Assassination of Tamil political leader Appapillai Amirthalingam

THE first major assassination of a prominent political leader in Sri Lanka known formerly as Ceylon was in September 1959.

- By D.B.S. Jeyaraj

The country was shocked when the serving Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was shot dead by a Buddhist monk Talduwe Somarama Thera. In later years there were many more assassinations of political leaders on either side of the ethnic divide. The political violence unleashed by various Tamil militant groups including the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)’s political violence and the counter violence of the State and its organs has resulted in a very large number of political leaders being killed over the years.

An important chapter in the saga of political assassinations in Sri Lanka is the killing of well-known Tamil political leader Appapillai Amirthalingam on 13 July 1989. Hailing from Pannaaham in Jaffna, Appapillai Amirthalingam was born on 26 August 1927. He was a charismatic and dynamic politician who served for many years as the chief lieutenant of the respected Tamil leader S.J.V. Chelvanayagam known as the Gandhi of Eelam.

Amirthalingam was a lawyer by profession and had been the Illankai Thamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) MP for Vaddukoddai from 1956 to 1970 and the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Kankesanthurai from 1977 to 1983. He held office as opposition leader from 1977 to 1983. In 1989, he was appointed MP on the TULF National List.

Indian army

The Indo-Lanka accord of 29 July 1987 between Indian premier Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J.R. Jayewardene had resulted in the Indian army known as the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) being stationed in the North and East of Sri Lanka. Soon war broke out between the LTTE and the Indian army. Meanwhile the presence of the Indian army in Sri Lanka was resented by many Sinhala people also. The JVP began a campaign of violence protesting the Indian army presence.