View source for 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack

{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox civilian attack
| title            = 1989 Temple of the Tooth attack
| image            = 
| partof           = [[1987-1989 insurgency]]
| caption          = 
| map              = {{Location map | Sri Lanka | relief  = 1 | label   = Kandy | background = #FFFFDD | lat_deg = 7 | lat_min =  17 | lat_sec = 38 | lat_dir = N | lon_deg = 80 | lon_min = 38 | lon_sec = 19 | lon_dir = E}}
| location         = [[Kandy]], Sri Lanka
| coordinates      = {{coord|7|17|38|N|80|38|19|E|display=inline}}
| target           = [[Temple of the Tooth]]
| date             = {{Start date and age|1989|2|8}}
| time             = 
| timezone         = 
| type             = Attack using [[small arms]]
| fatalities       = 2–5
| injuries         = 1+
| perps            = []]
| susperps         = 
| weapons          = Guns
}}
'''1989 Temple of the Tooth attack''' is an attack on the [[Temple of the Tooth|Temple of the Tooth Relic]], located in [[Kandy]], Sri Lanka. The shrine, which is considered to be important to the [[Buddhism in Sri Lanka|Buddhists in Sri Lanka]], houses the [[relic of the tooth of the Buddha]], and is a [[UNESCO]] designated [[World Heritage Site]].<ref name="unesco">{{cite web | url=https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/450 | title=World Heritage List: Sacred City of Kandy | publisher=[[UNESCO]] | access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="penfield">{{cite book | title=East of Suez | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6w_bSP-V_LkC | publisher=Echo Library | author=Penfield, Frederic Courtland | author-link=Frederic Courtland Penfield | year=1907 | location=California | pages=41–43 | isbn=978-140-6894-27-1}}</ref><ref name="iccrom"/> It was attacked on 8 February 1989 unknown military group in Sri Lanka.<ref name="daladamaligawa">{{cite web | url=http://daladamaligawa.org/barefootlanka2008.htm | quote = .. but the temple faced the first attack during the insurrection in the 1980s. | title=Elephants, acrobats enliven ancient Sri Lankan Buddhist festival | publisher=daladamaligawa.org | work=Barefoot SriLanka | access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref><ref name="leader3">{{cite news | url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20011202/issues.htm | title=Residence of the Diyawadana Nilame attacked | work=[[The Sunday Leader]] | date=2 December 2001 | access-date=13 April 2012 | author=Samarasinghe, Sonali}}</ref><ref name="dailyn2">{{cite news | url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/08/28/fea03.asp | title=Main highlight of Lanka’s cultural calendar | work=Daily News | date=28 August 2008 | access-date=13 April 2012 | author=Karunakharan, P. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080916110132/http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/08/28/fea03.asp | archive-date=16 September 2008 | url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Background==
In the late 1980s, the country was under a tense situation with two insurgencies ravaging Northern and Southern parts of Sri Lanka.<ref name="tids">{{cite book | title=Sri Lanka's Development Since Independence: Socio-Economic Perspectives and Analyses | publisher=[[Nova Publishers]] | author=Lakshman, W. D. | author2=Tisdell, Clement Allan | year=2001 | location=New York | pages=73–75 | isbn=978-156-0727-84-2}}</ref> First insurgency was initiated by [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] (LTTE) and several Tamil militant groups in 1983, seeking to create an [[Tamil Eelam|independent Tamil state]] in Northern and Eastern parts of the country.<ref name="rohang">{{Cite web|url=http://212.150.54.123/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=57 |title=International and Regional Implications of the Sri Lankan Tamil Insurgency |author=Gunaratna, Rohan |author-link=Rohan Gunaratna |publisher=[[International Institute for Counter-Terrorism]] |access-date=9 April 2012 |date=December 1998 |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110930204349/http://212.150.54.123/articles/articledet.cfm?articleid=57 |archive-date=30 September 2011 }}</ref> In 1987, neighboring India [[Indian intervention in the Sri Lankan Civil War|intervened]] in the conflict to bring an end to the fighting between the insurgents and the Sri Lankan armed forces. That year, the [[Indo-Sri Lanka Accord]] was signed between the two countries and [[Indian Peace Keeping Force]] was deployed in Northern Sri Lanka to enforce disarmament of militant organizations and to watch over the [[North Eastern Province, Sri Lanka#Provincial Council|regional council]].<ref name="atimes">{{cite web | url=http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DD13Df02.html | archive-url=https://archive.today/20021001211331/http://www.atimes.com/ind-pak/DD13Df02.html | url-status=unfit | archive-date=1 October 2002 | title=Sri Lanka: The Untold Story – Chapter 35: Accord turns to discord | work=[[Asia Times]]| date=13 April 2002 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Rajasingham, K. T.}}</ref>

