Indian subcontinent
Indian-US-Japanese naval exercises in Indian Ocean target China
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 18 July 2017
India’s hosting of the Malabar exercises is part of its integration into the US military-strategic offensive against China.
Police kill young worker in northern Sri Lanka
By our correspondents, 14 July 2017
The shooting is not an accident but another manifestation of the ongoing police and military repression of Tamil residents in the war-torn northern region.
Modi visit consolidates Indo-Israeli military-strategic partnership
By Deepal Jayasekera, 13 July 2017
Modi’s visit, the first by an Indian prime minister to Israel, was capped by an agreement to expand military-security cooperation.
Sri Lankan government appeases Buddhist hierarchy
By K. Ratnayake, 11 July 2017
The government is resorting to Sinhala Buddhist supremacism amid a deepening political crisis stemming from widespread opposition to its austerity measures.
Socialist Equality Party holds public meeting on Sri Lankan floods disaster
By our correspondents, 5 July 2017
The meeting discussed the recent catastrophe, which killed at least 300 people, and the other social disasters created by the capitalist class.
India and China trade war threats amid border stand-off
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 4 July 2017
India and China have rushed troops to a remote border region, in what is widely being described as the worst stand-off between the two countries since they fought a war in 1962.
Photo Essay—Sri Lanka: The housing crisis and Colombo’s poor
By Shantan Kumarasamy and Panini Wijesiriwardane, 3 July 2017
A photo essay on the conditions of life for the many thousands living in makeshift housing around Colombo.
Trump and Modi trumpet Indo-US “strategic convergence”
By Deepal Jayasekera, 28 June 2017
India is increasingly serving as a frontline state in US imperialism’s strategic confrontation with China.
Over 150 people die in oil tanker explosion in Pakistan
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 27 June 2017
In an exercise in political damage control, the prime minister expressed his “sympathy” for the victims and announced compensation for the families of the dead and injured.
Lawyer for framed up Maruti Suzuki workers: The court “committed violence” to the “principles” of law
By our correspondents, 27 June 2017
Rebecca John, who represented the Maruti Suzuki workers in the final stages of their four-and-a-half-year-long court case, spoke with the WSWS last month as she completed work on an appeal.
Floods devastate Bangladesh and parts of India, killing more than 185
By Rohantha De Silva, 26 June 2017
Those most affected are the rural poor, low-wage workers and rickshaw pullers living in flood- and landslide-prone areas, where living costs are relatively low.
Sri Lankan free trade zone workers call for release of Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 23 June 2017
Workers at Sri Lanka’s oldest and largest free trade zone condemn the frameup and jailing of Indian autoworkers and call for a united international campaign.
Infighting in Tamil party signifies deep political crisis in Sri Lanka
By K. Ratnayake, 21 June 2017
Factional clashes within the Tamil elite have nothing to do with defending democratic rights but are tactical differences over how best to advance their own interests.
On-the-Spot from New Delhi
Lawyer for Maruti Suzuki workers denounces frame-up
By our correspondents, 21 June 2017
“The police were not looking for suspects,” senior advocate Rebecca John told the WSWS. “They were only interested in rounding up as many workers as possible.”
India and Pakistan admitted to Shanghai Cooperation Organisation
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 14 June 2017
Despite India and Pakistan becoming full SCO members, there has been no de-escalation of war tensions between the two nuclear-armed South Asian rivals.
Indian authorities seek to imprison more Maruti Suzuki workers on frame-up charges
By Shannon Jones, 13 June 2017
The Haryana state government is appealing the acquittal of 117 Maruti Suzuki workers on bogus charges and demanding harsher sentences for 18 other workers.
Four years since the Rana Plaza disaster
Bangladesh apparel workers still confront appalling conditions
By Sarath Kumara, 13 June 2017
Four years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building in Bangladesh, garment workers continue to labour in unsafe conditions for very low wages.
India: Madhya Pradesh police shoot protesting farmers
By Deepal Jayasekera, 9 June 2017
Mass demonstrations by farmers are intensifying the crisis of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government.
Sri Lankan flood victims denounce government response to disaster
By our correspondents, 8 June 2017
Flood and landslide survivors say they have not received adequate emergency food supplies and fear destitution.
Sri Lankan students demand release of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 7 June 2017
Kelaniya University students denounced the jailing of the Indian autoworkers and supported the international campaign to free them.
