Peel Region Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah undertakes sentimental journey to Sri Lanka in search of his roots – By Upali Obeyesekere
Chief Nishan Duraiappah with Sri Lanka Ministers Ali Sabry and Tiran Alles
Peel Region Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah embarked on a sentimental journey last month to Sri Lanka – his country of birth. His beloved parents left Sri Lanka in 1974, emigrating to Canada with their nine-month-old son – Nishan. Forty-nine years later he made his second visit to his country of birth on a rare high – as Chief of Police, Peel Region in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA). Born in Colombo, this was his second trip “home,” as he may call it. His earlier visit to Sri Lanka was in 2003. For any Sri Lankan-Canadian to return home to your birth country Sri Lanka as a normal person is nostalgic. But for Nishan Duraiappah, it was special since he was returning home as Chief of Police, Peel Region in the province of Ontario, Canada. The story of a second generation Canadian is inspiring and Nishan Duraiappah has a lot more to offer.
Peel Region is a vibrant, culturally diverse community. The Region delivers vital social services to 1.5 million residents and over 175,000 businesses. The Regional Municipality of Peel is a regional municipality in the Greater Toronto Area, Southern Ontario, Canada. It consists of three municipalities to the west and northwest of the city of Toronto: the cities of Mississauga and Brampton, and the town of Caledon, each of which spans its full east–west width. The regional seat is in Brampton.
Though on a brief private visit to Sri Lanka with family members, Peel Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah had a few high-profile appointments with Foreign Affairs Minister Ali Sabry, Public Security Minister Tiran Alles, and Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Deshabandu Tennakoon. He was accorded a reception at Police Headquarters on Dec 29 after been welcomed and taken in a horse-drawn procession amid police salutes. He addressed mainstream media personnel at IGP Tennakoon’s office in the presence of Senior Superintendent of Police (SSP) Nihal Talduwa.
Like his previous visit, Nishan Duraiappah had spent time in the Jaffna peninsula this time, too. However, he had been accompanied by his children and several friends who got the opportunity to experience life here. The “Duraiappah” name is well known not only in Jaffna and north-east but the entire island nation of Sri Lanka. Chief Nishan’s popular uncle Alfred Duraiappah was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician, who served as Mayor of Jaffna and Member of Parliament for Jaffna from 1960 to 1965. Alfred Duraiappah was a member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) He was elected Member of Parliament and Mayor of Jaffna. He was assassinated on 27 July 1975, allegedly by Tamil Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. Duraiappah, 49 years of age at the time was killed on his way to a Hindu temple for prayers, although he himself was a Christian. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) was established in 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran as the successor to an organization he had formed earlier in the 1970s.
Profile of Police Chief Nishan Duraiappah
Nishan Duraiappah was born in Colombo on 4th September 1973. He holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Sociology and Criminology from the University of Toronto, and a Diploma of Public Administration from the University of Western Ontario. Chief Duraiappah began his policing career with Halton Regional Police in December 1995, where he served as Constable for several years in uniform patrol in the towns and cities of Milton, Halton Hills and Burlington. Throughout his career with Halton Regional Police, he worked in several roles, including the Regional Drug and Mortality Bureau, Guns and Gangs Unit, District Criminal Investigations and with the RCMP Combined Forces Special Enforcement Unit. In the fall of 2015, Duraiappah was promoted to Deputy Chief of Halton Regional Police, in charge of leading district operations of four municipalities, the Regional Community Mobilization Bureau and the Information Technology and Strategic Management Office. He was promoted to Deputy Chief of Halton Police in 2015 leading frontline policing, community mobilization as well as innovation and technology.
In 2019, Duraiappah was sworn in as Chief of Police with Peel Regional Police. He was 46 years old and decidedly the youngest police chief in Canada. During the first year of his command, he created the first community-embedded Intimate and Partner Violence unit to respond to the growing needs in Peel Region. Additionally, he adopted the Community Safety and Well-Being (CSWB) framework that led to the establishment of Peel Regional Police’s CSWB Bureau. Chief Duraiappah is heavily involved in the community. Chief Duraiappah was the President of the Ontario Association of Chief’s of Police between June 2022 to June 2023.
Police Chief Duraiappah is a trailblazer. He is the most senior police officer of South Asian origin in North America and has received other prestigious recognition, such as the Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012) and in addition to being an Officer of the Order of Merit Canada (2016). In November 2022, Chief Duraiappah was appointed to the Order of Ontario. Chief Duraiappah began his career with Halton Police in December 1995. He served in a variety of assignments throughout his career including front line policing, specialized investigations and Diversity and Community relations.
On a personal note, this writer also immigrated to Canada in 1974 and lived in the same Don Mills neighbourhood as Nishan’s beloved parents – the late Yoga and Irene Duraiappah. With only a handful of Sri Lankan families living in Don Mills at the time, it did not take long for us to befriend the Duraiappah couple and their baby son. Tammy and I were married on 26 April 1975 at the Church of the Annunciation in Don Mills and moved into a 2-bed room apartment. With another mutual friend – Ernest Edward, we became a close trio meeting almost every weekend at each other’s homes. Yoga worked at Scotiabank, Ernie at Ministry of Transport, and I was at IBM Canada Ltd. When Yoga called us that his older brother Alfred Duraiappah was assassinated in Jaffna that fateful day in July 1975, Ernie, and his wife Sarojini, Tammy and I rushed over to the Duraiappah home to offer our heartfelt condolences and share in their grief with Yoga and Irene. Nishan was only 22 months old at the time. Our friendship continued unabated even after Yoga suffered a massive stroke and was in a wheelchair. Young Nishan was only 22 at the time of his father Yoga’s demise on 7th February 1995. Sadly, Yoga was not around when Nishan joined the Halton Police Force in December 1995. Such is life that is impermanent while death is permanent. Nishan’s beloved mother Irene lives with him and his family. Looking back, Tammy and I are so proud to see Nishan go from strength to strength in his stellar career with law enforcement in Canada.
Chief Nishan – you are only 50 years old and “the world is your oyster”. You have many productive years ahead and it won’t surprise us to see you reach the pinnacle of your success sooner than later. Wish you well!
