Major General Janaka Perera, RWP, RSP, VSV, USP, VSP, rcds, psc, CR (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. 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.
Education
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.
Military career
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.
Second JVP insurrection
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.
Welioya
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.
Operation Riviresa
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.
Higher command
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.
Defense of Jaffna
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.