Kamani Waduge, better known as Kamani Akka, the first female full-time member of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), recently passed away in Australia. Though known affectionately as Kamani Akka by her family, her life story remains largely unknown to the wider public.
She was the sister of well-known figures: Ananda Deshapriya, who served in the Colombo Municipal Council, former Election Commissioner Mahinda Deshapriya, civil society activist Sunanda Deshapriya, and administrative officer Wasantha Deshapriya.
But Kamani Akka was not just any woman. She was a political woman who embraced a difficult life for a greater cause. From a young age, she dreamed of uplifting the oppressed and exploited classes of Sri Lanka. At just 17 years old, while still a schoolgirl, she chose JVP politics as her path to fight for systemic change.
Her father, Piyasena Waduge, a well-respected school principal in Ambalangoda, was himself a communist and played a pivotal role in inspiring young Rohana Wijeweera (Nandasiri Wijeweera) with the idea of forming the JVP.
According to Piyasiri Kularatne’s autobiography, the seed of the JVP was first planted during a long political discussion held at Piyasena’s home in Patabandimulla, Ambalangoda. Kularatne recalls how Piyasena passionately explained the failures of existing leftist parties and the global revolutionary movements, eventually convincing Wijeweera of the need for a truly revolutionary party in Sri Lanka.
That historic discussion was attended by Rohana Wijeweera, Sanath Withanachchi, Cyril Dahanayake, and Piyasiri Kularatne, guided by none other than Piyasena, father of Kamani Akka and the Deshapriya brothers.
Piyasena later went on to lead the political discussions at the JVP’s first training camp in Akmeemana. His youngest son, Sunanda Deshapriya, became the JVP’s first Badulla District Secretary.
It was alongside her brother Sunanda that Kamani Akka stepped into full-time revolutionary politics. Together with her friend Sahampathi Abeysekera, she began organizing women in the Badulla District. Both women became the very first full-time members of the JVP, remarkable not only for their youth but also for working outside their hometowns, completely cut off from their families.
Even when she encountered her father at a JVP rally in Bogambara, Kamani refused his pleas to return home, firmly committed to the political path she had chosen.
Following the 1971 JVP insurrection, Kamani was arrested by the Ambalangoda Police and imprisoned in Magazine Prison before being sent to the Mirigama Rehabilitation Camp. Upon release, though offered the chance to return to school, she instead pursued a diploma in agriculture at Kundasale Agricultural College and went on to serve as a government agricultural instructor.
Yet, her militancy never faded. Colleagues recall her as fearless, uncompromising, and always ready to stand up against injustice.
Kamani Waduge’s life was one of courage, conviction, and sacrifice, an untold story of a woman who chose struggle over comfort and left behind a legacy of resistance.
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