL government and the LTTE have proved themselves to be terrorists.
This kid is no different to the hundred before him and to single him out serves no purpose than to try and use him as a fig leaf.
23. Sandakantha Warnakula | February 17th, 2008 at 10:01 am
Davinda and Jack,
Yes there is something really striking of the fact that one of the students was Tamil.
It speaks tons about the freedom Tamils have under the Government of Sri Lanka. If Sri Lanka is one tenth of the place LTTE supporting propagandists wants the world to believe that it is, how come this human bomb they sent to play havoc in Colombo, ended up killing this Tamil boy who wanted to bring his family out of poverty…….
To me that aspiration points a finger at the real problem… poverty… that affects the majority of my country and the need of the hour… to be together rather than at each others throats….
24. Devinda Fernando | February 18th, 2008 at 5:19 pm
*** To me that aspiration points a finger at the real problem… poverty ***
Poverty is not the problem, Prabhakaran is the Problem. His Ideology of Racial Hate has infected Tamil society.
Sinhalese live in poverty too, you don’t see them blowing themselves up in crowded Trains and buses full of civilians?
25. Gayan | February 20th, 2008 at 2:57 pm
Just another number in VP’s murder list….80000 & counting
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