The JVP Insurrections
In the early 1970s and 1980s two insurgencies stalked the countryside of southern Sri Lanka. They were horrifyingly brutal, and yet few in the outside world know about them. Inspired by a utopian Marxist ideology, the JVP carried out a campaign of terror, and yet this was dwarfed by the government's response. This video covers both JVP insurrections, and discusses how this shaped the relationship between violence and the Sri Lankan government that continues to echo throughout the island.
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Sources:
-A History of Sri Lanka, K. M. de Silva
-Elephant Complex; Travels in Sri Lanka, John Gimlette
-The Cage: The Fight for Sri Lanka and the Last Days of the Tamil Tigers, Gordon Weiss
-The Ocean of Churn: How the Indian Ocean Shaped Human History, Sanjeev Sanyal
-This Divided Island: Stories from the Sri Lankan War, Samanth Subramanian
Various news sources, especially The Economist
00:00 Intro
02:25 Origins
04:13 1st JVP Insurrection
08:10 Matara to Hambantota
11:40 Yala National Park
15:46 2nd JVP Insurrection
22:23 Legacy
24:00 Testimony