Saman Piyasiri Fernando

Sellapperumage Saman Piyasiri Fernando (23 March 1958 – 29 December 1989: : nom de guerre: Keerthi Vijayabahu), was the military wing leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna during the 1987-89 insurrection in Sri Lanka, the JVP's military wing also known as Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (DJV). His position in the JVP as the military commander was organizationally higher than the position of Rohana Wijeweera, the founder of the JVP.

Saman Piyasiri a graduate of the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka later joined the JVP and promoted to the higher ranks of the party, appointed as the military wing leader and finally led the party after the death of the founding leader Rohana Wijeweera. He was also known as Kabraal, Mendis, Bappa, Mudiyanse, Mahinda, Dhammika and Janaka.

Family background and early life He was born on 23 March 1958 in Lunawa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka as the third child in a Karava ethnic family with four siblings. His father Ebert Fernando was an inspector at the Ports Commission. His mother, T. Josie Engalsina Peiris was a teacher. Piyasiri's elder sister, a resident of Ganemulla, once worked as a nurse in a government hospital and was married in 1981 and later became a mother of two. His younger sister Ranjani later became a full time member of the JVP. The elder brother was a sick child and died in 1970 at the Angoda Hospital. Due to the financial difficulties of the family, his body was even buried at the hospital cemetery at the expense of the government. Piyasiri is the second best student in the history of the university with the highest number of marks. After graduating as a Commerce graduate, Piyasiri opted for full-time JVP politics instead of a job. He later became a JVP organizer for the Kolonnawa and Ratnapura electorates. His commitment to rebuilding the JVP was appreciated and in October 1985 he was appointed to the JVP Politburo. The first formal discussion on the formation of the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (Patriotic People's Movement), the armed wing of the JVP, was held for two days on March 4 and 5, 1986 at the Ratnapura canal and Piyasiri was appointed as the leader of the military wing at the Politburo meeting held there. The strategy was for the security forces to retreat without fighting in powerful situations and to launch vigilante attacks when they were weak. Katunayake Air-force base (April 1988). Magazine prison break (December 1988). Pannala Army detachment (1989). Panagoda Army base (1989).

After Wijeweera's assassination, Piyasiri became the leader of the JVP on November 28, 1989, at a meeting of the Political Bureau held at Panukerapitiya, Ratnapura. Later the government issued a statement on November 28, 1989, stating that they wanted to arrest Somawansa Amarasinghe, Shantha Bandara, Saman Piyasiri Fernando, Gamini Gunasekara and Upali Jayaweera and that valuable rewards would be given to those who provided information about them.

On December 27, 1989, a special police team, led by SSP Lionel Gunathilake, arrested Saman Piyasiri, along with his mother and fiancé, who is a sister of JVP politburo member Daya Wanniarachchi, at Koswatte, Nawala, at a rented house owned by Mark Antony Fernando, who works at SLBC. According to the police sources, the number of military books found inside the house and some of them are not found in Sri Lankan military libraries. Piyasiri was arrested on December 27, 1989, while staying at a house in Koswatta, Nawala by the special police team. As the second leader of the JVP on November 28, 1989, Piyasiri was the leader of the JVP for 32 days until he was assassinated on December 29, 1989.

Rohan Gunaratna also stated that before Piyasiri's death, he managed to deliver a speech to the interrogation personnel around him about the society of Sri Lanka based on capitalism and socialism. Rohan further stated, "but Saman Piyasiri has not given any single information which could harm the party during the interrogation". The killings of rebels, their families, relatives and friends also intensified with these attacks. Due to Piyasiri's inability to stay on target, the entire JVP machinery was destroyed by the security forces within seven weeks. Within seven weeks of Wijeweera's assassination, 12 of the 13 members of the First Politburo were assassinated and only Somawansa Amarasinghe was left. Meanwhile, nine of the 11 members of the Second Politburo headed by Piyasiri were also killed. Only Somawansa and Gamini Gunasekera were left.