'Marxist leaders' stayed silent while thousands died!

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How can those who How can those who stay silent to hold onto Lala their Parliamentary seats while thousands of students are murdered in their name represent Marxist That the question Militant supporters must ask themselves after a public meeting of the Sanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) of Sri Lanka in London last week.

'Marxist' leadership The meeting was chaired by 'Militant' supporter Dick Bradley, the LPYS representative on the Labour Party NEC, and one of the three speakers was Roger Silverman, International Editor of Militant.

The other two speakers were the General Secretary of the LSSP, Dr. Vickramabahu Karunarathne (Bashu) and former LSSP MP Vasudeva Nanayakkara (Vasu).

They, the audience were told, represented the new 'Marxist' leadership of the LSSP that had taken 80-90% of the rank and file against the old "class-collaborationist" leadership that had been in the coalition with Mrs. Bandaranaike.

Logical conclusion

The main interest of the meeting was the way that these leaders of the LSSP showed the logical conclusion of the opportunist politics of the 'Militant' group.

The LSSP opposed the International Committee in the 1953 split within the Fourth International, and remained with the International Secretariat of Pablo and Mandel.

In the 1963 reunification of the American SWP with the International Secretariat there was agreement not to discuss the direction in which the LSSP was headed.

In 1964 there were mass movements in the working class against the bourgeois government of the SLFP, led by Mrs Bandaranaike.

In order to save her government and defend Sri Lankan capitalism, which was in deep crisis, Mrs Bandaranaike resorted to a measure that capitalism often turns to in times of crisis.

She brought the United Left Front of the LSSP and the Communist Party into her government to form a Popular Front This Popular Front proceeded to attack strikes and generally fought to make the working class sa, for the econ. omic crisis unt it mas dira y overthrown and replaced by a right wing UNP government. PHOTO: Report Throughout that period the LSSP supported every action of the government, including the massacre of 10,000 youth of the JVP in their 1971 uprising.

And this is where MP Vasu comes in. He declared that their tendency within the LSSP had opposed the massacre, but he himself had not spoken out in Parliament (he was a Popular Front MP) because that would have meant his breaking party discipline and would have given the right wing an excuse to expel him!

Note this, supporters

the 'Mititant' group.

Applauded

Vasu was enthusiastically applauded by the audience made up mainly of 'Militant' supporters.

If 10,000 youth are shot dead in this country and the 'Militant' group has any MPs, don't expect them to speak out in case it endangers their expulsion from the Labour This might sound far-fetched but the speakers of both organisations compared the Labour Party to the LSSP as mass organisations of the working class that have to be won over to 'Marxist' politics.

Not a mention In a three hour meeting, adorned by the LSSP banner, complete with hammer, sickle and a big 4 on it, Leon Trotsky and Trotskyism didn't even rate a mention.

Of coúrse the LSSP speakers had their answers.

Ex-MP Vasu was arrested at the time of the 1971 JVP massacres and spent 18 months in prison -jarea by nis own party but them clearly so were numerous left-wingers was a mass round-up:

The answer to everything, according to both . LSSP speakers, was that they had to be with the working class in its mass organisations and go through experiences with it.

In reality, this is the opposite of what they were doing.

When in 1964 the working class moved against Bandaranaike, they joined her government.

Whenever the working class and the masses experienced repression these 'new' leaders of the LSSP were there alright -on the other side-inflicting the 'experience' on the class, whilst 'objecting' internally.

They justify their approach by claiming that they have won over the majority of the LSSP rank and file.

Decimated

But what does this mean? First of all, like the Communist Party of India which supported the dictatorship of Mrs Gandhi, the membership and support of the LSSP was decimated as a consequence of its participation in the Bandaranaike government.

Nor will the working crass forget the actions of the LSSP at that time.

Further, there is no doubt that with the throwing out of the Bandaranaike government the party membership would swing to those critical of LSSP participation in the popular front, after the event, but this leadership will no doubt look for other reformist paths.

This leadership can offer them no other solution, because while they verbally attack classFi?iety bot satistied with threatPlatform at LSSP meeting collaboration, they, at the same time, declare that they must be with the mass parties.

One questioner asked "How can we know that you won't be on the suppressing side again?"

We can't know because the leadership in no way tried to analyse the previous leadership in relation to the history of the Fourth International and the opportunist reunification of 1963. The way in which that reunification took place meant that nobody in the Trotskyist movement was in a position to lead a fight against the leadership of the LSSP.

. Some of the claims of the two LSSP speakers seemed a bit suspect.

, Fortnightly paper They claim to have the support of one quarter of the Sri Lankan working class and 80-90% of the rank and file of the LSSP, yet they only have a fortnightly paper and a tiny office. This was, they claimed, because the old leadership had kept the daily paper and the party apparatus.

The • workers movement in Sri Lanka is facing a great deal of repression at the present time, with workers' leaders being imprisoned, beaten up and even killed.

The WSL stands opposed to this repression but that must not stop us saying clearly that the LSSP, old and new, offers no way forward for the working class or peasantry.

Like the 'Militant' group in Britain, who excuse every opportunist move by saying that they are with the masses (really masses of bureaucrats), the LSSP can only lead to further betrayals of the working class on the scale of 1964.

carly seTEis Thie luas

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PART ONE OF A TWO PART ARTICLE * Elimination of roy