The assassination of Daya Pathirana took place on 15 December 1986.

Daya Pathirana 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 (some of them were members o ...

was the leader of the Independent Students Union of

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

during 1985-1986. Pro-

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

activists (some of them were members of

Inter University Students' Federation Inter-University Students' Federation ( si, අන්තර් විශ්වවිද්‍යාලයීය ශිෂ්‍ය බලමණ්ඩලය , translit=Anthar Vishvavidyaleeya Shishya Balamandalaya) is a confederation of students' ...

) are accused of his murder. This assassination is considered as a watershed incident in the 1987–1989 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection.

Background

Daya Pathirana pioneered the Independent Students Union of

University of Colombo (Buddhih Sarvatra Bhrajate) , mottoeng = ''Wisdom Enlightens'' , established = , endowment = Sri Lankan rupee, LKR 1.461 1,000,000,000 (number), billion

during his study at the Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo. In the book ''Sri Lanka: The Travails of Unfinished War, Protracted Crisis'' (1995),

Dr. Doctor is an academic title that originates from the Latin word of the same spelling and meaning. The word is originally an agentive noun of the Latin verb 'to teach'. It has been used as an academic title in Europe since the 13th century, w ...

Dayan Jayatilleka Dayan Jayatilleka ( si, දයාන් ජයතිලක; born 1956) is a leftist Sri Lankan academic, diplomat, writer and politician. Early life and family Jayatilleka was born in 1956. He is the son of Mervyn de Silva and Lakshmi Sylvia Fe ...

describes Pathirana as a very poor student, a radical leftist, not a member of the

old Left The Old Left was the pre-1960s left-wing in the Western world, the earlier leftist or Marxist movements that had often taken a more vanguardist approach to social justice and focused mostly on labor unionization and questions of social class in ...

or the traditional Left. Although he was leftist, he vehemently opposed

, the Marxist-Leninist

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

which had almost total control over the

students' union A students' union, also known by many other names, is a student organization present in many colleges, universities, and high schools. In higher education, the students' union is often accorded its own building on the campus, dedicated to social, ...

s in

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. Therefore he and the Independent Students Union led by him became the most serious threat to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna control. In a report named ''Insurrectionary Violence in Sri Lanka: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Insurgencies of 1971 and 1987-1989'', Tisaranee Gunasekara describes Pathirana as a "radical student activist, with impeccable anti-

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

/anti-systemic credentials". Taking over the entire university system was a vital objective, because the

was earmarked by the leadership of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to be the public political face of the party.

Abduction and assassination

On 15 December 1986, he along with a colleague named Somasiri was abducted to a lonely spot off the

Bolgoda Lake Bolgoda Lake or Bolgoda River ( si, බොල්ගොඩ වැව, ta, போல்கோடா ஏரி) is a freshwater lake in the Western Province of Sri Lanka, straddling the border between Colombo District and Kalutara District. It consi ...

Piliyandala Piliyandala ( si, පිළියන්දල, ta, பிலியந்தலை) is a suburb in Colombo, Sri Lanka. It is situated approximately south of Colombo. Piliyandala clock tower According to local residents and documentation, Pi ...

. The abductors then began to torture him and Somasiri, demanding information about other student and left activists. This was interrupted by a group of pilgrims (as it was the full moon

poya day Poya is the name given to the Lunar monthly Buddhist holiday of Uposatha in Sri Lanka, where it is a civil and bank holiday. Full moon day is normally considered as the poya day in every month. Poya A Poya occurs every full moon.

) It saved the life of Somasiri. But Pathirana's throat was slit at the point of intervention, and he eventually succumbed to his wounds.

Aftermath

The assassination of Daya Pathirana is considered as the first

targeted killing Targeted killing is a form of murder or assassination carried out by governments outside a judicial procedure or a battlefield. Since the late 20th century, the legal status of targeted killing has become a subject of contention within and betw ...

of the 1987–89 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection. The subsequent uprising proved extremely costly to the country, leaving approximately 60,000 dead or missing. During its earlier stages, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna unleashed violence killing radical leftist figures like Daya Pathirana and

Vijaya Kumaratunga Kovilage Anton Vijaya Kumaranatunga ( si, කොවිලගේ ඇන්ටන් විජය කුමාරණතුංග; ta, விஜய_குமாரணதுங்க; 9 October 1945 – 16 February 1988), popularly known as Vijaya ...

in a bid to neutralize the threats from the left-wing politics itself. However in 1996, six years after the failed insurrection, General Secretary Tilvin Silva denied that Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna was involved in the Daya Pathirana murder.

References

{{coord missing, Sri Lanka Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya Pathirana, Daya

Background

Abduction and assassination

Aftermath

Further reading

See also

References