Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan
Encyclopedia
Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan (Tamil
: சிவனேசத்துரை சந்திரகாந்தன்; commonly known as Pillayan; born August 17, 1975), is the current Chief Minister
of the Eastern Province
of Sri Lanka
. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a political party in Sri Lanka. A former armed fighter of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
organization, Chandrakanthan broke away from the Tamil Tigers along with Karuna Amman in April 2004, and became the deputy leader of the breakaway faction, renamed as the TMVP.
An internal rift in the TMVP led to Chandrakanthan replacing Karuna as the party leader in April 2007. Under his guidance, the TMVP contested in elections
to elect members to Sri Lanka's Eastern Provincial Council, as part of a wider coalition which went on to win the election
s. Chandrakanthan, who obtained the most number of preferential votes in the Batticaloa District
, was sworn in as first ever Chief Minister
of the province on May 16, 2008.
er, swimmer
and volleyball player
.
on April 4, 1990 at the age of 14 by Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan. As is conventional in the Tamil Tigers, he gave up his birth name and adopted the nom de guerre "Pillayan". It was then that he first worked under Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna Amman, who at the time was a District Leader of the Tamil Tigers and their commander of the Batticaloa
and Ampara
districts.
In 2004, Karuna Amman fell out with the leader of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran
, and defected from the organization on March 3. He took around 5000 cadres with him and formed what was then referred to as the "Karuna Faction". Chandrakanthan joined Karuna and in his rebellion, and was named deputy leader of the party. However a number of cadres remained loyal to Prabhakaran, and they defeated Karuna's faction in a decisive battle near on the banks of the Verugal Aru in April 2004.
The Karuna Faction then took a lower profile, maintaining a number of small camps in the southern end of the Eastern Province
. Given covert backing by the Sri Lankan military, they carried out regular attacks against the Tamil Tigers throughout the east of the island. As the ceasefire in place since 2002 between the government and the Tamil Tigers broke down in mid-2006, the Sri Lankan Government launched a military offensive to drive the Tamil Tigers out of the Eastern Province. The Sri Lankan military fully achieved this objective in July 2007, with the aid of the TMVP, which overran a number of Tamil Tiger camps in the process.
and Colombo
.
In April 2007 an internal rift erupted within the party, and after some confrontation Chandrakanthan displaced Karuna as party leader. Karuna subsequently left the country for the United Kingdom, where he was later arrested for violating immigration procedures and sentenced to jail in January 2008. This left Chandrakanthan as the undisputed leader of the TMVP.
. Chandrakanthan led the TMVP to wins in all nine bodies in contested in, some of which had not had elections for 14 years. At the elections, Chandrakanthan's father Arumugam Sivaneshathurai was elected as a member of the Koralepattu Pradeshiya Sabha.
Following the successful conduction of the elections in Batticaloa, the Government announced it would hold elections to elect members to the Eastern Provincial Council on May 10. After discussions, the TMVP and the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
(UPFA), the party of President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on March 30 that they would jointly contest the polls under the UPFA banner. The opposition United National Party
and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
, the largest Muslim
Party in the country, also formed a coalition to contest the elections, providing the main challenger to the UPFA.
Chandrakanthan explained the policies of the TMVP to the international media prior to the EPC elections, stating that the TMVP needed to do better things for Tamil people through political process, rather than involving in an armed struggle to appeal for an independent state for them. While admitting the TMVP still had armed cadres, he stated they were for their protection from the Tamil Tigers, who were yet to be disarmed, and who Chandrakanthan said were "waiting for the opportune time to strike at us and physically liquidate us from the face of this earth."
The UPFA went on to win the elections, securing 52% of the popular vote and 20 of the 37 seats in the Provincial Council. Chandrakanthan also won the most number of preferential votes in the Batticaloa District
.
candidate in the UPFA as to who should be appointed Chief Minister. On May 16, after intense discussions, President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed Chandrakanthan as the first ever Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, and he took oaths as Chief Minister in front of the President soon after.
