Sri Lanka

Sri Lankan police arrest Tamil rapper under draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act

Tue, 09 Jun 2026 03:39:36 GMT

The World Socialist Web Site and the Socialist Equality Party condemn the arrest of Sangeethsan Ganeskumar—a blatant attack on freedom of expression—and demand his immediate and unconditional release.

Sri Lankan apparel company ELPHIS LANKA locks out workers for taking action demanding job security

Fri, 05 Jun 2026 01:52:26 GMT

Workers launched their struggle spontaneously, while the Ceylon Mercantile, Industrial and General Workers Union (CMU) has taken no action to defend hundreds of jobs.

Sri Lanka receives further IMF loan installments and demands for escalating austerity

Thu, 04 Jun 2026 03:13:49 GMT

To impose the brutal measures demanded by the IMF, Sri Lanka’s government, backed by every section of the ruling elite, is preparing autocratic forms of rule.

Workers and students in northern Sri Lanka oppose the US-Israeli war against Iran

Tue, 02 Jun 2026 04:56:19 GMT

Opposition to the war is growing among workers and youth, who face soaring living costs and worsening social conditions.

Sri Lankan court case continues over violent attack on SEP members

Sat, 30 May 2026 03:45:56 GMT

The defence lawyer attempted to portray the SEP as an NGO dependent on foreign funding and suggested that the complaint was motivated by efforts to obtain overseas funds.

As economic crisis worsens, Sri Lanka’s opposition leader urges talks for another IMF program

Fri, 29 May 2026 04:05:00 GMT

Sri Lanka’s opposition parties, including the SJB, are signaling that they are ready to join hands with the JVP government to suppress workers’ struggles.

Sri Lankan president uses war commemoration to declare “economic war” on working people

Sat, 23 May 2026 03:09:00 GMT

The working class must understand that the Dissanayake government is preparing a frontal assault on its living and social conditions and democratic rights and is turning towards autocratic rule.

JVP/NPP government in Sri Lanka preparing further attacks on workers amid growing crisis

Fri, 22 May 2026 03:27:50 GMT

Sri Lanka’s worsening balance of payments crisis, soaring oil bill and rupee depreciation are driving the JVP/NPP government into a deepening crisis.

Sri Lanka’s JVP government commemorates 17 years since “victory” in racist anti-Tamil war

Wed, 20 May 2026 02:28:46 GMT

The capitalist state cannot tolerate the political unity of Tamil and Sinhala workers, which threatens a system based on the exploitation of labour and communal division.

Sri Lanka: Death of Welikada Prison inmate raises serious questions

Tue, 19 May 2026 02:53:50 GMT

Until a credible, transparent and independent investigation is conducted, the serious doubts surrounding his death will—and must—persist.

South Asia, the Iran war and the bankruptcy of bourgeois nationalism

Sat, 16 May 2026 03:26:01 GMT

This speech was delivered by Deepal Jayasekera, General Secretary of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), and Dilaxshan Mahalingam, a leader of the IYSSE (Sri Lanka), at the 2026 May Day Online Rally, organized by the WSWS and the ICFI.

Sri Lankan government extends draconian state of emergency

Sat, 16 May 2026 02:01:10 GMT

President Dissanayake can rule through emergency decrees, deploy the military and police with extraordinary powers, restrict gatherings, detain individuals without normal judicial procedures, invoke censorship and ban strikes.

Rising fertilizer prices, shortages threaten Sri Lankan farmers with disaster

Wed, 13 May 2026 04:04:31 GMT

The problems facing the peasantry can only be solved through a struggle against capitalism in unity with the working class.

Sri Lanka: 12 men sentenced to death over killing of MP prepare to appeal

Mon, 11 May 2026 04:03:45 GMT

The Socialist Equality Party categorically opposes these convictions and the death penalties, the aim of which is to intimidate the masses of workers and oppressed people who took part in the 2022 uprising.

Sri Lanka: Government May Day rallies promote lies, austerity and autocratic rule

Sat, 09 May 2026 03:25:42 GMT

President Dissanayake’s claims to head “a workers’ government” are absurd. The JVP/NPP presides over a capitalist government carrying out sweeping attacks on workers and the poor, including higher taxes, higher prices and wholesale privatization.

US war on Iran drives up cost of living in Sri Lanka as government prepares new taxes

Fri, 08 May 2026 05:48:40 GMT

IMF austerity attacks, compounded by the war burden, are hitting already impoverished workers and the poor.

Further light shed on criminal US torpedoing of Iranian ship

Tue, 05 May 2026 03:43:01 GMT

The evasions and hypocritical declarations of “neutrality” by Colombo and New Delhi, along with the silence of the imperialist-aligned media, cannot cover up the fact that these governments were complicit in this US war crime.

