{"id":84329,"date":"2018-12-22T20:53:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-23T02:53:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=84329"},"modified":"2019-04-07T15:38:54","modified_gmt":"2019-04-07T22:38:54","slug":"yahapalana-as-a-puppet-regime-part-8","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2018\/12\/22\/yahapalana-as-a-puppet-regime-part-8\/","title":{"rendered":"YAHAPALANA AS A PUPPET REGIME Part 8"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Revised 18.1.19. 7.4.19<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) gets\nmuch attention in Parliament and on television today, because Its leader Anura Kumara\nDissanayake keeps speaking and speaking \n, holding audience attention,  using\n long sentences,  in  slow\nmeasured tones. He ends up uttering empty statements. JVP is not a popular\nparty. At the 2015 general election JVP only got 4.87 % and six seats. The\nJoint Opposition has openly stated that the JVP is there to support the America-influenced\nUNP and the TNA.  The Joint Opposition\ncalls them \u2018Rathu Ali\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Godahewa Indradasa has written about the\nactivities of the JVP in his book \u2018Failed revolts in Sri Lanka.   Indradasa served in the top echelons of the\nSri Lanka Intelligence service for nearly three decades, the major part of\nwhich was the investigation of insurgent activities.  The subversive activities of the JVP had come\nto the attention of the intelligence services and  a\nspecial unit has been formed in the CID to watch them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rohana Wijeweera, the creator of the JVP, was\ngiven a scholarship by Russia in the 1960s to study medicine at Lumumba\nUniversity, Moscow.  His visa was thereafter\nrevoked, when he came on a visit to Sri Lanka and he was not allowed to\nre-enter Russia. It is now alleged that Wijeweera was secretly recruited by USA\nwhen he was in Moscow in the 1960s. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wijeweera on his return to Sri Lanka set about\ncreating a radical movement in Sri Lanka. Wijeweera secretly sought support for\na closely knit and well organized clandestine movement starting in 1965, said\nIndradasa. He began to build a base\namong the Sinhala youth. Wijeweera visited various parts of the country to obtain\nsupport for his movement. The movement gained support in the rural areas   where there were many alienated youth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP   organization consisted of a central committee\nand politbureau at the top,  followed by district\nleaders,  district secretaries, village committees, grass roots units and\nfull time volunteers. The grass roots\nunit was a group of five, in each Police area.\nJVP also established contacts in temples. They   used them as hide outs   after the 1971 insurrection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The high degree of security consciousness introduced\ninto each of these committees, is significant, said Indradasa. JVP conducted\ntheir political affairs in secret. The leaders used aliases to prevent identification.\nThe politbureau met every month in Colombo and the district secretaries would\ntake the decisions back to their district and from there to the cadres. JVP\nstarted a propaganda section to conduct meetings all over the country, except\nNorth and East. JVP impressed the public through its poster campaigns. The same\nposter appeared island wide overnight.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 JVP\nwent into action soon after its formation. Several \u2018farms\u2019 were established,\nnot for farming but for conducting secret classes and storing weapons. The first were in Anuradhapura,\nTissamaharama and Kirinda. The Kirinda\none was a poultry farm. The first educational camp was held in Akmeemana in\n1967 followed by one in Tanamalwila.    Education camps were thereafter held secretly\nin remote parts of the country. Camps were held in Kurunegala,\nAnuradhapura   Tissamaharama, Elpitiya, Akmeemana,\nTanamalwila, Tambuttegama, Kataragama and Middeniya. Each camp taught about   25 to 100 cadres. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The youth were told that armed struggle was\nnecessary, and they must be prepared to fight.\nInstructions in the use of arms were done through diagrams. In 1970 there was a spate of robberies of\nguns and cartridges. They were removed from houses, taking nothing else.  There was an unprecedented increase in the\ntheft of guns in the country, said Indradasa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP also started making bombs. Bombs were made using condensed milk tins. These\nwere collected in large quantities and sent to remote areas. Not surprisingly, there was an explosion at\nNelundeniya. At a meeting in Ambalangoda\nIn September 1970, Rohana Wijeweera ordered the distribution of 1000 bombs and\n1000 Molotov cocktails (petrol bombs) to each JVP police division unit. