Taraki Sivaram
A fearless Tamil journalist from Sri Lanka whose reporting on the civil war made him a target, culminating in his assassination.
1959–2005 (age 46)·Tamil journalist of Sri Lanka·Birthday: August 11·Baby Boomers
Biography
Taraki Sivaram, born Dharmeratnam Sivaram, was a journalist who wielded his pen as a precise and dangerous instrument. Writing under the pen name 'Taraki', he became a pivotal, controversial voice during the Sri Lankan Civil War, known for his deeply informed military analysis from a Tamil perspective. He co-founded the TamilNet website, which provided detailed, on-the-ground reporting that often contradicted official state narratives, making it an essential but contentious source. Sivaram was no partisan cheerleader; his work was characterized by a fierce intellectual independence that critiqued all sides of the conflict, including the LTTE. This very commitment to complex truth made him enemies. In April 2005, in a chillingly brazen act, he was abducted in a white van in Colombo. His body was found the next day. His murder, never conclusively solved, stands as a stark symbol of the extreme perils faced by journalists who report from the heart of ethnic and political strife.
Baby Boomers
1946–1964
The largest generation in history at the time. Shaped by postwar prosperity, the Vietnam War, the sexual revolution, and Watergate. They questioned every institution their parents built — then ran them.
Taraki was born in 1959, placing them squarely in the Baby Boomers. The events that shaped this generation — postwar prosperity, civil rights, Vietnam, and the counterculture — shaped the world they entered and the choices available to them.
#1 When Taraki Was Born
The biggest hits of 1959
#1 Movie
Ben-Hur
Best Picture
Ben-Hur
#1 TV Show
Gunsmoke
Taraki's Life & Times
The world at every milestone
1959Born
Fidel Castro takes power in Cuba
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $12,400Min wage: $1.00/hrPresident: Dwight D. Eisenhower"The Battle of New Orleans" — Johnny HortonBest Picture: Ben-Hur
1964Started school
Civil Rights Act signed; Beatles arrive in America
Gas: $0.30/galHome: $13,450Min wage: $1.25/hrPresident: Lyndon B. Johnson"I Want to Hold Your Hand" — The BeatlesBest Picture: My Fair Lady
1972Became a teenager
Watergate break-in; last Apollo Moon mission
Gas: $0.36/galHome: $19,550Min wage: $1.60/hrPresident: Richard Nixon"The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face" — Roberta FlackBest Picture: The Godfather
1975Could drive
Fall of Saigon ends the Vietnam War
Gas: $0.57/galHome: $27,600Min wage: $2.10/hrPresident: Gerald Ford"Love Will Keep Us Together" — Captain & TennilleBest Picture: One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
1977Could vote
Star Wars premieres; Elvis dies
Gas: $0.62/galHome: $31,800Min wage: $2.30/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Tonight's the Night" — Rod StewartBest Picture: Annie Hall
1980Turned 21
John Lennon shot and killed in New York
Gas: $1.19/galHome: $47,200Min wage: $3.10/hrPresident: Jimmy Carter"Call Me" — BlondieBest Picture: Ordinary People
1989Turned 30
Berlin Wall falls; Tiananmen Square protests
Gas: $1.00/galHome: $79,100Min wage: $3.35/hrPresident: George H.W. Bush"Look Away" — ChicagoBest Picture: Driving Miss Daisy
1999Turned 40
Columbine shooting; Y2K panic builds
Gas: $1.17/galHome: $113,900Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: Bill Clinton"Believe" — CherBest Picture: American Beauty
2005Died at 46
Hurricane Katrina devastates New Orleans; YouTube launches
Gas: $2.30/galHome: $167,500Min wage: $5.15/hrPresident: George W. Bush"We Belong Together" — Mariah CareyBest Picture: Crash
Key Achievements
- Co-founded and served as a senior editor for TamilNet, a crucial independent news source on the Sri Lankan conflict.
- Built a reputation as a preeminent military analyst of the civil war, respected even by his adversaries for his accuracy.
- His assassination highlighted the severe dangers to press freedom in Sri Lanka and sparked international condemnation.
Did You Know?
His pen name 'Taraki' is derived from a Pashtun word meaning 'star' or 'pupil'.
He was kidnapped and briefly held by the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in the late 1980s.
He wrote a regular column for the English-language newspaper 'The Daily Mirror' in Colombo.
“The pen is a weapon; I write to map the contours of our battlefield.”
