Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam ( ta, சாமுவேல் ஜேம்ஸ் வேலுப்பிள்ளை செல்வநாயகம், translit=Cāmuvēl Jēms Vēluppiḷḷai Celvanāyakam; 31 March 1898 – 26 April 1977) was a Malaysian-born Ceylonese Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. He was the founder and leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) 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� ...

(TULF) and a political leader of the Ceylon Tamil community for more than two decades. Chelvanayakam has been described as a father figure to Ceylon's Tamils, to whom he was known as "Thanthai Chelva" (father Chelva). Born into an

expatriate An expatriate (often shortened to expat) is a person who resides outside their native country. In common usage, the term often refers to educated professionals, skilled workers, or artists taking positions outside their home country, either ...

Ceylon Tamil family in Malaya, Chelvanayakam moved to Ceylon while still young. He worked as a teacher before studying law at

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and qualifying as lawyer. A successful career in civil law saw him becoming a King's Counsel and being offered a position on the Supreme Court, which he rejected. As a young lawyer Chelvanayakam was not involved in politics but when the British established the

Soulbury Commission The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

to look into constitutional reform in Ceylon he and other Tamil people formed the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) to represent Tamil interests. He was elected to

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 ...

in 1947 to represent

Kankesanthurai Kankesanthurai (, , lit. ''Port Kankesan''), colloquially known as KKS, is a port suburb, fishing division and resort hub of the Jaffna District, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. Formerly an electoral district, Kankesanthurai is home to the Kankesan ...

, a constituency he would represent until his death, except for a period between 1952 and 1956. Chelvanayakam left the ACTC over the party's decision to join the government and in 1949 founded his own party, ITAK, also known as the Federal Party. Chelvanayakam and ITAK advocated federalism as a means of sharing power between Ceylon's majority

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

and minority Tamils. Chelvanayakam signed two pacts with Ceylonese Prime Ministers—

Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact The Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact was an agreement signed between the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the leader of the main Tamil political party in Sri Lanka S. J. V. Chelvanayakam on July 26, 1957. It advocated the ...

(1957) and Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact (1965)—on devolving powers to Tamils and resolving

linguistic rights Linguistic rights are the human and civil rights concerning the individual and collective right to choose the language or languages for communication in a private or public atmosphere. Other parameters for analyzing linguistic rights include the ...

and other ethnic issues but both were abrogated by the Prime Ministers due to pressure from

Sinhalese nationalists Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism is a Sri Lankan political ideology which combines a focus upon Sinhalese culture and ethnicity (nationalism) with an emphasis upon Theravada Buddhism, which is the majority belief system of most of the Sinhalese in ...

. This, together with government policies which were regarded by Ceylon's minorities as discriminatory, resulted in Chelvanayakam and the Tamil political movement shifting away from federalism and towards separatism. ITAK and other Tamil political groups formed the

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

(TUF) in 1972 with Chelvanayakam as its leader. TUF was renamed TULF and in 1976, at a convention presided over by Chelvanayakam, passed the

Vaddukoddai Resolution Vaddukoddai (also spelt Vattukkottai, Vatukotai, Vattukotai) ( ta, வட்டுக்கோட்டை, si, වඩුකෝඩයි) is small but important town in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka. I ...

calling for the "restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam ( ta, தமிழீழம், ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independent state that many Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora ...

". Chelvanayakam suffered from

Parkinson's disease Parkinson's disease (PD), or simply Parkinson's, is a long-term degenerative disorder of the central nervous system that mainly affects the motor system. The symptoms usually emerge slowly, and as the disease worsens, non-motor symptoms becom ...

and failing hearing. He died on 26 April 1977 aged 79 after a fall at his home. Noted for his integrity, Chelvanayakam was committed to using

non-violent Nonviolence is the personal practice of not causing harm to others under any condition. It may come from the belief that hurting people, animals and/or the environment is unnecessary to achieve an outcome and it may refer to a general philosoph ...

methods to achieve his political goals, and led several satyagraha campaigns to realise the Tamils' political demands. His methods, however, failed to secure Tamils' rights in the face of opposition from Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists. His belief that the Tamils' political aspirations could be achieved through Parliamentary institutions has been criticised as naive. With his death the era of non-violent protest was replaced by violent

militancy The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

Early life and family

Chelvanayakam was born on 31 March 1898 in Ipoh, Malaya. He was the son of Visvanathan Velupillai, a businessman, and Harriet Annamma Kanapathipillai. Velupillai had been a school teacher in Tholpuram in northern Ceylon before migrating to Malaya as a contractor. Chelvanayakam had two brothers (Ernest Velupillai Ponnuthurai and Edward Rajasundaram) and a sister (Atputham Isabel). The family later moved from Ipoh to

