Joseph Pararajasingham was a Sri Lankan politician known for his pro-Tamil Tiger views who represented the Tamil National Alliance party in the Sri Lankan Parliament. He was assasinated while attending midnight mass at Christmas 2005. He was at a church in Batticaloa some 190 miles east of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo when gunmen opened fire on him at close range. The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE, pronounced L-T-T), also known as the Tamil Tigers, is the main Tamil anti-government organization operating in Sri Lanka. ... Formed in November of 2001 in preparation for the December election, the Tamil National Alliance (TNA) is an extreme nationalistic grouping of parties consisting of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC), the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) and the Eelam Peoples Revolutionary Liberation... The Christmas Eve (1904-05), watercolor painting by the Swedish painter Carl Larsson (1853-1919) Christmas Eve, December 24, the day before Christmas Day, is treated to a greater or a lesser extent in most Christian societies as part of the Christmas festivities. ... Christmas is a holiday observed in much of the world on 25 December, or on 7 January in most Eastern Orthodox Churches. ... The town of Batticaloa is the provincial capital of the eastern province of Sri Lanka. ... A mile is a unit of distance (or, in physics terminology, length) currently defined as 5,280 feet, 1,760 yards, or 63,360 inches. ... Towers of downtown Colombo Colombo is the largest city and commercial capital of Sri Lanka. ...