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| Sunday, 3 July 2005 |
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JVP garlands losers ! by Rashomi Silva Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) last week scored one more point over their saffron robed counterparts in the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) in their neck to neck race to prove their worth to the 'Sinhala Buddhist' vote bank, when its leader Somawansa Amarasinghe urged the Police and the Security forces not to obey orders in the best interests of the country," reminiscent of the Deshpremi Janatha Vyaparaya (DJV) orders in 1989 to members of the armed forces to resign or face death. At their meeting of 'representatives of branch offices' under the theme 'Leadership for the nation, victory for the country' Amarasinghe said laws and orders could be disobeyed if their implementation would hurt the sovereignty or the territorial integrity of the country. "If they lose their jobs in doing so, JVP is ready to garland them," local media quoted him as saying. Apparently what this 'Left' leader has forgotten was that flower garlanding and hero welcoming of a dismissed worker would not help a man struggling in poverty in a country where the cost of living is skyrocketing. Be that as it may returning to the statement of Amarasinghe the question arises as to whether a leader of a responsible political party which is represented by 39 law-makers in the Parliament could afford to make such statements. Ofcourse lawlessness was nothing new to this leader of the JVP who was out in France on self exile for over ten years. But is it a worthy statement for a leader of a democratic political party, scheming to be the ruler of the country in the near future? Whilst condemning, P-TOMS as the greatest betrayal of recent times, the JVP lambasted every attempt at power devolution as an act of betrayal and accused every leader who was courageous enough to attempt devolution, as a traitor. Last week almost island-wide a poster campaign wasconducted with the JVP styled fervour called for the withdrawal of P-TOMS on the ground of endangering the national security. According to the poster, P-TOMS would grant the LTTE access to strategically important places like Trincomalee harbour, Palali Airport and KKS harbour. The LTTE would be able to re-construct their bases within 2Km areas, funds granted for rehabilitation would go directly to the LTTE were among many other complaints they made. In the light of the government carrying out many an attempt to educate the public and other political parties on P-TOMS during the last few weeks it is not clear if the JVP/JHU are unable to understand simple plain statements or if they were trying to deceive the public. Dr. John Gunaratane of the government Peace Secretariat speaking to the Sunday Observer said: "The allegations are unfounded and totally incorrect. The Agreement clearly says that the P-TOMS can handle only the civilian infrastructure and the CFA would remain unchallenged. District and Regional committees set up under the Agreement would only facilitate and accelerate relief, rehabilitation and reconstructions and such humanitarian activities in the tsunami affected areas. As far as the Trinco harbour and the other strategically important locations are concerned the CFA would provide the exclusion of the High Security Zone and the government forces under the CFA clause 1.12 would be able to deny access to such place even if some party wishes to do so." While we cherish our right to voice our views and freedom of expression, we as individuals and groups have a serious obligation by the society. That is not to misuse our rights deliberately to deceive masses to achieve our own petty political goals. |
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