Tamil parliamentarian, A. Thangathurai, is assassinated in Trincomalee along with five others during a school event.
Sources
Human Rights Watch World Report: Sri Lanka, 1998; Assassination is a blow to Democratic Solution, Snapshots of Peacebuilding, Commentaries on War and Peace in Sri Lanka 1995-2007, National Peace Council 2007; Tamils afraid to blame LTTE for murder, New Indian Express, 8 July 1997.
Quotations
“The crime is especially deplorable in that is took place at a school event at which several hundred school children were present. When considered along with the large numbers of casualties, both combatants and civilians, the Thangathurai killing is a stark reminder of the costs of the war. ” National Peace Council, 10 July 1997.
“Almost the entire Tamil community, including newspapers and even the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), has steadfastly avoided blaming the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for the killing of senior TULF politician and parliamentarian, Arunachalam Thangathurai, in Trincomalee last week…Thangathurai and five others were killed when a grenade was thrown at him outside a school in the heart of the city on July 5, observed by the LTTE as Black Tigers’ Day. Police have said that it was the work of the Tigers.” Tamils afraid to blame LTTE for murder, New Indian Express, 8 July 1997.
“In July, the LTTE was implicated in the assassinations of two popular politicians, both in Trincomalee district. On July 5, Arunasalam Thangathurai, Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) MP for Trincomalee District, and five others were killed in a grenade attack as Thangathurai left the premises of a school where he had addressed a public meeting. Thangathurai was known to be critical of both government and LTTE abuses in his constituency.” Human Rights Watch World Report: Sri Lanka, 1998.
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