Whakaotihia te rerenga e whai ake nei: I te wā o te 1987 ki te 1989, i te kaha haere o te pakanga i te raki, he rereketanga nui i roto i te ariā me nga whaainga o te rōpū Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) i Sri Lanka. I hurihia mai i te whakahaere Marxist ki roto i te whakahaere a-iwi Sinhalese e whakahe ana ki tetahi whakataunga ki te tutu Tamil. Nā tōna tūranga i roto i
anti-Tamil riots o Hōngongoi 1983, ahakoa kaore i whakawhiwhia e te kawanatanga he taunakitanga hei tautoko i tenei whakapae, i aukatia, a, i ngaro tona kaiarahi.