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Wijeweera from the very beginning\ntargeted the Sri Lanka navy. This is not well known. <\/strong>A list of navy personnel were submitted to him\nby a contact whose name is given in Indradasa\u2019s book. Wijeweera met this group at\nTrincomalee navy base and spoke to them,  \nprobably in 1965. A group of JVP navy men was created. Many naval personnel attended the JVP\nclasses in 1966 and 1967. Naval ratings who were close to Wijeweera were among\nthe instructors. Several members of the\narmed forces were also recruited and used very discreetly for this purpose,\nsaid Indradasa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Uyangoda alias “Oo mahattaya” of the\nJVP had visited Karainagar naval base in 1971 and met one these JVP navy men.This\nnavy man had succeeded in posting pro JVP sailors to work at the armories of\nthe outstation navy bases, telling his superior that they were trustworthy men. The gullible superior had believed him. (names\nwithheld)If the JVP plan had succeeded\nin 1971 it would have been disastrous for the navy as well as the country,  said Indradasa. Wijeweera also tried to recruit SLFP army\npersonnel arrested on suspicion of trying to over throw the UNP government. But\nthey were not interested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were scattered references to\nCIA, <\/strong>the Central\nIntelligence Agency of the USA.Dharmasekera,\nwho was dismissed from the JVP, formed the Mathroo bhumi Arakshaka Sangamaya,\nwhich attacked the UN embassy in Sri Lanka in March 1971. Rohana Wijeweera said\nthat this attack was engineered by the CIA agents.  Dharmasekera faction in turn accused Rohana\nWijeweera of being a CIA agent. When a\nsplinter group of ex JVPersm, the \u2018<\/strong>Vikalpa\nkandayama\u2019 emerged, sometime later, Wijeweera said its leader was a CIA agent. When the April insurrection occurred, N.M\nPerera stated that it was a CIA operation. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1971, the JVP   staged the first of its two insurrections. This\nhas been described as a romantic, innocent revolution, an unplanned spontaneous attack. It was nothing\nof the sort. It had been planned beforehand and the purpose was to bring down\nthe SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 92\npolice stations, all in \u2018Sinhala\u2019 areas, were attacked. The electricity supply was cut. Approaches\nto police stations were sealed off, in some cases, by felling large trees. The idea\nwas to take and hold certain Sinhala areas. At the Colombo end, Prime Minister Sirimavo\nBandaranaike would be taken into custody from her Rosmead Place residence. The army\ncantonment at Panagoda would be attacked.  Navy personnel at Ragama and air force\npersonnel at Katunayake were to be immobilized by introducing a purgative to\ntheir food. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 However,\nthe insurrection failed. The April 1971 insurrection was amateurish, ill\nplanned, and carried out hastily, said Indradasa.  Also, JVP was not a united organization at the\ntime. This supports my view that the\nJVP had \u2018jumped the gun\u2019 and launched the attack prematurely, without waiting\ntill its foreign handlers gave the order. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP did not fade away after April 1971 as\nit would have done, had it been a purely local affair. Instead, JVP met secretly\nand reorganized.  JVP first retreated\ninto their hideouts in the jungles of the North Central Province. They moved\nthe camps from place to place.  They did\nnot stay in one place for long. The\nleader at Namal oya camp was in a separate chena known only to couple of\ntrustworthy members. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were jail breaks. In November 1971 JVPers escaped from\nVidyalankara, Vidyodaya and Weerawila camps. At Vidyalankara, they   escaped through a tunnel which they had dug.  Prison authorities had earlier reported that\nthere was no tunnel  leading to the\nconclusion that JVP has accomplices in the prison. At Anuradhapura prison as\nthey escaped, JVPers had freed the other prisoners as well. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

According to Indradasa, 8000     JVPers, out of a possible 14,000, were arrested\nby government. The plan was to get back\nthe original cadres rather than recruit new ones. JVP prisoners received visits by   persons pretending to be relatives. They\ncarried JVP messages in and out of these camps and prisons.  JVP cadres \n met them as they were released. One\nof the places used for this was the Peradeniya University.  It was done discreetly without arousing\nsuspicions of undergrads, said Indradasa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After 1971, JVP made changes in its structure.\nAll key points in the organization were held by those loyal to Rohana\nWijeweera. A secret Central Committee was\nestablished, which gave the main directions. \nThe identities of this secret committee were known only to the district\norganizers. The leading JVPers had code\nnames. The JVP was wary of those who\nwanted to join them and they were first screened. There was tight control of\ninformation. Those who came for lectures were given places to meet at, from\nwhere they would be taken to a secret venue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP established a branch in London, known as\nGinipupura.  Ginipupura provided the JVP\nwith contacts with Portugal, Spain and France. A military wing Deshapremi\nJanatha Viyaparaya (DJV) was established.  This wing was responsible for the violence of\nthe 1987 period. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP also established   8 fronts in Sri Lanka. They were Youth Front,\nStudent Front, Bhikku Front, Peasants Front, Trade union Front, Women\u2019s front, Cultural\nfront and Propaganda front. JVP created\ntheir own trade unions and also infiltrated the trade unions of other political\nparties. The bhikku front, “Manava\nhithawadi bhikku    Sangamaya”,  could\nbe used to great advantage, observed Indradasa. The robe offered cover, and had\nimpact on a Buddhist population. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since 1960s JVP presence in campuses has been\nconstant, observed Indradasa.    