Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva (born 1965) is a former Sri Lankan navy sailor and an astrologer. He is noted for his assault on

Indian Prime Minister The prime minister of India (IAST: ) is the head of government of the Republic of India. Executive authority is vested in the prime minister and their chosen Council of Ministers, despite the president of India being the nominal head of the ...

Rajiv Gandhi on 30 July 1987 at

President's House, Colombo President's House is the official residence and workplace of the President of Sri Lanka, located at Janadhipathi Mawatha, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Since 1804 it had been the residence of British Governors and Governors-General and was known as the ...

. It was claimed by some as an attempted assassination. He later contested a general election under the Sihala Urumaya party in 2000.

Early life and naval career

Born in

Boossa Boossa is a small town on the south coast of Sri Lanka, located in the Galle District of the Southern Province. It is approximately south of Colombo and north of Galle, immediately north of the mouth of the Gin Gaga (Gin River). It is situate ...

, Ratgama in the southern province of Sri Lanka; he studied at Gintota Maha Vidyalaya and passed the

O Level The O-Level (Ordinary Level) is a subject-based qualification conferred as part of the General Certificate of Education. It was introduced in place of the School Certificate in 1951 as part of an educational reform alongside the more in-depth ...

examination. Thereafter he joined the

Sri Lanka Navy ta, இலங்கை கடற்படை , image = Sri Lanka Naval Seal.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of Sri Lanka Navy , dates = , c ...

received his weapons training at the Naval and Maritime Academy and specialized as a radiomen.Vijitha Rohana: Courage of his convictions
''The Nation''. 2007-07-29. He was stationed at SLNS Elara in Karainagar,

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...

taking part in the Vadamarachchi Operation. In July 1987 he was a Leading Rate and transferred the Colombo and assigned to the Guard of honour for the visiting Indian Prime Minister, who was in Colombo to sign the

Indo-Sri Lanka Accord The Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord was an accord signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987, between Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President J. R. Jayewardene. The accord was expected to resolve the Sri Lankan Civil War by enabling t ...

that would result in the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force.

Assault

Rohana was enraged by the Indian support for the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...

and its direct interference in Sri Lanka with

Operation Poomalai Operation Poomalai (''Pūmālai'', lit. "Flower Garland"), also known as Eagle Mission 4, was the codename assigned to a mission undertaken by the Indian Air Force for airdropping supplies over the besieged town of Jaffna in Sri Lanka on 4 Ju ...

and forcing the conclusion of the successful Vadamarachchi Operation before all its objectives were met. These were sentiments felt throughout the country and continues to this day. The Guard of Honour was commanded by Lieutenant Mendis who invited the Indian Prime Minister to review the guard as per tradition. Rajiv Gandhi was escorted by Lieutenant Mendis along with Sri Lankan Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel, and Sri Lankan security personnel. Vijitha Rohana swung his ceremonial

Lee–Enfield The Lee–Enfield or Enfield is a bolt-action, magazine-fed repeating rifle that served as the main firearm of the military forces of the British Empire and Commonwealth during the first half of the 20th century, and was the British Army's sta ...

rifle at the Indian Prime Minister aiming at the back of his neck. Gandhi managed to duck and miss the full brunt of the blow, even though the rifle struck him. Rohana was quickly restrained by Lieutenant Mendis and the Chief Petty Officer of the detachment along with other security personnel and Sri Lankan police.

Court martial

Vijitha Rohana faced a court martial headed by K.R.L. Perera, Group Captain Buddhi Siriwardhen and Colonel

Vijaya Wimalaratne Major General Vanigamuni Indrajith Vijeyakumar Mendis Wimalaratne, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, psc, GR ( si, විජය විමලරත්න; 25 August 1940 – 8 August 1992) was a senior Sri Lanka Army officer. One of the most distinguish ...

. He was charged with attempted murder and acting contrary to navy discipline and insulting a state leader. Prosecuted by Senior State Counsel Captain Raja Fernando, his defence team included Sarath Wijesinghe,

Susil Premajayantha Achchige Don Susil Premajayantha (born 10 January 1955) is a Sri Lankan politician, Cabinet Minister and a member of the Parliament of Sri Lanka. Education Premajayantha received his primary and secondary education at St. John's College, Nugegoda ...

and Donald Hewagama. The defence implied that Rohana was not aiming to kill since he could have stabbed the premier with the bayonet affixed to his

rifle at the time. The court martial found him guilty of attempted culpable homicide not amounting to murder and insulting the Indian Prime Minister. He was sentenced to six years in prison, however President Ranasinghe Premadasa gave him a presidential pardon after two and a half years.

Later life

After his release from prison he gained a degree from the

University of Sri Jayewardenepura ''Vijja Uppattam Setta'' , mottoeng = Among all that arise, knowledge is the greatest , established = , undergrad = 14,750 , postgrad = 3560 , administrative_staff = 3950 , cit ...

and started his own business. In 2000 he contested the general election under the Sihala Urumaya party. He later became an astrologer and claimed that President

Maithripala Sirisena Maithripala Yapa Sirisena ( si, පල්ලෙවත්‍ත ගමරාළලාගේ මෛත්‍රීපාල යාපා සිරිසේන; ta, பல்லேவத்த கமராளலாகே மைத்திரி� ...

would die by 26 January 2017. This was seen as a part of a conspiracy to assassinate the president and he was arrested again.

References

External links

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Rajiv Gandhi escapes an attempt on his life by a Sri Lankan Naval Cadet
Wilderness Films India Ltd.
Interview With Sri Lankan Soldier Who Hit Former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi

Thanthi TV Thanthi TV is a 24-hour Tamil news satellite television channel based in Chennai, India. It is owned by Dina Thanthi. History NDTV Hindu was launched on 16 May 2009, owned by NDTV (51%) and The Hindu Group (49%). It was started as a Chennai ...

.
The soldier who hit Rajiv Gandhi does not regret his act
ABP News. {{DEFAULTSORT:Rohana, Vijitha 1965 births Living people Sinhalese politicians Sri Lanka Navy sailors People who were court-martialed Alumni of the University of Sri Jayewardenepura Sri Lankan assassins Failed assassination attempts in Sri Lanka Failed assassins Assassination of Rajiv Gandhi Filmed assassinations Failed assassination attempts in Asia Assassinations in India