COLOMBO: Late Sri Lankan veteran politician Mr. R. Sampanthan, a moderate Tamil leader had passed away while he was under the treatment in the hospital, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) said on Saturday night. Born in 1933 Mr Sambanthan led Tamil National Alliance (TNA) from 2004 and became only the second Tamil to become the main opposition leader in a Sinhala dominated country.
Being unwell for long, he had been absent at time of this sittings in parliament.
A moderate Tamil who has been leading the political movement that call for negotiated political settlement with regard to Tamil aspirations for autonomy.
They have started demanding self-rule after independence from British rule since 1948 and it became an armed conflict since mid-1970s.
He assumed office as Leader of Opposition in January 2015 and actively participated till last year in constitution making process.
Later on, Sri Lankan qualified as an attorney-at-law and entered parliament for his first term from Trincomalee District which is a port city situated on Eastern coast of Ceylon.
