Politics behind Neelan’s martyrdom
Neelan Tiruchelvam, one of the main authors of the government’s devolution package, was assassinated just as the constitutional amendment carrying it was being brought before parliament ahead of a snap presidential election. The LTTE is plainly responsible — and what Ivan examines is what the government did to make the package unpassable long before the killing.
JVP legacy that of Pol Pot and Prabhakaran
Answering JVP writers who now praise the party’s programme and compare its 1989 hartal to that of 1953, Ivan argues the 1989 hartal was enforced by killing, likens the JVP’s record to Pol Pot and Prabhakaran, and dismisses its manifesto as unworkable. He allows that a party can reform, but sees no sign of repentance.