Floods in Sri Lanka: Government responsible for another social disaster
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 5 June 2017
The deaths and human suffering are results of the callous disregard for the lives of ordinary people by successive governments dedicated to defending the profit system.
Silence in the Courts—a film about judicial corruption in Sri Lanka
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 3 June 2017
Prasanna Vithanage’s documentary deals with the sexual assault of two village women by a magistrate and the subsequent cover-up.
Sri Lankan government claims EU tariff facility will solve economic ills
By Saman Gunadasa, 1 June 2017
The GSP+ will not resolve the problems facing the economy, but will result in further attacks on workers’ wages, conditions and basic rights.
Over 150 dead and half a million displaced in Sri Lankan floods
By our correspondents, 29 May 2017
While flooding and landslides are annual events, successive governments have failed to develop any serious mitigation measures or emergency responses.
Sri Lanka: SEP holds meeting and picket in Hatton for release of Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 27 May 2017
Plantation workers, youth and housewives from Hatton and plantation estates participated in the SEP campaign.
Indian establishment lauds military’s use of Kashmiri youth as “human shield”
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 24 May 2017
Predictably the military’s announcement that it would convene a court of inquiry to investigate the incident has proven to be a cruel joke.
Sri Lankan plantation unions embrace Indian prime minister
By R. Shreeharan, 23 May 2017
The Sri Lankan government spent about 20 million rupees on buses and other expenses to transport workers from the central hills plantations to a meeting with Modi.
Indian prime minister visits Sri Lanka to strengthen ties
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 19 May 2017
Modi arrived after India and the US expressed concerns about the Colombo government’s economic ties with Beijing.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 5: Judge Goyal mangles the law to sustain the legal vendetta
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 18 May 2017
Far from constituting a blow for justice, the court’s exoneration of 117 of the accused workers was a maneuver aimed at sustaining the legal vendetta against the principal accused—the leaders of the Maruti Suzuki Workers Union.
Sri Lanka: IMF orders government to speed up austerity measures
By Saman Gunadasa, 17 May 2017
The IMF has delayed a scheduled loan payment until the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government fully implements the bank’s austerity demands.
India intensifies repression in Kashmir
By Kranti Kumara and Wasantha Rupasinghe, 16 May 2017
India’s former National Security Advisor has warned that the ruling elite has lost control of the situation in Kashmir, with unarmed youth repeatedly risking their lives to impede security operations.
India: ICFI supporters hold May Day meeting in Bangalore
By our correspondents, 12 May 2017
The event was part of the Trotskyist movement’s commemoration of the centenary of the October 1917 Revolution.
Sri Lankan prime minister strengthens ties with US allies
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 11 May 2017
Despite seeking Chinese investment, the government remains committed to the provocative US-led military build-up in the region.
SEP (Sri Lanka) calls for workers’ inquiry into Meethotamulla garbage dump disaster
By the Socialist Equality Party, 9 May 2017
The Socialist Equality Party will initiate an independent working class investigation into the April 14 catastrophe that killed 32 people and displaced over 150 families.
Afghanistan-Pakistan border clash erupts amid seething regional tensions
By Sampath Perera and Keith Jones, 8 May 2017
Fighting Friday between Afghan and Pakistan troops killed at least 12 people and possibly many more.
“There is an air of worker rebellion in India and China”
A conversation with Professor Immanuel Ness on the Maruti Suzuki workers
By Jerry White, 4 May 2017
Brooklyn College Professor Immanuel Ness, who has written extensively on the class struggle in India, was part of a team that investigated the persecution of the Maruti Suzuki workers.
SEP Sri Lankan May Day meeting discusses threat of world war and lessons of Russian Revolution
By our correspondents, 4 May 2017
The central theme of the Colombo meeting was the struggle to mobilise the working class on the basis of socialist internationalism against the drive to war.
May Day 2017
Defend the 13 framed-up Indian Maruti Suzuki workers
By Keith Jones, 3 May 2017
The Maruti Suzuki workers have been framed-up and sentenced to life imprisonment through a conspiracy between the company, the police, the courts and India’s main parties.
May Day 2017
The fight for international socialism in South Asia
By Wije Dias, 2 May 2017
The region is caught up in the whirlpool of geo-political tensions produced by the drive towards another imperialist war, amid rising class struggle.
