Sri Lanka
Sri Lankan SEP denounces political parties’ support for President Sirisena’s police state measures
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 2 May 2019
The SEP warns that the main target of the repressive measures is not Islamic extremists, but working people and their struggles against the government’s austerity agenda.
Tea plantation workers need a global strategy
By Saman Gunadasa, 1 May 2019
Tea plantation workers in India, Kenya and Sri Lanka can end their brutal exploitation only by breaking from the unions and fighting for a unified socialist and internationalist strategy.
Sri Lankan president steps up military crackdown
By K. Ratnayake, 27 April 2019
The all-party conference convened yesterday in the wake of Sunday’s terrorist bombings rubberstamped the draconian police-state measures being rapidly brought into force.
Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka to hold May Day meeting in Colombo
The new wave of international class struggle and the fight for socialism
26 April 2019
The SEP meeting is being called amid growing indications that Colombo may use the recent terrorist bombings as a pretext to ban all May Day events.
Sri Lankan president calls “all-party conference” to rubberstamp emergency powers
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 25 April 2019
Following Sunday’s terrorist bombings, the conference has been called to shore up capitalist rule amid an acute political crisis.
Severe police-state measures come into force in Sri Lanka
By Pani Wijesiriwardena and K. Ratnayake, 24 April 2019
Under the pretext of fighting terrorism, the Colombo government is strengthening its security forces amid a resurgence of working-class struggles.
After terrorist bombings, Sri Lankan government imposes draconian national emergency
By K. Ratnayake and Peter Symonds, 23 April 2019
The World Socialist Web Site condemns the horrendous bombings, which indiscriminately killed innocent men, women and children, and have already provided the pretext for sweeping anti-democratic measures.
At least 290 killed in terrorist bomb attacks in Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake, 22 April 2019
Despite an intelligence alert 10 days before, both the government and police failed to warn the public and took little or no action to prevent the terrible bombings.
Sri Lankan bomb survivors and local residents denounce terror attacks
By our correspondents, 22 April 2019
“The aim of this attack could be to instigate communalism and turmoil. It must be totally condemned.”
SEP and IYSSE in Sri Lanka rally to defend Assange and Manning
By our reporters, 17 April 2019
Sri Lankan media outlets, including Veerakesari, Sri Lanka’s main Tamil-language daily newspaper, covered the SEP and IYSSE demonstration in Colombo.
SEP (Sri Lanka) calls urgent picket to defend Assange and Manning
16 April 2019
The protest called by the SEP and IYSSE will be held at 4 pm today at Fort Railway Station, Colombo.
Sri Lankan writer imprisoned at instigation of Buddhist extremists
By our correspondents, 13 April 2019
The SEP and the IYSSE condemn the arrest of award-winning Sri Lankan author Shakthika Sathkumara and demand his immediate release.
Arbitrary wage cuts imposed on Sri Lankan estate workers
By W.A. Sunil, 12 April 2019
The Thomson Reuters Foundation research report shows that illegal pay deductions and high workloads are widespread in the plantations.
Sri Lankan government prepares new anti-terrorism laws
By Dilruwan Vithanage and Saman Gunadasa, 9 April 2019
The new bill surpasses the hated PTA measures and will be used to suppress the upsurge of opposition against Colombo’s harsh austerity measures.
UNHRC ignores Sri Lanka’s failure to investigate war crimes
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 3 April 2019
The UNHRC resolution bogusly praised Colombo’s “positive steps” on human rights and gave it two more years to implement previous unfulfilled pledges.
Sri Lankans driven to suicide by exorbitant debt repayments
By Saman Gunadasa, 28 March 2019
Most of those who committed suicide were from the war-ravaged Vavuniya and Jaffna districts in the island’s north and Batticalao in the east.
Sri Lankan think tank warns about growing levels of social inequality
By Dilruwan Vithanage, 26 March 2019
In 2016, the richest 10 percent earned the equivalent of the total amount earned by 70 percent of all households per year.
