Tamil Nadu CM mourns the death of Sri Lankan minister Thondaman

Chennai: The death of the Sri Lankan Minister and leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), Arumugam Thondaman in Colombo late on Tuesday is an irreparable loss to the people of Sri Lanka and to their country, said Tamil Nadu Chief Minister, Edappadi K Palaniswami.

Expressing deep pain and grief at the passing away of Mr. Thondaiman, the Chief Minister in a condolence message to his family members, to the CWC and to the people of Sri Lanka said, recalled that Mr. Thondaman was not only a very popular leader among the plantation Tamils of Indian origin, but had also worked for the welfare of the Tamil people in Sri Lanka.

Popular leader of plantation Tamils

Mr. Thondaman, who was Minister for Community Empowerment and Estate Infrastructure Development, and was the grandson of the prominent trade unionist, Saumyamoorthi Thondaman. His political career almost spanned three decades.

Born on May 29, 1964, Arumugam Thondaman died just three days short of his 56th birthday after being admitted to the Talangama Hospital, the Island Government said in an official release.

Educated at Royal College, Colombo, Arumugam Thondaman represented the Nuwara Eliya District in Parliament and was one of the most prominent and popular politicians from the estate areas, the release said.

Thondaman represented the interests of Tamils of Indian origin and just a few hours before his death, had met the newly appointed Indian High Commissioner Mr. Gopal Bagley to discuss the Indian Housing Project in the plantation sector and the Jaffna Cultural Centre. He had also met Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa a few hours before his death, the release added.