By Ananth Palakidnar/Daily News
Colombo, June 3: As a young lawyer attracted by the political stance of late Federal party leader S J V Selvanayagam, R. Sampanthan joined hands with some of the elitist Tamil politicians such as late A. Amirthalingam in the mid- fifties and remained a prominent figure in Trincomalee.
Trincomalee is historically and spiritually a land mark region for Hindus. Ancient Thirukoneswaram Sivan temple which is located within Fort Fredrick was worshipped by Indian saint from Tamil Nadu Thirujnana Sampanthar who lived in 7th century CE. He had rendered ten songs known as `Thevaram’ in Tamil glorifying the Thirukoneswaram temple diety Lord Siva.
So the saint Thirugnana Sampanthar’s name is popular among staunch Hindu families from the North and East of Sri Lanka and it is a house hold name particularly in Trincomalee.
Commonwealth Countries
Rajavarothayam Sampanthan had his early education at one of the oldest prominent Catholic schools in the Island, St.Patricks College, Jaffna and the students of his period always proud of telling they belonged to the era of Irish Rector Rt. Rev. Timothy Long at St. Patricks College.
It was Rt. Rev. Timothy Long even initiated the construction of Jaffna Public Library.
It was not only late Sampanthan several other students from all three communities from various parts of the Island as well as even from Commonwealth countries had their education at the prestigious institution during Rt. Rev. Timothy Long’s period.
Entering politics in the mid-fifties Sampanthan who was an Attorney at law by profession was initially reluctant to enter Parliament. Being a popular lawyer in Trincomalee he had even mentioned at the time he had entered politics he had more than six hundred cases (600) to be dealt with in his chambers. It was after entering politics he completely gave up his legal practice and the bench and bar in Trincomalee even regretted that a veteran of that caliber who was extremely fluent in all three languages would create a vacuum in the legal fraternity in Trincomalee.
Before entering politics Sampanthan apart from his legal career was known as a ` jolly good personality’ and he was often interacted closely with the gentlemen officers at the Navy officers Mess in China Bay, Trincomale before the turbulent conditions emerged.
However later with the formation of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and on the insistence of late TULF General Secretary Appapillai Amirthalingam , Sampanthan became a Parliamentarian from Trincomalee for the first time in 1977.
Thumping Victory
The 1977 Parliamentary election was very significant for the TULF and with its thumping victory from the North and East the political outfit even became the main opposition party in Parliament with its leader late A. Amirthalingam becoming the first Tamil Opposition leader even at the newly built Parliament building at the Sri Jayewardenepura Kotte.
The emergence of Tamil extremism with the slogan for a separate Tamil state Tamil Eelam, Tamil moderate politicians , the TULF Parliamentarians in particular had a tough time in continuing with their political activities.
A significant number of refined Tamil politicians including late TULF General Secretary A. Amirthalingam were assassinated brutally by the LTTE for giving up the demand for a separate Tamil State and accepting the Indo-Lanka Accord which had introduced the Provincial Council system in the country.
It was when the talks were held in India over drafting the Indo-Lanka Accord TULF leaders were in Tamil Nadu in 1987 and the Tamil Nadu politicians who were concerned over the North and East Tamil politics even arranged a meeting with then Indian Premier Rajiv Gandhi who had visited at that time in Tamil Nadu. The meeting was not held at an institution on the land but it was on Rajiv Gandhi’s official aircraft while he was returning to New Delhi after his stay in Tamil Nadu.
So in that special flight Sampanthan sitting next to Rajiv Gandhi explained the North and East issues in detail to the late Indian Premier and when the plane touched down in New Delhi Rajiv Gandhi had told A.Amirthalingam and M.Sivasithamparam he really admired the knowledge about the Tamil political history and the command of the language Sampanthan possessed.
Following the assassinations of his political mentors Sampanthan had to be extremely cautious on dealing with the North and East political issues. It was with the introduction of the Indo-Lanka Accord, and the Indian involvement the North and East issue was very much internationalized.
Later with the fall of big wigs in the Tamil politics and with the LTTE gaining international importance with the Norway’s peace initiatives gathering momentum , Sampanthan had the challenges towards not only dealing with Tamil politics in SriLanka and India but even with the International community.
Therefore with International community’s concern over Tamil issue with even the pressure from the Tamil diaspora Sampanthan had to make a `tight rope walk’ in Tamil politics and whereas he had done his part cautiously as well as diplomatically in his role as the second Tamil Opposition leader in the country.
13th Amendment
It was after the annihilation of the LTTE in 2009, on his capacity as the leader of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) Sampanthan had kept on emphasising on the implementation of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution both locally as well as internationally.
It could be very well mentioned that the 13th Amendment was the Mantra chanted by Rajavarothayam Sampanthan until his last breath.
The demise of Sampanthan has created a vacuum in the Tamil politics in Sri Lanka with the late veteran Tamil politician always maintained the stance of fulfilling the Tamil political aspirations within the frame work of united Sri Lanka with the implementation of the 13th Amendment.
Therefore instead of glorifying the unblemished political career of R.Sampanthan, implementing the 13th Amendment could be the utmost tribute paid to the last of the refined Tamil political leader.
END
