Alfred Duraiappah
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Alfred Duraiappah (died 27 July 1975) was a former MP and mayor of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, whose murder by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran marked the beginning of violent phase of the Sri Lankan civil war.
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[edit] First political murder
Alfred Duriappah was a former MP and mayor of Jaffna, Sri Lanka, whose assassination by the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran in July 1975 marks the beginning of violent phase of the Sri Lankan civil war. He was killed on his way to a Hindu temple for prayers. This is in spite of him being a Tamil Christian.
"Pirapaharan did what Sivakumaran failed to do. He killed Alfred Duraiappah."[1] states an inside news reporter, although the allegation has not been proven through court deliberations.
[edit] Revenge Killing?
His murder came about as a revenge due to the killing of 9 (see 1974 Tamil conference incident) Tamil civilians by the Sri Lankan police. The killings happened during an international conference on Tamil language that took place in Jaffna. It was alleged that the organizers who were Tamil nationalists as opposed to Alfred Duriappah who was aligned to the Sri Lankan Sinhalese nationalistic Party the SLFP shunned him in the proceedings. This alleged insult led to police intervention in some pretext that lead to the civilian deaths.
[edit] His tenure and Jaffna prosperity
Nevertheless his tenure as the Mayor of a long neglected city saw it endowed with funds for development from the government in Colombo. Roads were paved, stadiums built and jobs were provided to youth. His period of office also saw the general prosperity of the Jaffna farmer who were the back bone of the society as the prices of onions, chilies and other native produce sky rocketed due to the adherence a planned socialist economy by Colombo banned the importation of these items from abroad.
[edit] Not the last political killing
What began as a single act of political murder has during the last 20 years turned into the death of over 5,000 (est.) or more Tamils in revenge killings by various militant groups including the LTTE. In 2005 alone over 200 (est.) Tamil civilians were killed by various actors in Sri Lanka.
