Sivanesan Memorial Hall declared open in Jaffna

[TamilNet, Sunday, 01 February 2015, 18:40 GMT]
A memorial hall has been declared open in Jaffna on Saturday in commemoration of Maamanithar K. Sivanesan, a Tamil National Alliance (TNA) parliamentarian who was assassinated in a targeted claymore explosion by the Deep Penetration Unit of the Sri Lanka Army (SLA) on 06 March 2006 inside LTTE-controlled Vanni. Sivanesan worked tirelessly to improve the conditions of the deprived sections of population among the Eezham Tamils for a long time. He played also a key role in the democratic mobilization of the Tamil masses at the grassroots level.

The memorial hall has been constructed at Karaveddi Government Tamil Mixed School with the support of TNA and Tamil National Peoples Front (TNPF) politicians, who served the Tamil national cause with Mr Sivanesan.

Selvarajah Kajendren, a former TNA parliamentarian and the General Secretary of the TNPF had laid the foundation stone a few years ago. But, the occupying Sri Lankan military in Jaffna has been blocking the construction of the memorial hall for a long time.

Tamil parliamentarians Joseph Pararajasingham in Batticaloa, N.Raviraj in Colombo, former parliamentarians Chandra Nehru (Ampaa'rai), Sivamaharasa (Jaffna) and a candidate, Vigneswaran (Trincomalee) and several heads of local authorities in the North and East had been killed in a planned way allegedly by the DPU unit of the Sri Lanka Army, the TNA said condemning the assassination in 2008.

LTTE leader Velupillai Pirapaharan conferred Maamanithar (Great human being) title, the highest national civilian honour by the LTTE, posthumously to K. Sivanesan.

Mr. Sivanesan was elected to SL parliament from Jaffna district in 2004 general elections. He obtained second largest number of votes in the district. Following threats by the occupying Sri Lankan military in Jaffna, he and his family had moved to Mallaavi in Vanni.

K. Sivanesan, born on 21 January, 1957, was General Manager of Northern Region Palm Development CO-OP society, between 1996 and 2004, before being elected to the SL Parliament.

Sivanesan, who hailed from Karaveddi in Vadamaraadchi, was a former student of Nelliyadi Maththiya Mahaa Viththiyaalayam.

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