| Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri | |
|---|---|
| Born | October 18, 1965 Gampaha, Sri Lanka |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Other names | Vama |
| Education | PhD |
| Occupation | University Lecturer |
| Political party | Left Party |
Nirmal Ranjith Dewasiri (also spelled Devasiri) born in 18 October 1965 is Senior Lecturer of the department of history at the University of Colombo, Sri Lanka.[1] Currently he is the head of Department.[2] He specializes in social transformation in agrarian societies, history and ideology, European colonialism in Asia, post-colonial state-building, and ethno-nationalism.
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Dewasiri attended Prince of Wales' College, Moratuwa. He received his B.A and M.Phil. from University of Colombo in Sri Lanka. He read his PhD from Leiden University in The Netherlands.
His B.A thesis explored the political impact of Rohana Wijeweera, the charismatic leader of two armed insurrections of Southern Province, Sri Lanka.[3] In pursuing his master's degree, he analyzed the formation of Sinhala nationalist ideology in the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.[4]He is making an argument to Sinhala Buddhist nationalism like party of Jathika Hela Urumaya( JHU) Examine Myth of Tamil homeland theory(Tamil Eelam) and Sinhala homeland theory. He Explores that, Sinhala Society has been built under four Mythologies. Buddha`s visit to Sri Lanka, Advent of Prince Vijaya, advent of (Reverent)Arahath Mahinda Thero and King Dutugemunu`s war to vanquish King Elara. According to his study, Sinhalese accept these four Myths and Tamils accept the homeland theory ,because they would liked like to believe it. This is the basement of his interpretation.[5]As a Historian he is analyzing history as a discursive construction.[6]
His doctoral thesis, The Adaptable Peasant: Agrarian Society in Western Sri Lanka under Dutch Rule, 1740 1800 studied the impact of the Dutch East India Company(VOC) on western Sri Lanka's agrarian society.[7] According to Dewasiri, these changes led to private property and the emergence of a powerful landowner class.
As Political activist Nirmal has strong experience working with deference Political groups since he was student. Recently He was the secretary of "X-group" Sri Lanka which divided in 2005 [8] Now Dewasiri is a leader of the Post-modernist new"X-group" and President of The Federation of University Teachers’ Association (FUTA).[9][10] In 2010, he was appointed a key advisor to the Cultural and National Heritage Ministry.[11]