Mahalingam Kanagalingam Shivajilingam ( ta, மகாலிங்கம் கனகலிங்கம் சிவாஜிலிங்கம்) is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, provincial councillor and former Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Shivajilingam is from

Valvettithurai Valvettithurai ( ta, வல்வெட்டித்துறை, translit=Valveṭṭittuṟai; si, වල්වෙට්ටිතුරෙයි, translit=Valveṭṭitureyi), sometimes shortened as VVT or Valvai, is a coastal town of Jaffna ...

in northern Sri Lanka. He is a distant relative of V. Prabhakaran, leader of the militant

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

Career

Shivajilingam is a member of

Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization The Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) is an Eelam Tamil organisation which campaigned for the establishment of an independent Tamil Eelam in the northeast of Sri Lanka during 1972-1987 which later accepted the December 19th proposals. ...

(TELO). He served as chairman of Valvettithurai Urban Council. On 20 October 2001 the All Ceylon Tamil Congress,

Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front The Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) is a series of Sri Lankan political parties and a former militant separatist group. Militant separatists The EPRLF was formed in 1980 by K. Pathmanabha (Padmanaba), Douglas Devananda, S ...

, TELO and

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

formed the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lan ...

(TNA). Shivajilingam was one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2001 parliamentary election. He was elected and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...

. He was re-elected at the 2004 parliamentary election. Shivajilingam contested the 2010 presidential election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate. He came ninth after securing 9,662 votes (0.09%). In 2010 Shivajilingam left TELO and TNA. He subsequently formed the

Tamil National Liberation Alliance The Tamil National Liberation Alliance (TNLA) was a Sri Lankan political alliance representing the Sri Lankan Tamil ethnic minority in the country. It was launched on 22 February 2010 as breakaway faction of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). In ...

(TNLA) with other dissident members of the TNA. Shivajilingam was one of the LLF/TNLA alliance's candidates in Jaffna District at the 2010 parliamentary election but the alliance failed to win any seats in Parliament. In June 2011 TNLA was dissolved and Shivajilingam rejoined TELO and TNA. Shivajilingam contested the 2011 local government election as a TNA candidate and was elected to Valvettithurai Urban Council. He contested the 2013 provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the

Northern Provincial Council Northern Provincial Council ( ta, வட மாகாண சபை ''Vaṭa Mākāṇa Capai''; NPC) is the provincial council for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, NPC has legislative power ove ...

. After the election he was appointed to assist the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

on employment. He took his oath as provincial councillor in front of Justice of Peace Mayilerum Perumal at a beach side Hindu temple in Mullivaikkal, a village on the north-east coast of Sri Lanka which was the scene of the final battle of the Sri Lankan Civil War, on 14 October 2013. Shivajilingam contested the 2015 parliamentary election as part of an independent group in

Kurunegala District Kurunegala is a district in North Western Province, Sri Lanka. Consists of and consists 30 Divisional Secretariats, 1610 Grama Niladari Divisions and 4476 total Villages. It consists of 14 Electorate Divisions, 02 Municipal Council, 19 Urban ...

but the group failed to win any seats in Parliament. Shivajilingam is considered a maverick in Sri Lankan Tamil politics and was for many years the only prominent Tamil politician to openly call for an independent international investigation into alleged war crimes during the civil war. He has openly called for former

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university * President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ...

Mahinda Rajapaksa and former Army Commander

Sarath Fonseka Field Marshal Gardihewa Sarath Chandralal Fonseka ( si, ගාර්දිහේවා සරත් චන්ද්‍රලාල් ෆොන්සේකා, ta, சரத் பொன்சேகா; born 18 December 1950), commonly know ...

to be tried for war crimes at the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals f ...

. Shivajilingam claims that the Sri Lankan military, the

Eelam People's Democratic Party The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda. Background Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...

and the LTTE had tried to assassinate him on a number of occasions. In November 2012, during a Canadian refugee hearing, Captain Ravindra Watudura Bandanage of the Sri Lankan Army claimed that an army colonel had ordered him to place bomb at the home of Shivajilingam.

Electoral history

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Shivajilingam, M. K. Candidates in the 2010 Sri Lankan presidential election Candidates in the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election Living people Local authority councillors of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the Northern Provincial Council People from Valvettithurai Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization politicians Tamil National Alliance politicians Year of birth missing (living people)