The TMVP is organizing a big protest at the Weber stadium in Batticaloa today. According to the Pillayan-led TMVP, it is against LTTE atrocities in the East and the TNA.
The TMVP also wants solutions to problems faced by people being resettled in the East, for example in terms of lack of jobs, all of which will go into a signed letter to be delivered to the President.
TMVP Spokesman Azad Moulana says they expect 25,000 people from three regions of the east to voice their protest and gather at the stadium, which is scheduled to start at 9.30am.
They may also try to bring together Karuna supporters to show their support for the above cause whether voluntarily or by some degree of force.
The Karuna-Pillayan struggle is unfolding quite rapidly, as readers are no doubt aware, and the latest I have gathered, which I thought I would put down here, is that Karuna cadres are restricted to Ampara, while Pillayan seems to have control of Trincomalee and Batticaloa areas and of the TMVP.
A few Karuna cadres are also in the Kiran areas, which is the hometown of Karuna. (TMVP has a council which Pillayan now apparently has control of).
A reporter friend from the East estimates there to be about a couple of hundred Karuna cadres and a couple of thousand Pillayan cadres, but that info is sketchy.
Given that elections are in the offing early next year, there is a complex power struggle going on ahead of the polls. The military and government in the East will likely support the above protest which shows opposition to the LTTE.
On the day of the budget vote, after the second reading, last month, the TMVP (Pillaiyan) said they were in discussions with the TNA to work for the public good in the east. They said they would make an announcement depending on the way the TNA voted on the budget.
TNA MPs denied they held such talks and voted against the budget, very likely going counter to the wishes of the TMVP.
Today’s protest could reveal more of what is going on. It will be good if readers with more information can post their material here.