An Expert-Level Report: A Personal Reflection on Academic Misconduct and Exploitation

“An Expert-Level Report: A Personal Reflection on Academic Misconduct and Exploitation” is a detailed, first-person account by Kagusthan Ariaratnam, a former child soldier and intelligence asset. In this powerful narrative, Ariaratnam reveals his harrowing experience with a prominent Sri Lankan academic and security expert, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna. The article chronicles a relationship that began as a promise of humanitarian assistance but devolved into a systematic scheme of exploitation, intellectual property theft, and academic fraud.

Ariaratnam’s unique perspective offers a rare look at the blurred lines between intelligence gathering and academic research, highlighting the profound human cost of such misconduct. His personal reflection, supported by extensive correspondence and legal findings, details allegations of being coerced into an academic arrangement that used an unaccredited “diploma mill” as a means of control. The article exposes how his specialized, firsthand knowledge was systematically appropriated for the professor’s published works without proper attribution or compensation.

This story is a crucial examination of academic integrity, human rights, and the ethical responsibility of public intellectuals, demonstrating how the trauma of a vulnerable individual can be monetized for political and professional gain.

After a formal complaint filed with the Academic Integrity Office at Nanyang Technological University (NTU) regarding a senior professor’s misconduct went without a substantive response, Kagusthan Ariaratnam has chosen to make his account public.

Foreword: A Life Between Worlds

My name is Kagusthan Ariaratnam, but I have been known by other names: Murali to my friends and “05” to the Sri Lankan Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI). My life, a testament to survival and shifting allegiances, began in Jaffna, Sri Lanka, where I was born into a Tamil family. My childhood was not one of innocence; it was abruptly stolen from me at the age of 17 when I was forcibly recruited into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in 1991. I was not a volunteer but a child soldier, forced to join to protect my three younger brothers from hardship. Over time, I rose through the ranks, first to the military wing and then to the Intelligence Unit, where I became the Naval Intelligence Officer for the Sea Tigers and Air Tigers. This experience, born of coercion, provided me with an intimate, firsthand understanding of terrorist operations and intelligence tradecraft that few outside such an organization could possess.

My journey took a precarious turn in 1993. Having broken the LTTE’s code of conduct, I was blackmailed by India’s Research and Analysis Wing (RAW) and forced to work as an informant. After my betrayal was discovered, the LTTE leadership, on the orders of Pirabhakaran, assigned me to a new mission: infiltrate the Government of Sri Lanka. This required me to surrender to the Sri Lankan security forces in June of 1995. As a double agent, my information was instrumental in Operation Riviresa, which led to the capture of the Jaffna peninsula by the Sri Lankan Army. I worked closely with high-ranking officers, and my strategic value was recognized with the code name “05” by the DMI, a designation they still use when communicating with me today.

It was during this period of collaboration with the DMI that I first encountered Dr. Rohan Gunaratna in 1996. At the time, he was a national security advisor to the president of Sri Lanka. To me, a prisoner of war who had just made the unimaginable leap from one side of the conflict to the other, Dr. Gunaratna appeared to be a humanitarian. He recommended my release from detention and assisted with my relocation to Canada in 1997. I genuinely believed he was helping me to make a clean break from the violence and live a peaceful life. I could not have known then that this moment of hope was, in fact, the beginning of a systematic and sophisticated scheme of exploitation, a new form of servitude under the guise of academic research and mentorship.

Chapter 1: The Promise of Education, The Reality of Exploitation

The true purpose of my relocation to Canada was not humanitarian. I have since come to understand that Dr. Gunaratna was an intermediary for the Directorate of Foreign Intelligence (DFI) of Sri Lanka, and my move to Canada was a long-term plan for me to continue acting as an operative for them. My unique knowledge of the LTTE’s intelligence apparatus was a tremendous asset to the Sri Lankan government, and Dr. Gunaratna, in his role as a public intellectual and consultant, served as the primary conduit for this information. My role was to provide intelligence, and he would facilitate my life in Canada. He visited me in Montreal in 1999 to formalize this arrangement, putting me in contact with other operatives. This was an academic-intelligence nexus, a relationship where my military-level knowledge would be extracted for his professional benefit.

The most egregious act of deception, and the most thoroughly documented, began in October 2004. Dr. Gunaratna invited me to speak at a seminar at the Institute of Defense and Strategic Studies (IDSS), a part of his center at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore. While this was framed as an academic opportunity—and I was even given a token of appreciation—it was a crucial stage in a fraudulent scheme. During this visit, he gave me a thesis outline and promised that I could obtain a bachelor’s degree upon its completion, an offer he claimed was an exemption from three years of university study. He assigned a colleague, Professor Eugene de Silva, as my supervisor.

