Janaka Perera

Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP (1 February 1946 – 6 October 2008) was a Sri Lankan General and politician.

He served as the Chief of Staff of the Sri Lanka Army and is considered one of the most distinguished generals in Sri Lankan history.

After retiring from the army he served as a Sri Lankan High Commissioner to Australia and Ambassador to Indonesia.

General Perera was educated at St. John's College, Panadura and after St. Joseph's College, Colombo.He was accepted to University of Ceylon to study geology at the Peradeniya campus before quitting to join the Sri Lanka Army in 1966 as an Officer Cadet.

He received his training at the Royal Military Academy Sandhurst in England.

After completing his training he was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the 1st Field Engineer Regiment, Ceylon Engineers.

Later, he transferred to the newly formed Commando Regiment.

Major General Pererea is a graduate of the Defence Services Staff College and the Royal College of Defence Studies.

He first saw action during the 1971 JVP Insurrection as Lieutenant and was promoted to captain in 1973.

He was promoted to Major in 1977, Lieutenant Colonel in 1986 and Colonel in 1988; serving as the Commanding Officer, 5 Field Engineer Regiment; Chief Instructor, Sri Lanka Military Academy and Military Liaison Officer, Ministry of Defence.

Vajira trained at the Women's Royal Army Corps College in 1980 and had reached the rank of major before her retirement from the army.

Janaka Perera married Vajira de Silva, who was one of the first six officers to join the Sri Lanka Army Women's Corps in 1982.

As a Colonel, Janaka Perera took a significant role in suppressing the JVP insurrection of 1987–89.

He was the Provincial Commander of the North-Western Province as well as being in charge of the special operations of the Operation Combine in Colombo which led to the capture of the JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera.

He was promoted to brigadier in 1989.

He went on to command the 24 Brigade.

He got parachute qualified in 1990.

In 1995, Brigadier Perera was Brigade Commander of the Independent "Special Forces" Brigade when he was transferred to Weli Oya as the Brigade Commander, 6 "Welioya" Brigade in May 1995.

He preparation and command of the brigade during the Battle of Weli Oya in July 1995 resulted in a major victory for the army killing over 300 LTTE carders while losing only 2 soldiers, at the time of the battle 6 Brigade was made up of mostly reservists from volunteer regiments.

Soon after the victory, he was transferred to command the elite Reserve Strike Force (RSF) which consisted of special forces, commando and air mobile units in Jaffna.

Few months later in late 1995, Brigadier Pererea played a major role during Operation Riviresa which led to the liberation of the Jaffna peninsula, during which he commanded the elite 53 Division which consisted of the Independent Brigade, Air Mobile Brigade, Armored Brigade and an Infantry Brigade.

In 1996, he was promoted to the rank of major general.

He served as General Officer Commanding of the 53 Division, 51 Division, 23 Division.

Later he was promoted to the post of Deputy Chief of Staff and functioned as Commandant, Sri Lanka Army Command and Staff College.

Major General Janaka Perera had been awarded the gallantry medals Rana Wickrama Padakkama and Rana Sura Padakkama, the distinguished service medal the Vishista Seva Vibhushanaya, long service medals Uttama Seva Padakkama, Sri Lanka Armed Services Long Service Medal, foreign service medal Videsha Seva Padakkama, combat service medals Purna Bhumi Padakkama, North and East Operations Medal the campaign medals Vadamarachchi Operation Medal and the Riviresa Campaign Services Medal and also the Republic of Sri Lanka Armed Services Medal, 50th Independence Anniversary Medal 1998, Sri Lanka Army 50th Anniversary Medal and President's Inauguration Medal.

Following his retirement he was made Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia and later Sri Lanka's Ambassador to Indonesia, but was recalled before his term ended.

After he was appointed Sri Lanka's High Commissioner to Australia, the Tamil community there accused him of being responsible for hundreds of deaths and the torture of Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula when he was in command.

About 300 Tamils protested outside the Australian parliament accusing General Perera of war crimes.

The human rights group Amnesty International raised similar concerns.

However, no formal charges were ever brought against General Perera and he served his full four years as Sri Lankan High Commissioner in Australia, after which he was Sri Lankan Ambassador to Indonesia.

Since his retirement from his diplomatic career, General Perera took up active politics as a member and an organizer of the United National Party (UNP).

Following the Second Battle of Elephant Pass in April 2000 which forced the Sri Lankan Army units in Jaffna to fall back due to lack of fixed defence positions, Perera was appointed Overall Operations Commander (North) and was tasked with countering the LTTE offensive, along with Major General (later Field Marshal) Sarath Fonseka who was appointed Security Forces Commander, Jaffna.

During this time there were fears in Colombo that the 40,000 troops in the Jaffna peninsula would be cut off, trapped, and overrun.

President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga negotiated with the Indian government for ships to evacuate troops from the peninsula due to the lack of transport ships in the Navy.

However, the Indian government refused to provide ships.

Launching several effective counter-offensives that halted the LTTE advance, removing the threat to the Jaffna peninsula and succeeded in established the defence line in the Jaffna peninsula, which remained in place till the last days of the war.

Major General Janaka Perera was appointed as Chief of Staff of the army in 2000 but retired in 2001 when he was overlooked for promotion to Army Commander, causing him to retire in 2001.

He had the unique distinction of being the colonel commandant of the Commando Regiment, Special Forces Regiment and the Corps of Sri Lanka Engineers.

He was the opposition leader of the North Central Provincial Council until he and his wife were killed on 6 October 2008 by a suicide bomber. The LTTE have been blamed for the bombing by Sri Lankan president Mahinda Rajapaksa.

During the 2008 North Central Provincial Council election, which he claimed to be marred by violence, he was as the UNP candidate for the post of Chief Minister for the North Central Province, although he gained the most preferential votes his party failed to gain a majority in the council, therefore became the Leader of the Opposition of the North Central Provincial Council.