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The 124th birthday of SJV Chelvanayagam, fondly remembered as Thanthai Chelva, was commemorated in Mannar today, as Tamils gathered to pay tribute to the man known as the father of Tamil nationalism.
Local Tamil politicians were amongst those who gathered at the statue of the late Tamil leader in Mannar, as they garlanded it and held a moment of silence to remember Chelvanayagam.
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The veteran politician passed away in 1977.
Amongst his achievements is the spearheading of the Vaddukoddai resolution, which was overwhelmingly ratified by the Tamil votes in the 1976 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 QC 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.
Read more in our feature: Remembering the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact of 1957
Following another decade of civil disobedience and negotiations, Chelvanayagam QC signed a pact to settle Tamil political demands with the then UNP leader Mr Dudely Senanayake. The 1965 general elections, which preceded the signing of the Chelva-Dudely 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.