The subsequent email exchanges with Professor de Silva provide irrefutable evidence of the scheme’s fraudulent nature. In our first exchange, he made it clear that my thesis was a means to an end. He wrote, “I want you to plan your thesis on the line of intelligence gathering in LTTE… If you can give me a rough outline of intelligence gathering, I am doing a paper and if you can send me some information immediately as a model, I would be very grateful”. This was not a request for academic work but a solicitation for my specialized, first-hand intelligence to be used for his own publications. The offer to waive my fees was a deliberate financial incentive, a “free” education meant to draw me into the scheme and obligate me to them. This established a transactional relationship where my intellectual property and intelligence were the currency.

Chapter 2: The Unraveling of a Deception

My initial excitement about the degree program gave way to suspicion. I had exchanged emails with the professors and was working tirelessly on my thesis, but a simple question about the degree-granting institution revealed the entire fraud. Professor de Silva finally admitted that the degree would be from a university in Denmark called Knightsbridge University. My subsequent research, which he later confirmed in a defensive email, exposed the truth: Knightsbridge University was not an accredited institution and was, in fact, listed as a diploma mill.

The discovery prompted a direct confrontation. In a multi-recipient email, I demanded clarification, stating that I needed a degree that “can be accepted anywhere to further my studies”. Professor de Silva’s immediate reply exposed the true nature of the arrangement. He wrote, “I am disappointed about the way you have decided to respond to my e-mail making that the main story… In fact, this waiver of fees and the enrolment process make you obligated to us. Not the other way”. His message was a chilling admission: my “education” was not a humanitarian gesture but a means of control.

Dr. Gunaratna’s response to my email reveals the coordinated nature of the deception. He immediately forwarded my email to Professor de Silva with a clear and urgent directive: “PLEASE RESPOND TO THIS LETTER IMMEDIATLEY, Rohan”. This was not a typical academic disagreement but an operational crisis, an attempt at damage control to prevent the scheme from unraveling. The coercive pressure was applied from all sides. Brigadier Rizvy Zacky, my Sri Lankan intelligence handler, sent a threatening email in response to my confrontation, stating, “you are really NUTS… In our game there are no rewards, no promises… Your chapter ‘broken promises’ is just an exercise in drawing attention to yourself, and in the process endanger the lives of many more… Should you proceed in this manner you would be an ‘untouchable’ in our business”.

This response, sent from a diplomatic facility in Pakistan, exposed the international scope of this network and its deep ties to state-level intelligence. The initial interaction was framed as a humanitarian act, but the responses from both the academic collaborator and the intelligence handler revealed a premeditated, coordinated intelligence operation. The use of a diploma mill was not a mistake but a deliberate tool to maintain control, promising a tangible “reward” while ensuring I would never gain true academic credibility or independence. This profound corruption of academic integrity for political and personal gain is a stark warning about the ethical lines between academic research and intelligence gathering.

Chapter 3: The Stolen Voice: Plagiarism and Misappropriation

The true value of my “thesis” was not in its academic contribution but in the raw intelligence I possessed. An email from Dr. Gunaratna in October 2003 perfectly illustrates this. He requested that I “think carefully and answer COMPREHENSIVELY AND IN GREAT DETAIL” on a list of ten questions about suicide terrorism. These were not general academic queries but highly specific, operational intelligence questions: “When a suicide terrorist wearing a body suit approaches a target how can we recognise him?” and “What kind of psyops can we do against suicide…?”. These requests show that I was being used as a human intelligence asset, and the information was intended for tactical, not just academic, purposes.

My detailed, firsthand knowledge was systematically extracted and appropriated for Dr. Gunaratna’s published works. In my reflective assignment, I stated that I was debriefed for information on LTTE front organizations and that my knowledge was used to “co-author another book titled, ‘Countering Terrorism – Can We Meet the Threat of Global Violence?'” without me receiving any credit. I had written an extensive paper on “The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam’s (LTTE) Intelligence Wing, Tiger Organization Security Intelligence Service (TOSIS),” detailing its structure and operational methods. This was my intellectual property, a product of my traumatic past, yet it was appropriated. My affidavit confirms that the intelligence I provided “was later extrapolated onto al Qaeda and sold to the Americans, British, Australians and Israelis”.

When I confronted Dr. Gunaratna about the lack of attribution, he offered a cynical and dismissive excuse. He claimed he “cannot mention my name because he was protecting me as his source of information”. This is a textbook ethical smokescreen. While source protection is a valid principle, it does not permit the wholesale appropriation of a person’s life and intellectual property for personal and professional gain. He treated me not as a co-author or a research participant, but as a human source to be exploited and then cast aside. This profoundly violates academic ethics, as he commercialized my traumatic past without my consent or compensation. The entire relationship, from start to finish, was a transaction where I provided a service, and he reaped the rewards while making empty promises.

