Ajith Parakum Jayasinghe, the author and the true persona behind the plot of the novel K-Point speaks through the character Rachaka. In May 1989, during the bloody civil war between the young rebels and the government in the southern parts of Sri Lanka, Rachaka is captured by the government military while he is active as a district political leader of the proscribed youth movement People’s Liberation Front (JVP). He is brought to the ill-famous Killing Point or K-Point torture camp of Army intelligence wing which is located on a hilltop along the sea close proximity to the coastal city, Matara. The hillock on which the camp was situated is called Eliyakanda. Eliya means light in local Sinhala language. The beam of light of the ancient lighthouse in the southernmost Point Dondra of the island rotates and falls on the side of this hill. Rachaka is caught with three other youth and one of them is the district leader of the armed wing of the JVP. Rachaka pretends to be an average youth within the movement, but his party identity is exposed as a matter of fact.

Capt. Romeo, then the head of military intelligence in the district is instrumental in saving the lives of some young educated detainees. He too is a brilliant young Army officer who is committed to the counter-insurgency operations. However, the aftermath of his transfer together with subsequent changes in administration, such detention orders become invalid and totally lawless atmosphere prevails within the barbed wire fence of the K-Point torture camp for a year and more. Eminent torture, death and betrayal continue to exist. From lower ranks to the higher within the organization betrayal is a common feature sans a few exceptional personalities who are tight-lipped even before death. Simultaneously, the military which is also comprised of mostly young soldiers is also caught in a trap of brutality which impacts on their lives unfavourably.

While he is in K-Pont, Rachaka’s thoughts travel back and forth in memory lanes of his political career. He memorizes how he becomes a member of a youth movement and how he contributes and commits to its principles. He enjoys youth romances innocently above the law of the organization and subsequently undergoes physical torture and the mental agony while under detention. Many young rebels and other suspects are brutally tortured and murdered in the torture camp whereas Rachaka paddles through the fate on a buoy of random luck. Synchronicity is a major phenomenon of the life and death of the main protagonist of the novel.

Extremism within the youth uprising takes 6,000 lives of those including public servants, intellectuals, media personnel and the civilians. In state retaliation, ten times of the said figure are suffered by militants and their immediate family members. Rachaka explains brutality on all sides as well as the humanity that prevails even during the worst times.

Rachaka discusses in depths how parents suffer during periods of a question, the risk that parents and the close relatives take to protect their children and the pathetic circumstances of moms who are subjected to sexual exploitation in order to protect the lives of their sons and daughters.

Rachaka takes us far back to the 1980’s, the time the country experiences youth uprisings simultaneously centring both northern and southern parts of the island against the common problem of ‘discrimination’. However, the struggles subsequently retransform into violent extremism, which itself destroys a considerable portion of the youth community of the island nation causing serious damage to socioeconomic dimensions.

“The youth politics so far we have come across are the ones which made the youth scapegoats for social revolutions. Instead of such revolts, I open this novel for a dialogue on youth politics that helps youth potentials fulfilled that positively contribute to society,” says Ajith Perakum Jayasinghe, the author of the novel K-Point.

Rachaka is a part of the history and a witness to the history. He rewrites the history at the right time when it is identified that mal-governess, corruption and absence of rule of law lead the youth population towards extremism and when such extremism coupled with violence is threatening the security of the nations and the fundamental rights of citizens around the Globe.