The Tamil and Sinhala New Year in Sri Lanka–on Friday, April 14, 1989–was subdued. A few months earlier, in December 1988, violent general elections ensued and Ranasinghe Premadasa took charge as the President of Sri Lanka. The Jana Vimukti Peramuna (JVP) movement, a radical insurgency, which marred the electoral process, continued unabated. The JVP became an anti-Indian movement, that called for the boycott of Indian goods, services and people.
The Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF), deployed in the northern and eastern parts of Sri Lanka, kept the lid on the insurgent activity and enabled the elections to take place peacefully. However, with the emergence of Premadasa as the President – and with the JVP’s continuing anti-India insurgency – the critical focus was on the IPKF.
On June 1, 1989, Premadasa publicly called for the withdrawal of the IPKF within two months.
The incident I am about to describe happened around the Sri Lankan New Year. The preceding day, Thursday, April 13, was important to us as Baisakhi; it was also a holiday in Sri Lanka. These two days were followed by a weekend, and Monday was May Day, a popular holiday which Premadasa built up as his legacy. (Unfortunately, Premadasa was assassinated on May Day in 1993).
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