Image courtesy of @saygi
Yesterday marked 43 years since the death of S J V Chelvanayakam, fondly referred to as 'Thanthai Chelva'.
Chelvanayakam is known as the father of Tamil nationalism, and was responsible for spearheading the Vaddukoddai resolution, which was overwhelmingly ratified by the Tamil votes in the 1977 parliamentary elections.
After representing the Tamil people for five general elections and experiencing repeated disappointments in over 3 decades of negotiation with the Sinhala majoritarian government, Chelvanayakam formulated the resolution, which remains a cornerstone of the Tamil movement for self-determination in Sri Lanka.
In the late fifties, Chelvanayagam signed the first ever pact between the Sinhala and Tamil community to resolve the issue of Tamil political demands. The Bandaranaike-Chelvanayam pact, signed in 1957, was abrogated by the then President due to vehement opposition by Sinhala parties.
Following another decade of civil disobedience and negotiations, Chelvanayagam signed a pact to settle Tamil political demands with the then UNP leader Mr Dudley Senanayake. The 1965 general elections, which preceded the signing of the Chelva-Dudley pact, saw no Sinhala political party obtain an absolute majority in parliament. Despite having the support of the Tamil political parties in parliament Mr Senanayake abrogated the pact as vehement opposition arose in the Sinhala South.