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

. Malaya had few schools and most of these catered for rich Malays. It was common for expatriate Ceylon Tamils to send their children to schools in Ceylon. Aged four, Chelvanayakam, his mother, his two brothers and his sister were sent to Ceylon for the children's schooling. Velupillai remained in Malaya to provide for his family. The family lived in

Tellippalai Tellippalai or Thellippalai ( ta, தெல்லிப்பழை Tellippaḻai

, Harriet's home town, close to Harriet's siblings and their families. Harriet's brother S. K. Ponniah, a

Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britai ...

minister, became Chelvanayakam's guide and adviser. Chelvanayakam was educated at

Union College, Tellippalai Union College ( ta, ஐக்கிய கல்லூரி ''Aikkiya Kallūri''; UC) is a provincial school in Tellippalai, Sri Lanka. Founded in 1816 by American Ceylon Mission, it is one of Sri Lanka's oldest schools. History Rev. Samuel N ...

and

St. John's College, Jaffna '' , motto_translation = Light Shines in the Darkness , location = , streetaddress = Main Street, Chundikuli , region = , city = Jaffna, Jaffna District , state = , p ...

. After school he joined S. Thomas' College, Mutwal and obtained an

external degree An external degree is a degree offered by a university to students who have not been required to be physically present within the geographic territory of the institution. These undergraduates may be called ''external students'' and may study at c ...

in science from the

University of London The University of London (UoL; abbreviated as Lond or more rarely Londin in post-nominals) is a federal public research university located in London, England, United Kingdom. The university was established by royal charter in 1836 as a degree ...

in 1918. At St. Thomas Chelvanayakam was a contemporary of

S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் ப� ...

, future

Prime Minister of Ceylon The Prime Minister of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is the head and most senior member of parliament in the cabinet of ministers. It is the second-most powerful position in Sri Lanka's executive branch behind the president, w ...

. After graduation Chelvanayakam visited his father in Malaya in 1918 shortly before his death. Chelvanayakam married Emily Grace Barr-Kumarakulasinghe (Rathinam), daughter of R. R. Barr-Kumarakulasinghe, in 1927. The Barr-Kumarakulasinghes were an influential family from Tellippalai who served the Dutch and British administrations in Ceylon. R. R. Barr-Kumarakulasinghe was Maniagar (British appointed administrative chief) for the Valikamam region. The Chelvanayakams had four sons (Manoharan, Vaseekaran, Ravindran and Chandrahasan) and a daughter (Susila). Chelvanayakam was a Protestant Christian and a member of the Church of South India (CSI). While studying in Colombo he became a member of the Church of England as the CSI had no presence in the capital. Later, when the CSI established a church in Colombo, Chelvanayakam worshipped there. Though a Christian, Chelvanayakam absorbed many of the values of

Hinduism Hinduism () is an Indian religion or '' dharma'', a religious and universal order or way of life by which followers abide. As a religion, it is the world's third-largest, with over 1.2–1.35 billion followers, or 15–16% of the global p ...

. He claimed he was a Christian by religion and a Hindu by culture.

Education, law and business

After graduating Chelvanayakam started teaching at St. Thomas but resigned when the

warden A warden is a custodian, defender, or guardian. Warden is often used in the sense of a watchman or guardian, as in a prison warden. It can also refer to a chief or head official, as in the Warden of the Mint. ''Warden'' is etymologically identic ...

William Arthur Stone refused him leave to visit his dying brother Edward Rajasundaram. He then joined

Wesley College, Colombo Wesley College, Colombo, popularly known as "Wesley" or "The Double Blues" is a school providing primary and secondary education in Sri Lanka since 1874. Wesley College is a Methodist educational institution. History In 1858, Rev. Joseph Ri ...

as chief science master. During this period he studied law at

and became an advocate of the Supreme Court in 1923. He started practising law in

Hulftsdorp Hulftsdorp (also written, incorrectly as Hultsdorf ) is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is part of the postal area known as ''Colombo 12''. It has been known historically as Hulffsdorp, Hulfsdorp, Hulftsdorp, Hulsdorp, Hulstsdorp and Hülffsd ...

, specialising in civil law, and was made a King's Counsel on 31 May 1947. Chelvanayakam was twice offered a position on the Supreme Court by Chief Justice John Curtois Howard. Chelvanayakam was part of a syndicate which purchased a controlling stake in the Pettiagalla Estate

plantation A plantation is an agricultural estate, generally centered on a plantation house, meant for farming that specializes in cash crops, usually mainly planted with a single crop, with perhaps ancillary areas for vegetables for eating and so on. The ...

