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Iraj Weerarathne | |
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Born | |
Nationality | Sri Lankan |
Education | Royal College, Colombo, Sri Lanka |
Alma mater | Northumbria University, UK[ citation needed ] |
Occupations |
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Musical career | |
Genres |
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Instruments |
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Years active | 2003-present |
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Iraj Weeraratne (born 21 February 1981) known professionally as IRAJ is a Sri Lankan Rapper, Music Producer and DJ. Weeraratne had a television show on Derana TV called "Iraj Show". [1] He is known as a prominent hip-hop and RnB artist in Sri Lanka. He was the first person to introduce Sinhala rap as well as Tamil rap to Sri Lanka in 2004. [2]
His first South Indian composition together with Vijay Anthony featured in the 2009 Tamil film, Vettaikaaran , starring Kollywood star Vijay and was ranked number one in the Chennai Charts. [3] [ citation needed ]
During different election periods in Sri Lanka, Iraj actively participated in facebook, twitter and other social media platforms for political sponsoring in solidification with the Rajapaksa camp. [4] He also contributed to content that promoted political campaigns and mobilised his several followers to have a specific type of opinion. [5] Iraj has been accused of being part of propaganda campaigns all with an aim of making the ruling parties he supports gain acceptance from the public. [6] [7] [8] He has been more involved in the media and acts as a public figure that has exacerbated these allegations. [9]
In 2023, Iraj has been sitting under heavy backlash and calls for boycotts because he’s been affiliating with Namal Rajapaksa and Yoshitha Rajapaksa. [10] [11] His public support for the Gotabaya Rajapaksa government, for example in the Galle Face 2022 Sri Lankan protests, attracted public ire. [12] Critics fingered his social media criticism of protestors and saw his work in countering their efforts to breed discontent among activists and citizens. [13] [14] It was fed by numerous incidents, including last May when a group of protestors stoned his family home, a moment of escalating tensions between the government and citizens during Sri Lankan economic crisis. [15]
He won the best keyboardist title which was awarded by Guildhall Music School at the age of 16. He later teamed up with his schoolmates Ranidu Lankage and Yauwana Wigneswaran to form a band titled ‘’Zealots’’ while still studying at the Royal College, Colombo. [16] He owns the Bongohd firm in Bangladesh. [17] In August 2020, he was appointed as the board member of National Youth Service Council by Namal Rajapaksa and he was supposed to serve in the relevant position for a period of three years. [18] However, a year later after his appointment he resigned from the position citing unavoidable poor work-related commitments. [19] [20]
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Ranidu Lankage is a Sinhalese R&B and hip hop artist who raised the international profile of Sinhalese RnB/pop. Lankage is the first Sinhalese artist to be played on BBC Radio 1 and the creator of the first Sinhalese single to be played on MTV and channel V and Z music India. He is a graduate in Economics from Yale University.
Dian Hemamali Sangeetha Weeraratne (born December 13, 1973, as is a Sri Lankan film actress in the Sri Lankan cinema. She made her debut as a sixteen-year-old with Roy de Silva's It's a Matter of Time opposite Kamal Addararachchi in 1990. However, she earned immense popularity only after performing in H.D. Premaratne's Saptha Kanya, also opposite Kamal Addararachchi in 1993. It was a huge success and she won the Sarasaviya Best Newcomer Award that year. She has acted in over 50 movies.
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Duggannaralalage Wasantha Kumara Bandara, popularly as Dukaa, is an actor in Sri Lankan cinema and stage drama as well as a lyricist, television host, author and media personality.
The 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka was the meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka with its membership determined by the results of the 2020 parliamentary election held on 5 August 2020. The parliament met for the first time on 20 August 2020 and was dissolved on 24 September 2024.
Mohamed Uvais Mohamed Ali Sabry, PC, MP, also known as Ali Sabry, is a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. He was the Minister of Foreign Affairs from 22 July 2022 to 23 September 2024. He previously served as the Minister of Finance until 9 May 2022. He was a Member of Parliament, appointed from the national list of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna. He also served as the Minister of Justice until 9 May 2022. He served as the defense counsel of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa, chief legal adviser and President of the Muslim Federation of the Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna.
Sandani Fernando, popularly as Sandani Fernando, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema and television. Started her career as a model, Sandani later became one of the popular television actresses particularly with the role 'Rashmi' in the popular television serial Haara Kotiya. and 'Madhavee' in the serial Agni Piyapath.
Wanniarachchige Senali Koshila Fonseka (Sinhala: වන්නිආරච්චිගේ සෙනාලි කෝෂිලා ෆොන්සේකා, popularly known as Senali Fonseka, is an actress in Sri Lankan cinema, theatre and television. Her first appeared film was Siri Parakum as Sirimal Ethana. Senali became more popular with her role as Paatali "Sudu Chooti" in Sri Lankan television series Nadagamkarayo.
The 2022 Sri Lankan protests, commonly known as Aragalaya, were a series of mass protests that began in March 2022 against the government of Sri Lanka. The government was heavily criticized for mismanaging the Sri Lankan economy, which led to a subsequent economic crisis involving severe inflation, daily blackouts, and a shortage of fuel, domestic gas, and other essential goods. The protesters' main demand was the resignation of President Gotabaya Rajapaksa and key officials from the Rajapaksa family. Despite the involvement of several opposition parties, most protesters considered themselves to be apolitical, with many expressing discontent with the parliamentary opposition. Protesters chanted slogans such as "Go Home Gota", "Go Home Rajapaksas", and "Aragalayata Jaya Wewa". Most protests were organized by the general public, with youths playing a major part by carrying out protests at Galle Face Green.
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