Harini Amarasuriya

Some Lesser Known Facts About Harini Amarasuriya

• Harini Amarasuriya hails from a middle-class family. She grew up on a tea estate in southern Sri Lanka, where her father worked as a tea planter.

• Harini developed an interest in politics while growing up in a politically conservative family. As a child, she often had disagreements with her father about the government’s decisions related to the conflict and ethnic issues.

• In the 1970s, Harini moved with her family to Colombo when the Sri Lankan government took over the tea estates as part of a nationalisation effort. There, she joined Bishop’s College.

• In 1988-89, while still in school, she spent a year in the United States as an exchange student during a time of war in the north and unrest in the south of Sri Lanka.

• Due to the conflict, schools and universities in Sri Lanka were closed, which led her to move to India to complete her undergraduate studies at Hindu College, University of Delhi.

• Harini initially wanted to study English literature; however, her father introduced her to a former diplomat who changed her choice. This diplomat introduced her to the work of anthropologists like Gananath Obeyesekere and Bruce Kapferer, which sparked her interest in understanding human society.

• After pursuing an MA in Applied Anthropology and Development from Macquarie University in Australia, Harini returned to Sri Lanka and began working in the international humanitarian and development sector.

• Harini’s first job was at a community mental health centre named Nest in Sri Lanka, where she worked with a local NGO to support women who had been abused and mistreated in psychiatric hospitals.

• She later served as a board member of the Law and Society Trust (LST) and Centre for Women’s Research (CENWOR) in Colombo.

• Amarasuriya has written several books on topics such as youth, politics, gender development, and child protection. Some of her notable works include ‘Impact of Macro Economic Reforms in Sri Lanka: Retrenchment and Early Retirement of Workers’ (2003) and ‘Gender and Poverty in Selected Locations in Sri Lanka’ (2004)

• In 2011, Harini joined the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) as a sociology and social anthropology lecturer in the Department of Social Sciences. She later became a senior lecturer and head of the department.

• On the first day at the university, she became involved in the Federation of University Teachers’ Association and participated in her first protest march, even before she had received a job offer letter.

• In 2012, she took part in a three-month strike led by university staff to demand better working conditions and fair treatment. It was one of the longest trade union actions in Sri Lankan history.

• Between 2011 and 2012, Harini joined a network of social and political activists who had been student activists during the peak violence in Sri Lanka in the late 80s and 90s. Through this network, she met members of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).

• After the disappointment with the government that came to power in 2015, Harini engaged more directly with the Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). This was the first time when she worked with a political party.

• In 2019, Harini became a member of the National Intellectuals Organization. She also supported Anura Kumara Dissanayake, a candidate from the National People’s Power (NPP), during the presidential elections in Sri Lanka.

• On 12 August 2020, Harini was appointed as a national list MP by the National People’s Power (NPP) aka Jathika Jana Balawegaya (JJB). She resigned from her role as a senior lecturer at the Open University to focus on her political career.

• On 24 September 2024, Harini became the 16th Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. She became the first prime minister from her party and the third woman to the position, following Sirimavo Bandaranaike and Chandrika Kumaratunga.

  

• Harini is an avid animal lover and has three pet cats one of which is named Max.

  

• Amarasuriya actively advocates for gender equality, women empowerment, and LGBTQ+ rights. She has spoken about these topics at various events in countries like New Zealand and the United States of America (USA).