A late former opposition leader as well as the leader of the Tamil National Alliance, Member of Parliament R. Mr. Sampanhan's remains was brought from Jaffna to Trincomalee allowing the public to pay their final respects.

R. Sampanthan, a senior ethnic Tamil leader and lawmaker, became the face of the minority community’s campaign for autonomy in Sri Lanka since the end of a brutal quarter-century civil war.
.

The veteran leader’s funeral procession will leave his residence at Post Office Road, Trincomalee, today afternoon and make its way through Trincomalee town towards the Trincomalee Hindu cemetery for final religious rights.