Opposition and politics of amnesia

Take, for example, the Vijaya Kumaratunga Commission appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The President — as the appointing authority — had said on multiple occasions that Vijaya Kumaratunga was killed not by the JVP but by the UNP. The Commission, guided by an extremely abrasive Sarath Silva, in his capacity as attorney general, gave the desired verdict by blaming Ranasinghe Premadasa and Ranjan Wijeratne for the murder (the Report did concede that the actual killing was done by hardcore JVP member Lionel Ranasinghe but concluded, based on a concoction of hearsay and suppositions, that his orders came not from the JVP but from the UNP).

- 

Julampitiye Amare

grotesque, is the opposition’s willingness to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the Rajapaksas in defence of democracy, basic rights, and rule of law.

The Supreme Court’s decision on Julampitiye Amare is a reminder, and obviously reminders are much needed, of how democracy, basic rights, and rule of law fared in the Rajapaksa past. Any attempt by the NPP/JVP government to erode democratic rights, freedoms and the rule of law should be resisted. But doing so in the company of Rajapaksas would be a political and moral mistake of a very serious order.

The whitewashing of the JVP began soon after the Second Insurrection was over. Only the brutality of the state was remembered. The JVP’s own violence on unarmed opponents (such as student leader Daya Pathirana, former JVPer turned peace activist Nandana Marasinghe, and peasant activist Jamis Atugala) was airbrushed out of a black-and-white re-portrayal. This airbrushing was more the work of the SLFP and the PA than the JVP.

Take, for example, the Vijaya Kumaratunga Commission appointed by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. The President — as the appointing authority — had said on multiple occasions that Vijaya Kumaratunga was killed not by the JVP but by the UNP. The Commission, guided by an extremely abrasive Sarath Silva, in his capacity as attorney general, gave the desired verdict by blaming Ranasinghe Premadasa and Ranjan Wijeratne for the murder (the Report did concede that the actual killing was done by hardcore JVP member Lionel Ranasinghe but concluded, based on a concoction of hearsay and suppositions, that his orders came not from the JVP but from the UNP).

Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga made good use of these ‘findings’ during the 1997 provincial election campaign (