https://socialistaction.org/2018/08/12/the-day-trotskyists-shut-down-a-country-65th-anniversary-of-the-sri-lankan-hartal/
The day Trotskyists shut down a country: 65th anniversary of the Sri
Lankan Hartal
/ 24 hours ago
Sept. 2018 Perera 1953
LSSP leader N.M. Perera addresses a mass rally in 1953.
By RUWAN MUNASINGHE
“The structuring of the LSSP leadership … showed itself best during
the August 1953 Hartal (general strike). The LSSP leadership appeared as
a really revolutionary team at the head of insurgent masses, fighting in
the streets simultaneously for immediate material gains for the
impoverished masses and for the socialist overthrow of the capitalist
regime.” — Ernest Mandel
Within the single decade of the 1950s in Sri Lanka, the Lanka Sama
Samaja Party (LSSP)—South Asia’s largest and most successful Trotskyist
party—successively rose to a crescendo while leading a mass action
shutdown of the island, and then made multiple political missteps that
exhausted the immediate possibility of building a working-class
revolutionary party. The lessons of this rise and fall ought to be noted
by serious revolutionaries striving to build working-class power.
One cannot understand Sri Lankan history without learning of the
influence of Trotskyism and Trotskyist figures on the island. The LSSP,
perhaps the most formidable political party affiliated with the Fourth
International to ever appear in South Asia, was started by a small group
of privileged university-educated militants—many of whom studied in
Great Britain as well as at Ceylonese colleges.
Despite the bookish roots of the party, the group quickly became
integral in working-class struggles, including the organized labor
movement. Additionally (and also critically) were struggles for the
wellbeing of veterans of World War I, malaria victims, the malnourished,
and the movement for an end to aiding the imperialist efforts of Britain
in World War II and independence from Britain.
Indeed, the LSSP was one of the first groups to call for independence of
Sri Lanka, and it played a leading role in the struggle[1]. This is a
large part of the reason why, unlike in India, capitalist forces were
fully not in support of an end to colonization..
By the early 1950s, the island had gained independence from the British
Empire, had contributed to the war effort (World War II), and was
experiencing large commercial gains (particularly in rubber exportation)
as a result of the Korean War. The LSSP at this time proved to be quite
adept at mobilizing tens of thousands of workers and the rural poor and
had formed into a formal Ceylonese political party, which participated
as the Sri Lankan section of the Fourth International.
Some LSSP leaders who were exiled to India during British rule were able
to return to the island. The returnees were greeted with no less than
12,000 cheerful supporters. The Lanka Sama Samaja Party decided to
capitalize on this situation and launched one of the largest
Trotskyist-led strikes of the century.
The Hartal
Prompted by the demand for raw materials during the Korean War, Sri
Lanka experienced an export boom, which allowed the governing United
National Party to maintain a subsidy on rice. In 1953, the UNP decided
to cut the rice subsidy, and the price of this staple subsequently rose
by almost 300%. This was the major impetus for the Hartal (strike action).
Despite some belief that the rice subsidy was agreed to merely because
of altruism and the cut of the subsidy was due merely to economic
strife, this is not wholly true. Sri Lanka has always had a leftist
bent. The first constitution of Sri Lanka announced the country as a
“Democratic Socialist Republic” (which remains the title of the
country)[2]. A rice subsidy, along with other various social benefits,
was and is the least the country could do to live up to its
self-proclaimed “socialism.” Furthermore, the cut was not due to a sharp
economic downturn. Sri Lanka was not truly in a complete economic
turmoil; it was still gaining quite a lot wealth from the export of raw
materials (critically, to post-revolutionary China).
The real reason for the cut was political-economic policy. Seeking new
trading partners as the Korean War was winding down, Ceylon shirked
United States pressure and signed a major trade agreement with China.
This thoroughly provoked the anti-communist reactionary forces in
Washington. The U.S. subsequently launched an economic sabotage
campaign, which included tactics such as interference of trans-oceanic
shipping of raw materials.
