M. K. Eelaventhan
| Honourable M. K. Eelaventhan MP | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for National List | |
|
In office 2004–2007 | |
| Succeeded by | Raseen Mohammed Imam |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
M. K. Kanagentran 14 September 1932 |
| Political party | Tamil Eelam Liberation Front |
| Other political affiliations | Tamil National Alliance |
| Alma mater |
St. John's College, Jaffna Wesley College, Colombo |
| Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Manicavasagar Kanagasabapathy Eelaventhan (born M. K. Kanagentran, 14 September 1932) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Kanagentran was born on 14 September 1932.[1][2] He is 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]
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][3]
Kanagentran was an active member of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) but in 1970 joined V. Navaratnam's Tamil Self Rule Party.[2][4] He later re-joined ITAK, which was now part of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF).[3][4] Kanagentran was president of the TULF's Colombo branch.[4] He was a victim of the 1977 riots.[4] He became a high profile advocate of Tamil Eelam and changed his name to Eelaventhan which means "King of Eelam" in Tamil.[4] 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 politician, moved to Tamil Nadu in 1981.[3] He and four others were arrested in Madras in February 1997 on charges of procuring medicine for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[3][4] All five were acquitted in August 1999.[3] Eelaventhan was deported to Sri Lanka on 4 December 2000.[3][5]
Eelaventhan was appointed as a Tamil National Alliance National List MP in the Sri Lankan Parliament following the 2004 parliamentary election.[6][7] He forfeited his seat in Parliament in November 2007 for being asbsent for more than three months.[8][9]
Eelaventhan emigrated to Canada where in May 2010 he was elected to the Transnational Constituent Assembly of Tamil Eelam.[10]
References
- ↑ "Directory of Past Members: Manicavasagar Kanagasabapathy Eelaventhan". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 51.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Subramanian, T. S. (23 December 2000). "A swift deportation". Frontline (magazine). 17 (26).
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 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.
