Kadirgamapillai (Kathirkamar) Nallainathan ( ta, க. உமாமகேசுவரன்; 18 February 1945 – 16 July 1989; commonly known by the

nom de guerre A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person or group assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true name ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individu ...

Uma Maheswaran) was a

Sri Lankan Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern P ...

rebel and founder/leader of the

People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam The People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE) is a former Tamil militant group that had become a pro-government paramilitary group and political party. PLOTE's political wing is known as the Democratic People's Liberation Front. O ...

(PLOTE), a separatist Tamil militant organisation in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

Early life

Maheswaran was born on 18 February 1945 and was from Varuthalaivilan near Tellippalai in northern

. He worked for the government as a surveyor.

LTTE

Maheswaran joined the militant

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

(LTTE) in 1977. The LTTE gave him the

Mukundan. He was chairman of the LTTE's central committee from 1977 to 1980. He received military training in Lebanon and Syria. Maheswaran and LTTE leader

V. Prabhakaran Velupillai Prabhakaran (; ta, வேலுப்பிள்ளை பிரபாகரன்; , (26 November 1954 – 18 May 2009) was a Sri Lankan Tamil guerrilla and the founder and leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE ...

were blamed for the shooting of MP

M. Canagaratnam Mylvaganam Canagaratnam (15 April 1924 – 20 April 1980) was a Sri Lankan Tamil politician and Member of Parliament. Canagaratnam stood as the Tamil United Liberation Front's candidate for Pottuvil at the 1977 parliamentary election. He ca ...

on 24 January 1978. In 1982 A Sri Lankan court sentenced Maheswaran, in absentia, to 15 years rigorous imprisonment for the attempted murder. Maheswaran fell out with Prabhakaran and in 1980 he left the organisation.

PLOTE

After leaving the LTTE, Maheswaran founded the

(PLOTE). On the night of 19 May 1982 Maheswaran along fellow PLOTE members Jotheeswaran and Sivaneswaran (Nirnajan) were involved in a shootout with Prabhakaran and Raghavan (Sivakumar) of the LTTE at the Pondy bazaar in Thiyagarayanagar,

Madras Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India. Jotheeswaran was injured and hospitalised but Maheswaran and Sivaneswaran escaped. Maheswaran was arrested near Gummidipoondi railway station on 25 May 1982 after a shoot out with the police but was later bailed. Maheswaran and PLOTE carried out bank robberies and kidnappings to finance their activities. Maheswaran's actions led to divisions within PLOTE and number of splinter groups were formed including the

Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front The Eelam National Democratic Liberation Front (ENDLF) is a former Indian backed Tamil militant group in Sri Lanka. It was formed in 1987 as an amalgamation of splinter groups from other militant groups (Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Fr ...

(ENDLF). Maheswaran dealt harshly with dissension and is alleged to have carried out 38 murders. Maheswaran was involved in the failed 1988 Maldives Coup. On 16 July 1989 Maheswaran was abducted by six men in

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

. His bullet ridden body was later found on Frankfurt Place, Bambalapitiya, near the Maldivian High Commission. The ENDLF, an Indian backed offshoot of PLOTE, claimed responsibility for the

assassination Assassination is the murder of a prominent or important person, such as a head of state, head of government, politician, world leader, member of a royal family or CEO. The murder of a celebrity, activist, or artist, though they may not have ...

. Some sources blamed the assassination on disgruntled members of PLOTE.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Uma Maheswaran 1945 births 1989 deaths Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam members People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka People of British Ceylon People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam militants People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War Sri Lankan Tamil rebels Sri Lankan Tamil surveyors Indian Peace Keeping Force