Communism in Sri Lanka

Communism in Sri Lanka dates back to 1935, when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was founded by Trotskyists who campaigned for freedom and independence of Sri Lanka which was Ceylon back then. Communists of the LSSP later formed the Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma in order to campaign for idependence of the entire South Asia.[1][2] LSSP was the first Marxist party to be based on South Asia and one of the few Trotskyist parties that had a major political influence.

World War II
Further information: Ceylon in World War II

When World War II began between most of world's superpowers back then the Trotskyists who had an alliance with the Fourth International protested against the war. Following the Invasion of the Soviet Union, the party broke between Trotskyists and Stalinists. This led to the creation of the first United Socialist Party of Sri Lanka which later became a pro-Soviet faction during the Cold War.

The LSSP activists opposed the war calling it Imperialist, CPSL opposed it as well but in order to help the Soviet Union, they forced local businessmen and landlords to campaign for British Victory as it was seen as the only way of helping the comrades they follow.[3]

Post-World War II (Cold War)

United National Government and ethnic question

The pro-Dominion UNG came to power creating rightist measures to destabilize the left-wing parties and create a pure-race state where people of other races like Indian Tamils (mostly Dravidic) can not gain citizenship in Ceylon. Over 700,000 Tamils were left stateless.[4] LSSP quoted:

I thought this form of racialism was killed with Adolf Hitler and Houston Chamberlain. We can't act like somebody chose a group of people to exist in a certain country.

Hartal strike
Main article: 1953 Ceylonese Hartal

Led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and other leftist parties who called on the public to resist the government and demonstrate civil disobedience and strikes, the hartal was primarily a protest of the labouring class, and as such there were no exclusions based upon caste, ethnicity or religion.

The protests saw much sabotage and destruction to public infrastructure, as a means of frightening and halting the government. This occurred mainly in the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces as well as other minor protests around the rest of the island. The demonstrations lasted only a day with at least 10 people killed, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister.

United Front government
Main article: United Front (Sri Lanka)

The United Front was a political alliance in Sri Lanka, formed by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) in 1968. It came to power in the 1970 general election, but broke up in September 1975. The United Front later gave the Socialist Republican movement in Sri Lanka a push. This destabilized the British Authorities in Sri Lanka converting it to a republic with Parliamentary status. This was opposed by the Right-wing pro-Dominion United National Party.[5]

Sino-Soviet split

Following the Sino-Soviet split; and the tensions between both two, CPSL had a split when the Maoist: Nagalingam Shanmugadasan when removed from the party. A majority of Maoists allied with him and Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai visited Sri Lanka to help organize the party.[6]

Civil War (1983-2009)
Further information: Black July

In the early stages of the Civil War of Sri Lanka also known as the LTTE Insurgency, Sri Lankan communists supported the Tamil minority. Following the ban on main communist parties (excluding the LSSP) a majority decided to blame the government of the United National Party for starting the war.

United Socialist Party (Sri Lanka) criticized the usage of Sri Lankan military to encounter the LTTE calling it state funded imperialism of Sri Lanka. They further stated that it would be a war crime against both the Sinhalese and Tamil societies. They also repeatedly blamed India for helping Sri Lanka.[7]

The United Socialist Party demanded the creation of Socialist United States of Sri Lanka and Eelam as an end to the civil war.[8]

JVP Insurrections
Main articles: First JVP insurrection and Second JVP insurrection

During the late 1960s a movement named as the JVP was initiated by Rohana Wijeweera a former medical student from the Lumumba University and a former functionary of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist). He had been at odds with party leaders and impatient with its lack of revolutionary purpose and formed his own movement in 1965 with like minded youth. Wijeweera's apparent expulsion from the Peking-wing of the Ceylonese Communist Party in 1966 triggered him to form his own party followed by his Marxist ideologies which eventually was referred to as the Sinhalese Marxist Group. Along with Wijeweera, three of his close supporters emerged as the leaders of this new movement, these were Sanath, Karunnarathe and Loku Athula.

The leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna drew worldwide attention when it launched an insurrection against the United Front government in April 1971. Although the insurgents were young, poorly armed, and inadequately trained, they succeeded in seizing and holding major areas in Southern and Central provinces before they were defeated by the security forces. Their attempt to seize power created a major crisis for the government and forced a fundamental reassessment of the nation's security needs. This also created crisis between Sri Lanka and North Korea. The JVP also had links to the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party of Iraq.

Parties

Trotskyist parties[lower-alpha 1]

Alliances

Paramilitaries

Representation in the parliament

Most Communist parties entered the parliament of Sri Lanka, with the United People's Freedom Alliance. Some other came through the NPP which currently has only three seats out of all 255. UPFA owns a majority of seats followed by the Right-wing Peace People's Power alliance. Many ethnic minorities such as Muslims extend support to the UPFA which has seats for both Sinhalese Nationalist and Tamil Nationalist sectors. UPFA ideologies extend from Centre-left to Left-wing while NPP is Far-left by orientation.[lower-alpha 3]

References
  1. "The 77 year struggle of the Communist Party".
  2. Democratic Socialism in Sri Lanka
  3. "Trotskyism in Ceylon".
  4. Kanapathipillai, Valli (August 2009). Ceylon Citizenship act of 1948. ISBN 9781843318071.
  5. "The United Front of Sri Lanka kand the Emerging Violence".
  7. "USP against India".
  8. "Marxism and the national question in Sri Lanka". World Socialist Website.
  9. Alexander, Robert Jackson (1991). International Trotskyism, 1929-1985: A Documented Analysis of the Movement. Duke University Press. ISBN 978-0-8223-1066-2.

Notes
  1. Sri Lanka have a variety of Trotskyist groups. But many Trotskyist groups were not Communist but instead Socialist. See List of Lanka Sama Samaja breakaway parties
  2. See the Tamil militants list
  3. see the 2020 Sri Lankan parliamentary election

Further reading
  • C. A. Chandraprema, Sri Lanka: The Years of Terror. The J.V.P. Insurrection 1987-1989 ISBN 9559029037
  • Ceylon University, History of Ceylon: From the beginning of the nineteenth century to 1948
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