The Historical & International Foundations of the SEP, Sri Lanka

By SEP

This document was adopted unanimously by the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) at its founding congress held in Colombo, 27–29 May, 2011.

This document is vital reading for all those wanting to gain a deeper understanding of the problems of the development of the revolutionary movement on the Indian subcontinent. It draws the critical lessons of the struggles waged by the Fourth International for Trotsky’s theory of Permanent Revolution in South Asia over the past 75 years.

The book traces the rise, decline and ultimate betrayal of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which joined the coalition government of Sirima Bandaranaike in 1964. It also examines the contribution made by the Bolshevik Leninist Party of India, whose formation marked a decisive advance for the Fourth International in Asia.
The SEP’s forerunner, the Revolutionary Communist League (RCL), was founded in 1968 to draw the necessary political lessons from the LSSP’s betrayal and to rearm the working class politically on the basis of the Trotskyist program fought for by the ICFI.

The document sums up the lessons of the RCL’s principled and courageous struggle against all forms of nationalism and communalism.