Balangoda Balangoda is a large town in Ratnapura District, Sabaragamuwa Province, Sri Lanka, governed by an urban council located away from Colombo and from Ratnapura on Colombo - Batticaloa Highway(A4). It is one of the largest towns of the Sabaragamuw ...

. He also owned a

printing press A printing press is a mechanical device for applying pressure to an inked surface resting upon a print medium (such as paper or cloth), thereby transferring the ink. It marked a dramatic improvement on earlier printing methods in which the ...

which, though not profitable, was used to print ITAK's newspaper ''Suthanthiran'' (Freedom).

Political career

All Ceylon Tamil Congress

With the annexation of the Kingdom of Kandy in 1815 the British brought the whole island of Ceylon under their control and in 1829 appointed the

Colebrooke–Cameron Commission The Colebrooke–Cameron Commission was appointed in 1833 as a Royal Commission of Eastern Inquiry by the British Colonial Office to assess the administration of the island of Ceylon and to make recommendations for administrative, financial, econ ...

to assess the administration of the island. Among the recommendations of the commission were the end of the separate administration along ethnic/cultural lines for Low Country

, Kandyan Sinhalese and

Tamils The Tamil people, also known as Tamilar ( ta, தமிழர், Tamiḻar, translit-std=ISO, in the singular or ta, தமிழர்கள், Tamiḻarkaḷ, translit-std=ISO, label=none, in the plural), or simply Tamils (), are a Drav ...

and the introduction of communal representation whereby Ceylonese members of the Legislative Council were appointed along ethnic lines. The Donoughmore Commission of 1931 introduced

universal suffrage Universal suffrage (also called universal franchise, general suffrage, and common suffrage of the common man) gives the right to vote to all adult citizens, regardless of wealth, income, gender, social status, race, ethnicity, or political stan ...

and replaced communal representation with territorial representation, thereby introducing majority (Sinhalese) rule. Following the 1936 state council election an all-Sinhalese Board of Ministers was established, stoking fears amongst the island's minorities about Sinhalese domination. Ceylon's Tamils, led by G. G. Ponnambalam, responded by demanding balanced representation (half of seats in legislature for Sinhalese with the remaining half for the combined minorities). When the British appointed

to look into constitutional reform in 1944, Ceylon's Tamils formed the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) to represent Tamil interests. As a young lawyer Chelvanayakam was not involved in politics but when the ACTC was established in 1944 he became one of its principal organisers. Ponnambalam was the ACTC's president and Chelvanayakam was effectively his deputy. Chelvanayakam was part of the delegation, led by Ponnambalam, to the Soulbury Commission which argued unsuccessfully for balanced representation. Chelvanayakam stood as the ACTC candidate for

in the 1947 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered

. In the 19th and 20th centuries the British recruited large numbers of South Indians, primarily Indian Tamils, to work in tea, coffee, rubber and coconut plantations in Ceylon. Ceylon's majority Sinhalese viewed Indian Tamils with deep suspicion, fearing that they would dominate the island's central highlands and ally themselves with the indigenous Ceylon Tamils, increasing the latter's political strength. Following independence from Britain in February 1948, Ceylon's Sinhalese dominated government introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Bill which had the effect of denying citizenship and making stateless the country's Indian Tamils, who by now accounted for 11 per cent of the population. The bill provided for citizenship by descent or registration but both required documentary proof, something that was difficult for most Indian Tamils, many of whom were illiterate. The ACTC opposed the bill which was passed by Parliament at its

second reading A reading of a bill is a stage of debate on the bill held by a general body of a legislature. In the Westminster system, developed in the United Kingdom, there are generally three readings of a bill as it passes through the stages of becoming ...

on 20 August 1948. Shortly afterwards Ponnambalam decided to join the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

(UNP) led

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government is ...

which caused a split in the ACTC. Eventually the ACTC dissidents, led by Chelvanayakam, E. M. V. Naganathan and

C. Vanniasingam Coomaraswamy Vanniasingam ( ta, குமாரசாமி வன்னியசிங்கம்; 12 October 1911 – 17 September 1959) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and member of parliament. Early life and family Vanniasingam w ...

formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK, Federal Party) on 18 December 1949.

