Today, 26 August 2018, is the birthday of Appapillai Amirthalingam – unquestioned Leader of the Tamils and first Tamil Leader of the Opposition. To remember such a powerful politician, a Tamil leader with pleasant personal abilities and commanding presence, is I consider a joyful and appropriate thing.
Leader Amirthalingam was born in the village of Pannaaham in Vaddukoddai. After a stint at Pannaaham Meikandaan Tamil School he moved on to Victoria College, Chullipuram. He was the first student from there to enter the University of Ceylon. At the university he was acknowledged as one of the few who could speak in both Tamil and English. Joining people like Prof. Vidyananthan, he acted in Tamil plays.
His fluency in Tamil and English, and his ability to speak impromptu on various topics with rich content and succinctness has been paraised by many. His speeches were a source of joy to many youth like me.
A good leader may be assessed by his decisions and how he comes to them, and then implements them in ways acceptale to other people. He would read up on arguments on all sides of a topic, come to his decision very rationally, explain his position even to those who opposed him and often bring them over to his point of view. He was an excellent leader because of this.
At the Law College in 1949, he joined Thanthai Chelva (S.J.V. Chelvanayakam) in forming the Ilanka Thamil Arasuk Katchi (ITAK, aso known as the Federal Party). He participated at the initial meeting of the ITAK and was appointed the Head of the party’s Youth Wing. From that time to his death, he faithfully worked for the well-being of the Tamil people. He contested the Vaddukoddai seat in 1952. Although he was not returned then, he continued to build up the party and saw his work’s fruition in the 1956 General Election when he himself was elected as the Member for Vaddukoddai and the ITAK trounced to victory in the North and the East as the Tamil people endorsed the ITAK’s policies on language parity and citizenship for the Estate Tamils who had been cruelly betrayed by the Tamil Congress which turned its back on promises made to Mr. S. Thondaman.
That same year, our Leader participated in the Satygraha Campaign on Galle Face Green organized by Mr. Chelvanayakam and the ITAK to oppose S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike’s “Sinhala Only” language policies for Sri Lanka. At the Satygraha, Amirthalingam was assaulted by Sinhalese goons. However, even as he bled, he went to Parliament and gave voice opposing the language laws of the government. We cannot forget Prime Minister S.W.R.D. sarcastically and cold-heartedly insulting them saying that they had come to Parliament with the heroic wounds of war.
In the two elections that followed in March and July 1960, the ITAK prevailed impressively, showijg that it had the Tamil people fully behind it. As SJV Chelvanayakam consolidated his status as the unchallenged leader of the Tamil people, Leader Amirthalingam became his trusted right hand man. Mr. Amirthalingam immersed himself in all activities of the ITAK – whether the Anti-Sri Campaign or protest march for parity for Tamil or Satyagraha. He organized these to perfection and often brought them to successful fruition. He was the man of action of the ITAK, the Action Hero as he was often called.