Plantation workers demand freedom for Julian Assange and Chelsea Manning and for jailed Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondent, 21 March 2019
Last Sunday’s conference in Sri Lanka’s central hills district endorsed resolutions condemning the persecution of Assange, Manning and Maruti-Suzuki workers in India.
Sri Lanka: Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee and SEP hold powerful conference
By our correspondents, 20 March 2019
Over 100 people participated, including estate workers, workers from a diverse range of trades, students and a delegation from Sri Lanka’s war-ravaged northern province.
Support grows for Sri Lankan plantation workers’ conference
By our correspondents, 16 March 2019
Campaign teams hold discussions with workers on estates across the country’s central hill district.
IMF endorses Sri Lankan government budget
By Saman Gunadasa, 14 March 2019
In line with the IMF’s austerity demands, the government budget contains new taxes and rate rises as well as increased spending on the military and the police.
SEP in Sri Lanka wins strong support for plantation workers’ conference
By our reporters, 9 March 2019
Plantation workers welcomed SEP and IYSSE campaigners while angrily denouncing the plantation unions’ betrayal of their wage strike.
Demand the unconditional reinstatement of Sri Lankan plantation worker S. Balasubramaniyam!
By M. Thevarajah and W.A. Sunil, 7 March 2019
Balasubramaniyam’s sacking is part of a broader attack on estate workers by the plantation companies and the government.
SEP meetings launch Tamil edition of The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century
By our correspondents, 6 March 2019
The meetings at Hatton in Sri Lanka’s central plantation district and Jaffna, in the war-ravaged north, attracted important layers of workers and youth.
Greetings from the Sri Lankan Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee to the Assange defence rallies in Australia
2 March 2019
Tea plantation workers struggling for decent working conditions have expressed their solidarity with the fight to free WikiLeaks publisher Julian Assange.
US naval chief denounces China and calls for stronger military partnership with Sri Lanka
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 28 February 2019
Sri Lanka’s strategic location alongside the world’s busiest shipping route is vital to increasingly aggressive US geo-strategic and military manoeuvres against China.
Sri Lankan plantation companies reap huge profits while attacking workers’ wages and conditions
By Saman Gunadasa, 27 February 2019
Plantation workers’ wages are being lowered while giant tea industry corporations and local companies alike thrive through the ruthless exploitation of their workforce.
Frontline Socialist Party prepares political trap for Sri Lankan plantation workers
By K. Ratnayake, 21 February 2019
The FSP is attempting to prevent plantation workers from breaking with the unions and developing an independent struggle against the employers and the government.
Sri Lankan tea plantation workers protest victimisations
By our reporters, 19 February 2019
Demonstrators denounced the unions’ betrayal of recent wage strikes and demanded management immediately end the frame-up of militant Annfield Estate workers.
Sri Lankan president denounces opponents of the death penalty
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 15 February 2019
Sirisena not only wants reinstatement of executions but the endorsement of all human rights organisations.
Sri Lanka: SEP and Abbotsleigh workers’ committee organise picket to oppose witch hunt in plantations
By our reporters, 14 February 2019
The fight against the witch hunt in the plantations is bound up with the defence of the democratic rights of the working class from the onslaught of the capitalist class.
Sri Lankan plantation companies rule out further wage increases after union sellout
By W.A. Sunil, 13 February 2019
The unions’ betrayal of protracted industrial and political action has cleared the way for further attacks on workers by the plantation companies.
The way forward to win wages and social rights
Workers Action Committee in Sri Lanka calls plantation workers’ conference
By the Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee, 12 February 2019
The conference will discuss the lessons of the recent plantation workers’ struggle and the political strategy needed to win their demands.
Sri Lankan president’s Independence Day speech exposes deep crisis of rule
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 9 February 2019
Sirisena bemoaned the failure of successive governments but offered no solution, amid ongoing infighting in ruling circles and mounting opposition by working people to the worsening social crisis.
