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{{Short description|1986 murder in Piliyandala, Sri Lanka}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2020}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| partof = [[1987-1989 JVP insurrection#Prelude to open insurrection|Prelude]] to the [[1987-1989 JVP insurrection]]
|title= Daya Pathirana assassination
|image=
|caption=
|location=Bolgoda Lake, [[Piliyandala]], [[Sri Lanka]]
|target=Daya Pathirana
|date=15 December 1986
|time=
|timezone=
|type= [[Murder|Cut-throat]]
|fatalities=1 killed (Daya Pathirana)
|injuries=1 wounded (Somasiri)
|perps= Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna activists (some were students affiliated to [[Inter University Students' Federation]])
}}
The '''assassination of Daya Pathirana''' took place on 15 December 1986. [[Daya Pathirana]] was the leader of the Independent Students Union of [[University of Colombo]] during 1985-1986. Pro-[[Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna]] activists (some of them were members of [[Inter University Students' Federation]]) are accused of his murder. This assassination is considered as a watershed incident in the [[1987–89 JVP Insurrection|1987–1989 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection]].<ref>{{cite web | url=http://pact.lk/15-december-1987/ | title=15 December 1987 | publisher=pact.lk | year=2009 | accessdate=2011-01-11 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110108100417/http://pact.lk/15-december-1987/ | archive-date=2011-01-08 | url-status=dead| df= }}</ref><ref name="Dayan Jayatilleka">{{cite web | url=http://www.sangam.org/taraki/articles/2006/01-25_JVP_and_Pol_Potism.php?uid=1462 | title=The JVP and 'Pol Potism' | publisher=Ilankai Tamil Sangam | year=| accessdate=2011-01-11}}</ref>

==Background==
Daya Pathirana pioneered the Independent Students Union of [[University of Colombo]] during his study at the [[Faculty of Arts, University of Colombo]]. In the book ''Sri Lanka: The Travails of Unfinished War, Protracted Crisis'' (1995), [[Doctor (title)|Dr.]] [[Dayan Jayatilleka]] describes Pathirana as a very poor student, a radical leftist, not a member of the [[old Left]] or the [[Left-wing politics|traditional Left]].<ref name="Dayan Jayatilleka"/> Although he was leftist, he vehemently opposed [[Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna]], the [[Marxist-Leninist]] [[political party]] which had almost total control over the [[students' union]]s in [[Sri Lanka]]. Therefore he and the Independent Students Union led by him became the most serious threat to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna control.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.island.lk/2001/11/15/featur02.html | title=Transcripts from the campaign trail, November is for remembering | publisher=The Island | year=2001 | accessdate=2011-01-11 | archive-date=17 June 2011 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110617051015/http://www.island.lk/2001/11/15/featur02.html | url-status=dead }}</ref> In a report named ''Insurrectionary Violence in Sri Lanka: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Insurgencies of 1971 and 1987-1989'', Tisaranee Gunasekara describes Pathirana as a "radical student activist, with impeccable anti-[[United National Party]]/anti-systemic credentials". Taking over the entire university system was a vital objective, because the [[Inter University Students' Federation]] was earmarked by the leadership of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna to be the public political face of the party.<ref name="guardian">{{cite web | url=http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2007/11/second-jvp-insurgency-part-one.html | title=The Second JVP Insurgency (Part One) | publisher=Sri Lanka Guardian | year= | accessdate=2011-01-11}}</ref>

==Abduction and assassination==
On 15 December 1986, he along with a colleague named Somasiri was abducted to a lonely spot off the [[Bolgoda Lake]], [[Piliyandala]]. The abductors then began to torture him and Somasiri, demanding information about other student and left activists. This was interrupted by a group of pilgrims (as it was the full moon [[Poya|poya day]]) It saved the life of Somasiri. But Pathirana's [[Murder|throat was slit]] at the point of intervention, and he eventually succumbed to his wounds.<ref name="Dayan Jayatilleka"/><ref name="guardian"/>

==Aftermath==
The assassination of Daya Pathirana is considered as the first [[targeted killing]] of the [[1987–89 JVP Insurrection|1987–89 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna insurrection]]. The subsequent uprising proved extremely costly to the country, leaving approximately 60,000 dead or missing.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.pbs.org/pov/film-files/pov_nomoretears_lessonplan_lesson_plan_0.pdf | title=Lesson Plan: A Dissection of Ethnic Conflict | publisher=[[Public Broadcasting Service]] | year= | accessdate=2011-01-11}}</ref> During its earlier stages, Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna unleashed violence killing radical leftist figures like Daya Pathirana and [[Vijaya Kumaratunga]] in a bid to neutralize the threats from the left-wing politics itself. However in 1996, six years after the failed insurrection, General Secretary [[Tilvin Silva]] denied that Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna was involved in the Daya Pathirana murder.<ref>{{cite web | url=http://sundaytimes.lk/960331/news2.html | title='We didn't kill' | publisher=The Sunday Times | author=Collure, Shyamal A. | year=1996 | accessdate=2011-01-11| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20110123220630/http://sundaytimes.lk/960331/news2.html| archivedate= 23 January 2011 | url-status= live}}</ref>

==Further reading==
*Jayatilleka, Dayan, ''Sri Lanka, Travails of a Democracy, Unfinished War, Protracted Crisis'', Vikas Publishing House, New Delhi, (1995), {{ISBN|0-7069-9350-0}} / {{ISBN|978-0-7069-9350-9}}
*Gunasekara, Tisaranee, ''Insurrectionary Violence in Sri Lanka: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Insurgencies of 1971 and 1987-1989'', Ethnic Studies Report, ICES, Vol. XVII, No. 1, January 1999.

==See also==
*[[List of assassinations of the Second JVP Insurrection]]
*[[Inter University Students' Federation]]

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{coord missing|Sri Lanka}}

[[Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan human rights activists|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan murder victims|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:1986 deaths|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:Assassinations in Sri Lanka|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:Year of birth missing|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:1986 crimes in Sri Lanka|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:December 1986 events in Asia|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:1987–1989 JVP insurrection|Pathirana, Daya]]
[[Category:Battles and Operations of the Second JVP insurrection|Pathirana, Daya]]

Assassination of Daya Pathirana - Revision history

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