For those who considered JVP’s sins to be scarlet decades ago, what happens today must appear blasphemous. The party is now split asunder and stinking every inch but the muck gets dredged up by the two groups that have finally posed themselves as opposing camps.

Now, the red brethren are keen to contrast their previous militant and bloody image with the new one that is politically mature and prudent. Both groups, the official one led by Somawansa Amarasinghe and the defectors led by Party Propaganda Secretary Wimal Weerawansa are now eager to demonstrate their commitment to democracy and fair play. They even show some reverential respect to culture and tradition amidst charges that here is a party that lacks basic inner democracy which is the root cause of the present trouble.

On April 20, the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy had a group of unusual visitors. Marxists do not pay homage to any religious leaders, saints or deities for, religion in Das Kapital is declared as opium. These guys do not wish to be opium eaters.

But there stood bearing flowers at the footsteps of the sacred temple, the breakaway leader of the JVP, Wimal Weerawansa. Perhaps he took a quick journey down memory lane to recall an era when the temple authorities shuddered at the thought of JVPers within or anywhere close to the sacred premises for such was the potent danger they posed to the very existence of places people hold sacred or significant.

But this time, the JVP defector, in immaculate white and every hair gelled into place stood bearing white lotuses as if to seek forgiveness for the injuries caused to religious sentiments of the populace. With him stood his group of 10 parliamentarians seeking blessings for a new political journey.

The Weerawansa group paid homage to the chief prelates of the Malwatte and Asgiriya Chapters and later paid a courtesy call on the Diyawadana Nilame, Nilanga Dela Bandara.

An interesting observation was made by the Mahanayake of the Malwatte Chapter Ven. Thibbotuwawe Sri Sumangala Thero that the country has not gained anything from the leftist parties. He inferred that Sri Lanka was happy with moderate politics and were settled with a two party system.

The priest said: "Leftist parties have caused a lot of problems to this country. The country did not gain anything from the leftist parties. Leaders like N.M. Perera and Philip Gunewardena joined the SLFP and the UNP," he said.

But going well beyond the confines of monkhood, he decided to offer a brief political anusasana next to the visiting group of MPs. He candidly repeated that the leftists have only managed to mess up the country, a comment the JVPers had to quietly stomach in reverential acceptance of the criticism.

Then the venerable monk gave free political advice and suggested to the rebel MP that he should accept a portfolio and join the government and strengthen it. But Weerawansa expressed his reservations at this point remarking that a different political journey awaited him and the others and that they were up to that challenge.

Interesting noises were made in the aftermath of this event by the JHU. The monk outfit that represents Sinhala nationalism has welcomed Weerawansa’s move. JHU Spokesperson, Nishantha Sri Warnasinghe was quoted in the media as having stated that Weerawansa and his defectors were sustaining the nationalist movement in the country by putting the country before their party. Warnasinghe had also stated that the JVP represented by its Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe, Tilvin Silva and Anura Kumara Dissanayake represented the anti-nationalist elements and Weerawansa was indeed on the correct path.

In the meantime, the JVP will celebrate Labour Day on a low key. They will hold a rally at the Town Hall in Colombo and there is no possibility of having their fiery key speaker Weerawansa boarding the platform on that day.

In the meantime, an invite had been sent to Weerawansa to enter some dispute resolution dialogue with the party leadership. According to inside sources, this will be the final call as far as Weerawansa goes.

If he fails to respond this time, the three important positions held by him in the party are to be duly distributed amongst three JVP senior parliamentarians and the new appointments would be ratified at the JVP Special Convention scheduled for May 27.

Sources confirmed, even if Weerawansa reconciles with the party, his post of parliamentary group leader would be bestowed on frontliner Anura Kumara Dissanayake. In the event of no reconciliation, Bimal Ratnayake will be assigned the post of party spokesman and Sunil Handunnetti, the post of Colombo District leader, the sources confirm.

In the meantime, both JVP factions are busy providing the country with free entertainment. There was Party Spokesman, Wimal Weerawansa crying foul on one private television channel a week ago alleging that the JVP had fallen pray to a UNP conspiracy.

He further alleged that the JVP has instigated Trincomalee District MP Jayantha Wijesekera to commit criminal trespass along with two party drivers by entering the parliament car park and thereby used him as sacrificial lamb. His explanation is that the JVP made a calculated attempt so that there would be an excuse when the party fails to make the grade at the May 10 Eastern Provincial Council poll.