Furthermore, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development
(based in Washington D.C.) published a report on the economic state of
the nation. The report advocated for what it called “sound economic
policies” and “skillful handling of the government budget.” In plain
words, the report called for cutting money to provide basic necessities
for the poor and working class. This situation foreshadowed the crisis
of the World Bank and the IMF in more contemporary history—the
exportation of neoliberal-fundamentalist “Washington consensus”
ideologies from the U.S., with consequences of austerity on third world
peoples all over the globe.
As historian E.F.C. Ludowyk writes, “It was precisely this sound policy
which precipitated the crisis of 1953, when on the advice of the Central
Bank the Prime Minister decided to reduce the subsidy on imported rice
and so increase the price of rationed rice.” In addition to the lowering
of rice subsidies, the government similarly halted free lunch services
in schools, postal rates were raised, and the prices of cloth and cheap
cigarettes rose. The LSSP led the opposition to this policy and called
for a nationwide work stoppage.
The lead-up to the Hartal was portentous of the nature of the upcoming
action. Within a span of only two weeks, a handful of LSSP officers
collected 70,000 signatures on a petition protesting the government’s
austerity measures. On July 21, the day after the increase in the price
of rice came into effect, a spontaneous action by peasants in a village
Balapitiya successfully blocked traffic. This protest spread to other
villages and to the urban proletariat during that week. In the next
weeks, rank-and-file workers pressed for their bosses and union leaders
to come to strike decisions.
The Stalinist Communist Party failed to properly respond to the call for
action but eventually supported the Hartal. The center-left Sri Lanka
Freedom Party also supported it, but only after the action broke out.
The SLFP’s support was probably due more to opposition to the ruling
United National Party (UNP) than concern for the workers and peasants.
The Trotskyist LSSP played a pivotal role in the organization of the
worker-peasant alliance that was to be seen on Aug. 12[3].
For its part, the military, the police, the press, and the UNP
government itself began conspicuous preparations. Government workers
were intimidated and threatened to deter participation in the upcoming
action. The police and military publically flexed their muscles. Police
clashed with students near the University of Peradeniya on Aug. 11. The
press began putting out anti-Hartal propaganda; they remained firmly
anti-Hartal all the way through the affair.
The morning of Aug. 12, 1953, was nothing short of amazing. It is worth
quoting Colvin R. de Silva at length:
“The morning of the 12th dawned in Colombo with the LSSP leaders out and
at the gates of the most important government and private workplaces.
The harbors struck. The Ratmalana Railway Workshops struck. The tramways
struck. The PWD factory at Kolonnawa struck. The DI Carpentry Workshops
struck. The Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving Mills struck. Walker’s
workshop struck. The match workers struck. Truckers struck. A host of
smaller workplaces struck. It was like a rolling wave of strike action.”
Despite its stretch, de Silva’s list of striking places does not even
come close to the full list of participating groups in the Hartal; such
a list is too long for this article! The streets and workplaces were
left empty. Even workers who did not plan to strike were unable to get
to their workplaces or simply never showed. All public transportation
was nearly completely stopped. Communications were paralyzed. The
Colombo Town Hall—occupied by fasting Buddhist priests—flew a black
protest flag. Tactics ranged from non-violent protests to organized
direct sabotage of property owned by the capitalist class. The island
was shut down[4].
The UNP Government, shocked at the immensity of the Hartal, was forced
to convene on the HMS Newfoundland in the Colombo Harbor. It decided to
place the country under an “emergency.” Following this decision, on Aug.
13, the government tried to smash its fist down on the people as hard as
ever. The police played a major role in this. There were raids of places
housing Trotskyist literature, raids of homes, police shootings,
beatings, and mass arrests. The government used all the tactics under
its belt to try to silence the LSSP. Eventually, the emergency began
hurting the press and business class. The government’s big kickback was
a failure.
