> ## Content Index > Fetch the complete content index at: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/llms.txt > Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further. # Shritharan Marches to His Own Beat on Anojan Case - URL: https://www.jaffnamonitor.com/featured/shritharan-marches-to-his-own-beat-on-anojan-case/ - Published: 2026-09-24T08:23:51.000Z - Updated: 2026-09-24T17:35:59.000Z - Author: Our Reporter - Tags: September 2026 **JAFFNA, Sri Lanka —** On Sept. 22, the leaders of Sri Lanka’s main Tamil political party wrote to President Anura Kumara Dissanayake asking for an urgent meeting on a single subject: the case of Sivarasa Anojan, a 26-year-old Sri Lankan worker facing a death sentence in Saudi Arabia over a Facebook comment about the Prophet Muhammad. The party did not release the letter. Two days later, Sivagnanam Shritharan, one of the party's most senior lawmakers, released a separate letter of his own. Signed by Mr. Shritharan rather than by the party's president or general secretary, it also asked the president for a meeting with ITAK lawmakers. It appeared on Thursday morning in a leading Tamil newspaper and placed Mr. Anojan's case on a list with land disputes, contested archaeological sites and a mass-grave investigation. In a Facebook post, M.A. Sumanthiran, the general secretary, said Muslim political and religious leaders had voluntarily joined the effort to secure clemency. He warned against statements that could provoke Muslims or break up the cross-community coalition that has formed around Mr. Anojan. “If sufficient time is to be allowed for this matter to be handled through diplomatic channels,” he wrote, “it would be unwise, and could even be dangerous, to make public comments about the issue, other than appealing for Anojan to be pardoned.” Mr. Shritharan, ITAK’s only member of Parliament from Jaffna District, has repeatedly called on the government to save Mr. Anojan and has appealed to the president for diplomatic intervention. ## **The Party’s Campaign** The case has drawn ITAK’s rival factions into a joint effort. Senior party figures have approached Muslim political and religious leaders, foreign diplomats and Tamil diaspora organizations to press for clemency. On Wednesday, acting on a decision by the party’s parliamentary group, ITAK lawmakers met separately with India’s high commissioner, Santosh Jha, and with Anthony V. Pirnot, the political and economic counselor at the United States Embassy in Colombo. They briefed the diplomats on the case and asked for help finding diplomatic routes to Mr. Anojan’s release. Mr. Shritharan did not take part in either meeting, although he was in Colombo at the time. The party says diaspora organizations working with it have approached governments and other authorities abroad. Those contacts produced proposals that ITAK wants to put directly to the president, including enlisting friendly governments to support Sri Lanka’s approaches to Saudi Arabia. The Sept. 22 letter was signed by the party’s president, C.V.K. Sivagnanam, and by Mr. Sumanthiran. It asked for a meeting to brief Mr. Dissanayake on diplomatic approaches already made and to present proposals for further action. ITAK has also nominated Kavendran Kodeeswaran, its lawmaker from Ampara District, to join a Sri Lankan delegation expected to travel to Saudi Arabia. Formal diplomacy with Riyadh rests with the government. Mr. Dissanayake convened senior officials on Sept. 21 and instructed them to continue engaging with Saudi authorities. The foreign minister, Vijitha Herath, later told Parliament that the government was arranging for a delegation to deliver a presidential appeal for clemency to the Saudi king, The Island reported. ## **A Speech in Kilinochchi** Days before Mr. Sumanthiran’s post, Mr. Shritharan spoke publicly about the substance of the case. In a speech in Kilinochchi, he said Mr. Anojan’s comment about the Prophet Muhammad had been a reply to another Sri Lankan social media user who had disparaged the Shiva lingam, a sacred Hindu symbol. He condemned both comments and contrasted their consequences. “One person wrote disparagingly about the Shiva lingam and is going to remain at home,” he said. “Anojan wrote a disparaging reply, and he is going to lose his head.” “Neither is acceptable,” he added. “Neither should have been written.” ## **The Letter** A senior ITAK official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the party had kept its Sept. 22 letter private because it did not want to politicize the case. “We don’t want to do any kind of politics in the Anojan case,” the official said. “His release is paramount.” Mr. Shritharan sent a separate letter and gave it to the news media before the party’s own correspondence had become public. After that, ITAK had to publish its own letter to the president seeking an appointment. His letter sought a meeting between ITAK lawmakers and the president on long-running issues affecting Tamils in the North and East: land disputes in Valikamam North, Keppapilavu and elsewhere; contested archaeological sites including Vedukkunaari and Kurunthurmalai; the investigation into the Chemmani mass grave; and Mr. Anojan’s case. Virakesari reported on Thursday that the president had agreed to meet ITAK lawmakers. But a senior ITAK member said Mr. Shritharan’s separate letter, which broadened the proposed agenda to include land disputes, could complicate the meeting or lead to its postponement. The party member said Mr. Dissanayake had no objection to discussing Mr. Anojan’s case with ITAK but appeared reluctant to take up contentious land issues. Mr. Anojan’s legal options have narrowed. Sri Lanka is now relying mainly on diplomacy and a plea for clemency. The Foreign Ministry says it remains engaged with Saudi authorities, and the government is preparing a formal appeal to the Saudi king.