Sri Lanka: Jaffna picket demands release of framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 1 May 2017
Jaffna workers, youth, fishermen and housewives joined an SEP/IYSSE picket and public meeting to protest the witch-hunt and jailing of Indian autoworkers.
Sri Lanka SEP holds picket in Jaffna to free Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 28 April 2017
Despite the anti-democratic intervention of student union leaders, most Jaffna University students supported the campaign.
Tamil workers in northern Sri Lanka support Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 27 April 2017
Residents in the small town of Chavakachcheri, near Jaffna, said social conditions for Tamil workers were like those confronting the persecuted autoworkers in India.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 4: The police and company conspire against the workers
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 26 April 2017
Police colluded with Maruti Suzuki, fabricated evidence, and systematically failed to carry out basic forensic tests as part of a bogus investigation aimed at framing up militant workers who challenged sweatshop conditions.
Sri Lankan government seeks to suppress garbage disaster protests
By Wasantha Rupasinghe, 25 April 2017
The move to outlaw protests against garbage dumps has broader implications for all basic democratic rights.
Modi’s “Make in India” campaign and the battle of the Maruti Suzuki workers
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 25 April 2017
In arguing for the hanging of the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers, the prosecution denounced the workers for imperiling the Modi government’s efforts to woo profit-hungry investors.
Sri Lanka: Jaffna residents demand release of Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 22 April 2017
A picket and meeting in Jaffna next week will demand the release of the imprisoned Indian autoworkers.
ICFI supporters in India call meeting on “World War and the Russian Revolution”
22 April 2017
Speakers will explain that the only way to prevent another world war is the mobilisation of Indian workers as a part of an international anti-war movement.
Indian elite hails US bombings in Syria and Afghanistan
By Deepal Jayasekera, 21 April 2017
Leaders of the ruling Bharatiya Janatha Party and the opposition Congress Party support the US military attacks.
Indian bus workers strike against privatisation
By Arun Kumar, 19 April 2017
The Haryana bus stoppage underscored the intensifying class tensions across the state and India as a whole.
India strengthens defence ties with Bangladesh
By Sarath Kumara, 18 April 2017
The Indian government, in line with US geo-strategic manoeuvres, is attempting to reduce Bangladesh’s military and economic reliance on China.
Sri Lankan government sponsors a sham celebration of the Russian Revolution
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 15 April 2017
The event was a congregation of right-wing politicians, pseudo-lefts and anti-Marxist representatives of academia who are deeply hostile to the heritage of the Russian Revolution.
Sri Lankan artists express solidarity with the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 13 April 2017
A number of Sri Lankan artists have sent statements to the World Socialist Web Site calling for the release of jailed Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
“It is a frame-up and war on the working class”
Support grows for Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 13 April 2017
It has been nearly a month since an Indian judge condemned 13 autoworkers to life imprisonment.
Indian ICFI supporters to picket for release of Maruti Suzuki workers
12 April 2017
Workers in Sriperumbudur, Oragadam and other Special Economic Zones should join the April 17 protest and fight for the immediate freeing of the framed-up autoworkers.
Indian railway and transport workers denounce Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our correspondents, 11 April 2017
Workers in Chennai spoke out in defence of the jailed auto workers.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 2: The factory fire and the death of Avineesh Dev
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 7 April 2017
The fire was the pivot of the prosecution’s case, but it provided not a shred of credible evidence tying any of the workers to the blaze.
The frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers—Part 1: A travesty of justice
By Eric London and Keith Jones, 5 April 2017
Careful examination and systematic refutation of the state’s legal case has always been a critical part of international defense campaigns.
In the background of the Maruti Suzuki frame-up
Portrait of the Suzuki corporation, a ruthless transnational employer
By Shannon Jones and Saman Gunadasa, 4 April 2017
Suzuki is typical of the transnational auto corporations that scour the world in search of the cheapest labor and lowest production costs.
Sri Lankan university students condemn Maruti Suzuki frame-up
By our correspondents, 3 April 2017
Students and workers in Colombo, Kandy and Jaffna denounced the heavy sentences imposed on framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India.
Indian auto workers demand release of Maruti Suzuki workers
By Moses Rajkumar and Yuvan Darwin, 30 March 2017
Indian auto workers voice their support for the ICFI campaign and demand release of the Maruti Suzuki workers.
Sri Lankan SEP/IYSSE to picket and hold public meeting for release of Maruti Suzuki workers
30 March 2017
The campaign to overturn the frame-up of the Maruti Suzuki workers requires the independent mobilisation of the working class in India, throughout South Asia and internationally.