The most\npowerful organization formed by JVP in the universities was the Inter University Student Federation.  There was also the Interuniversity Bhikku Balamandalaya.\n   Daya Pathirana, head of the rival Independent\nStudents Union was killed. JVP was considered responsible. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also the Patriotic Students Movement\nfor secondary schools. This was entirely controlled by the JVP though they\navoided getting identified directly with it. \nBranches of this organization were set up in several schools in Colombo\nand outstations.  The intention was to\nbuild up a membership, especially in the \u2018A\u2019 level classes, from which these\nstudents would enter university. This would ensure a readymade membership from\namong freshers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Cells were established throughout the country\nexcept North and East. Cells were set up in Colombo, Galle, Tangalle,\nEmbilipitiya, Ratnapura, Polonnaruwa, Chilaw Kegalle and Moneragala. These were\nused for recruitment, indoctrination, and weapons training. The five lectures\nwere revised. They now focused on the need to capture power by force. JVP was also\ncompiling information regarding vital institutions which affected the country\nsecurity and economy, said Indradasa. The motive clearly was to destabilize the\ncountry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP also successfully infiltrated the lower\nrungs of the police and armed services. JVP\nplanned to establish military units in each police area in the country. Infiltrating the army was not difficult as persons\nwere recruited to army and police without full screening at this time. The army\nsoon realized that its lower rungs had been infiltrated. There were acts of\nindiscipline and appropriation of arms. The army suspended its training of one\nbatch of recruits suspecting that they were JVPers. The batch recruited in 1986\nto the army was not sent for training until they were fully screened. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the early 1970s JVP gave the impression\nthat they were champions of the Sinhala race. This\nwould have been done to capture Sinhala youth for the movement. After 1977 JVP\nchanged its stance. JVP discarded its pro Sinhala attitude. JVP recognized the\nright of Tamil people for self determination and by 1980 they were supporting the\nsecession of Tamil areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Indradasa observed that JVP while pursuing\nconcerted action in support of Tamils kept Sinhala masses guessing as regard to\ntheir attitude to ethnic issue. However there was evidence to show that they were\npursuing a policy of support for the separatist Tamils though they attempted to\ngive the impression that they were champions of the Sinhala race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In Feb 1978 President J.R.Jayewardene declared\nan amnesty for JVP prisoners and all of them, including Rohana Wijeweera were\nfreed. JVP was allowed to register as a\npolitical party in 1981.   At the same\ntime, JVP was getting ready for violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Collection of weapons started in early 1987 .Guns\nwere got after breaking into houses island wide. There was a set pattern in\ndoing this. In the 1980s the JVP was\nrunning temporary training camps to familiarize member with various types of\nweapons such as T56, AK 47, said Indradasa. This was done mainly by hand drawn\nsketches, and pictures of rifles. A rudimentary military training was\ngiven.  There were also classes in physical\ntraining. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP then staged a second uprising which lasted\nfrom 1987 to 1989. This was not an open revolt, but a low intensity conflict<\/a> with the JVP resorting\nto assassinations<\/a>,\nraids and attacks on military and civilian targets. This campaign virtually brought the country to\na standstill. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of this 1987 insurrection is\nimportant. It came in between the first two Eelam wars, Eelam War 1(1983-1987)\nand Eelam war ii (1990-1995). The purpose was to paralyze the government, ruin\nthe economy, and cripple the armed forces, so that Sri Lanka would not win the\nEelam War. The foreign powers pushing for Eelam, knew that Eelam War 1 would\nmost certainly be followed by Eelam War 2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first targets of the JVP in 1987 were, therefore,\narmed forces and police. The \ninsurrection started in April 1987 with attacks on Pallekelle army camp,\nKotelawela defense academy and Air force base at Katunayake, in sequence. The\ndaring and ingenuity of the Pallekelle raid in early hours of New Year day\nrevealed the imprint of a well organized movement, said Indradasa.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP issued threats to members of the armed\nservices and police that they should resign or be killed. Police officers\ninvestigating JVP activity got death threats. Letters were sent to OIC of\npolice directing them to release suspects already taken into custody.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP attacked police patrols and even resorted\nto killing unarmed constables on beat duty and traffic duty. JVP assassinated several servicemen and\npolicemen in<\/em> their homes or while on\nleave or off duty when they could not defend themselves. Director CID and Director, Counter\nsubversive Drive were gunned down close to their homes while on their way to\nwork. