Tamil workers in northern Sri Lanka support Maruti Suzuki workers
By
our correspondents
27 April 2017
Members and supporters of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality (IYSSE) visited Chavakachcheri, a small town, about 25 kilometres from Jaffna in northern Sri Lanka, as a part of the campaign by the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI) to demand the freedom of the Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
Thirteen autoworkers have been condemned to life imprisonment on bogus murder charges. The Indian and state of Haryana governments, along with the corporations, are using the witch hunt to reassure foreign investors that they will crush worker opposition to low-wages, precarious contract labour and brutal exploitation.
Distributing copies of ICFI statements, the campaigners discussed the international significance of the case with workers and small traders in the town. The area suffered severely during the communal war carried out by successive Colombo governments against the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Elam (LTTE).
Workers and small traders in the town expressed their support for ICFI campaign and denounced the frame-up of Maruti Suzuki workers. They discussed their oppressive conditions, saying that they were similar to what autoworkers face at the Japanese-owned assembly plant in Manesar.
Niruban, a railway worker, is a temporary employee like many of the Maruti Suzuki workers. “I have no permanent appointment in the railway although I have been working there for two years. Because of the coming local government elections there might be a chance to get hired full-time but it is not sure. I support the campaign of your…