NSSP campaigns for peace in Sri Lanka
By Sujatha Fernandes On October 17, after peace talks had failed, the Sri Lankan government launched a major offensive against Jaffna, the citadel of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE) in an attempt to them out. Indiscriminate aerial bombing and artillery shelling by the air force and army over the last three weeks, have forced more then 800,000 Tamil people to flee, 1000 have been killed and more than 3000 injured. Since the offensive began, the Sri Lankan government has enforced a media ban ensuring that only its line — that it is trying to liberate the Tamil people from the LTTE — is run. For the last five years the government has imposed an economic blockade on the Tamil people in the north. The lack of food, electricity and medicine now means that people are dying of starvation on the streets, and the lack of hospital care and medicines has enabled disease to spread. The Sri Lankan government has refused international agencies' offers of aid for the Tamil refugees on the grounds that it is an internal problem. In a statement on behalf of the Tamil Sangam Queensland, Professor Selvanatham called on the Australian government to pressure the Sri Lankan government to end its atrocities. "The current blockade and the continuing economic blockade is clearly a gross violation of humanitarian law. Unless governments ... like Australia openly condemn such atrocities against the civilian population, this is going to continue until the majority Tamil population in Jaffna is annihilated." The war against the Tamil people is being led by the Popular Alliance (PA) government, a coalition of left parties including the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL), the Lama Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the more right-wing Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). The PA came to power on a wave of popular support in July last year after 17 years of rule by the right-wing United National Party (UNP).
Peace plan
One of the PA's main election campaign promises was for a solution to the war in the north. In July 1995, after nearly a year in government, the PA proposed to devolve power to the Tamil states in the north giving them control over education, local government, housing, agriculture and industrial development. Sunil Ratnapriya, a politburo member of the Nava Sama Samaja Party (NSSP), told
Green Left Weekly in October that while the peace package went some way in promoting Tamil self-determination, it was never designed to be implemented. The government, he said, planned to present the peace proposal for public debate, after which a select parliamentary committee would debate it. The plan would only be passed by a two-thirds parliamentary majority, something that would only be possible with the support of the UNP. Following this, the plan was supposed to be submitted for a referendum "where the Sinhalese majority will be asked to pass it". If the government was serious about the peace plan it would have campaigned for it among the Sinhala population by explaining the devolution proposals, Ratnapriya said. In fact, the government knew that the plan would never be passed by parliament, and while it was being tabled, it launched its attack on Jaffna. According to Ratnapriya, the government used the peace plan to win international support before it launched its military strike. The attack on the Tamil people has forced them to look to the LTTE as their only defenders. The LTTE, a guerilla group, controls and administers a "liberated area" in the northern Jaffna Peninsula. The LTTE has its own police force and has, despite the blockade, managed to set up and administer an independent economy. According to Ratnapriya, "The LTTE is a very authoritarian regime; people are always under surveillance. The LTTE will not have any dealings with left groups and they don't seem to be interested in dialogue with any southern groups ... they are very isolated. They are a military organisation which does not try to build a broader movement." However, Ratnapriya disagrees with the tactics advocated by some groups. "The so-called 'peace movement' talk about converting the LTTE into a democratic force. To talk about [this] before providing a proper solution to the problems of the Tamil people is counter-productive. The 'peace movement' tries to pressure the government and the LTTE at the same time. Their ... logic [is] that the LTTE is not listening, therefore it is not democratic and should be crushed in order to create peace in Sri Lanka." The NSSP does not agree, Ratnapriya said. "A political package should be presented to the Tamil people. It is up to them to decide whether their administration should be carried out by the LTTE, or another organisation, or a combination. The Tamil groups should be given an opportunity to express their views, which is why we propose a constituent assembly where, not only the Sinhala groups but various Tamil groups, LTTE or not, could be represented." The PA government has also broken other electoral promises, including its opposition to privatisation. According to Ratnapriya, "The working class strongly opposed privatisation under the UNP. The PA gave assurances that ... [it] would halt the privatisations. Yet, it has created PERK (Public Enterprises Reform Commission), and embarked on privatising key areas like telecommunication and banks which the UNP did not dare to touch. More and more assurances and concessions are being given to investors." The PA promised freedom of the press and safety from the "disappearances" that routinely took place under the UNP government. While Ratnapriya said that under the PA, some changes have taken place, "recently, bodies have started to appear in lakes around Columbo, and the elite special task force was found to be responsible. The government has also started to curtail press freedoms; some editors of popular newspapers have been intimidated and assaulted."
Working class activity
Ratnapriya said that while PA supporters are quite demoralised there is still support for the government and the President. "Workers feel strengthened by the PA victory; they feel that they can resort to strikes and win. In spite of the war, and in spite of the Sinhala chauvinist's attempts to depoliticise the working class, there is still a wave of working class activity. "There are several sectoral campaigns against privatisation. Ceylon electricity board workers are campaigning very strongly against the privatisation of the electricity supply and the granting of permission to multinational companies to bring in power stations. There is a very big campaign against bank privatisation which is one reason why they cannot be immediately privatised. "Recently there was a wave of strike activity by young workers using very creative methods. For instance, workers at Ceylon Diamonds went on strike over the issue of organising their union. The strike was led by the LSSP, but the young women workers were very dissatisfied with the way the dispute was being conducted. They climbed onto the top floor of the labour ministry and started a fast. This attracted a lot of attention as it was one of the tallest buildings in Columbo! "The minister made several appeals to them to come down, but they were very strong. On the ground, workers would rally around and campaign, putting up posters and producing leaflets. People in the area also got involved and the campaign spread across the whole country. Ultimately the ministry had to give in. The LSSP abandoned them and they came to our union." The PA still controls a large number of trade unions through the federations of the LSSP, the CP and even the SLFP. Given this, Ratnapriya said that the NSSP's general orientation is to "remind the workers about the program that the PA promised to workers — more freedom, more rights and better living conditions. When workers resort to strikes or actions, we try to promote their campaign by helping to publish leaflets, posters." Before the 1994 elections the left split over whether or not to join the PA. The NSSP decided not to, a position Ratnapriya said, which, after just one year, has been vindicated. "The left parties who joined the PA provide left cover to the IMF/World Bank-sponsored project; the CP has agreed to support the PA's market-oriented policy, and even its policy on the north-east question. "The CP and LSSP are giving in to the SLFP's more right-wing line. To a greater extent, chauvinistic forces are taking over the leadership of the PA. The PA committees do not even meet and discuss what the government is doing collectively. If they do, the president doesn't attend." According to Ratnapriya the workers' movement will only move forward with a broad democratic movement to end the war in the north east. Ratnapriya told
Green Left that a broad democratic coalition which includes intellectuals, Buddhist leaders, Tamil leaders and other parties, to discuss devolution and solutions acceptable to the Tamil people already exists. "In these kinds of campaigns, and others against the World Bank, PA members are forced to work with us. Providing a broad left centre which involves other groups ... [especially those] in the north ... is what the we are trying to achieve, and the prospects are very good."