Sivasubramaniam Kathiravelupillai (; 24 October 1924 – 31 March 1981) was a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, form the plurality in the Eastern Province a ...

lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Kathiravelupillai was the son of Sivasubramaniam, a

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''wikt:procurator, procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: # In law, a proctor is a historica ...

from Irupalai in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. After school he entered the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univ ...

to study a degree in philosophy and studied law later.

Career

After qualifying as an

Attorney-at-Law Attorney at law or attorney-at-law, usually abbreviated in everyday speech to attorney, is the preferred term for a practising lawyer in certain jurisdictions, including South Africa (for certain lawyers), Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and the Unit ...

, Kathiravelupillai practised civil law. Kathiravelupillai stood as the

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK; ; , ) is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil minority in the country. It was originally founded in 1949 as a breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). In 1972, ITA ...

's (Federal Party) candidate in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ; , ) is the capital city of the Northern Province, Sri Lanka, Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a Jaffna Peninsula, peninsula of the same name. With a population o ...

at the March 1960 and July 1960 parliamentary elections but on each occasion was defeated by

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in Pennsylvania, United States * Independentes (English: Independents), a Portuguese artist ...

candidate

Alfred Duraiappah Alfred Thangarajah Duraiappah (15 June 1926 – 27 July 1975) was a Sri Lankan lawyer who served as Mayor of Jaffna from 1970 until his assassination. He was also a Member of Parliament for Jaffna from 1960 to 1965. Duraiappah was killed by the ...

. He stood as the ITAK candidate in

Kopay Kopay () is a Sri Lankan town about 4 km from the city of Jaffna along Point Pedro road. An agricultural town consisting mainly of vegetable farms, paddy fields and coconut gardens. The suburb Kopay has several scholars because of very strong ...

at the 1965 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. Kathiravelupillai played a leading role in the 1961 satyagraha campaign organised by ITAK. He was re-elected at the 1970 parliamentary election. On 14 May 1972 the ITAK,

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress (), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam asked for a 50-50 representation in parliament (50% for the majority Sinhalese, and 50% for ...

Ceylon Workers' Congress The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) (; ''Lanka Kamkaru Kongrasaya'') is a political party in Sri Lanka that has traditionally represented Sri Lankan Tamils of Indian origin working in the plantation sector of the economy. __TOC__ History The ...

, Eelath Thamilar Otrumai Munnani and All Ceylon Tamil Conference formed the

Tamil United Front The Tamil United Liberation Front (, ) is a political party in Sri Lanka. Formation On 4 May 1972, several Tamil political groups, including the Federal Party (ITAK), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), and All Ceylon Tamil Congress formed the Tami ...

, later renamed

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front (, ) is a political party in Sri Lanka. Formation On 4 May 1972, several Tamil political groups, including the Federal Party (ITAK), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), and All Ceylon Tamil Congress formed the Tami ...

(TULF). In 1973 Kathiravelupillai published a pamphlet titled ''A Statement on Eelam: Co-Existence – Not Confrontation'', considered one of the most important documents in the Tamil independence movement, which articulated the reasons why the two

nation A nation is a type of social organization where a collective Identity (social science), identity, a national identity, has emerged from a combination of shared features across a given population, such as language, history, ethnicity, culture, t ...

s - Tamils and Sinhalese - needed to co-exist on the island of Ceylon in separate

states State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...

. Kathiravelupillai was the TULF's candidate in Kopay at the 1977 parliamentary election and was re-elected. Kathiravelupillai died on 31 March 1981 in

Madras Chennai, also known as Madras ( its official name until 1996), is the capital and largest city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost state of India. It is located on the Coromandel Coast of the Bay of Bengal. According to the 2011 Indian ce ...

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

Works

* ''Glimpses of Western Philosophy'' * ''Rubaiyat of Omar Khayam'' (1961, translation) * ''A Statement on Eelam: Co-Existence – Not Confrontation'' (1973)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kathiravelupillai, S. 1924 births 1981 deaths Alumni of the University of Ceylon Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil people 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians Tamil United Liberation Front politicians