Sri Lankan workers support campaign to free framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By our correspondents, 28 March 2017
Socialist Equality Party campaigners distributed the ICFI statement “Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers” in Sinhalese and Tamil.
Sri Lankan government moves to privatise major state corporations
By Saman Gunadasa, 27 March 2017
State-owned enterprises will be turned into “self-sustained” commercial ventures.
“The 13 workers are political prisoners”
South Asian filmmakers Rahul Roy and Prasanna Vithanage back campaign to free Maruti Suzuki workers
By our reporters, 27 March 2017
Raul Roy, the director of The Factory, the 2015 documentary on the Maruti Suzuki workers, and the Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage have demanded the freedom of the 13 framed-up autoworkers.
Join the fight to free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers!
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 25 March 2017
Workers in Sri Lanka, India and around the world must unite to defeat the imprisonment of these victimised workers
Sham character of Maruti Suzuki workers’ trial further exposed
By Keith Jones, 23 March 2017
The presiding judge had to admit police colluded with Maruti Suzuki and fabricated evidence, but even as he did so, he downplayed the significance of these crimes.
Support grows for framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers in India
By Jerry White, 21 March 2017
Opposition to the brutal life sentences meted out to 13 Maruti Suzuki workers is growing in India and around the world.
Thirteen sentenced to life imprisonment in India
Free the framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers!
By International Committee of the Fourth International, 20 March 2017
Thirteen Maruti Suzuki workers have been condemned to life in prison as the result of a monstrous frame-up mounted by the automaker, the police and judicial authorities, with the full complicity of India’s principal political parties.
Indian court to hear sentencing arguments against framed-up Maruti Suzuki workers
By Shannon Jones, 17 March 2017
Thirteen autoworkers could face the death penalty in a case that has seen blatant collusion between company management, police and Indian state officials
IMF demands “decisive action” on Sri Lankan austerity cuts
By Saman Gunadasa, 16 March 2017
The global institution has ramped up its pressure on the government to further slash social spending and speed up the privatisation of state-owned enterprises.
Nationalist groups in Tamil diaspora seek deal with Trump at UN
By Athiyan Silva, 16 March 2017
While the US has abandoned its call for investigation of Sri Lankan civil war atrocities, the Tamil nationalists continue to promote Washington as an ally of the Tamil people and aid its anti-China war drive.
BJP gains in Indian state elections leave opposition Congress reeling
By Deepal Jayasekera, 15 March 2017
The BJP exploited popular anger with the Congress and various caste-ist and regional parties that have implemented pro-investor “reforms” and presided over mass joblessness.
ICFI supporters in India hold public meeting on “World War and the Russian Revolution”
By our correspondents, 13 March 2017
The Chennai meeting was part of the ICFI’s commemoration of the centenary of the October 1917 Revolution and promoted its online lecture series.
India: BJP-backed student union unleashes violence at Delhi University
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 8 March 2017
The ABVP’s attack on left-wing students at Delhi University is part of a concerted, government-supported campaign to stamp out political dissent at India’s universities.
Sri Lanka asks UN to delay human rights inquiry
By W.A. Sunil, 8 March 2017
The appeal to the UN Human Rights Council is another attempt to manipulate or suppress any investigation of war crimes in Sri Lanka.
US Congress members visit Sri Lanka to boost US interests
By Saman Gunadasa, 3 March 2017
Visits by delegations of senior officials from the US, India and China indicate intensifying strategic tensions.
Sri Lankan elite discusses “frightening economic situation”
By Saman Gunadasa, 22 February 2017
The country has been severely hit by the continuing global downturn and a prolonged drought that has destroyed key crops and driven up the prices of staple foods.
Trump administration to expand India-US military-strategic alliance
By Deepal Jayasekera and Keith Jones, 15 February 2017
The Trump administration is intent on using India as a frontline state in a drive to thwart China through economic and military pressure and, if need be, all-out war.
Sri Lankan president insists on retaining emergency powers
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 14 February 2017
The government’s decision underscores its readiness to use draconian measures against political opponents, workers and the poor.
Sri Lankan foreign minister raises concerns over Trump’s economic policies
By Minusha Fernando, 11 February 2017
Harsha de Silva told a Colombo meeting of business chiefs that the US president’s trade policies would drastically impact on the Sri Lankan economy.
