By
D.B.S.Jeyaraj
“Maavai” Senathirajah at the Convention venue in Vavuniya
71 Year old Somasundaram Senathirajah popularly known as “Maavai” Senathirajah was unanimously elected as the President of the premier Tamil political party the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) at the party convention held in Vavuniya today (September 6 2014).
Senathirajah who was earlier the General secretary of the ITAK replaces veteran Trincomalee district MP Rajavarothayam Sampanthan as party president.
The New ITAK leader in Vavuniya on Sep 7, 2014-pic courtesy of via twitter.com/bfonseka
Sampanthan who stepped down voluntarily and proposed Senathirajah’s name as ITAK president will continue to function as leader of the Tamil National Alliance(TNA)
The Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi(ITAK),Tamil United Liberation Front(TULF),Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam(PLOTE),Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front(EPRLF)and Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization(TELO)together form the Tamil National Alliance.
The ITAK is the single largest and most influential party within the TNA. Eight of the thirteen TNA Parliamentarians as well as the bulk of TNA provincial councillors and local authority members are from the ITAK
15th ITAK Meet
Senathirajah was elected unopposed as President of the ITAK at the morning session of the ITAK’s 15yh general convention held in Vavuniya. The 3 –day c conclave which began on September 5th will conclude on Sunday September 7th where the new President of the ITAK will deliver his first “Thalaimai Paerurai” or Presidential address.
Former Batticaloa district MP and Eastern province councillor S.Thurairajasingham was elected as General Secretary of ITAK in place of Senathirajah
Somasundaram Senathiraja born on October 27th 1942 hails from Maaviddapuram in the Valigamam north sector of Jaffna peninsula. He is generally referred to as “Maavai”on account of his native village as the term Maavai is a shortened form of Maaviddapuram
Senathirajah was active in politics from the days of his youth. He served for many years as the President of the “Thamil Ilainger Paeravai”(Tamil Youth assembly) which was an adjunct of the Tamil United Front(TUF)and later the Tamil United :iberation Front(TULF)
Senathirajah was jailed for nearly six years by the SLFP Government of Sirima Bandaranaike and for nearly two years by the Junius Richard Jayewardene led UNP Govt for his political activities
”Maavai”was among the many TULF leaders and activists who sought refuge in Tamil Nadu after the July 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom. He functioned as the administrator of the TULF branch office set up in Chennai then
Returning to Sri Lanka in 1988 ,Senathirajah succeeded Appapillai Amirthalingam as TULF national list MP after the former opposition leader was killed by the LTTE in 1989 July. In 1994 Senathirajah contested on the TULF ticket from Amparai district in the East and lost.
He re-entered Parliament after TULF national list MP Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam was killed by the LTTE in July 1999.
Senathirajah was elected from Jaffna district contesting on the TULF symbol of sun in the 2000 and 2001 parliamentary polls. He was elected in 2004 and 2010 to Parliament from Jaffna district under the house symbol of the ITAK.
The ITAK which was founded in 1949 went into political hibernation for many years after the party together with the Tamil Congress and Ceylon Workers Congress formed the TULF. The CWC pulled out when the TULF adopted a separate state policy.
ITAK Convention in Vavuniya-Sept 2014
The ITAK was revived in 2003 after the TULF inner party crisis in which the President Veerasingham Aanandasangaree retained the official symbol of sun that was utilised by the new umbrella formation TNA. After the ITAK was revived the TNA used the party symbol house to contest the 2004 and 2010 parliamentary polls, eastern provincial poll of 2012 and northern provincial poll of 2013 and several local authority elections. The bulk of the TULF membership opposed to Aanandasangaree also re-integrated themselves into the ITAK
Senathirajah functioned as ITK general secretary from 2003 onwards until becoming president now.
Earlier Senathirajah was the choice of most TNA members to contest as chief ministerial candidate for the northern provincial council. Senathirajah however wirhdrew from the contest in favour of CV Wigneswaran due to the insistence of Sampanthan.
Past presidents of the ITAK which was known as the Federal Party include SJV Chelvanayagam,C. Vanniyasingham, Dr. EMV Naganathan, R. Rajavarothayam, SM Rasamanickam and A. Amirthalingam.
DBS Jeyaraj can be reached at dbsjeyaraj2005@yahoo.com