Communist Party celebrates 70th anniversary:

‘Committed to change society’

The Communist Party of Sri Lanka celebrates its 70th anniversary today. It also coincides with the 80th anniversary of the anti-Imperialist Suriya Mal Movement of 1933.

Marking the occasion, the Communist Party in a release said:

“Today is our Party’s birthday. Our Party has turned 70 years. It also coincides with the 80th Anniversary of the anti-Imperialist Suriya Mal Movement of 1933. It is a reasonable period of time in the life span of a man, but not at all in the life of a movement like ours which is pledged and committed to change a society, particularly so in view of its long-term objectives.

Our Party was formed in colonial days. Though it was founded formally in 1943, its origins go far back as 1930s when our Founding Leaders conceived the idea of forming a Socialist Party. It was a process through stages of development in the struggle for total independence as against reforms.

The process passed through:

The Colombo Youth League (1929).
The All-Ceylon Youth Congress (1931).
Suriya Mal Movement (1933).
The Lanka Samasamaja Party (1935).
Colombo Workers Club (1940).
United Socialist Party (1940) (Proscribed by the Colonial; Rule).
Communist Party of Sri Lanka (1943)

Pioneering leaders

Comrades Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, Pieter Keuneman, M.G. Mendis, Ven. Udakendewela Sri Saranankara Thera and A. Vaidyalingam were the pioneering leaders of our Party, who provided us with philosophy, vision, knowledge, strength and discipline to form and build the Party – We dip our Red Banner and salute them.

On the occasion of our 70th Anniversary, we remember also with great respect and honour the founding leaders of the Suriya Mal Movement and the Lanka Samasamaja Party (the first Socialist Party of Sri Lanka), Dr. N.M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Leslie Gunawardena and many others who fought with our Leaders as comrades-in-arms.

Their friendship and fraternal relations go as far back as their student days in Colombo and London. Their spirit of patriotism and internationalism grew, nourished and developed in their struggles in the anti--Imperialist Movement, the movement for Total Independence, Trade Union Movement, anti-Malaria Campaign and struggles against feudalism, colonialism and capitalism.

We salute with deep debt of gratitude all others who gave their lives, languished in jail, remand prison, subjected to repression and suffered in many ways in their struggle for the cause of our Party, our Movement, and our Country during these 70 years. We salute those both dead and living who devoted their lives, energies and talents for the cause of our Party.

We make special mention of Comrades Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, Rev. Udakendawala Sri Saranankara, M.G. Mendis, V.A. Samarawickrama, D.P. Yasodis, Bennet Silva and W.S. de Silva who languished in jail for long years with hard labour.

Formation of the Party

Our Party was formed under illegal conditions for its precursor – the United Socialist Party formed in 1941 had been banned by the British Colonialists. It had been working both under legal and illegal conditions, in Parliament in the Opposition for 47 years and 23 years as coalition-partners in three Administrations.

Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe	Pieter Keuneman

Ours is a Party which suffered defeats, setbacks, retreats and proscriptions. Ours is a Party which was subjected to slanders, vilification, violence and reprisals. Self-critically, ours was not a Party devoid of errors or mistakes. We have made mistakes in our subjective assessments of situations but we have never caused tragedies to the people. Even at the cost of our political fortunes, we stood firmly and resolutely by our convictions and by our principled positions.

We have never, not in the least contributed to communal violence, terrorism, or anarchy as evidenced by our history and life. We are proud of the fact that our position on the ethnic question has been fully vindicated. Every other Party in the political life of our country has by realization come nearer or is coming nearer to our position. We are indeed happy about it. Many of our precious lives had to be sacrificed both in the North and the South for the cause of Tamil people’s genuine and legitimate grievances.

Our Party, alone or collectively with our Sister Left Parties have contributed our share in the social development of our Country. We have never formed our own Governments but being in the Opposition mostly and also sharing power in the Coalition Governments, we have contributed enormously and lavishly by way of our knowledge, experience, energies, talents, innovations, intellectual inputs, conceptions, thinking towards the greater good of the Country. We as Sri Lankans are proud of our literacy rate, education levels, health and social security net works, as compared with our Sister Nations in the South Asia or the developing world. Why and How? If you leaf through the pages of Handsards of the two State Councils and Parliaments, you can arrive at the answers - the contribution made by our Left Leaders towards social thinking.