Former diplomat admits India’s role in Sri Lankan communal war
By Vijith Samarasinghe, 10 February 2017
Shivashankar Menon’s account confirms the political and military support given by India to the Colombo government to crush the LTTE with large-scale civilian casualties.
Sri Lanka: Tamil parties launch communal campaign to divert social tensions
By Subash Somachandran and S. Jayanth, 9 February 2017
The political aim of the Batticaloa protest is to divide Tamil workers and the poor from their class brothers and sisters in Sri Lanka’s south.
Sri Lankan riot police attack Colombo port workers
By our reporters, 7 February 2017
The police set up barricades and used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a protest of port workers against privatisation.
Indian budget tabled amid demonetisation shock, mounting economic uncertainty
By Kranti Kumara, 3 February 2017
Ignoring mass joblessness and plunging exports and business investment, Finance Minister Jaitley claimed India is the “bright spot on the world economic landscape.”
Former Sri Lanka president intensifies efforts to resume power
By K. Ratnayake, 3 February 2017
The escalating conflict reflects deepening political instability within the ruling elite.
Sri Lanka: Pseudo-left NSSP celebrates alliances with capitalist parties
By Pani Wijesiriwardane, 1 February 2017
The NSSP has intensified its campaign to defend the current government as the government implements the IMF’s austerity demands and faces growing opposition from workers.
Bangladesh government opens apparel factory in prison
By Rohantha De Silva and Wimal Perera, 30 January 2017
The new prison factory will be used to lower wages and worsen conditions throughout the garment industry.
Central Bank governor says Sri Lankan economy “hospitalised”
By Saman Gunadasa, 27 January 2017
The bank chief, whose remarks exposed the depth of the country’s economic crisis, urged the government to step up IMF austerity measures.
India’s demonetisation scheme causing mass hardship
By Kranti Kumara, 18 January 2017
Demonitisation has forced farmers to sell to wholesalers at fire-sale prices, depressed consumer demand, and led cash-short employers to lay off workers en masse.
Government and employers attack striking apparel workers in Bangladesh
By Wimal Perera, 13 January 2017
The repression is aimed at preventing a broader eruption by workers against their appalling living and working conditions.
Former Sri Lankan president threatens to topple government
By Pradeep Ramanayake, 10 January 2017
Rajapakse hopes to return to power in 2017 by exploiting the growing political and economic crisis facing the government.
To target China, US further enhances military-strategic alliance with India
By Keith Jones, 15 December 2016
The last days of the Obama administration have seen a concerted, bi-partisan drive of the American political elite and the Pentagon to further cement the Indo-US “global strategic partnership.”
Sri Lankan SEP and Deeside Workers Action Committee call meeting to defend plantation workers
15 December 2016
The meeting will discuss a program to defend plantation workers’ jobs, wages and social rights.
Sri Lankan unions agree to impose share-cropper system on plantation workers
By W.A. Sunil, 15 December 2016
The new collective agreement is a prelude to a productivity-based payment regime proposed by the plantation companies.
Sri Lankan port minister threatens to sack striking workers
By our reporters, 14 December 2016
The government’s repression of the Magampura Port workers is a warning to the whole working class.
Sri Lankan government sends navy to suppress striking port workers
By our reporters, 12 December 2016
The Sirisena-Wickremesinghe government has sent a message to the entire working class that it will use police-military methods to suppress their struggles.
India rebuffs Pakistan’s “peace” overtures
By Keith Jones, 6 December 2016
India has demonstrably rebuffed Pakistan’s attempts to initiate a dialogue aimed at defusing the almost three-month-long war crisis between South Asia’s rival nuclear-armed states.
SEP meeting in Colombo discusses Trump’s election
By our correspondents, 6 December 2016
Speakers explained the far-reaching and reactionary implications of Trump’s victory for workers and young people globally.
Sri Lankan workers and students discuss Trump’s election
By our correspondents, 29 November 2016
Many people were keen to discuss with SEP and IYSSE campaigners the shift in world politics reflected in Trump’s victory.
Sri Lankan SEP holds meeting in Jaffna on the socialist alternative to nationalism and war
By our correspondents, 28 November 2016
Speakers explained the dangerous political agenda of the incoming Trump administration in the US and the necessity for workers and youth to mobilise on a revolutionary program.
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