JVP and other nationalist groups viewed this as a proliferation of Indian [[imperialism]].<ref name="ices">{{cite web | url=http://www.ices.lk/publications/esr/articles_jan99/book%20review.Tisaranee.pdf | title=Insurrectionary Violence in Sri Lanka: The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Insurgencies of 1971 and 1987–1989| pages=70–72 | publisher=International Center for Ethnic Studies | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Gunasekara, Tisaranee | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061001165208/http://www.ices.lk/publications/esr/articles_jan99/book%20review.Tisaranee.pdf | archive-date=1 October 2006 | url-status=dead }}</ref> This suspicion was fuelled by the perceived threat of North-Eastern autonomy, due to the presence of Indian Army in Sri Lankan soil.<ref name="atimes2">{{cite web | url=http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FB10Df03.html | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20040404215255/http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/FB10Df03.html | url-status=unfit | archive-date=4 April 2004 | title=Reluctant India drawn toward Sri Lanka | work=[[Asia Times]]| date=10 February 2004 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Ramachandran, Sudha}}</ref> By this time, JVP was equipped with experiences of a [[1971 JVP Insurrection|failed insurrection in 1971]], against the government of [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike]]. Under these circumstances, the party launched a [[1987–89 JVP Insurrection|second insurrection]] in 1987, seeking to overthrow the then [[United National Party]] government.<ref name="ess">{{cite book | title=Competing Nationalisms in South Asia: Essays for Asghar Ali Engineer | publisher=[[Orient Blackswan]] | author=Brass, Paul R. |author2=Engineer, Asgharali | year=2002 | location=India | pages=228–230 | isbn=978-812-5022-21-3}}</ref><ref name="peacemag">{{cite web | url=http://peacemagazine.org/archive/v07n6p21.htm | title=Refugees in their Own Country | publisher=[[Peace Magazine]] | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Atack, Iain}}</ref>

==Incident==
As the tension grew, JVP and its military wing, [[Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya|Patriotic People's Movement]] (''Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya'') launched attacks on various government and civilian targets.<ref name="leadrer3">{{cite web|url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/25/the-jvp-unmasked/ |title=The JVP – Unmasked |publisher=[[The Sunday Leader]] |date=25 September 2011 |access-date=9 April 2012 |author=Jansz, Frederica |url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111010173639/http://www.thesundayleader.lk/2011/09/25/the-jvp-unmasked/ |archive-date=10 October 2011 }}</ref> Many public places were vandalised, and people presumed to be supportive of the government were attacked.<ref name="tchr">{{cite web | url=http://www.tchr.net/civil_and_pol_jvp_army_deserters.htm | title=Attrocities{{sic|hide=y}} of Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) or Peoples' Liberation Front | publisher=Tamil Centre for Human Rights | access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> Temple of the Tooth, located in the heart of the Kandy city too came under attack on 8 February 1989. Eyewitness accounts, including a former JVP member who took part in the attack, describe the incident in detail.

===Account of Adhikari===
In 2001, ''[[The Sunday Leader]]'', a Sri Lankan English-language weekly, interviewed a former JVP member, Adhikari ''alias'' Kosala, who participated in the attack.<ref name="leader2">{{cite news | url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20011202/interviews.htm | title=I was a member of the JVP team that attacked the Dalada Maligawa | work=[[The Sunday Leader]] | date=2 December 2001 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Wickrematunge, Raine | location=Colombo | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170720053610/http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20011202/interviews.htm | archive-date=20 July 2017 | url-status=dead }}</ref> A fully-fledged member, Adhikari had received arms training, and participated in several operations on behalf of the party, including the [[Pallekele Army Camp attack]], 1987 Bogambara prison attack and Digana bank heist.<ref name="leader2"/>

