Rohana
Wijeweera: The Seed Planted in Sri Lankan Politics That Has Finally Bloomed
Born on
July 14, 1943, while Sri Lanka was still a British colony, Rohana Wijeweera was
a figure who would irrevocably alter the nation's political landscape. From a
humble background, he grew to challenge the very foundations of the political
establishment, becoming the voice of the disenfranchised rural youth and the
working class who felt ignored by the political elites Although his life
was cut short in 1989, his legacy has proven to be a seed that, decades later,
has blossomed into the dominant political force in the country, culminating in
the recent electoral victories of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP)-led
National People's Power (NPP)
The Revolutionary Who Spoke for
the Voiceless
Wijeweera’s
journey was shaped by his experiences abroad. A brilliant student, he went to
study medicine in the Soviet Union at Lumumba University, where he was exposed
to Marxist-Leninist ideology . However, his sympathies for Maoist
revolutionary theory led to his expulsion from the USSR and set him on a path
of radical politics . Upon his return, he became increasingly
disillusioned with the traditional leftist parties in Sri Lanka, which he felt
had betrayed the working class by aligning with the establishment .
In 1965,
Wijeweera founded a movement that would become the JVP, aiming to fill the
vacuum left by the "Old Left" . His message was delivered
through his famous "Five Lectures," which addressed the country's
economic crisis, the lack of true independence, and the failures of existing
political parties . He tapped into a deep well of discontent among educated
but unemployed Sinhalese youth from rural areas, offering them an ideology that
rejected the parliamentary system and called for a violent, armed struggle to
capture state power.
This
frustration boiled over on April 5, 1971, when the JVP launched a massive but
ultimately unsuccessful insurrection against the government of Sirimavo
Bandaranaike . Though the revolt was crushed, it sent a shockwave through
the country, proving that the disenfranchised youth could paralyze the state.
The rebellion claimed an estimated 15,000 lives, and Wijeweera himself was
imprisoned .
The Second Insurrection and a
Martyr's Death
Wijeweera
was later released and briefly entered mainstream politics, contesting the 1982
presidential election . However, the JVP's second insurrection in the late
1980s was far more brutal and violent than the first. It was a campaign of
terror against the state and political opponents, carried out in opposition to
the Indo-Lanka Accord. The state responded with ruthless force, and Wijeweera,
the architect of this revolutionary movement, was captured and killed in
November 1989 while in state custody, an act many consider a state-sanctioned
execution .
The Legacy Takes Power: The NPP's
Historic Victory
For
decades, the JVP’s violent past was a political albatross, limiting its
electoral appeal. However, the party and its leader, Anura Kumara Dissanayake,
spent years transforming the movement. By creating the NPP alliance with other
groups, they presented a more moderate, centre-left, anti-corruption platform
while retaining Wijeweera's core message of putting the people first
This
evolution came to a crescendo in 2024. Capitalizing on the island's devastating
economic crisis and widespread anger at the traditional political elite, the
NPP won a landslide victory in the presidential election in September, followed
by a parliamentary supermajority in November . The party’s triumph
represents the full realization of a vision seeded by Wijeweera: a political
movement that challenges a system many perceive as corrupt and unaccountable.
A Vision Realized: People-First
Policies
President
Anura Kumara Dissanayake’s government has immediately prioritized policies that
echo Wijeweera's long-standing principles. His focus on fighting corruption and
economic democracy directly stems from the JVP’s foundational belief that the
country's economic woes are a result of "colonial and neo-colonial
capitalist system[s]" . The current administration’s push for a
"Clean Sri Lanka" and its anti-corruption drive are a direct
continuation of the revolutionary’s fight against a political system he saw as
deeply corrupt .
Moreover,
the new government's commitment to farmers' rights, including providing
subsidies and assistance, is a legacy of Wijeweera's lectures, which identified
the problems of landlessness and agriculture as "major problems of the
peasantry" . This is a direct application of his "people
first" policy, moving beyond mere rhetoric to actively address the needs
of the rural population that formed the JVP's base.
Wijeweera saw his struggle as a fight against "political
apartheid," a system where the working class and rural poor were kept out
of power by the elites. Today, his vision has been elected by the majority of
Sri Lankans. The NPP’s success is not just an electoral victory but the
culmination of a legacy of resistance against inequality, imperialism, and
state terror. Rohana Wijeweera was murdered, but his spirit—the fight for a
more just and equitable Sri Lanka—has finally taken root and is now leading the
nation.