• The JVP - a farewell to arms?

The JVP - a farewell to arms?
by Amaradasa Fernando

Some naive people, seem to suffering from amnesia with regard to the JVP's monstrous past and are being deluded by its new cosmetic make up. They seem to have forgotten the terrible anti human rights record of the JVP in its second and third uprisings in 88 and 90, and have welcomed this so called new turn of the JVP. Some time before the Provincial Council elections of 1994 it said that it was now turning to 'democratic politics.'

There were even well known writers like Gunadasa Amarasekere who were fooled by this new phenomenon when he naively hailed in a new book, (1986) his magnum opus, 'Ganadura Mediyama Dakinemi Arununalu", the appearance of the JVP in 1971 as a new dawn, a silver lining, in the political firmament of Sri Lanka. The high watermark of this kind of credulousness and stupidity was some time in between the 88 and 90 insurrections, when Anura Bandaranaike, as Leader of the Opposition, impetuously invited the JVP to join a future government of the SLFP, offering three portfolios, with the portfolio of Labour to Rohana Wijeweera! These are some of the apologists who helped to nurture this deadly new phenomenon which was responsible for the deaths of nearly 60,000 young men and women, many of them innocent, during the three abortive uprisings. Recently a well known journalist, who has in a widely publicised news paper written an article titled 'A farewell to arms' seemed to have fallen for the glib tongues of the JVP. There were others, like Drs. N. M. Perera, Colvin R. De Silva, Pieter Keuneman, Vasu Deva Nanayakkara and Dr. Wickerama Bahu, Vijaya Kumaratunga, Ossie Abeygunasekera who had correctly branded the JVP as a fascist party. Now Dr. Wickrema Bahu and Vasu Deva Nanayakkara seem to see the Wolf as Red Riding Hood!

The 1971 insurgency could have claimed some legitimacy from the view point that it was purely an anti-establishment uprising, by restless and immature youth, who felt that they had a right to revolt against an unjust government. But the second and third insurrections could not by any means be pardoned because they resorted to individual terrorism and destruction of social property not only against state organs, such as police stations, courts of justice, electricity transformers, the SLTB but even against private entrepreneurs who owned factories, thus throwing out of employment thousands of workers, whose cause they ostensibly professed to espouse.

Che Guevarists
By following this pattern of destruction, the young militants deceived themselves that they were following the Cuban style of revolutionary conquest, as opposed to the classic Leninist: building of the revolutionary party, which these impatient youth saw as a laborious exercise. These so called 'revolutionaries', came to be erroneously known as 'Che Guevarists'.

By indiscriminately destroying social property the JVP alienated themselves from the masses, hence the lack of support they had from the peasantry and the working class. Their base support came from the peasant youth from the universities and schools who were fired with visions to adventurism and grandeur of Che Guevarra, besides their own selfish interest of a better life.

Back lash
The first uprising of the JVP in 1977 can really be said to the back lash of the 'Bandaranaike Revolution' of 1956. A section of the Sinhala educated Sangha, Weda, Guru, Govi, Kamkura who had found some psychological satisfaction with the enthroning of Sinhala, found that the very basis of their emancipation was to be the instrument of their undoing. Soon it was found that the lack of a knowledge of English was a bar to social and economic progress. So how was this shortcoming to be overcome in the shortest possible time? In the one and half decades since 1956, English lost its importance. Most students became proficient in Sinhala and Tamil. But the gateway to success was through English. Those who really suffered were the students from the central schools later called Madhiyama Maha Vidyalas. This desperate situation found a desperate leader in Rohana Wijeweera who promised a quick fix solution: Revolution. If Wijeweera had correctly imbued the ideas of Che, he should not have forgotten that Che had emphasised that no revolution would be successful so long as there was even a semblance of democratic form of government. In the two classic examples of the French and Russian revolutions, there was no way out of the common people under the tyranny of Louis XIV, nor the Czars, except under a bloody revolt. In modern times it was the corruption and tyranny of Batista in Cuba, Marcos and Suharto in Indonesia, which paved the way for the people to revolt. In Sri Lanka there has been a system of universal franchise since 1931 where the people were given an opportunity of changing governments through the ballot.

