COLOMBO: He loathed the peace agreement signed by Sri Lanka and India strongly enough to strike former Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi with a rifle, but today the former Lankan sailor makes a living selling Hindi music.
Naval rating Wijemuni Vijitha Rohana de Silva slid into history 20 years ago when he struck a heavy blow on Rajiv Gandhi, injuring his shoulder, as the Indian Prime Minister inspected a guard of honour in the Sri Lankan capital Colombo.
Now, much of his fire has been doused by the Bollywood tunes that he sells to customers at his shop in a busy shopping centre in the suburbs of Colombo.
‘‘I sell very popular cassettes with Hindi songs,’’ Rohana told The Nation newspaper here. ‘‘I also enjoy these songs. I am a music lover.’’
Rohana was court-martialled and sentenced to six years in prison but was released after two years of serving his term by former President Ranasinghe Premadasa, a strong critic of the Indo-Lanka peace accord entered into by his predecessor Junius Jayewardene on July 29, 1987.
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