Following his appointment as Chief Minister, Chandrakanthan, a Hindu
, visited Kandy
on May 18 to get the blessings of Sri Lanka's most venerable Buddhist Monks, the Mahanayake Thera's of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters. The Theras commended Chandrakanthan for joining the democratic process and leaving arms behind, and urged him to work for national unity. Chandrakanthan also visited Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist site, the Temple of the Tooth
, which the Tamil Tigers bombed in 1998, and apologized for the harm that was done in the attack.
The tension increased between Tamil and Muslim ethnic communities in Kaanththaankudi area of eastern Batticaloa district after killing of 2 TMVP members on May 22, 2008. Chandrakanthan and Minister M.L.A.M. Hizbullah visited the area and resolved the matter by urging the people to live in peacefully. Also Chandrakanthan handed over TMVP members to the Police, who were responsible for abduction of 2 Muslim youths in Eravur on May 25, 2008.
Tamil language
Tamil is a Dravidian language spoken predominantly by Tamil people of the Indian subcontinent. It has official status in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu and in the Indian union territory of Pondicherry. Tamil is also an official language of Sri Lanka and Singapore...
: சிவனேசத்துரை சந்திரகாந்தன்; commonly known as Pillayan; born August 17, 1975), is the current Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of the Eastern Province
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
of Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
. He is also the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a political party in Sri Lanka. A former armed fighter of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam was a separatist militant organization formerly based in northern Sri Lanka. Founded in May 1976 by Vellupillai Prabhakaran, it waged a violent secessionist and nationalist campaign to create an independent state in the north and east of Sri Lanka for Tamil...
organization, Chandrakanthan broke away from the Tamil Tigers along with Karuna Amman in April 2004, and became the deputy leader of the breakaway faction, renamed as the TMVP.
An internal rift in the TMVP led to Chandrakanthan replacing Karuna as the party leader in April 2007. Under his guidance, the TMVP contested in elections
Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008
The Sri Lanka Eastern Provincial Council elections, 2008 was held on May 10, 2008 to elect members to Sri Lanka’s Eastern Provincial Council. Following the successful completion of local government elections in the Batticaloa District, Sri Lanka’s Elections Department announced on March 14 that the...
to elect members to Sri Lanka's Eastern Provincial Council, as part of a wider coalition which went on to win the election
Election
An election is a formal decision-making process by which a population chooses an individual to hold public office. Elections have been the usual mechanism by which modern representative democracy operates since the 17th century. Elections may fill offices in the legislature, sometimes in the...
s. Chandrakanthan, who obtained the most number of preferential votes in the Batticaloa District
Batticaloa District
Batticaloa district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Batticaloa town...
, was sworn in as first ever Chief Minister
Chief Minister
A Chief Minister is the elected head of government of a sub-national state, provinces of Sri Lanka, Pakistan, notably a state of India, a territory of Australia or a British Overseas Territory that has attained self-government...
of the province on May 16, 2008.
Early life
Born on August 18, 1975 in the village of Pethalai, near Kalkuda in the Batticaloa District, Sivanesathurai Chandrakanthan was the second of seven children of Arumugam Sivaneshathurai and Sinnavan Kamala. He received his primary education at Vipulanantha Vidyalaya, Pethalai, after which he attended Hindu College, Valachchenai from Grade 6 until his G.C.E. Ordinary Level examinations (Grade 11). While at school, he was noted as a good cricketCricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
er, swimmer
Swimming (sport)
Swimming is a sport governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation .-History: Competitive swimming in Europe began around 1800 BCE, mostly in the form of the freestyle. In 1873 Steve Bowyer introduced the trudgen to Western swimming competitions, after copying the front crawl used by Native...
and volleyball player
Volleyball
Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules.The complete rules are extensive...
.
Militant life
Chandrakanthan was recruited to the Tamil Tigers as a child soldierMilitary use of children in Sri Lanka
Militant use of children in Sri Lanka has been an internationally recognized problem since the inception of the Sri Lankan civil war in 1983. The primary recruiters of under the age of 18 children are the rebel LTTE movement and the Karuna group .-LTTE recruitment:Before 2007 the LTTE was accused...
on April 4, 1990 at the age of 14 by Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan. As is conventional in the Tamil Tigers, he gave up his birth name and adopted the nom de guerre "Pillayan". It was then that he first worked under Vinayagamoorthi Muralitharan, alias Colonel Karuna Amman, who at the time was a District Leader of the Tamil Tigers and their commander of the Batticaloa
Batticaloa District
Batticaloa district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Batticaloa town...
and Ampara
Ampara District
Ampara district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Ampara town...
districts.