Spirit of patriotism

Since 1930s, we have won so much for the working class, peasantry, public servants, teachers, women, youth and students. They were through struggles of our Trade Union Movement, Peasant Movement, Women Movement, Youth and Students Movement. We never distorted or incapacitated their latent talents and energies but in fact raised their intellectual capacities - The Left Movement through its Students Movement made our schools and universities, genuine seats of learning unlike today. They were never seats of terrorism, hooliganism, plunder and squander as they appear to be so today.

We inculcated into the minds of our people true spirit of patriotism and internationalism - They are two sides of the same coin. Even today, our people’s feelings of solidarity with the people the world over remain intact and vibrant.

We are proud of the pioneering role it has played in developing friendship between our people and those of socialist and anti-imperialist countries. This has helped to sharpen and raise the anti-Imperialist, patriotic and internationalist consciousness of our people. Our Party has also contributed towards evolution of beneficial national policies on the spheres of industrialization, irrigation, agriculture, hydro- power, education, housing, environment and health services etc.

We proudly say that in the past 70 years of our glorious history, our Party is not stained with blood in its hands. We never resorted to terrorism. Even in armed struggles for national liberations, Communists the world over never resorted to terrorism even though enemies might have been killed in combat.

That was the sacred rule rigidly enforced by Cuban Communists even in the jungle of Sierra Maestra. It was so in the case of Vietcong guerillas because Communists were humanists and stood for the cause of humanity. They want the people to live and then die.

Facing anti-Communist hysteria

In the ideological plane, it was a Herculean task to face anti-Communist hysteria, at the beginning of our Movement. Myths, mysteries, superstition, obscurantism had pervaded the broader spectrum of the society. Through our newspapers, publications, which were often proscribed, we were able to inculcate into the minds of the younger generation of a scientific world outlook.

I must with deep respect remember a galaxy of social-oriented journalists with scientific world outlook nourished by our Party. Rev. Udakendawala Sri Saranankara, Pieter Keuneman, Hedy Keunaman, K. Ramanathan, E.S. Ratnaweera, Premalal Kumarasiri, Harry Abeygunawardena, N. Shanmugathasan, H.G.S. Ratnaweera, Nimal Karunathilaka, Ratna Deshapriya Senanayaka, Hema de Silva, B.A. Siriwardena, H.M.P. Mohideen, Surath Ambalangoda, P. Malalgoda, P. Ramanathan, S. Kandasamy, Basil Perera, Maud Keunaman, A.A. Latiff - all who are no longer with us. Of our editors and publishers, Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, Ven. Udakendawala Sri Saranankara thera, Bennet Silva, D.P. Yasodis were convicted and imprisoned for periods of one to five years. Even a provision under Sec. 13(3) f. was introduced into the first (Soulbury) Constitution of our Country in order to deprive our founding leader, Dr. S.A. Wickramasinghe who edited Janashakthi of his civic rights denying his right to contest the 1st. Parliamentary Election of 1947.

In fact, the Law was enacted with retrospective effect. Dr. Wickremasinghe was the first media man in Sri Lanka convicted and sentenced to jail. Even under the 1978 Constitution, there was an attempt to tamper with the Constitution to prevent comrade Sarath Muttettuwegama for entering the Parliament.

Our Party Congresses nineteen in all had always been landmarks not only in the history of our movement but also in the political history of our Country. They changed or influenced the course of our political history.

Through our 2nd. Congress in 1948, our Party called upon a broad Democratic National Front in order to complete our Independence and consolidate our national independence. The 4th. Congress of 1950 clearly defined the stage of Sri Lankan Revolution and identified the political and social forces for a broad Progressive Front - The theory of broad fronts was then an anathema to the Left. Our Party had to carry out a deep ideological struggle against Left sectarianism.

