<div dir="ltr"><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">---------- Forwarded message ----------<br>From: <b class="gmail_sendername">Amarasinghe Suranjaya</b> <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:suranjayaamarasinghe@gmail.com" target="_blank">suranjayaamarasinghe@gmail.com</a>></span><br>Date: Fri, Sep 5, 2014 at 10:09 AM<br>Subject: Bala Tampoe struggled against British imperialism<br>To: <br><br><br><div dir="ltr"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:19pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><a href="http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-72124-news-detail-bala-tampoe-struggled-against-british-imperialism.html" target="_blank">http://www.ceylontoday.lk/51-72124-news-detail-bala-tampoe-struggled-against-british-imperialism.html</a></span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:19pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></span></p>

<p class="MsoNormal"><span><span style="font-size:19pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">Bala
Tampoe struggled against British imperialism</span></span><span><span style="font-size:19pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:black;background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80)"><br>
<br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"></span><span style="display:inline-block"> <span> </span></span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(204,204,204);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span>0</span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">  <span> </span> <span> </span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(204,204,204);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span>September
4, 2014</span></span><span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span></span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(204,204,204);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><span>2:00
am</span></span><span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><span style="font-size:8pt;line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80);background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> <span> </span></span></span><span style="line-height:115%;font-family:Arial,sans-serif;color:rgb(80,80,80)"><br>
<br>
<span><span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">By Vickramabahu Karunaratne</span></span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"><br>
<span></span><br>
</span><span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">Bala
Tampoe belongs to the era of the old heroic period of Sama Samajism with the
struggle against British imperialism and the Hartal that shook the so called
comprador bourgeoisie regime. Comrade Bala is dead as an uncompromising
proletarian leader.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">Today
the ruling elite may give him a state funeral; but it will not change the basic
nature of this trade union leader who did not accept any price or present from
the bourgeoisie. He joined the left movement when he was a student and
continued to work for the LSSP while he was a lecturer in Botany and
Horticulture in the Department of Agriculture. He came into the limelight as a
strike leader after his dismissal from public service, for participating in the
strike of public servants in 1947. Soon after, he joined the CMU as an
energetic new leader. He was also interested in political theory and soon
became a political teacher as well, within the LSSP. At the same time, he was
keen to work among the urban workers and devoted much time for the CMU.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">The
CMU was originally built in 1928 as a white-collar union in the mercantile
sector. It was an organic working class organization with Labour affiliations
and welfarist social democratic thinking. After Tampoe became its general
secretary in February 1948, the union came under the influence of the Lanka
Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which at the time was a part of the Fourth
International, the Trotskyite world organization.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">So he
became a Trotskyite who explained that a proletarian regime is possible in the
course of a permanent revolution. Revolt of the people could start on the basis
of democratic demands. But the inability of the bourgeois political parties to
establish a dynamic democratic change, will give rise to an opportunity for the
working class organization to lead the struggle forward and capture power to
establish a socialist state. In the 1950s and 1960s, this permanent revolution
theory got rooted in the minds of the working people. It was spread beyond the
working class to include the radical peasants and the fishing communities.
Bala, a Tamil from Jaffna proved that Trotskyism could spread beyond community
barriers to build left leaders in Tamil and Muslim communities. Tampoe was
known for his militant challenges to the political decisions of the government
of the day. In 1963, he led a strike in the Colombo port that escalated into an
all-island general strike and defied the government of Sirima Bandaranaike when
it invoked its emergency powers.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">When
the LSSP left the Fourth International to join the Bandaranaike government in
1964, Tampoe became a central leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party
(Revolutionary), which the United Secretariat of the Fourth International
recognized as its section. With the veteran LSSP leader and a contemporary of
NM and Colvin, Edmund Samarakkody joining him, many Sama Samajist leaders at
grass root level were hopeful of the new leadership of the left movement.
However the LSSP-R could not survive as a mass organization. Bala and others
failed to understand the mass backing received by the opportunist leaders for
their illusive project of building socialism with populist bourgeoisie leaders.
It was necessary for Trotskyites to orient towards the masses following the coalition,
and to go into joint actions with them. However, when NSSP evolved as a mass
party, Bala was eager to work with us.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">He
remained loyal to the Forth International, though he was not very active. In
2010 when the pro government thugs tried to kill me when I was returning from
London, after addressing the Tamil commemoration meeting, he embraced me and
said 'you are a true Sama Samajist living among us'.</span><br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial"> </span><br>
<br>
<span style="background-image:initial;background-repeat:initial">He
retained the position of CMU general secretary and participated actively in
major negotiations with the government and employers even recently. He departed
with the dignity and power of a proletarian leader. Workers will remember him
ever as a leader who remained loyal to the class in spite of mistakes Bala made.</span></span></p></div></div>
</div><br><br clear="all"><div><br></div>-- <br><div dir="ltr"><a href="http://www.nssp.info" target="_blank">www.nssp.info</a><br>tp 0777875758<br>contributions: <br>NAVA SAMA SAMAJA PARTY, 17BARRACKS LANE, COLOMBO 2<br><br>A/C NO: <a href="tel:8004893301" value="+18004893301" target="_blank">8004893301</a>,<br> COMMERCIAL BANK OF CEYLON LIMITED  swift code CCEYLKLX<br><br>contributions to vickramabahu: BANK OF CEYLON  A/C NO 0000306345 swift code BCEYLKLX<br><br><br></div>
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