Caught by hindu.com & deccanherald.com
COLOMBO: The Tamil National Alliance has stated that R Sampanthan, a seasoned politician from Sri Lanka and a moderate leader of the Tamil community, passed away last night while undergoing medical care in a hospital.
He passed away at a Colombo hospital at the age of 91. The seasoned Tamil leader has been absent from parliament sessions for some time due to illness.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, a veteran Tamil leader in Sri Lanka who devoted his entire career to advocating for a fair resolution to the country’s Tamil issue, died late on Sunday in Colombo.
The Tamil National Alliance, the principal organization representing Tamils in Sri Lanka’s war-torn north and east, was led by Mr. Sampanthan, an Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) member and sitting MP from the eastern Trincomalee district. 2015–2018, he served as Leader of the Opposition.
More Read
Having served in the House for almost fifty years, Mr. Sampanthan was a fearless and uncompromising member. He has persistently pushed for equal rights for Tamils in a “united, undivided, indivisible” nation since the civil war ended in 2009. Having received legal training, he grounded his case for a political solution in Sri Lanka’s constitutional background and the numerous commitments that the southern Sinhalese leadership had previously made but then broken.
Sampanthan, a seasoned legislator, strongly advocated for the 13th Amendment’s implementation, which pushed for the devolution of powers to provinces in “letter and spirit,” to treat ethnic Tamils on an equal footing with the majority Sinhalas.
Sampanthan actively participated in the development of Sri Lanka’s new constitution while serving as the Leader of the Opposition after incumbent Mahinda Rajapaksa’s stunning defeat by his estranged colleague Maithripala Sirisena in 2015.
Speaking of his encounters with Sampanthan, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said he would always treasure his pleasant recollections. He steadfastly fought for the Tamil people of Sri Lanka to live in a state of equality, security, justice, and dignity. His will be a great loss to him.