All subsequent broad front Governments whatever form they assumed, were the outcome of an intensive ideological struggle initiated by the Communist Party from its inception. The socio-economic transformation carried out by Progressive Governments since 1956 were significant results of that ideological struggle.

With malice to none, I must reiterate the fact soon after 1947 General Election, if our Party’s attempt at the Yamuna Conference (Residence of Sri Nissanka at Havelock Road, Colombo -05) had succeeded to form a broad Progressive Front Government, perhaps Sri Lanka’s history would have been different and the task of nation-building a Sri Lankan nation would have been accomplished, devoid of ethnic and religious conflicts that we face today. Perhaps we could have laid the foundation for a secular state, right from the beginning of our Independence.

Workers’ rights

In the working class field, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka has been in the forefront of many strikes and struggles that won the working people many social benefits and rights they now enjoy - Pension, E.P.F. etc. It upheld national unity against racism, chauvinism, varieties of fundamentalist and divisive trends. Now these have even entered the Trade Union Movement. Tremendous harm has been caused thereby to the working class movement. We must meet with this challenge, in the over-all interest of the working class movement.

In the post neo-liberal era, a new phenomenon in the guise of N.G.OO has entered the Trade Union Movement, sapping the energies and talents of our cadres through funds lavishly sent from abroad. This is a subtle attempt to weaken the militant trade union movement in particular and the Left Movement in general. This is a nuisance to us and has become a menace to Indian Trade Union Movement.

Another phenomenon with the offer of privileges and patronage has entered the working class movement. This was very strong in the Plantation Sector and now in the Public Sector too. There are impediments to the advancement of the working class movement.

The Left Movement, the world over faced a tremendous set-back with the collapse of socialism in Europe in 1991. Some predicted end of history with the collapse of the Soviet-Union. The very authors of those predictions are now so silent as dead, others have openly retreated from their declared position within a matter of 15 years. Those prophets of boom under neo-liberalism now are frightened of doom of their dreams self-critically. Some talk of financial earthquakes and economic minefields in the face of global recession.

The world balance of forces is changing once again in favour of the Left and Progressive Movement. It has to be historically so, on the basis of dialectics - scientific process. The neo-liberal economic policies that accelerated the process of globalization (which means global capitalism) have run into crises due to its own internal contradictions. Its development model based on liberalization, privatization, and financialization at the expense of the people has created a world of job-less growth, poverty, unemployment, malnutrition, diseases, deprivation of social benefits, ethnic - social - religious conflicts, separatist tendencies, terrorism, mafia, and man-made disasters – in short world of insecurity, poverty, and inequality.

In spite of a tremendous growth propelled by science and technology, there has now emerged a world politically unstable, economically volatile and morally insecure. In response to these challenges, new and varied development models as alternatives have surfaced in the international scene. They are propelled by people’s movements, the world over.

Multi-polar world is struggling to be born with shifts in the world balance of forces and with the emergence of new economic centres, zones and groupings in Asia, Euro Asia, Africa, and Latin America.

New economic centres

Latin America, where the neo-liberalism was first introduced and experienced, rigidly - expansively - aggressively, has initiated a process of countering neo-liberalism with specific alternative programmes by the collective efforts of the Indigenous - Left - Progressive forces within a period of ten years.

This has qualitatively altered the map of Latin America. Now a process of economic integration, pooling collectively human and physical resources is underway in order to meet the challenges posed by neo-liberalism. The sugar economy of Cuba has turned Knowledge Economy - This is a source of courage, and inspiration to us, who face similar challenges.

None of these regimes encourage or tolerate chauvinism, separatism or fundamentalism and divisive trends. Those who carry the Red Flag with slogans of chauvinism should sincerely and seriously attempt to rediscover basic tenets of socialism and emulate Latin American Left Movement.

A new innovation namely the Bank of the South in Latin America has been established by Venezuela, Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Equador, and Paraguay. Other Latin American countries are going to join the New Bank. Venezuela has paid off all debts to I.M.F. and World Bank and withdrawn from the membership of these institutions. Argentina, Brazil and Equador too have paid off all their debts to the I.M.F.

