February 09, 2012

Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim workers, peasants and oppressed people

Unite to bring down the Rajapakse regime!

LankaSocialist Correspondent

USP General Secretary Siritunga Jayasuriya was invited to the 2012 Annual General Meeting (AGM) of the Australian Tamil Congress as the Chief Guest. AGM was held on the 4th of February in Melbourne.

Siritnga was not able to attend the meeting due to some unavoidable circumstances. Following is the Siritunga’s message, which was presented at the meeting.

Comrades and Friends, Warm Greetings to All of You!!

It is a coincidence that we have this meeting on the 4th of February – Sri Lanka’s so-called Independence Day.

As socialists we have nothing to celebrate as it only marks the exchange of control between those who suppress the working people in Sri Lanka. This Day signifies the loss of Freedom & Independence for the Tamils. 64 years of Independence have been 64 years of deprivation of all freedom and rights, resulting in making Tamils subservient 'subjects', not free citizens with equal rights.

Sixty four years of continuous deprivations - first, deprivation of Citizenship and Voting rights of Tamil plantation workers, then, deprivation of Language rights of (indigenous)Tamil people, imposition of Sinhala on all Tamils, deprivation of lands in the north and the east under the colonization policy of the government and deprivation of Tamils from the Armed services. It is also worth noting here that the Tamil-speaking people in general faced numerous physical attacks since this so-called independence.

How to Achieve National Rights of Tamil-Speaking People?

There are big questions in front of all of us today: How are we going to achieve the national rights of Tamil-speaking people? How are we going to fight to create the conditions for Tamil-speaking people to live with dignity? I would like to point out to this forum that these questions are not the matter for the Tamil-speaking people alone. It is also in the interest of the Sinhala masses, who also suffer the consequences of attacks on Tamil-speaking people’s national and democratic rights. Linked to this is also another question - how are we going to get rid of the Rajapakse regime? Some of those who supported Rajapakse to come to power also want to get rid of him now. Like the old left, the JVP, Vasudeva and General Sarath Fonseka, all want to see the back of the Rajapakse regime.

We know that all these forces have supported Sinhala chauvinist propaganda before the war – unlike us in the United Socialist Party – who warned against the rise of communalism if Rajapakse was elected. It was very clear to all of us then what was taking place. After the presidential election in 2005, I spoke immediately after Rajapakse - during the election results announcements – and gave a decisive warning not to unleash the horror of communalism.

Those very forces, which now realise the horror of the current regime, were not able to foresee it. Of course the main worry among the Tamil-speaking people is their national rights – and the change of government has little meaning to them. The Tamil National question still remains unresolved.

While we focus on how we can bring down the current Rajapakse regime, we must also work out how we are going to fight for the right to self-determination of the Tamil-speaking people. It is very clear that even the people in the south will not get any concessions from this government – be it freedom of press, trade union rights – or any other democratic rights.

Unless we get together to fight back, the current regime will continue to survive by getting the support based on division. Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim workers, peasants, and poor people should join this fight back. Like I said earlier the Tamil national question will not be solved by changing one capitalist government with another. We need to have a strategy. First of all we have a duty to appeal to the politically advanced section of the Sinhala masses to get their support.

We in the United Socialist Party are not Sinhalese; we are socialists and have been standing for the right to self-determination of the Tamil-speaking people for all of our political lives – through our party and its program more layers of Sinhala youth and workers can be won to supporting the fight against oppression of Tamil-speaking people.

Looking for help from capitalist governments, such as that of India or Norway has proven to be a failure. They said many times in the past that they support the rights of the Tamil-speaking people, only to betray them when they mostly needed support. Look at the role that India plays with regard to the Tamils in Sri Lanka.

They supported the Rajapakse regime during the war. Now they play a supportive role for the regime. Look at what L M Krishna, India’s foreign minister, said in his recent visit to Sri Lanka. Shamefully Nobel Laureate Abdul Kalam was also sent to Sri Lanka to improve India’s relationship with the regime.

India’s Role

According to the press, India is hard on Rajapakse regime and at the same time hard on TNA. What does this mean?

In reality, India does not want to come out with any solution for the Tamils. Leave aside the significant pressure they can exert on the current government. Why can’t they at least ask the government to implement the 13th amendment? The 13th Amendment is an Indian baby. They should look after their baby. However, as a socialist I do not believe that 13th amendment can solve the national question.

They don’t even want to have a discussion on implementing that. Even if they make that minimum effort we could say, the Indian government is playing some sort of positive role. But as we know, this is not the case.

The real worry for them is the protection of their business/ economic interests. Similarly China, Pakistan and other western countries are all after their own interests.

