JVP’s paradox of milk and honey in Amul deal

JVP Leader Anura Kumara Dissanayake, who just concluded an official tour of India at the invitation of the Indian Government, visited the factory of Indian dairy giant Amul in the state of Gujarat this week.

Incidentally, the visit took place against the backdrop of reports that Amul is looking to enter into a joint venture with Sri Lanka’s state-owned Milco dairy company under the National Livestock Development Board (NLDB) and obtain the farms coming under the Board on lease. The JVP itself has alleged that there are plans to sell Milco and stateowned dairy farms to Amul.

Even as Mr. Dissanayake visited the Amul factory, former JVP MP and All Island Farmers’ Federation National Organiser Namal Karunaratne was busy conducting the signing of a public petition in Kandy against alleged plans to sell the country’s fertile farmlands to foreign investors.

Mr. Karunaratne told the media that the government had plans to sell 32 NLDB-run farms totalling more than 28,000 acres, Milco Company, 97 milk collection centres, and five dairy factories to Amul for a fraction of their real value. When journalists pointed out that his own leader was in India currently with a party delegation, Mr. Karunaratne said the visit had been undertaken following an official invitation extended by the Indian Government. “That invitation itself is a signal to the world that this country’s next government will be led by the ‘Maalimawa’ (compass),” said Mr Karunaratne, in reference to the symbol of the JVP-led alliance, National People’s Power.

Not surprisingly, the JVP’s political opponents have seized on the matter, accusing the party of hypocrisy and playing a double game to hoodwink the people.