Rajavarothayam Sampanthan: The Political Journey of a ‘Great Leader’ part II

• Rajavarothayam Sampanthan breathed his last at the Lanka hospital in Colombo on 30 June 2024; he had celebrated his 91st birthday on 5 February 2024
• Sampanthan’s political journey spanning more than seven decades covered an eventful period in the contemporary history of the Sri Lankan Tamils
• Sampanthan was a successful lawyer with a lucrative practice in Trincomalee when he contested parliamentary elections

A further look at the political life of the great Rajavarothayam Sampanthan

The funeral of veteran Tamil political leader Rajavarothayam Sampanthan took place in Trincomalee on 7th July 2024. Large crowds bade farewell to the Nonagenarian (one in their 90’s) Trincomalee Parliamentarian who had served as MP for 32 years. Among those who paid homage to Sampanthan in Trinco was Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Earlier, the President along with First Lady, Dr. Maithree Wickremesinghe had paid their respects in Colombo when the senior Tamil leader’s mortal remains were kept for viewing at the AF Raymonds 
funeral parlour.

Leader of the Opposition Sajith Premadasa, in his message, described the demise of Rajavarothayam Sampanthan as the “end of an era”. Sampanthan’s political journey spanning more than seven decades covered an eventful period in the contemporary history of the Sri Lankan Tamils. The first of this, two part article, published last week, briefly traced the early stages of Sampanthan’s political journey. The later phases of his political journey will be outlined in this second and final part.

As mentioned earlier, it was the respected Leader of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) S. J. V. Chelvanayakam who wanted Rajavarothayam Sampanthan to contest the Trincomalee electorate in the 1977 elections. In a private meeting held some months before the poll with Sampanthan and Appapillai Amirthalingam, Chelva had finalised this arrangement for Trinco. Chelvanayakam passed away in April 1977. Amirthalingam held the reins when elections were announced for July 1977.

THANFATHURAI

As nomination day drew near there arose two problems for Sampanthan’s candidacy. Previously, Trincomalee district had two electorates namely Trincomalee and Mutur. While Trincomalee was a single member Tamil majority seat, the Muslim majority Mutur was a double member constituency electing a Muslim and Tamil MP. In May 1970, B. Neminathan from the Ilankai Thamil Arasukatchi(ITAK) known as the Federal Party in English was elected Trincomalee MP. Mutur elected A.L . Abdul Majeed from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) as first MP and A. Thangathurai of the ITAK/FP as second MP.

In 1976, the ITAK had become the chief constituent of the new configuration called TULF. Trincomalee district as re-demarcated into electorates of Trincomalee, Mutur and Seruwila for the July 1977 elections. The new Seruwila electorate had been carved out to elect a Sinhala MP. Trincomalee and Mutur were Tamil and Muslim majority electorates. Mutur was no longer a double member seat. Thus the number of Tamil MPs in Trinco district had been halved from two to one. The incumbent Mutur 2nd MP Thangathurai had no electorate to contest.

In such a situation the supporters of Thangathurai wanted the Mutur MP to be nominated as the TULF candidate for Trincomalee. Some TULF supporters in Trinco also wanted Thangathurai. This resulted in some sections of the TULF objecting to Sampanthan being nominated as the party candidate. Many pro – Thangathurai demonstrations were held. But Amirthalingam remained firm. Though criticized strongly by Thangathurai’s supporters, Amirthalingam stood by the assurance he had given to late leader Chelvanayakam. 

NAVARATNARAJAH

Sampanthan was nominated as the Trinco candidate. The internal problem was over for Sampanthan but there was another external problem facing him. Trincomalee electorate in 1977 had roughly 56% Tamils, 23% Sinhalese and 18 % Muslims. The UNP was fielding well known lawyer V.R.  Navaratnarajah as the Trincomalee candidate. Navaratnarajah – closely related to UNP stalwart and Kalkudah MP KW Devanayagam – had considerable support among the Tamils and Sinhalese of Trinco.

Nevertheless the Tamil nationalist vote bank in Trincomalee would have ensured the TULF candidate Sampanthan’s victory over Navaratnarajah but for the potential entry of a third Tamil candidate.  Chelliah Kodeeswaran was a legendary figure in Tamil politics. It was Kodeeswaran as a member of the clerical service who challenged the legality of the ‘Sinhala Only Act’ in a landmark case. He went all the way up to the Privy Council and obtained a favourable verdict.

Kodeeswaran had become a lawyer after early retirement and was practising in Trinco. He was also an activist of the Tamil Self rule party founded by former Kayts MP V. Navaratnam. The popular Kodeeswaran also planned to contest in Trinco as an independent candidate in 1977. Had there been a triangular contest among Sampanthan, Kodeeswaran and Navaratnarajah, the Tamil Nationalist vote would have got fragmented between Sampanthan and Kodeeswaran. This could have resulted in the UNP’s Navaratnarajah winning.

