COLOMBO: Armugam Thondaman, a former minister who played a vital role in Sri Lanka's citizenship for the Indian-origin people working in the tea plantations in the country in the mid-1980s, has died. He was 56.
Thondaman, who was the leader of trade union and a political party, Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), died of a sudden heart attack on Tuesday, family sources said. He is the grandson of CWC founder Savumiamoorthy Thondaman.
The CWC represented the Tamil people of Indian origin in the central tea plantations in the island nation.
Thondaman was responsible for winning the Sri Lankan citizenship for the people of Indian origin working in the tea plantations in the mid 1980s. He supported President Gotabaya Rajapakse in the presidential election held in November last year.
He was appointed the minister of livestock development in December and was sitting as a candidate in the election to appoint a new parliament. The election was postponed due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Hours before his death, Thondaman had met with the new Indian High Commissioner to Sri Lanka, Gopal Baglay, and discussed bilateral cooperation for community development, including the ongoing Indian Housing Project in the plantation sector, local media reports said.