Some of the puerile slogans of JVP to attract the youth were 'First the revolution and then studies.' To the farmers they exhorted, 'First the revolution and then the land.' The JVP had a crash course for revolution in their now notorious and stupid 'Five Lessons' which encompassed the whole gamut of history of the country, world affairs, past revolutions, with special emphasis on the betrayal of Left by the LSSSP and the CP., Indian expansionism etc.

Adventurism
With this hoch poch of urban guerrilla tactics of the Cuban variety and the Maoist agrarian revolution tactics of encircling cities, armed with a few stolen shot guns and pistols, they were predestined to failure. They had neither the support of the working class nor the peasantry. Only the impetuous and disgruntled youth gave them some support, as is happening now. No self respecting government democratically elected was going to give in to a bunch of adventurers. After an initial victory for the rebels, when they seized over 50 police stations, which were caught unawares, they were as was crushed, as was to be expected, by the armed forces of the United Front Government. Wijeweera got off lightly for his immaturity and stupidity which lead thousands of young people to premature death or to languish in jail. Wijeweera was a great egoist, who believed in destiny. He launched the second and third insurrections disregarding the advice of the great revolutionist Che. Instead of holding back the impatient youth, he lead them to even greater disasters.

The second and third insurrections were of an entirely different character. They took to terrorism in their pursuit of state power. As it has sometimes happened, like some animals, revolutions also devour their own children. Thus the JVP did not distinguish between friend and foe and as such were unscrupulous in their second and third abortive attempts.

Their recruitment and ideology was based on socialist rhetoric, with a strong nationalist emphasis. Though they were supposed to espouse the workers' cause, they were anti estate workers, whose origin was Indian. They were not anti-Tamil, though they were, anti devolution, they opposed the Indo Ceylon Agreement of 1987 and the Provincial Councils, which gave a measure of self government to the minority Tamils. Though they called themselves Marxist Leninist, they were always ready to jump the band wagon to ride the crest of a wave of chauvinism. Thus the Indo-Ceylon Pact was a god given opportunity to the JVP to pose as the saviour of Indian expansionism. Both President Premadasa and Wijeweera vied for this role. Both 'out with the IPKF.'! However all left parties supported this progressive move as did Gamini Dissanayake and Ronnie de Mel of the UNP. The SLFP, the ultra chauvinists, Premadasa and Lalith Athulathmudali opposed the Indo-Ceylon Agreement.

Wijeweera was not totally anti Tamil. He said that Tamils had the right to secede, but this would only be possible under a communist government of the JVP. He said that there was no ethnic problem, but an economic problem. Thus the Tamils had to wait till they, the JVP Messiah, who was coming very soon, which would take them to the promised land of Eelam! 'There was to be no interim solution to the Tamil problem! The JVP found itself with strange bed fellows such as President Premadasa, who was blowing hot and cold with the JVP, making use of them when it suited him, as was seen in the case of the murder of Vijiya Kumaratunga.

