Veteran Tamil activist dies in Trincomalee

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 12 January 2005, 20:55 GMT]
Mr.S.Pathmanathan, veteran Tamil activist and fondly called as " Eelathunathan" in the northeast Tamil political circles passed away Wednesday evening in Colombo hospital after brief illness. He was sixty at that time of death, family sources said.

The death of "Eelathunathan" has removed a dedicated activist from the Trincomalee Tamil political field. At that time of his demise he was serving as the Secretary of the Organization For Eelam Refugees Rehabilitation (OFERR), sources said.

He was in the forefront of several political struggles launched by the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK) and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). He was arrested under the prevention of terrorism Act (PTA) and detained for several months in prison, sources said.

For some time he served as the President of the Trincomalee branch of the TULF, sources said.

OFERR has condoled the death of Mr.Eelathunathan as an irreparable loss to the Tamil cause.