Amirthanathan Adaikalanathan (; born 10 June 1962), commonly known as Selvam Adaikalanathan, is a Sri Lankan Tamil militant turned politician and Member of Parliament. He was the Deputy chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from September 2015 to March 2020. He is the leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, a member of the Tamil National Alliance.

Early life

Adaikalanathan was born 10 June 1962. He hails from Mannar in northern

Sri Lanka 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, ...

. At the age of 15 he joined the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), a Tamil militant group fighting for an independent state of

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

in northern and eastern Sri Lanka. He took on the

nom de guerre A ''nom de guerre'' (, 'war name') is a pseudonym chosen by someone to use when they are involved in a particular activity, especially fighting in a war. In Ancien régime, ''ancien régime'' Kingdom of France, France it would be adopted by each n ...

Selvam'. Adaikalanathan took on the leadership/presidency of TELO following the killing of Sri Sabaratnam by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam on 5 May 1986.

Political career

Adaikalanathan contested the 1989 parliamentary election as a ENDLF/ EPRLF/ TELO/ TULF

electoral alliance An electoral alliance (also known as a bipartisan electoral agreement, electoral pact, electoral agreement, electoral coalition or electoral bloc) is an association of political parties or individuals that exists solely to stand in elections. E ...

candidate in Vanni District but failed to get elected after coming 3rd amongst the alliance candidates. He contested the 2000 parliamentary election as one of the TELO's candidates in Vanni District and was elected to the

Parliament of Sri Lanka The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්‍රී ලංකා පාර්ලිමේන්තුව ''Śrī Laṇkā Pārlimentuvā'', Tamil: இலங்கை நாடாளுமன்றம் '' ...

. On 20 October 2001 the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, TELO and Tamil United Liberation Front formed the Tamil National Alliance (TNA). Adaikalanathan contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Vanni District and was re-elected to Parliament. He was re-elected at the

2004 2004 was designated as an International Year of Rice by the United Nations, and the International Year to Commemorate the Struggle Against Slavery and Its Abolition (by UNESCO). Events January * January 3 – Flash Airlines Flight 60 ...

2010 The year saw a multitude of natural and environmental disasters such as the 2010 Haiti earthquake, the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, and the 2010 Chile earthquake. The 2009 swine flu pandemic, swine flu pandemic which began the previous year ...

and

2015 2015 was designated by the United Nations as: * International Year of Light * International Year of Soil __TOC__ Events January * January 1 – Lithuania officially adopts the euro as its currency, replacing the litas, and becomes ...

parliamentary elections. He was elected Deputy chairman of committees of the Parliament of Sri Lanka when the new parliament met on 1 September 2015. Adaikalanathan was re-elected at the 2020 parliamentary election.

Electoral history

References