Draft:Kannan Rajarathinam

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Kannan Rajarathinam
Kannan Rajarathinam in 2024
Born	(1962-08-23) 23 August 1962 Chennai, IN
Nationality	Indian
Citizenship	Indian
Alma mater	University of Georgia Tufts University Madras Law College New College
Occupations	Adjunct professor at University of Georgia School of Law Writer diplomat politician former international civil servant
Years active	1978–present
Works	Bibliography
Political party	Indian National Congress (2008–present)
Spouse	Usharani Kannan ​ ​ (m. 1981, divorced)​
Children	2

"Kannan Rajarathinam", born 23 August 1962 is an Indian political commentator, author and former United Nations political official. He is currently an adjunct faculty at the University of Georgia School of Law He served the United Nations for twenty-eight years in various capacities in three continents from 1993 to 2022. He has three books to his credit on the Dravidian movement.

Born in the north of Chennai, Kannan graduated from The New College,Chennai , in 1983 and studied law at Madras Law College, where he graduated in 1986. Kannan pursued an LLM at the University of Georgia School of Law in 1987-88 and taught briefly at Madras Law College before returning to the US to pursue a doctorate in International Relations between 1989 and 1993.

In 1993, Kannan joined the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Croatia. He publicly credits Shashi Tharoor with bringing him to the United Nations. In 1995, Kannan returned from the United Nations to pursue a public career. The Frontline’s then editor N. Ram published his first piece of writing in English In March 1996, Kalaignar M. Karunanidhi launched his work, Pirivinaikupin, about the breakup of the former Yugoslavia.

During his sixteen months in India between 1995 and 1996, he began to pen op-eds for Dinamani and wrote for Frontline, edited by N. Ram. When Ram took over The Hindu, Kannan penned op-eds for three years in The Hindu on DMK founder C.N. Annadurai’s birthdays.This led to his biography in English on Annadurai for his birth centenary, published by Penguin Random House and launched by Shashi Tharoor in Chennai in 2010.This was followed by his biography of M.G. Ramachandran (MGR), also launched by Shashi Tharoor and received by R.M. Veerappan in 2017 in Chennai.

Early life and education

Kannan was born on 23 August 1962 in Chennai to S.K. Rajarathinam and R. Abaranji, a Tamil couple. Kannan has a younger sister. Kannan’s paternal grandfather was M. Ramasamy, who made his fortune as a commission agent. After his marriage, Kannan’s father, originally from the southern town of Aruppukottai, moved to Chennai and established a small cloth store. Kannan’s father dropped out of middle school at Form Four, while his mother left at Sixth Standard. Kannan grew up in North Chennai, a hotbed of political activity and the founding place of the DMK.

Kannan studied up to tenth standard at St. Mary’s Anglo Indian High School and later his plus two at Doveton Corrie Boys Anglo Indian Higher Secondary School. Despite his wish to pursue a non-science arts degree, his father’s wishes prevailed, and he ended up doing a BSc in Chemistry at New College.  

After his plus-two and before joining college, Kannan sought out T. Ramalingam, an advocate and public speaker, to initiate him into public speaking. Kannan has referred to Ramalingam as his first angel.

He debated in both Tamil and English and won many competitions for his college.

In 1982-83, Kannan was elected one of the secretaries of the students council in New College at the University of Madras. Kannan joined Madras Law College in 1983 and graduated with a B.L. degree in 1986. He travelled to the United States a year later to obtain an LLM degree at the University of Georgia School of Law, Athens, GA and returned to teach briefly at Madras Law College. In 1989, he returned to the United States to pursue a  PhD in International Relations from The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, MA.

Diplomatic career

Kannan's career at the United Nations began in 1993 as a civil affairs officer with the UN Protection Force (UNPROFOR) in Zagreb, Croatia, and Sector North, one of the four UN Protected Areas in that strife-torn country. After a brief two-and-a-half-year stint, during which he, among others, physically assisted in moving a Croat family from the rebel-held area to the government-controlled area and was assigned to liaise an economic agreement between the government and the rebels (which never saw fruition), Kannan left UNPROFOR and returned to India to pursue a public career that never took off. During these sixteen months, he began writing for Frontline and Dinamani.

Kannan opted to return to the UN in August 1996 to North Macedonia. He served in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Cyprus, Kosovo, Afghanistan, Iraq, Somalia, and Sudan until December 2022. In Cyprus, Kannan headed the Office of Civil Affairs of the UN, vetting Civilian projects in the UN buffer zone. In 2003, the crossings between the Greek and Turkish Cypriot sides were opened for Cypriots after a thirty-year closure. Kannan assisted the UN in facilitating these crossings and obtained permission to open a Greek Orthodox Church for one day for worshippers from the government-controlled side.

Speeches

Kannan is known as a good speaker and is sought-after by Rotarians and on YouTube platforms. His interview on MGR on a YouTube channel has over half a million views. He regularly speaks on Dravidan politics, India, and world affairs.

Literary career

Kannan has written for The Hindu, Hindustan Times, Sprint, and The News Minute and writes on Tamil Nadu’s politics for The Times of India’s South Pole column. As of 2021, Kannan has written three critically acclaimed books in English. He is currently working on a biography of his state and has said that he would like to write a readable book on comparative philosophies at some point.

Kannan’s writing career began in his thirties, and he lamented that he had not been drawn to writing sooner.   

Personal life

Kannan met his wife, Usharani, in 1988, whom he married a year later. In 1989, she accompanied him to the United States and helped him complete his PhD studies there. She joined him in Croatia where she worked with Care Canada in Zagreb. In January 1996, their first child, Thaenpaavai, was born.  In 2000 their son Iniyan was born. Kannan is agnostic but has said that he is proud of being a Hindu, the only faith that accepts that there are many ways to the supreme truth. 

Bibliography

• The DMK Years (2024)
• MGR: A Life (2017)
• Anna: The Life and Times of C.N. Annadurai (2010)

External links

• Kannan Rajarathinam on LinkedIn
• [1] review of R.kannan The DMK Years at The Hindu
• [2] stalwart of the Dravidian Movementat The Hindu
• [3] book review of DMK at The New Indian Express
• [4] review of MGR A Life at The Hindu
• Works by Kannan Rajarathinam at Open Library
• Exchange of notes Kannan Rajarathinam Speaks about the future of the united nations at UGA law