Dharmalingam Siddarthan ( ta, தர்மலிங்கம் சித்தார்த்தன், translit=Tarmaliṅkam Cittārttaṉ; born 10 September 1948) is a

Sri Lankan 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 ...

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Latin " ...

turned politician, former provincial councillor 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 ...

. He is the leader of the

People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. Ori ...

, a member of the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance ( ta, தமிழ்த் தேசியக் கூட்டமைப்பு ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu''; TNA) is a political alliance in Sri Lanka that represents the country's Sri Lankan ...

Early life

Siddarthan was born on 10 September 1948. He is the son of former MP V. Dharmalingam. Siddarthan became involved in

Tamil nationalist Tamil nationalism is the ideology which asserts that the Tamil people constitute a nation and promotes the cultural unity of Tamil people. Tamil nationalism is primarily a secular nationalism, that focus on language and homeland. It expresses ...

politics in the 1960s but by the 1970s he had become involved in with militant groups. He was one of the founding members of the

Tamil New Tigers The Tamil New Tigers (TNT) was a militant Tamil organization founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran on May 22, 1972. The group was composed of a few close associates of Prabhakaran, who was 17 years old when he founded the group. They initially carried ...

and in 1977 founded the

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

branch of the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE). In 1980 LTTE chairman

Uma Maheswaran Kadirgamapillai (Kathirkamar) Nallainathan ( ta, க. உமாமகேசுவரன்; 18 February 1945 – 16 July 1989; commonly known by the nom de guerre Uma Maheswaran) was a Sri Lankan Tamil rebel and founder/leader of the People's ...

split from the LTTE and founded the

(PLOTE). Siddarthan joined PLOTE. In 1982 Siddarthan, with the assistance of

Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students The Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), also known as the Eelam Revolutionary Organisers, is a former Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. Most of the EROS membership was absorbed into the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) in ...

, went to

Syria Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...

to receive military training from

Palestinian militant groups Palestinian political violence refers to acts of violence perpetrated for political ends in relation to the State of Palestine or in connection with Palestinian nationalism. Common political objectives include self-determination in and sovereig ...

. Siddarthan took over leadership of the PLOTE following the assassination of Uma Maheswaran in 1989.

Career

Siddarthan contested the 1989 parliamentary election as a

Democratic People's Liberation Front Democratic People's Liberation Front−DPLF (), a registered political party in Sri Lanka and a front of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE). History DPLF was established in 1987. While People's Liberation Organisation of ...

's (DPLF) (the political wing of PLOTE) candidate in Jaffna District but the DPLF failed to win any seats in

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 ...

. He contested the 1994 parliamentary election as one of the DPLF's candidates in Vanni District and was elected to Parliament. Siddarthan contested the 2000 parliamentary election as a DPLF candidate in Jaffna District but the DPLF failed to win any seats in Parliament. He contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the DPLF's candidates in Vanni District and was re-elected to Parliament. He contested the 2004 parliamentary election as a DPLF candidate in Vanni District but the DPLF failed to win any seats in Parliament. He contested the 2010 parliamentary election as a DPLF candidate in Vanni District but again the DPLF failed to win any seats in Parliament. Following the end of the Sri Lankan Civil War in 2009 the

Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora The Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora refers to the global diaspora of Sri Lankan Tamil origin. It can be said to be a subset of the larger Sri Lankan and Tamil diaspora. Like other diasporas, Sri Lankan Tamils are scattered and dispersed around the glo ...

started exerting pressure on Sri Lankan Tamil political parties to unite and so PLOTE joined the

(TNA), the largest political group representing Sri Lankan Tamils. Siddarthan contested the 2013 provincial council election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the

Northern Provincial Council Northern Provincial Council ( ta, வட மாகாண சபை ''Vaṭa Mākāṇa Capai''; NPC) is the provincial council for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka. In accordance with the Sri Lankan constitution, NPC has legislative power over ...

. After the election he was appointed to assist the

Chief Minister A chief minister is an elected or appointed head of government of – in most instances – a sub-national entity, for instance an administrative subdivision or federal constituent entity. Examples include a state (and sometimes a union terri ...

on vocational training, entrepreneurial development, small and medium enterprises. He took his oath as provincial councillor in front of PLOTE Secretary and All Island Justice Peace Subramanian Sathananthan at

Chunnakam Chunnakam ( ta, சுன்னாகம், translit=Cuṉṉākam; si, චුන්නාකම්, translit=Chunnakam) is a town, located north of Jaffna. It is one of the important commercial centres in Jaffna. The original name of the tow ...

on 14 October 2013. Siddarthan contested the 2015 parliamentary election as one of the TNA's candidates in Jaffna District and was re-elected to Parliament. He was re-elected at the 2020 parliamentary election.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Siddarthan, D. 1948 births Democratic People's Liberation Front politicians Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam members Living people Members of the 10th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the Northern Provincial Council People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam militants Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil rebels Tamil National Alliance politicians