Nadarajah Raviraj would have celebrated his 46th birthday this year. In the spirit of citizens’ journalism, unionblackcolombo remembers his friend, killed in November 2006 in a video exclusive to Groundviews.

My earlier article (The persuasive power of numbers and the mystery “8.5%” figure) highlighted the dangers of using incomplete census data and how it has been manipulated to bolster political agendas.

Another persuasive number that is routinely cited is the figure of “54%”, used in connection with the proportion of ‘Tamils’ living outside of the North and East. Here is a recent example:

“At least, the West has realized that 54% of ethnic Tamils are now living harmoniously in the Sinhalese-majority districts in other parts of the country, but Jehan Perera is in a fantasy world.” (Sri Lanka Tamil Tiger spokesman Tamilselvan’s death a set back for peace laments Sri Lanka’s peacenik, 3 November 2007)

There are other commentators …

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Having decided to write in to Bloomberg.com for including what looked like a clear underestimation of the proportion of Tamils in its news items and to highlight the sensitive nature of a country’s ethnic make up (particularly of course Sri Lanka’s), I wanted to check for myself the veracity of what I was saying. I also wanted to find out where the figure of “8.5%” that Bloomberg routinely refers to derives.

A search on Google threw up some interesting material. The mysterious figure of “8.5%” kept cropping up again and again, in very different contexts and without explanation. I was struck by how the figure was being used, seeking to link the viability of a community’s grievances with its proportion …

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I first met him in 2004 and liked him immediately. His storytelling was a joy to experience. On our journeys up to Jaffna, the 10 hours would fly as he shared his stories from his salad days with my cousins at St Johns, his work for Home for Human Rights or his take on this politician or that.

The story that sticks in my mind is of how he entered politics. When he had to attend the funeral of his former colleague and at the same time to throw in his lot with mayoral politics in Jaffna, his mother refused to let him leave the house. The mother’s anxiety over her son’s decision was understandable. He …

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