By C.A.Chandraprema
All these years, I treasured a battered old copy of the JVP’s original manifesto of 1977 - the manifesto that they put out when they first started politics out in the open as a registered political party. This manifesto of 1977 was thoroughly Marxist in scope. In the economic sphere it sought the sweeping statisation of all aspects of production and distribution of goods and services in Sri Lankan society. The economic policy of the JVP at that time was based on the Stalinist legacy in the Soviet Union. The JVP never changed this policy until 1989.

The ‘sevala’ policy

The old JVP was very consistent. They were Marxist and made no bones about it. Because they were consistent in their policy, they did not have much of a following at that time. The ‘peasant mind’ of the Sinhalese does not respond to precise statements and to consistency. What they respond to is a mix of emotion and fluidity. For the Sinhalese the ideal answer is both yes and no and the ideal position is to be neither fish nor fowl. This was the sad discovery of Marxist stalwarts of the past like N.M.Perera and S.A.Wickremasinghe who found that after all their many years in politics, they were easily upstaged by S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike who managed to win the hearts and minds of the peasant Sinhalese by being everything to everybody.

S.W.R.D’s policy was not to have a consistent policy on anything. So much so that he was called ‘sevala Banda’ by his political detractors. But this had unfailing attraction among the ignorant Sinhalese masses and contributed in no small measure to the Bandaranaike mystique. The JVP remained true to their Marxist principles up to 1990 and arguably even upto 1994 - which is why they did not have much of a following among the masses. Even the UNP does well electorally only in the aftermath of economic ruin brought about by SLFP rule. In general terms because the UNP is also consistent in its capitalist policy it is the PA that is closer to the hearts of the Sinhalese voter. After 1994 when the JVP gradually began a policy of being everything to everybody, they became much more successful politically.

A Capitalist JVP!

The JVP celebrated the 12th death anniversary of Rohana Wijeweera on a grand scale just last week. Candles were lit, wreaths were laid, songs were sung and as usual at such occasions some stupid Sinhalese wenches would have shed copious tears. Despite all the pomp and ceremony, page 16 of the JVP’s new manifesto would have made poor Wijeweera squirm in his grave. He would be asking himself, my God, what did I get killed for? What did we kill so many other’s for?

The JVP’s new manifesto sits oddly beside their policy declaration of 1977. The new policy of the JVP is unabashedly pro-capitalist. They talk of giving incentives like tax holidays and bank loans for foreign investors and of giving various incentives for local capitalists to capture foreign markets. And they even say local businessmen will be encouraged to invest abroad. Anybody reading this manifesto can be excused if he erroneously thinks the JVP was formed to protect and foster capitalism and not to destroy it!

The fact is that if Wijeweera had accepted all that the JVP has accepted in their new manifesto, he would not have got killed. If he had adopted this policy immediately after he was released from jail in 1977, he would have become J.R.Jayawardene’s right hand man and would have been a contender for the UNP leadership instead of Ranil Wickremasinghe! In reading this manifesto one is left with the thought how correct the UNP government was in brutally crushing the JVP’s attempt to capture power in 1987-89. If they had captured power at that time, the JVP would have implemented the wrong policy and they themselves would have been the losers.

But when Tilvin Silva spoke of Wijeweera on his 12th death anniversary, to a packed audience at the open air theatre at Viharamahadevi Park, he claimed it was Wijeweera who adapted Marxism to Sri Lankan conditions and that in order to defeat forces that have to be defeated, one should study the way shown by Wijeweera. The JVP is now Marxist to the Marxists and capitalist to the capitalists. Like the PA, the JVP is also stuck between two worlds. As in the case of the PA, their old policy is dead. But because of the umbilical cord linking them with the past, they cannot disown the past altogether. So they pay lip service to the past policy while in reality taking a very different path. This is a common dilemma faced by both the PA and the JVP is also probably another reason why these two parties can find common cause with each other.

Anti-establishment pantomime

The mismatch between the JVP’s anti-establishment past and their present ambitions comes out clearly in their attitude towards public security legislation. All anti-establishment political groups show antipathy towards public security legislation. On page nine, of their new manifesto, the JVP says that the Prevention of terrorism act and all repressive legislation will be repealed. Then in the very next sentence they say that new legislation will be introduced to suppress all kinds of terrorism including international terrorism, and that activities like fund raising, propaganda and military action with a view to creating a separate state will be banned.

