Sri Lanka Communist Party (Left), 15/1, Power House Road, Jaffna.
(A statement and appeal to the patriotic and democratic forces and political parties of the country on the current political situation in the country including that in the north and the east by the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left), emphasising the importance of a broad, nationwide united front against the antidemocratic UNP government and its foreign masters.)
The opposition democratic forces of our country should not be self-satisfied over the progress made by the SLFP in the recently concluded parliamentary by-elections. Neither should it under-estimate the Enemy's capabilities. In fact, this victory prophesies the necessity for a better organized broad based unity among the opposition democratic forces. If we fail to take this into consideration and work to achieve this goal during this hour of peril and turmoil in our country the retrospective effects will bring further gloom to our nation.
When the UNP government of J.R. Jayawardene came to power it brought along with it the poison seeds of civil war and of plunder by multinationals. Today the country has to face the harmful consequences.
The people demand a general election owing to a burning desire to establish an alternative government because of their fury at the nett effect of the frustration in the midst of workers, the economic crisis, unrest among the youth, indefinite closure of the universities, detention without trial of hundreds of young men and women, the continuing erosion of democratic and human rights and the changes in Sri Lankan foreign policy. They persist in their struggle for an independent national economy and for the restoration of democratic and human rights in order to strengthen national unity and achieve economic progress.
Suspicions about the intention of the Indian government to place the north and the east under its control or the control of its agents and to establish a puppet government in the south which will be amenable to Indian ambitions in the region are gaining strength in the minds of democratic forces. People recognize that the presence of nearly 100,000 Indian troops in the north and the east, the accumulation of modern weapons and military aircraft, and the control of important harbours including Trincomalee of the Palaly airport by Indian forces endanger the independence, sovereignty and unity of Sri Lanka. The popular movement to oppose the development of this situation is gaining strength in the south.
No country should interfere in the internal affairs of another. As it is India's intention to interfere, the matter causes serious concern since it is a dangerous precedent for South Asian nations.
Now is the time for the working people and all patriotic and democratic forces, parties and organizations to act irrespective of differences in race and religion with vigilance, caution and unity. It is necessary to bear in mind that it is the absence of a situation for such action which constitutes the main strength of the dictatorial UNP government and its foreign masters and expedite the building up of a broad, nation-wide united front based on a minimum programme of opposition to the UNP government and its masters.
The Tamil people have a very important role in this broad nationwide united front. They constitute a considerable part of the national population and their hard work is essential to the economy, national unity and other aspects of national life. One factor favouring intervention by the Indian forces is the failure of the democratic forces of the opposition to give prime importance to national interests and put forward policies for the solution of the problems of the Tamil people at the time when the problems of the Tamil people were sharpening.
The above was a part of the report by the Central Committee of the Sri Lanka Communist Party (Left) which met on the 23rd and 24th of July 1988 on the political situation of the country. The report further states that;
“The Tamil people should be united into this united front by putting forward a policy capable of finding an honourable political solution to their problem by basing itself on the positive features of the minimum proposals of the central committee of the Sri Lanka Communist Party (Left) for an interim solution to the national question (21-12-1986). The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left) warns that ignoring this need would indirectly help the UNP and its masters and appeals for immediate action by all the working people and democratic forces to build up a broad nationwide united front.' On the situation in the north and the east :
The view of the report on the situation in the north and the east are as follows : It will soon be an year since the arrival of the Indian Peace Keeping Force on the pretext of finding a solution to the national question of Sri Lanka. More effort has been spent during this period in military action than in implementing the accord with the Sri Lankan government: their action in encircling of Mullaitivu confirms this. It does not appear that attention has been paid to the fact that attempts to liquidate the LTTE militarily or to achieve an unconditional surrender will lead to turbulence among the Tamil people. During this year the Tamil people have lost several hundred valuable lives; the Tamil people who encountered the day and night curfews implemented continuously for months suffered hunger in refugee camps without proper shelter for days on end; incalculable damage was done to property; agriculture and industrial development suffered serious set-backs; hundreds of youth have been detained in camps without legal inquiry for periods exceeding six months and the state of unclarity about the question of with whom and on the basis of the law of which country that communications can be made to obtain their release continues; in the east planned instigation of clashes between Tamil, Sinhala and Muslim people is leading to further bitterness in relations between the nationalities.
The democratic forces which once believed that the Indian government, the Sri Lankan government and the IPKF are seeking to solve the problem are now viewing the activities of the IPKF with anxiety. The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left) cautions that peace can be achieved only through an honourable political settlement for the Tamil people and not through military action or other forms of oppression. It also emphasises that a favourable solution should be sought urgently and on the basis of the positive features of the peace accord.