Later years for the LSSP
In the years after the Hartal, the LSSP failed to contest the SLFP, and
SWRD Bandaranayke’s campaign for prime minister won on the racist slogan
of “Sinhala [language] only.” This alienated the Tamils in the LSSP. The
party, which had historically called for parity status for the Sinhala
and Tamil languages and had a history of organizing Tamil workers, lost
a major bloc of its supporters.
In the 1960s, the LSSP entered into a full governmental coalition with
the SLFP; that is, the great Trotskyist party of Sri Lanka decided to
rule the country in an alliance with a centrist capitalist party. If the
earlier capitulation to the SLFP had alienated the Tamils in the LSSP,
this decision alienated the rest of the serious revolutionaries. Many
people left the LSSP and tried to create their own revolutionary
parties; others pursued trade unionism. Nadaeajah Janagan writes, “with
the entry of the LSSP, in 1964, into a coalition government with the Sri
Lanka Freedom Party, the history of the Sri Lankan Left movement turned
to one of opportunism.”
The LSSP was immediately suspended from the Trotskyist Fourth
International. The left movement in Sri Lanka—perhaps the most militant
and certainly the most politically formidable in the South Asian
region—had been irreparably injured.
The failure of the party to follow through both on its stance on Tamil
self-determination and on its opposition to class-collaboration, and
instead capitulate to the forces of Sinhalese/Buddhist nationalism and
capitalist politics, were mistakes that proved to be detrimental to the
country as a whole. The island descended into a brutal civil war over
the creation of a Tamil State in the North Region. The Sri Lankan Civil
War lasted from 1983 to 2009. Nearly as destructive was the slow move
toward neoliberal economic policies especially under the Rajapaksa
presidency.
The great Hartal of Aug. 12, 1953, deserves to not be forgotten on this
65th anniversary. The strength of the workers and peasant classes was
shown by their capability to control the country on that one day and to
literally send the government out to sea.
[1] “British imperialism became destabilized in Sri Lanka due to the
struggles waged by the LSSP during the war period. Strikes launched by
the urban working class on the one hand, and in thre plantation sector
in the Central Province on the other, spread right up to [the] Badulla
[Conference],” writes Nadarajah Janagan.
[2] The constitution recognized the gravity of the need to “realize the
objectives of a socialist democracy including the fundamental rights and
privileges of all people and which will become the fundamental law of
Sri Lanka deriving its powers solely from the people.”
[3] Colvin R. de Silva writes of the LSSP’s motives for this united
front: “This call was made, however, also in continuation of the LSSP’s
call for a united front on the, extent of agreement which had been
reached; namely on the internal task of creating a broad front of all
anti-UNP and anti-imperialist forces in Ceylon, with a united working
class as its core and as its leadership, with the aim of establishing a
government under working class leadership.”
[4] The one major shortcoming of the Hartal was the fact that not all
the plantation laborers stopped working.
Share this:
Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
96Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)96
Click to share on Google+ (Opens in new window)
August 12, 2018 in Marxist Theory & History, South Asia. Tags: Sri Lanka
Related posts
General strike in South Africa
A Valuable Study of Socialists’ Role in Early South African Freedom Struggle
Revolutionary activism in the ’50s & ’60s
Post navigation
← Connecticut socialist turns in over 10,900 signatures for U.S. Senate bid
Get Involved!