Sri Lankan tea plantation workers committee supports call for February 9 demonstration in Detroit
By our reporters, 7 February 2019
“We consider the actions taken by the steering committee as a blow not only for the defense of the fundamental rights of the US auto workers but also on behalf of the international working class as a whole.”
Sri Lankan SEP public meetings to launch Tamil edition of The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century
7 February 2019
The book is critical in exposing the many lies perpetrated about the Russian Revolution in 1917 and the subsequent degeneration of the Soviet Union.
Sri Lanka: 16 families homeless after fire at Bogawantalawa tea plantation
By A. Suresh and M. Thevarajah, 4 February 2019
The disaster again highlights the difficult and dangerous conditions facing Sri Lankan plantation workers and their families.
The Russian Revolution and the Unfinished Twentieth Century published in Tamil
1 February 2019
The translation of David North’s book is vital for Tamil-speaking workers, youth and intellectuals on the Indian sub-continent, in Sri Lanka, and exile communities around the world.
IMF to resume Sri Lankan loan program discussions
By Saman Gunadasa, 31 January 2019
The Sri Lankan government has assured the IMF of its commitment to “strong” austerity measures.
Sri Lankan plantation workers protest unions’ sellout wage deal
By M. Thevarajah and W.A. Sunil, 29 January 2019
The unions, having suppressed an indefinite strike last month, are imposing an agreement in line with the demands of the plantation companies and the government.
Oppose the Sri Lankan plantation unions’ sellout agreement!
Resolution of the Abbotsleigh Estate Workers Action Committee, 29 January 2019
The following resolution, calling for the establishment of action committees at all estates and the rejection of a union sellout deal, was passed at a meeting of plantation workers on Sunday.
Indian teachers, government workers launch indefinite strike in Tamil Nadu
By Deepal Jayasekera, 25 January 2019
Defying mass arrests, 700,000 workers have been on strike since Tuesday, part of a growing global working class upsurge.
Sri Lankan president praises Philippine-style “war on drugs”
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 23 January 2019
Sirisena’s support for Duterte’s death squads and police-state violence points to Sri Lankan preparations for dictatorial methods of rule.
The US boosts military ties with Sri Lanka
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 17 January 2019
US Navy moves to establish a logistics hub at Trincomalee port come as the Trump administration ratchets up its trade war measures against China.
Sri Lankan workers must oppose the witch-hunt of militant plantation workers
By M. Thevarajah, 16 January 2019
Plantation bosses, with the backing of the government, police and the unions, are attempting to intimidate estate workers and suppress their wage demands.
Sri Lankan government proposes pay “formula” to end plantation workers’ struggle
By W.A. Sunil, 15 January 2019
The aim of the suggested three-year wage plan is to impose the burden of the crisis in the plantation industry onto workers.
Sri Lankan president issues bogus promise to fulfil election pledges
By K. Ratnayake, 11 January 2019
Sirisena is attempting to cement an alliance with former President Mahinda Rajapakse against the United National Party-led government.
Sri Lankan plantation workers oppose company-union attempts to impose sell-out
By our reporters, 8 January 2019
There is widespread hostility to the plans for a new collective agreement that would reject workers’ demand for a 100 percent wage rise.
Sri Lankan Central Bank governor calls for extended IMF program
By Saman Gunadasa, 7 January 2019
The IMF suspended the final $500 million installment of its $1.5 billion loan to Sri Lanka last November after bitter infighting erupted within Colombo’s political elite.
Sri Lankan JVP postures as a saviour of “democracy”
By Sakuna Jayawardana and K. Ratnayake, 4 January 2019
The Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s response to the country’s political crisis is to promote illusions in parliamentary democracy.
Sri Lankan plantation union discussing sellout deal with companies
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 3 January 2019
The back-room negotiations between the unions and employers are part of a broader attack on the living conditions of all workers.
