Page 346 - They Also Served

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Janaka Perera 1968.
Kukulage Janaka Chandrajith Perera was born in Ceylon (now
Sri Lanka) on 1st February 1946. Educated at St Joseph’s
College, Colombo, he started a geology degree before quitting
to join the army. Selected for officer training, he trained at Sandhurst on Intake 42, being commissioned into the engineers before serving with commando forces.
Perera saw action against JVP communist insurgents in 1971 and steadily rose through the ranks, being promoted to lieutenant-colonel in 1986 and later, as a colonel, was the chief instructor at the Sri Lanka Military Academy. During the second JVP insurgency of 1987–89, he headed an operation that resulted in the capture of the JVP leader. He was promoted to brigadier in 1989.
On 28th June 1995, Tamil Tiger forces launched an attack on four army camps near Weli Oya using female suicide bombers as the spearhead. Perera, the local commander, led a disparate group of reservists, national guardsmen and support troops and routed the insurgents, killing over 300 for the loss of only two government troops. The control of the battle was a masterpiece of combined operations, with the rebels attacked by both strike aircraft and fast patrol boats. Soon afterwards, Perera took command of the elite Reserve Strike Force and later the 53rd Division, which was responsible for the recapture of the Jaffna Peninsula from Tamil Tigers. Advancing on a narrow front to minimise civilian casualties, as the battle developed, he committed three brigades to attack the enemy from different directions, leaving them unable to coordinate a defence.
Promoted to major-general in 1996, a series of high-level appointments followed, culminating in chief of staff of the army in 2000. Overlooked for promotion to army commander, Perera retired the following year and was made high commissioner to Australia. Several hundred Tamils protested outside the parliament building in Canberra against the appointment of a man they regarded as a war criminal. Four years later, he was appointed high commissioner to Indonesia. On retirement from the diplomatic service, Perera turned to politics with the United National Party (UNP). However, on 6th October 2008, a suicide bomber targeted the UNP office in Anuradhapura and Perera and his wife were killed in the blast. He had asked for police protection following death threats, but none was forthcoming. Major-General Janaka Perera was buried with full military honours in Colombo.
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