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP killed 122 members of families of security\nforces and police in the most brutal fashion. Some were hacked to death, some\nwere burned alive in their homes which were set on fire, they made no\ndiscrimination regards old people or children. One such case was the murder of\nmother, brother, sister in law and two nephews of a DIG who was serving in the\nsouth. They were shot and whilst still alive, their residence was set on fire\nwith them inside. The IGP had said he wanted to finish off the JVP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP resorted to sheer terrorism to bring about\nwork stoppages, disruption to transport services,    and trade  JVP burned down post offices, robbed the\ncollections from bus conductors, and destroyed their ticket machines, damaged\nindustrial and domestic electricity and water meters. JVP , forcibly collecting\nvehicle revenue licenses . JVP destroyed records held in kachcheries including\nfiles on local taxes and land registers. Almost two thirds of the country did\nnot have an electricity supply for more than six weeks, because the power\npylons in Matale were destroyed by the JVP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP issued death threats to professionals, to\nlawyers and doctors so they could not work.  JVP called for hartals and work stoppages. As\na result, trains were not functioning properly, schools and college did not hold\nexams for almost two years.  For four\nyears no one had graduated from any of the state universities. Medical College\nwas not functioning for almost five years. Factories\nand work place were forced to close down for long periods resulting in the\nworkers undergoing severe hardship and production suffered.  Strikes paralyzed key government departments. Tourists were walking past immigration and\ncustoms   counters freely as the officers\nwere not there. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP called upon the public to engage in a\ncivil disobedience campaign by refraining from paying taxes and other dues such\na bus fares. Posting letters\u2019 without stamps. JVP\nsaid people must observe curfew and not leave homes, work places should shut\ndown, transport must cease to operate, blackout must be observed from 6 pm. People\nshould refrain from listening to radio or watching TV. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Initially the public did not take JVP orders\nseriously. But JVP started killing and the public realized that they dare not\ndisobey these orders. Teachers who\nresisted interference of JVP activities were assassinated. JVP selectively\nconducted attacks on shopkeepers, drivers of public and private vehicles,   trade unionists, management staff of\ngovernment and private institutions and burning buses of both private and\npublic companies. These acts of terror\nserved to create fear among the public.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP reacted violently to exposure of their\nactivities by newspapers, TV and radio. Newspaper agents were killed, vehicles\ntransporting newspapers were burned, and employees of TV stations, Rupavahini,\nITN and SLBC were threatened and ordered to give up employment. When these were\nignored JVP killed important media personnel, including  DG of Rupavahini and SLBC,  a director of SLBC,  a radio and TV announcer . Gladys Jaywardene,\nChairman of the State Pharmaceutical Corporation was\nalso assassinated for not stopping the import of Indian pharmaceutical. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP killed 1342 government supporters, 353\ngovernment servants, 250 policemen, 284\npolicemen, 163 servicemen, and 80 home guards.\n3 university dons, 2 education officers, 44 principals of schools, and\n57 teachers. They destroyed 430 post\noffices, 78 DDC offices, 59 GA\/AGA offices, and 59 agrarian centers, 17 Superintendants\nof estates were killed. Many civilians\nincluding a cultivation officer in Anamaduwa, cooperative chairmen of Weuda and\na CTB driver were killed   these killings were all in Sinhala areas. JVP\nalso killed surrendering JVP cadres. They killed two families of surrendered\ncadres in Anuradhapura. Heads of people\nwho were slain were arranged around the Peradeniya University pond. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The country did not tolerate this for long.\nThe army and police started shooting suspected JVPers and their families and\nburning their houses. In Kandy road\nbarriers were put up at night time,   in\nplaces like Lewella.   Private armed\ngroups emerged to counter JVP terrorism. JVP\nwere killed by private vigilante groups,  such as  Black Panthers and Yellow Scorpions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Estates \nemployed private defence groups known as Green Tigers.  JVP had killed 17 estate superintendants. Lawyers who took up the causes of JVPers\nwere also killed by these vigilantes. It was not possible for the security forces\nto  protect all threatened persons, so\nthey encouraged the creation of these vigilance groups and provided them with\nshot guns. Political parties were given\nrepeater shot guns for their protection. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When JVP issued threats,   these vigilante groups issued counter threats.\nWhen JVP issued death threats, other posters appeared which said ape ekata\nthope dolahak.\u201d The \u2018Deshapremi Sinhala tharuna Peramuna\u2019 circulated a letter\nto JVP. This letter said  Dear father\/\nmother\/ sister, your son, \/ brother\/ husband has taken the lives of mothers\nlike you, also sisters and innocent children.  They have killed the family members of heroic\nSinhala soldiers who fought the Tamil tigers to protect the motherland.  