Sampanthan however enlisted a number of notables from the Tamil community in Trinco including members of the Koneshwaram temple management committee to persuade Kodeeswaran to refrain from contesting. The pro-Sampanthan lobby was successful and Kodeeswaran did not throw his hat into the ring in the interests of Tamil unity. When elections were held Sampanthan beat his close rival
Navaratnarajah with a majority of 3321. Sampanthan polled 15,144 to Navaratnarajah’s 11,823.

LAWYER TO POLITICIAN

As stated earlier Sampanthan was a successful lawyer with a lucrative practice in Trincomalee when he contested parliamentary elections.  Sampanthan himself said in an interview that he was handling close upon 700 briefs at the time of his election. Once he was elected as MP, Sampanthan ended his legal career. He transferred his cases and clients to his brother and other lawyers; thereafter, lawyer Sampanthan became a full time politician.

The TULF won 18 seats in 1977 and Amirthalingam became leader of the Opposition. Apart from the senior stalwart MP’s, three “freshers” captured the attention of their peers, public and press through their parliamentary performances. They were Mannar MP. Soosaithasan, Jaffna MP. Yogeswaran and Trincomalee MP. Sampanthan.

DDC ELECTIONS

Elections were held in the newly set up district development councils in June 1981. With the SLFP boycotting the DDC polls, the UNP had a virtual cakewalk in the Sinhala majority districts. The situation was different in the Northern and Eastern districts where the TULF held sway. Nevertheless the UNP fought the TULF fiercely in those districts. The UNP was confident in winning the Amparai and Trincomalee districts as the Sinhala and Muslim people together outnumbered the Tamils in both.

The UNP did win the Amparai district but it was thwarted in Trincomalee. The TULF fielded former Mutur MP Thangathurai as its chief candidate in Trincomalee. Sampanthan set aside bitter memories of the past and campaigned ardently for the TULF. Furthermore former SLFP Mutur MP Abdul Majeed also helped Thangathurai by getting his Muslim supporters in Kinniya to vote for the TULF. Thangathurai was elected chairman of Trincomalee DDC.

In 1982, President JR Jayewardene contested Presidential elections again. The SLFP candidate was Hector Kobbekaduwe. The other candidates were Dr. Colvin R de Silva (LSSP), Rohana Wijeweera (JVP) Kumar Ponnambalam (ACTC) and Vasudeva Nanayakkara (NLSSP). The TULF officially declared itself to be neutral in the elections. However Soosaithasan and Sampanthan backed Jayewardene quietly while Dharmalingam, Yogeswaran and Aalaalasuntharam covertly supported Kobbekaduwe. As is well known, JR Jayewardene won.

“BLACK JULY”

Within months of that victory erupted “Black July”. An anti-Tamil pogrom was launched with the support of prominent UNP ministers. Tamils were killed and injured in large numbers. Their properties were looted or destroyed. Hundreds of thousands were displaced. Many Tamils began leaving the country.

After unleashing violence, the UNP government passed the sixth amendment to the Constitution. This amendment disavowed separatism and decreed that all MPs had to take an oath to be eligible to attend Parliament. The TULF took up a principled stand and refused to take the oath as stipulated by the 6th amendment. The TULF parliamentarians forfeited their seats by not attending Parliament for more than three months without leave. The first TULF MP to lose his seat was Sampanthan in September 1983.

TULF TRIO

Many of the TULF Ex-parliamentarians relocated to Tamil Nadu in India. Among these were A. Amirthalingam, M. Sivasithamparam and R. Sampanthan. This self-exiled TULF trio played a valuable and constructive role by participating in political negotiations using the good offices of India. There were various discussions including the famous Thimphu talks. Amir, Siva and Sam were regarded as the Trinity of democratic Tamil leaders then.

On one occasion, ‘the TULF trio’ accompanied then Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi on a special flight from Trichy in Tamil Nadu to New Delhi. The Sri Lankan Government had misled the then Indian Foreign secretary Romesh Bhandari into believing that the Northern and Eastern provinces though territorially adjacent were linguistically no – contiguous. Therefore the North and East could not be merged into a single unit of devolution. 

While flying to Delhi, Rajiv sought clarification from the TULF on this. It was the “Eastern Tamil” Sampanthan who convinced Rajiv with the aid of a map and precise demographic details that both provinces had linguistic affinity and contiguity. The persuasive role played by Rajavarothayam Sampanthan visa vie Rajiv Gandhi paved the way for the inclusion of the North – East merger in the Indo – Lanka accord of 1987. Sampanthan reportedly stated then that ‘the merger was sealed in air.’

