Following the death of veteran Tamil politician, Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, Sri Lanka’s former President Mahinda Rajapaksa has issued a statement mourning his death and describing him as a “an old friend and colleague”.
The former leader of the Tamil National Alliance and a heavyweight of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi, passed away today after reportedly being admitted into a private hospital in Colombo earlier this week.
Mahinda Rajapaksa oversaw the final military campaign that crushed the Tamil armed resistance in 2009. During this period tens of thousands of Tamils were slaughtered during a genocidal campaign that saw the indiscriminate shelling of hospitals, aid lines and no-fire zones. During the final days of this onslaught, Sampanthan is alleged to have refused to answer the call of LTTE political leaders P Nadesan and S Pulithevan who had called for his aid.
Since the end of the armed conflict, Sampanthan maintained cordial relations with the Rajapaksa’s. In tribute of Mahinda Rajapaksa’s 50th year in parliament, Sampanthan released a letter in which he heaped praise on the accused war criminal claiming that he had “earned for himself the affection and confidence of the people of the country”.
Sampanthan has faced criticism from the Tamil community for claiming to Sinhala media that he accepted Sri Lanka's lion flag and national anthem whilst simultaneously telling Tamil media that that the LTTE were "freedom fighters".
Tamil Families of the Disappeared have also protested against the Tamil leader after reportedly telling an All Party Conference (APC), "we know you killed all disappearances”. Despite protesting since 2017, Tamil families still do not have any answers about the fate of their loved ones.
