“The enemy of my enemy is my friend…”
It was after reading this principle in Niccolò Machiavelli’s book “The Prince” that J.R. Jayewardene decided to release Rohana Wijeweera from prison. Had J.R. not freed Wijeweera, a youth uprising against him may never have emerged.
When J.R. was left helpless in the face of the JVP insurrection, it is said that opposition leader Sirimavo Bandaranaike, too, drew inspiration from Machiavelli’s ‘The Prince’, a book which J.R.had once kept close with him, and revived the JVP that Premadasa had reduced to ashes to regain its breath.
She too acted on the belief that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.”
J.R. released Wijeweera to weaken Sirimavo. Sirimavo, in turn, breathed life back into the JVP to destroy the UNP. However, both Sirimavo, Chandrika, and the SLFP leadership, including Mahinda ultimately sought to prevent the JVP from entering mainstream electoral politics, instead using it as a force against the UNP to capture power.
But President D.B. Wijetunga’s UNP government shattered that plan by allowing the JVP to contest the 1994 general election.
When the JVP entered parliamentary politics in 1994, there were three “Kumars” within its ranks. One was Premakumar Gunaratnam, one of the party’s most powerful figures. He was the brother of Ranjitham Gunaratnam, a member of the JVP politburo in 1989.
During the period when the JVP unleashed terror across the country demanding the withdrawal of the Indian Peacekeeping Force, it was Kumar Gunaratnam who carried out a major bomb attack on an Indian military vehicle in the Northeast.
Following the assassination of Rohana Wijeweera and other leaders, Kumar emerged as a prominent armed leader within the JVP. He wielded significant power in the politburo and was no ordinary figure he was associated with operations that killed 14 Indian peacekeeping soldiers around the first anniversary of the 1987 Indo-Lanka Accord.
In 2012, he clashed with then JVP leader Somawansa Amarasinghe opposing over coalition politics led by figures like Anura Kumara. This led to a major split, with Kumar and several leaders breaking away to form the Frontline Socialist Party.
Subsequently, tensions also arose between Somawansa Amarasinghe and other leaders, including Anura Kumara and Vijitha Herath.
From this conflict emerged the next “Kumara”—Anura Kumara.
Although he joined the JVP later and was not a senior member during its 1994 resurgence, he was a powerful orator. This led him to being nominated as minister of agriculture in the 2004 UPFA government formed by the SLFP and JVP.
The first major rift in that government began because of him—when he demanded that the Mahaweli subject be brought under his ministry. SLFP Secretary Maithripala Sirisena strongly opposed this, even threatening to boycott the swearing-in of JVP ministers. Eventually, a compromise was reached, with the Mahaweli portfolio retained under President Chandrika and a deputy position given to the JVP.
Anura later launched a project to build 10,000 tanks, but Chandrika accused the project of corruption through a cabinet paper, which was leaked to the media via then Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa. This caused serious embarrassment to both Anura and the JVP.
Although the official reason given for the JVP leaving the government was opposition to Chandrika’s tsunami relief agreement with the LTTE, the real trigger was the corruption allegations against Anura. That government ultimately collapsed because of this conflict.
From then on, Anura became a dominant figure within the JVP.
After Kumar Gunaratnam left to form a separate party, Anura clashed with Somawansa Amarasinghe and eventually took over party leadership. However, these internal conflicts further weakened the party.
By the 2015 presidential election, the party had been so fractured that it could not even field its own candidate. Under international pressure and with the influence of Mangala Samaraweera and Ranil Wickremesinghe, the JVP decided to indirectly support the UNP-backed common candidate, Maithripala Sirisena who went on to win.
Despite this, the JVP continued to decline, winning only three seats in the 2020 general election. In the 2019 presidential election, Anura himself secured just 3% of the vote.
At a time when Anura Kumara and the JVP were politically weakened in the face of Gotabaya Rajapaksa’s overwhelming mandate, Kumar Gunaratnam’s Frontline Socialist Party was also struggling.
Yet, through social media networks, Kumar played a behind-the-scenes role in driving the “Gota Go Home” protest movement.
In the midst of this, Anura Kumara is accused of politically capitalizing on that struggle, emerging as its central figure, and eventually becoming president.
After becoming President, Anura introduced yet another “Kumara” into prominence—Punyasiri Kumara Jayakody.
A contemporary and close associate of Anura, Jayakody had long been a full-time JVP member. When Anura became agriculture minister in 2004, he appointed Jayakody as a manager in the fertilizer company’s import-export division. Later, during the Sirisena–Ranil government in 2015, he was again appointed to a key procurement and import role with Anura’s backing.
It was during this period that corruption allegations against him first surfaced.
Despite these allegations, Anura brought him into Parliament via the National List and later appointed him as Minister of Energy—one of the most powerful portfolios after finance and defense.
Now, the Bribery Commission has filed charges against him in court. Even within JVP-linked social media circles, there are calls for him to step down until the case is concluded. Meanwhile, the opposition has also raised coal-related allegations against him.
However, Anura maintains that these accusations do not relate to his actions as a minister.
“Is Kumara Jayakody the next Arjuna Mahendran for Anura Kumara?”
The Chandrika–JVP government fell because of Anura. After Wijeweera, the party built around Kumar Gunaratnam collapsed due to internal conflict. Now, after Kumar Gunaratnam, the JVP rebuilt under Anura Kumara faces a fresh crisis—this time due to his close ally, Kumara Jayakody.
“Are the ‘Kumars’ a curse upon the JVP?”