Sri Lankan SEP/IYSSE meeting against US-Israeli war on Iran

Mon, 04 May 2026 04:09:40 GMT

SEP speakers explained that the military assault on Iran was part of US imperialism’s efforts to dominate oil and gas resources in the Middle East, as part of a far wider unfolding conflict against China and Russia.

Sri Lankan government blocks release of Tamil writer’s books

Fri, 01 May 2026 00:33:59 GMT

The JVP/NPP government censors Tamil writers under the guise of “national unity," while allowing Sinhala chauvinist and militarist propaganda to circulate freely.

UNDP report exposes vulnerability of South Asia’s economies to US war against Iran

Tue, 28 Apr 2026 05:08:41 GMT

South Asia accounts for the largest share of people—an estimated additional 8.8 million—being pushed into poverty by the Iran war, with the region particularly exposed to rising food and energy costs and falling remittances.

New IMF agreement requires Sri Lankan government to complete austerity program

Sat, 18 Apr 2026 03:55:20 GMT

The government has announced a package of paltry relief measures in a desperate attempt to contain rising social tensions, while meeting all of the IMF’s demands.

SEP/IYSSE public meeting in Sri Lanka: Stop the US–Israel War Against Iran!

Mon, 13 Apr 2026 01:59:16 GMT

The meeting in Hatton on April 26 will discuss the real aims of US imperialism, the complicity of Sri Lanka's ruling elite in the widening war, and the socialist strategy that must be adopted to fight against war.

IYSSE (Sri Lanka) meeting discusses socialist strategy to stop the war against Iran

Sat, 11 Apr 2026 01:52:53 GMT

Only the international working class, the sole social force creating all wealth in the society, has the capability of stopping the dragging into barbarism.

IMF delegation praises Sri Lankan government’s austerity measures

Wed, 08 Apr 2026 03:16:51 GMT

The IMF’s endorsement is a clear indication of the government’s strict adherence to IMF dictates, which impose the full burden of the crisis on the working class and rural masses.

Sri Lankan workers and students discuss the US-Israel war on Iran and how to stop it

Mon, 06 Apr 2026 03:54:43 GMT

“If workers come together, they are like a bundle of sticks. If the sticks are separated, they can be broken. What we need to do is tie the rope—unite the working class.”

Workers Struggles: Asia and Australia

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 04:02:03 GMT

Doctors strike across Sri Lanka; Australian rail workers locked out by state government over limited work bans.

Sri Lankan Tamil bourgeois parties support US-Israeli war on Iran

Sat, 04 Apr 2026 03:54:04 GMT

The silence of these parties cannot disguise their ongoing backing for US imperialism and its war as is demonstrated by the handful of comments that have been made.

Sri Lankan government institutes huge fuel price increases

Sat, 28 Mar 2026 03:39:24 GMT

The government’s decision to reduce subsidies and hike fuel prices is driven by its determination to implement the IMF’s austerity program requiring huge cuts to public spending.

Sri Lanka: Workers and students call for mobilization against the US-Israeli war on Iran

Fri, 27 Mar 2026 01:42:37 GMT

The Socialist Equality Party and the International Youth and Students for Social Equality in Sri Lanka are campaigning ahead of a public meeting against the US-Israeli war on Iran, to he held on April 7.

Stop the US–Israeli War Against Iran!

Thu, 26 Mar 2026 03:18:25 GMT

To defend the Iranian people and defeat the US-Israeli war criminals, it is necessary to politically mobilize the international working class against global capitalism on the basis of a socialist perspective.

Sri Lankan fake-left FSP calls for sham “global people’s power” against Iran war

Mon, 23 Mar 2026 04:12:55 GMT

The Frontline Socialist Party is not calling for an international anti-war movement based on the working class, but an international coalition of opportunist groups dressed up as “Global People’s Power.”

SEP/IYSSE Sri Lanka meeting against US-Israeli war on Iran reveals growing interest in socialist program

Fri, 20 Mar 2026 04:42:24 GMT

The SEP’s well attended Colombo public meeting, which was live-streamed on Zoom and the party’s Facebook page, discussed the urgent need to build an international working-class movement against the imperialist onslaught on Iran which threatens to escalate into a broader global conflict.

Sri Lankan president blames Iran, not the US, for global fuel crisis

Thu, 19 Mar 2026 02:14:46 GMT

Dissanayake’s comments have once again exposed the government’s phony posturing of “neutrality” over the illegal US-Israel war against Iran.