Fascism
The JVP fitted itself comfortably with the fascist ideology of 'national socialism' basing itself on a racist middle class, as did the Nazi ideology of Hitler. Like the Nazi Party the JVP was based on a cult, Der Fuhrer or the Leader. Like the Nazis who had their Storm Troopers, the JVP had its goon squads, the DJVP (Desapremi Janatha Vimukthi Pearamuna) which suppressed dissent, in universities, other educational institutions, and trade unions, etc. Today the JVP are posing as champions of free media when only yesteryear they banned reading Left and Lake House newspapers. Their barbarism and cruelty was on par with the Nazis and Pol Pot. As said earlier they spared neither friend nor foe. They even killed innocent people like Vijaya Kumaratunge, Premakirithi Alwis, Thevis Guruge (Chairman of the SLBC), Rev, Kotikawatte Saddatissa, Nandalal Fernando, Harsha Abeywardene, (Secy), and chairman of the UNP, Dr. Gladys Jayewardene, Chairperson of the State Pharmaceuticals Corporation, who dared a threat by DJVP to unload a consignment of Indian medicines at the Customs. The political opponents who were murdered were, 171 (UNP), 100 (SLFP), (17) each of the SLMP and CP and 61 members of other parties (Rohan Gunaratna Sri Lanka a Lost Revolution) There were over a dozen MPs who were all UNP. The JVP was anti intellectual like Pol Pot. Prof. Stanley Wijesundera, V.C. of the Colombo University, Prof. Patuwatawithana, V.C. of the Moratuwa University were killed by them. Among some of the well known JVPers who were killed was Nandana Marasinghe, a lyricist and dramatist. He belonged to the top hirarchy of the JVP and a close friend of the big chief Rohana Wijeweera. He was a courageous and a dare devil of a man. Twice he fled jails, having dug long tunnels into freedom only to be caught again. This however, did not deter Wijeweera, in having this loyal and brave comrade assassinated, because Marasinghe dared to oppose the adventurism of the second insurrection. Some of the other JVP top rungers who shared the same fate were Jamis Atugala, Mahinda Pathirana, Nandasena of Kalutara, Hunugama Simon. After the JVP debacle in 1971, of the JVPers who answered the call to surrender, and those who were arrested, there were around 21,000. Of them there are not even 1 in 100 who have got back. Of the well known top leadership, people like Kelly Senanayake, (Publisher, Yuktiya) Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda, Victor Ivan, (Edt. Ravaya) Lionel Bopage, (Secy of the JVP), Sunanda Deshapriya, (Edt. Yuktiya) Mahinda Wijesekera, (Deputy Minister), Bandara Tennekoon, Patrick Fernando, Nimal Maharage, all accused in the CJC trial, all of whom served prison sentences, and many others are alive and remain out of the JVP. Only Somawansa Amarasinghe, of the old leadership remains. The present leadership was unknown in 71. This situation was like when Stalin who by 1948 had got rid of almost the entire Central Committee of Lenin Central which led the Bolshevik Revolution. Most of them had been murdered.

Sadism
It would be of interest to recall the case of DIG Premadasa Udugampola, which shows up the sadism and utter ruthlessness of the JVP. Udugampola had been commissioned by President Premadasa to exterminate the southern arm of the JVP. No doubt that he did it with equal ruthlessness, which was beyond the exercise of his official duty. The JVP responded with much more brutality and sadistic terror. They could n't catch Udugampola, so a kangaroo court ordered 'Death to the Udugampola family.' His aged mother, brother, wife and their children were burnt to death in their ancestral home. Udugampola had sweet revenge when the fourteen who consisted of the kangaroo court were summarily bumped off. Even Chengis Khan would blush in shame at this cruelty and barbarism.

The demented minds of Wijeweera and Saman Piyasiri Fernando, the 'anadena niladahari (the officer commanding) on the DJVP, the military arm of the JVP found ingenious ways of death to their victims in the most horrible manner. Those who were killed by their death squads were not even permitted a decent burial. The coffin of the deceased could not be held shoulder high, it had to be only below the knees of the pall bearers, while the grave was to be only a shallow pit of three feet! It was prohibited to have a mound of earth above the grave. No death notices and no mourning was permitted. Only 10 persons are allowed to attend the funeral. Some had their heads decapitated and stuck on pikes out side their homes. Others were killed and hung on lamp posts. Such was the heartless cruelty of Wijeweera and his band. All this shows that Wijeweera was a terrorist and fascist who brooked no opposition like Pol Pot. Wijeweera was as ruthless a man as Pol Pot, but in a way even more sadistic. He was the twin brother of Prabhakaran.

In order to call a general strike Hartal the subterfuge used by the, DJVP was to use small children to drop small hand written messages inconspicuously at shops and other public places. This was done without prior warning, thus putting people into great inconvenience. This affected mostly the poor as it was they who made their purchases for the day. Can one forget that the people were forbidden to be walking on the roads, all lights, radios and TV were to be switched off? All workers and professionals were forbidden from going to work.

This kind of torture and barbarism was also perpetrated by the military, police and vigilante groups such as PRRA, Black Cats, etc. While not condoning the terror unleashed on innocent people by these groups, it must be said that they did have an excuse. They did so as an act of vengeance, while the JVP used these means to achieve power.

