KAMALIKA PIERIS

The year 2022 has been a very busy year for the JVP. In the year 2022 JVP has taken a series of contradictory positions.  JVP has offered to run the country, has sponsored an Aragalaya intended to destablise the country and in between treated us to a spectacular display of arson by burning down politicians houses.

In March 2022, JVP held a largely attended rally in Nugegoda. Police estimates placed the crowd in Nugegoda at more than 30,000. When it comes to crowds, the JVP’s skills are unmatched. But its members lament that the large numbers do not translate into votes at an election said the media.

Then in May 2022 JVP focused on corruption. It held a media conference at the Sri Lanka Foundation where Anura Kumara Dissanayake presented a set of files which showed the corrupt activities of the Rajapaksas and other politicians. JVP said   the party had in its possession of over 500 such files. These files were already in the public domain, said Sena Thoradeniya. They are known files. They were exposed in Sunday newspapers many years ago.

JVP is trying a Guatemalan type struggle in Sri Lanka, said Sena. Activities like this were seen in Guatemala. They preceded the protests that took place outside the Presidential Palace in Guatemala. A 22-minute video, shown at GotaGogama, draws parallels between Guatemalan rulers and Rajapaksas in Sri Lanka. Unlike in 1971, this time JVP intends to move forward incrementally, observed Sena Thoradeniya.

The 1954 Guatemalan coup d’état, was a covert operation carried out by the CIA which led to the overthrew of the democratically elected President Jacobo Árbenz.  It installed the military dictatorship of Carlos Castillo Armas, the first in a series of U.S.-backed authoritarian rulers in Guatemala.

However, in May 2022, JVP went back to violence. JVP successfully burnt down houses of parliamentarians. This shows that JVP has not given up violence. The manner in which they burnt houses, hotels, and vehicles, the way they stopped buses and using lists of names to identify SLPP supporters, who were dragged out, assaulted and stripped naked, reminds us of earlier JVP insurgencies. Are they now preparing for a far more sinister political project, media asked.

In  July 2022 JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake called a press conference and said that he was ready to accept the Premiership for a five month period . If  Ranil Wickremesinghe steps down from the Premiership, I am ready to accept the position, he said and promised to bring normalcy to the country within a very short period . He does not say how this is going to be done, observed the media.

If JVP  is allowed to govern, it will be able to raise enough foreign revenue to overcome the current economic crisis , said  the JVP leaders. If the JVP takes over the Government today, dollars will flow into Sri Lanka from tomorrow. JVP will be able to attract US$ 1.5 billion a month from migrant workers alone. JVP has party branches in countries around the world and they could be used to bring in dollars to the country.

The Centre for Policy Alternatives carried out  a Confidence in Democratic Governance Index- Wave 3 survey and  issued its report in August 2022. According to the survey, Anura Kumara Dissanayake leads on trust in leaders to do the right thing to resolve the economic crisis, with a poll of 48.5%.

JVP is  free of allegations of corruption or involvement in activities, said JVP proudly. Dissanayake said , JVP has consistently exposed corruption, wastage of public funds and voiced concerns of the people. The public are skeptical. JVP has absolutely no economic  or development plan for the country, critics said.  JVP has never had any such plans. JVP speeches are verbose but empty.JVP leader speaks in  slow measured tones, holding audience attention,  using  long sentences,  but his statements do not contain anything new or original.

JVP  played a significant  role in the  Galle Face Aragalaya. The JVP General Secretary, Tilvin Silva,  confirmed that Our party has been there right from the beginning. We have our youth, cultural, student and women wings, at the Galle Face.” JVP-led Socialist Students’ Union is One of the leading forces of the Galle Face Aragalaya, said the media. When Anura Kumara Dissanayake visited the Galle Face Aragalaya site on May 9^th he was received like a hero.

 Peratugami Samajavadi Pakshaya (Frontline Socialist Party) along with its undergraduate front Inter-University Students’ Federation were heavily involved in the Aragalaya. Both  organizations  are linked to JVP. The Peratugami Samajavadi Pakshaya is composed of the members who defected from the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). There was  competition between these two parties.JVP remained ahead in that race  until July 2022 uprising which was led by Peratugami. There it overtook the JVP.

The Frontline Socialist Party  was launched on 9 April 2012 by dissident members of the JVP. It was led by   Premakumar and Ranjitham Gunaratnam. The Gunaratnam brothers were of mixed parentage. Tamil father and Sinhala-Tamil mother. Family lived in Anguruwella in Kegalle district, mother was a teacher. The three children studied in the Sinhala medium and were fluent in Sinhala. Both brothers entered  University of Peradeniya  engineering faculty, got immersed in JVP politics and dropped out.

DBS Jeyaraj spoke flatteringly  of Premakumar who, he said was a very  important member of the JVP. His comments were dismissed by an amused Chandraprema. I knew this Gunaratnam, said Chandraprema. All the flattering thing said about him are false.  Gunaratnam  was not in Central committee of the JVP.  He was only the district secretary for Trincomalee .  He was sent there to make contact with the Tamils. And he did that very successfully.   He did not carry out any attacks on the IPKF in Trico. That is nonsense. Premakumar Gunaratnam was not a military leader. He was a fixer, concluded Chandraprema.

Gunaratnam was supported by Australia. Australian High Commissioner Robyn Mudie had  helped him when he was arrested.  Australia gave him a passport under the name Noel Mudalige. ( JVP   series concluded)