India: Stalinist unions suppress Tamil Nadu auto strikes, promise “industrial peace”
By Arun Kumar and Yuan Darwin, 31 December 2018
The strikes’ outcome is further proof that the Stalinist-led CITU serves as an industrial police force for big business, containing and suppressing working-class opposition.
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
Victory of the Trotskyists in the 1985–1986 split in the ICFI
By Saman Gunadasa and K. Ratnayake, 29 December 2018
The political struggle against the WRP prepared the ICFI for the new period of revolutionary class struggles that are now emerging.
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
The RCL/SEP’s struggle against the anti-Tamil civil war
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 28 December 2018
Part five outlines the RCL/SEP’s intransigent political struggle to defend the democratic rights of the island’s Tamil minority and to unite the working class, Sinhalese, Tamil, and Muslim, on the basis of socialist internationalism.
The 50th anniversary of the founding of the SEP (Sri Lanka)
The RCL/SEP’s political struggle against the LSSP’s betrayal
By W.A. Sunil and Deepal Jayasekera, 27 December 2018
The RCL waged a consistent struggle, under difficult conditions, against the second coalition government, particularly against the LSSP, which continued to dishonestly trade on its previous Trotskyist record.
Factional acrimony continues as Sri Lankan president appoints new cabinet
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 22 December 2018
Sirisena’s delay in appointing the new cabinet makes clear that bitter factional infighting is continuing within Colombo’s political elite.
Sri Lanka: Abbotsleigh tea plantation workers speak out against harsh living and working conditions
By our reporters, 21 December 2018
Sri Lankan plantation workers, like their international counterparts, are being ruthlessly exploited by the giant corporations that control the industry.
The US hails Wickremesinghe’s reinstatement as Sri Lankan prime minister
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 20 December 2018
The US was concerned that the ousting of Wickremesinghe would jeopardise the close military relations developed with Colombo under his government.
Sri Lanka: Action committee of Abbotsleigh Estate workers holds inaugural meeting
By our correspondents, 18 December 2018
The meeting passed resolutions calling for independent action committees to fight for decent wages and conditions, and pledged support to “yellow vest” protesters in France, US auto workers and jailed Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court refuses to hear SEP’s legal action against May Day meeting ban
By our correspondent, 18 December 2018
The government’s intention was to sabotage May Day demonstrations and rallies, a tradition established by workers before the end of British colonial rule in 1948.
Sri Lankan president reinstates sacked prime minister
By K. Ratnayake, 17 December 2018
Sirisena’s decision to reappoint Wickremesinghe will not end the crisis but is just a temporary pause in the ongoing political conflict within Sri Lanka’s ruling elite.
The international significance of the Sri Lankan plantation workers’ strike
By Deepal Jayasekera, 17 December 2018
In the midst of the strike, workers at the Abbotsleigh Estate turned towards revolutionary politics and forms of organisation, establishing an action committee independent of the unions, under the political guidance of the Socialist Equality Party.
Sri Lankan plantation workers end strike action under protest
By Saman Gunadasa, 15 December 2018
Sri Lanka plantation workers denounced the unions and returned to work on December 14, after a nine-day strike for a doubling of their daily wage.
Sri Lankan Supreme Court rules against President Sirisena’s decision to dissolve parliament
By Deepal Jayasekera, 14 December 2018
The court’s decision will further intensify the infighting within the ruling elite.
Sri Lankan plantation workers defy union and continue to strike
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 13 December 2018
Expressing their determination to fight, workers held protests throughout the plantation district on Wednesday, the day after the union announced the end of the stoppage.
Sri Lankan plantation companies reject workers’ wage demand
By W.A. Sunil, 11 December 2018
Despite an indefinite strike, the employers are insisting that profits must be defended by subjecting workers to super-exploitation.
Indian workers face slave-like conditions in Sri Lanka
By R. Shreeharan and Ivan Weerasinghe, 10 December 2018
Young men recruited from a Jharkhand village to work on a high-voltage power-line in Sri Lanka have not been paid for three months.
