K.Kanthasamy was abducted in
June 1988 by a Tamil 'group' and was presumed killed.
He was a human rights activist who organised
practical assistance for Tamils displaced and
dispossessed by the conflict in the island. He also
helped to found the Tamil Information Centre in
London. He returned to Jaffna in 1987 after the
signing of the Indo Sri Lanka Accord and was engaged
in refugee rehabilitation work in the Tamil homeland
at the time of his abduction.
"...As a Tamil, I
must confess to a feeling of shame not unmixed with
anger, that a so called Tamil 'liberation' group
should have been responsible for Kantha's abduction
and murder. We, as a people, cannot liberate
ourselves from anything by killing those with whom we
disagree. Kantha was an honourable man. He was a good
man. And to him, work was worship - he was the karma
yogi par excellence. And when we honour his memory
and his work, we not only strengthen that which is
good and honourable amongst the Tamil people - we
also renew our own commitment to the Tamil national
liberation struggle to which Kantha gave his
life."
It was more than twenty
five years ago, in the early 1960s, that I first met
with Kanthasamy. At that time, he was a young lawyer
working in Advocate N. Nadarasa's chambers at
Kollupitiya. But he was already displaying some of the
qualities which would stand him in good stead in the
years to come.
He addressed himself, in a systematic and
disciplined manner, to whatever task that was assigned
to him. He was dependable. He was a doer - not a
talker. His honesty and integrity were never in
dispute. And there was an attractive simplicity about
him as he travelled around in a motor scooter from
chambers to Hultsdorf and back. But then, Kantha was a
simple and honest man.
Many years later, I remember meeting him at
Saraswathy Hall in Bambalapitiya. It was a couple of
months after the burning of the Jaffna
Public Library in June 1981. That was an incident
which had left its mark on
the consciousness of many thousands of Tamils,
including myself. Kantha was at Saraswathy Hall,
involved in the campaign to collect books to establish
a new library, writing down carefully the titles of all
the books that were handed over and the names of the
donors. It was a time consuming task and not
particularly glamorous - but, typically, Kantha
approached his duties with cheerfulness and with
dedication.
Kantha had appeared as Counsel before the Sansoni
Commission which inquired into the attacks against the
Tamil people in 1977, and this was the period in
his life that he was working almost full time in the
rehabilitation of Tamils who had been displaced by such
attacks, and who had become refugees in their own
land.
And, it was his involvement in such refugee
rehabilitation work that eventually led him to become a
refugee himself and seek political asylum in the United
Kingdom.
I met with him in London in late 1983 and he took me
with some pride to the newly established office of the
Tamil Information Centre
which he had set up with the help of a few friends. He
was full of the work he was doing, despite a recent
heart attack and despite being told that he would need
to undergo a by pass operation.
There was a certain dignity about all that he did -
he would tell me " You know, when I go to funding
agencies for donations, I tell them that we are not
beggars, but I know that in a way I am begging - but I
beg not for myself but so that we can do something for
our people."
The next few years in London were years of sustained
activity for Kantha. There were occasions when I met
with him, early in the morning, at his home in North
London, before he left for the TIC office which was
situated in South London. He would be dictating letters
to a typist who had come - and, he would leave home,
after the first morning mail was delivered. It was his
way of maximising the efficient use of his time.
And for more than four years, until the signing of
the Indo
Sri Lanka Accord in July 1987, the Tamil
Information Centre and the Central British Refugee
Rehabilitation Fund which Kantha founded served as
important focal points in the Tamil national liberation
struggle.
I remember talking with him for more than 6 hours in
early August 1987, trying to persuade him to change his
decision to close the Tamil Information Centre and go
back to Sri Lanka. As a refugee who had been granted
asylum in the United Kingdom, Kantha could have stayed
in London for as long as he wished but his basic
response was that there was a need for him to go back
and work amongst the Tamil people in the North and East
of Sri Lanka - he felt that refugee rehabilitation work
was the urgent need of the hour and that his own
contribution to the struggle lay in this field.
A couple of days before he finally left the United
Kingdom, Kantha travelled down to Cambridge to spend a
day with my wife and I. We talked for several hours. It
was a time for reminiscences. It was also a time to
look at what the future held for us as a people. Kantha
was not unaware of the difficulties that he would face
from some political groups who may see his work amongst
the Tamil people as a threat to their own influence and
power. But Kantha was not only a simple and honest man
- he was also a courageous one. And as we embraced each
other at my door step, and said good bye, both Kantha
and I were not unaware that we may not see each other
again.
As a Tamil, I must confess to a feeling of shame
not unmixed with anger, that a so called Tamil
'liberation' group should have been responsible for
Kantha's abduction and murder. We, as a people, cannot
liberate ourselves from anything by killing those with
whom we disagree. Kantha was an honourable man. He was
a good man. And to him, work was worship - he was the
karma yogi par excellence. And when we honour his
memory and his work, we not only strengthen that which
is good and honourable amongst the Tamil people - we
also renew our own commitment to the Tamil national
liberation struggle to which Kantha gave his
life.
