They are represented as heroes.
I was in the thick of this uprising in the Peradeniya University but none of those guys could convince me to join them.
Some clarification at the beginning.
If one makes a valid and academic study he or she should read Sansoni Report.
I have not read it but the report's recommendation to rehabilitate these intelligent (I have my doubts even now) but misguided youth is congratulatory.
I had first hand experience with some of these guys who became very friendly with me in spite of me rejecting their ideology.
There was no need for me to read the Sansoni Report and what follows below is my calculated opinion on this uprising.
To begin with in 1971, except for political division among politicians, the general public was not involved in ground level politics. Country was peaceful and general public minded their own businesses.
There was no need for artificial revolution.
The eruption of Middle East crisis created by C.I.A in 1973, with sudden increase of oil prices, we had to go through financial crisis (not a cultural crisis) with an empty coffers.
Our politicians did not have a plan or financial buffer for such an eventuality.
I do not think the temporary food crisis has any relevance to J.V.P. uprising.
However, current financial downturn was a certain trigger for radical thinking but except for artificially (politically, too) created uprising in Galle Face, there was no revolutionary trend in Ceylon for ages.
Instead, same old guy wearing a different cap running the show, as nothing has happened in the general thinking of the citizenry.
I think we missed a golden pportunity to steer us through a meaningful political change.
I do not think by abolishing the post of presidency (It should have happened decades ago), ground situation would change.
I was a third year medical student and I used to argue how one can topple a government with one shot "Gal Katas" or single delivery rifle.
You need a machine gun in combact situation, I used to tell them.
I closely followed Che Guerra and he was a medical student who gave up medicine to take up serious political stance.
He was my hero!
In fact, with a pencil I drew his picture on the wall (Halls of Residence) of my bedside.
Of course, having realized the ground situation, I erased it and changed it to a Vietnam peasant with a rice field in the background.
Vietnamese gave a battering to US Army.
I had no artistic skills and I did it, by copying (draw squares on the original picture and copy the picture square by square) a newspaper picture.
My batch may have had a few sympathizers of the J.V.P. but they were probably very secretive (none were apprehended).
1. It has some relevance to our Language Policy.
2. English Educated were given preference in the public sector and in the Army, Navy and Police (services were treated in that order and there was obvious rivalry) specially the higher carders.
3. There is definite Caste System established in Ceylon and J.V.P. exploited it.
4. There was antiindian propaganda.
5. I believe Wijeweera's views were rejected and he was expelled by Russian hierachy (Russians may have provided Intelligence to Sirimavo Government) and he sort help from North Korea (I stand to correction here).
6. They used Corded Messages in daily Sinhala Papers (may have had some help from some journalists).
If they had cellphones then, the outcome would have been different.
7. How Gullible were the Sinhala Educated school children at that time?
School children may have been threatened or coerced by higher carders.
8. Majority of young Buddhist monks and Temples were used to propagate the agenda.
9. Minority of Peradeniya and Colombo University graduates supported it but majority of Kaleniya and Nugegoda (race course was their initial residence) universities supported it.
10. Their arms struggle was aborted by high handed acts of the Army, Navy and Police.
These officers were promoted to higher carders.
Police who used to be fair before the insurrection became more cruel to themselves and to the average citizen.
Incidentally, army officer who came to round up J.V.P. was from my colleague and he wanted names and I said nobody in our Hall of Residence (but there were a dozen) and nobody was taken in.
I said even, if I knew I would not volunteer.
11. L.T.T.E was a direct offshoot and they used revised tactics and they sorted Indian and Norwegian direct help.
List can go but I would stop here.
Incidentally, William Gopallawa's who was the Governor then had engineered Sirimavo to lower the marks of entry so that his son Monty (he is no more) could enter Peradeniya University.
He ended up studying Philosophy and my elder sister was a beneficiary by lowering the marks.
This tragic manoeuver lowered the standard in all the universities.
Then, the universities did not have the manpower or resources to absorb inordinately increased mumbers of students.
I did enter the university many years before (1968, 56 years ago) but our entry was thoroughly scrutined with practical session on physics, chemistry, botany, zoology and in addition organic chemistry (biochemistry) practicals for Medicine.
The next year Irriyagolla (his son and daughter -graduate from Russia- were medical students) discontinued the practical sessions.
By the way, I hated these practicals and even cheated in botany and physics. Biochemistry test was horrible and none of the tests reacted with the test substance given to me.
I repeated it twice and I left my records blank and made a note it should be naphthalene or paradichlorobenzene (moth balls or rat and cockroach poison) but I never tasted it while doing the test.
Benzene is a unique organic molecule.
In botany I used to taste them before testing (that is how I cheated in botany).
I chose a rotten fish for dissection and the nerves were fully exposed.
I had only to wash the specimen thoroughly.
I had common sense and I still believe most of the J.V.P. guys did not have common sense, then.
By the way, I was the 4th in the kill list of DJVP in 1988-89.
The reason for me included in the list was simple logic.
I was working for Americans.
There was a plan to launch a satellite and I was protecting it in the Surgical Theater as a Medical Equipment.
Even a fool could identify it as a satellite!
India could not launch a satellite then and it took a few decades for them to achieve that feat with Russian help, of course!
RAW created DJVP and to this day I hate Indians on our soil.
