Douglas Devananda
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The Honourable Douglas Devananda MP |
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Devananda in 2014
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| Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament for Jaffna District |
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Assumed office 16 August 1994 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 10 November 1957 |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Eelam People's Democratic Party |
| Other political affiliations |
United People's Freedom Alliance |
| Residence | 121 Park Road, Colombo 05, Sri Lanka |
| Alma mater |
Jaffna Central College Colombo Hindu College |
| Religion | Hindu |
| Website | www.douglasdevananda.org |
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda (Tamil: டக்ளஸ் தேவானந்தா), is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (Tamil Tigers), they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping.
Kathiravelu Devananda was born on 10 November 1957. His father was Subramaniam Kathiravelu, an employee of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation and his mother was Maheswary, a teacher at Jaffna Central College. He has three brothers and a sister. Maheswary died when Devananda was six-years old.
Devananda studied at Jaffna Central College before moving to Colombo in 1974. He lived with his paternal uncle K. C. Nythiananda at 17 Francis Road in Colombo 6 and studied at Colombo Hindu College.
As a teenager, Devananda was influenced by the political work of his father, a member of the Sri Lanka Communist Party and his uncle, a leading trade unionist. Feeling discriminated by certain government policies, he wanted to be engaged in the emerging Tamil liberation movement. Thus he joined the Eelam Liberation Organization (ELO) and later became a founder-member of the Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS). He took on the nom de guerre Douglas.
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