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S. Shritharan

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Shritharan Sivagnanam (Tamil: சிவஞானம் சிறீதரன், romanized: Civañāṉam Ciṟītaraṉ; born 8 December 1968) is a Sri Lankan Tamil school teacher and politician. He is the Member of Parliament for the Jaffna District and leader of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi.[1]

Hon.
Shritharan Sivagnanam
MP
சி. சிறீதரன்
සිවඥානම් ශ්රීධරන්
Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
Assumed office
2010
ConstituencyJaffna District
Personal details
Born
Shritharan Sivagnanam

(1968-12-08) 8 December 1968 (age 55)
NationalitySri Lankan
Political partyIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
Other political
affiliations		Tamil National Alliance
RelationsBrigadier Theepan
Alma materUniversity of Jaffna
OccupationPolitician
ProfessionSchool teacher
Websitewww.shritharan.com

Early life and family edit

Shritharan was born on 8 December 1968.[1] He is from Kandavalai in Kilinochchi District though he is originally from the island of Neduntivu (Delft) in Jaffna District.[2] He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College.[3] After school he joined the University of Jaffna.[4]

Shritharan is married to the sister of Brigadier Theepan (Velayuthapillai Baheerathakumarn) who was a senior military commander in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[2][5]

Teaching career edit

Shritharan taught at several schools in Kilinochchi District and was principal of Kilinochchi Maha Vidyalayam.[2][4][6]

Political career edit

Shritharan contested the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the Tamil National Alliance electoral alliance's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the Parliament.[7][8][9] He was re-elected at the 2015 and 2020 parliamentary elections.[10][11][12][13][14]

Assassination attempt edit

On 7 March 2011 Shritharan was traveling in a van from Kilinochchi to Colombo to attend a meeting of Parliament the following day.[2] Traveling with Sritharan in the van were four others including a police guard.[2] At around 5.30pm the van was on the A12 highway near Nochchiyagama, Anuradhapura District, when three men standing by a white van parked on the roadside pulled out guns and started shooting at Shritharan's van.[15][16] The men also threw hand grenades at the van.[2] Sritharan's police guard fired back, forcing the attackers to flee in their white van which had no number plates.[2] No one was seriously injured in the incident.[2] Shritharan has blamed the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a government backed paramilitary group, for the assassination attempt.[2] The EPDP has been implicated in a number of assassinations.[17][18] Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa ordered an investigation into the assassination attempt.[2][19]

Leader of the ITAK edit

Following the announcement of the retirement of ITAK party leader Mavai Senathirajah, Shritharan applied for the leadership position in December 2023. He was the favored candidate since he was based in Jaffna and was elected leader of the ITAK on 21 January 2024 defeating M. A. Sumanthiran and S. Yogeswaran; having gained 184 votes to Sumanthiran's 134. Following the appointment he paid respects at the Kanagapuram Thuyilum Illam (cemetery for fallen LTTE cadres).[20][21]

Electoral history edit

Electoral history of S. Shritharan
Election Constituency Party Alliance Votes Result
2010 parliamentary[7] Jaffna District Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Tamil National Alliance 10,057 Elected
2015 parliamentary[22] Jaffna District Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Tamil National Alliance 72,058 Elected
2020 parliamentary[23] Jaffna District Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Tamil National Alliance 35,884 Elected

References edit

  1. ^ a b "Directory of Members: Sivagnanam Shritharan". Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka: Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (12 March 2011). "Assassination attempt on TNA parliamentarian Sritharan". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  3. ^ "Jaffna Hindu celebrated Children's Day, MP Sritharan was the chief guest". Jaffna, Sri Lanka: Jaffna Hindu College. 1 November 2012. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  4. ^ a b "TNA's Sritharan Top Scorer". Ceylon Today. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 20 August 2015. pp. A4. Archived from the original on 23 September 2015.
  5. ^ "Bodies buried throughout Mullivaikkal – Sritharan". Ceylon Today. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Oneindia. 14 April 2012. Archived from the original on 17 April 2012.
  6. ^ "SLA soldiers obstruct ITAK candidate from campaigning in Ki'linochchi". TamilNet. 12 March 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  7. ^ a b "Parliamentary General Election - 2010 - Jaffna Preferences" (PDF). Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka: Department of Elections. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 May 2010.
  8. ^ "General Elections 2010 -- Preferential Votes" (PDF). The Sunday Times. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 11 April 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  9. ^ "Overwhelming Tamil majority rejects elections under Sri Lankan State". TamilNet. 9 April 2010. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  10. ^ "Part I : Section (I) — General - Government Notifications - The Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. No. 1928/3. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 19 August 2015. p. 5A. Retrieved 20 August 2015.
  11. ^ "Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 19 August 2015. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  12. ^ "Part I : Section (I) — General - Government Notifications - Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981" (PDF). The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary. No. 2187/26. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 August 2020. p. 5A. Retrieved 9 August 2020.
  13. ^ "General Election 2020: Preferential votes of Jaffna District". Ceylon Today. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 7 August 2020. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  14. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (15 August 2020). "Did Sumanthiran Win In Jaffna By "Stealing" Sashikala's Votes?". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  15. ^ "TNA MP's car shot at". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. 8 March 2011. Archived from the original on 19 July 2011.
  16. ^ "TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in Anuradhapura". TamilNet. 7 March 2011. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  17. ^ "WikiLeaks: EPDP's Targeted Killing Method With Govt Military – Jaffna Government Agent Reveals Secrets". Colombo Telegraph. 17 September 2013. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  18. ^ Vithanage, Athula (27 August 2019). "Tamils protest arrest of doctor with "expertise to expose war crimes"". Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka. Retrieved 17 September 2020.
  19. ^ Indrajith, Saman (9 March 2011). "Speaker says will have attack on TNA MP probed". The Island. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Archived from the original on 22 July 2011.
  20. ^ "S. Shritharan elected new ITAK leader". Daily Mirror. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  21. ^ "S. Shritharan secures ITAK leadership". Daily FT. Retrieved 22 January 2024.
  22. ^ Jayakody, Pradeep (28 August 2015). "The Comparison of Preferential Votes in 2015 & 2010". The Daily Mirror. Colombo, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
  23. ^ "General Election Preferential Votes". Daily News. Colombo Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka. 8 August 2020. p. 2. Retrieved 20 September 2020.
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