THE RACIST, pro-Sinhala, bourgeois government of Sri Lanka has in recent weeks dramatically escalated its repression of Sri Lankan Tamils in the north and north-eastern regions of the country. Aerial bombardment has been combined with artillery assaults and troop movements on the ground.
Thousands of civilians have been maimed and killed, their homes and livelihoods destroyed. Thousands of people between the ages of 14 and 30 have been arbitrarily arrested, interrogated and tortured in detention camps set up in the north. Though the military assault has come to a halt because of strong resistance from Tamil militants and Indian pressure, this is likely to be temporary.
The Sri Lankan regime has escaped the censure it deserves. This is partly because imperialism has a crucial interest in maintaining the stability of the Jayewardene government. The US regards good relations with Colombo as important for its strategic designs in the Indian Ocean. Britain, Israel and Pakistan, which are important US allies, are all helping the Sri Lankan government to strengthen its repressive apparatuses, for example providing mercenaries, training for special security agencies, airforce equipment and so on.
It is also necessary to note that there should be no illusions about the Indian government, to which Jaffna Tamils and the militant groups have been forced to turn for support. The Indian bourgeois state will, if necessary, betray the aspirations and hopes of the oppressed Tamil masses in pursuit of its own regional interests, which are to establish its hegemony in South Asia.
The Indian government wants a military-strategic stalemate. Such a situation would give the Indian state most room for manoeuvre and enable it to exercise most pressure on both sides to achieve the "negotiated settlement" that it wants, and not what the Tamils demand: full democratic rights, peace with dignity and genuine self-determination. We call for:
• A halt to the brutal repression by the Sri Lankan UNP government against the country's Tamil population, particularly in the north.
• An end to the blockade of fuel and civil supplies to Jaffna.
• Release of all political prisoners and detainees.
• A condemnation of the support given to the Jayewardene government by imperialism and its allies — this must be halted.
• The international working class movement to severely condemn the Sri Lankan government and demand that the rest of the world exercise moral and material pressure against this regime.
• An end to the state of emergency and the restoration of full democratic rights for the whole population, Tamil and Sinhala.
• No curbs on the rights of trade unions, such as the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers' Union, nor on all other organizations fighting for the legitimate demands of the toiling masses.
• The right of Sri Lankan Tamils to define their own political future, that is their unconditional right to self-determination.
• Governments to grant asylum to all Tamil refugees seeking entry to their countries.