Sri Lankan plantation strike: Abbotsleigh workers march to demand action committees and socialist policies
By our reporters, 8 December 2018
Yesterday’s march was organised by an action committee of Abbotsleigh Estate workers, following political interventions by the Socialist Equality Party.
Sri Lankan president uses executive powers to run government
By W.A. Sunil, 7 December 2018
Sirisena’s autocratic actions are another dangerous sign that dictatorial forms of rule are being prepared in Sri Lanka.
Sri Lankan plantation workers launch indefinite strike for 100 percent pay rise
By our correspondents, 6 December 2018
This struggle by workers all over the island will compound the political crisis of the ruling elite, which is wracked by bitter political conflict.
Jaffna (Sri Lanka) meeting celebrates 80th anniversary of the Fourth International
By R. Shreeharan, 6 December 2018
People from all over the Jaffna district heard Socialist Equality Party leaders explain the contemporary relevance of the Trotskyist movement’s historic struggle.
Sri Lankan court blocks functioning of Rajapakse cabinet
By K. Ratnayake, 4 December 2018
An appeals court temporarily ordered that Rajapakse and his ministers cease exercising their powers—intensifying Sri Lanka’s political crisis.
Sri Lanka: Factional deadlock remains in lead up to Supreme Court ruling
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 3 December 2018
President Sirisena has failed in his attempts to secure a parliamentary deal with the opposition UNP and TNA aimed at ending the country’s continuing political crisis.
Colombo court detains Sri Lankan defence chief over civil war crimes
By Rohantha De Silva, 30 November 2018
The court magistrate said the military chief had to be denied bail because he could influence witnesses or disrupt ongoing investigations into the abduction of Tamil youth.
Around 100,000 Sri Lankan plantation workers walk out again for pay rise
By our correspondents, 30 November 2018
The plantation unions are determined to prevent industrial action by estate workers that could trigger mass action by other sections of the working class.
Rajapakse-aligned MPs boycott Sri Lankan parliament
By W.A. Sunil, 28 November 2018
The ongoing crisis has shattered the carefully cultivated image of parliament as an august and democratic assembly, engaging in serious discussion on issues of public interest.
Amid Sri Lanka’s political crisis, the USP sets “left” trap for the working class
By Vilani Peiris and K. Ratnayake, 27 November 2018
The pseudo-left United Socialist Party’s call for a left alliance is aimed at promoting the illusion that one or other ruling faction can be pressured to defend the rights of working people.
Political turmoil in Sri Lanka intensifies as opposition takes control of parliament
By Pani Wijesiriwardena, 24 November 2018
The UNP-led opposition has submitted a motion to suspend funds to Rajapakse’s office of prime minister.
SEP (Sri Lanka) holds successful public meeting on political crisis
By our correspondents, 22 November 2018
The speakers stressed the necessity for the working class to adopt a socialist and internationalist program, in opposition to all factions of the ruling elite.
Sri Lankan political crisis exposes bankruptcy of Tamil nationalist parties
By K. Nesan and V. Gnana, 22 November 2018
After four years of a US-backed “Good Governance” government that collapsed last month, not a single issue facing the Tamil workers and poor has been resolved.
Sri Lanka: UNP demands Facebook protect identity of party supporters
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 21 November 2018
UNP allegations that state authorities could be collaborating with Facebook to target its supporters came amid escalating infighting within the Sri Lankan political elite.
SEP (Sri Lanka) to hold lecture on “Lessons of History and the Fight for Socialism Today”
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 21 November 2018
The lecture in Jaffna will focus on the political lessons of key strategic experiences of the 20th century for the working class and their contemporary relevance.
Sri Lankan parliament adjourned amid ongoing political crisis
By K. Ratnayake, 20 November 2018
While claiming to be champions of “democracy,” the rival factions of the ruling class are both committed to implementing the IMF’s austerity demands and suppressing any opposition from working people.
Sri Lankan president’s “all party conference” fails to overcome political crisis
By Rohantha De Silva, 19 November 2018
Sirisena’s meeting followed three consecutive days of bitter and violent fighting in the parliament between the Rajapakse and Wickremesinghe factions.
