Veteran Sri Lankan MP who battled for Tamil rights died.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan died at the age of 91.
Rajavarothiam Sampanthan, one of Sri Lanka's most renowned politicians and a longtime advocate for the country's Tamil minority, died at the age of 91.
Sampanthan, a lawyer and one of the country's longest-serving MPs, died late Sunday in the capital, Colombo.
For the past 23 years, he has led a diversified coalition known as the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), the primary political group representing Tamils in Sri Lanka's north and east.
Since the defeat of Tamil Tiger militants in 2009, he has continued to demand equal rights for his frequently marginalized ethnic minority.
TNA leader MA Sumanthiran reported his death on X, the platform that was previously known as Twitter.
Sampanthan was appointed opposition leader in 2015, becoming the first ethnic minority member to hold a legislative seat in 32 years.
In 2022, Sampanthan wrote to the UN Human Rights Council, alleging that the Sinhalese-led government was still oppressing Tamils, indefinitely detaining political prisoners, preventing displaced civilians from resettling on their land in the former war zone, and militarizing the area.
He urged the international body to condemn what he described as the government's failure to examine complaints of abuses against minorities.
Sampanthan's death has prompted tributes from across Sri Lanka's political divide.
Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, who presided over the brutal end to Sri Lanka's civil war in 2009, was among those who paid him tribute.
