List of people assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The following is a list of notable people assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, commonly known as Tamil Tigers or as LTTE.[1][2] The LTTE is a now-defunct militant organisation that was based in northern Sri Lanka, which fought for a separate Tamil state in the north and east of Sri Lanka between 1983 and 2009.[3] The LTTE was decisively defeated by the Sri Lankan Military in May 2009 and it has been banned by 30 countries, including the United States, Canada, India and the 27 member nations of the European Union.[4] At the height of its power, the LTTE possessed a well-developed militia and carried out many high-profile attacks, including the assassinations of an Indian prime minister, Sri Lankan president and several other high-ranking Sri Lankan politicians.[5][6][7][8] Some of the notable people who survived the assassination attempts of LTTE, are also included at the bottom of this list.

Heads of state and government

• Ranasinghe Premadasa[7][9] - Former President of Sri Lanka
• Rajiv Gandhi[6][10] - Former Prime Minister of India

Government ministers

• Lalith Athulathmudali[11][lower-alpha 1] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Trade, National Security, Agriculture, Education and deputy minister of defence.
• Gamini Dissanayake[8][13] - Former United National Party presidential candidate and Leader of the Opposition, Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Irrigation, Power, Highways, Land, Land Development, Plantation Industries, Mahaweli and Mahaweli Development & Former chairman of the Sri Lanka Cricket Board
• Ranjan Wijeratne[8][14] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs, Plantation Industries and Minister of State for Defense
• Lakshman Kadirgamar[15][16] Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, Prominent Tamil diplomat, politician and lawyer.
• Jeyaraj Fernandopulle[17] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Highways & Road Development, the chief government whip of the parliament of Sri Lanka
• C. V. Gunaratne[8][13] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Industries Development.
• Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi[8][13] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Food, Co-operative, and Janasaviya-Poverty Alleviation
• G. M. Premachandra[8][13] - Former Sri Lankan Cabinet Minister of Labour and Vocational Training
• D. M. Dassanayake[18] - Former Sri Lankan non-cabinet Minister of Nation Building

Members of Sri Lankan parliament

• Ossie Abeygunasekera[8][13] - Former Chairman and Leader of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, Former candidate of the Presidential election in 1989
• A. Amirthalingam[19][20] - Leading Sri Lankan Tamil politician and former Leader of the Opposition.
• A. Thangathurai[21]- Former Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) Member of Parliament for Trincomalee District.
• Alfred Duraiappah[22] - Former Sri Lanka Freedom Party member of the parliament for Jaffna District and former mayor of Jaffna.
• M. Canagaratnam[23] Former Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Pottuvil
• A. L. Abdul Majeed[24] - Former Sri Lanka Freedom Party MP for Mutur
• S. Shanmuganathan[19] Former Democratic People's Liberation Front MP for Vanni District
• Nimalan Soundaranayagam[25] - Former Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa District
• Sam Tambimuttu[13][26] Former Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front MP for Batticaloa District
• Neelan Tiruchelvam[27][28] - Scholar, international activist, legislator, lawyer, social scientist and politician. Former Member of the Sri Lanka Parliament from National List
• G. Yogasangari[29] - Former Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front MP for Jaffna District
• V. Yogeswaran[19][20] Former Tamil United Liberation Front MP for Jaffna district

