Ariyanayagam Chandranehru (; 15 October 1944 – 8 February 2005) was a Sri Lankan merchant seaman, politician and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Chandranehru was born 15 October 1944. He was from Thirukkovil in south-eastern

Ceylon Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, also known historically as Ceylon, is an island country in South Asia. It lies in the Indian Ocean, southwest of the Bay of Bengal, separated from the Indian subcontinent, ...

. He was named after two leading

Indian independence activists Indian or Indians may refer to: Associated with India * of or related to India ** Indian people ** Indian diaspora ** Languages of India ** Indian English, a dialect of the English language ** Indian cuisine Associated with indigenous peoples o ...

admired by his father –

Subhas Chandra Bose Subhas Chandra Bose (23 January 1897 – 18 August 1945) was an Indian independence movement, Indian nationalist whose defiance of British raj, British authority in India made him a hero among many Indians, but his wartime alliances with ...

and

Jawaharlal Nehru Jawaharlal Nehru (14 November 1889 – 27 May 1964) was an Indian anti-colonial nationalist, secular humanist, social democrat, and statesman who was a central figure in India during the middle of the 20th century. Nehru was a pr ...

. Chandranehru was the son of K. A. W. Ariyanayagam (Arappor Ariyanayagam), one of the founders of the

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK; ; , ) is a Sri Lankan political party which represents the Sri Lankan Tamil minority in the country. It was originally founded in 1949 as a breakaway faction of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC). In 1972, ITA ...

(Federal Party). Ariyanayagam was a follower of the Gandhiyam way of life and took part in the non-violent

civil rights Civil and political rights are a class of rights that protect individuals' political freedom, freedom from infringement by governments, social organizations, and private individuals. They ensure one's entitlement to participate in the civil and ...

protests by Tamils in the 1950s and 1960s. Chandranehru took part in the

satyagraha Satyāgraha (from ; ''satya'': "truth", ''āgraha'': "insistence" or "holding firmly to"), or "holding firmly to truth",' or "truth force", is a particular form of nonviolent resistance or civil resistance. Someone who practises satyagraha is ...

s of 1956 and 1961. However, he, like many young Tamils, became disillusioned with non-violent protests and began to support

militant The English word ''militant'' is both an adjective and a noun, and it is generally used to mean vigorously active, combative and/or aggressive, especially in support of a cause, as in "militant reformers". It comes from the 15th century Lat ...

armed struggle. Chandranehru's family were protestant Christians and his brother Ruban was a Methodist pastor. Chandranehru's son Chandrakanthan is a former Member of Parliament.

Career

Chandranehru joined the public service, working at the fisheries department in Kalpitiya. He then started working as a second officer on a Maldivian ship. After six years he became

captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader or highest rank officer of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police depa ...

of a ship. In the mid 1980s, when he returned home for a holiday, he was arrested under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and detained at Boosa prison for more than a year. This increased his support for achieving a separate Tamil state through armed struggle. In the late 1990s he gave up shipping, returned home to Thirukkovil and became a businessman, buying several shops. Chandranehru contested the 2001 parliamentary election as one of the

Tamil National Alliance The Tamil National Alliance (TNA; ISO 15919: ''tamiḻt tēciyakkūṭṭamaippu'') was a political alliance in Sri Lanka which represented the Sri Lankan Tamil minority of the country. It was formed in October 2001 by a group of moderate T ...

's (TNA) candidates in

Ampara District Ampara District (; ) is one of the 25 Districts of Sri Lanka, districts of Sri Lanka, the second-level administrative divisions of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a Government Agent (Sri Lanka), Distric ...

. He was elected and entered

Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

. He failed to get re-elected at the 2004 parliamentary election after coming second amongst the TNA candidates. Chandranehru and others founded NESOHR (North East Secretariat on Human Rights) on 9 July 2004.

Assassination

On the night of 7 February 2005 Chandranehru, along with several members of the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

(LTTE), were travelling from

Polonnaruwa Poḷonnaruwa, (; ) also referred as Pulathisipura and Vijayarajapura in History of Sri Lanka, ancient times, is the main town of Polonnaruwa District in North Central Province, Sri Lanka. The modern town of Polonnaruwa is also known as New Town, ...

to Thirukkovil along the Polonnaruwa-Batticaloa highway in a blue Toyota Dolphin van. At around 7.45 pm, at Pillaiyaarady near Namalgama, 40 km north-west of Batticaloa and inside government controlled territory, their vehicle was overtaken by a white van, which had been following them, which then blocked the road. Men dressed in military uniforms got out of the white van and ordered the occupants of Chandranehru's Dolphin van to get out. The two police officers providing security for Chandranehru did not resist as the men were in military uniforms. The men in military uniforms then started shooting at Chandranehru and his group. E. Kousalyan, the LTTE's political head for Batticaloa-Ampara District, and four other LTTE members (Nithimaran, Vinodhan, Kamalan and Kumanan) were killed. Chandranehru was seriously injured in the attack and was taken to hospital in Colombo National Hospital but the following day (8) he died of his injuries. The attack took place close to several

Sri Lanka Army The Sri Lanka Army (; ) is the oldest and largest of the Sri Lanka Armed Forces. The army was officially established as the Ceylon Army in 1949, though the army traces its roots back in 1881 when Ceylon Light Infantry Volunteers was created; ...

camps including Namalgama, Ruwanpitiya, Welikanda, Punanai and Kadwathmadu. The assassination was blamed on the government backed Karuna paramilitary group and the Sri Lankan military. The Tamil National Force, a TMVP (Karuna Group)/ ENDLF front, claimed responsibility for the attack. On 12 February 2005 the LTTE conferred the title Maamanithar (great human being) on Chandranehru.

Electoral history

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chandranehru, A. 1944 births 2005 deaths Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Maamanithar Members of the 12th Parliament of Sri Lanka People from Eastern Province, Sri Lanka People killed during the Sri Lankan civil war People from British Ceylon Sri Lankan Methodists Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan businesspeople Tamil politicians Sri Lankan terrorism victims Tamil National Alliance politicians Tamil United Liberation Front politicians Terrorism deaths in Sri Lanka Asian politicians assassinated in the 2000s Politicians assassinated in 2005