Karuna Amman
| Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan | |
|---|---|
| Member of the Sri Lankan Parliament for National List |
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In office 7 October 2008 – 26 June 2015 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born | 1966 (age 50–51) Kiran, Batticaloa District |
| Nationality | Sri Lankan |
| Political party | SLFP, formerly TMVP |
| Spouse(s) | Nira |
| Children | three children |
| Religion | Hindu |
Vinayagamoorthy Muralitharan (nom de guerre: Colonel Karuna Amman; Tamil: விநாயகமூர்த்தி முரளிதரன், born 1966) is a Sri Lankan politician and former militant. After fighting for the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam for over 20 years, he rose to prominence as the leader of the Tamil Makkal Viduthalai Pulikal (TMVP), a breakaway faction of the LTTE.
After giving up arms and entering politics, he was appointed as a National List Member of Parliament for the ruling United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA), the party of President Mahinda Rajapakse, in 2008 and sworn in as Minister of National Integration on March 9, 2009. He later joined the Sri Lanka Freedom Party, the largest party in the UPFA, and on April 24, 2009 he appointed a Vice President of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Muralitharan was born in Kiran, a village in the Batticaloa district in eastern Sri Lanka to Vinayagamoorthy, an agriculturist from the Vaisyas Caste (Farming and Business Community). He joined the LTTE in 1983 and became a top commander of the Eastern Province. He was a former bodyguard to LTTE chief Velupillai Prabhakaran.
In March 2004, Muralitharan broke away from the Tamil Tigers after he alleged they were ignoring the interests of the eastern Tamil people, and claimed to have renounced violence at this point. This move by Karuna, to break away from the LTTE and renounce terrorism has been claimed to be one of the major turning points that brought about the end of the two and a half decade conflict. He betrayed and helped to capture LTTE bases. Former Member of Parliament Seyed Ali Zahir Moulana has been hailed as being instrumental in Karuna renouncing terrorism, who in turn joined the democratic mainstream.
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