Chapter 4: The Toll on My Soul

The betrayal I experienced was not merely intellectual or professional; it was deeply personal, with a profound impact on my mental and emotional well-being. The “empty and broken promises” were not just business failures; they were a significant contributing factor to my psychological deterioration. In an email from 2005, I told Dr. Gunaratna and Brigadier Zacky this directly. I wrote, “I think all these empty and broken promises have contributed to my illness and frankly I just can’t take it anymore”. My plea was a direct and devastating question: “waiting on empty promises and disappointment later… leads to my sickness in someway?”.

Dr. Gunaratna was fully aware of my mental health struggles, which included a diagnosis of bipolar syndrome. His response was not one of empathy or genuine help. Instead, he weaponized my illness to maintain control over my output. He advised me to “take your medicine” and “continue to write on the SPECIFIC TOPICS, I gave you”. His message was a chilling mixture of fake concern and cold transactional logic: “Without fully recovering… you cannot get a job… My suggestion is that you concentrate on the book you are writing UNTIL you recover from bipolar syndrome”. He framed my recovery and livelihood as being dependent on my continued work for him, a coercive dynamic that leveraged my vulnerability.

The psychological pressure was not limited to Dr. Gunaratna. Brigadier Zacky’s emails reveal the comprehensive nature of the control exercised over me. He would use my intelligence code name “05” and even offer religious and personal counseling, telling me to “get your self as Bible, and study it”. He also explicitly acknowledged that “RG turned from Sri Lanka to Global”, recognizing Dr. Gunaratna’s growing influence and the expansion of our “game” to an international level. This highlights how my life, and my trauma, were merely resources in a larger geopolitical chess game.

Dr. Gunaratna’s knowledge of my bipolar disorder was a central element of the exploitation. He used my medical condition to frame my resistance as irrational and my testimony as unreliable. When I confronted him about his conduct, he responded by questioning my sanity, stating, “I know that a part of your condition is your inability to distinguish between reality and imagination”. This is a classic form of psychological manipulation, where the abuser undermines the victim’s credibility to avoid accountability. The fact that he was coordinating with my intelligence handlers to maintain this control—organizing passport renewals and introductions to the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP)—demonstrates that this was not a simple academic dispute but a total-leverage, comprehensive intelligence operation that used my family and health as collateral.

Chapter 5: A New Front: The Courtroom in Canada

The most powerful validation of my experiences came not from an academic institution but from a Canadian courtroom. In 2014, Dr. Gunaratna was being sued for defamation by the Canadian Tamil Congress (CTC) after he publicly accused them of being an LTTE front organization. I submitted a sworn affidavit detailing his close ties to the Sri Lankan government and his long history of using me to gather intelligence. This act of speaking my truth was a pivotal moment in my long quest for validation.

In January 2014, a Canadian judge found Dr. Gunaratna liable for defamation and ordered him to pay 75,000 Canadian dollars in damages. The judge’s words were a powerful vindication, stating that Dr. Gunaratna’s statements were “unequivocal and uncontroverted… false and untrue”. This legal ruling was a formal, independent recognition that his use of information, including information he took from me, was not only unethical but legally indefensible. The judgment provides an independent, third-party confirmation of my claims and exposes the immense power of academic credentials in influencing public discourse and policy.

The Canadian court case is the most significant development in this entire saga. It takes the allegations out of the realm of personal grievance and places them in the public record of legal judgment. Dr. Gunaratna’s statements, which were likely informed by the very intelligence he took from me, were found to be false and defamatory, a damning indictment of his academic integrity. His subsequent response to Dr. Anne Speckhard, where he attempts to discredit my testimony by linking it to my mental health (“During the period of ill health, he was in contact with… the Canadian Tamil Congress”), further demonstrates his manipulative and self-serving nature, even after a legal defeat.

Conclusion: Seeking Peace and a True Education

My journey from a child soldier to a Canadian citizen was marked by a deep and systematic betrayal. The man I believed was my mentor, Dr. Rohan Gunaratna, systematically used my unique knowledge and trauma for his own professional and political gain. My story is not one of a simple personal betrayal but a microcosm of a larger struggle for dignity, truth, and freedom. The evidence of academic fraud, intellectual property theft, and the exploitation of a vulnerable former child soldier paints a disturbing picture of the unethical and dangerous blurred lines between academia and intelligence operations.

My traumatic experience with Dr. Gunaratna is a closed chapter in my life, but its lessons endure. I have learned not to trust blindly, and to believe in myself and my ability to create a better future. I will fend for myself and complete my undergraduate studies on my own terms, seeking a true and honest education independent of empty promises. This is my final act of self-realization, a way to reclaim my life from the manipulation of the past and to prove that I am more than a source of intelligence. My intention is to achieve peace and prosperity for my Tamil brethren through peaceful means. I am proud to be a Tamil Canadian and eager to share what I have learned about living in harmony and diversity. This is my final purpose, a testament that even after a lifetime of conflict, a new, peaceful future is possible.