Some months ago after the death of Pol Pot, in an article captioned "Pol Pot, Wijeweera and the future", published in The Island, I recalled the horrors committed by the JVP during the 1988-89, and wrote "If we are to go by their record, the JVP should be spreading their message of hate and envy among our youth of impressionable age". There does not seem to be a counter campaign to explain to our youth the fallacies in their argument" I concluded stating that "today, once again there is a feeling of alienation overtaking them. They must be brought into the mainstream".

On the 9th of August S. R. Abeywardena, recalled in the Sunday Island, the bloody history of the JVP and the scale and magnitude of the JVP terror. It made frightening reading. Abeywardena quotes from Rohan Gunaratna’s book ‘The Lost Revolution'.

Short memories
For the benefit of those who may have missed the article under reference, and more particularly because we as a people have such short memories, let me set out Gunaratna’s graphic account once again-

"It was the order of the JVP, the unseen Government that ran the country. A state of near anarchy prevailed. People were threatened and kept away from work. No transport was available, as many bus drivers who defied the orders of the JVP were killed. The stoppages of work at the Petroleum refinery resulted in long queues outside gas stations. People frantically rushed to buy kerosene for lighting and cooking, shops were closed for weeks in certain areas on orders circulated by the JVP on scraps of paper and food shortages grew acute. Banks, Postal and Telecommunication services came to a virtual halt. (for the first time in its over one hundred year history even the General Post Office closed down), trees were cut and placed across roads. Power pylons and Transformers were damaged and telephone exchanges were sabotaged. Schools, Universities and places of work were forcibly closed. No persons were expected to drive on JVP imposed protest days or when the JVP imposed a curfew. On such days all lights, Radios and TVs had to be switched off". The penalty for non compliance was DEATH. For those of us who lived through that, it was not a mere nightmare, it was an absolutely frightening experience, which no person should wish even for his enemy.

Human Rights activists
Whatever Human Rights activists may now say, from the comfort and security of their air conditioned homes, we must remain eternally grateful to the Armed Services and the Police for having saved this country. They had no option but to use the same strategies, methods and weapons, as the ‘unseen enemy’ to destroy the monster who would otherwise have destroyed us.

The values we hold sacred today, would have been no more.

It would have been the end of our freedom and the democratic system of Government. The Judicial system would have been replaced by Kangaroo courts and the political, economic and social fabric of this country would have been destroyed forever. Pol Pot put to death two million during the four years of his so called social experiment. That would have been a picnic had our Pol Pot, Wijeweera taken over in this country.

He would have seen to it that the so called ‘parasites and enemies of society’, politicians, traders, businessmen, Industrialists, lawyers, doctors, intellectuals and even some of our well heeled Human Rights activists, were summarily executed. This Government, and those holding office, would not have been enjoying the privilege today. Our political leaders in particular, would have been singing with the angels or roasting in Lucifer’s inferno.

In recent years the JVP has emerged in a new garb professing to follow the democratic path. Their strength lies in the ability to mobilise the youth. This was on display on May Day this year thousands of young persons, in special uniforms prepared for the occasion, marched almost with military precision, through the streets of Colombo. Today they have one MP in Parliament and perhaps 125 elected members in local Government bodies around the country.

In 1971 the JVP was said to have been bankrolled by the North Koreans. In 1988 no such ‘foreign funding’ was alleged, but they certainly had sufficient resources to organize and let loose a massive insurgency that came within an ace of overthrowing the Government of this country.

Today they collect money at almost every bus stand in this country. They also visit homes in the countryside and collect money. It is alleged that Sri Lankan expatriate workers in the Middle East and in other parts of the world send money to them. Their monthly ‘income is said to be well over a million rupees.

The slogan of 1971 and 1988, "Kolombata Kiri apata Kekiri" is being heard once again. Their message this time around too is directed at the rural youth and the rural intelligencia, including the younger members of the Buddhist clergy, university students and army deserters. To them "a pervasive sense of injustice prevails".

They have been drawing attention to alleged corruption in Government, making the special point that the war has enriched the elite, who have made no sacrifice whatsoever, whereas they the people in the rural areas of this country, the sons and daughters of the peasantry have sacrificed their lives. The ‘message’ is potent, for they draw attention to the fact that no political leader or for that matter politician either in office or out of office, have given their sons for the war.

"They send them abroad to study whereas in the absence of other avenues of employment,we the rural youth, are compelled to join the Armed forces". It is indeed a message that the rural people understand and believe to be true, as they have lost sons in the war. The message is once again based on the theory of the ‘Class struggle’ and exploitation of man by man.

Recent weeks have seen the JVP, which opposed the Thirteenth Amendment, the Provincial Councils established under that, and elections to them, in the 1988/89 period (they killed many candidates), doing a complete volte farce and opposing the postponement of Provincial Council elections. They have also now become champions of Human Rights.

Recent incidents
However many recent incidents on university campuses have eroded the credibility of their claim that they have renounced violence as a means to attain their political goals. Despite this, I am of the view that this is an opportunity that the political establishment of this country must seize with both hands. We must do all we can to bring them into the mainstream, even if the strategy involves bringing them in to the provincial administration. Responsibility can be a maturing experience. Whether we like it or not they represent a section of our youth who are organized, they have succeeded in their ‘hearts and minds campaign’ to a significant extent.

They should not be alienated, they must be outflanked. The theories they hold can very easily be debunked. The Government should send them out to see and talk to people in some of the Socialist countries that are left. They should thereafter be taken on a visit to countries of Eastern Europe and then to the Western Democracies, Japan and China. It would be a worthwhile investment for the country.

Perhaps most important of all is that the Government must indulge in serious introspection and correct course where injustice is perceived by the people. It is political, economic and social injustice that breeds insurgencies.

Youth Commission Report
Some years ago ,when I served Government, I gave copies of the Youth Commission Report to certain Ministers and urged them to ensure its study and implementation. But they had more important thing to consider. The report of the Commission was indeed a most useful document. It studied the abuses and excesses of politicisation and the need for the depoliticisation of society; it discussed "youth alienationand the erosion of institutions": the report examined question of the "settlement of youth grievances" and the "mismatch between education and employment" amongst other issues pertaining to our youth and came up with valuable recommendations that were, above all, implementable. Perhaps because it was a Premadasa initiative it was either thrown into the freezer or the ‘wpb’.

Present Minister G. L. Peiris was a member of that Commission. He is today somewhat appropriately Minister of Justice. What better person to be given the important responsibility of heading off a third youth revolt in this country by charging him with the responsibility of implementing the report.