Rajan Hoole
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| name = Rajan Hoole
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| native_name = ராஜன் ஹூல்
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| other_names = M. R. R. Hoole
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| alma_mater = University of Oxford
| occupation = Academic
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Michael Richard Ratnarajan Hoole (commonly known as Rajan Hoole) is a Sri Lankan Tamil mathematician, academic and human rights activist. He was one of the founders of University Teachers for Human Rights (UTHR) which documented human rights abuses during the Sri Lankan Civil War.{{Cite web|title=FRONTLINE/WORLD . Sri Lanka - Living With Terror . A Lonely Warrior for Human Rights|url=https://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/srilanka/profile.html|access-date=2020-08-20|website=www.pbs.org}}
Early life and family
Hoole is the son of eldest son of Rev. Richard Herbert Ratnathurai Hoole and Jeevamany Somasundaram.{{cite journal|title=About People|journal=Tamil Times|date=August 1982|volume=1|issue=11|page=15|url=http://noolaham.net/project/32/3108/3108.pdf}}{{cite journal|title=About People|journal=Tamil Times|date=September 1982|volume=1|issue=12|page=12|url=http://noolaham.net/project/32/3109/3109.pdf}} He was educated at Chundikuli Girls' College, St. John's College, Jaffna and S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. After school he joined the University of Ceylon. In 1982 he received a Ph.D in mathematical logic from the University of Oxford.{{cite news|last1=Overland|first1=Martha Ann|title=Fighting for human rights|url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2003/03/11/fea01.html|work=Daily News (Sri Lanka)|date=11 March 2003}}
Hoole is married to Kirupa (Kirubai) Selvadurai, a fellow academic from the University of Jaffna.{{cite news|last1=Wijedasa|first1=Namini|title=Rajani: Right is might|url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/140921/sunday-times-2/rajani-right-is-might-118886.html|work=The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka)|date=21 September 2014}} He is the brother of Ratnajeevan Hoole.{{cite web|title=ASA 37/010/2006 Sri Lanka: Fear for safety: Professor Ratnajeevan Hoole|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/asa37/010/2006/en/|publisher=Amnesty International|date=12 April 2006}}
Career
Hoole worked as a lecturer in the Department of Mathematics at the National University of Singapore.
Hoole was amongst three hundred academics who, in 1988, formed the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna) to document and report the increasing number of human rights violations in Sri Lanka's civil war.{{cite web|title=History of the Organisation|url=http://www.uthr.org/history.htm|publisher=University Teachers for Human Rights|date=January 2000}}{{cite news|last1=Rubin|first1=Joe|title=A Lonely Warrior for Human Rights|work=Frontline/World/PBS|date=November 2001}} Following the assassination of Rajini Thiranagama, one of the founders of UTHR(J), in 1989, many members of UTHR(J) left the organisation. Hoole, along with fellow UTHR(J) member Kopalasingham Sritharan, left Jaffna and went into hiding but they continued with their UTHR(J) work, documenting atrocities committed by all sides of the civil war.
Hoole and Sritharan were finalists for the 2005 Civil Courage Prize but ultimately won "Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage" and a $1,000 cash prize.{{cite web|title=Certificates of Distinction in Civil Courage|url=http://www.civilcourageprize.org/certificates-distinction.htm|publisher=Civil Courage Prize}} In 2007 Hoole and Sritharan received the Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders.{{cite web|title=Rajan Hoole & Kopalasingham Sritharan - 2007|url=http://www.martinennalsaward.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=74&Itemid=115&lang=en|publisher=Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders}}{{cite web|title=IOR 80/002/2007 2007 Martin Ennals Award for Human Rights Defenders from Burundi and Sri Lanka|url=https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ior80/002/2007/en/|publisher=Amnesty International|date=1 October 2007}}{{cite news|title=Sri Lankans in human rights award|url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/6623687.stm|work=BBC News|date=4 May 2007}}
Hoole is currently a senior lecturer at the University of Jaffna's Department of Mathematics and Statistics.{{cite web|title=Academic Staff of the Faculty of Science|url=http://www.jfn.ac.lk/sci/Academics.html|publisher=University of Jaffna}} He was trained as a classical pianist.
Works
- The Broken Palmyra: The Tamil Crisis in Sri Lanka - an Inside Account (1988, UHarvey Mudd College California) (co-author)
- Sri Lanka: the Arrogance of Power : Myths, Decadence and Murder (2001, University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna))
References
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Category:Academic staff of the University of Jaffna
Category:Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna
Category:Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia
Category:Alumni of the University of Ceylon
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:Academic staff of the National University of Singapore
Category:Sri Lankan human rights activists
Category:Sri Lankan mathematicians
Category:Sri Lankan Tamil activists
Category:Sri Lankan Tamil people
Category:Sri Lankan scientists