JAFFNA, Sri Lanka — M.K. Sivajilingam, a veteran Tamil nationalist politician and former member of Parliament who underwent a kidney transplant in June, has been moved to the intensive care unit of a private hospital in Colombo, according to people familiar with his condition.
Mr. Sivajilingam, who currently serves as chairman of the Valvettithurai Urban Council, had remained in Colombo for continuing treatment after undergoing the transplant. He was admitted to the hospital again last week and was transferred to intensive care on Wednesday for further treatment.
Details about his present condition were not immediately available.
Mr. Sivajilingam’s health problems had drawn considerable public attention earlier this year after he disclosed that he was suffering from kidney failure and appealed for financial assistance to cover the cost of a transplant and related treatment.
The appeal prompted donations from individuals and Tamil organizations in Sri Lanka and abroad. His circumstances also attracted attention because Mr. Sivajilingam, despite decades in politics, including two terms in Parliament and service in the Northern Provincial Council, said he owned no house, land, or vehicle.
A longtime member of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation, or TELO, Mr. Sivajilingam has been one of the most outspoken figures in Tamil nationalist politics, particularly on issues of wartime remembrance and the political legacy of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.
He represented the Tamil National Alliance in Parliament after being elected in 2001 and 2004 and later served as a member of the Northern Provincial Council. He has repeatedly attracted scrutiny from authorities over his public commemorations of LTTE leader Prabhakaran and other wartime remembrance activities.
Mr. Sivajilingam is from Valvettithurai, the northern coastal town that was also Prabhakaran’s hometown.
