Premadasa, the JVP, LTTE, and relations with India

The President remained in the background. Wijeratne as Deputy Minister of Defence put the army on a war footing.

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The approaches to the city were riddled with army checkpoints. As I had to travel abroad often on WIF business, going to and returning from Katunayake was an unpleasant experience which still remains in my memory. The JVP was called "the second government" because they seemed to call the shots in the city. There were several of us who used to exercise in Independence square in the mornings. Among this group was K. Gunaratnam, the famous businessman and film mogul. One morning he was shot dead on the walking track. It was alleged that he was importing films from India notwithstanding the JVP embargo. This was a double tragedy as his Wijaya studios in Hendala had been burnt to the ground by Cyril Mathew's goons in the 1983 communal riots.

Of all the local political leaders it was Premadasa who was the most sympathetic to the JVP. He made a well noticed entrance to follow the proceedings of the Criminal Justice Commission that tried Wijeweera and his fellow leaders of the 1971 insurrection. He set up clandestine groups to negotiate with the leaders of the JVP who were underground, even offering them three portfolios in his Cabinet. But the JVP did not respond positively. He was thwarted and when the smooth passage of his administration was undermined by the JVP he turned to Ranjan Wijeratne, who had a military background and was considered to be a ruthless operator, to launch an all out attack on them.