Ceylon Workers’ Congress [CWC] leader and Sri Lanka Cabinet Minister Arumugan Thondaman passed away on Tuesday night, after a sudden illness. He was 55.
Earlier on Tuesday, Minister Thondaman met Indian High Commissioner Gopal Baglay and held discussions on development partnership in Sri Lanka's hill country, where Malayaha Tamils, or Tamils of recent Indian origin, reside. Nearly 1,50,000 people from the million-strong community work in the tea estates. “It was very sudden. He was very active through the day, holding several work meetings,” a family member told The Hindu.
Arumugan Thondaman, who served in President Gotabaya Rajapaksa's government as Minister of Community Empowerment and Estate Infrastructure Development, is the grandson of iconic plantation Tamil leader and trade unionist Savumiamoorthy Thondaman, and has been the face of the party since his grandfather’s demise.