13th AMENDMENT

The 13th Amendment to the Constitution was enacted as a result of the Indo-Lanka accord. The Provincial councils were set up. The TULF did not contest the merged North -Eastern provincial council elections in 1988. The TULF contested the Parliamentary poll of 1989. This election was not held under the earlier first past the post winner system. Elections were held under the proportional representation voting system on a district basis. Sampanthan contested on the TULF ticket in the Trincomalee electoral district and polled only 6048 votes. He was not elected.

TRINCO MP

Sampanthan contested again in 1994.  The TULF won a seat in Trincomalee this time but Sampanthan was not elected MP. It was former Mutur MP. and Ex – Trinco DDC Chairman Arunasalam Thangathurai who became MP. Thangathurai got 22,409 preference votes, while Sampanthan garnered 19,525 preferences. Sadly, Thangathurai was assassinated by the LTTE in Trincomalee on 5 July 1997. Sampanthan succeeded Thangathurai as MP.

In the 2000 elections, Sampanthan did not contest in Trincomalee. Instead he was placed on the TULF’s national MP. list. The TULF won a few seats in the North and East but was not entitled to a national list MP Furthermore no Tamil MP was elected from the Trincomalee district. The 2000 election was a serious setback for the Tamil Nationalist parties. The splitting of votes among Tamil Nationalist parties enabled candidates from the UNP, SLFP and pro-Govt parties to gain more seats.

TAMIL NATIONAL ALLIANCE

The 2000 poll debacle led to the formation of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) in 2001. The TNA was set up with the tacit consent and backing of the LTTE. Four parties namely the TULF, ACTC, TELO and EPRLF were the four pioneering constituents of the TNA. Sampanthan in his capacity as TULF General Secretary signed the TNA agreement in 2001. The TNA contested under the Sun symbol of the TULF in the 2001 elections. Sampanthan contested in Trincomalee and was elected with 40,110 preference votes.

The Norway facilitated peace process resulted in a ceasefire in February 2002. Gradually the TNA came under the control of the LTTE. Among those who subordinated themselves to the tigers were Sampanthan, Senathirajah and Joseph Pararajasingham. The only MP who resisted LTTE domination was Veerasingham Anandasangaree. The tigers pressured the TULF to expel Sangaree. Once again TULF leaders like Sampanthan and Joseph complied with the tiger diktat.

Anandasangaree bravely defied the tigers. Even though TULF stalwarts had meekly submitted themselves to LTTE authority, Sangaree prevented the takeover of the TULF by going to courts. As a result the TNA was unable to contest the 2004 elections under the TULF sun symbol. The ITAK/FP was therefore revived and the TNA contested the 2004 polls under the House symbol.

TNA LEADER

In an election that was condemned as not being “free or fair” in the North and East by the EU, the TNA won 22 seats. Sampanthan himself won in Trincomalee again with 47,735 preferences. Sampanthan with the blessings of the LTTE became the leader of the TNA Parliamentary group.

In 2005, the LTTE declared a boycott of the Presidential elections. This was announced to the world by Sampanthan himself as a “joint decision” of the LTTE and TNA. The tigers enforced the boycott in the North and East through direct violence and indirect intimidation. At the same time the tigers entered into a deal with Mahinda Rajapaksa. Deprived of potential Tamil votes, Ranil Wickremesinghe lost and Mahinda Rajapaksa won. The war escalated and ultimately the LTTE was militarily defeated in May 2009.

POST – WAR SITUATION

The post – war situation provided a fresh lease of political life to the TNA. Free of the LTTE, Sampanthan continued to be the undisputed leader of the TNA. The TNA Contested the 2010, 2015 and 2020 elections and won 14, 16 and 10 seats respectively. Sampanthan won in Trincomalee in all three elections. His preference votes were 24,488 in 2010, 33, 834 in 2015 and 21,422 in 2020.

The TNA also supported Sarath Fonseka, Maithripala Sirisena and Sajith Premadasa in the presidential elections of 2010, 2015 and 2019 respectively. The TNA succeeded in mobilising the bulk of Tamil votes in the North and East for these candidates but only Sirisena was elected president in 2015. Sampanthan was also appointed leader of the opposition in 2015 and served in that position till the end of 2018.

Sampanthan’s physical condition had begun declining in recent years due to age and illness. His mobility had become restricted due to being confined to a wheel chair. His parliamentary attendance was strikingly low. He had been unable to visit his constituency Trincomalee for many years. Sampanthan, however was in full control of his mental faculties until the end. Sampanthan in the twilight years of his life was hailed as “Perunthalaiver” – (Great Leader). Rajavarothayam Sampanthan breathed his last at the Lanka hospital in Colombo on 30 June 2024. He had celebrated his 91st birthday on 5 February 2024. Sampanthan is survived by his wife Leeladevi (Nee Rudra), daughter Krishanthini and sons Sanjeevan and Senthuran.

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