Vijaya Kumaranatunga

Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga (Sinhalese: කොවිලගේ ඇන්ටන් විජය කුමාරණතුංග Tamil: விஜய_குமாரணதுங்க; 9 October 1945 – 16 February 1988), also known as Vijaya Kumaranatunga, was a popular Sri Lankan film actor and politician, married to former Sri Lankan president Chandrika Kumaranatunga from 1978 to his assassination in 1988.

In 1978, Kumaranatunga married Chandrika Bandaranaike, daughter of the Sri Lankan Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. Vijaya Kumaranatunga and Chandrika Bandaranaike had two children, Yasodhara Kumaranatunga Walker, a UK-based physician, and Vimukthi Kumaranatunga, a vet.

Kumaranatunga's first film was Hanthane Kathawa, in which he played the lead role. Since then, in a career that spanned nearly two decades, he acted in 114 films including Eya Den Loku Lamayek (1975), Ponmani (1977), Bambaru Avith (1977), Ganga Addara (1980), Baddegama (1980), Paradige (1980), Maha Gedara (1980), Kedapathaka Chaya (1989) and Kristhu Charithaya (1990). He also won several awards. He won the most popular actors award in Sri Lanka from 1983 to 1988. That was a record in the history of Sri Lankan cinema. He was posthumously awarded as the best actor for the role he played in Kedapathaka Chaya. He performed as a playback singer as well in several films and won the Best Playback Singer Award for two times (For "Saharawe Sihinya" Movie - "Walakulak Gena Muwa Karamu Hiru....." & "Dolosmahe Pahana" Movie- "Sara Guwana Wida Neguna....."). Also, he sang more than 100 songs by releasing nearly 10 cassettes (Ganga Addara, Kawluwa Atharin, Vedana, Dinakara Paya, Vijaya Gee, Seetha Reyedi, Mangala Nekatha, Sudu Duwa, Roossa Gaha Langa). He sang all his songs without taking any money. During his career, Vijaya performed in one English film, The God King, and one Tamil film, Nanguran. The only film he produced was Waradata Danduwam, which was screened after his death.

He was also a politician, who started his political life in the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. He later joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and was SLFP's 1st National Organizer and unsuccessfully contested the Katana seat in 1977. He was active in the presidential campaign of Hector Kobbekaduwa in 1982. After the election, he was jailed under the emergency regulations by J.R Jayawardena for allegedly being a "Naxalite" (a political creed hitherto and henceforth unknown in Sri Lanka), but he was never charged. He contested Mahara by-election under SLFP candidature in 1983 and was maltreated by UNP supporters. An attempt was made on his life and one of his friends was killed. Vijaya won the first round of counting and a second round was ordered. At that point an infamous blackout occurred at the counting centre. By the time electricity was restored, the UNP candidate had recorded a victory by a few votes. The opposition insisted that someone had literally "eaten some of Vijaya's votes to ensure UNP victory".

He founded the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP). He and his party argued for peace in the then ongoing civil war in Sri Lanka. He contested the Minneriya by-election under the newly elected SLMP and recorded the second place in the competition that was won by the UNP candidate however sending his old party SLFP to a humiliating third position. His party then contested at several by-elections including Kundasale and Habaraduwa but did not live up to expectations. In his final public address Kumaratunga who had a political mission - one that transcended political barriers expressed his unconcealed dislike for feudalistic politics of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), a party that failed to sustain his interest due to its sheer lack of liberal thinking. Addressing the mammoth public rally held at Campbell Park on January 28, 1988, Kumaratunga lashed out at the UNP, SLFP and the JVP for failing to address the need of the hour. Interestingly, Kumaratunga also voiced his concerns about the SLFP's links with the JVP. In 1988 his party came to a concillation with several other left wing parties including LSSP, NSSP, Sri Lanka Communist Party and EPRLF to form a new alliance-United Socialist alliance(USA). A few days prior to the establishment of the new alliance,Vijaya was assassinated. The agreement for USA was signed by the party leaders at his funeral ceremony.USA won a large number of seats in the newly erected provincial councils in an election that was boycotted by the main opposition SLFP. Later USA forwarded Ossie Abeygoonasekera as its presidential candidate and he would record the last place at the presidential elections in 1988. USA contested at the 1989 Parliamentary Elections and won three seats including one from the national list however all the winners represented member parties of USA other than SLMP.

in 1986, Vijaya Kumaranatunga visited Jaffna which was under LTTE Control. A rare video shows that he visited Nallur Murugan Temple and met the local Tamil civilians. He met several Youth LTTE Leaders before returning to Lankan Military Camp.

Kumaranatunga was shot in the head with a Type 56 assault rifle outside his residence in the outskirts of Colombo on 16 February 1988 at 12.20pm by Lionel Ranasinghe alias Gamini, who later confessed to the murder upon being questioned by the Criminal Investigation Department (CID). Ranasinghe, in a 141-page statement, confessed that he was merely carrying out orders given to him by the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV)/Patriotic People's Movement, the military arm of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front), a Marxist organization which is responsible for assassinations during the late 1980s. However, the Presidential Commission report had concluded that President Ranasinghe Premadasa, Gamini Lokuge and the Deputy Minister of Defence Ranjan Wijeratne of the United National Party had been behind the Vijaya Kumaratunga assassination. Kumaratunga's widow Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga also holds this view. Kumaratunga's funeral had attracted the most number of people for a funeral in Sri Lanka. Vijaya's coffin was only partly opened (the head part was closed due to damage sustained during the assassination). The funeral was held at the Independence Square in Colombo on 21 February 1988 as a state funeral, though he represented the opposition arena against the UNP government. It was the first ever funeral ceremony to be telecast live on a Sri Lankan TV Channel (by Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation). Twelve people reportedly committed suicide after hearing of his death. His assassination day (16 February 1988) is widely known as the "The Horrible Tuesday" or "The Darkest Tuesday in Sri Lankan History". Kumaranatunga's death is still mourned by many people in Sri Lanka.