In 2004, Karuna Amman fell out with the leader of the Tamil Tigers, Velupillai Prabhakaran
Velupillai Prabhakaran
Thiruvenkadam Velupillai Prabhakaran was the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam , a militant organization that sought to create an independent Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka...
, and defected from the organization on March 3. He took around 5000 cadres with him and formed what was then referred to as the "Karuna Faction". Chandrakanthan joined Karuna and in his rebellion, and was named deputy leader of the party. However a number of cadres remained loyal to Prabhakaran, and they defeated Karuna's faction in a decisive battle near on the banks of the Verugal Aru in April 2004.
The Karuna Faction then took a lower profile, maintaining a number of small camps in the southern end of the Eastern Province
Eastern Province, Sri Lanka
The Eastern Province is one of the 9 provinces of Sri Lanka. The provinces have existed since the 19th century but they didn't have any legal status until 1987 when the 13th Amendment to the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka established provincial councils. Between 1988 and 2006 the province was...
. Given covert backing by the Sri Lankan military, they carried out regular attacks against the Tamil Tigers throughout the east of the island. As the ceasefire in place since 2002 between the government and the Tamil Tigers broke down in mid-2006, the Sri Lankan Government launched a military offensive to drive the Tamil Tigers out of the Eastern Province. The Sri Lankan military fully achieved this objective in July 2007, with the aid of the TMVP, which overran a number of Tamil Tiger camps in the process.
Embracing of democratic process
As the fighting was ongoing in the east, Karuna Amman made efforts to eventually give up arms and embrace the democratic process. He formed a political party called the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP) in 2004, making Chandrakanthan its deputy leader. The TMVP initially opened up two political offices in BatticaloaBatticaloa
Batticaloa is a city in the Eastern province of Sri Lanka. It is the seat of the Eastern University of Sri Lanka. It is on the east coast, south by south east of Trincomalee, and is situated on an island.-Etymology:...
and Colombo
Colombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
.
In April 2007 an internal rift erupted within the party, and after some confrontation Chandrakanthan displaced Karuna as party leader. Karuna subsequently left the country for the United Kingdom, where he was later arrested for violating immigration procedures and sentenced to jail in January 2008. This left Chandrakanthan as the undisputed leader of the TMVP.
Eastern elections
Following the clearing of the eastern province of the LTTE, elections were held on March 10, 2008 to elect members to nine local authorities in the eastern Batticaloa DistrictBatticaloa District
Batticaloa district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Batticaloa town...
. Chandrakanthan led the TMVP to wins in all nine bodies in contested in, some of which had not had elections for 14 years. At the elections, Chandrakanthan's father Arumugam Sivaneshathurai was elected as a member of the Koralepattu Pradeshiya Sabha.
Following the successful conduction of the elections in Batticaloa, the Government announced it would hold elections to elect members to the Eastern Provincial Council on May 10. After discussions, the TMVP and the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance
United People's Freedom Alliance
The United People's Freedom Alliance is a political alliance in Sri Lanka. The current leader of the United People's Freedom Alliance is Mahinda Rajapaksa and Susil Premajayantha is the general secretary of UPFA.The alliance was formed by:...
(UPFA), the party of President Mahinda Rajapakse announced on March 30 that they would jointly contest the polls under the UPFA banner. The opposition United National Party
United National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
and Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
Sri Lanka Muslim Congress
The Sri Lanka Muslim Congress is a political party in Sri Lanka. The party was formed at a meeting held at Kattankudy in 1981 by a small study group of local Eastern Province political leaders....
