| Honorific-Prefix: | Hon. |
| V. Navaratnam | |
| Native Name: | வி. நவரத்தினம் |
| Native Name Lang: | ta |
| Honorific-Suffix: | MP |
| Constituency Mp1: | Kayts |
| Parliament1: | Ceylonese |
| Term Start1: | 1963 |
| Term End1: | 1970 |
| Predecessor1: | V. A. Kandiah |
| Successor1: | K. P. Ratnam |
| Birth Date: | 25 October 1910 |
| Death Place: | Montreal, Quebec, Canada |
| Alma Mater: | Ceylon Law College |
| Profession: | Lawyer |
| Blank1: | Ethnicity |
| Data1: | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Vaithianathan Navaratnam (25 October 1910 - 22 December 2006) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
Navaratnam was born on 25 October 1910.[1] [2] He was the son of Vaithianathan from Karampon on the island of Velanaitivu in northern Ceylon.[1] He was educated at Karampon Shanmuganathan Maha Vidyalayam, St. Patrick's College, Jaffna and Ananda College.[1] After school he joined Ceylon Law College, graduating as a proctor in 1936.[1] [3]
Navaratnam married his first cousin Parameswari.[1] They had five sons (Chandra Mohan, Jagadishan, Jegan Mohan, Raj Mohan and Bala Mohan) and a daughter (Shyamala).[1] [4]
Navaratnam became interested in politics following Ceylonese independence in 1948.[1] He was appointed joint secretary of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) when it was founded in 1949.[1]
Navaratnam stood as ITAK's candidate in Kayts at the 1952 parliamentary election but was defeated by the All Ceylon Tamil Congress candidate Alfred Thambiayah.[5] He was ITAK's theoretician and played an important role in the formulation of the Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact.[6] [7] Navaratnam stood as ITAK's candidate in the constituency in the 1963 by-election following the sitting MP V. A. Kandiah's death. He won the election and entered Parliament.[8] He was re-elected at the 1965 parliamentary election.[9]
An ardent Tamil nationlist, Navaratnam fell out with the ITAK leadership over its decision to join Dudley Senanayake's national government and left the party in 1968.[1] [6] [10] In 1969 he founded the Tamils Suyaadchchi Kazahagam (Tamil Self Rule Party) which campaigned for Tamil self-rule and independence for the Tamil speaking provinces of Ceylon.[11] [12] [13] He stood as an independent candidate in Kayts at the 1970 and 1977 parliamentary elections but on each occasion was defeated the ITAK/Tamil United Liberation Front candidate K. P. Ratnam.[14] [15]
Navaratnam has written two books: Ceylon Faces Crisis (1956) and The Fall and Rise of the Tamil Nation (1995).[3] [16] He died on 22 December 2006 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.[17] [18] He was posthumously conferred the title of Naattu Patralar (patriot) by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam.[19]
. Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. 1997. 121. S. Arumugam.