The resolution adopted by the TULF Central Committee as reported in yesterday’s The Island condemning the efforts to forge an alliance between the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and the Janatha Vimuthi Peramuna is indeed grim political irony.

The resolution states: ‘The JVP’s views on the continuance of majoritarian hegemony and the rejection of multi cultural diversity are known... Such an alliance must inevitably alienate the Sri Lanka Freedom party from all segments of Sri Lankan polity that seek the recognition of multi-cultural diversity."

Strangely, The Island too agrees with the condemnation of the proposed PA-JVP alliance, albeit for quite different reasons.

We have in the past been severely critical of the SLFP (including the PA) of attempting to forge an alliance with the JVP as being an absolutely unprincipled move where political chicanery and skulduggery has been resorted to for sheer political gain, if not survival.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga’s memory cannot be so badly affected to forget how during the 1988-’90 PA insurrection, the JVP terrorists slaughtered and massacred innocent SLFPers for the simple reason that they were not with the JVP. The JVP assassinated even her husband Vijaya Kumaratunga and Ms. Kumaratunga fled the country with her two children to London to return only after the JVP was eliminated. She is on record openly accusing the JVP of the murder of her husband but later sought to exculpate her husband’s killers by blaming it all on the UNP. On her return from London and gaining leadership of the SLFP she saw much political advantage in digging up mass graves of alleged JVPers and attempting to blame it on the UNP.

Ms Kumaratunga and her party cohorts may have developed amnesia to forget the gross inhuman crimes committed by the JVP but not the ordinary people whose friends, relations and family members were victims of these Sri Lankan Pol Pots.

But now, Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is providing the same opportunities, like his uncle President J.R. Jayewardene did, for the JVP to whip up anti LTTE sentiments and for the SLFP to cash in. There are those who now believe that the UNP government is giving in to every conceivable demand of the LTTE and the separation of the country is inevitable. The way to prevent this, they believe is for an SLFP-JVP Alliance.

This is extremely naïve thinking and could only take this country into a further bloody mess.

On the other hand, the TULF objecting to a PA-JVP alliance is tragi-comic, having accepted the LTTE, the physical executioners of their front rank party leadership, as the sole representatives of the Tamil people. Appapillai Amirthalingam, V. Dharmalingam, Yogeswaran Sam Thambimuttu, Neelan Tiruchelvam are some of the names that come to our mind who were brutally massacred by Prabhakaran. Only R. Sampanthan from the past front rankers remains. And for sole survival—not only political but physical as well—they are compelled to acknowledge the bloody murderers of their leaders as the sole leaders of their people! This is political irony unrivalled.

When the TULF speaks of a JVP-SLFP alliance alienating segments of the Sri Lankan polity that ‘seek multi- cultural diversity’ it is in indeed laughable for these poor souls are entrapped in a Mono political, cultural prison of a ‘Mahaveeran’ whose word is absolute law and any deviation means death. This is the absolute truth known to one and all ranging from the American ambassador down to the little kids held in captivity (Read the latest UTHRJ bulletin published in The Island today). But who speaks against this ‘Mahaveeran’?

Not one today, and its all for the sake of peace!

Sri Lankan Tamils particularly those living abroad and outside the areas under the LTTE, believe that they can use Prabhakaran to get their political demands as the TULF leadership did but now in their graves or elsewhere. The gullible Sinhalese believe that the JVP can be used to fight the threat of separatism coming through the internationally financed ‘Peace Process’. And an equally gullible and naïve set of Sri Lankans believe that a United, Free, Independent, Undivided and Sovereign Sri Lanka can emerge through the convoluted rhetoric of Prof. G.L. Peiris and buffoonery of Balasingham.