1987 – 89 JVP Insurrection The 1987 – 89 JVP Insurrection ( also known as the " 1989 Revolt " ) was the second unsuccessful armed revolt conducted by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna against the Government of Sri Lanka under President J . R . Jayewardene . Unlike the first unsuccessful JVP insurrection of 1971 , the second insurrection was not an open revolt , but appeared to be a low intensity conflict that lasted from 1987 to 1989 with the JVP resorting to subversion , assassinations , raids and attacks on military and civilian targets . 1971 JVP uprising . Formed in 1960s by radical Marxist Rohana Wijeweera , the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna ( JVP ) lunched an open revolt against the government under Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike in April 1971 . Caught off guard the government was able to subdue the insurgency in a matter of weeks . The insurgency lead to the death of 4 - 5000 ( unofficial ) people and over 20 , 000 suspected rebels mostly youth were arrested in the amnesty period that followed . Having these youth undergo rehabilitation in camps they were released . Rohana Wijeweera and the leaders of the insurgency were sentenced to prison terms and the JVP banned . Hover all of them were released in 1977 by J . R . Jayewardene after the UNP formed a government after they won the general election . Early 1980 ' s . During early 1980 ' s , as the Tamil insurgency to the north became more intense , there was a marked shift in the ideology and goals of the JVP . Initially Marxist in orientation , and claiming to represent the oppressed of both the Tamil and Sinhalese communities , the group emerged increasingly as a Sinhalese nationalist organization opposing any compromise with the Tamil insurgency . This new orientation became explicit in the anti - Tamil riots of July 1983 . Because of its role in inciting violence , the JVP was once again banned and its leadership went underground . The group ' s activities intensified in the second half of 1987 in the wake of the Indo - Sri Lanka Accord . The prospect of Tamil autonomy in the north together with the presence of Indian troops stirred up a wave of Sinhalese nationalism and a sudden growth of anti - government violence . During 1987 a new group emerged that was an offshoot of the JVP — the Patriotic Liberation Organization ( Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya — DJV ) led by Saman Piyasiri Fernando or " Keerthi Vijayabahu " a person who led the JVP after the death of Rohana Wijeweera . The DJV claimed responsibility for the August 1987 assassination attempts against the president and prime minister . In addition , the group launched a campaign of intimidation against the ruling party , killing more than seventy Members of Parliament between July and November . Along with the group ' s renewed violence came a renewed fear of infiltration of the armed forces . Following the successful raid of the Pallekelle army camp in May 1987 , the government conducted an investigation that resulted in the discharge of thirty - seven soldiers suspected of having links with the JVP . In order to prevent a repetition of the 1971 uprising , the government considered lifting the ban on the JVP in early 1988 and permitting the group to participate again in the political arena . With Wijeweera still underground , however , the JVP had no clear leadership at the time , and it was uncertain whether it had the cohesion to mount any coordinated offensive , either military or political , against the government . Insurgency . Adroitly exploiting the arrival of the Indian Peace Keeping Force and the widespread nationalist sentiments of large sections of the Sinhala people , the JVP began to terrorise both the state machinery and those sections of civil society opposed to its thinking and almost brought the State to its knees . Organised in cells of three people and based around Matara in the south , the JVP murdered probably thousands of people and crippled the country with violently - enforced hartal s ( general strikes ) for two years . Government forces captured and killed JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera and his deputy in November 1989 in Colombo ; by early 1990 they had killed or imprisoned the remaining JVP politburo and detained an estimated 7 , 000 JVP members . Although the Government won a decisive military victory there were credible accusations of brutality and extrajudicial killings . Prominent attacks by the JVP during the insurrection include 1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament and 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack . Fatalities . According to international terrorism expert Dr . Rohan Gunaratna ' s research , JVP killed 3 politicians , 2 academics , 1 clergy , 2 government officials , 8 civilians and 6 service personnel , from July 1987 to January 1990 . Rest of the killings ( at least 50 ) are attributed to state or state sponsored death squads . Legacy . Since then , the JVP has been relaunched and has participated in electoral politics . At the last parliamentary elections , 2 April 2004 , the party was part of the United People ' s Freedom Alliance that won 45 . 6 % of the popular vote and 105 out of 225 seats . As the second partner in this alliance it became part of the government . It also supported the winning candidate Mahinda Rajapakse in the Sri Lankan presidential election , 2005 . In 2010 , along with the UNP it supported General Sarath Fonseka in the 2010 Sri Lankan Presidential Election .