JVP has not changed its ways– Dr. Vickramabahu Karunaratne
June 14, 2014
June 14, 2014
Reports from London indicate that the JVP, under the new leadership, could not convince the pro-socialist groups that they have grown out of their Sinhala chauvinist middle class party format. Some groups congratulated the organizers for showing the JVP for what it still is, a Sinhala nationalist organization trying to hide behind Marxist rhetoric. It all came out at the speech, and the answers given by Anura himself.
As the JVP is incapable of organizing a meeting of this kind anywhere outside Sri Lanka, they had to rely on others to organize the event. Not so surprisingly, they could not attract Tamil or Muslim minorities to any of their meetings. This, however, did not stop them from claiming to the Sinhala media in Sri Lanka that they had held 'successful meetings internationally.' But the truth is somewhat on the contrary.
Quite obviously the JVP has been trying to revamp their war-tainted image by selecting this new leader and claiming to have achieved a sharp change. However, it is their still practising communalism that gave a relatively successful comeback in the last provincial elections. Yet, their support among the Sinhala Diaspora remains very weak, as neither the socialists nor the chauvinists are willing to accept their leadership as genuine.
The emergence of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) from their rank and file is a shock from which they cannot recover. The young breakaway group accused them not only of dragging them into a coalition government with the SLFP, the nationalist bourgeoisie party, but also openly committing them to an oppressive war in the North. The international tour by one of its leaders, Kumar Gunaratnam, has also done huge damage to the JVP. If the aim of Anura's visit is to recover from this set back, then it was a failure.
The London meeting and the connected international campaign, once more demonstrated the inability of the JVP to attract revolutionary sections of the Lankan Diaspora. Faced with questions, Anura used his diplomatic serious attitude to sideline the difficult questions, rather than actually attempting to provide answers.
The fact remains that the JVP, which never had a working class backing, went into a coalition with the SLFP and played a more chauvinist role than that of the SLFP leaders, before breaking off. This is in sharp contrast to the old opportunist Left Leaders, who remained pro devolution in spite of participation in coalitions. To that extent old Left Leaders could be classified as reformists, in all national democratic tasks faced by the country.
JVP on the contrary, became sometimes extreme leftist in relation to socio-economic problems, while on the other hand, brutal oppressors of minority communities. They were responsible in 1988/90 period for killing nearly a thousand leftists who supported devolution and defended the parity of languages.
Responding to the apology given by the Leader of the JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during an interview with BBC Sandeshaya regarding the 1988/89 insurgency, JVP trade unionist, K.D Lalkantha, said that the apology was not for their struggle, but for the innocent victims killed during that period.
"Due to the situation at the time an arms struggle took place in the country, people who had no involvement in the struggle perished during that period. Therefore, this apology was particularly for those people who were unnecessarily killed in the struggle. We are certainly not saying that the struggle was wrong, and we are not apologizing for the struggle, but only to these innocent people," he said.
Lalkantha added that they had not anticipated the deaths of those innocent people, but unfortunately that is what happened; though it was not their intention. "We were deprived of our civic rights and there was no other means for us to continue our politics, and that is why we had to resort to that sort of armed struggle at the time. It was certainly not against the people but the government at the time. However, many innocent civilians lost their lives in the struggle, which we did not anticipate, and we regret that deeply. Hence, this is what our leader meant when he apologized. It was for the innocent civilians," he added.
It is a fact that JVP was banned and they were fighting against a repressive government. But the government was forced to come out with the 13th Amendment and give partial devolution to the Tamil people. The government retreated from the oppressive position. JVP completely misinterpreted this situation, and turned their guns at those leftists who came out to defend the reforms given to the oppressed communities. They did not kill innocent people but deliberately killed left and democratic people who stood for minority rights. Cuban revolutionary, Che Guevara, was also involved in armed struggle but he never aimed consciously at others who were fighting for human rights against the repressive regime.
As reported, Anura had an opportunity to explain the mistakes of the past to his audience – the JVP's false perspective that led them to enter a coalition with an anti-worker, racist capitalist government, and to be complicit in the genocidal slaughter of Tamil-speaking people that took place in 2009. Apparently despite repeated probing, he touched on none of these issues.
