Some say that there is a new regime in Sri Lanka now. But the main partner party of the current government is the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna. It is not a new party at all. Its history goes back to the 60s. Moreover, that party has led armed rebellions not once but twice to seize state power. On both occasions, nearly one hundred thousand people have been killed. In addition, it is a party that has appointed many representatives to parliament, provincial councils and local government bodies. It has joined the ruling party in agreement with Chandrika’s government. It is also the party that has played a decisive role in making Mahinda Rajapaksa the president.
Therefore, it is not appropriate to discuss the current political activities of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and the National People’s Power government that emerged under its leadership, without considering its past behavior. Even after securing political power through democratic elections and a presidential election, it is doubtful to what extent they believe in democracy as a party. We say this by observing the behavior of its membership after winning the election, not by assessing its past activities.
The first coercive act of the government after winning the election was reported from Bingiriya. Two members of that government entered a garment factory and discussed the worker transport contract there. It was actually an interference in the administrative work of that factory. To justify that illegal entry, the two members said that they had gone to look into the development work of the garment factory. Government members should not come forward to work in a private factory. There are many tasks that the government should perform scattered throughout the country. The whole country knows why they go to develop the factories owned by the privete sector without thinking about them.
The next incident is from Matale. There, a supporter of the National People’s Power, who goes to the home of a social media user, warns him not to post posts criticizing the government. The video related to this has gone viral. MP Rohini Kavirathna questioned this in Parliament. When Ranil’s government brought a act to regulate social media, the National People’s Power raised its voice against it. However, after coming to power, the party has reached the point of going to the homes of social media users and warning them.
This is a demonstration of the true nature of the J.V.P to the world. This clearly shows that they are trying to bring back the country to the terror period of 87 -89. Unfortunetly the genaretion after 2000 dont know what was happened those days . The JVP armed gang banning sale and reading of Lake House newspapers and they killed the journalists like Thewis Guruge, Premakeerthi de Alwis, and Sagarika Gomes.
The most serious incident took place on the 12th at the ”Gamidiriya” comunity center in Angunakolapelessa. A group of JVP supporters stormed the farmers’ conference being held there by the Frontline Socialist Party and disrupted the conference by threatening the organizers. Their argument was that since this government is a farmers’ government, other parties have no right to criticize it. This means that there is no room in the country for anti-government criticism.
Violence and politics do not go together. If those two go hand in hand in any country in the world, it is a threat to democracy. Sri Lanka is no different.
The Archer