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Appapillai Amirthalingam ( ta, அப்பாப்பிள்ளை அமிர்தலிங்கம்; si, අප්පාපිල්ලෙයි අමිර්තලිංගම්; 26 August 1927 – 13 July 1989) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician,
Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house ...
and
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. Amirthalingam was assassinated by the Tamil Tigers.


Early life

Amirthalingam was born 26 August 1927 in Pannagam near Vaddukoddai in northern province of
Ceylon Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
. He was the son of S. Appapillai, a retired station master, and Valliammai. He had three brothers (Sockalingam, Vasu Thevalingam and Thigamparalingam). He was educated at Meihandan Tamil School, Pannakam and Victoria College, Chulipuram. He later studied at Ceylon University College. After graduation he joined the legal profession, becoming an advocate. Amirthalingam married Mangaiyarkarasi, daughter of Vallipuram. They had two sons - Kandeepan and Baheerathan.


Political career

Amirthalingam joined the newly formed Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (Federal Party) in 1949 and became leader of its Youth Front. He was ITAK's candidate for Vaddukoddai at the 1952 parliamentary election but failed to get elected. He stood again at the 1956 parliamentary election. He was won this time and entered
Parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. ...
. He was re-elected at the
March 1960 The following events occurred in March 1960: March 1, 1960 (Tuesday) * NASA established an Office of Life Sciences to work on exobiology, based on Dr. Joshua Lederberg's ideas that space vehicles should be sterilized before and after t ...
,
July 1960 The following events occurred in July 1960: July 1, 1960 (Friday) *The Army Ballistic Missile Agency at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Alabama, became the Marshall Space Flight Center, a field center of the civilian National Aeronautic ...
and
1965 Events January–February * January 14 – The Prime Minister of Northern Ireland and the Taoiseach of the Republic of Ireland meet for the first time in 43 years. * January 20 ** Lyndon B. Johnson is Second inauguration of Lyndo ...
parliamentary elections. He stood for re-election in Vaddukoddai at the 1970 parliamentary election but was defeated by the All Ceylon Tamil Congress candidate. In 1972 the ITAK, ACTC and others formed the
Tamil United Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප ...
(later renamed
Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්‍රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප ...
). Amirthalingam was delivering leaflets along with other leading Tamil politicians (
M. Sivasithamparam Murugesu Sivasithamparam (20 July 1923 – 5 June 2002) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker. Early life Sivasithamparam was born 20 July 1923 in Karaveddy in northern province of Ceylon. He w ...
,
V. N. Navaratnam Vallipuram Nallathamby Navaratnam ( ta, வல்லிபுரம் நல்லதம்பி நவரத்தினம்; 5 June 1929 – 29 January 1991) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. Early lif ...
,
K. P. Ratnam Kaarthigesar Ponnambalam Ratnam ( ta, கார்த்திகேசு பொன்னம்பலம் இரத்தினம்; 10 March 1914 – 20 December 2010) was a Sri Lankan Tamil academic, politician and Member of Parliament. ...
and
K. Thurairatnam Kathiripillai Thurairatnam ( ta, கதிரிப்பிள்ளை துரைரத்தினம், 10 August 1930 – 23 September 1995) was a Sri Lankan Tamil teacher, lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament. Early life Thur ...
) in 1976 when they were all arrested on government orders. Sivasithamparam was released but the others were taken to Colombo and tried for sedition. All the defendants were acquitted after a famous trial at bar case in which 72 Tamil lawyers including
S. J. V. Chelvanayakam Samuel James Veluppillai Chelvanayakam ( ta, சாமுவேல் ஜேம்ஸ் வேலுப்பிள்ளை செல்வநாயகம், translit=Cāmuvēl Jēms Vēluppiḷḷai Celvanāyakam; 31 March 1898 – 26 Ap ...
and G. G. Ponnambalam acted for the defence. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, leader of the TULF and ITAK, died in April 1977. Amirthalingam took on the leadership of both organisations. Amirthalingam was the TULF's candidate for Kankesanthurai at the 1977 parliamentary election. He won the election and re-entered Parliament. The TULF became the largest opposition party in Parliament and Amirthalingam became
Leader of the Opposition The Leader of the Opposition is a title traditionally held by the leader of the largest political party not in government, typical in countries utilizing the parliamentary system form of government. The leader of the opposition is typically se ...
. Amirthalingam and all other TULF MPs boycotted Parliament from the middle of 1983 for a number of reasons: they were under pressure from Sri Lankan Tamil militants not to stay in Parliament beyond their normal six-year term; the Sixth Amendment to the
Constitution of Sri Lanka The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ආණ්ඩුක්‍රම ව්‍යවස්ථාව, Śrī Laṃkā āndukrama vyavasthāva, ta, இலங்கை அரசிய ...
required them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by
Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language Sinhala ( ; , ''siṁhala'', ), sometimes called Sinhalese (), is an Indo-Aryan languages, Indo-Aryan language prima ...
mobs. After three months of absence, Amirthalingam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983. Amirthalingam and his family, like many families of leading Tamil politicians, fled to
Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Tamil Nadu, the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost states and territories of India, Indian state. The largest city ...
(now Chennai),
Tamil Nadu Tamil Nadu (; , TN) is a state in southern India. It is the tenth largest Indian state by area and the sixth largest by population. Its capital and largest city is Chennai. Tamil Nadu is the home of the Tamil people, whose Tamil languag ...
. Whilst in India Amirthalingam took part in numerous peace talks. After the signing of the
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling t ...
in 1987 Amirthalingam returned to Sri Lanka. Amirthalingam and his wife moved into a house in Bullers Road (Baudhaloka Mawatha) in the Cinnamon Gardens area of
Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. The house was shared with other leading TULF politicians (
M. Sivasithamparam Murugesu Sivasithamparam (20 July 1923 – 5 June 2002) was a leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and Deputy Speaker. Early life Sivasithamparam was born 20 July 1923 in Karaveddy in northern province of Ceylon. He w ...
, V. Yogeswaran and Mavai Senathirajah) and their families. Amirthalingam was one of the TULF's candidates in Batticaloa District at the 1989 parliamentary election but failed to get elected. He was however appointed as a
National List Member of Parliament A national list member of parliament (national list MP) is a nominated member of parliament who is appointed by a political party or an independent group to the Parliament of Sri Lanka. The number of national list MPs allocated to a contesting par ...
for the TULF after the election.


