Life as a female Tamil Tiger guerilla relived by one of first female soldiers

May 12, 2009 7:31 AM

Life as a female Tamil Tiger guerilla relived by one of first female soldiers. In 1987, aged 17, Niromi de Soyza shocked her middle-class Sri Lankan family by joining the Tamil Tigers. One of the rebels' first female soldiers, equipped with rifle and cyanide capsule, she was engaged in fierce combat.
posted by chunking express (9 comments total)

Interesting, thanks. The other side of the story's always important to hear...

Pity we won't get a story from one of the Black Tigers - that'd be something else altogether.
posted by WalterMitty at 7:39 AM on May 12, 2009

You may want to look for the film, My Daughter the Terrorist.
posted by chunking express at 7:40 AM on May 12, 2009

In this age of terrorism it is easy to dismiss all rebel groups as evil extremists, without considering the desperate circumstances that drive people to align themselves to such organisations

I'm not condoning any form of violence, but if more people/governments/policymakers understood the reason why people turn to groups like LTTE or Hamas, imagine how we would be dealing with global issues and how much more progress we would be making.

Fascinating article.
posted by bitteroldman at 7:47 AM on May 12, 2009

On a related note - a fictional story about two Palestinian would-be suicide bombers, Paradise Now. (IMDB.)
posted by WalterMitty at 7:49 AM on May 12, 2009

Paradise Now is amazing. I watched it when it played here in Toronto. Worth seeing if only for the last long soliloquy by one of the two Palestinian boys. It's an amazing film.
posted by chunking express at 7:56 AM on May 12, 2009

Great read, thanks.
posted by Devils Slide at 9:00 AM on May 12, 2009

That was very interesting - thanks.
posted by lullaby at 4:36 PM on May 12, 2009

i learned and enjoyed. very rare combo indeed. thank you.
posted by the aloha at 6:07 PM on May 12, 2009

There is also this side of the story.
posted by chunking express at 8:23 AM on May 13, 2009