Sri Lanka: Veteran opposition leader Sampanthan dies

121a0160 3745 11ef a316 abcbb3b2d855.jpg

Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, one of Sri Lanka’s most prominent politicians and a veteran campaigner for the country’s Tamil minority, has died at the age of 91.

Sampanthan, a lawyer and one of the country’s longest serving MPs, died in the capital Colombo late on Sunday.

For the past 23 years, he had led a diverse coalition called the Tamil National Alliance (TNA)- the main political group representing Tamils of Sri Lanka’s north and east.

Since the defeat of Tamil Tiger separatists in 2009 he continued to demand equal rights for his often marginalised ethnic group.

His death was confirmed by TNA leader MA Sumanthiran on X, formerly known as Twitter.

In 2015, Sampanthan was appointed leader of the opposition, making him the first member of the ethnic minority group to hold the parliamentary post in 32 years.

In 2022, Mr Sampanthan sent a letter to the UN’s Human Rights Council, calling on the international body to denounce what he alleged were the Sri Lanka government’s “failure to investigate allegations of violations” towards the Tamil minority.

His death has seen tributes pour in from across Sri Lanka’s political divide.

Among those to pay tribute to him was former president Mahinda Rajapaksa, who oversaw the bloody end to Sri Lanka’s civil war in 2009.


Source link

Check Also

4d901820 147a 11f0 aff1 f1386d086010.jpg

Aboard the ‘silver train’, China’s retirees do their bit to offset Trump’s tariffs

Stephen McDonell China correspondent BBC/Benjamin Begley The ‘silver train’ initiative aims to get retirees to …

Leave a Reply

Available for Amazon Prime
Gelper berkedok permainan keluarga di hotel satria karimun terus beroperasi seakan kebal hukum. In diesem artikel erfährst du, warum beratung so wichtig ist und wo getrennte väter kompetente unterstützung finden können.