According to Adhikari, the first meeting to plan the attack was held at the house of a JVP co-ordinator named Sunanda, in Kandy. In that meeting, Sunanda explained the motivation behind the attack. He believed that taking away the [[relic of the tooth of the Buddha]], which had been residing in the country for at least 1,700 years,<ref name="sacreddest">{{cite web | url=http://www.sacred-destinations.com/sri-lanka/kandy-temple-of-the-tooth | title=Temple of the Tooth, Kandy | publisher=sacred-destinations.com | access-date=9 April 2012}}</ref> would have made the people to rise up against the government which couldn't even protect the sacred property. This relic is traditionally considered as the symbol of the leadership and royalty in Sri Lanka.<ref name="iccrom">{{cite conference | url=http://www.iccrom.org/pdf/ICCROM_ICS06_CulturalHeritagePostwar_en.pdf | title=Cultural Heritage in Postwar Recovery | publisher=[[International Centre for the Study of the Preservation and Restoration of Cultural Property]] | access-date=12 April 2012 | author=Wijesuriya, Gamini | editor=Stanley-Price, Nicolas | book-title=Armed conflict and conservation: Promoting cultural heritage in postwar recovery | date=October 2005 | conference=2nd ICCROM Forum | location=Rome | pages=88–89 | isbn=92-9077-201-8 | quote=.. The Temple of the Tooth Relic is the most powerful national, religious and cultural symbol of the Singhalese Buddhists who form the majority of the population in Sri lanka. Its significance was manifested in the belief that the one who owned the Tooth Relic was the king of the country.. | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110516205323/http://www.iccrom.org/pdf/ICCROM_ICS06_CulturalHeritagePostwar_en.pdf | archive-date=16 May 2011 | url-status=dead}}</ref>
<ref name="srilanka">{{cite book | title=Sri Lanka | url = https://books.google.com/books?id=6QAgHA69_rwC&dq |  publisher=[[Lonely Planet]] | author=Atkinson, Brett | year=2009 | pages=27–29 | isbn=978-174-1048-35-3}}</ref>

Next week, another meeting was held at the same place, with the presence of [[D.M. Ananda]] ''alias'' Kalu Ajith, the JVP leader of [[Western Province, Sri Lanka|Western]] and [[Sabaragamuwa Province|Sabaragamuwa]] provinces, and Somawansa Amarasinghe ''alias'' Sanath, who became the leader of the JVP later and the last surviving [[politburo]] member of the party after the rebellion.<ref name="leader2"/> In that meeting, Adhikari proposed a place in Medamahanuwara, to hide the relic after getting hold of it. On the next day, 8 February, he was asked to be present near the [[Queen's Hotel, Kandy]] around 2.00 – 2.30&nbsp;pm. There he met Sarath, one of his colleagues in Digana bank heist, who introduced him to 4 boys and 2 girls. The girls, dressed in white ''lama [[sari]]s'' were carrying two trays filled with flowers. Adhikari's task was to bring the group to the ''Makara Thorana'' (the entrance to the Temple), where he would meet two gentlemen, who carried pens attached to their pockets, as an aid to recognition. As instructed, after completing his job, he proceeded to the Kundasale town, about 5&nbsp;km from Kandy. There he was waiting to receive the casket which contained the tooth relic.

But the plan did not succeed. From what he learnt, two girls had gone past the checkpoint near the entrance, without being properly searched, and waited for the others to follow. This has aroused the suspicion of a guard, and he had come towards the girls. By this time, members of the group had arrived in the scene; snatched the guns hidden inside the flowers on the tray; and shot at the guards.<ref name="leader2"/> Guards had returned fire. The following firefight left at least two attackers dead.