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi

ITAK had four main aims: creation of a

federal Federal or foederal (archaic) may refer to: Politics General *Federal monarchy, a federation of monarchies *Federation, or ''Federal state'' (federal system), a type of government characterized by both a central (federal) government and states or ...

union in Ceylon with two states—a Tamil state in the Northern and

Eastern Eastern may refer to: Transportation *China Eastern Airlines, a current Chinese airline based in Shanghai *Eastern Air, former name of Zambia Skyways *Eastern Air Lines, a defunct American airline that operated from 1926 to 1991 *Eastern Air Li ...

provinces A province is almost always an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman '' provincia'', which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions ou ...

and a Sinhalese state in the remaining seven provinces; cessation of state-sponsored colonisation in the two Tamil provinces; unity amongst the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

speaking peoples of Ceylon—Ceylon Tamils, Indian Tamils and

Muslims Muslims ( ar, المسلمون, , ) are people who adhere to Islam, a monotheistic religion belonging to the Abrahamic tradition. They consider the Quran, the foundational religious text of Islam, to be the verbatim word of the God of Abrah ...

; and equal status for Sinhala and Tamil languages. Chelvanayakam lost his seat in the 1952 parliamentary election but regained it in the 1956 parliamentary election. As Ceylon's two main parties, the UNP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), introduced policies which further discriminated against the country's minorities, such as the

Sinhala Only Act The Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956), commonly referred to as the Sinhala Only Act, was an act passed in the Parliament of Ceylon in 1956. The act replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language of Ceylon, with the exclusion ...

which made Sinhala the sole

official language An official language is a language given supreme status in a particular country, state, or other jurisdiction. Typically the term "official language" does not refer to the language used by a people or country, but by its government (e.g. judiciary, ...

of Ceylon, ITAK's

Tamil nationalism Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...

became more popular than the ACTC's conservatism. In the 1956 parliamentary election the ITAK overtook the ACTC as the most popular party amongst Ceylon Tamils. On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, led by Chelvanayakam, staged a satyagraha (a form of

non-violent resistance Nonviolent resistance (NVR), or nonviolent action, sometimes called civil resistance, is the practice of achieving goals such as social change through symbolic protests, civil disobedience, economic or political noncooperation, satyagraha, c ...

) against the Sinhala Only Act on

Galle Face Green Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...

opposite the

. The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and ITAK MPs E. M. V. Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in

Beira Lake Beira Lake (/bˈɐjɾɐ/; Sinhalese: බේරේ වැව, translit. ''Bērē væva''; Tami: பேரே ஏரி, translit. ''Pērē ēri'') is a lake in the centre of the city of Colombo in Sri Lanka. The lake is surrounded by many large ...

Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact

With escalating discrimination against Tamils and anti-Tamil riots the Tamil political leadership became convinced that the way forward was to have a separate and sovereign Tamil state. At its fourth annual convention in

Trincomalee Trincomalee (; ta, திருகோணமலை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමළය, translit= Trikuṇāmaḷaya), also known as Gokanna and Gokarna, is the administrative headquarters of the Trincomalee Dis ...

on 19 August 1956 ITAK passed four resolutions: autonomy for Tamil provinces within a federal structure; equal status for Sinhala and Tamil languages; restoration of citizenship and voting rights for Indian Tamils; and cessation of state-sponsored colonisation of Tamil land. Chelvanayakam gave Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, leader of the SLFP, until 20 August 1957 to meet ITAK's demands, stating that otherwise a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience would be launched. Initially Bandaranaike was indifferent to ITAK's demands but, following campaigns by some parts of the English language media and advice by prominent Ceylonese, entered into negotiations with ITAK in April 1957. The

(B-C Pact) was signed on 26 July 1957. The pact provided the establishment of regional councils (Draft Regional Council Bill) with powers over specified subjects (e.g. agriculture, colonisation, cooperatives, education, electricity, fisheries, health, housing, industries, lands and land developments, roads, social services and water schemes) and powers of taxation and borrowing; amalgamation and division of regions; and allowing regional councils to allocate land in colonisation schemes to residents from their regions. Chelvanayakam wasn't entirely happy with the pact, which he considered an "interim adjustment" towards a federal state. The B-C Pact was opposed by

, led by the opposition UNP, who considered it to be division of the country. There was even more opposition from Sinhalese civil servants who undermined every concession given to Tamil civil servants by the pact. Civil servants from the

Ministry of Transport A ministry of transport or transportation is a ministry responsible for transportation within a country. It usually is administered by the ''minister for transport''. The term is also sometimes applied to the departments or other government ag ...

sent state-owned

Ceylon Transport Board The Sri Lanka Transport Board (Sinhala language, Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා ගමනාගමන මණ්ඩලය ''Shri Lanka Gamanāgamana Mandalaya'')(formerly: Ceylon Transport Board, CTB) is a bus service provider in Sri Lanka. ...