For Anura these issues may be in the long-forgotten past, but they are firmly centred in the minds of the radical masses in Lanka and elsewhere.
As the JVP is incapable of organizing a meeting of this kind anywhere outside Sri Lanka, they had to rely on others to organize the event. Not so surprisingly, they could not attract Tamil or Muslim minorities to any of their meetings. This, however, did not stop them from claiming to the Sinhala media in Sri Lanka that they had held 'successful meetings internationally.' But the truth is somewhat on the contrary.
Quite obviously the JVP has been trying to revamp their war-tainted image by selecting this new leader and claiming to have achieved a sharp change. However, it is their still practising communalism that gave a relatively successful comeback in the last provincial elections. Yet, their support among the Sinhala Diaspora remains very weak, as neither the socialists nor the chauvinists are willing to accept their leadership as genuine.
The emergence of the Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) from their rank and file is a shock from which they cannot recover. The young breakaway group accused them not only of dragging them into a coalition government with the SLFP, the nationalist bourgeoisie party, but also openly committing them to an oppressive war in the North. The international tour by one of its leaders, Kumar Gunaratnam, has also done huge damage to the JVP. If the aim of Anura's visit is to recover from this set back, then it was a failure.
The London meeting and the connected international campaign, once more demonstrated the inability of the JVP to attract revolutionary sections of the Lankan Diaspora. Faced with questions, Anura used his diplomatic serious attitude to sideline the difficult questions, rather than actually attempting to provide answers.
The fact remains that the JVP, which never had a working class backing, went into a coalition with the SLFP and played a more chauvinist role than that of the SLFP leaders, before breaking off. This is in sharp contrast to the old opportunist Left Leaders, who remained pro devolution in spite of participation in coalitions. To that extent old Left Leaders could be classified as reformists, in all national democratic tasks faced by the country.
JVP on the contrary, became sometimes extreme leftist in relation to socio-economic problems, while on the other hand, brutal oppressors of minority communities. They were responsible in 1988/90 period for killing nearly a thousand leftists who supported devolution and defended the parity of languages.
Responding to the apology given by the Leader of the JVP, Anura Kumara Dissanayake, during an interview with BBC Sandeshaya regarding the 1988/89 insurgency, JVP trade unionist, K.D Lalkantha, said that the apology was not for their struggle, but for the innocent victims killed during that period.
"Due to the situation at the time an arms struggle took place in the country, people who had no involvement in the struggle perished during that period. Therefore, this apology was particularly for those people who were unnecessarily killed in the struggle. We are certainly not saying that the struggle was wrong, and we are not apologizing for the struggle, but only to these innocent people," he said.
Lalkantha added that they had not anticipated the deaths of those innocent people, but unfortunately that is what happened; though it was not their intention. "We were deprived of our civic rights and there was no other means for us to continue our politics, and that is why we had to resort to that sort of armed struggle at the time. It was certainly not against the people but the government at the time. However, many innocent civilians lost their lives in the struggle, which we did not anticipate, and we regret that deeply. Hence, this is what our leader meant when he apologized. It was for the innocent civilians," he added.
It is a fact that JVP was banned and they were fighting against a repressive government. But the government was forced to come out with the 13th Amendment and give partial devolution to the Tamil people. The government retreated from the oppressive position. JVP completely misinterpreted this situation, and turned their guns at those leftists who came out to defend the reforms given to the oppressed communities. They did not kill innocent people but deliberately killed left and democratic people who stood for minority rights. Cuban revolutionary, Che Guevara, was also involved in armed struggle but he never aimed consciously at others who were fighting for human rights against the repressive regime.
As reported, Anura had an opportunity to explain the mistakes of the past to his audience – the JVP's false perspective that led them to enter a coalition with an anti-worker, racist capitalist government, and to be complicit in the genocidal slaughter of Tamil-speaking people that took place in 2009. Apparently despite repeated probing, he touched on none of these issues.
For Anura these issues may be in the long-forgotten past, but they are firmly centred in the minds of the radical masses in Lanka and elsewhere.
