S. A. David, Sri Lankan Tamil political activist, died at 91

  Dead Famous

Solomon Arulanandam David, born on April 24, 1924, and passed away October 11, 2015.

Solomon was a Sri Lankan Tamil activist, founder of Gandhiyam, a social organization in the north and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, however, he was forced to leave the country following a state sponsored pogrom against ethnic Tamils in 1983.

He also had served as a senior town-planner in Liverpool and was the chief architect and town planner of Mombasa in Kenya.

Solomon along with Rajasundaram were the principal founders of Gandhiyam, a social service organization named after the Father of India, Mahatma Gandhi inspired by his ways of non-violence and truth.

Their objectives were to win the rights of the Tamil population who were subject to discrimination and oppression by successive Sri Lankan governments through democratic and non-violent means.

In a span of 5 years, the organization had a sound presence throughout the traditional homelands of the Tamils in Sri Lanka, in Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mannar, Mullaitivu, Vavuniya, Trincomalee and Batticaloa.

However, both Rajasundaram and Solomon were arrested and subject to torture by the Sri Lankan Army in April 1983, along with scores of other Tamil activists and youths under the draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Rajasundaram was eventually killed in a brutal massacre in the state prison, by Sri Lankan guards and Sinhalese inmates.

This was in connection with the Black July pogrom, the Sri Lankan state-sponsored series of massacres against the Tamil people.

Solomon Arulanandam David died at age 91 in October 2015.