The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), responsible for two insurrections in 1971 and 1988-89, has been striving to project a squeaky clean image through its new avatar, the National People’s Power (NPP), also referred to as the “Malimawa” (Compass) after its electoral symbol. In fact, today’s JVP does not have any members from the Old Guard who participated in either one of these insurrections. While the JVP or the NPP has not really atoned for its past conduct, it embraced democracy after the dark days of 1988-89 and participated fully in electoral politics. It has generally taken care not to bring up its past.
But a leopard never changes its spots and so it is apparently with the JVP. A statement made by the JVP’s frontline activist Nalin Hewage on the party’s killing spree in 1988-89 has stirred a hornet’s nest in political circles. According to Hewage, all those killed by JVP hit squads during this period of fear psychosis were murderers, rapists, cattle thieves, robbers, Kasippu brewers etc. Granted, some of those dispatched to the Great Beyond by the hit squads could indeed have belonged to one or more of these criminal types. Still, that does not give the JVP or for that matter, any other entity, the right to engage in extra-judicial killings. Only the Courts can pass a death sentence and even that after a fair trial.
But the problem with Hewage’s statement is not even that. The truth is that the vast majority of those killed by the JVP were honest, hardworking personages with not even a traffic ticket against their names. It is one thing if the JVP only targeted its political opponents from the United National Party (UNP), Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL), Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP) and other political parties (which it indeed did), but the issue here is that it gunned down many others who did no politics at all.
Among them were Ven. Kotikawatte Saddhatissa Thera, Rev. Fr. Michael Paul Rodrigo OMI, Prof. Stanley Wijesundara, Prof. Chandraratna Patuwathawithane, K. Gunaratnam, Vijaya Kumaratunga, Thevis Guruge, DIG Terrance Perera, Premakeerthi de Alwis, Sagarika Gomes and Gladys Jayawardena. These were well-known religious leaders, artistes and professionals who had no political bent, except for Kumaratunga who was however better known for his cinematic persona. And none of them could even remotely be called a criminal. It is indeed deplorable that a JVP leader has lumped them all together as criminals of the highest order in a bid to justify the horrendous killings.
The JVP or NPP leadership should immediately clarify whether this is Hewage’s personal opinion or a reflection of the party’s stand on the killing spree. As far as we know, the JVP has never really atoned for these killings, except for a couple of vague statements. Even if none of today’s JVP leaders cannot be personally held responsible per se, they should still issue a statement expressing remorse for the killings, with an apology to the families of all those killed. The JVP even denied them proper funerals, with the casket ordered to be carried at knee level.
Of course, Hewage’s callous statement has added insult to injury. After all, how would the relatives react upon hearing their deceased family member being described as a murderer or rapist? It is an affront to all those individuals who enriched the society in their own way. A mea culpa of some sort will actually help the JVP to improve its standing among the older voters who have vivid memories of 1988-89 and even 1971. This is nothing to be ashamed of – organisations and political parties in many other countries that engaged in similar activities have apologised and reformed themselves.
Now that the JVP has more or less shot itself in the foot with Hewage’s remarks, JVP/NPP leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake (AKD) will have the rather unenviable task of damage control once he returns from Sweden. In the meantime, a remark made by AKD in Sweden has also caused a stir in political and media circles. He has said that overseas Sri Lankans will be coming in numbers to vote for the NPP at the Presidential Election due in October, the same way they did for Gotabaya Rajapaksa in 2019.
While this newspaper has always stood for the right of Sri Lankans working or living overseas to exercise their franchise at national elections and even argued for legislation to be brought in to facilitate such voting from the countries they are domiciled in, a word of caution is in order. Sri Lankans who have been living overseas for a long time may not have a proper grasp of the ground realities here and could misread the political situation. This is exactly what happened in 2019, with disastrous consequences for the country. After all, members of the Diaspora will vote and go, but Sri Lankans living here have to carry the can. Sri Lanka is now on the path of economic recovery and a wrong choice at any election could derail this delicate process. Sri Lankans, whether living here or abroad, must carefully weigh their choices at the next elections for the country’s betterment.
