A. Thiagarajah

Hon.
A. Thiagarajah
MP
ஆ. தியாகராஜா
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Vaddukoddai
In office
1970–1977
Preceded by A. Amirthalingam
Succeeded by T. Thirunavukarasu
Personal details
Born (1916-04-17)17 April 1916
Died 24 May 1981(1981-05-24) (aged 65)
Political party United National Party
Profession Teacher
Ethnicity Sri Lankan Tamil

Arumugam Thiagarajah (Tamil: ஆறுமுகம் தியாகராஜா; 17 April 1916 – 24 May 1981) was a Sri Lankan Tamil teacher, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life

Thiagarajah was born on 17 April 1916.[1] He was principal of Karainagar Hindu College.[2][3]

Career

Thiagarajah stood as the All Ceylon Tamil Congress's candidate in Vaddukoddai at the 1970 parliamentary election. He won the election and entered Parliament.[4] He later defected to the governing Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) and voted for the new republican constitution.[5][6][7] He was labelled a traitor by Tamil militants and Tamil nationalists.[8] He was the target of an assassination attempt at his Colombo home in 1972.[6] Thiagarajah contested the 1977 parliamentary election as an independent candidate but was resoundingly defeated by the Tamil United Liberation Front candidate T. Thirunavukarasu.[9]

Assassination

The United National Party chose Thiagarajah to be its lead candidate in Jaffna District at the 1981 District Development Council election.[10] Tamil militant groups had warned candidates not to contest for the UNP.[11] He was shot by the militant People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) on 24 May 1981 as he was addressing an election meeting in Moolai.[2][12] He died later in hospital.[11]

References

  1. ↑ "Directory of Past Members: Thiagarajah, Arumugam". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. 1 2 Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (16 March 2008). "Assassinating Tamil Parliamentarians: The unceasing waves". The Nation (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 2014-02-20. Retrieved 2013-07-28.
  3. ↑ Sivendran, S. (2 January 2000). "Kayts, a different world". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  4. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1970" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  5. ↑ Sabaratnam, T. "Chapter 5: Tamil Youths Turn Assertive". Pirapaharan.
  6. 1 2 Sri Kantha, Sachi (30 May 2013). "Book Burning in 1933 and 1981: Nazi and Sinhalese goons: style comparisons". Sangam.
  7. ↑ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 24: Tamil militancy - a manifestation". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story.
  8. ↑ Sri Kantha, Sachi (26 July 2010). "The Alfred Duraiappah Dossier - Part 1". Illankai Tamil Sangam.
  9. ↑ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1977" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka.
  10. ↑ Hoole, Rajan; Somasundaram, Daya; Sritharan, Kopalasingham; Thiranagama, Rajini (1990). "Chapter 2: Some Milestones in the Development of Tamil Political Consciousness". Broken Palmyra. University Teachers for Human Rights.
  11. 1 2 Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 27 - Horsewhip Amirthalingham". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story.
  12. ↑ Sabaratnam, T. (10 October 2010). "The order: Chase voters and stuff ballot boxes". The Nation (Sri Lanka).
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