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The following is a list of notable assassinations of the Second JVP Insurrection , most of which were carried out by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or by government security forces.
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The following is a list of notable assassinations of the Second JVP Insurrection , most of which were carried out by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or by government security forces.
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jinadasa Weerasinghe | UNP MP (Tangalle) | 31 July 1987 | Angunakolapelessa | Shot | JVP is blamed. [1] [2] |
| Keerthisena Abeywickrama | UNP MP (Deniyaya) | 18 August 1987 | Parliament of Sri Lanka, Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte | Bombing | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] [1] [2] |
| Harsha Abeywardena | Chairman, UNP | 23 December 1987 | Wellawatte | Shot | JVP is blamed. [1] |
| Daya Sepali Senadheera | UNP MP (Karandeniya) | 1988 | JVP is blamed. [1] | ||
| Vijaya Kumaratunga | Founder of Sri Lanka Mahajana Party and actor | 16 February 1988 | Colombo | Shot | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] [1] |
| G.V.S. de Silva | District Minister & UNP MP (Habaraduwa) | 1 May 1988 | Galle | JVP is blamed. [4] [1] | |
| Nandalal Fernando | General Secretary, UNP | 20 May 1988 | Wellawatte | JVP is blamed. [1] | |
| S. B. Yalegama | Former SLFP MP (Rattota) & USA candidate | 28 May 1988/ 25 August 1988? | Matale | JVP is blamed. [3] [1] [2] | |
| L.W. Panditha | CPSL member and trade unionist | 27 July 1988 | Dematagoda, Colombo District | JVP is blamed. [3] | |
| Lionel Jayatilake | Minister & UNP MP (Kuliyapitiya) | 26 September 1988 | Kuliyapitiya | Shot | JVP is blamed. [4] [1] [2] |
| Indrapala Abeyweera | SLFP organiser, Kalutara | 10 January 1989 | JVP is blamed. [3] [1] | ||
| P.D. Wimalsena | LSSP member and trade unionist | 15 May 1989 | JVP is blamed. [3] | ||
| Merrill Kariyawasam | UNP MP (Agalawatta) | September 1989 | JVP is blamed. [4] [1] [2] | ||
| O. Kariyawasam | Liberal candidate | 26 October 1989 | Wattala, Gampaha District | JVP is blamed. [3] | |
| W.M.P.G. Banda | UNP MP (Galagedara) | JVP is blamed. [1] | |||
| Lesley Ranagala | UNP MP (Borella) | Shot | JVP is blamed. [1] |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rohana Wijeweera | Leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 13 November 1989 | Borella | Shot | Government Forces are blamed. [5] |
| Upatissa Gamanayake | Deputy leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 13 November 1989 | Government Forces are blamed. [5] | ||
| Saman Piyasiri Fernando | Military wing leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 29 December 1989 | Government Forces are blamed. |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thevis Guruge | Chairman, ITN & broadcaster, Radio Ceylon | 23 July 1989 | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] | ||
| Premakeerthi de Alwis | Broadcaster | 31 July 1989 | Colombo | Shot | Pro-government paramilitary squads are blamed. [3] [4] |
| K. Amaratunge | Chief News Editor, Rupavahini | 13 August 1989 | JVP is blamed. [3] | ||
| Sagarika Gomes | Broadcaster, Rupavahini | 13 September 1989 | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] | ||
| Richard de Zoysa | Journalist, author, human rights activist and actor | 18 February 1990 | Moratuwa | Shot | Pro-government paramilitary squads are blamed. [6] |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Professor Stanley Wijesundera [7] | Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo | 8 March 1989 | Colombo | Gunshot | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] |
| Professor Chandratne Patuwathavithane | Vice Chancellor, University of Moratuwa | JVP is blamed. [3] [4] | |||
| Captain T.E. Nagahawatte | Assistant Registrar, University of Peradeniya | October 1989 | Peradeniya | Gunshot | JVP is blamed. [8] |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| D. C. Athukorale | Chief Engineer, Colombo Port Authority | 17 November 1988 | Welikada | Gunshot | JVP is blamed. [9] |
| E. Liayana Pathirana | Working Director, Salt Corporation | 22 June 1989 | Opanayake | Gunshot | JVP is blamed. [9] |
| Wijedasa Liyanarachchi | Lawyer | 2 September 1989 | General Hospital, Colombo | Multiple injuries resulting from torture | Sri Lanka Police is blamed. [10] [11] |
| Dr Gladys Jayawardene | Chairperson, State Pharmaceuticals Corporation | 12 September 1989 | Slave Island, Colombo | Gunshot | JVP is blamed. [3] |