The new Bank is not based on the share of capital but on the needs of the country - and not based on financial power or political weight. The long-felt integration has now blossomed into the new organization as CELAC embracing 33 States. Strategically, in conjunction with the new Bank of the South, another Bank - “Bank of the Alba” - as a model of integration has been launched. It will be one of the most important future financial muscles of the world.

This is a new financial agency totally in contradiction with the principles of I.M.F. and World Bank. The giant economic strides in Asia contribute immeasurably to these trends of world development.

The new international organization called BRICS comprising Brazil, Russia, India, China, and South Africa has been set up. BRICS represents over 40% of the humanity which will be a powerful instrument to challenge the West’s global domination.

The Shanghai Corporation Organization consisting of Russia, China, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kirghiztan is expected to be joined by India. This is another positive development aimed at changing the world, as it is presently organized. 40% of the world’s population lives in countries where the Communist Parties rule or take part in governing. Almost half of the earth’s people consciously opt for socialism. Socialism is not the past of mankind but its future.

The Chinese Communist Party is the modernizing force that has turned the Country into a world leader within a short period of 30 years since 1978 by the measure of history. It has pulled out 680 million out of poverty within a matter of 30 years, bringing it down from 86% to 10%.

Similar processes are taking place in Vietnam and now unfolding in Laos.

Nepal, our sister nation in the SAARC is comparatively backward. The only Hindu Kingdom in the world is now a Republic. It is drafting a new Constitution, pledged to be inclusive, secular, integral, and democratic - a Country so diverse. Despite ideological differences, the two Communist Parties are giving leadership to The Seven-Party Coalition. We are proud to have the Chairman of the Constitutional Committee here as our Chief Guest.

Neo-liberalism

This year we are completing 35 years of neo-liberalism in our country - As other developing countries in the world which embraced neo-liberalism, we continue to suffer from its negative economic trends though we have distanced ourselves in certain spheres. With all achievements, we must bear in mind, in the 21st century we live today, the world has become more complex because of the Imperialist desire to increase its control at world level over the natural and strategic resources and to keep its domination on the people. Under the pretext of democracy, human rights and freedom, they launch wars and aggression and attempt to divide societies and split them.

Nationally, we have before us four main challenges: firstly, the National Question, secondly constitutional reforms, thirdly the economic front and fourthly, international relations.

The National Question

History has conferred on us, another opportunity to solve the national question. We must take an intellectual approach, without subjecting ourselves to emotions. We must draw lessons from our own history and from the history of other countries. We must realize the fact that the national minorities have their own identity, self-respect and dignity. History of language question shows how we failed to comprehend the reality. It took us 30 long years to make Tamil, the official language and it took us another 20 years to commence implementation of the provisions. Now all the political parties have come to recognize Tamil as official language, but at what cost?

Even on the question of devolution, similar imaginary fears are entertained. It is really the fear of losing their vote base. We must lead the people. We should guide them with social thinking. There should be determination, commitment, and unwavering leadership. – The best example is Nelsen Mandela who showed the way for national reconciliation.

Constitutional reforms

We have lived 25 years under the Soulbury Constitution, 6 years under the 1st. Republican Constitution and another 35 years under the 2nd. Republican Constitution (J.R.’s Constitution). Looking back, we suffered most with all conflicts, upheavals under the 1978 – 2nd Republican Constitution – the hybrid model of British – French – American Constitutions. It was an instrument to foist neo-liberalism on us which has since caused innumerable crises to the society. We should collectively bring in a new Constitution.

Economic front

Admittedly, during the past 7 years, we achieved a significant growth. However, on parallel we witness a social crisis. This needs to be managed through changes in our concepts and policies. The real growth needs to be reflected in the lives of people and in the government coffers. The disparity of income in the society has widened. This is precisely the main feature of neo-liberalism. We must draw necessary lessons from Chile, the laboratory of neo-liberalism where it was first tested.

International relations

We must maintain friendly relations with peoples of all countries. Nevertheless, we should not lose sight of changes in the global order, world balance of forces, global strategies, and geo political aims of States. If we find solutions to our own problems, there will be no space for external interference or interventions.

The only guarantee is our national strength which will also ensure the enhancement of our international prestige.”