Trinco Tamil Forum leader Vigneswaran assassinated
April 7th, 2006
by D.B.S. Jeyaraj
Vanniyasingham Vigneswaran a Tamil political activist about to be appointed as a Tamil National Alliance national list Member of Parliament was assassinated in Trincomalee today friday April 7th.
Vigneswaran a senior employee at the Bank of Ceylon was shot dead by two unknown persons as he was entering the Bank of Ceylon main branch office on inner harbour road where he worked.
Vigneswaran the president of the Trincomalee district Tamil peoples forum was the driving force behind the local polls election campaign in Trincomalee where the TNA contesting as the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Katchi had recorded a massive victory.
An announcement was to be made in the evening appointing Vigneswaran to the national list vacancy caused by the murder of TNA list MP Joseph Pararajasingham at the St. Mary’s cathedral during midnight mass on Christmas day last year.
Vigneswaran was entering his office from the front entrance when two men wearing helmets had accosted him and fired at point blank range. He was instantly killed.
The bank office was located in a high security area in Trincomalee in close proximity to the harbour. There were two security posts outside the bank one of which was only fifteen metres away from the spot where Vigneswaran was killed.
The Trincomalee Police Superintendent’s office and the harbour Police headquarters were at the back of the bank premises.
The naval headquarters was also very close to the bank and the whole area was closely guarded. The shooting took place at about 9. 30 am.
The killers reportedly escaped from the area on a motor cycle without being challenged in an area teeming with any security personnel and sentry points.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam political head for Trincomalee Elilan has pointed to the intensive security around the area and charged that the security apparatus and Paramilitaries were responsible for the killing.
TNA parliamentarians upon hearing of the killing rushed to the well of the house and engaged in a protest demonstration. They shouted slogans accusing the Government of responsibility for the killing.
The speaker WJM Lokubandara adjourned siitings because of the tumult at 10. 10 and resumed again at 10. 30. The TNA however continued their protest . The house was then adjourned without the emergency debate being conducted in full but the emergency was extended for another month.
Vigneswaran who hails from Nainatheevu in Jaffna , married in Trincomalee and has been living there for more than 30 years. He was a senior employee at the bank of Ceylon .
As president of the Trincomalee district Tamil peoples forum it was Vigneswaran who spearheaded the protest against the illegal construction of a Buddha statue at the Trinco Central bus stand precincts. The hartals were called off after assurances were given by the Government of President Chandrika Kumaratunga’ These were subsequently dishonoured and the statue remains still.
The Buddha statue incident figured prominently in the recent local authority elections in Trincomalee. Vigneswaran was the driving force behind the TNA campaign and used the statue issue to mobilise Tamil votes. As a result the TNA won handsomely in the dfistrict and captured control of both the Trincomalee urban council as well as the Pradeshiya sabha.
The newly elected councils were planning to give top priority to the resolution of the Buddha statue problem.
Vigneswaran was to be rewarded with the Tamil national list MP nomination. The announcement was to be made later in the day but the killers struck first.
Vigneswaran’s safety was under threat last year when two grenades were flung at his residence in Anbuvalipuram by a Tamil speaking youth. Vigneswaran was not at home then.
With the LTTE and TNA accusing the state of having a hand in the assassination political observers expressed concern about the fate of the Geneva talks. [transCurrents.com]
[TamilWeek Apr 2, 2006]
Entry Filed under: transCurrents