According to Weerawansa’s theory, it is the lack of structural adjustments in the party that had led to the present explosion within and considers it an ideological one due to the party’s failure to evolve with time.

He publicly defends his ‘strategy’ to work with the government and to sign MoUs that ‘served the people.’ On Max TV’s talk show titled Fourth Floor, Weerawansa waxed eloquent about the prudence of forming a ‘probationary government’ which put President Chandrika Kumaratunga on the red alert. He said that through that exercise, the JVP managed to dilute Kumaratunga’s mandate effectively.

But Party General Secretary Tilvin Silva on TNL’s Jana Handa slammed Weerawansa for being a government lackey and countered that there was no UNP conspiracy to split the party but a government one, well aided by Weerawansa. To dilute the Marxist party, Weerawansa proved a convenient pawn, noted Silva who openly alleged that Weerawansa ‘owed’ it to the government for various reasons.

"Through Wimal, the government came to know all the inside information and through that link wished to control the party," said Tilvin Silva.

An angry Tilvin Silva added that the government desired the JVP to split into many factions but what needs to be understood is that the party was much larger than any individual and individuals survive only as long as the political group thrives.

Interestingly, Weerawansa who tearfully claimed in parliament never to utter a word against his party or offer any explanation through the media, eventually decided to bare his soul.

During a talk show hosted by a private television station, he refuted the serious charges levelled against him. Firstly, he defended as to why he made no parliamentary statement on the eviction of Tamils in Colombo last year. His lame defence was that the JVP could not stand shoulder to shoulder with the UNP and the TNA on that issue. He conveniently forgot that as a self confessed Marxist, it was incumbent upon him more than anyone else to take the lead and speak on behalf of all communities and not to fumble with words and sound apologetic for imprudent government action.

He also had an interesting explanation with regard to the arson attack on the Leader press. Weerawansa claimed that he of course did not feel strongly about it given the fact that the party did not enjoy good relations with the publication, but added that by the time he was instructed to make a statement, it was five days after the incident and it would have appeared as a delayed reaction from the JVP to take up the issue at that moment.

Next, he also explained as to why he defended the weapon carrying of the Karuna breakaway group led by Pillayan. Weerawansa who can make government politicians blush in shame when contrasted with his defence of the war effort said: "The US Embassy and Ranil Wickremesinghe call in the same breath to disarm Pillayan. I did not wish to sound the same."

However, JVP insiders claim that Weerawansa had stoically refused to attend the party Central Committee since February 22 and had not even bothered to inform the party.

Weerawansa now claims that he was crucified on March 21 when he pleaded either to exonerate him or subject him to disciplinary action, which he claims was not done. Party Leader Amarasinghe insists that he did not bother to explain himself with regard to certain charges.

In truth, it is way too late for Wimal Weerawansa to turn back now. He has first called for a correction course for his party, and the expulsion of ‘conspirators’ and is now determined to create his own political group.

The JVP proper, charges that the actual charge against Weerawansa is that he indeed created an alternate political organisation and funded it through JVP resources. This is irrefutable, given the fact that the National Patriotic Movement (NPM) of which Weerawansa is the Convener uses a vehicle that was obtained on the duty free permit issued to JVP Colombo District legislator, Lakshman Nipunaarachchi.

Having made his stupendous and emotional statement in parliament signifying a parting of ways, the JVP Parliamentary Group Leader and Propaganda Secretary soon attended a meeting with his group of 10 at the NPM Headquarters where insiders reveal, there was a table laden with traditional sweetmeats, a sign that it was to mark some auspicious occasion.

The group also signed a letter pledging support to Weerawansa, a fact he refutes but which insiders claim to be true. Meanwhile, a second letter was to be signed regarding the contribution of MPs’ salaries to a different account which was not signed.

As egg lands on their collective faces, the JVP is also resorting to last ditch attempts to salvage the image, if there is any left of it by now.

Hence the call for a final reconciliation meeting with Weerawansa before the curtain call happens for the Propaganda Secretary.

What needs to be understood is that Weerawansa’s lifeblood indeed flows through the NPM. There is no doubt that he has utilised not just JVP’s resources like the vehicle but has effectively tainted the Marxist party with a racial tinge by veering away from the leftist ideals towards strong nationalism.

