Kathiripillai Thurairatnam ( ta, கதிரிப்பிள்ளை துரைரத்தினம், 10 August 1930 – 23 September 1995) was 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 ...

teacher, 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

Thurairatnam was born on 10 August 1930. He was educated at

Jaffna College __NOTOC__ Jaffna College is a private school in Vaddukoddai, Sri Lanka. It was founded in 1871 as a successor to the Batticotta Seminary which had been established by American missionaries. History In 1816 American missionaries founded the ...

, Vaddukoddai. He joined the clerical service at the age of 17 but left soon after to enter the

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Univer ...

Career

After graduation he joined the teaching profession. He taught at the Puloly Hindu English School until 1960. Later on he studied at

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

and qualified as a lawyer. Thurairatnam joined the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) soon after it was formed. He stood as the ITAK's candidate in

Point Pedro Point Pedro ( ta, பருத்தித்துறை, translit=Paruttittuṟai; si, පේදුරු තුඩුව, translit=Pēduru Tuḍuva) is a town, located in Jaffna District, Sri Lanka, at the northernmost point of the island. ...

at the 1956 parliamentary election but was defeated by the

Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...

candidate

P. Kandiah Ponnambalam Kandiah was a Ceylon Tamil ( ta, பொன்னம்பலம் கந்தையா; 1 July 1914 – September 1960) was a Ceylon Tamil academic, teacher, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Kandiah was bo ...

. He however won the March 1960 parliamentary 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 ...

. He was re-elected at the July 1960, March 1965 and May 1970 parliamentary elections. Thurairatnam played a leading role in the 1961 satyagraha campaign organised by ITAK. Early on the morning of 20 February 1961 a group of 55 to 75 persons staged a satyagraha at the Jaffna

Kachcheri A kachcheri or district secretariat is the principal government department that administrates a district in Sri Lanka. Each of the 25 districts has a kachcheri. The main tasks of the District Secretariat involve coordinating communications and ac ...

Old Park Old Park ( ta, பழைய பூங்கா ''Paḻaiya Pūṅkā'') is a 27 acre urban park in the city of Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka. It was originally built in the 19th century as the gardens and grounds of the residency of the British G ...

. Among them were ITAK MPs

A. Amirthalingam Appapillai Amirthalingam ( ta, அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கம்; si, අප්පාපිල්ලෙයි අමිර්තලිංගම්; 26 August 1927 – 13 July 1989) was a leading ...

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

, V. Dharmalingam,

V. A. Kandiah Velupillai Ambalavanar Kandiah (3 September 1891 – 4 June 1963) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life and family Kandiah was born on 3 September 1891. He was from the island of Velanaitivu in northern ...

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 ...

V. N. Navaratnam Vallipuram Nallathamby Navaratnam ( ta, வல்லிபுரம் நல்லதம்பி நவரத்தினம்; 5 June 1929 – 29 January 1991) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. Early lif ...

and Thurairatnam. A large group of policemen arrived in riot gear, wearing helmets and carrying batons and shields. The police started removing the protesters by lifting and carrying them away. Those who resisted were dragged away. Later, as Government Agent M. Srikantha and Superintendent of Police Richard Arndt tried to leave Old Park in a jeep the protesters blocked their way. The police reacted with brutality, beating he protesters with batons and pulled them out bodily. Palaniyappan, a young man who had thrown himself in front of the jeep was pulled away by the police and beaten severely with batons. Five ITAK MPs were amongst the protesters blocking the jeep. Kandiah was carried out and dumped on the ground, Dharmalingam and Thurairatnam were dragged out by their hands and legs whilst Amirthalingam and Naganathan were baton charged. The police also baton charged a crowd of around 5,000 who had gathered to watch the satyagraha. On 14 May 1972 the ITAK,

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 ...

Ceylon Workers' Congress The Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) ( ta, இலங்கை தொழிலாளர் காங்கிரஸ், translit=Ilaṅkai Toḻilāḷar Kāṅkiras; si, ලංකා කම්කරු කොංග්‍රසය ''Lanka Kamkaru ...

, Eelath Thamilar Otrumai Munnani and All Ceylon Tamil Conference formed the

Tamil United Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

, later renamed

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප� ...

(TULF). On 21 May 1976 Thurairatnam was delivering leaflets along with other leading Tamil politicians (A. Amirthalingam, V. N. Navaratnam, K. P. Ratnam and M. Sivasithamparam) when they were all arrested on government orders. Sivasithamparam was released but the others were taken to Colombo and tried for

sedition Sedition is overt conduct, such as speech and organization, that tends toward rebellion against the established order. Sedition often includes subversion of a constitution and incitement of discontent toward, or insurrection against, estab ...

. All the defendants were acquitted on 10 February 1977 after a famous

trial at bar A trial at bar is a trial before two more judges. The procedure was often used in cases which raised novel points of law or for high-profile trials. Among famous trials at bar are the trials of Sir Roger Casement and Dr Leander Starr Jameson, In ...

case in which around 70 leading Tamil lawyers, including S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and

G. G. Ponnambalam Ganapathipillai Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, கணபதி காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்; 8 November 1901 – 9 February 1977) was a Ceylon Tamil lawyer, politician and cabinet minister. He was the founder and l ...

, acted for the defence. Thurairatnam was the TULF's candidate in Point Pedro at the 1977 parliamentary election and was re-elected. Thurairatnam and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the

Constitution of Sri Lanka The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව, Śrī Laṃkā āndukrama vyavasthāva, ta, இலங்கை அரசிய� ...

required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the

Black July Black July ( ta, கறுப்பு யூலை, translit=Kaṟuppu Yūlai; si, කළු ජූලිය, Kalu Juliya) was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated,T. Sabaratnam, Pirapa ...

riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

mobs. After three months of absence, Thurairatnam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 5 January 1984. Thurairatnam died on 23 September 1995.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thurairatnam, K. 1930 births 1995 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Jaffna College Alumni of the University of Ceylon Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 7th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan Tamil teachers Tamil United Liberation Front politicians