A. Thiagarajah
Sri Lankan politician (1916–1981)
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Arumugam Thiagarajah (Tamil: ஆறுமுகம் தியாகராஜா; 17 April 1916 – 25 May 1981) was a Sri Lankan Tamil teacher, politician and Member of Parliament. He died in May 1981, a day after being shot and injured an attack by a militant Tamil group.
A. Thiagarajah | |
|---|---|
ஆ. தியாகராஜா | |
| |
| Member of the Ceylonese Parliament for Vaddukoddai | |
| In office 1970–1977 | |
| Preceded by | A. Amirthalingam |
| Succeeded by | T. Thirunavukarasu |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 17 April 1916 |
| Died | 25 May 1981 (aged 65) |
| Party | United National Party |
| Profession | Teacher |
Ethnicity | Sri Lankan Tamil |
Early life
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 the next day in hospital.[13][11]