The NPM is almost of religious significance to a few like Weerawansa. There is little doubt that it was the biggest political investment of the JVP spokesman. His image within the NPM was built independently, as he breathed patriotic rhetoric that had a tinge of violence. The movement gathered momentum with academics, intellectuals and professionals identifying themselves with it.

The biggest political name within the NPM however was that of Weerawansa. That was how he built a parallel force for future use, whilst being in the JVP and holding many important positions and utilising the party resources for his alternate political agenda.

The evidence of this duplicitous act came to the fore when a JVP parliamentarian lodged a complaint with the Piliyandala Police for the recovery of the duty free vehicle issued in his name which was by then in the use of the NPM.

As if the agony of the ugly transaction is not bad enough, to defend the NPM’s sins comes literary figure Dr. Gunadasa Amarasekera, shamelessly explaining that there should not be any dispute over the vehicle and upon repaying Rs. 1.5 million, the JVP can certainly obtain the vehicle. Initially there was stoic refusal to part with the vehicle which has finally through police intervention been restored to the original owner.

However, Dr. Amarasekera claims no such thing was necessary and the matter could have been resolved over a cup of tea, and the NPM would appreciate if the money were reimbursed as the NPM purchased it with the money collected from its ‘own members.’

What kind of domestic arrangements these are and the simplistic explanations offered by a so-called intellectual may baffle the entire nation. But such is the inner story of the JVP. The political inexperience and the basic disrespect for the law of the land is well demonstrated through these acts as the tussle intensifies between the two camps.

Not too long ago did the JHU Leader, Ven. Dr. Ellawala Medhananda Thero also make a similar faux pas when he too breached the law by letting a faithful ‘daayaka’ cum supporter drive away in his luxury Benz car.

As for Wimal Weerawansa, Gunadasa Amarasekera and their ilk, exponents in politics and often breathing fire over others’ alleged corruption, this is proof of what they are capable of. Under no legal provision can they justify the misuse of another MP’s vehicle permit to obtain a vehicle for another organisation that lacks the facility to obtain a duty free vehicle permit. Pray now explain how the friends of the proletariat justify this act?

Vehicles, we reiterate cannot belong to the JVP and certainly not to the NPM. It was certainly wrong of MP Jayantha Wijesekera to breach the law, commit criminal trespass and theft and likewise, the transfer of Nipunaarachchi’s vehicle to the NPM is also an equally serious offence. Important to note that the vehicles until the payments are fully settled remain parliament property and not personally owned by respective MPs.

Throwing a spanner into the works last week was former JVPer, Dimuthu Ketapearachchi. He has now opened a fresh can of worms. Ketapearachchi has certainly managed to send shudders down the spine of the JVP with his letter to JVP Leader Somawansa Amarasinghe alleging that party frontliner Vijitha Herath had given a tip off to the authorities through a man named Bandara in a bid to assist the capture of JVP Founder Leader Rohana Wijeweera from his Ulapane hideout.

This could be disputed, JVP insiders say, as there is a school of thought that it was the JVP’s incumbent leader who allegedly provided the vital information and secured safe passage for himself to India through his UNP political link at a time when the JVP members were being hounded.

When Wijeweera was captured it was then Col. Janaka Perera who nabbed the man posing off as Attanayake from his Ulapane hideout and also confiscated Rs. 2 million from the premises. Wijeweera had no long hair, no trademark spectacles or beard. His identity was verified only when his coded number was mentioned.

However, Vijitha Herath would have been impressionably young though at the time of capturing the JVP leader. However, Herath was associated with the JVP at that time and was sent off to the Boossa Detention Camp. Herath is now heard passionately refuting the allegations that are being floated, claiming that given the crisis faced by the party, many others were attempting to create further friction and chaos.

Important to note that in his own admission, Weerawansa who likes to quote the law chapter and verse too had joined the JVP in 1988 when the party was proscribed and hence an outlawed organisation.

Now, the JVP factions are also trading charges about misusing party letterheads. There is already a complaint lodged by JVP Secretary Tilvin Silva with the IGP that an unauthorised group was using the letterheads. A similar complaint has been lodged now by the Weerawansa faction but with a different authority. The group had complained to the Registrar of Motor Vehicles that the JVP Headquarters was recalling the vehicles that were issued to JVP MPs.

And the latest issue to come up in the JVP fiasco is the non-accounting of the NPM funds. For a group that is led by a man who speaks of good governance, anti corruption, frugal and honest living, the NPM membership would love to know and have the right to know why there is no statement of accounts.