1987–89 JVP Insurrection

Date	1987 – 1989
Location	Sri Lanka
Result	Sri Lankan Government victory

Belligerents

Sri Lanka

JVP

Commanders and leaders

Junius Richard Jayewardene

Ranasinghe Premadasa

Lalith Athulathmudali

Ranjan Wijeratne

Rohana Wijeweera

Upatissa Gamanayake

Saman Piyasiri Fernando

The 1987–89 JVP insurrection (also known as the 1989 Revolt) was the second unsuccessful armed revolt conducted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna against the Government of Sri Lanka under President J. R. Jayewardene. Unlike the first unsuccessful JVP insurrection of 1971, the second insurrection was not an open revolt, but appeared to be a low intensity conflict that lasted from 1987 to 1989 with the JVP resorting to subversion, assassinations, raids and attacks on military and civilian targets.

Formed in the 1960s by radical Marxist Rohana Wijeweera, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) launched an open revolt against the government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in April 1971. Caught off guard the government was able to subdue the insurgency in a matter of weeks. The insurgency lead to the death of 4-5000 (unofficial) people and over 20,000 suspected rebels mostly youth were arrested in the amnesty period that followed. Having these youth undergo rehabilitation in camps they were released.

Rohana Wijeweera and the leaders of the insurgency were sentenced to prison terms and the JVP banned. However all of them were released in 1977 by J. R. Jayewardene after the UNP formed a government after they won the general election.

During the early 1980s, as the Tamil insurgency to the north became more intense, there was a marked shift in the ideology and goals of the JVP. Initially Marxist in orientation, and claiming to represent the oppressed of both the Tamil and Sinhalese communities, the group emerged increasingly as a Sinhalese nationalist organization opposing any compromise with the Tamil insurgency.Rohana Wijeweera recorded the third place at the presidential elections in 1982 and the Jayawardena government did not like their up rise.There are no convincing evidence as to say whether JVP actively involved in 1983 ethnic riots but it was once again banned with several other left wing parties and its leadership went underground.

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