Attempted assassination of Chandrika Kumaratunga

Attempted assassination of Chandrika Kumaratunga
Location	Colombo, Sri Lanka
Date	December 18, 1999
Attack type	Suicide bombing
Deaths	34 [1]
Injured	105+ [2]
Perpetrators	Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
Convicted	Velayutham Varatharajah Chandra Ragupathy [3]
Verdict	30 years in prison (served 22 years; pardoned by President Ranil Wickremesinghe)
Charges	110 charges [4] including aiding and abetting in murder of president, conspiracy, and terrorist attack
Judge	High Court Judge Padmini Ranawaka Gunathilake [3]

On December 18, 1999, the 5th President of Sri Lanka, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, was wounded in a coordinated bomb blast that was attempting to take her life. ^[2] Kumaratunga had been president for one-term, and was campaigning for her second term in office in the 1999 presidential election. Upon leaving her final election rally at Town Hall in the country's capital of Colombo, she was caught in an explosive attack planned by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ^[5]

Kumaratunga survived, but was injured, permanently losing vision in her right eye due to optic nerve damage. ^[6] 34 others were killed in the blast, with an additional 105+ who were injured. In the days following the attack, Kumaratunga won the election, defeating Ranil Wickremesinghe. Just a few short days after the attack, on December 22, 1999, she was sworn in for her second term in office.

Background

President Chandrika Kumaratunga

Main article: Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga

President Chandrika Kumaratunga with Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2015

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the 5th President of Sri Lanka from November 12, 1994, to November 19, 2005. Kumaratunga was the country's first and only female president to date, and the country's second female prime minister. Her mother, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, was the first female prime minister of the country, and the first elected female head-of-state in the world. Prior to both of their terms, Kumaratunga's father, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, had also served as prime minister, until his assassination in 1959 at the hands of a rogue Buddhist monk. ^[7]

In 1978, she married Vijaya Kumaratunga, one of the most popular icons in all of Sri Lankan cinema. Vijaya founded a political party known as Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya, which he led until he himself was assassinated in 1988 by communist insurgents during the JVP Communist Insurrection. ^{[6] [8]} The couple had 2 children together.

During her tenure as president, Kumaratunga led the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, which was founded by her father. While campaigning for her first-term in office, her opponent, Gamini Dissanayake, was assassinated by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. Dissanayake's party, the United National Party (the other of two prominent political parties in Sri Lanka), convinced his wife Srima Dissanayake to run in his place. Chandrika won the presidential election gaining 62.28% of the vote. Becoming the first female President of Sri Lanka, she appointed her mother to succeed her as prime minister. It was her mother's third-term in office as prime minister. ^[9]

Kumaratunga's presidency was defined by large economic reforms and privatization of many government corporations, increasing the recognition and acceptance of Sri Lanka on the international stage with her appointed Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar, and conciliatory moves toward the separatist Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in an attempt to end the ongoing civil war. She was the first Sinhalese president who was willing to listen to and address the issues faced by the Tamil minority community.

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

Main article: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam

The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were a Tamil militant separatist organization that was based in northeastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state, which they called Tamil Eelam, in the north-east of the island where the majority of Tamils resided. They cited the continuous discrimination and violent persecution against Sri Lankan Tamils by the Sinhalese dominated Sri Lankan Government as their motive. ^[10]

Founded in May 1976 by Velupillai Prabhakaran, the LTTE was involved in armed clashes against the Sri Lankan government and its armed forces. Initially starting out as a guerrilla force, the LTTE increasingly came to resemble that of a conventional fighting force with a well-developed military wing that included a navy, an airborne unit, an intelligence wing, and a specialised suicide attack unit. The LTTE popularised and perfected the use of a suicide vest as a weapon, a tactic now used by many current militant organizations. ^[11]

In the years during and since the civil war, many nations have recognized the LTTE as a terrorist organization. Nations that have designated the LTTE as a terrorist group are: European Union, ^[12] Canada, ^[13] India, ^[14] Malaysia, ^[15] Sri Lanka, ^[16] United Kingdom, ^[17] and United States. ^[18]

On December 18, 1999, the LTTE sent an unidentified female suicide bomber to target and assassinate President Kumaratunga. This attempt ultimately failed, although it wounded more than 105 people and killed an additional 34.

Attack

On December 18, 1999, President Kumaratunga was campaigning for her second term in office in the 1999 presidential election. Just two days before election day, upon leaving her final election rally at Town Hall in the country's capital of Colombo, she was caught in an explosive attack planned by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. The terrorist organization had sent an unidentified female suicide bomber, who tried to leap over a barricade. Several of the president's security guards restrained the woman who then detonated a bomb she had strapped to her body as the president was walking towards her vehicle. Cameras were rolling as the bright orange explosion blinded many nearby. The President was found crouched on the pavement with blood pouring from her eyes. One piece of shrapnel had entered the bridge of her nose, damaging her optic nerve. Another pellet lodged in her neck, and a third projectile came within a quarter-inch of her brain. People quickly surrounded her in an attempt to pull her away, while she was still directing operations to get civilians to safety. ^[6]

Kumaratunga survived, but permanently lost vision in her right eye due to the shrapnel which damaged her optic nerve. To this day, Kumaratunga wears a glass eye. 34 others were killed in the blast, with an additional 105+ who were injured. Among the dead were the bomber, several of Kumaratunga's security guards, Sri Lanka's most senior policeman T. N. De Silva, three ministers, and Kumaratunga's chauffeur. Several foreign journalists, including a Japanese television crew and a Reuters photographer were among the injured. ^[5]

