JVP, LTTE influence: Patriotism vs extremism of undergraduates | Sunday Observer

JVP, LTTE influence: Patriotism vs extremism of undergraduates

25 November, 2018
The monument built within the University of Jaffna premises
The monument built within the University of Jaffna premises

The behaviour of undergraduates in Sri Lankan universities has evolved around extremism rather than academia. The undergraduates in Colombo-centered universities - University of Sri Jayewardenepura, University of Colombo and University of Kelaniya are heavily influenced by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) the Marxist political party and this I would call ‘Political Extremism’.

The undergraduates of the University of Jaffna, Eastern University and South Eastern University are influenced by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Tamil terrorism and racism based on separatist culture which can be branded as ‘Separatist Extremism’.

There is a noticeable contrast between these two segments of undergraduates. The Colombo-centered political extremists seem to be heavily politicised with the Inter University Students’ Federation (IUSF), a proxy of the JVP. Students of this segment have been constantly under the threat of the IUSF. Undergraduates are being frequently used for their own political ambitions by the JVP. This is clearly seen by how the IUSF manipulates students of these universities and the Ruhuna and Rajarata Universities on the Malabe private medical college issue.

The whole scenario on this issue can be viewed from different facets - the commercial interests of medical doctors and of the agents working for foreign medical colleges and medical faculties, the imminent bogus danger created by the GMOA to maintain undue privileges enjoyed by them over other professionals and finally as a political survival strategy of the JVP to show that they are fighting to safeguard free education.

Threat to free education

The writer has extensively worked, researched and written on the so-called threat to free education from private universities. As a result, the overlying question is, ‘What is the most pressing need for the IUSF in which most of the members are not from medical faculties, to work in the interest of medical doctors and business agents at the cost of the future of thousands of medical students in Sri Lanka?’

It is a well-known fact that private sector investments are needed in tertiary education in Sri Lanka to cater to the ever-rising demand for higher education, as the government is unable to cope with it. A number of senior leaders of the JVP had privately acknowledged with the writer that they personally support the private university concept in Sri Lanka. If this is the case, what is the IUSF doing by wasting billions of public money clashing with water cannons on the road? On the demand and extremism of the IUSF, all medical faculties were closed in this segment of universities when the medical faculties in Jaffna and Malabe functioned. The slightest of incidents in the university circle and the IUSF responds politically on the pretext of fighting for the rights of undergraduates for safeguarding free education, but never to safeguard the unitary status of the country or against Tamil separatist terrorism or patriotism.

In contrast to the politically motivated extremism in Colombo-centered universities, the Northern and Eastern undergraduate segments propagate extreme racism and separatism influenced by LTTE terrorism, separatism influenced by the pro-LTTE Tamil political party - the TNA and the Chief Minister of the Northern Province C.V. Vigneshwaran, who actively spread racism all over the island, against the Sinhalese and the Buddhists in particular, to form a monolithic state called Eelam in the Northern and Eastern provinces of Sri Lanka.

The most recent examples of this can be found in the extremist sector of the undergraduates in the University of Jaffna who brutally attacked and injured their fellow Sinhala undergraduates. The IUSF or other student groups failed to denounce this racially-motivated attack on Sinhala students.

Such racially motivated extremism was espoused by pro-LTTE separatist political party leaders such as M.A. Sumanthiran who appeared in the Jaffna courts on behalf of the pro-LTTE Tamil racist student leaders to be bailed out while Sinhala victims were being treated in the ICU.

Meaningful steps

In another incident, the administration and extremist undergraduates in the Vavuniya campus of the University of Jaffna refused the placing of a Buddha statue within the campus premises. It is regretted that in a country where its Constitution protects and maintains Buddhism, a place for religious activities of Buddhists undergraduates was denied, while other religions were provided with such facilities. Whilst extremism was being imposed on a group of their own undergraduates by another group of undergraduates, the IUSF or other independent student group did not take any meaningful steps to prevent such incidents compared to the IUSF’s politically motivated reactions to other student issues.

The undergraduates and sections of the academic and administrative staff of the Northern and Eastern Universities from 1970s to date are actively involved with anti-Sinhala activities within and outside their university premises, some even in the international arena.

The degree of nationalism and patriotism of the undergraduates of Colombo-centred universities and other major universities such as Ruhuna and Rajarata seems to be zero. Even during the peak of the war between LTTE Tamil terrorists and Sri Lankan security forces, undergraduates from these universities remained numb. They tried to show-off with their so-called liberalism as opposed to patriotism mainly for personal gain and political advantages. The majority of undergraduates of these universities are from rural areas.

Their transformation into mock liberalism during and after undergraduateship is somewhat of a big question mark to an average person and to some extent appears comic to the public. The JVP influence of Marxism through its proxy IUSF must have killed nationalism and patriotism of the undergraduates. It is no secret that the present pro-federal JVP leadership worked among the anti-Sri Lankan elements to bring a western-backed pro-federal separatist government as a ‘New Change’ while killing nationalism and patriotism of the undergraduates.

Red Tigers JVP

At present the ‘Red Elephant JVP’ has been transformed into ‘Red Tigers JVP’ to repeal the Executive Presidency paving the path to a Federal State in Sri Lanka and organising May Day rallies in Jaffna with Tamil separatists while preaching anti-nationalism and anti-patriotism to its undergraduates.

The behavioural pattern of undergraduates of the Northern and Eastern segments took a turn to violence since the Yahapalana government took office. Although, the Yahapalana government preached and promoted reconciliation and coexistence within the rest of the island, what was experienced is a daily increase in violence, racism and separatist extremism among Tamil undergraduates in these universities. They commemorate the Tamil Genocide Remembrance Day on May 18 breaching all laws in the country with the blessings of their local politicians who were partners of the Yahapalanaya. They built an LTTE memorial within the university premises on the pretext of a war memorial for civilians.

Violent action

This year, the Jaffna University Students Union (JUSU), began to build a statue to remember LTTE Tamil terrorists within the university premises. The previously built LTTE memorial during Tamil terrorism in Jaffna within the university premises was removed by the Sri Lanka military in 2009. This series of violent action emphasizes the prevailing extremism among the undergraduates to promote separatism and racism.

Fortunately, although there are no reported incidents of racism in the Colombo centered and other universities such as Ruhuna and Rajarata, they have been heavily politicised by the JVP. They tend to behave with no concern at all for nationalism or matters that are related to the unitary status, federalism, one sided UN resolutions against the Rana Viruvo and so on.

In short, in many instances they failed to honour our valiant soldiers. The IUSF which failed to build a monument for their cadres and their leader Rohana Wijeweera, who were killed by the UNP government during the 1988/89, will definitely fail to build a war memorial within these universities. Sri Lankan society will be impacted as the public and potential employers would exercise grave caution and concern when recruiting such political and separatist undergraduates as their employees in the future.

Comments