Is it not justified  to put you also to death? Be  ready to die. May you attain Nirvana. Sgd Patriotic\nYouth Front. ( abridged )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government of Sri Lanka eventually defeated\nthe JVP. Intelligence cells  set up in\npolice stations, had  good penetration and advance information  was received on JVP activities.  By November  1989 Rohana Wijeweera  and  12\nof  the 13 JVP politbureau members  were arrested. Wijeweera was \u2018a person easy\nto control,\u2019 though his speeches  sounded\nfiery, said Indradasa.   Facing the\ncamera for a video statement when arrested, the expression on his face was one\nof disappointment and dismay. He had spoken in a shattered voice, with emotion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After the 1989 defeat, the JVP was rescued\nby its foreign contacts. The foreign links of the JVP came to light only then.\nThis fact has not received the publicity it deserved. <\/strong>After 1987, \na large number of cadres set up active cells in France, Switzerland ,\nItaly, Thailand , Japan and Australia. In\nThailand alone about 60 cadres have been identified. The cell in Thailand not\nonly looked after the cadres but also ferried them to Japan. JVPers had also\nended up in Maldives. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 JVP\nreceived funds said to be from well wishers in the Middle East. Those in\nThailand and Japan were also remitting funds. JVP  supported Iraq in the Iraq-Iran war and was\ngiven funds in return.   The sole Politbureau\nmember to escape,  Somawansa\nAmarasinghe  left in March 1990 to France\nvia India. He lived in Paris and London \nfor 12 years and  returned to lead\nthe JVP in 1994. This essay shows that there are certain  similarities between the LTTE movement and\nthe JVP movement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator S. Nadesan (1904-1986) made a\nspeech in the Ceylon Senate on 14 and 15 of May 1971 regarding the JVP insurrection\nof April 1971. This speech was published as a booklet in 1988, by the Nadesan\nCentre for Human rights. In the booklet, Senator Nadesan was compared to\nCincinnatus, a Roman leader who lived in 5 BC.  \nThe booklet also noted that Senator Nadesan was a founder member of the\nCivil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka and was very active in the cause of Civil\nRights.  The Nadesan Centre is named\nafter him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP insurrection of 1971 was met\nwith stunned disbelief, said Suriya Wickremasinghe in her Introduction. It was\nmarked with confusion, bewilderment, rumor and speculation. How could such a\nsituation have come about, who were the leaders of the JVP, was there a foreign\nhand behind this extraordinary event,    \nand so on. There was a curfew and people could not easily meet and\ndiscuss. But Senator Nadesan had a curfew pass and \u2018used it to the full\u2019   to go about and make inquiries.  He used this information in his speech.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan’s speech on the 1971\ninsurrection in the Ceylon Senate,  was\nthe first forthright objective assessment made in public on the matter, said\nSuriya.  The speech      was used as an appendix in the report\nmade by Lord Avebury, who came  in\nSeptember, on behalf of Amnesty International, to report on the 15,000 people\nin detention without trial.The Senate however did not show similar respect.\nThere were interruptions to Senator Nadesan\u2019s speech. Nadesan said, at one\npoint,  \u2018this is not an occasion for\nlaughter,\u2019  and again, \u2018this is not a\ntime for levity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his speech, Nadesan attributes the\nrise of the JVP to population growth, higher education and  unemployment. The insurgents were mainly poor\nundergraduates, staying in hovels, seven \nor eight in a room, for their undergraduate studies and  exploited by the landlord  in Peradeniya and Colombo. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

These students saw no future for\nthemselves, said Nadesan. There were no jobs awaiting them.  They were studying because there was nothing\nelse to do. They did not  go to the  campus gymnasium or playground,  instead they were seated discussing  jobs, their futures, and socialist politics.\nPolitics was the principal diet of the students. The     voting age had been reduced to 18 years,\nso they were very much a part of the electorate too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan says JVP  campaigned for the United Front government of\n1971. The JVP youth stopped their work and organized house to house campaigns\nin support of the United Front.  The UF  victory was the victory of the youth vote.  A study of the voting patterns will show that\nit was the youth who defeated the UNP, said Nadesan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But once this new government came\ninto power there was an unprecedented outburst of lawlessness throughout\nthe  country. JVP had infiltrated  government industrial concerns and had\nintimidated the workers.  There were work\nstoppages.  \u2018 I do not know why that\nhappened,\u2018 said Nadesan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan  agreed that the   armed uprising  had attacked a duly established,\ndemocratically elected, popular government. But  he \nlisted several weaknesses in the government , such as nepotism,\nfavoritism when it came to jobs. Also said Nadesan, there was unemployment.\nPeople were thrown out of jobs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

