Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka are Tamil people of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. They are also known as Malayaga Tamilar,Hill Country Tamils,Up-Country Tamils or simply Indian Tamils. They predominantly descend from workers sent from Southern India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in coffee,tea and rubber plantations. Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers. These Tamil speakers mostly live in the central highlands,also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country,yet others are also found in major urban areas and in the Northern Province. A majorty of Hill Country Tamils are predominantly descendants from the lower working castes of South India. Although they are all termed as Tamils today,some have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian caste origins. They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka. In general,socio-economically their standard of living is below that of the national average and they are described as one of the poorest and most neglected groups in Sri Lanka. In 1964 a large percentage were repatriated to India,but left a considerable number as stateless people. By the 1990s most of these had been given Sri Lankan citizenship. Most are Hindus with a minority of Christians and Muslims amongst them. There are also a small minority followers of Buddhism among them. Politically they are supportive of trade union-based political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalitions since the 1980s.
Velanai is a small village in Velanai Island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the North of Sri Lanka.
The assassination of Rajiv Gandhi,former Prime Minister of India,occurred as a result of a suicide bombing in Sriperumbudur in Tamil Nadu,India on 21 May 1991. At least 14 others,in addition to Rajiv Gandhi,were killed. It was carried out by 17-year-old Kalaivani Rajaratnam,a member of the Sri Lankan Tamil separatist organization Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). At the time,India had just ended its involvement,through the Indian Peace Keeping Force,in the Sri Lankan Civil War.
George Rajapaksa was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the former Cabinet Minister of Health,Fisheries and a Member of Parliament.
Abdul Hameed Mohamed Fowzie is a Sri Lankan politician,a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka and a former government minister. He was a mayor of colombo from the United National Party,and later joint the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Rathnayaka Mudiyanselage Padma Udhaya Shantha Gunasekera is a Sri Lankan politician and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for Monaragala District. Member of the 15th parliament of Sri Lanka. He was the son of Dharmadasa Banda.
Dissanayaka Mudiyanselage Jayaratne,known as D. M. "Di Mu" Jayaratne,was a veteran Sri Lankan politician who was Prime Minister of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. A founding member of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party,Jayaratne was first elected to parliament in 1970. He was sworn in as Prime Minister on 21 April 2010.
Unnanthi Piyankara Jayaratne,MP is a Sri Lankan politician and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
M. D. Namal Karunaratne is a Sri Lankan politician and former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Abdul Majeed Mohammed Naushad also known as Mohamed Naushad Majeed is a Sri Lankan politician and a former member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka.
Chamal Jayantha Rajapaksa is a Sri Lankan politician who was Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 2010 to 2015. Previously he served as Minister of Ports and Aviation and the Minister for Irrigation and Water Management. He hails from a well-known political family in Sri Lanka. His father,D. A. Rajapaksa,was a prominent politician,independence agitator,member of parliament and Minister of Agriculture and Land in Wijeyananda Dahanayake's government. He is the elder brother of Mahinda Rajapaksa,who was President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to 2015 and Gotabaya Rajapaksa who was President from 2019 to 2022. Nine members of the Rajapaksa family have been members of parliament in Sri Lanka.
Badulla electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Badulla in the Uva province. The district currently elects 8 of the 225 members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and had 574,814 registered electors in 2010.
The 13th Parliament of Sri Lanka was a meeting of the Parliament of Sri Lanka,with the membership determined by the results of the 2004 parliamentary election held on 2 April 2004. The parliament met for the first time on 22 April 2004 and was dissolved on 9 February 2010.
Velanai Island,also known as Leiden in Dutch,is a small island off the coast of Jaffna Peninsula in the North of Sri Lanka. There are number of villages within the island such as Allaipiddy,Mankumpan,Velanai,Saravanai,Puliyankoodal,Suruvil,Naranthanai and Karampon.
H. M. Samanpriya Herath is a Sri Lankan politician,former provincial councillor and Member of Parliament.
Senerath Somaratne was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Deputy Minister of Irrigation,Power and Highways and a member of Parliament of Sri Lanka from Ampara representing the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
