The Hon. Gnanamuththu Srineshan

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, in today’s condolence debate we speak about the late former MPs Hon. Lohan Ratwatte, Hon. Heenmahattmaya Liyanage, Hon. Dixson J. Perera, Hon. (Dr.) Mervyn D. de Silva, Hon. Y.G. Padmasiri, Hon. R.M.R. Chula Bandara and Hon. Manicavasagar Kanagasabapathy Eelaventhan. Some served as MPs, some as Deputy Ministers, some as Ministers, all especially serving their electorates. I pay tribute to them and offer condolences to their spouses, children and families.

¶ 02 As a Member of the ITAK, I particularly wish to speak of the late Hon. Eelaventhan (Manickavasagar Kanagasabapathy Kanagendran). He was a principled rights-based Tamil nationalist, not a seeker of perks or money, and was erudite in both English and Tamil. Though he initially served as a translator at the Central Bank, he was not content to remain there; inspired by S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the founding of ITAK in 1949, he committed himself to serving the affected Tamil people. For roughly 70 years he was intertwined with Tamil national politics — in ITAK, then the Tamil United Liberation Front, and later the Tamil National Alliance. Despite that long engagement, he became an MP only after age 70, in 2004, when the TNA won 22 seats and its two National List seats went to Eelaventhan from the North and Joseph Pararajasingham from the East. One of them later died naturally; the other was assassinated.

¶ 03 Mr. Eelaventhan was not only a politician but also an orator, writer and man of letters. He served during one of the country’s darkest periods of killings, abductions and disappearances and spoke fearlessly for his people. He had been a participant in Chelvanayakam’s nonviolent struggle; and when, after decades without success, armed struggle emerged in the North and East, he recognised the underlying grievances and contributed in his way, without personally taking up arms.

¶ 04 He bore no burden to others; he lived as a social activist and politician working for his people, showing leadership qualities. He could have spent his life comfortably abroad, but chose to work for his people. He passed away in Canada at 91. As poet Kasi Anandan said, those who toil for Tamil and Tamils never die while the seas and rivers of the Tamil land endure. He acted rightly in his time and voiced his people’s pain, working even in old age. Born in Jaffna, passing in Canada, I honour him and remember his parents who raised him. I extend condolences to his daughters, grandchildren and all family. I also appreciate the services of the other six former MPs remembered today and offer condolences to their families. Thank you.