, the largest Muslim
Muslim
A Muslim, also spelled Moslem, is an adherent of Islam, a monotheistic, Abrahamic religion based on the Quran, which Muslims consider the verbatim word of God as revealed to prophet Muhammad. "Muslim" is the Arabic term for "submitter" .Muslims believe that God is one and incomparable...
Party in the country, also formed a coalition to contest the elections, providing the main challenger to the UPFA.
Chandrakanthan explained the policies of the TMVP to the international media prior to the EPC elections, stating that the TMVP needed to do better things for Tamil people through political process, rather than involving in an armed struggle to appeal for an independent state for them. While admitting the TMVP still had armed cadres, he stated they were for their protection from the Tamil Tigers, who were yet to be disarmed, and who Chandrakanthan said were "waiting for the opportune time to strike at us and physically liquidate us from the face of this earth."
The UPFA went on to win the elections, securing 52% of the popular vote and 20 of the 37 seats in the Provincial Council. Chandrakanthan also won the most number of preferential votes in the Batticaloa District
Batticaloa District
Batticaloa district is one of the 25 administrative districts of Sri Lanka. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The headquarters is located in Batticaloa town...
.
As Chief Minister
After the election, there was a tussle between Chandrakanthan and M.L.A.M. Hizbullah, who was the leading MuslimIslam in Sri Lanka
Islam in Sri Lanka is practiced by a group of minorities who make up approximately 10% of the population.on the 2001 census of GOSL shows there are 1,711,000 Muslims The Muslim community is divided into three main ethnic groups: the Sri Lankan Moors, the Indian Muslims, and the Malays, each with...
candidate in the UPFA as to who should be appointed Chief Minister. On May 16, after intense discussions, President Mahinda Rajapakse appointed Chandrakanthan as the first ever Chief Minister of the Eastern Province, and he took oaths as Chief Minister in front of the President soon after.
Following his appointment as Chief Minister, Chandrakanthan, a Hindu
Hindu
Hindu refers to an identity associated with the philosophical, religious and cultural systems that are indigenous to the Indian subcontinent. As used in the Constitution of India, the word "Hindu" is also attributed to all persons professing any Indian religion...
, visited Kandy
Kandy
Kandy is a city in the center of Sri Lanka. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills in the Kandy plateau, which crosses an area of tropical plantations, mainly tea. Kandy is one of the most scenic cities in Sri Lanka; it is both an...
on May 18 to get the blessings of Sri Lanka's most venerable Buddhist Monks, the Mahanayake Thera's of the Asgiriya and Malwatte chapters. The Theras commended Chandrakanthan for joining the democratic process and leaving arms behind, and urged him to work for national unity. Chandrakanthan also visited Sri Lanka's most sacred Buddhist site, the Temple of the Tooth
Temple of the Tooth
Sri Dalada Maligawa or The Temple of the Sacred Tooth Relic is a Buddhist temple in the city of Kandy, Sri Lanka. It is located in the royal palace complex which houses the Relic of the tooth of Buddha. Since ancient times, the relic has played an important role in local politics because it is...
, which the Tamil Tigers bombed in 1998, and apologized for the harm that was done in the attack.
The tension increased between Tamil and Muslim ethnic communities in Kaanththaankudi area of eastern Batticaloa district after killing of 2 TMVP members on May 22, 2008. Chandrakanthan and Minister M.L.A.M. Hizbullah visited the area and resolved the matter by urging the people to live in peacefully. Also Chandrakanthan handed over TMVP members to the Police, who were responsible for abduction of 2 Muslim youths in Eravur on May 25, 2008.
External links
- Official Website of the Chief Minister's Secretariat Government of Sri Lanka
- Pillaiyan unveils plans for Eastern youth, asserts TMVP has no child soldiers, April 2008 Interview with the Asian TribuneAsian TribuneThe Asian Tribune is an online newspaper that provides news and editorial on the current affairs of Asia, with a special emphasis on South Asia but mostly concentrates its news on the current Civil conflict in Sri Lanka....
- Pictures of his swearing in ceremony as Chief Minister, The Official Government News Portal of Sri Lanka
- Chandrakanthan in Tokyo The Island - September 22, 2009
- Pillaiyan is doing a very good job The Island - November 14, 2008