“There is a real danger of a nuclear war”: Sri Lankan workers and students oppose Iran war

Mon, 16 Mar 2026 03:25:23 GMT

Sri Lankan SEP and IYSSE members have spoken with workers and students in their campaign against the US-Israel war on Iran.

Workers and students in Sri Lanka denounce US-Israeli war against Iran

Fri, 13 Mar 2026 03:15:43 GMT

“If this war escalates, the danger of a third world war will increase. A major power is waging war against another smaller country. It must be stopped,” a University of Jaffna student said.

US memo exposes Sri Lankan “humanitarian” posturing over Iranian sailors’ rescue

Wed, 11 Mar 2026 03:30:52 GMT

Contrary to the president’s claims, Colombo is functioning as a compliant intermediary for the diplomatic and strategic objectives of the US and Israel in the war of extermination against Iran.

Condemn US sinking of Iranian vessel in Indian Ocean! Oppose US-Israel war against Iran

Sat, 07 Mar 2026 03:30:26 GMT

The Socialist Equality Party condemns the illegal war of aggression by US imperialism and Israel against Iran and the sinking of an unarmed Iranian warship as a blatant war crime.

At meeting to defend public health, Sri Lanka’s health workers express solidarity with counterparts in US

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 05:22:16 GMT

The Health Workers’ Action Committee of Sri Lanka held a February 20 online meeting to defend the island nation's free public health system.

IMF chief hails Sri Lanka “success story” as its austerity agenda deepens social crisis

Wed, 25 Feb 2026 03:27:22 GMT

Kristalina Georgieva’s visit was to ensure that Sri Lanka will continue to implement the IMF’s harsh austerity policies that protect the profits of big business while heaping more burdens on workers and the poor.

Sri Lanka: 12 death sentences imposed for killing an MP amid 2022 uprising

Thu, 19 Feb 2026 00:39:27 GMT

On the basis of threadbare evidence and flawed legal reasoning, a court sentenced 12 people to death in what amounts to an act of class vengeance, designed to intimidate rising opposition to the present government’s austerity program.

Online Public Meeting: Sri Lankan doctors’ protests and the fight to defend free public health

Fri, 13 Feb 2026 04:34:57 GMT

The struggle for better conditions for health employees is inseparably bound up with defending free healthcare, won through the bitter struggles of the working class, and supported by the poor.

New alliance of Sri Lankan health unions to contain opposition to IMF austerity

Tue, 10 Feb 2026 04:46:39 GMT

Confronted with rising anger among health workers over the government’s attacks, the unions have formed an alliance, not to wage a political fight for workers, but to suppress their opposition.

Sri Lankan court hearing on violent 2023 assault on SEP members

Wed, 04 Feb 2026 04:28:35 GMT

The SEP has consistently explained the brutal attack near the University of Moratuwa was not an isolated street brawl, but a politically driven attempt to prevent it from organising among university workers and students.

Sri Lankan government imposes “essential services” laws

Tue, 03 Feb 2026 04:02:44 GMT

After falsely pledging to improve living standards and defend democratic rights, the government is stepping up its use of repressive measures against the working class.

2 months after Cyclone Ditwah: Sri Lanka’s humanitarian catastrophe continues

Mon, 02 Feb 2026 06:23:12 GMT

The JVP/NPP government’s relief program, while offering symbolic gestures, has failed to deliver genuine reconstruction or address the underlying vulnerabilities the cyclone has exposed.

Sri Lankan president falsely postures as champion of “national unity”

Thu, 29 Jan 2026 05:02:50 GMT

Dissanayake is trying to cover up the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna’s reactionary communal record as an enthusiastic supporter of anti-Tamil racialist war.

Sri Lanka: Confronted with mounting electricity workers’ discontent, union leaders threaten strike action

Tue, 27 Jan 2026 04:38:46 GMT

The same CEB union officials now threatening strike action shut down all industrial action four months ago, following false promises from Energy Minister Kumara Jayakody.

Sri Lanka’s new “anti-terror laws” foreshadow sweeping attacks on democratic rights

Wed, 21 Jan 2026 04:04:58 GMT

Colombo’s draft legislation reproduces all the essential features of the existing draconian Prevention of Terrorism Act.

Sri Lankan government cynically evades US criminal assault on Venezuela

Mon, 12 Jan 2026 06:01:05 GMT

Opposing imperialist war and defending the oppressed is the task of the working class, guided by a Marxist—that is Trotskyist—perspective that rejects nationalism, unmasks the UN, and fights for world socialism.

Leela Balasuriya (1946–2025): A veteran Trotskyist fighter in Sri Lanka

Thu, 08 Jan 2026 04:17:00 GMT

Comrade Leela’s death is a sad loss for the SEP, but the memory of this courageous fighter lives on today in the party’s struggle.