===Account of K.G. Sisira===
Sisira was employed as a labourer of the [[Kandy Municipal Council]] at the time the incident has happened. At that moment, he was travelling on a bus, near the temple.<ref name="times">{{cite news | url=http://sundaytimes.lk/011202/news3.html | title=Disabled in JVP attack on Dalada Maligawa |work=The Sunday Times  | date=2 December 2001 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Seneviratne, Shane | location=Colombo}}</ref> The driver stopped the bus amid the confusion, in front of the shrine. Then Sisira he saw a person wearing a blue T-shirt, chasing a guard, who came running into the bus and boarded. Then the pursuer, who was carrying a gun, shot randomly and hit Sisira in his right leg. In the subsequent shooting spree, the pursuer had died. Sisira was taken to a hospital, where 4 bullets were removed from his leg. His was hospitalised for 8 months and had his leg amputated.<ref name="times"/>

==2001 controversy==
In the run-up to the [[2001 Sri Lankan parliamentary election]], the issue of the responsibility of this attack surfaced again. The party leader Somawansa Amarasinghe and then JVP propaganda secretary [[Wimal Weerawansa]], denied the involvement of JVP in the incident.<ref name="island1"/><ref name="leader1">{{cite news | url=http://www.thesundayleader.lk/archive/20040328/spotlight-more.htm | title=Consorting with Vijaya's killers: Attack on the Dalada Maligawa | work=[[The Sunday Leader]] | date=24 March 2004 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Jansz, Frederica | location=Colombo}}</ref> The politburo of the party issued a statement denying that the attack ever took place.<ref name="polit">{{cite news | url=http://www.go2lanka.com/papers/tooth.html | title=Temple of the Tooth is not only the most hallowed Buddhist shrine, it is the symbol of Sri Lanka’s sovereignty | work=Political Bureau, People’s Liberation Front (JVP) | date=25 November 2001 | agency=Daily News | access-date=9 April 2012 | location=Colombo | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304002252/http://www.go2lanka.com/papers/tooth.html | archive-date=4 March 2016 | url-status=dead}}</ref> These statements were rejected by the then [[Diyawadana Nilame]] (the chief lay custodian of Temple of the Tooth), [[Neranjan Wijeyeratne]], and Mahanayaka theros of Malwatte and Asgiriya chapters (chief Buddhist prelates of the country).<ref name="penin">{{cite news | url=http://archive.thepeninsulaqatar.com/component/content/article/414/117291.html | title=JVP – Buddhists meet secretly | work=The Peninsula Qatar | date=2 December 2001 | access-date=9 April 2012 }}{{Dead link|date=February 2019 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Wijeyeratne said "There was blood-letting at the ''Sri Dalada Maligawa'' [Temple of the Tooth] as five persons were killed in the JVP attack".<ref name="island1">{{cite news | url=http://www.island.lk/2001/11/25/news02.html | title=JVP can’t deny they attacked the Dalada Maligawa using firearms – Diyawadana Nilame | work=The Island | date=25 November 2001 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Wimalasurendre, Cyril | location=Colombo}}</ref> The controversy turned into a major political issue during the campaign.<ref name="gulfn">{{cite news | url=http://gulfnews.com/news/gulf/uae/general/temple-of-the-tooth-comes-under-grenade-attack-1.431375 | title='Temple of the tooth' comes under grenade attack | work=[[Gulf News]] | date=30 November 2001 | access-date=9 April 2012 | author=Ratnatunga, Sinha | location=Colombo}}</ref>

==See also==
*[[1998 Temple of the Tooth attack]]

==Further reading==
* {{Cite book |title=Sri lanka – A Lost Revolution? The Inside Story of the JVP |publisher=Institute of Fundamental Studies |year=1990 |location = [[Colombo]] | author=Gunaratna, Rohan | author-link=Rohan Gunaratna |isbn=978-955-2600-04-3}}

==References==
{{reflist}}

{{JVP}}

{{#seo:
|keywords=Terrorist attacks attributed to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna, Politics of Sri Lanka, History of Sri Lanka (1948–present), 1989 crimes in Sri Lanka, 1987–1989 JVP insurrection, 1989 controversies, Battles and Operations of the Second JVP insurrection, Indian Peace Keeping Force
|description=
}}

[[Category:Terrorist attacks attributed to the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna]]
[[Category:Politics of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:History of Sri Lanka (1948–present)]]
[[Category:1989 crimes in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:1987–1989 JVP insurrection]]
[[Category:1989 controversies]]
[[Category:Battles and Operations of the Second JVP insurrection]]
[[Category:Indian Peace Keeping Force]]