Chandra Fernando was a

priest A priest is a religious leader authorized to perform the sacred rituals of a religion, especially as a mediatory agent between humans and one or more deities. They also have the authority or power to administer religious rites; in particu ...

from the town of Baticaloa in minority

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

-dominated eastern province of

Sri Lanka 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 known for his human rights activism. He was

assassinated Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have a ...

by unknown men on June 6, 1988.

Biography

Chandra Fernando was born in 1942 in Fernandos Lane, Puliyantheevu (presently called

Batticaloa Batticaloa ( ta, மட்டக்களப்பு, ''Maṭṭakkaḷappu''; si, මඩකලපුව, ''Maḍakalapuwa'') is a major city in the Eastern Province, Sri Lanka, and its former capital. It is the administrative capital of the B ...

Town), primarily educated at St. Michael's College National School and ordained as Catholic Priest in the year 1970. He served as a Parish Priest at St. Mary’s Co-cathedral, Batticaloa from 1984 to June 6, 1988.

Incident

He was killed by unknown gunmen on June 6, 1988 in his own church (St. Mary’s Co-Cathedral) when the city was under the administration of

Indian Peace Keeping Force Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) was the Indian military contingent performing a peacekeeping operation in Sri Lanka between 1987 and 1990. It was formed under the mandate of the 1987 Indo-Sri Lankan Accord that aimed to end the Sri Lankan ...

per the Indo-Lanka peace accord of 1985. He was the secretary of the local Batticalao Citizens Committee and was instrumental in highlighting human rights violations by all sides in the Sri Lankan civil war including the rebel

LTTE The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

group which was at that time battling the

(IPKF) and aligned para-military groups. There were many human rights violations committed by all including the authority in power. Although according to a report by pro LTTE

Tamilnet TamilNet is an online newspaper that provides news and feature articles on current affairs in Sri Lanka, specifically related to the erstwhile Sri Lankan Civil War. The website was formed by members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community residing in ...

, he was killed by a gunman belonging to the paramilitary group Peoples Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) organization working for the local

Indian Army The Indian Army is the land-based branch and the largest component of the Indian Armed Forces. The President of India is the Supreme Commander of the Indian Army, and its professional head is the Chief of Army Staff (COAS), who is a four- ...

administration. but according to David Jeyaraj an ethnic Sri Lankan Tamil journalist based in

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

, he was killed by the paramilitary group Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) operatives. This seems to be corroborated by independent sources.

References

External links

SITUATION UPDATE FROM SRI LANKA
{{DEFAULTSORT:Fernando, Chandra Sri Lankan Tamil priests Minority rights activists Assassinated Sri Lankan activists 20th-century Sri Lankan Roman Catholic priests 1942 births 1988 deaths Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka People murdered in Sri Lanka 20th-century Roman Catholic martyrs Alumni of St. Michael's College National School Indian Peace Keeping Force

Biography

Incident

See also

References

External links