Ragging
The only political party that did not oppose ragging in the Universities and other educational institutions was the JVP. This is because ragging is part of the armoury of the JVP to cow down and terrorise the new students to joining their party. This is the way the Nazis treated the Jews when they were brought to the camps. They were undressed, and tortured to break down their spirit. This is what ragging has degenerated to today in all educational institutions. I am sure that when these perpetrators have children, would not wish them to be the victims of such crude sadism, which often lead to death. This type of despicable behaviour has even been introduced in to schools. Time and again it is the JVP which is the cause of violence and terrorism in these institutions. This has not ended with fellow students, these elements have taken to Gheroaing teachers. Gheroa in Hindi is to surround till the victims relent. Thanks to them there is no longer the Guru - Shisya tradition in the seats of higher learning. When they disagree with their teachers they resort to holding them captive. As I write now 23 University lecturers including a Dean of the Colombo University were held captive for 6 pm to 3 am, 9 hours, on Thursday the 4th by JVP undergraduates, 103 of those were taken into custody. In the clash which followed the Students' Council elections, the defeated JVPers 103 of them were taken into custody by the Police. The Vice Chancellor W. D. Luxman must be congratulated for the firm action that he has taken in suspending the miscreants by declaring the University out of bounds for them and temporarily cancelling their bursaries till they are cleared by a court of inquiry. How can the JVP say that they have given up violence and are now following the democratic path, when they at this very moment continue with to do so with impudence, I ask Messers Bahu and Vasu?

Volt face
Shortly before the last Provincial Council elections, the hierarchy of the present JVP paid a visit to the American Embassy to meet some of its top officials to assure them that they were on the democratic path, having given up violence! In effect they wanted to get a character certificate from those whom call imperialists! Some wondered how this move fitted with their slogan written in the walls of the city. "Down with sanctions against Cuba, Down with American Imperialism"! They were trying to curry favour with the Yanks, temporarily jettisoning the Cubans. This only exposed the cynicism and hypocrisy of the JVP.

The 1971 insurrection had been crushed by the United Front Government. The Criminal Justice Commission saw the JVP leaders and thousands of its rank file clapped into prison. Some served varying degrees of punishment, from two to seven years. Wijeweera on 2 November 1997. Wijeweera emerged a free man from a prison after he and several other leaders were released by President Jayewardene.

To those with short memories I would like to recall what Wijeweera said in his first public appearance at Town Hall on 7 November 1977. He proclaimed that he had dropped the strategy of armed struggle and now his party would take the democratic road. In May 1982 the General Secretary of the JVP, Lionel Bopage in a press statement uttered similar sentiments. He said, "For the information of Sri Lanka I wish to place on record to achieve its political ends that the JVP has not and does not and will never perpetrate crimes and terror tactics." Some naive people, as they are doing today, took Wijeweera at his word. The honeymoon with democracy went on for some time. They became a recognised political party and contested the District Council elections in May 1981, where the party gained popularity winning a number of seats. This new turn was indeed a welcome relief for many people. Wijeweera presented himself for the Presidential elections in 1982 and polled around 250,000 votes, putting up a much better performance than Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, the veteran LSSPer with around 50,000 and Vasu Deva Nanayakkara of the NLSSSP with a mere 17000 votes.

Anti Tamil riots
In 1983 came the anti Tamil riots triggered off by the killing of 13 Sinhala solidiers on the 13th of July. It is now known that the persons responsible were a UNP Minister and his cohorts, supported by several racist Buddhist monks. The LSSP, CP, NLSSP and the JVP were proscribed. Unlike the Left parties who democratically fought back the proscription, the JVP went underground like a duck taking to water. Wijeweera had a pre conceived plan for another uprising. Wije-weera used this hibernation to surreptitiously buildup their shattered party for their second round of the armed struggle. There was a split in the JVP and many of the leadership contested Wijeweera on this issue. The names mentioned earlier opposed Wijeweera and paid with their lives.

This article is not the place to discuss the two other abortive attempts of 1987 and 1987 insurgencies. The horrors of these two bloody attempts, some of which I have graphically described are within loving memory of most people, which they would like to forget as a nightmare. I am sure 99% of them would not like to go through such a trauma.

