The largest public march in the country’s history will be held on the 17th, 18th and 19th to take this struggle to victory. (13) JVP General Secretary Comrade Tilvin Silva said at a press conference.
It is not people like the government MPs who are participating in the ongoing mass struggle at the Galle Face green near the Presidential Secretariat. The largest mass march in the country’s history will be held on the 17th, 18th and 19th to take this struggle to victory, says JVP General Secretary Comrade Tilvin Silva at a media briefing held at the head office of the JVP today (13th).
The media briefing was held with the participation of representatives of the National People’s Power (NPP). Dr Harini Amarasuriya, Member of Parliament, National Executive Member of the NPP and Harshana Nanayakkara, Member of the National Executive Committee of the NPP also participated in this media briefing.
Following are the full views expressed by the representatives of the NPP.
People on the battlefield are not like people in your parliamentary group –Tilvin Silva
Artists, lawyers and experts from all walks of life have joined the people’s struggle and are urging this government to go home. The government is stubbornly trying to stay in power by using various tactics without listening to the people’s demands.
Even after denying the future generations an amiable country, those in the government are not ready to go down till the last moment. Therefore, we emphasize to the government that this is not a struggle that can be stopped halfway. The only answer the government has is to listen to the people’s voice.
However, the government is trying to blunt the struggle in various ways. Groups will do anything for monetary or material gain, and religious groups are being deployed to use racism to change the face of the struggle. They are trying to change the most beautiful aesthetics of this struggle. But we see that it fails without finding a group for it. On the other hand, there is an attempt to intimidate the people, especially, in the speech made by the Prime Minister.
On the other hand, they hope that this struggle will slowly extinguish. We say very clearly that they should not underestimate this struggle. There are various groups in this struggle. We are in it as the National People Power with the knowledge, ability, experience and organizational strength required to lead this struggle to victory. Inevitably everyone works with determination to take the struggle to victory.
The President had told the media that he was ready to hold discussions with the struggling youth groups. After unsuccessful attempts to ignore the struggle, intimidate, insult, incite racism, etc., they are now ready to negotiate. We emphasize that there is nothing to discuss with the government. The demand for struggle has been publicly stated. Gota has to go home, the government has to leave and end the seventy-four-year curse. Therefore, attempts to weaken and divide the struggle will not work. There are no people on this battlefield like those in your parliamentary group. Those on the battlefield are honest, self-sacrificing people who do not expect anything. Therefore, it is not possible to bait them by giving concessions like baiting your parliamentary groups. How can a President or a Prime Minister who is not honest even with his group of MPs have honest discussions with these people? Therefore, either this government should step down. Or you have to keep going until you are chased out. We assure you that the struggle will not stop for any reason until this government led by the President is ousted.
The government still does not understand this struggle, or seems not to understand. It is not a simple struggle. All those who took to the streets all over the country and demanded the government’s resignation and those who had been struggling for days on end on the Galle Face green did not first ask the President or the government to go home. They first took to the streets demanding rights. Therefore, this struggle came to the fore because the government came to power with huge promises and broke the promises. Many people who contributed a lot to form this government and voted for it are joining the struggle. It is a fight against the government because it betrayed the people. The government was unable to provide even the basic needs of the people. First, the farmers took to the streets and demanded fertilizer. Then, people who asked for milk powder, gas and oil took to the streets. The government did not listen to any of them. The government said that the lights would not be turned off and that there was enough oil.
When doctors say that there is a huge shortage of essential medicines in hospitals, the government announces that there is no shortage of medicines. If we do not accept the crisis or at least are not ready, if we joke with the affected people, a struggle will go in a different direction. The people who initially struggled for oil and gas were eventually forced to take to the streets to oust the government. When the government fails to grant their rights, the people take to the streets, saying that a government that wastes public money in the face of so many crises is useless. People took to the streets to oust a wasteful, anarchic government. Even if various dramas in Parliament are played thinking the struggle in Galle Face will stop, even if MPs are bought and the ministries are changed to send astray the attention of the people, nothing will happen. In another round the battle will intensify. We are ready to take this very humanitarian and democratic struggle towards a massive mass struggle. We in the NPP have decided to give a new impetus to this struggle, to give a tremendous strength. It is our responsibility to guide the struggle towards sending the government home. If a struggle loses political responsibility it can be gradually dissolved. Therefore, we want to end the struggle of the people of our country with a victory for the people.
Therefore, a massive march has been organized on the 17th, 18th and 19th of this month. The march will start from Beruwala on the 17th at 9.00 am. We hope that when this march reaches Colombo it will be the largest number of people who have gathered in the history of our country for a protest. Accordingly, we are ready to give a new impetus to the struggle and turn it into a people’s power that will end victoriously. Although this march is organized by the NPP, it is part of the struggle toward the ultimate goal desired by the people.
Therefore, we invite all who wish to contribute sincerely, regardless of party affiliation. We need to create a people’s power that will turn this into a struggle that the government will not be able to ignore the demands of the people. We have to create a people’s power that will drive out the corrupt government, and create a people’s government that punishes the corrupt. We are ready to launch this walk as a giant step and then take new action. This is the struggle of the Sri Lankans, the struggle of the motherland, the struggle to bring victory to the motherland and the people. We urge the people to join hands with the measures and make it a success.
