S. Shritharan
{{Short description|Sri Lankan Tamil politician}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2024}}
{{Tamil name|Sivagnanam|Shritharan}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = Hon.
| name = S. Shritharan
| native_name = {{lang|ta|சி. சிறீதரன்}}
සිවඥානම් ශ්රීධරන්
| honorific-suffix = MP
| image =
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| caption =
| office1 = Member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka
| constituency1 = Jaffna District
| term_start1 = 2010
| term_end1 =
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| successor1 =
| birth_name = Sivagnanam Shritharan
| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1968|12|08|df=y}}
| birth_place =
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| party = Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi
| otherparty = Tamil National Alliance
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| alma_mater = University of Jaffna
| occupation =
| profession = Teacher
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| website = {{URL|www.shritharan.com}}
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}}
Sivagnanam Shritharan ({{langx|ta|சிவஞானம் சிறீதரன்|translit=Civañāṉam Ciṟītaraṉ}}; born 8 December 1968) is a Sri Lankan Tamil teacher, politician and Member of Parliament.{{cite web |title=Directory of Members: Sivagnanam Shritharan |url=https://www.parliament.lk/en/members-of-parliament/directory-of-members/viewMember/3183 |publisher=Parliament of Sri Lanka |access-date=17 September 2020 |location=Sri Jayawardenepura Kotte, Sri Lanka}} He is the current leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, the largest Tamil nationalist party in the Sri Lankan Parliament.
Early life and family
Shritharan was born on 8 December 1968. He is from Kandavalai in Kilinochchi District though he is originally from the island of Neduntivu (Delft) in Jaffna District.{{cite news |last1=Jeyaraj |first1=D. B. S. |author-link1= |title=Assassination attempt on TNA parliamentarian Sritharan |url=http://print.dailymirror.lk/opinion1/37958.html |work=The Daily Mirror |date=12 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132455/http://print.dailymirror.lk/opinion1/37958.html |archive-date=19 July 2011 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}} He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College.{{cite web |title=Jaffna Hindu celebrated Children's Day, MP Sritharan was the chief guest |url=http://www.jaffnahindu.org/news/jaffna-hindu-celebrated-children-s-day-mp-sritharan-was-the-chief-guest-29.html |access-date=17 September 2020 |publisher=Jaffna Hindu College |date=1 November 2012 |location=Jaffna, Sri Lanka}} After school, he joined the University of Jaffna.{{cite news |title=TNA's Sritharan Top Scorer |url=http://www.ceylontoday.lk/thumb/epaper-images/51071.jpg |work=Ceylon Today |date=20 August 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150923224448/http://www.ceylontoday.lk/thumb/epaper-images/51071.jpg |archive-date=23 September 2015 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka |pages=A4}}
Shritharan is married to the sister of Brigadier Theepan (Velayuthapillai Baheerathakumarn) who was a senior military commander in the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.{{cite news |title=Bodies buried throughout Mullivaikkal – Sritharan |url=https://ceylontoday.lk/16-4613-news-detail-bodies-buried-throughout-mullivaikkal-sritharan.html |work=Ceylon Today |agency=Oneindia |date=14 April 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120417220321/https://ceylontoday.lk/16-4613-news-detail-bodies-buried-throughout-mullivaikkal-sritharan.html |archive-date=17 April 2012 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}
Career
Shritharan taught at several schools in Kilinochchi District and was the principal of Kilinochchi Maha Vidyalayam.{{cite news |title=SLA soldiers obstruct ITAK candidate from campaigning in Ki'linochchi |url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31349 |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=TamilNet |date=12 March 2010}}
Shritharan contested the 2010 parliamentary election as one of the Tamil National Alliance electoral alliance's candidates in Jaffna District and was elected to the Parliament.{{cite web |title=Parliamentary General Election – 2010 – Jaffna Preferences |url=http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/GE2010_preferences/Jaffna_pref_GE2010.pdf |publisher=Department of Elections |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100513035254/http://www.slelections.gov.lk/pdf/GE2010_preferences/Jaffna_pref_GE2010.pdf |archive-date=13 May 2010 |location=Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |title=General Elections 2010 – Preferential Votes |url=http://www.sundaytimes.lk/100411/News/page1.pdf |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=The Sunday Times |date=11 April 2010 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |title=Overwhelming Tamil majority rejects elections under Sri Lankan State |url=https://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=31517 |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=TamilNet |date=9 April 2010}} He was re-elected at the 2015 and 2020 parliamentary elections.