| Neville Nissanka | Lawyer | 3 October 1989 | Miriswatta, Gampaha | Gunshot | PRRA is blamed. |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Terrence Perera | Deputy Inspector General of Police, Director - Counter Subversive Division | 12 December 1987 | Battaramulla | Shot | JVP is blamed. [12] |
| Bennet Perera | Deputy Inspector General of Police, Director, Criminal Investigation Department | 1 May 1989 | Mount Lavinia | Shot | JVP is blamed. |
| Victim | Position | Date | Location | Method | Perpetrator(s) |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Daya Pathirana | Leader, Independent Students Union, University of Colombo | 15 December 1986 | Near Bolgoda Lake, Piliyandala | Cut-throat | JVP led Inter University Students' Federation (IUSF) is blamed. [4] [13] [14] [15] |
| Padmasiri Thrimavitharana | Medical student and prominent student activist | 22 October 1988 | Rathnapura | Multiple injuries resulting from torture | Pro-government paramilitary squads are blamed. [16] |
| Nandathilaka Galappaththi | Education Secretary and Political Secretary of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna | 10 September 1989 | Mattegoda | Multiple injuries resulting from torture | Paramilitary squads are blamed. [17] |
| P. R. B. Wimalarathna | Teacher and the leader of the National Center for Workers' Struggle. | 19 September 1989 | Borella | Multiple injuries resulting from torture | Paramilitary squads are blamed. [18] |
The number of activists killed exceeded 13,000 as the following quote from Barbara Harff, professor of political science emerita at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland showed:
“And on the democratic side, Sri Lanka is one clear case of a democratic regime that in 1989–90 authorized military squads to track down and summarily execute members and suspected supporters of the JVP (Peoples Liberation Party), which had begun its second rebellion that threatened to overthrow the state. Between 13,000 and 30,000 were killed in this politicide...” [19]
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna is a Marxist–Leninist communist party in Sri Lanka. The party was formerly a revolutionary movement and was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and another in 1987–89 (UNP). The motive for both uprisings was to establish a socialist state.
Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera, better known as Rohana Wijeweera, was a Sri Lankan Marxist–Leninist political activist, revolutionary, and founder of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. Wijeweera led the party in two unsuccessful insurrections in Sri Lanka, in 1971 and 1987 to 1989.
The 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, also known as the 1988–1989 revolt or the JVP troubles, was an armed revolt in Sri Lanka, led by the Marxist–Leninist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, against the Government of Sri Lanka. The insurrection, like the previous one in 1971, was unsuccessful. The main phase of the insurrection was a low-intensity conflict that lasted from April 1987 to December 1989. The insurgents led by the JVP resorted to subversion, assassinations, raids, and attacks on military and civilian targets while the Sri Lankan government reacted through counter-insurgency operations to suppress the revolt.
General Ranjan Wijeratne was a Sri Lankan planter and politician. He served in the Premadasa cabinet as Minister of Foreign Affairs and then Minister of Plantation Industries, while holding the office of State Minister for Defence.
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The assassination of Daya Pathirana took place on 15 December 1986. Daya Pathirana was the leader of the Independent Students Union of University of Colombo during 1985–1986. Pro-Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna activists are accused of his murder. This assassination is considered as a watershed incident in the 1987–1989 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection.
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Don Upatissa Gamanayake, also known by his alias Dias Mudalali, was a Sri Lankan politician and the deputy leader of the Jantha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) during the 1987–1989 insurrection. Not a prominent figure during the JVP's 1971 insurrection, Gamanayake emerged as a leader only after the releasing of the JVP detainees in 1977. He moved up rapidly in the party hierarchy during the JVP's 1977–1983 democratic phase and became the second in command after the founder and the leader, Rohana Wijeweera. He unsuccessfully contested the 1983 Anamaduwa by-election under JVP. Gamanayake was captured and killed by the government forces in November 1989.
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