Former ITAK Leader Mavai Senathirajah Passes Away   

Former Member of Parliament and leader of the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchchi (ITAK), Mavai Senathirajah, has passed away at the age of 83. He died on January 29 while receiving treatment at Jaffna Teaching Hospital. 

Senathirajah was admitted to the hospital’s Emergency Treatment Unit (ETU) after an accident at his home. 

Born on October 27, 1942, in Mawattapuram, Jaffna, he received his primary education at Nadeswara College and later studied at the University of Peradeniya. 

Senathirajah was a veteran Tamil politician who played a key role in Sri Lankan politics, advocating for Tamil rights. He joined ITAK’s youth wing, the Tamil Youth League, in 1962. In 1972, he became Secretary of the Tamil Youth Front, the youth wing of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). 

He first entered Parliament in 1989 as a National List MP for the TULF and returned in 1999. He contested the 2000 parliamentary election in Jaffna and was elected. In 2001, the TULF joined the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), and Senathirajah contested under the TNA ticket. He was elected again in 2001 and re-elected in 2004, 2010, and 2015. 

Senathirajah served as the General Secretary of ITAK before being elected as its leader in 2014. He stepped down from the position in January 2024 due to health issues.