Jaffna (Sri Lanka) meeting celebrates 80th anniversary of the Fourth International

 

Jaffna (Sri Lanka) meeting celebrates 80th anniversary of the Fourth International

By
R. Shreeharan

6 December 2018

Workers, teachers, fishermen, students, youth and housewives from all over Jaffna district attended last Friday’s public meeting marking the 80th anniversary of the founding of the Fourth International. Organised by the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE), the event was held at the Jaffna Public Library canteen hall.

Jaffna, the largest city in Sri Lanka’s north, and its surrounding districts remain devastated by Colombo’s almost three-decade communal war against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. In the days before the meeting, SEP and IYSSE members distributed thousands of leaflets across the city and at workplaces, as well as Jaffna university and the teachers’ training college.

SEP Central Committee member P. Thirugnanasampanthar chaired the meeting and SEP General Secretary Wije Dias delivered the main lecture, entitled “The Lessons of History and the Fight for Socialism Today.” David North, chairman of the World Socialist Web Site international editorial board, delivered speeches under the same title at meetings in Colombo and Kandy during October.

Thinakkural, a Tamil daily newspaper, announced the meeting a day before the event and requested an interview with Wije Dias. MTV’s “News First” broadcast a considerable portion of Thirugnanasampanthar’s opening address to the meeting.

P. Thirugnanasampanthar addressing the meeting

Thirugnanasampanthar began with an overview of international political events and the growing danger of global military conflict and stressed the contemporary relevance of the historic struggle of the Fourth International….

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