MPs gave themselves pensions,\nenhanced allowances and  wanted to import\nPeugeot cars for official travel. The\nJVP has also complained that the MPs took the Rs 50 allowance per day and\nvanished without staying for the Constituent Assembly meetings. The Senators listening to Nadesan,\nhelpfully  added at this point,\n\u2018there  were also objections to MPs\nforeign  travel  and safaris\u2019. Nadesan said he   did not know of those and was speaking only\nof what he did know.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One of the first items referred to at\nthe JVP rally held at Hyde Park in Feb 1971 \n continued  Nadesan was the fact that the  government had introduced compulsory\nretirement of those over 55.  Very  violent speeches were made by the sons of\nthese dependants, observed Nadesan. JVP had also objected to the fact that  the government had gone to the agents of\nAmerican imperialism such as World Bank, IDB \nfor loans like the previous government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government had failed to\nnationalize  banks as promised,  and put a ceiling on land ownership. So their only hope lay ,  JVPers said, in establishing by themselves a\nsocialist society in this country. They proposed to give the government a\nlittle time and then take matters into their hands. These were the type of\nspeeches made, said Nadesan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP leaders, instead of advising\nthese youth that the government should be given a reasonable time and chance of\nredeeming its promise,  instead started\npropaganda against the government  and\norganized discontented youth to attack. The youth were impatient for radical\nmeasures, they had been prepared for warfare. They wanted results. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The youth were either misled  or were foolish enough to think that\nimmediate solutions were possible. The\nYouth may have thought that if they deferred their actions and make\npreparations quietly over the years, they would miss the bus,  because by that time the security forces would\nhave hunted them down . That is my analysis. I am looking at this objectively,\nsaid Nadesan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Government declared a state of\nemergency to wipe put this movement and the security forces \u2018went  round to a number of places and sometimes\nthrough  good fortune and luck were able\nto find bombs, ammunitions and arms collected at various places and they\nstarted hot on the trail of this movement, continued Nadesan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The significant part of Nadesan\u2019s\nspeech comes after this. Nadesan  draws\nattention to the weaknesses of the \nEmergency Regulations enacted at the time, particularly Regulations 19\nand 20  which deal with arrest,\ndetention, cremation and burial. These Regulations say that any police officer\nmay arrest without a warrant a person suspected of an offence under the\nEmergency Regulations.  The earlier\nsafeguards that such a person must be produced before a magistrate within 24\nhours and also that police must report to magistrate if they arrest a person\nwithout a warrant were removed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Further, nothing need be done in any\npart of the country in respect  not only\nof person shot dead while in combat between security forces and insurgents but\nalso of person who dies while in detention after they have been taken into\ncustody, said Nadesan. Any ASP of\nofficer in charge of a police station can bury or cremate any dead body without\ninquest, or death certificate.  And the\nburials needed not be recorded anywhere. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In  the case of those who die in combat, it is\nwell known all over the world that a count is taken of the people who die and\ntheir identities established if they can be  \nascertained.  a list is given of\nthe wounded and the dead, so that people from the other countries can know\nwhether somebody is a prisoner, dead or wounded. These are dispensed with here\nin Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan observed that the police have\nmany honorable capable people but \u2018 there are also a  number of persons who oppress the public\u2019. In\ncertain police stations people are frightened that they will be assaulted,  even in normal times. When police are attacked some of them, not\nparticularly educated,  may think of\nrevenge. Some members of the police when their lives are not in danger have been\nguilty of  cowardly attacks.  One can just imagine what they will do at a\ntime of  civil strife when they can\nwithout giving  account to anybody, be a\nlaw unto themselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The bulk of the police will not take advantage\nof ht regulations to abuse their powers, \nbut in any society, particularly\nin a country like ours<\/strong>  there are\nbound to be certain people who will utilize the safeguards provided by these\nregulations to carry out some private \nvendetta or misuse the power granted to them, said Nadesan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan then listed a series of\nallegations regarding criminal behavior on the part of the  armed forces \nwhile dealing with the insurgency. Allegations have reached my ears\nfrom  reputable sources  whose names I will not disclose here, that\ninsurgents who surrendered or were captured were shot in a large number on the\nground that there was no way of keeping them in prison and there were no\nfaculties for transporting them or for accommodating them. Whether this\nallegation is true or not is a different matter. