Suren Raghavan | |
|---|---|
| சுரேன் ராகவன் සුරේන් රාගවන් | |
| Member of Parliament forNational List | |
| Assumed office 20 August 2020 | |
| 6th Governor of the Northern Province | |
| In office 7 January 2019 – 20 November 2019 | |
| President | Maithripala Sirisena |
| Preceded by | Reginald Cooray |
| Succeeded by | P. S. M. Charles |
| Personal details | |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Freedom Party |
| Alma mater | University of Kent |
| Profession | Academic |
| Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Suren Raghavan (Tamil:சுரேன் ராகவன்,romanized: Curēṉ Rākavaṉ;Sinhala:සුරේන් රාගවන්,romanized: Surēn Rāgavan) is a Sri Lankan academic and formerGovernor of theNorthern Province. He is of biethnic heritage, classed asSri Lankan Tamil due to paternal descent.[1]
Raghavan joined theUniversity of Kent's School of Political and International Relations in 2005 on ascholarship from the James Madison Trust and received aMaster of Arts degree after producing adissertation onfederalism in Sri Lanka.[2][3] He then carried out research at theUniversity of Ottawa before returning to the University of Kent in 2008 on another James Madison Trust scholarship to study for hisdoctorate degree.[2][4] He was also anOverseas Research Students Awards Scheme scholar from 2008 to 2011 and a recipient of theOntario Student Assistance Program award.[2][3] In 2012 he received a doctorate politics and government from the University of Kent after producing athesis titledMultimational Federaiism and Sinhala Buddhism. Is there a (In)compatibility? The Case of Ethnonationalism in Sri Lanka.[3][5]
Raghavan was avisiting professor atSaint Paul University,research fellow at theOxford Centre for Buddhist Studies and a visiting research scholar at theUniversity of Colombo's Department of History.[2][3][6][7] He was chairperson and national director of Colombo School for Critical Studies.[7] He has been a jury member for severalfilm festivals including the OCIC, South Indian Film Federation and Asian Cinema Centre.[7] He organised the Indian Film Festival inColombo.[7]
Raghavan was appointedadviser toPresidentMaithripala Sirisena and director of the Presidential Media Unit in November 2018.[3][8] In January 2019 he was appointedGovernor of theNorthern Province by Sirisena.[9][10] Following thepresidential election in November 2019, newly electedPresidentGotabaya Rajapaksa ordered Raghavan and all otherprovincial governors to resign.[11][12]Following the2020 parliamentary election he was appointed to theParliament of Sri Lanka as aNational List MP representing theSri Lanka People's Freedom Alliance.[13][14][15]
Governors of theNorthern Province | ||
|---|---|---|
| Governors |  | |
Acting | ||
