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Sri Lanka

Veteran Tamil political figure and former parliamentarian passes away

2026-11-15

Ancient bronze oil lamp from Pompeii, illustrative object, not a photograph from the funeral or a Tamil memorial.

Former Member of Parliament and Chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council M. K. Sivajilingam, a senior figure in the Tamil politics of the North and East, has passed away. He died at about 11:50 pm Sri Lanka local time on November 14. He had been receiving treatment in the intensive care unit of the Point Pedro base hospital. Reports of his admission differ: the death accounts give November 3, while an earlier report places it on November 2. The exact admission date remains unconfirmed here.

He had undergone a kidney transplant at a private hospital in Colombo on June 11 this year. After spending several weeks in hospital for treatment, he had returned home before his health declined again.

A long political journey

Accounts of his political life describe sustained campaigning for Tamil rights in the North and East despite alleged attacks and threats involving the military, police and armed groups said to have operated with military support. Following the end of the armed conflict in 2009, he continued to lead Tamil national remembrance events amid reported threats from military, police and intelligence personnel. These accounts portray him as a determined public advocate; the allegations about threats are reported claims, not judicial findings in this obituary.

A senior member of the TELO organisation, he contested the 2001 and 2004 general elections in the Jaffna district on the Tamil National Alliance ticket and served as a Member of Parliament. In the 2013 Northern Provincial Council election he was elected as a member from the Jaffna district. He later left TELO and served as general secretary of the Tamil National Party. He was associated with the Tamil National Council list at the latest local election, but accounts of his entry into the council require a distinction: he filled a vacancy in October 2025 after another member resigned, rather than taking a seat immediately after the poll. He was subsequently elected chairman in November 2025 and oversaw the council’s development and administrative work.

Tamil political leaders, people's representatives, members of the public and well-wishers have been expressing their deep condolences on his passing.

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