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Allegations have been made that in areas far\naway from the place of actual confrontation between security forces and\ninsurgents, a number of youth were arrested on suspicion, some were shot\nsummarily, others assaulted, tortured, taken away and shot. Suspects were asked to run away from the\npolice station and then shot when running. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allegations have been made that  in some police stations torture and sadisms\nhave been indulged in by some police officers, they were deprived of their\nwrist watches and then sent off. Nadesan had been able to verify one such case.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allegations have been made that the\nhouses of parents of a large number of young persons who were suspected of\nbeing insurgents have had their houses burnt down. Allegations have been made\nthat some members of the police force and army have in broad daylight gone to\nshops, markets and other places and helped themselves to goods and in some\ncases they have indulged in looting of shops and boutiques, taking away\njewellery. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nadesan  repeated this a second time. Allegations have\nbeen made that after curfew house in places close to Colombo like Nugegoda and\nin faraway places like Badulla  members\nof security forces have gone into boutiques and shops and carried away\njewellery and cash to the extent of Rs 5,000, 6000 and 7000. Allegations have\nbeen made that people\u2019s residences, shops and boutiques with all valuables have\nbeen burnt down. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were interruptions while\nNadesan was narrating this list of \u2018allegations\u2019. Senator Kumarasuriar had\ninterrupted Nadesan to say these allegations are false. Senator Somaratne asked\nto whom these allegations have been made. Nadesan\u2019s\nreply was  people dare not complain, so\nthey don\u2019t. In any case the police will deny.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

I do not  say the armed force and the police are\nlawless. What I say is that there are certain allegations of lawlessness made\nagainst them which it is not possible in the present climate to investigate.  government should take up the position that\nit will investigate these when the time is suitable and every respondent who\nhas a genuine complaint to make will be \ngiven the opportunity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Senator Nadesan then moved on to the\nmain thrust of his speech, the need to tell the \u2018truth \u2018 about of  what the security forces had done  during the insurgency and after. The first\ncasualty in civil  war is  truth\u201d he said.  In a\ncivil war, to ensure the security of the state, propagandists  prefer to \nutter an untruth or  give a\ngarbled version to the people, than to state the truth and run the risk of  more trouble.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2018I do not expect the government at a\ntime like this, to come out with the truth, and to state the whole truth in\nrespect of all that has happened. the\ntime is not yet ripe for that. But eventually, it is necessary to report\nexcesses committed by some members of the police and security forces. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 \nI implore the government  in\nrespect of these allegations not to say whether they are true or false. I ask\nthem not commit themselves one way or the other when they do not have the\nfacilities\u2019 for the purpose of investigating and arriving at the truth.  Better take the position.  well there are these allegations, we cannot\nsay anything one way or other, at \npresent but later we will inquire into them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the process of combating the\ninsurgents and putting down the movement with a firm hand we should not give\nthe impression that we are at any \ntime  prepared to tolerate\nindiscipline or lawlessness on the part of the \narmed forces or the police. Once \nmatters have settled,  the\ngovernment must promise to investigate.    Nadesan then called for economic reform and\nthe speech ended  with a statement on  banning the import of  potatoes and chillies. ( continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

APPENDIX <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The following report appeared in Island 6.4.19\np 9  sent in by Janaka Perera,  former \nchief of staff of the Sri Lanka \narmy.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Towards the end of March, 1971, the\nTrincomalee Naval Base received a letter from the Peradeniya University\nrequesting to arrange a football match between university students and Navy\npersonnel on the naval base grounds on April 5. The letter also requested the\nNavy to arrange for the university team to spend the night at the base, since\nit was difficult for them to return to Peradeniya the same day after the match.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The naval authorities were reluctant.  eventauly  the Navy decided it was not safe to allow a\nfootball match between the Navy and University team. the university authorities\nwere informed that the naval base grounds could not be given for the match on\nthe scheduled date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the match was held as planned, one of the\nNavy men who would have participated was Able Seaman H.M. Tillekeratne, one of\nthe Navy\u2019s best football players. He had also been selected as an all-island\nhockey champion.  A strong well-built man, Tillekeratne was serving at the\nNavy\u2019s Elara Camp in Karainagar at the time. Tillekeratne was the \u2018Coordinating\nOfficer\u2019 between the Navy and the JVP, which was planning to appoint him as\nNorth-East commander if they seized power.     He was in\nthe habit of regularly travelling between the Elara Camp and the Trincomalee  Naval Base.  he was conducting political\nclasses for some Navy personnel.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

