Arul Pragasam

Arul Pragasam
Occupation	EROS founder
Religion	Hindu
Spouse	Kala Arulragasam
Children	Kali Arulpragasam Mathangi Arulpragasam Sugu Arulpragasam

Arul Pragasam (also known by the name Arular) is a Tamil activist and former revolutionary from Jaffna who had a part in forming the group Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS) during the Tamil independence movements to secure an independent Tamil Eelam.^[1][2][3] Arulpragasam graduated in Engineering from the Peoples' Friendship University of Russia in Moscow. In March 1976, he was one of three EROS members selected to train for six months in Lebanon with Palestinian militants associated with the Fatah wing of the PLO. He left after three months of training, returning to Sri Lanka with his family.^[4]

Arul Pragasam is the father of jewelry designer, Kali Arulpragasam, musician/filmmaker/visual artist, Mathangi "Maya" Arulpragasam (better known by her stage name, M.I.A.) and Sugu Arulpragasam. His family moved back to Sri Lanka when Maya was six months old. M.I.A. named her debut album Arular in 2005 after her father's first name, partly for him to get in contact with her, but it is also a shortened version of his name that the majority of the Tamil people know him by.^[5]

From 1978 - 1986, he lived and worked in Tamil Nadu. Although not himself a member, Arulpragasam was an old friend of LTTE leader Vellupillai Prabhakaran during the early years of the Tamil rebellion.^[5] His daughter Mathangi (Maya) has stated in interviews her father shared revolutionary ideals, and that he was a politician, although she has had no contact with him since the early 1990s.^[6][7] Rarely speaking about her father publicly, in an interview with The Guardian in 2005, M.I.A. stated "He never had a practical, physical influence" in her family's life. On his involvement in the war, she has said "The Tigers were big in numbers but my dad was too selective.

Arul Pragasam left his group EROS and the conflict in the late 80s. In 1997, he set up an Institute of Sustainability Development at Trincomalee on the Eastern Province's coast. The same year, he wrote a seminal book on Tamil history.^[5] Arulpragasam now heads the Britain-based Global Sustainability Initiative, which has overseen inventions such as a redesigned bullock cart, a motorised wheelbarrow and a car that consumes less petrol. Arulpragasam has explained "GSI's mission is to develop a program with a global perspective."^[5]

References

1. ^ http://search.intelius.com/Arul-Pragasam
2. ^ Wang, Oliver (May 9, 2005). "M.I.A.: Rapper and Daughter of Revolution". NPR. http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=4635471. Retrieved October 21, 2008. 
3. ^ Richard Harrington (September 16, 2005). M.I.A., No Loss For Words Washington Post. Accessed October 21, 2008.
4. ^ Wheaton, Robert (May 6, 2005). "London Calling - For Congo, Columbo, Sri Lanka...". PopMatters. http://www.popmatters.com/music/interviews/mia-0505062.shtml. Retrieved October 21, 2008. 
5. ^ ^{a b c d} "A former Tamil militant, now a sustainability guru". Mangalorean.com. February 11, 2008. http://mangalorean.com/news.php?newstype=local&newsid=66881. Retrieved October 21, 2008. 
6. ^ "What's Up With M.I.A.". Philadelphia Weekly. 2006-09-06. http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=12933. Retrieved 2008-10-21. ^{[dead link]}
7. ^ Kitty Empire (March 20, 2005). "Flash-forward". The Observer. http://observer.guardian.co.uk/omm/story/0,,1438918,00.html. Retrieved October 21, 2008. 

Further reading

Arulpragasam, Maya (2002). M.I.A. No. 10 (Paperback ed.). Pocko Editions. ISBN 1-903977-10-X

Persondata
Name	Pragasam, Arul
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1940
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death