Donate to help support our work
Get email updates
Join Socialist Action
Newspaper Archives
Newspaper Archives Select Month August 2018 (5) July 2018 (13) June
2018 (11) May 2018 (19) April 2018 (15) March 2018 (17) February
2018 (14) January 2018 (13) December 2017 (13) November 2017 (13)
October 2017 (16) September 2017 (15) August 2017 (16) July 2017
(17) June 2017 (16) May 2017 (17) April 2017 (14) March 2017 (13)
February 2017 (19) January 2017 (13) December 2016 (12) November
2016 (19) October 2016 (12) September 2016 (10) August 2016 (10)
July 2016 (14) June 2016 (14) May 2016 (9) April 2016 (12) March
2016 (14) February 2016 (8) January 2016 (11) December 2015 (11)
November 2015 (9) October 2015 (8) September 2015 (10) August 2015
(7) July 2015 (13) June 2015 (9) May 2015 (10) April 2015 (12) March
2015 (9) February 2015 (11) January 2015 (10) December 2014 (12)
November 2014 (11) October 2014 (9) September 2014 (6) August 2014
(10) July 2014 (11) June 2014 (10) May 2014 (11) April 2014 (10)
March 2014 (9) February 2014 (11) January 2014 (11) December 2013
(10) November 2013 (11) October 2013 (17) September 2013 (13) August
2013 (10) July 2013 (11) June 2013 (15) May 2013 (14) April 2013
(14) March 2013 (12) February 2013 (10) January 2013 (17) December
2012 (7) November 2012 (8) October 2012 (19) September 2012 (2)
August 2012 (27) July 2012 (18) June 2012 (3) May 2012 (19) April
2012 (14) March 2012 (17) February 2012 (19) January 2012 (17)
December 2011 (3) November 2011 (33) October 2011 (14) September 2011
(13) August 2011 (34) July 2011 (24) June 2011 (19) May 2011 (19)
April 2011 (15) March 2011 (15) February 2011 (15) January 2011 (15)
December 2010 (17) November 2010 (1) October 2010 (6) September 2010
(3) August 2010 (8) July 2010 (7) June 2010 (2) May 2010 (9) April
2010 (3) March 2010 (8) February 2010 (3) January 2010 (9) December
2009 (6) November 2009 (5) October 2009 (16) September 2009 (3)
August 2009 (2) July 2009 (5) June 2009 (2) May 2009 (7) April 2009
(6) March 2009 (16) February 2009 (9) January 2009 (10) December
2008 (11) November 2008 (8) October 2008 (16) September 2008 (14)
August 2008 (18) July 2008 (12) June 2008 (3) May 2008 (2) April
2008 (3) March 2008 (14) February 2008 (11) January 2008 (11)
December 2007 (8) November 2007 (1) July 2007 (1) June 2007 (1)
April 2007 (1) March 2007 (1) February 2007 (3) December 2006 (11)
November 2006 (11) October 2006 (13) September 2006 (15) August 2006
(11) July 2006 (18) June 2006 (7) May 2006 (14) April 2006 (6) March
2006 (14) February 2006 (5) January 2006 (2) December 2005 (9)
November 2005 (8) October 2005 (13) September 2005 (12) August 2005
(9) July 2005 (16) June 2005 (16) May 2005 (16) April 2005 (12)
March 2005 (14) February 2005 (19) January 2005 (15) December 2004
(14) November 2002 (17) October 2002 (19) September 2002 (22) August
2002 (21) July 2002 (15) May 2002 (21) April 2002 (21) February
2002 (15) January 2002 (15) December 2001 (17) October 2001 (24)
September 2001 (18) July 2001 (19) June 2001 (18) October 2000 (17)
September 2000 (21) August 2000 (19) July 2000 (16) June 2000 (26)
May 2000 (21) April 2000 (22) March 2000 (28) February 2000 (18)
January 2000 (20) December 1999 (20) November 1999 (26) October 1999
(25) September 1999 (18) August 1999 (40) July 1999 (38) June 1999
(24) May 1999 (27) April 1999 (25) March 1999 (26) February 1999
(29) January 1999 (24) July 1998 (12)
Search
View socialistactionusa’s profile on Facebook
View SocialistActUS’s profile on Twitter
View SocialistActionCT’s profile on YouTube
Subscribe to Our Newspaper
Upcoming Events
No upcoming events
Category Cloud
Actions & Protest Africa Anti-War Arts & Culture Black Liberation Canada
Caribbean Civil Liberties Cuba East Asia Economy Education & Schools
Elections Environment Europe Immigration Indigenous Rights International
Labor Latin America Latino Civil Liberties Marxist Theory & History
Middle East Palestine Police & FBI Prisons South Asia Trump / U.S.
Government Uncategorized Women's Liberation
View Calendar
Blog at WordPress.com.
Follow