Coomaraswamy Vanniasingam ( ta, குமாரசாமி வன்னியசிங்கம்; 12 October 1911 – 17 September 1959) was a

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

lawyer, politician and

member of parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

Early life and family

Vanniasingam was born on 12 October 1911. He was the son of V. Coomaraswamy, a

proctor Proctor (a variant of ''procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawye ...

and

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

scholar from Tellippalai in northern

Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Vanniasingam's brother was C. Balasingam, the Deputy Secretary to the Treasury. Vanniasingam was educated at

Mahajana College, Tellippalai Mahajana College ( ta, மகாஜனாக் கல்லூரி ''Makājaṉāk Kallūri'') is a provincial school in Tellippalai, Sri Lanka. History The school was founded in October 1910 by scholar and poet T. A. Thuraiyappapillai. Mahaj ...

and Jaffna Hindu College. After school Vanniasingam joined the Ceylon University College, graduating in 1933 with a B.A. degree. Vanniasingam married Komathy, a daughter of the physician Srinivasan. They had five daughters: Hemavathi, Sathiyavathi, Renukathevi, Bahirathy and Ranjini.

Political career

Vanniasingam joined the legal profession as an

advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However, ...

and practised law in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

. P. G. Thambyappah, the

All Ceylon Tamil Congress All Ceylon Tamil Congress ( ta, அகில இலங்கைத் தமிழ்க் காங்கிரஸ்), is the oldest Tamil political party in Sri Lanka. History The ACTC was founded in 1944 by G.G. Ponnambalam. Ponnambalam ask ...

's (ACTC) candidate in Kopay at the 1947 parliamentary election, died during the election campaign. Vanniasingam was chosen to replace Thambyappah. He won the election and entered

Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. In 1948 division arose amongst ACTC members over the party leadership's decision to join the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

(UNP) led government. Vanniasingam was one of those who opposed joining the UNP government. The dissidents, led by

S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam ( ta, சாமுவேல் ஜேம்ஸ் வேலுப்பிள்ளை செல்வநாயகம், translit=Cāmuvēl Jēms Vēluppiḷḷai Celvanāyakam; 31 March 1898 – 26 Ap ...

E. M. V. Naganathan Elangai Murugesu Vijayaretnam Naganathan ( ta, இலங்கை முருகேசு விஜயரத்தினம் நாகநாதன்; 31 January 1906 – 16 August 1971) was a Ceylon Tamil physician, politician, senator an ...

and Vanniasingam, eventually left the ACTC and formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) in 1949. Vanniasingam served as president of ITAK. Vanniasingam stood as the ITAK candidate in Kopay at the 1952 parliamentary election and was re-elected. Vanniasingam was one of only two ITAK MPs and with ITAK leader Chelvanayakam out of Parliament Vanniasingam functioned as the parliamentary leader of the party. He was re-elected at the 1956 parliamentary election. Following the

1958 riots The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Ceylon, also known as the 58 riots, refer to the first island-wide ethnic riots and pogrom to target the minority Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon after it became an independent dominion from Britain in 1 ...

ITAK and the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (National Liberation Front) were banned. ITAK's leaders, including Vanniasingam, were arrested on 4 June 1958 as they left Parliament and imprisoned . Vanniasingam died on 17 September 1959.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vanniasingam, C. 1911 births 1959 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians Alumni of Jaffna Hindu College Alumni of Mahajana College, Tellippalai Alumni of the Ceylon University College Ceylonese advocates Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 2nd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians