Crisis and Uprisings in Sri Lanka

This is the first event of "Rice and Resistance", a series of discussions focused on South Asian political economy hosted in New York by our collaborators at SALAM (lalsalam.org). This event takes an in-depth look at the ongoing political and economic crisis in South Asia.

Speakers:

Jude Fernando, Clark University 06:20
Kalpa Rajapaksha, University of Peradeniya 17:45
Niyanthini Kadirgamar, University of Massachusetts, Amherst 30:00

Sri Lanka is currently facing the most dire economic crisis in its recent history, where the ruling Sinhala Buddhist nationalist government has abdicated its responsibility to its citizens, and has failed to meet the basic needs of the people. Sri Lankans have been facing shortages in food, medicines, cooking gas, and essential commodities, alongside long power cuts that last several hours at a stretch. The government’s proposed solution, the economic restructuring of the economy in partnership with the IMF, will only deepen the crisis, particularly for the poor and marginalized.
The last month has also given rise to an extraordinary new people’s movement in Sri Lanka, where a multi-class, multi-ethnic coalition of Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim polities have come together to challenge the hegemony of the crony Rajapaksha government, and demand fundamental transformation in the current political order. This movement cannot be looked at in isolation; it is built on a foundation of years of protests against the government—from Tamils in the North demanding justice to teachers and plantation workers striking for labor reforms.

This event seeks to look at the crisis in Sri Lanka from a left internationalist perspective.

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South Asia Left Activist Movement (SALAM) works with South Asian and internationalist left organizations, to politically bolster immigrant-led movements in the diaspora, and support people's movements in the subcontinent. (http://lalsalam.org/)

The series “Rice and Resistance” analyses developments within the South Asian political economy in order to develop a political imagination that seeks to transcend nation-states and capitalism, towards building an internationalism from the left.

This event was co-sponsored by Haymarket Books, South Asian American Leading Together (SAALT), South Asia Solidarity Initiative (SASI), NY Boricua Resistance, and Internationalism from Below.

Solidarity statements were made during the event by representatives from the New York Boricua Resistance, Anakbayan Manhattan, and Committee In Solidarity with the People of El Salvador (CISPES)
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