On April 4, the date on which the Navy decided\nnot to have the football match, Tillekeratne was on duty at the Elara\nCamp.  In the early hours of the following day the JVP insurrection began,\nwith an attack on the Wellawaya Police Station, killing a policeman at his\ndesk.  Fighting then commenced country-wide with attacks on 92 police\nstations. By this time the CID had got wind of Tillekeratne\u2019s strong connection\nwith the  JVP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within 48 hours of the JVP uprising, and the\ngovernment declaring an island-wide curfew, the then Superintendent of Police\nJaffna, Ramachandra Sunderalingam, received a message from Colombo of a\nsuspected  move by Tillekeratne to put sleeping tablets into the water\nfilters at the Elara Camp\u2019s officers mess.  The police took immediate action.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tillekeratne was ordered to go to Chunnakam\nand thereafter proceed to Palaly Airport for the flight to Colombo.  He\nknew the game was up.  There was no question he would be arrested as soon\nas he arrived in Colombo. Tillekeratne headed for Chunnakam in a Navy jeep What\nhappened next was like a scene from a gangster movie.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

 Upon\nreaching the power station Tillekeratne got off the jeep, instructing the\ndriver to keep the engine running.  Tillekeratne then walked nonchalantly\ntowards the power station, which was guarded by a detachment from the Elara\nCamp. They knew him well. When he entered the power station the Naval guards\nwho had completed their duty the previous night were relaxing. They had kept\ntheir submachine guns aside. Suddenly, Tillekeratne picked up one of the guns\nordered the other Navy men to raise their hands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All obeyed Tillekeratne, except Petty Officers\nCecil Gunasekera, N.J.T. Costa and another. Since the three men were his close\nfriends they thought he was joking. He then repeated his order. “This is\nmy last warning. Are you putting up your hands or not?”  But the\nthree men ignored him.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Then Tillekeratne opened fire, killing two of\nthem \u2013Gunasekera and Costa – on the spot. several others were  Seriously\ninjured , among them a Navy PT instructor, T.M.N. Abdul, who was crippled for\nlife as a result.  He was the father of five children. His mother had\nfallen ill and died following the shock she had on hearing her son\u2019s cruel\nfate. According to Abdul, whom this writer met eight years later in 1979,\nTillekeratne had shot him because he wanted to \u2018settle\u2019 a score. Abdul was the\nman earlier detailed to escort him to Colombo for the CID interrogation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Following the shooting Tillekeratne, according\nto Abdul, had forced two other Navy men at gun point to load the jeep with all\nthe weapons and ammunition he had seized from his colleagues, and accompany him\nin the vehicle.  Tillekeratne\u2019s aim was to join the insurgents waging\nguerilla war against the State to usher in \u2018socialism\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Suspecting that he would try to flee Jaffna,\nthe SP Sunderalingam,promptly telephoned ASP Mendis, manning the Elephant Pass\nPolice check point to be on the alert for the jeep carrying Tillekeratne.\n As soon as the message was received, the policemen at the check point\nalong with army personnel waited for the vehicle to appear. A short while later\nthey saw the jeep at a distance. They waited until it came close and then\nordered the driver to stop. Their guns were aimed at the jeep.  At first\nit appeared the vehicle was going to slow down. Suddenly Tillekeratne tried to\ngrab the submachine gun on his seat. But those manning the check point were\nfaster. Their shots killed Tillekeratne and the driver on the spot. Everything\nhappened within a matter of three minutes, according to Sunderalingam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Tillekeratne\u2019s death, police searched\nhis personal belongings and found secret documents, and several bottles of\nsleeping tablets which were to be put into the water filters of the Elara\nCamp\u2019s officers\u2019 mess.  His plan was to seize all weapons and ammunition\nfrom camp\u2019s magazine, before joining his JVP comrades after making naval\nofficers unconscious. JANAKA PERERA\u201d <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS Revised 18.1.19. 7.4.19 Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) gets much attention in Parliament and on television today, because Its leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake keeps speaking and speaking  , holding audience attention,  using  long sentences,  in  slow measured tones. He ends up uttering empty statements. JVP is not a popular party. At the 2015 general […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-84329","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84329","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=84329"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/84329\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=84329"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=84329"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=84329"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}