buses bearing number plates with the Sinhalese prefix "Sri" to Tamil speaking areas, intentionally provoking a reaction from the Tamil population. Chelvanayakam led campaigns against the "Sri" number plates in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

and Batticaloa, in March 1958 and April 1958 respectively, during which he spread tar over the "Sri". In Batticaloa he was arrested and charged for defacing number plates and imprisoned for one week. On 9 April 1958 hundreds of people, including

Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...

monks, staged a protest against the B-C pact on Bandaranaike's lawn at Rosemead Place, Colombo demanding abrogation of the pact. Bandaranaike obliged, publicly tearing the pact into pieces. At its sixth annual convention in

Vavuniya Vavuniya (, romanized: ''Vavuṉiyā'', , romanized: ''Vavuniyāva''). Vavuniya City is the capital of Vavuniya District in the Northern Province of Sri Lanka and the largest city in the Northern Province. The municipality is administered by Va ...

on 25 May 1958 ITAK resolved to launch a non-violent campaign of civil disobedience to achieve its goals. In May and June 1958 Ceylon witnessed anti-Tamil rioting. Bandaranaike blamed ITAK for precipitating the violence and banned the party along with the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (National Liberation Front). ITAK's leaders, including Chelvanayakam, were arrested on 4 June 1958 as they left Parliament and imprisoned. The ITAK leaders were placed under house arrest which meant that Chelvanayakam could not communicate with the public until late 1958 when the detention order was lifted. Chelvanayakam was re-elected in the March 1960 parliamentary election which resulted in a

hung parliament A hung parliament is a term used in legislatures primarily under the Westminster system to describe a situation in which no single political party or pre-existing coalition (also known as an alliance or bloc) has an absolute majority of legisla ...

. The new Prime Minister

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Min ...

tried to get ITAK's support for his minority government but refused to give into ITAK's demands to end state-sponsored colonisation of Tamil-majority areas by Sinhalese, regional autonomy and the rights of Indian Tamils. As a result, ITAK started negotiations with the opposition SLFP who agreed to introduce the provisions of the B-C pact as bills in parliament. During the negotiations on forming an alternate stable government Chelvanayakam informed the Governor-General that ITAK would support a SLFP government for a full term and as result the Governor-General dissolved parliament.

Civil disobedience

Chelvanayakam was re-elected in the July 1960 parliamentary election in which the SLFP and its leftist allies achieved a majority in parliament. No longer needing ITAK's support in parliament, the SLFP reneged on its pledges to honour the B-C pact and commenced enacting anti-Tamil policies, announcing the full operation of the Sinhala Only Act from January 1961 and using Sinhala in courts of law throughout the country. ITAK launched a campaign of civil disobedience in January 1961, beginning in

. Chelvanayakam started distributing leaflets outside Jaffna

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and a ...

in Old Park urging Tamil civil servants to boycott government offices and cease using Sinhala. The campaign was hugely successful and large crowds, including ITAK MPs, gathered in front of the Kachcheri and staged a protest rally. Early on the morning of 20 February 1961 dozens of ITAK volunteers staged a satyagraha at the Jaffna Kachcheri. Among them were several ITAK MPs including Chelvanayakam. As Government Agent M. Srikantha and Superintendent of Police Richard Arndt tried to leave Old Park in a jeep the protesters blocked their way. The police baton charged the protestors, kicking and dragging them away. Several protestors, including ITAK MPs A. Amirthalingam, V. Dharmalingam, V. A. Kandiah, E. M. V. Naganathan and K. Thurairatnam were injured. The police fired

tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...

to disperse a large crowd that had gathered to watch the satyagraha. At the end of the day Chelvanayakam issued a press statement saying that it was "a great day for the Tamil-speaking people of Ceylon. This was the day we resorted to direct action to win our freedom". As the civil disobedience campaign spread to other parts of the north-east, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike accused ITAK of trying to establish a separate state. In April 1961 the satyagrahas were removed by the

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

using brutal force. A state of emergency was declared on 18 April 1961. ITAK was banned, and its MPs and other leading members arrested and imprisoned at

Panagoda Cantonment Panagoda Cantonment is a cantonment located in the western Western Province of Sri Lanka. It serves as the regimental headquarters of many regiments of the Sri Lanka Army and is an arsenal. It also houses one of the main Military Hospitals operat ...

. Chelvanayakam was allowed to leave the camp and return home due to his deteriorating health. Chelvanayakam suffered from Parkinson's disease and his hearing had been gradually failing. After initially refusing, Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike allowed Chelvanayakam to travel to the UK to undergo surgery in

Edinburgh Edinburgh ( ; gd, Dùn Èideann ) is the capital city of Scotland and one of its 32 council areas. Historically part of the county of Midlothian (interchangeably Edinburghshire before 1921), it is located in Lothian on the southern shore of t ...

at the hands of a

neurosurgeon Neurosurgery or neurological surgery, known in common parlance as brain surgery, is the medical specialty concerned with the surgical treatment of disorders which affect any portion of the nervous system including the brain, spinal cord and peri ...