{{cite magazine |title=Part I : Section (I) — General – Government Notifications – The Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981 |work=The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary |date=19 August 2015 |issue=1928/3 |page=5A |url=http://www.documents.gov.lk/files/egz/2015/8/1928-03_E.pdf |access-date=20 August 2015 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |title=Ranil tops with over 500,000 votes in Colombo |url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/83949/ranil-tops-with-over-500-000-votes-in-colombo |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=The Daily Mirror |date=19 August 2015 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite magazine |title=Part I : Section (I) — General – Government Notifications – Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 1 of 1981 |work=The Gazette of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka Extraordinary |date=8 August 2020 |issue=2187/26 |page=5A |url=http://www.documents.gov.lk/files/egz/2020/8/2187-26_E.pdf |access-date=9 August 2020 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |title=General Election 2020: Preferential votes of Jaffna District |url=https://ceylontoday.lk/news/general-election-2020-preferential-votes-of-jaffna-district |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=Ceylon Today |date=7 August 2020 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |last1=Jeyaraj |first1=D. B. S. |author-link1= |title=Did Sumanthiran Win In Jaffna By "Stealing" Sashikala's Votes? |url=http://www.dailymirror.lk/opinion/Did-Sumanthiran-Win-In-Jaffna-By-Stealing-Sashikalas-Votes/172-193895 |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=The Daily Mirror |date=15 August 2020 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}
Following the announcement of the retirement of ITAK party leader Mavai Senathirajah, Shritharan applied for the leadership position in December 2023. He was the favored candidate since he was based in Jaffna and was elected leader of the ITAK on 21 January 2024 defeating M. A. Sumanthiran and S. Yogeswaran; having gained 184 votes to Sumanthiran's 134. Following the appointment, he paid respects at the Kanagapuram Thuyilum Illam (cemetery for fallen Tamil Tigers).{{cite news |title=S. Shritharan elected new ITAK leader |url=https://www.dailymirror.lk/breaking-news/S-Shritharan-elected-new-ITAK-leader/108-275437 |access-date=22 January 2024 |publisher=Daily Mirror}}{{cite news |title=S. Shritharan secures ITAK leadership |url=https://www.ft.lk/front-page/S--Shritharan-secures-ITAK-leadership%C2%A0/44-757627 |access-date=22 January 2024 |publisher=Daily FT}}
Assassination attempt
On 7 March 2011, Shritharan was traveling in a van from Kilinochchi to Colombo to attend a meeting of Parliament the following day. Traveling with Sritharan in the van were four others including a police guard. At around 5.30pm the van was on the A12 highway near Nochchiyagama, Anuradhapura District, when three men standing by a white van parked on the roadside pulled out guns and started shooting at Shritharan's van.{{cite news |title=TNA MP's car shot at |url=http://print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-page-news/37611.html |work=The Daily Mirror |date=8 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110719132443/print.dailymirror.lk/news/front-page-news/37611.html |archive-date=19 July 2011 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}{{cite news |title=TNA MP Sritharan narrowly escapes assassination in Anuradhapura |url=http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=13&artid=33642 |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=TamilNet |date=7 March 2011}} The men also threw hand grenades at the van. Sritharan's police guard fired back, forcing the attackers to flee in their white van which had no number plates. No one was seriously injured in the incident. Shritharan has blamed the Eelam People's Democratic Party, a government backed paramilitary group, for the assassination attempt. The EPDP has been implicated in a number of assassinations.{{cite news |title=WikiLeaks: EPDP's Targeted Killing Method With Govt Military – Jaffna Government Agent Reveals Secrets |url=https://www.colombotelegraph.com/index.php/wikileaks-epdps-targeted-killing-method-with-govt-military-jaffna-government-agent-reveals-secrets/ |access-date=17 September 2020 |work=Colombo Telegraph |date=17 September 2013}}{{cite web |last1=Vithanage |first1=Athula |title=Tamils protest arrest of doctor with "expertise to expose war crimes" |url=http://www.jdslanka.org/index.php/news-features/human-rights/910-tamils-protest-arrest-of-doctor-with-expertise-to-expose-war-crimes-in-sri-lanka |publisher=Journalists for Democracy in Sri Lanka |access-date=17 September 2020 |date=27 August 2019}} Speaker Chamal Rajapaksa ordered an investigation into the assassination attempt.{{cite news |last1=Indrajith |first1=Saman |title=Speaker says will have attack on TNA MP probed |url=http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=20184 |work=The Island |date=9 March 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110722145756/http://www.island.lk/index.php?page_cat=article-details&page=article-details&code_title=20184 |archive-date=22 July 2011 |location=Colombo, Sri Lanka}}
Electoral history
References
{{Reflist}}
{{Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka}}
{{Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka}}
{{Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka}}
{{Members of the 17th Parliament of Sri Lanka}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Shritharan, S.}}
Category:Alumni of Jaffna Hindu College
Category:Alumni of the University of Jaffna
Category:Failed assassination attempts in Sri Lanka
Category:Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians
Category:Members of the 14th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 15th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 16th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Members of the 17th Parliament of Sri Lanka
Category:Politicians from Northern Province, Sri Lanka