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Ahangama Withanage Oswin Nandimithra Abeyagoonasekera[1] (known as Ossie Abeygunasekera; died 1994) was a member of Parliament and chairman and the leader of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya or Party.[2] He was assassinated by a female suicide bomber of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) while attending an election rally in support of Gamini Dissanayake, for the presidential election of 1994.[3] He was an alumnus of Ananda College, St.Benedict's College, Colombo.
Ossie Abeyagoonasekera | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Member of Parliament for Colombo District | |
| In office 25 August 1994 – 24 October 1994 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 7 August 1950 |
| Died | 24 October 1994 (aged 44) Thotalanga, Grandpass, Sri Lanka. |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya |
| Other political affiliations | United National Party |
| Alma mater | Ananda College |
He was arrested as a Naxalite prisoner in 1982 along with Vijaya Kumaratunga for printing the "Rice ration book". In 1986, he negotiated with the LTTE for a peaceful solution of the ethnic conflict and for the release of the Sri Lankan soldiers who was captured. After the death of his close friend Vijaya Kumaratunga, founder of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, he became the party's leader in 1988 until his death in 1994. He contested the presidential election in 1989, creating the United Socialist Alliance (USA). During the 1989 youth insurrection in Sri Lanka, there were several failed assassination attempts to his life. His political party lost the most members, 114 lives, during the insurrection. He was an excellent orator and a visionary political leader. In 1994 he was elected to parliament under the United National Party ticket.
Ossie Abeyagunasekera's father, A. W. A. Abeyagunasekera, was also a politician, member of the Colombo Municipal Council and the chairman of Sri Lanka Ports Authority. A.W.A. Abeyagunasekera defeated in Kelaniya by R. S. Perera in the 1960s. A. W. A. Abeyagunasekera died in the Air India Flight 855 crash in Mumbai.[4]
Ossie Abeyagunasekera was married with one child, Asanga Abeyagoonasekera, who was the founding director general of the Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka.[5]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "Hon. Abayagoonasekera, Ahangama Withanage Oswin Nandimithra, M.P." Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 11 June 2023.
- ^ "Biographyon Ossie".
- ^ Jane's Sentinel examines the success of the LTTE in resisting the Sri Lankan forces
- ^ "Obituaries". Daily News. Retrieved 24 August 2021.
- ^ "Asanga appointed DG of Institute of National Security Studies Sri Lanka". Daily FT. 9 August 2020. Retrieved 29 August 2020.