Saman Piyasiri Fernando

He was born on 23 March 1958 in Lunawa, Moratuwa, Sri Lanka as the third child in a Karava ethnic family with four siblings. His father Ebert Fernando was an inspector at the Ports Commission. His mother, T. Josie Engalsina Peiris was a teacher. Piyasiri's elder sister, a resident of Ganemulla, once worked as a nurse in a government hospital and was married in 1981 and later became a mother of two. His younger sister Ranjani later became a full time member of the JVP. The elder brother was a sick child and died in 1970 at the Angoda Hospital. Due to the financial difficulties of the family, his body was even buried at the hospital cemetery at the expense of the government. Although Piyasiri's father was a supporter of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and helped everyone, the childhood of his children was very sad due to his excessive alcoholism. Meanwhile, they had to leave the Egoda Uyana in Moratuwa and move to Ganemulla, which belonged to a relative of his mother, due to disputes with neighbors and relatives. Piyasiri, who until then had been educated up to grade 5 at Egoda Uyana Junior School, entered grade 6 at Kuda Bollatha Primary School. He entered Hemamali College, Galahitiyawa in Grade 8 and later entered Galahitiyawa Central College. He passed the GCE Ordinary Level Examination with 6 marks. He entered the University of Kelaniya in 1978 after completing his Advanced Level in Commerce in 1977 with 1 Excellence, 1 Award and 2 Excellence. Piyasiri was 5 feet 2 inches tall and slightly fat. There was a black spot on the left hand and a similar spot on the back of the right ear. Piyasiri's parents and family members, who were staying in the Moonagama area in Horana when Piyasiri became the military leader, later went to Poruwadanda. Later he went to Panadura and Nugegoda Ekawatte to several places including Udahamulla. They resided in his Nawala home since December 25, 1989. Saman's sister Ranjani was among those who had been with Wijeweera's wife and children for a short time to help with the house when Wijeweera was staying at the Haldummulla rice field in Haldummulla 1987 and the houses in Neluwa Lewgodawatte, Bandarawela since July 1987. On the day of Piyasiri's arrest, he was ready for the marriage with his girlfriend Indrani, the sister of Daya Wanniarachchi, the son of former JVP secretary Weeraketiya Heenbunne. Later, Piyasiri's mother, his younger sister Ranjani, girlfriend Indrani and her younger brother Saman Bandula (who was 18 years old) were arrested by the security forces. Saman's mother was released a few months later. Saman's sister and girlfriend were interrogated at various locations, including the 6th floor of the CID headquarters, and were eventually released after two years of rehabilitation at the Ranmutugala home. But Saman Bandula Wanniarachchi was killed two days after his arrest. ==Political career==

Piyasiri joined the JVP through Ragama Some after listening to a speech by Upatissa Gamanayake at a JVP rally in Veyangoda in 1978. He participated in the education camp held at Pallewela Muddaragama in the Mirigama electorate which was conducted by Wickramarala Jayatilleke. Piyasiri is the second best student in the history of the university with the highest number of marks. After graduating as a Commerce graduate, Piyasiri opted for full-time JVP politics instead of a job. He later became a JVP organizer for the Kolonnawa and Ratnapura electorates. His commitment to rebuilding the JVP was appreciated and in October 1985 he was appointed to the JVP Politburo. The first formal discussion on the formation of the Deshapremi Janatha Viyaparaya (Patriotic People's Movement), the armed wing of the JVP, was held for two days on March 4 and 5, 1986 at the Ratnapura canal and Piyasiri was appointed as the leader of the military wing at the Politburo meeting held there. The strategy was for the security forces to retreat without fighting in powerful situations and to launch vigilante attacks when they were weak. • Katunayake Air-force base (April 1988). • Magazine prison break (December 1988). • Pannala Army detachment (1989). • Panagoda Army base (1989). After Wijeweera's assassination, Piyasiri became the leader of the JVP on November 28, 1989, at a meeting of the Political Bureau held at Panukerapitiya, Ratnapura. Later the government issued a statement on November 28, 1989, stating that they wanted to arrest Somawansa Amarasinghe, Shantha Bandara, Saman Piyasiri Fernando, Gamini Gunasekara and Upali Jayaweera and that valuable rewards would be given to those who provided information about them. On December 27, 1989, a special police team, led by SSP Lionel Gunathilake, arrested Saman Piyasiri, along with his mother and fiancé, who is a sister of JVP politburo member Daya Wanniarachchi, at Koswatte, Nawala, at a rented house owned by Mark Antony Fernando, who works at SLBC. According to the police sources, the number of military books found inside the house and some of them are not found in Sri Lankan military libraries. Piyasiri was arrested on December 27, 1989, while staying at a house in Koswatta, Nawala by the special police team. As the second leader of the JVP on November 28, 1989, Piyasiri was the leader of the JVP for 32 days until he was assassinated on December 29, 1989. Rohan Gunaratna also stated that before Piyasiri's death, he managed to deliver a speech to the interrogation personnel around him about the society of Sri Lanka based on capitalism and socialism. Rohan further stated, "but Saman Piyasiri has not given any single information which could harm the party during the interrogation". The killings of rebels, their families, relatives and friends also intensified with these attacks. Due to Piyasiri's inability to stay on target, the entire JVP machinery was destroyed by the security forces within seven weeks. Within seven weeks of Wijeweera's assassination, 12 of the 13 members of the First Politburo were assassinated and only Somawansa Amarasinghe was left. Meanwhile, nine of the 11 members of the Second Politburo headed by Piyasiri were also killed. Only Somawansa and Gamini Gunasekera were left. ==In popular media==

The biographical film of Rohana Wijeweera's late life titled Ginnen Upan Seethala was released in 2018. The film was directed by Anurudha Jayasinghe and popular actor Susan Niroshan played Piyasiri's role. ==See also==