Only those who are in their early teens and who have passed their O Levels, Advanced Levels and who have graduated but are unemployed and see no future prospects would be prepared to go behind the JVP mirage of the promised land. Not knowing what the JVP terror was like, they would be attracted by personal interest or due to the spirit of adventure that a revolution would conjure.

Turn Coats?
Are the present leadership turn coats? Have they gone back on the aspirations of their dead leader who they revere, when they say that this time they are truly taking the democratic road? Two questions arise from this. (1) They have to disown their terrorist past. Which means that they would have to do something like what Khruschev did to Stalin: De Stalinize. But that would mean that they have to confine Rohana Wijeweera to the dust bin of history as was Stalin’s fate. Statues were pulled down, Stalingrad was renamed by its former name, Petrograd (2) If they do not, it is the same old song, but with new singers. But the present leadership of the JVP refuses to do a self criticism of its monstrous past. Because of persistent demand from other Left and bourgeois parties, in 1997 the JVP had at its Third National Convention is supposed to have done a self criticism. It was closed conference for party men only, where the press was kept out. At the end of it the JVP leadership said that they discussed their past the conclusions were for the party men only.

If you are against violence and on the democratic road, then why not should one not be open about it? They commemorate Wijeweera’s death each year. They carry his mast head at their rallies and demonstrations. If they are not prepared to "de Rohanize," can they say truthfully say that they are against violence? Otherwise it would appear that they are only trying to delude the people, as Wijeweera did after his release as mentioned earlier. Now they have proposed a United Front with other parties of the extreme Left, principally with Wickrema Bahu of the NLLSP and Vasu Deva Nanayakkara of the LSSP. They have suggested the well known Marxist tactic: "March separatly strike together", For Wijeweera the old Left were the grave diggers of Marxism. In fact he once said that when the JVP came to power, he would have Drs. N. M. Perera and Colvin R. de Silva exhibited in the zoo! What I believe is that the JVP is doing is through sheer desperation and self preservation, arising from a guilty conscience. If there is another crack down by the Government, they would need allies. The sporadic acts of violence at the various universities orchestrated by the Inter University Students' Federation, and the militancy in the various trade unions that they have infiltrated are only a dress rehearsal to another youth revolt. It is not for the love of the Left parties that the JVP is making overtures to them. This is exactly the LTTE's tactic, when it is being militarily defeated they sue for peace.

The question to be posed to the Wickrema Bahu and Vasu, is what is the basis for a United Front? Is there a short term transitional and long term programme? At what point of time has the JVP metamorp-hasised from being a fascist to a democratic party, with such a sordid past? Even Anguli Mala, the murderer, became a disciple of the Buddha, and became a Arhant. The most important and urgent matter facing the country today is the problem of the minorities. What is their attitude to the on going war? Do they stand first for the crushing of the LTTE militarily and a devolution of power afterwards? Do they stand for changing of the constitution? We know that Wickrema Bahu and Vasu have very strong views on these matters and they agree with the Government on them. While it would not be possible to negotiate with the LTTE if they are not prepared to laying down arms, so it must be the same with the JVP, they at least must admit their errors and should say "mea culpa", "I (we) have sinned", if they are to be believed.

This article is only against the duplicity of the present leadership of the JVP. The youth of this country have a great role to play in its future. But the JVP must be honest. It cannot be trying to prove an alibi that it was not the JVP that took to the killing fields, that it was the DJVP. They remind me of a Sinhala saying, also a current film now showing, which says, "Dawalta Miguel, Reta Daniel" (Miguel by day, and Daniel by night).

A quotation from Mahathma Gandhi will show the relevance of what I mean. He says "You can go on building parties, but if you start with zero value, and add zeros, you will get only zero value. You must be honest, otherwise you will end up with some great disaster". This is what happened in its three abortive insurrections, which lead to the slaughter of thousands of young men and women who trusted the JVP leadership. Let us hope that because of political expediency, Comrades Bahu and Vasu will not be a party to another aborted insurrection. They will March separately, but only to be smashed together!.