AS Vijitharan’s earliest memories are not of a place, but of moving, angst, and anxiety from the civil war in Sri Lanka, and the pain of separation. From Jaffna to Navalkuzhi, to Kilinochchi and to Mannar, his family kept shifting. He vaguely remembers carrying those fragments when he came to Tamil Nadu at five, with his parents and siblings in 1996.
After crossing the war-stricken land, he saw a new world where life looked like a clean slate. The family landed in Mandapam camp, the primary reception area in Ramanathapuram for Sri Lankan refugees arriving in India. His father, who had worked with the Railways in Sri Lanka, went for daily wage work assisting the fishing community that dominated the area. And payment was not money but fish. “In the initial months, we only had boiled rice and fish,” Vijitharan recalls.
The camp had curfews — gates opened by 5 am-6 am and closed by 8 pm-9 pm. Non-compliance came with harsh consequences. “Q Branch checks were regular, and if a person was not found, they were removed from the registration list.” During minister visits or elections, camps would be kept locked for two-three days. Even for a medical emergency, permission had to be sought from the revenue officer. As more refugees arrived, camps became overcrowded; Vijitharan’s family, among others, were shifted to rehabilitation camps in Bhavanisagar. “Wherever there was a roof, it became a living area for refugees. A 10X10 room became home,” he says.
Education became a way of surviving, staying, and becoming a voice of the refugee community. Now, at 35, Vijitharan has a collection of memories to narrate and document, which he has done in his books. From his schooling in camps to his completion of a PhD, his life gradually became a fight for recognition. Vijitharan is the first in the community to hold a PhD. He was awarded his degree on September 25.
Studying in camps
Education was the only way he could feel empowered and make his voice heard. After nursery and first standard, adjusting to the education system here was not easy. He studied in an elementary school in Mandapam, and then continued higher secondary in Bhavanisagar, where there was no electricity.
He recounts those days with gratitude for a headmaster who opened the school after hours for night study under hurricane lamps. But after schooling, the hurdles grew. With no citizenship and no place within India’s caste-based reservation system, educational opportunities were rare. Getting a government job was impossible. He adds, “We were not eligible to write state or central entrance examinations, and could not access government scholarships because we don’t have citizenship.”
The community is a small population of around 80,00O people. The rigid administration controlling the camps is only ruining lives, he says. “There are many school dropouts. There are many who went for daily wage work even after college,” he adds. During employment procedures, recruiters reject them stating ‘security concerns’ when they learn that they are from camps.
Vijitharan acknowledges his accomplishments and admits that this is only a chapter from the stories of many lives of refugees. On his path towards his higher education and admission process, he says, “NGOs had tie-ups with some private colleges offering a few seats at concessional fees. Through that, I managed higher education — a bachelor’s degree in Coimbatore, MSW (Master of Social Work) in Loyola College, and a second masters in Political Science in Madras University,” he says. “One college can provide only a few seats, and there are hundreds of students in the camp. We don’t have minority institutions to accommodate all students.”
He completed his thesis titled ‘A Study on the Role of Women in the Emergence of Tamil Nationalism in Sri Lanka’ in the Department of Political Science in Annamalai Univerisity. “For three years, I searched for PhD opportunities in Chennai. Most universities asked if I had JRF or NET (score), which we are not eligible to appear for,” he says. It was through a professor in Cuddalore that he met his guide, C Subramanian. In 2020, he enrolled for a PhD. “I poured in my own money to pursue a PhD,” he says.
Receiving a PhD is not just a milestone for Vijithran, but also a reminder that there are so many students in camps who are denied opportunities. “We have been here in the camps for 40 years, and thousands of students have been denied opportunities. Only citizenship can solve the problems we have been facing for years,” he says.