Aftermath

Shortly after the blast, another bomb exploded at a gathering of the main opposition United National Party in Ja-Ela, a Colombo suburb, killing 12 more people, including former Major General Lucky Algama, and wounding more than 70 people. ^[5] The suicide bomber for that incident was later identified as Skandaraja Ashoka, working for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. ^[19]

Hundreds of troops were deployed on the streets of Colombo, and the Sri Lankan Defence Ministry announced an indefinite curfew in the capital and surrounding districts such as Gampaha following the attacks. Police and army sealed off the area around the site and the road leading to a private hospital where Kumaratunga was taken. ^[5]

While in the hospital, Kumaratunga feared that the people would retaliate against the Tamil minorities. She urged her secretary to let the public know that she is fine, and to tell them the following, "I know that when people are excited and wanting violence, when they go to a place of worship, they do become calm. I said, 'Tell them my only request is that first they should remain calm and don't try to harm anybody, and secondly that they should all go to their places of worship and pray for me.'" ^[6] There was no violent riot that night.

Kumaratunga's opponent in the election, Ranil Wickremesinghe, was due to address the UNP's last rally in Colombo the day after, but showed up only briefly to thank the crowd and left. ^[5]

While the unidentified female suicide bomber perished in the bomb blast, others were arrested for aiding and abetting in the act. Velayutham Varatharajah and Chandra Ragupathy were both charged with 30 years in prison. ^[3] In 2021, President Ranil Wickremesinghe pardoned the two, while pardoning a total of eight Tamil prisoners. These prisoners were all arrested under Sri Lanka's Prevention of Terrorism Act. Under Article 34 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka, the President is assigned the power to grant amnesty to a person convicted by a court of Sri Lanka. President Wickremesinghe gained consent from President Kumaratunga before proceeding with the pardons. ^[20]

References

1. PTI (February 8, 2021). "Lanka in talks with India to extradite criminal wanted in assassination bid on former Prez: Minister Sarath Weerasekera". The Indian Express. Retrieved on May 5, 2023.
2. Filkins, Dexter; Karunatilake, Waruna (December 19, 1999). "Sri Lankan President Wounded in Suicide Bomber Attack". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on May 4, 2023.
3. (September 30, 2015). "Two get 290, 300 years jail for attempt on Chandrika Kumaratunga". The Hindu. Retrieved on May 5, 2023.
4. (September 30, 2015). "2 suspects who aided and abetted the assassination attempt of former President Chandrika jailed for 300 and 290 years respectively". Hiru News. Retrieved on May 5, 2023.
5. Burke, Jason (December 18, 1999). "Suicide bomber blasts Sri Lanka's woman leader". The Guardian. Retrieved on May 4, 2023.
6. Dugger, Celia (October 8, 2000). "The Blood All Over". The New York Times Magazine. Retrieved on May 4, 2023.
7. Barrow, Ian (Winter 2014). "Finding the nation in assassination: the death of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and the Assertion of a Sinhalese Sri Lankan Identity". The Historian (Vol. 76, Issue 4). Retrieved on May 4, 2023.
8. Seneviratne, Tassie. "Vijaya assassination: Politics kills police professionalism". The Sunday Times. Retrieved on May 4, 2023.
9. Dahlburg, John-Thor (November 11, 1994). "Sri Lankan Premier's Presidential Victory a Landslide : Election: Chandrika Kumaratunga is first woman to attain top post. She pledges to pursue peace with Tamil rebels." Los Angeles Times. Retrieved on May 6, 2023.
10. Stanford Center for International Security and Cooperation – Freeman Spogli Institute. "MMP: Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam | FSI". Stanford University. Retrieved on May 6, 2023.
11. Kuppucāmi, Cellamuttu (2009). Prabhakaran : the story of his struggle for Eelam. ISBN 9788184931686, 8184931689. Oxygen Books.
12. "Eur-Lex – – En". Eur-lex.europa.eu. Archived from the original on July 22, 2012. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
13. "Currently listed entities". Public Safety Canada. Government of Canada. December 21, 2018. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
14. "Banned Organizations". Ministry of Home Affairs (India). Retrieved March 1, 2020.
15. "LIST OF INDIVIDUALS, ENTITIES AND OTHER GROUPS AND UNDERTAKINGS DECLARED BY THE MINISTER OF HOME AFFAIRS AS SPECIFIED ENTITY UNDER SECTION 66B(1)" (PDF). Ministry of Home Affairs (Malaysia). Retrieved May 6, 2023.
16. "LTTE is banned by the SL Govt: with immediate effect". February 11, 2009. Archived from the original on February 11, 2009. Retrieved on May 6, 2023.
17. "Proscribed terrorist groups or organisations". Home Office. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
18. "Foreign Terrorist Organizations". United States Department of State. Archived from the original on February 27, 2020. Retrieved May 6, 2023.
19. "Suicide Attacks by the LTTE Project Ploughshares: Armed Conflicts Report – Sri Lanka" on Wayback Machine (September 24, 2015). South Asia Terrorism Portal. Retrieved on May 5, 2023.
20. (October 24, 2022). "CBK assassination attempt suspects among LTTE prisoners pardoned". Ada Derana. Retrieved on May 6, 2023.