Manicavasagar Kanagasabapathy Eelaventhan (born M. K. Kanagentran, 14 September 1932 – 28 April 2024) was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician who was a Member of Parliament.
Background
Kanagentran was born on 14 September 1932.[1][2] He was the son of Kanagasabapathy, a station master from Nallur in northern Ceylon.[2] He was educated at St. John's College, Jaffna and Wesley College, Colombo.[2]
Eelaventhan died in Canada on 28 April 2024, at the age of 91.[3]
Career
Kanagentran worked at the Central Bank of Ceylon, eventually becoming head of the Tamil translation section in the Economic Research Department before retiring in 1980.[2][4]
Kanagentran was an active member of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) but in 1970 joined V. Navaratnam's Tamil Self Rule Party.[2][5] He later re-joined ITAK, which was now part of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).[4][5] Kanagentran was president of the TULF's Colombo branch.[5] He was a victim of the 1977 riots.[5] He became a high profile advocate of Tamil Eelam and changed his name to Eelaventhan which means "King of Eelam" in Tamil.[5] In 1980 he and others left ITAK to form the Tamil Eelam Liberation Front (TELF).[2] Eelaventhan was TELF's secretary.[2]
With the escalation of violence Eelaventhan, like many Sri Lankan Tamil politicians, moved to Tamil Nadu in 1981.[4] He and four others were arrested in Madras in February 1997 on charges of procuring medicine for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[4][5] All five were acquitted in August 1999.[4] Eelaventhan was deported to Sri Lanka on 4 December 2000.[4][6]
Eelaventhan was appointed a Tamil National Alliance National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2004 parliamentary election.[7][8] He forfeited his seat in Parliament in November 2007 for being absent for more than three months.[9][10]
Eelaventhan emigrated to Canada where in May 2010 he was elected to the Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam.[11]
References
- ^ "Directory of Past Members: Manicavasagar Kanagasabapathy Eelaventhan". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
- ^ a b c d e f g Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 51.
- ^ Tamil politician and former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka, Eezhaventhan, passed away last Sunday at the age of 91
- ^ a b c d e f Subramanian, T. S. (23 December 2000). "A swift deportation". Frontline. 17 (26).
- ^ a b c d e f Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (10 February 2008). "Tigers oust King of Eelam". The Nation (Sri Lanka).
- ^ Subramanian, T. S. (7 January 2001). "A swift deportation". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
- ^ "TNA nominates two national list MPs". TamilNet. 9 April 2004.
- ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (5 July 2014). "BIRTH AND GROWTH OF NEXUS BETWEEN THE TNA AND THE LTTE". The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka).
- ^ "National List MP lost his seat "by mistake"". The Island (Sri Lanka). 17 February 2008.
- ^ "Eelaventhan loses membership in SL parliament". TamilNet. 15 December 2007.
- ^ "31,000 vote in Canadian TGTE elections". TamilNet. 3 May 2010.
External links
- "One Hundred Tamils of the 20th Century: M. K. Eelaventhan". Tamil Nation.