Francis John Gillingham. The operation was successful and after a few months recuperating in

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

Chelvanayakam returned to Ceylon. The detention order on the ITAK leaders was lifted in October 1961. As a compromise the Bandaranaike government proposed the District Councils Bill to

devolve Devolution is the statutory delegation of powers from the central government of a sovereign state to govern at a subnational level, such as a regional or local level. It is a form of administrative decentralization. Devolved territories h ...

powers to districts but following protests from Sinhalese Buddhist nationalists dropped the bill in June 1964. In 1964, as ITAK started preparing for a second civil disobedience campaign, the government started collapsing. As several SLFP MPs defected to the opposition, the government sough ITAK's support but ITAK chose instead to support the opposition and on 3 December 1964 the government was unable to prove its majority in parliament, precipitating an election.

Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact

Chelvanayakam was re-elected in the 1965 parliamentary election which resulted in a hung parliament. After the election Chelvanayakam met with UNP leader Dudley Senanayake who agreed to Chelvanayakam's conditions for supporting a UNP led government. The agreement, known as the Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact (D-C Pact), was put down on paper and signed by Chelvanayakam and Senanayake on 24 March 1965. Under the Dudley-Chelvanayakam Pact, which was a modified version of the B-C pact, Senanayake agreed to make Tamil the language of administration and of record in the Northern and Eastern provinces (Tamil Language Special Provisions Act); amend the Languages of Courts Act to allow legal proceedings in the Northern and Eastern provinces to be conducted and recorded in Tamil; establish District Councils vested with powers over mutually agreed subjects; amend the Land Development Ordinance to provide allotment of land to citizens; and grant land under colonization schemes in the Northern and Eastern provinces to landless people in the district, to Tamil-speaking residents from the two provinces, and to other citizens with preference being given to Tamils from other provinces. Senanayake kept the contents of the D-C Pact a secret which allowed Sinhalese nationalists to allege that he had agreed to the division of the country. Even the leftist Lanka Sama Samaja Party and

Communist Party of Ceylon The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, trans ...

joined the Sinhala nationalist SLFP in propagating this claim.

National government

ITAK joined the UNP-led seven party national government (''hath haula''). ITAK was offered three cabinet posts in the national government but, as the party had pledged that none of its MPs would accept ministerial positions until federalism had been achieved, it asked that

M. Tiruchelvam Murugeysen Tiruchelvam, QC (19 November 1907 - 23 November 1976) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer and politician. Tiruchelvam was a leading lawyer having served as the Solicitor General of Ceylon; he served as the Cabinet Minister of Local Governm ...

be appointed to the Senate and given the

Home Affairs An interior ministry (sometimes called a ministry of internal affairs or ministry of home affairs) is a government department that is responsible for internal affairs. Lists of current ministries of internal affairs Named "ministry" * Ministr ...

portfolio. Senanayake refused to give the Home Affairs portfolio to ITAK and instead gave Tiruchelvam the

Local Government Local government is a generic term for the lowest tiers of public administration within a particular sovereign state. This particular usage of the word government refers specifically to a level of administration that is both geographically-l ...

portfolio. The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Regulation 1966, which made Tamil the language of administration in the Northern and Eastern provinces, was passed by Parliament in July 1966. The District Councils Bill, which was presented to Parliament in June 1968, met with opposition from UNP

backbenchers In Westminster and other parliamentary systems, a backbencher is a member of parliament (MP) or a legislator who occupies no governmental office and is not a frontbench spokesperson in the Opposition, being instead simply a member of th ...

and was abandoned. Tiruchelvam resigned from the government in November 1968 when Senanayake over-ruled Tiruchelvam's decision to appoint a committee to look into declaring

Fort Fredrick Fort Fredrick ( ta, திருகோணமலை கோட்டை, translit=Tirukōṇamalai Kōṭṭai; si, ත්‍රිකුණාමලය බලකොටුව, translit=Thrinkunamalaya Balakotuwa), also known as Trincomalee Fort or ...

, including the historic Koneswaram temple, a Hindu sacred area. Senanayake's decision had come after the Buddhist high chief priest of Tammankaduwa had objected to such a declaration, stating that it would result in the area getting "into the hands of those who are neither Sinhalese nor Buddhists". Chelvanayakam informed Senanayake that ITAK would withdraw from the national government. Thereafter ITAK sat as an independent group in Parliament, supporting or opposing the government based on the issue in question.

