{"id":217837,"date":"2021-04-04T05:32:21","date_gmt":"2021-04-04T00:02:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=217837"},"modified":"2021-04-07T00:19:55","modified_gmt":"2021-04-06T18:49:55","slug":"the-insurgency-of-april-1971","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/the-insurgency-of-april-1971\/","title":{"rendered":"The Insurgency Of April 1971"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Suriya Wickremasinghe<\/a> –<\/span><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

On the fifth of April this year falls the 50<\/span>th<\/sup><\/span>\u00a0anniversary of the first JVP<\/a><\/span> insurrection, an\u00a0event\u00a0that shook our country as never before or since.\u00a0During the course of 2021\u00a0we\u00a0hope to\u00a0retrieve from our\u00a0archives, and place in the public domain, some\u00a0of our\u00a0hitherto unpublished documents of that time.\u00a0For now, to revive older\u00a0memories and inform younger ones,\u00a0we\u00a0list some relevant\u00a0dates\u00a0of that extraordinary decade.\"\"<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

13 May 1970 – <\/b>General election results in United Front (UF) coming to power under premiership of Sirima R.D. Bandaranaike. The coalition is heavily dominated by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) but also comprises two left parties, the Lanka Samasamaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party (CP), J.R. Jayewardene is Leader of the Opposition.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

July, 1970 –<\/b> Members\u00a0of Parliament form a Constituent Assembly, process of drafting new\u00a0Constitution begins.<\/span><\/p>\n

26 October 1970 –<\/b>\u00a0Constitutional\u00a0Amendment\u00a0to abolish the Senate introduced.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

13<\/b> March 1971 –<\/b>\u00a0Rohana Wijeweera, leader of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP\/Peoples’ Liberation Front), arrested.<\/span><\/p>\n

16 March 1971 –<\/b>\u00a0Emergency declared. Wijeweera\u00a0continues to be detained, now under emergency regulations.<\/span><\/p>\n

5 April 1971 – An insurrection, mainly of rural youth, led by the JVP, breaks out in the form of simultaneous attacks on some 74 police stations in various parts of the country. (Another 18 are attacked in the next few days.) 35 police areas temporarily fall almost totally under insurgent control. The insurrection is speedily suppressed with considerable ruthlessness, and in its immediate aftermath some 16,000 persons are arrested and held under emergency powers.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

14<\/b>, 15 May 1971 –<\/b>\u00a0In last session of the Senate before its abolition, independent member \u00a0\u00a0S. Nadesan QC makes the first notable public speech on\u00a0the April insurrection.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

21<\/b> May 1971 –<\/b>\u00a0Bill\u00a0to abolish Senate passed.<\/span><\/p>\n

September 1971 –<\/b>\u00a0First Amnesty International Mission to Sri Lanka. (Report published \u00a0March 1972).<\/span><\/p>\n

4 & 5 April 1972 – <\/b>Act creating Criminal Justice Commissions to try insurgent suspects debated and passed.<\/span><\/p>\n

22 May 1972 – <\/b>New Constitution adopted. \u201cCeylon\u201d becomes \u201cSri Lanka\u201d, a Republic.<\/span><\/p>\n

12 June 1972 –<\/b>\u00a0Trial, under Criminal Justice Commissions Act, of alleged leaders\u00a0of the April 1971 insurrection, begins. Commission consists of Chief Justice H.N.G.\u00a0Fernando (Chair) and four others.<\/span><\/p>\n

20 December 1974 –<\/b><\/span>\u00a0After two and a half years\u00a0 <\/span>above inquiry ends with Criminal Justice Commission delivering its decision.\u00a0Some including Wijeweera sentenced to imprisonment, some given suspended sentences, some acquitted. Trials of numerous other groups on a regional basis continue.<\/span><\/p>\n

15\/16? February 1977 –<\/b>\u00a0By this time the ruling coalition has broken up.\u00a0Emergency, which had commenced in 1971, lapses. Result is persons held under emergency regulations\u00a0are released. The proscription of the JVP automatically\u00a0lapses,\u00a0though members serving prison\u00a0sentences remain\u00a0in jail. Lapse of proscription enables JVP to take part in general election.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

21 July 1977 –<\/b> General\u00a0election results in UNP coming to power under premiership of J.R. Jayewardene.\u00a0Leader of the Opposition is A.Amirthalingam of Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF), it having 17 seats as against the SLFP\u2019s eight.<\/span><\/p>\n

4 October 1977 –<\/b>\u00a0Amendment to the 1972 Constitution, creating an executive presidency, passed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

2 November 1977 – <\/b>Pardon announced for all persons serving sentence under the Criminal Justice Commissions Act, and they are released. This includes Rohana Wijeweera and other JVP leaders.<\/span><\/p>\n

Around this time; <\/b>Criminal Justice Commissions Act repealed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

*The above is drawn from the publication 21 YEARS OF CRM: An annotated list of documents of the Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka 1971-1992<\/i>, compiled by Manel Fonseka<\/a><\/span> and Suriya Wickremasinghe<\/a><\/span>, Colombo: CRM, 1993<\/span><\/p>\n

**Suriya Wickremasinghe – <\/i><\/span>Secretary, Civil Rights Movement – 3 April 2021<\/i><\/span><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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