34All Sri Lankan People’s Congress President and Member of Parliament Rishad Bathiuddin has said that Sampanthan Aiya is the best moderate leader who protected the Tamil national politics from the tyrants and internationalized it.
Ira In his condolence message on Sambandhan’s death, he further said,
“Leader Sampanthan sir who treated minority communities with equality in liberation politics. With a long political history, he guided the Tamil national politics very tactfully.
His faith in democracy kept Tamilian politics intact even in tough times. Even though he was over ninety years old, he had the determination to get the solution.
He was also a bigot towards the equality of the minority communities who lived in the same place and spoke the same language. He maintained good relations with the Muslim leadership so that Tamil and Muslim conflicts would not destroy the one linguistic nation (Tamil). Leaders like Sampanthan are necessary to overcome the problems of Tamil and Muslim opinion which have not been resolved till date.
I see many lessons of unity from the past histories of Sampanthan Aya over time. In his guidance, the door to peace remained open. He had also sacrificed many rare opportunities that came to him so that the politics of right should not be expensive.
Visionary leadership is essential for the Tamils to protect themselves from the changes and impacts that will occur in South Sri Lankan politics in the near future. It is only with these leaders that the Muslim leaders can come to terms.
May God’s blessings be upon all those who are grieving the loss of Anna,” he said.