United Front

Chelvanayakam was re-elected in the 1970 parliamentary election which resulted in the Sinhala nationalist SLFP and its leftist allies winning a large majority in Parliament. Sensing that life was going to get even worse for Tamils under the

United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...

government, Chelvanayakam declared "Only God can help the Tamils". Some Tamil youth, who felt that they had no other choice, started resorting to violence. Chelvanayakam, who still commanded respect among Tamil youth, urged them to renounce violence and continue with their education. Following the 1971 JVP insurrection the United Front started implementing policies aimed at the causes of the insurrection but which further discriminated against Tamils. Jobs and land in the newly nationalised plantations were given to Sinhala youth, to the exclusion of Tamils. Chelvanayakam labelled the nationalisation "highway robbery". The policy of standardisation replaced the merit based system for university entrance with one based on ethnicity, discriminating against Tamil youths. Using its large majority in Parliament, the United Front government started the process of replacing the "British imposed"

Soulbury Constitution The Soulbury Commission ( si, සෝල්බරි කොමිෂන් සභාව ''Solbari Komishan Sabhawa''; ta, சோல்பரி ஆணைக்குழு), announced in 1944 was, like its predecessor, the Donoughmore Commission, a ...

. The government's proposed new constitution was seen as a Sinhala-Buddhist document by ITAK which mobilised Tamil public support against it. The proposals to constitutionally enshrine Sinhala as the sole official language, give special provision for Buddhism and repeal the protection for minorities particularly alarmed ITAK. ITAK believed that if Tamils did not participate in the constitution setting process they could demand

self determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a '' jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It sta ...

and a revert to the pre-British structures which existed before 1833. On 7 February 1971 Tamil parties held an all-party conference in

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

at which they issued a six-point memorandum of demands on regional autonomy, language rights, colonisation, employment discrimination and citizenship for Indian Tamils. The government rejected the demands and refused to invite the ITAK MPs to give evidence before the constituent assembly. Chelvanayakam vowed to resume civic protests and in February 1972, while visiting Madras, declared that ITAK would launch a non-violent struggle to agitate for a separate state.

Tamil United Front

There was growing resentment amongst Tamils at the monopolisation of political and economic power by the Sinhalese. As a result, Tamil parties started coming together and on 14 May 1972 the ITAK, ACTC, Ceylon Workers' Congress, Eelath Thamilar Otrumai Munnani and All Ceylon Tamil Conference met in

and formed the

(TUF) with Chelvanayakam as its president. The TUF MPs boycotted the ceremonial opening of the

National State Assembly The National State Assembly (NSA) was the legislative body of Sri Lanka established in May 1972 under the First Republican Constitution. The assembly was introduced by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike under the United Front Government replac ...

(NSA) on 22 May 1972, the day the new constitution was

promulgated Promulgation is the formal proclamation or the declaration that a new statutory or administrative law is enacted after its final approval. In some jurisdictions, this additional step is necessary before the law can take effect. After a new law ...

. In October 1972 Chelvanayakam informed the NSA that he was resigning his parliamentary seat and would seek re-election on the issue of the new constitution which he claimed had been rejected by the Tamils. The government delayed holding a

by-election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India, or a Zimni election (Urdu: ضمنی انتخاب, supplementary election) in Pakistan, is an election used to f ...

in Chelvanayakam's constituency, citing the possibility of violence, which resulted in Chelvanayakam being exiled from Parliament for nearly two and half years. Chelvanayakam wrote to Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike on 4 November 1973 stating that the election would be peaceful and that the government's supporters could campaign freely. Bandaranaike did not respond. In the meantime, Tamil political opinion started shifting as a result of the government's perceived apathy and the Prime Minister's apparent inability to recognise the consequences of the growing ethnic tension in the country. At its 12th annual convention in

Mallakam Mallakam ( ta, மல்லாகம், translit=Mallākam) ( si, මල්ලකම්) is a town in northern Sri Lanka located approximately north of the city of Jaffna. The town is divided into three Village Officer Division ''Grama Nilad ...

in September 1973 ITAK passed a resolution seeking self-determination for Tamils. Tamils now established their claim to be a sovereign nation-state and Chelvanayakam was considered the

father of the nation The Father of the Nation is an honorific title given to a person considered the driving force behind the establishment of a country, state, or nation. (plural ), also seen as , was a Roman honorific meaning the "Father of the Fatherland", best ...

. For his part Chelvanayakam ingrained the concept of a "traditional homeland for the Tamil people" in the mindset of the Tamils. Violence between Tamil militant youth and the government also escalated.

