JVP leader's return reopens old wounds

By Nirupama Subramanian

COLOMBO, NOV. 28. The radical Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP), which had attempted two uprisings against the Sri Lankan state but is now a mainstream political party, today began a damage- control exercise after a reported statement by its senior-most leader that another armed struggle by it could not be ruled out.

``There will be no third revolution, there won't be any armed struggle in this country,'' said Mr. Somawansa Amarasinghe today, days after a public meeting at which he reportedly warned that the JVP might have to take to arms once more if the United National Party came back to power. Mr. Amarasinghe, the only surviving member of the l980s leadership of the JVP, returned to Sri Lanka last week after more than a decade of self-imposed exile in France where he has lived after fleeing a government crackdown on an armed insurrection by his party in 1998-89.

But instead of helping the JVP's prospects in the coming election, his return seems to have only reopened old wounds for Sri Lanka and brought back memories of the party's violent past which its present leaders have been trying hard to erase.

Hours after flying in from Paris, Mr. Amarasinghe addressed a public meeting at a coastal town near the capital. But his utterances were to shock many. The diminutive 58-year-old reportedly admitted that the JVP had killed 6,000 people during the insurrection, but said the Government carried the bigger blame as it had killed tens of thousands more. He is also reported to have called on JVP cadres to ``arm themselves'' at the appropriate time. ``Welcome back Somawansa, here's your charge-sheet,'' cried the daily Island the next day. ``Six thousand deaths, comrade, is nothing to brush aside. It amounts to genocide,'' the newspaper said. The JVP has tried hard over the last decade to project itself as a reformed party, joining mainstream politics and carving out a vote bank that gave it 6 per cent of the vote and 10 seats in the 2000 election. The party hopes to improve its performance this time.

Observers noted that Mr. Amarasinghe's return had done more harm than good for the JVP's prospects, as well as those of the ruling People's Alliance with which it is widely expected to align in a hung-parliament scenario after the election.

Flanked by the new generation of JVP leaders who run the party now, Mr. Amarasinghe said at a press conference today that he had been misquoted. But, he said, he would express regret for the ``few mistakes'' of the JVP only if Mr. Ranil Wickremesinghe, the present leader of the United National Party (UNP), which was in power then, apologised for the misdeeds of his party that was responsible for creating a situation since 1983 for an uprising against the state. The party had already demonstrated that it had corrected itself, he said.

Mr. Amarasinghe said it was important for India that the JVP should do well in this election as only it could ensure the defeat of separatism in Sri Lanka and thus guarantee the stability of the region. The party would allow peace talks with the LTTE to be held only if it gave up the armed struggle, surrendered its arms and accepted the unitary status of Sri Lanka, he said.

Stating that India still had a role to play in Sri Lanka, Mr. Amarasinghe said: ``India must play a role that will help Sri Lanka and India itself. The biggest and holiest help would be not to interfere in the internal affairs of Sri Lanka, and defeat separatist movements that are based in Indian soil,'' he said.

The party was known for its strident anti-India rhetoric, and the signing of the 1987 Indo-Lanka accord provided the launching pad for its subsequent insurrection, but Mr. Amarasinghe showered praise on the government of Mr. V.P. Singh for being ``courageous enough'' to withdraw the Indian Army from Sri Lanka.

One killed in clash

One person was killed and 17 others, including three candidates of the Tamil National Alliance (TNA), were injured in a clash with alleged supporters of the rival Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) in Jaffna today.

The TNA sources said the clash took place in Neduntheevu, an island off the peninsula that is unofficially controlled by the EPDP.

The deceased was a supporter of the TNA. Among the injured were Mr. Mavai Senadhirajah, Mr. M.K. Shivajilingam and Mr. Suresh Premachandran.

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