The Revolutionary Who Nearly Destroyed Sri Lanka TWICE

Added: 2026-05-16

[00:00:00]The most brilliant revolutionary mind in Sri Lanka was destroyed by his own genius. It's 1966 Colombo, Sri Lanka. A university student studies Marxist theory and watches his country struggle under elite rule.

[00:00:13]Rohana Wijeweera combines radical politics with Sinhalese nationalism creating a new revolutionary vision. He builds the People's Liberation Front with secret cells across the island. In 1971, his armed uprising nearly topples the government. Thousands join his cause and for months the state trembles. But he's captured, imprisoned, then exiled. The government thinks he's finished. During the brutal civil war of the 80s, he returns underground. His radio broadcasts terrify the establishment as a second insurgency explodes. Security forces hunt desperately for the voice behind the revolution. His intellectual approach makes him a master organizer, but it also makes him trackable. In November 1989, they find him. He's dragged into custody, tortured, and killed. His body disappears, but thousands die in the government's revenge. The revolutionary genius who nearly brought down Sri Lanka twice was Rohana Wijeweera.