United they stand for their land

The Sri Lankans have raised the hopes of common people in the possibilities of a people’s struggle. It is still early to say if this can be a model because of the specificities of Sri Lanka’s history
United they stand for their land

Ordinary Sri Lankan citizens have been able to unseat one of the most powerful Presidents in its history. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled the country on July 13 and subsequently emailed his resignation to the speaker of Parliament. This was a massive victory for the people as it was one of the core demands of what is now known in Sinhalese as the ‘Janatha Aragalaya’s struggle. Citizens caught up in a severe economic crisis created by the Rajapaksa regime have been camping for months now demanding a change in the executive presidency in the country.

The earlier resignation of Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapaksa and the flight of the President have been unexpected developments. They came about in the face of a non-violent leaderless people’s movement. It’s a fact that a cross-section of Sri Lankans participated in them. The acute shortages of food, fuel, medicines and electricity affected everyone. Anger and frustration at the regime’s incompetency to provide succour were motivating factors in the participation of the common masses in the protests.

The developments in the island-nation are being watched with great interest all across the world. Is this a model that can get replicated elsewhere where people are resisting authoritarianism? The Sri Lankans have raised the hopes of common people in the possibilities of a people’s struggle. It is still early to say if this can be a model because of the specificities of Sri Lanka’s history and politics. The country has had a history of resisting state power by non-violent means by mobilising trade unions and other groups. Some went horribly wrong in trying to capture state power by using violence as the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) attempted in 1971 and between 1987-89. They were brutally suppressed.

The JVP, founded on a Maoist-Leninist and nationalist ideology in the mid-Sixties, has had many makeovers. From trying to overthrow the state in 1971 in a single blow in what is known as the ‘one-day revolution’, to engage in a protracted armed struggle against the state between 1987 and 1989, it has embraced parliamentary politics and, in its recent avatar, is very much part of electoral politics with three seats in Parliament. The support base of the JVP has been largely among the Sinhala unemployed and under-employed youth.

While there is no visible political leadership to the ‘Janatha Aragalaya’, it is too good to be true that a cross-section of Sri Lankan masses just assembled at the seat of power without any mobilisation. Many would like to believe it was spontaneous. To a certain extent, it may have been so due to the suffering of the people, but those in the business of mobilising know how difficult it is to gather the hungry and the poor. The weak political opposition in Sri Lanka could not catalyse the sentiments of the people. But parties like the JVP and its breakaway faction, the Frontline Socialist party (FSP), have been quietly getting the masses together. When consumer prices shot to double digits in November 2021, the JVP planned a series of countrywide protests. As the shortages grew, it was easy to mobilise people standing in the queues. The JVP still has considerable reach among the Sinhala rural youth and works through its fronts like the Socialist Youth Union and Socialist Students’ Union (SSU).

It also has a very vocal women’s wing. The SSU has been quietly working to mobilise for the Galle Face protests. There was massive unrest among the students because universities were closed down. The Inter-University Students’ Front (IUSF), now affiliated with the FSP, was able to gather more than just students. It was able to bring together an angry and frustrated middle class as well and played an important role in spearheading the Galle Face protests.

The ‘Janatha Aragalaya’ at Galle Face did cut across party lines. There was no visible leadership. It was a conscious decision on the part of the leadership not to be seen at the protest sites. But is the ‘Aragalaya’ really apolitical? Or can it sustain itself in furthering its demands of the resignation of the newly elected President Ranil Wickremesinghe and abolishing the executive presidency?

A leaderless people’s struggle will also have to come out with political alternatives. In its absence, the people’s struggle will likely die down. It remains to be seen who takes ownership of the movement and puts forward plans and policy proposals instead of leaving it to the current regime to take an upper hand.

Ajay D Behera

adbehera@gmail.com

Officiating Director, Academy of International Studies, Jamia Millia Islamia

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