Senior military and police officers

• Admiral Clancy Fernando[11] - Former Commander of the Sri Lanka Navy
• Lieutenant General Denzil Kobbekaduwa[11][lower-alpha 2] - General Officer Commanding, Northern Sector, Sri Lankan Army
• Lieutenant General Parami Kulatunga[31] - Deputy Chief of Staff, Sri Lankan Army
• Lieutenant Generall Nalin Angammana[32] - General Officer Commanding, 3rd Army Division, Sri Lankan Army
• Major General Lucky Wijayaratne[11] - Former Commander, 22 Brigade, Sri Lanka Army
• Major General Larry Wijeratne[33] -Former Brigade Commander, 51-4 Brigade
• Major General Lakshman Algama[34] - Former Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army
• Major General Vijaya Wimalaratne[11][lower-alpha 2] - Former Commander of Jaffna, Sri Lanka Army
• Major General Percy Fernando[35] - Former Deputy General Officer Commanding, 54 Division, Sri Lanka Army
• Major General Ananda Hamangoda[36] - Former Brigade Commander, 51-2 Brigade, Sri Lanka Army
• Major General Susantha Mendis[37] - Former Brigade Commander, 51-4 Brigade
• Major General Janaka Perera[38] - Former Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army, Former High Commissioner to Australia & Ambassador to Indonesia, Former opposition leader of the North Central Provincial Council
• Rear Admiral Mohan Jayamaha[39][lower-alpha 2] - Former Commander, Northern Naval Area, Sri Lanka Navy
• Air Commodore Shirantha Goonatilake[40] - Former Commanding Officer of No. 1 Flying Training Wing, Sri Lanka Air Force
• Colonel Tuan Nizam Muthaliff[41][42] - Former Commanding Officer, 1st Battalion, Military Intelligence Corps, Sri Lanka Army
• Senior Deputy Inspector General T. N. De Silva[43][44] - SDIG, Colombo Range, Sri Lanka Police
• Senior Superintendent of Police Chandra Perera[37] - Former SSP, Jaffna
• Assistant Superintendent of Police Ivan Boteju[45] - Former Assistant Superintendent, Kalmunai, Sri Lanka Police

Prelates

• Kithalagama Sri Seelalankara Thera[46] - Chief incumbent of the Dimbulagala Raja Maha Vihara, former Chief Sangha Nayake of Northern and Eastern provinces
• Hegoda Sri Indrasara Thera[47] - Chief incumbent of Vidyananda Maha Pirivena - Ampara, former Chief Sangha Nayake of Northern and Eastern provinces
• Sivashri Kungaraja Kurukkal[48] - Former head pandit of the Koneswaram temple of Trincomalee
• Selliah Parameswaran Kurukkal[49][50] - Chief Pujari of the Santhiveli Pilleyar Kovil, Batticaloa

Activists and journalists

• Chelvy Thiyagarajah[51] - Founder of feminist journal called Tholi, International PEN award winner in 1992
• Balanadarajah Iyer[52][53] - Sri Lankan Tamil activist, writer and poet
• Kethesh Loganathan[54] - Tamil political activist, Human Rights advocate and deputy secretary general of the Secretariat for Coordinating the Peace Process (SCOPP).
• Rajani Thiranagama[55] - University lecturer, Tamil human rights activist and feminist
• Relangi Selvarajah[56] - Tamil broadcaster and actress.

Others

• C. E. Anandarajah[57] - Sri Lankan educationist and former principal of St. John's College, Jaffna.
• V. M. Panchalingam[58] - Leading Sri Lankan Tamil civil servant and former District Secretary of Jaffna
• S. Nadarajah[19] - Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and former member of the Senate of Ceylon.
• Sarojini Yogeswaran[13][59] - Former Mayor of Jaffna
• Gopalaswamy Mahendraraja[60] - Former Deputy leader of the LTTE
• Uma Maheswaran[13][lower-alpha 3] - Founder of the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam.
• Kumaraswamy Nandagopan[64] - Former president of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal

Attempted assassinations

• Chandrika Kumaratunga[65][66] - Former president of Sri Lanka
• Maithreepala Sirisena[67][68] - Current president of Sri Lanka, Former minister of Health and Agriculture
• Field Marshal Sarath Fonseka[69] - Eighteenth Commander of Sri Lankan Army
• Gotabhaya Rajapaksa[70][71] - Former Secretary of the Ministry of Defence, Sri Lanka
• Douglas Devananda[72][73] - Leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party
• Nimal Siripala de Silva[74] - Current Minister of Transport in the Parliament of Sri Lanka

Notes

1. Other sources blame Athulathmudali's assassination on the Security Forces.[12]
2. Other sources blame Jayamaha, Kobbekaduwa and Wimalaratne's assassinations on the Army.[30]
3. The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front, an offshoot of PLOTE, claimed responsibility for Maheswaran's assassination.[61] Other independent sources blame Maheswaran's assassination on disgruntled members of PLOTE.[62][63]

References

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