The existing public security legislation comprising mainly of the Emergency regulations and the Prevention of terrorism act were instituted in the late forties and the late seventies to deal with exigencies in the sphere of public security. The PTA was modelled on similar legislation abroad. The JVP’s Marxist past demands that they take a stand against legislation like the Emergency regulations and the PTA. But their new role as a partner of the PA government requires them to be realistic in matters of public security. The way they seek to reconcile their past with their present is to repeal all existing public security legislation and to introduce their own repressive legislation!

Naughty childhood

On page 10, the manifesto states that the freedoms of speech, of assembly, of supporting a political party of one’s choice and other such freedoms will be safeguarded. I can remember a time when the JVP imposed the ‘death penalty’ on those who dared to speak anything that was not to their liking or support a political party that was not to their liking. In fact I was just reading in today’s newspaper the proceedings of the Vijaya Kumaratunga murder trial where an eye-witness describes how Vijaya had been gunned down and shot repeatedly in the face in the presence of both his young children. This is the same JVP that is now solemnly promising to safeguard the democratic freedoms. The "tyre pyre treatment" certainly seems to have done wonders in improving the JVP’s social graces!

On page 12 it is said the JVP will identify all those who died or lost properties or were otherwise affected due to military actions in the past and all of them would be paid compensation. They also say that all those affected by the LTTE will also be paid compensation. But not one word is said by them about all those killed by the JVP. What about compensation and other relief for the victims of the JVP during the late eighties? As I have pointed out earlier, the JVP has been responsible for the killing of a larger number of Sinhalese civilians than the LTTE in the past twenty five years. In their manifesto, the JVP is trying to politely edge their way past the issue by mentioning only LTTE’s victims.

The JVP today openly refers to the LTTE as terrorists while glossing over their own past. Not for a moment am I arguing that one should continue to harp on the JVP’s past for all eternity. But what is a cause for concern is that while the JVP continues to deny what happened in 1987-89, they exalt Wijeweera and the other mass murderers of the JVP’s political bureau as martyrs. Candles are lit and songs are sung in their memory. This is as disconcerting for those who remember the JVP’s terror campaign of 1987-89 as the sight of a neo-Nazi ceremony would be to an European of the older generation. So long as the JVP continues to regard their past leaders as martyrs, we should always regard the JVP as murderers.

On page 25 of their manifesto, the JVP says that all those who engaged in electoral abuse since 1977 will be investigated, exposed to the public and that legal action will be taken against them. When the JVP takes action against perpetrators of electoral abuse in the past, will that include those who declared in 1988 and 1989 that the first five people seen at a polling booth will be killed? And will they take action against those who banned elections in 1988-89? There cannot be any election abuse worse than actually banning an election and killing voters who turn up at the polling station. The JVP should take action against themselves first before going on to lesser forms of electoral abuse.

Socialist vow of poverty

The JVP also wants to abolish the pension given to retired Members of Parliament. The same antipathy that the JVP has towards Parliamentary pensions, they have towards the salaries of MP’s as well. This again is an irrational reaction from their anti-establishment past. What is wrong in a retired old MP being granted a pension? If he has been an honest politician, he will need the pension to live in his old age.

The JVP has been claiming that their MP’s do not draw their salaries and that all the money goes into a party fund which is used to provide various welfare measures for the public. The JVP MP’s do not get a salary from Parliament and they do not do any other kind of job, so how they live? No proper job, no Parliamentary salary, no proper income, is that a role model the JVP is proposing for the rest of the country? This squeamishness the JVP has about the Parliamentary salary is another hangover from the past. The old left always regarded the JVP as students who had no experience of ever making a living.

This lack of experience of living in the real world is one reason why the JVP thought nothing of forcibly dragging on strikes for weeks and months on end in 1987-89 - they had absolutely no conception of the travails of an employed man who had to work to maintain his family. They have shown the same immaturity with regard to the Parliamentary salary. They can forego the Parliamentary salary because somebody else buys them their weekly provisions and pays their electricity bills. But those who are not fortunate enough to have their bills paid by somebody else, will need a salary.

There is this feeling among the public that MP’s enjoy all kinds of perks and that these should be reduced. The feeling is that politicians need not be paid pensions or even a salary. The JVP is playing to this gallery by calling for the abolition of MP’s pensions. Refusing salaries and living off unlimited "socialist expense accounts" has been one of the grandest hypocrisies practised by socialists on the unsuspecting public. And the JVP seems to be intent on following the old traditions wherever they can.