JVP behind student unrest

Successive Governments have allocated billions and billions of rupees on the country’s free education system. Sri Lanka is one of the few countries which provides free education from the Kindergarten to the university and postgraduate level.

Despite the colossal amount spent on national security, free health facilities and maintaining the public service, the Government has always given top priority when allocating budgetary funds on the country’s free education.

The Government, in the firm belief of grooming a well-educated and knowledgeable future generation, has over the years increased its allocation of funds on education. All these finances are found by way of taxes and even the poorest of the poor contribute in a small way to the State coffers.

In this scenario, it is worth examining the extent to which the younger generation has utilised the staggering amount of funds allocated for free education. The school network has always functioned smoothly. Regrettably, the same cannot be said about the country’s higher education system.

More often than not, there are wildcat strikes and other distractions at universities and other higher educational institutions including vocational training centres. These strikes and student demonstrations take place at a university or a vocational training centre with unfailing regularity.

As a result, undergraduates spend more years to complete their higher education, wasting a colossal amount of additional public funds which could have been ploughed for development purposes.

Surprisingly, only a handful of undergraduates indulge in politics and student union activities and this small segment invariably disrupts the smooth functioning of the universities. The majority of undergraduates do not indulge in politics and even if they were to do, it is done in a peaceful manner, upholding the ideals of democracy and the students’ well-being.

Although a small percentage of undergraduates resort to subversive and unpatriotic activities to disrupt the country’s university system, the damage they unleash is immeasurable. These undergraduates not only ruin their lives by fostering petty party politics but also inflict misery on the lives of the majority of fellow undergraduates. They disrupt academic activities at the drop of a hat, thereby wasting precious funds and valuable time.

Who is this small coterie of students who cause irreparable damage to the country’s university system and ruin the lives of thousands of fellow undergraduates?

It is an open secret that the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) fostered Inter-University Student Federation is behind all these notorious acts. Though the JVP projects itself as the godfathers and saviours of democracy, these notorious political opportunists attempt to disrupt the country’s higher educational system.

In 1971 and 1988/89, the JVP made unsuccessful bids to capture power through insurgencies. They exploited innocent students to achieve their petty political agendas on both occasions. Is the JVP hatching another insurgency?

The JVP has always had a history of being linked with shortcuts to capture power as the party reposes more faith in the bullet rather than the ballot. On every occasion the JVP lost its vote base and failed to attract the support of the masses, it resorted to subversive activities. There is no exception this time around.

The JVP has hit rock bottom in its political history. The 41 seats it secured in the previous Parliament have now been reduced to a mere seven and it is evident that the JVP leaders do not see any rosy future for the party. The JVP as a debilitating party would have perhaps compelled its leaders to creep into the university system to cause massive distraction and attract public attention.

This was manifest on Wednesday at the University of Ruhuna when its Vice Chancellor Prof. Susirith Mendis was attacked by a group of undergraduates when he tried to settle a clash between two student factions of the Humanities Faculty.

The Vice Chancellor who received injuries had to seek treatment at the Matara General Hospital. Senior Student Advisor Saman Chandana who arrived at the scene too had been assaulted by some unruly students.

There has been a spate of student arrests in the University of Ruhuna during the past few days when students of the JVP-led Inter-University Students Union clashed with members of the Science Faculty Student Union. Seven undergraduates were hospitalised following a clash between two groups on Tuesday.

It is crystal clear that members of the Inter-University Students’ Federation are now attempting to create chaos at higher educational institutions and disrupt its smooth functioning to achieve their political agendas.

Against this backdrop, its seniors are apparently sending strong signals to their student wing - the Inter-University Students Union to organise a series of protests and demonstrations so that they could steal the limelight.

Although the JVP projects itself as the ‘paragon’ of national heritage and patriotism, the extremist political party has only wreaked untold misery on the entire student population.

The JVP will go down in history as a party which ruined the lofty values of a proud nation. Sri Lanka’s rich culture has always made students treat their teachers as Gods, second only to their parents. However, the JVP’s infamous political culture has destroyed all such values and introduced a scandalous culture of attacking their own teachers such as lecturers who are doing a praiseworthy job as intellectuals. Is this the new political culture which the JVP leaders preach day and night? The JVP should desist from using students as pawns to fulfil its petty political agendas.

Minister of Higher Education, S. B. Dissanayake has assured that stern disciplinary action will be taken against the culprits. The undergraduates who motivated the recent attacks should be dealt with severely.

The JVP should never be allowed to damage public property and exploit petty party politics at the expense of the lives of undergraduates. A permanent end should be put to such horrendous acts and the JVP’s political agendas should be banished from the universities at any cost.