That is why, we as socialists appeal to the masses. Not only the Sri Lankan masses but also the Indian masses and other oppressed people around the globe. They are our natural allies. They don’t have business interests. They can relate their struggle to the struggle of the oppressed Tamil masses and support their brothers and sisters. When we say appeal to the Indian masses - we mean the struggling masses – not Tamil Nadu politicians.

I have to give clear warning here against expecting any support from the Tamil Nadu political elite. They talk the talk - but they do not act in the direction of the emancipation of the Tamil-speaking people, or even Tamil Nadu Tamils.

As we know a massacre took place while these leaders watched in silence – and worse, were busy swindling the resources of the Tamil Nadu masses – later revealed as one of the worst corruption scandals in India.

Don’t trust them – they will never defend us. But we need to build solidarity with the Tamil Nadu masses. This should be the key direction that we should take.

In the last 30 years, we have made immense sacrifice of lives and resources. We should take lessons from this struggle. The 30 years of ethnic conflict and military oppression has reduced the Tamils into subordinate subjects, by a war of destruction, devastation and annihilation of Vanni.

It was 64 years of deprivation and marginalization of Tamils from central political power and denial of any role for them. It is time for Tamil people to question and inquire what went wrong. It is time for new, innovative thinking and tactics. The need of the hour is for a new enlightened leadership for the old methods and style of politics are obsolete and inadequate; it cannot and will not deliver a solution to the problems of Tamil people. Tamil politics had been flawed and sectarian, without any contact or approaches to the left forces and in the south; instead, depending on foreign powers.

There seems no way out; the future looks gloomy with no concrete political prospects. Emotions and sentiments cannot substitute or replace politics. Ultimately, the politics of the people will matter. The Tamil leadership is continuing to ignore the mass movement of people, keeping them away and substituting backdoor politics and diplomacy instead. Tamil politics have been intrinsically flawed and inadequate. This is unfortunate.

Mistakes in the Past should not be Repeated

We must not repeat the mistakes of the past. We must carefully work out where we want to go; what strategy we should adopt; who are our natural allies; and how can we build a strong united campaign that can lead us to victory – not only on the national rights of the Tamil-speaking people – but also a real democracy in Sri Lanka where all its inhabitants have a right to have a decent life.

To do this we must build solidarity amongst those fighting back. I am also an honorary president of the Tamil Solidarity campaign. The United Socialist Party will continue to work in solidarity with the Tamil-speaking masses in Sri Lanka and around the world. Our comrades have sacrificed their lives in the process of defending the rights of Tamils.

The Committee for Workers’ International, the world socialist organization to which the USP is affiliated, organizes work among the struggling people in a number of countries across the globe. We must work together to strengthen our fight back in each country where we live – also participating in the struggles that are taking place in those countries. The new political trends in Sri Lanka are worth noting and watching.

Rajapakse’s days are running out. He has insurmountable problems. Young people are becoming more impatient as their future is bleak. Their resentment is surfacing; it is gathering momentum with its own inherent logic and dynamics, with no alternate leadership available. This trend is clear. They have no future prospects. Everything looks gloomy at the moment. The people are becoming dissatisfied and are losing trust in Rajapakse. He is no more the 'Hero' that was admired. He cannot go on based on the glory of war victory, much longer on the masses euporia of victory. It’s all a matter of time when people will demand their just economic and human rights. A people’s uprising is not far off. Young people are asserting themselves. This is just the beginning. A native revolution is in the making.

The government is preparing for repression. The confrontation is not far off. The possibilities are immense. The pertinent question is--what is the role and future Tamil politics, especially in the context- of new developments and trends in south. Tamil politics must get involved in these important political trends and not stay aloof. When and how is another matter. The solution to the Tamil problem lies in the progressive youth movement in the south, and on how the Tamils can join hands with them. Tamils cannot afford to miss this opportunity. They must constructively contribute to this movement to dethrone this racist regime. This racist regime will never resolve the ethnic problem but on the contrary-deprive more and more Tamil rights and interests. Finally, I want to ask you another important question. Is there a capitalist solution to the national question? In the last 60 years we have been through all the capitalist parties in Sri Lanka. We know what the UNP and the SLFP continued to do. Will they solve the problem? The old left like the LSSP also betrayed the Tamil-speaking people, along with the working masses as a whole, when they joined the capitalist government.

We must break from creating any illusions with these capitalist parties. You may at times want to use them for tactical reasons but they do not offer any concrete political answers to the national question. We need a left alternative. Left working class, the one that fully endorses the right to self-determination of the Tamil-speaking people, should come to power. Until then we will be stuck in the blind alley of false promises and futile discussions. There are no short cuts in the fight for a genuine left alternative i.e. a socialist transformation of society. However, this is the fight that can give us results we so desire and thus, is the one we should take up.

Siritunga Jayasuriya