Assassination

In effort to bring about unity amongst the Tamils, Yogeswaran made contact with the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
and met with them several times. He arranged a meeting between the Tamil Tigers and the TULF leaders at their Bullers Road residence. On the evening of 13 July 1989 three men, Peter Aloysius Leon, Visu (Rasiah Aravindaram) and Sivakumar (Vignan/Arivu), arrived at the residence. Aloysius and Visu went inside the house whilst Sivakumar remained outside. The two men met with Yogeswaran, Amirthalingam and Sivasithamparam in Yogeswaran's apartment on the first floor. The meeting seemed to be going well when suddenly Visu pulled out a gun and shot Amirthalingam in the head and chest. Yogeswaran stood up but was shot by Aloysius and Visu. Security guards heard the shots and rushed in, shooting the assailants who were injured. The assailants shot Sivasithamparam in the shoulder before running downstairs. They were chased and shot dead by the security guards. Sivakumar was also shot and died later of his injuries. Amirthalingam and Yogeswaran were killed but Sivasithamparam survived. The Tamil Tigers initially denied responsibility for the assassinations but later accepted responsibility.


Further reading

*


See also

* List of assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War


References

* *


External links


A. Amirthalingam: Life and Struggle
{{DEFAULTSORT:Amirthalingam, A. 1927 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Alumni of the Ceylon University College Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians Ceylonese advocates Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Leaders of the Opposition (Sri Lanka) Members of the 3rd Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War Sri Lankan Hindus Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers Sri Lankan Tamil politicians Sri Lankan terrorism victims Terrorism deaths in Sri Lanka Tamil United Liberation Front politicians People of the Sri Lankan Civil War Indian Peace Keeping Force