A Trot from Sri Lanka

[Nehru]

Hello Comrades,:thumbup:

I am a Trot from Lanka, one of the poorest countries in the world, a war-torn place with little or no revolutionary activity.

Nice to be here among like-minded people.
:thumbup1:

[Queercommie Girl]

Welcome!

Are you ethnic Tamil? Which Trot organisation are you linked with?

[NoOneIsIllegal]

Am I going to be the one who says it? The avatar... Jus' sayin'
http://www.revleft.com/vb/customavatars/avatar36585_1.gif

[Nehru]

Welcome!

Are you ethnic Tamil? Which Trot organisation are you linked with?

Thank you. Yes, I am.

I don't belong to any org at the moment. I am just getting to know Trotskyism better, and perhaps later I'll decide what to do. I am too introverted to be part of anything, anyway.:(

[mosfeld]

Welcome :)

What is your opinion on the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)? Do you support Tamil national liberation?

[red cat]

Vanakkam :)

[Queercommie Girl]

Welcome :)

What is your opinion on the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)? Do you support Tamil national liberation?

Long Live the Tamil National Liberation movement against their Aryan oppressors!!

[red cat]

Long Live the Tamil National Liberation movement against their Aryan oppressors!!

This slogan is technically incorrect. Both Sinhala and Tamil people are conscious of their partial Aryan ancestry. In general it is not possible to distinguish between them from physical features.

[Queercommie Girl]

This slogan is technically incorrect. Both Sinhala and Tamil people are conscious of their partial Aryan ancestry. In general it is not possible to distinguish between them from physical features.

However, they are from different ethno-linguistic groups. Sinhalese is an Indo-European (more precisely Indo-Aryan) language, while Tamil is a Dravidian language.

Tamil have some Aryan ancestry, just like Han Chinese have some Altaic ancestry. (The ruling class of the Han Chinese Tang Dynasty was partly Xianbei, for instance) But Tamil is ethnically distinct from Indo-Aryans, just like Han Chinese are ethnically distinct from Altaic peoples like Mongols and Manchus.

You cannot physically distinguish a Northern Han from a Mongol in most cases, but Han Chinese are distinct from Mongols.

[red cat]

However, they are from different ethno-linguistic groups. Sinhalese is an Indo-European (more precisely Indo-Aryan) language, while Tamil is a Dravidian language.

Tamil have some Aryan ancestry, just like Han Chinese have some Altaic ancestry. (The ruling class of the Han Chinese Tang Dynasty was partly Xianbei, for instance) But Tamil is ethnically distinct from Indo-Aryans, just like Han Chinese are ethnically distinct from Altaic peoples like Mongols and Manchus.

You cannot physically distinguish a Northern Han from a Mongol in most cases, but Han Chinese are distinct from Mongols.

Very true, but this does not make the Sinhala people any more Aryan than the Tamil people they oppress. Presently there is no ethnic group in south Asia, possibly with the exception of the ones living in the northern mountains, that can fully identify as Indo Aryan. Throughout the Indian subcontinent people closer to Aryans form the upper layers of every ancient community. So, mostly you can differentiate between an average elite Tamil person and a proletarian one and tell which one is Aryan, or "more Aryan" at least, and the same with Sinhala people, but you cannot differentiate between average Sinhalese and Tamils.

[Lenina Rosenweg]

My understanding is that while Sinhalese national mythology claims the Sinhalese are descended from the ancient Aryans, recent DNA testing indicates that much of the Sinhalese are actually descended from the aboriginal population of Sri Lanka. The language though is similar to Gujarati, am Indo-Aryan language spoken in a coastal state of India.

I stronly supported the LTTE in their struggle against the Sinhalese ruling class. My heart goes out to the oppressed Tamil people. Sadly the LTTE made a blunder in keeping their struggle purely military instead of politisizing it and reaching out to other working class elements.

Trotskyism hs a fascinating history in Sri Lanka. For what its worth, here is the site of the United Socialist Party. They've taken the Trotskyist core of the now bankrupt LSSP.

http://www.lankasocialist.com/

[Pretty Flaco]

I have a good friend who's Sri Lankan... But her extended family actually has connections to the liberal parties in the government and she told me that her family was getting all worried recently about "communists grabbing control of the government!" :rolleyes:
She's more left of them though. She's a bit of a social democrat, I'd think.

What are things like currently in Sri Lanka, politically?

[red cat]

I have a good friend who's Sri Lankan... But her extended family actually has connections to the liberal parties in the government and she told me that her family was getting all worried recently about "communists grabbing control of the government!" :rolleyes:
She's more left of them though. She's a bit of a social democrat, I'd think.

What are thinks like currently in Sri Lanka, politically?

Some of the remnants of the LTTE are regrouping. Maoists have probably completed their unification. That's pretty much it. The parliamentary and peaceful communists are nothing more than reformists.

[Tavarisch_Mike]

Welcome! Dont mind the side-discussion, thats how its done here on revleft ;D

[Pretty Flaco]

Some of the remnants of the LTTE are regrouping. Maoists have probably completed their unification. That's pretty much it. The parliamentary and peaceful communists are nothing more than reformists.
That's why I put the ":rolleyes:"! Apparently they blow it out of proportion and call the current administration communists or something along those lines. I'm not too familiar with sri lankan politics.

[t.shonku]

LTTE is a Frankenstein monster created by India