Sri Lanka: Second no-confidence motion passed as violent clashes erupt in parliament
By W.A. Sunil, 17 November 2018
While the UNP and Sri Lanka’s parliamentary speaker claim victory for another no confidence vote, nothing is resolved.
The political crisis in Sri Lanka: Its lessons for the international working class
By Keith Jones and K. Ratnayake, 16 November 2018
Only the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) fights for the working class to assert its own class interests, independently of and in opposition to both rival bourgeois camps.
Sri Lankan parliament rejects Rajapakse as prime minister
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 15 November 2018
The major global powers are monitoring the developing political and constitutional crisis and firing off warning signals.
Washington’s censorship regime goes global
Facebook deletes WSWS post on Sri Lanka
By Andre Damon, 14 November 2018
Facebook is acting as an agent of the US intelligence agencies, which see the growing audience for international socialism as an obstacle to their efforts to exploit ethnic divisions in developing countries.
Sri Lanka crisis escalates as Supreme Court overturns Sirisena’s dissolution of parliament
By K. Ratnayake, 14 November 2018
The Supreme Court made its ruling after hearing 12 fundamental rights petitions challenging Sirisena’s dissolution of parliament on November 9.
Sri Lankan political crisis deepens: Prime minister splits from president
By W.A. Sunil, 13 November 2018
None of the factions of the ruling class will defend the basic rights of working people, but will ruthlessly impose the austerity dictates of the IMF and big business.
In another anti-democratic act, Sri Lankan president dissolves parliament
By K. Ratnayake, 10 November 2018
Sirisena’s dissolution of parliament exposes the degenerated state of parliamentary democracy and the Sri Lanka ruling elite’s moves towards dictatorial forms of rule.
Tamil nationalists support US-backed factions in Sri Lankan political crisis
By K. Nesan, 10 November 2018
The TNA is pursuing the same pro-imperialist course that led it to back the US-led regime change operation, that brought President Sirisena to power in 2015.
Factional conflict in Sri Lankan elite underscores dangers facing working class
By K. Ratnayake, 9 November 2018
All sections of the ruling class are preparing a major onslaught against the social and democratic rights of the working people and the poor.
Sri Lankan political coup: Rajapakse makes bogus promises to ease social crisis
By Saman Gunadasa, 8 November 2018
In a bid to deflect the opposition of working people, the newly installed prime minister announced token measures to assist workers, peasants and the poor.
Plantation unions move to shut down wage struggle amid Sri Lankan political crisis
By W. A. Sunil, 7 November 2018
The long-running plantation workers’ pay dispute has won powerful support from young people and other sections of the Sri Lankan working class.
Sri Lankan crisis: SLFP holds rally to defend political coup
By K. Ratnayake, 6 November 2018
Sirisena and Rajapakse appeared on the same platform, praising each other to the hilt, as major global powers press for the reconvening of parliament.
Wigneswaran’s Tamil People’s Alliance: A trap for Sri Lankan workers
By K. Nesan and V. Gnana, 6 November 2018
Amid an international radicalization of the working class, the TPA aims to divide workers along ethnic lines and block the growth of the Socialist Equality Party.
Sri Lankan political crisis: Pseudo-left NSSP promotes UNP campaign
By K. Ratnayake, 5 November 2018
NSSP leader Karunaratne is desperately attempting to tie workers to the pro-US UNP and prevent the development of an independent movement of the working class.
Sri Lankan crisis: Washington intervenes to maintain its political influence
By Deepal Jayasekera, 3 November 2018
The Trump administration, which is preparing for war against China, does not want to lose political domination in strategically-located Sri Lanka.
The JVP’s fraudulent attempt to capitalise on Sri Lanka’s political crisis
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 2 November 2018
The JVP, a Sinhala supremacist party of the political establishment, is posturing as an opponent of both competing factions of the ruling elite.
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