Hostilities with the LTTE should be ceased and preliminary talks conducted with them with this intention and tripartite talks should be initiated; all efforts should be made without delay for an interim solution through the establishment of an interim administration in all possible ways.
It is essential to solve some of the important problems in need of an early solution through such an interim administration.
Importantly, in the north and the east, and especially in the Eastern Province, Sinhala colonization has been carried out from 1977 todate with mischievous, chauvinistic motives. such settlements must be removed and now schemes be established in suitable areas in the south. The names of persons who were thus settled since 1977 should be deleted from the electoral register. To hold elections for regional councils befors such action would only further complicate the problem. The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left) took into consideration all aspects of the national question and emphasised the following three point demand on May Day this year:
1. Tripartite talks between the representatives of the Sri Lankan government, Tamil militant movements including the TULF, and the Indian government should be carried out on an extensive basis and agreement found to implement the positive features of the accord;
2. An interim administrative structure should be established to implement the tripartite agreement for solving the national question ;
3. The IPKF should be withdrawn at the earliest possible date through expediting the above.
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left) reiterates it once again, The liberation struggle of the Tamil people has reached its fourth stage (See below)** in the present critical period. This should be a turning point in history and it is important to identify the fundamental reasons for the setbacks of today, caused by the mistakes of the past. Liberation movements, including the TULF, committed five serious mistakes in the past : * Liberation movements depended on foreign countries (especially India) and were controlled by their command, guidance and patronage ; They failed to put forward a long-term programme for the liberation struggle; They failed to build a strong united front among the parties and movements which represented the aspirations of the people of different communities in order to mobilise all possible forces in support of the liberation struggle ;
They failed to develop a mass line by considering arms to be everything in the struggle;
They made enemies of the Sinhala masses who were a friendly force by killing ordinary Sinhala people.
It is necessary at this stage, where the liberation struggle of the Tamil people is coupled with the struggle for the expulsion of the Indian troops, for the liberation movements to correct their mistakes and unite with the Sinhala working people and democratic forces who are carrying out a struggle against the capitalist government of J.R. Jayawardene and its foreign masters, to rely on each other and to give support to their struggle and win their support for the liberation struggle, and to carry forward the liberation struggle of the Tamil people against national oppression on a nationwide basis. By this, they could rectify the past error of pushing the Sinhala working people into the ranks of the Sinhala chauvinist capitalist gang in power and Strengthen the struggle against that gang and its masters.
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left), which emphasises the need for an interim solution to the national question in the current context, is aware that it is through the struggle for an interim solution and its achievement that past mistakes will be corrected and a situation favouring the formation of a strong united front will emerge: Only a new social system which is achieved through a variety of struggles by the democratic forces under the leadership of the working people could provide the correct direction for the solution to the national question. The CPSL (Left) appeals that the liberation struggle of the Tamil people against national oppression be developed towards that goal. The conditions are developing favourably and the situation in the south is changing. Broad political movements have been initiated by the patriotic and democratic forces and parties to restore human and political rights, to find an honourable political solution to the problems of the Tamil people and to strengthen national unity and build an independent national economy to achieve economic progress. Such movements are functioning on the basis of methods familiar to those involved, including parliamentary politic. It is worth noting that in the recent elections held in the south the people of the south have made absolutely clear their hatred towards the UNP government and its masters.
K. A. Subramaniam -- 26.July.1988
GENERAL SECRETARY
Sri Lanka Communist Party (Left), 15/1, Power House Road, Jaffna.
**THE FOUR STAGES OF THE STRUGGLE AGAINST OPPRESSION OF THE TAMLS
1. The first stage of the struggle to win the just rights of the Tamils began under the leadership of Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam and the Tamil Congress. They put forward the unrealistic and impractical fifty-fifty demand. The struggle ended in failure, and with bargaining for portfolios.
2. The second stage began with the launching of the Federal Party (Tamil Arasu Kadchchi) headed by Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayagam and other MPs who broke away from the Tamil Congress. The FP too followed the path of the Tamil Congress; it entered into political bargaining with the UNP, launched some mass struggles with a view to capturing parliamentary seats, formed the Tamil United Liberation Front, put forward the demand for a separate Tamil State and ultimately surrendered to the JR govt.
3. The liberation struggle of the Tamils against the national oppression unleashed by the JR govt. which came into power in 1977, was transformed into an armed struggle by the Tamil Eelam militant movements. This was the 3rd Stage.
4. In July 1987 the Indo-Ceylon Accord paved the way for the entry of the IPKF. The Indian military intervention has led to a new turn : it heralded the 4th stage which the armed Tamil liberation struggle has now entered.
Thanks to https://noolaham.org/wiki/index.php/On_National_Relations_In_SriLanka?uselang=en
