JVP HIJACKED‘ HEROES DAY’ VENUE : FSP
The JVP thinks that only they have the right to celebrate this event. We, on the other hand, beg to differ, and are under the impression that this is a ceremony that should be celebrated by everyone
The Frontline Socialist Party (FSP) yesterday claimed that the land they had obtained to host the Heroes Day Commemoration on November 23 had been illegally and treacherously snatched away by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP).
FSP Propaganda Secretary Pubudu Jayagoda, addressing a press briefing said, “In August we were allocated Hyde Park to hold the Heroes Day commemoration after getting the goahead from the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC). However last week, JVP Municipal Councilor Sunil Wata- gala had stepped in and used his powers within the CMC and cancelled the booking made by us and thus obtained the right to hold their Heroes Day Commemoration ceremony there instead.”
“The JVP thinks that only they have the right to celebrate this event. We, on the other hand, beg to differ, and are under the impression that this is a ceremony that should be celebrated by everyone as the people who gave their lives in the 1978-79 period fought and died for all of us. So we believe that it is an issue which should be spoken of and felt by everyone, instead of just by a group of people who claim to be the witnesses of history; as those sacrifices were made for the people of this country,” Jayagoda said.
Speaking further Jayagoda added that today too society was faced with the same list of problems as in the past which led to the November Heroes Day Commemoration: “Today the government is trying to privatize the health and education sectors as in the past, and water is being turned into a commodity. On the other hand the 18th Amendment to the constitution, white van abductions, and political vengeance and suppression of people’s rights are ruining the country just as they did in the past,” he said.
The FSP stated that as an alternative they had organized the November Heroes Day commemoration ceremony to be held at the Henry Pedris Grounds on November 13 and issued an open invitation to everyone who loved the country to come and be a part of this event held under the theme “They fought for you” and said that they were planning to launch a book of poems on this occasion.