Dissanayake, a member of the majority Sinhalese community, was an active JVP student leader during the second insurrection, which was also coupled with a violent anti-India campaign.
He has described how one of his teachers sheltered him for over a month to save him from government-backed death squads that killed JVP activists, setting fire to their bodies in public using car tyres.
A large number of people disappeared, and unofficial estimates place the death toll from the second JVP armed struggle at about 60,000.
Some are still unaccounted for.
GEOPOLITICS TIGHTROPE
Since his rise to popularity, he has softened some policies, saying he believes in an open economy and is not totally opposed to privatisation.
“There is a smear campaign against us, saying we will nationalise everything, even cows,” Dissanayake said at a campaign rally.
“We will certainly help farmers to improve, to have their own dairies,” he said. “We will not take over cows.”
His manifesto vows to improve loss-making state enterprises without selling them off.
Source: CNA
