A. Thiagarajah

Arumugam Thiagarajah (Tamil: ஆறுமுகம் தியாகராஜா; 17 April 1916 – 25 May 1981) was a Sri Lankan Tamil teacher, politician and Member of Parliament.

Hon.

A. Thiagarajah

MP
ஆ. தியாகராஜா
Member of the Ceylonese Parliament
for Vaddukoddai
In office
1970–1977
Preceded byA. Amirthalingam
Succeeded byT. Thirunavukarasu
Personal details
Born(1916-04-17)17 April 1916
Died25 May 1981(1981-05-25) (aged 65)
Political partyUnited National Party
ProfessionTeacher
EthnicitySri Lankan Tamil

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 on the next day 25 May 1981 in hospital.[13][11]

References
  1. "Directory of Past Members: Thiagarajah, Arumugam". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (16 March 2008). "Assassinating Tamil Parliamentarians: The unceasing waves". The Nation (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 20 February 2014. Retrieved 28 July 2013.
  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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 9 December 2009.
  5. Sabaratnam, T. "Chapter 5: Tamil Youths Turn Assertive". Pirapaharan.
  6. 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. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 July 2011.
  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. 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).
  13. "முன்னாள் வட்டு எம்பி தியாகர் துப்பாக்கிச் சூட்டுக்குப் பலி" (print). Eelanadu. Jaffna, Sri Lanka. 25 May 1981. Retrieved 1 June 2020.
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