[1][2][4][5] After school he joined the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya to study history, graduating in 1959 with a BA (General) degree.
[1][2][4][6] He got involved in left wing politics whilst a student at Peradeniya and was a sympathiser of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
[2][8][9] Kadirgamar taught history, politics and international relations in the undergraduate department of Jaffna College between 1959 and 1969.
[1][4][10][11] As the security situation deteriorated in northern Sri Lanka, human rights abuses became widespread.
Kadirgamar was one of the founders of the Jaffna branch of the Movement for Inter-Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE) in 1979.