SITUATION IN CEYLON
(the following resolution was adopted by the Central Commit tee of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (Revolutionary) on February ?. y
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1) Since the general elections of March 1965 the SLFP, -LSSP and CP coalitionists* carried on propaganda alleging that the "UNP= led government. was pro-Tamil and that this government was not giving Buddhism | its. proper place. When the issue of the Draft Regulations Under Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act ceme to the forefront the coalition parties opposed any language concessions to the Tamilspeaking people. Their agitational campaign soon degenerated into’ a virtual call for anti-Tamil riots. The aim of these parties was to pressure the UNP MPs and prevent them from supporting these regulations in parliament. In this way they hoped to defeat the government: in parliament and force a general election.
2) Their campaigning around the issue of the regulations gathered momentum - with the approach of the 8th January, which was *The Sri Lanka Freedom party and the right-wing*Lanka Sama Semaja party formed a coalition government on June 11, 1964 , which was supported by the pro-Moscow Communist) party. On December 3, 1964, the coalition lost a vote of confidence in parliament and in the subsequent general élections held March 22, 1965, lost to the United National party, the traditional ruling party of the Ceylonese capitalists and landlords and their imperialist backers. -
fixed for the debate in parliament. They called upon the Sinhala Buddhists to consider the 8th January as a day of mourning and to: :. put up black flags. They also called for a one- day strike on the 8th January -
3) ‘The. outcome of this campaign on the issue of the regula-. tions helped.to rouse: considerable anti-Tamil feelings among a large. section of the Sinhala’ Buddhists. Although physical violence on. Tamils had not been reported there was a situation of communal tensions and anti-Tamil rioting was a near possibility. However the hoisting of black flags was. not effective. Black flags had appeared only in certain parts of the rural areas. And as for the general : strike, the government. workers in Colombo.and the suburbs appéared to have responded to the call and the strike was. more or less con-. fined to the unions under the influence of the coalitionists and also of the CP (Peking). Nevertheless the combined effect of their activities up to the 8th January was- the collection of a very large crowd of coalition supporters in Colombo and their demonstration , march towards parliament: premises. ¢°
4) In the situadtion-a confrontation of coalition supporters with the police was a probability and this was what happened. With police action against the crowd at Kollupitiya leading to the killing of a Buddhist monk and the injuring of a large number of persons and the connected incidents like extensive damage to a number of shops in the vicinity was the excuse for the government to declare a state of emergency. And soon regulations were gazetted by which public meetings end processions were banned and strikes illegalised. A severe press censorship has been imposed and the police and: military have been given wide powers of arrest and search of persons.
5) The state of emergency continues and it is likely that the UNP-led government will maintain it for some time. The government is aware that there was a growing unrest among the people generally. consequent.on the government's incapacity..to solve their pressing problems. Prior to the 8th .of January the government did not dare to resort to repression to meet;the.unrest among the people. Besides, the existence of a still viable ‘and active trade-union movement was a factor for the government's reckoning when contemplating "strong arm" action. However the activities of the coalitionists up to and on the 8th of January gave the UNP-led government the opportunity to stifle the existing unrest and commence the offensive against the trade unions and the masses generally. -
. 6). The responsibility falls squarely on the.coalitionists for the "strong arm" action of the UNP-led government and for providing the government with the opportunity to launch their attacks on the trade-union movement and the democratic rights of the people... In furtherance of their aim of somehow winning more support among Sinhala: Buddhist masses in preparation. for another parliamentary election, the coalitionists led by the SLFP, LSSP and CP have recklessly raised ‘the anti-Tamil and. anti-minority slogans and strengthened the forces.of Sinhala.racialism and Buddhist clericalism. They — have used the trade-union movement as a pawn in their campaign to win the Sinhala Buddhist voters for parliamentary elections to get
parliamentary: power for the bourgeois: SLFP. By coer ee ae. incitement campaign the coalitionists have driven the Tamils. and.. other minorities to. have more and. more confidence in the UNP-led.government. This. is all the more so because the possibility. of. even physical violence on. the Tamils. and persons among the minorities. —_; remain. The SLFP, LSSP and CP coalitionists have no other perspective than mobilising the dark forces of racialism and clericalism to attain their ends. oe Poa :
7) Consequential to the oriminal activities and policies of the coalitionists are the blows already struck at the working-class . movement and at the democratic rights of the people by the UNP-led government. The working. class and the Left movement remain virtually paralyzed as a result of the banning of public meetings, processions, : press censorship and other far-reaching encroachments on the democratic liberties of the people through Emergency Rule. The government has already taken. action on a wide scale at the victimization of government and state corporation employees who had failed. to turn. up for work on the 8th January. "Show Cause" notices. have been _ served on: hundreds of these employees and a number of- them have already been interdicted. The action of the government is. nothing less than..a frontal attack on the. working-class movement and ma well be the beginning of a move by the government to destroy the a trade-union movement and the suppression ancesapitely of the demo- ._ cratic rights of the people.
- 8) In this situation the principal and immediate task facing the working-class movement is the-defense of its own.class and its organizations in both the trade-union.and political - field against the attacks already launched by the UNP-led government. since the 8th January. However steps separately taken by workers organizations. and political parties to resist the present. attacks by the government cannot meet the needs of the situation. Nothing less than concerted action of the working class -can adequately meet the present | offensive of this government. Such concerted action of the working class can be realized only if the workers organizations in the trade-. union and political field could reach agreement on the issue of the defense of the working class through opposition and fight against victimization and against Emergency Rule.
9) In the present context of serious division in the ranks of the working class the achievement of unity for action in connec-— tion with the blow struck by the UNP-led government is extremely difficult. And today especially the working class has been further divided through the poison of communalism. And since the strike of January 8th in relation to its aims brought further division in the ranks of the working class the achievement of unity for action has become still more difficult. Furthermore, the existing leaderships of reformist unions are not concerned with tthe interests of the working class and do not seek to defend the working class even when the working class is facing a direct assault from the UNP-led government. However the state of mind of the rank-and-file workers within these organizations cannot be the same. The need for defending thenselves from the UNP-led government must soon become the foremost question in the consciousness of workers. Those who have felt the
blow already struck and’“realize the seriousness of the situation will even now respond to a call for united action in defense of the working-class. And, if as can be expected, the present leadérship of their organizations shows resistance to the need to defend the working class through united action, such conduct of the leadership would open the road for these workers to begin the fight against these reactionary leaders. Besides, in any event it is only through united action of the working class on real working-class issues that the workers could be freed from the poison of communalisn.
Tasks of the Party
In the present political situation the party is faced with the task of:
1) Explaining to the working class in particular the criminal responsibility of the coalition parties in the opposition for dividing, disorganizing and disorienting the working class and bringing it to a position in which sections under coalition leadership are already under attack by the UNP-led government and the masses in general have been subjected once more to Emergency Rule with complete suppression or severe restriction of their democratic rights and civil liberties. Further the party will point out the necessity of a break of working-class organizations from coalition politics with bourgeois parties.
2) Setting going the processes of reorganization and regroupment of the working class in this situation in opposition to the continuance of Emergency Rule and the immediate attacks to which sections of the working class under coalition leadership have been subjected since January 8th. For this purpose the party should call for arid promote in the first instance a united front amongst tradeunion organizations, while agitating for the realization of the united front with the political parties of the working class as well, in the context of a break. with coalition politics with bourgeois parties.