Tamil United Liberation Front

The by-election in Kankesanthurai was eventually held on 6 February 1975 and Chelvanayakam was re-elected with a large majority. At a meeting in Jaffna in 1975 the TUF's action committee resolved to change the TUF's name to

(TULF). Chelvanayakam, G. G. Ponnambalam and

S. Thondaman Savumiamoorthy Thondaman (30 August 1913 – 30 October 1999; also spelled ''Saumyamurthy Thondaman'' or ''Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman'') was a Sri Lankan politician who represented the Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka ar ...

would be the TULF's co-leaders. The TULF held its first national convention in May 1976 in

Vaddukoddai Vaddukoddai (also spelt Vattukkottai, Vatukotai, Vattukotai) ( ta, வட்டுக்கோட்டை, si, වඩුකෝඩයි) is small but important town in the minority Sri Lankan Tamil dominated Jaffna peninsula of Sri Lanka. I ...

and on 14 May 1976, under Chelvanayakam's chairmanship, passed the

calling for the "restoration and reconstitution of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of

". On 19 November 1976, in one of his last speeches in the NSA, Chelvanayakam acknowledged that his quest to obtain the "lost rights of the Tamil speaking people" through federalism had failed. "We have abandoned the demand for a federal constitution" he stated, "We know that the Sinhalese people will one day grant our demand and that we will be able to establish a state separate from the rest of the island." On 21 May 1976 several Tamil politicians (A. Amirthalingam, V. N. Navaratnam, K. P. Ratnam, M. Sivasithamparam and K. Thurairatnam) were delivering leaflets when they were all arrested on government orders. Sivasithamparam was released but the others were taken to Colombo and tried for sedition. All the defendants were acquitted on 10 February 1977 after a high-profile trial-at-bar case in which around 70 prominent Tamil lawyers, including Chelvanayakam and G. G. Ponnambalam, acted for the defence. The last years of Chelvanayakam were personally difficult. He had financial problems as a result of the government not paying him compensation for the nationalisation of two plantations in which he had shares. Two of his sons and daughter had moved abroad. He had frequent falls as a result of his Parkinson disease. In March 1977 the government sought the TULF's support for extending the life of Parliament. Chelvanayakam and other TULF leaders did not trust the SLFP but felt that they had to take part in the discussions which were halted when Chelvanayakam fell ill. He was left unconscious after falling heavily. Chelvanayakam died on 26 April 1977. At his funeral oration Bishop of Jaffna D. J. Ambalavanar said of Chelvanayakam "like Moses, Mr. Chelvanayagam showed us the promised land, but failed to reach it on his own".

Legacy

Chelvanayakam has been described as a father figure to Ceylon's Tamils, to whom he was known as "Thanthai Chelva" (Father Chelva). Ceylon Workers' Congress leader S. Thondaman said of him, "Chelvanayakam was the Tamil people; and the Tamil people were Chelvanayakam". He was noted for his integrity and respected by both allies and opponents. Known as the "Trousered Gandhi" by Tamils, Chelvanayakam was compared with

Gandhi Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (; ; 2 October 1869 – 30 January 1948), popularly known as Mahatma Gandhi, was an Indian lawyer, anti-colonial nationalist Quote: "... marks Gandhi as a hybrid cosmopolitan figure who transformed ... anti- ...

for his commitment to using non-violent methods to achieve his political goals. Critics, however, faulted him for naively believing that the Ceylon Tamils' political demands could be achieved through Parliamentary institutions. While many of Ceylon's political leaders gave up Christianity for reasons of political expediency, Chelvanayakam remained a Christian which led to opponents questioning his right to lead Tamils, the majority of whom were Hindu. Chelvanayakam's non-violent methods proved to be ineffective against Sinhalese-Buddhist nationalism and failed to secure Tamils' rights from successive governments. With his death the era of non-violent protest was replaced by violent

Electoral history

Footnotes

Notes

References

* * * *

External links

One Hundred Tamils of the 20th Century, Tamil Nation

S. J. V. Chelvanayakam fonds at University of Toronto Scarborough Library Archives
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chelvanayakam, S. J. V. 1898 births 1977 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia Alumni of St. John's College, Jaffna Alumni of Union College, Tellippalai Ceylonese advocates Ceylonese Queen's Counsel Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Malaysian people of Sri Lankan Tamil descent Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon People from Ipoh People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon People with Parkinson's disease Prisoners and detainees of Sri Lanka 20th-century King's Counsel Sri Lankan prisoners and detainees Sri Lankan Protestants Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil teachers Tamil United Liberation Front politicians