them to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state; and the Black July riots in which up to 3,000 Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs. After three months of absence, Amirthalingam forfeited his seat in Parliament on 22 October 1983. Amirthalingam and his family, like many families of leading Tamil politicians, fled to Madras (now Chennai), Tamil Nadu. Whilst in India Amirthalingam took part in numerous peace talks. After the signing of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord in 1987 Amirthalingam returned to Sri Lanka. Amirthalingam and his wife moved into a house in Bullers Road (Baudhaloka Mawatha) in the Cinnamon Gardens area of Colombo. The house was shared with other leading TULF politicians (M. Sivasithamparam, V. Yogeswaran and Mavai Senathirajah) and their families. Amirthalingam was one of the TULF's candidates in Batticaloa District at the 1989 parliamentary election but failed to get elected. He was however appointed as a National List Member of Parliament for the TULF after the election. Assassination In effort to bring about unity amongst the Tamils, Yogeswaran made contact with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and met with them several times. He arranged a meeting between the Tamil Tigers and the TULF leaders at their Bullers Road residence. On the evening of 13 July 1989 three men, Peter Aloysius Leon (Vigna), Rasiah Aravindarajah (Visu) and Sivakumar (Arivu), arrived at the residence. Aloysius and Visu went inside the house whilst Sivakumar remained outside. The two men met with Yogeswaran, Amirthalingam and Sivasithamparam in Yogeswaran's apartment on the first floor. The meeting seemed to be going well when suddenly Visu pulled out a gun and shot Amirthalingam in the head and chest. Yogeswaran stood up but was shot by Aloysius and Visu. Security guards heard the shots and rushed in, shooting the assailants who were injured. The assailants shot Sivasithamparam in the shoulder before running downstairs. They were chased and shot dead by the security guards. Sivakumar was also shot and died later of his injuries. Amirthalingam and Yogeswaran were killed but Sivasithamparam survived. The Tamil Tigers initially denied responsibility for the assassinations but later accepted responsibility. Further reading See also List of assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War References External links A. Amirthalingam: Life and Struggle 1927 births 1989 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Alumni of the Ceylon University College Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians Ceylonese advocates Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi politicians Leaders of