Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) is a

political party A political party is an organization that coordinates candidates to compete in a particular country's elections. It is common for the members of a party to hold similar ideas about politics, and parties may promote specific political ideology ...

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

. The party surged in 1964 following a split in the

Ceylon Communist Party The Communist Party of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ කොමියුනිස්ට් පක්ෂය, ''Sri Lankavay Komiyunist Pakshaya'' ta, இலங்கை கம்யூனிஸ்ட் கட்சி, trans ...

. Initially the party just called itself 'Ceylon Communist Party' as well, and was distinguished from the main CCP in Sri Lanka by denominations like 'Ceylon Communist Party (Peking Wing)', etc. In the end of the 1960s the party was one of the major leftist parties in the country. Initially Party was led by Premalal Kumarasiri and

N. Shanmugathasan Nagalingam Shanmugathasan ( ta, நாகலிங்கம் சண்முகதாசன், 1920 – 8 February 1993) was a trade unionist and Maoist revolutionary leader in Sri Lanka. He was the General Secretary of the Ceylon Communist P ...

History

1960s

Background

In June 1963, K.A. Subramaniam and D.B. Alwis have signed an agreement with

All-China Youth Federation The All-China Youth Federation (ACYF; zh , s = 中华全国青年联合会 ) is a people's organization founded on 4 May 1949 that represents many youth groups in China, including the Communist Youth League of China. Former paramount leaders a ...

on behalf of the Ceylon Federation of Communist and Progressive Youth Leagues for cooperation between the two organizations. They met China's vice premier and foreign minister

Chen Yi Chen Yi may refer to: * Xuanzang (602–664), born as Chen Yi, Chinese Buddhist monk in Tang Dynasty * Chen Yi (Kuomintang) Chen Yi (; courtesy names Gongxia (公俠) and later Gongqia (公洽), sobriquet Tuisu (退素); May 3, 1883 – June ...

during this trip to the

People's Republic of China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

in 1963. from

CIA The Central Intelligence Agency (CIA ), known informally as the Agency and historically as the Company, is a civilian intelligence agency, foreign intelligence service of the federal government of the United States, officially tasked with gat ...

report

Initial Organising Committee

The Organising Committee as on November 17, 1963 consisting of Premalal Kumarasiri, N. Sanmugathasan, D. N. Nadunge, D. K. D. Jinendrapala, Higgoda Dharmasena, K. Manickavasagar, N. L. Perera, K. Wimalapala, K. Kulaveerasingham, W. S. de Siriwardene, A. D. Charleshamy, Watson Fernando, W. A. Dharmadasa, S. M. Wickremasinghe, A. Jayasuriya, D. A. Gunasekera, Cyril Kulatunge, Victor Silva, K.A. Subramaniam, Susima, K. V. Krishnakutty, S. Janapriya, Kanti Abeyasekere, E. T. Moorthy, Dharmadasa Jayakoddy, H. G. A. de Silva, S. M. P. de Silva, H. M. P. Mohideen, D. M. J. Abeyagunewardene, O. A. Ramiah, D. B. Alwis, C. S. Manohar, S. Sivadasan, Samarasiri de Silva and P. Wijayatileke.

Founding

CPP founded in 1964. Premalal Kumarasiri received the

Zhou Enlai Zhou Enlai (; 5 March 1898 – 8 January 1976) was a Chinese statesman and military officer who served as the first Premier of the People's Republic of China, premier of the People's Republic of China from 1 October 1949 until his death on 8 J ...

, first

Premier of the People's Republic of China The premier of the State Council of the People's Republic of China, commonly called the premier of China and sometimes also referred to as the prime minister, is the head of government of China and leader of the State Council. The premier is ...

, on behalf of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) when Zhou visited Sri Lanka in 1964.

Early years and first splits

In 1964,

Rohana Wijeweera Patabendi Don Jinadasa Nandasiri Wijeweera ( si, පටබැඳි දොන් ජිනදාස නන්දසිරි විජෙවීර; 14 July 1943 – 13 November 1989, better known by his ''nom de guerre'' Rohana Wijeweera, was a ...

became a functionary of the Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist). Soon he was at odds with party leaders and impatient with their lack of revolutionary purpose and formed his own movement on 14 May 1965 after a discussion with like minded youth. It became known as the

Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP; ) is a Marxist–Leninist communist party and a former militant organization in Sri Lanka. The movement was involved in two armed uprisings against the government of Sri Lanka: once in 1971 (SLFP), and anot ...

or JVP. Subsequently, the “Peradiga Sulanga” (Broad Wind) team led by Gamini Yapa also left the Party. In 1965, W. A. Dharmadasa returned to the Ceylon Communist Party. He was actively working for Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) in Tamil speaking areas also.

Representation in the Parliament

From 1965 to 1970

S. D. Bandaranayake Samuel Dias Bandaranayake (1 December 1917 – 3 June 2014) was a Sri Lankan socialist politician and a member of parliament representing Gampaha. Early life and education Born to a wealthy family, his father was Conrad Peter Dias Bandaranaya ...

was representing Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) views in the parliament. During the struggles in the North against caste oppression and untouchability, he spoke in support of the struggles in parliament as well as visited the north with N. Shanmugathasan and K. A. Subramaniam to personally express solidarity with the struggling masses. In 1966 S. D. Bandaranayake questioned in the parliament regarding the mass uprising procession held from Chunnakam on 21 October 1966 to protest the caste oppression. Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) took the decision to carry forward the struggle and to conduct the procession in defiance of the ban by the police, this gave revolutionary enthusiasm to all the fronts of the Party. The blow struck on the procession opposing casteism in Chunnakam on 21 October 1966, many cadres were brutally assaulted by the police and received bleeding injuries. S. D. Bandaranayake, D. K. D. Jinendrapala, and Watson Fernando were arrested on 1 May 1969 in Colombo when the UNP Government banned the May Day rally. The Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) key leaders were brutally assaulted and arrested by the Police in

Jaffna Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th most ...

. Among them K.A. Subramaniam bed ridden for months at the residence of N. Sanmugathasan for treatment. S. D. Bandaranayake questioned in the parliament regarding these atrocities against the mass rally held in Jaffna on 1 May 1969 to protest the ban.

1970s

In 1972, some cadres criticized the party leader N. Shanmugathasan's opposition to the United Front government, arguing that UF was a 'progressive force'. Whilst the party leader N. Shanmugathasan was abroad in Albania in April 1972, D. N. Nadunge, Watson Fernando, E. T. Moorthy, D. A. Gunasekara and V.A. Kandasamy tried to seize control over the party. This faction regrouped and at a meeting on November 12, 1972 it took the name Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Marxist-Leninist). They sought to bring the Maoist movement closer to the UF orbit, but this faction remained a minor group compared to N. Shanmugathasan's Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist) which had the strong support from Samal De Silva, Kanti Abeyasekere and K.A. Subramaniam. Following the death of

Mao Zedong Mao Zedong pronounced ; also romanised traditionally as Mao Tse-tung. (26 December 1893 – 9 September 1976), also known as Chairman Mao, was a Chinese communist revolutionary who was the founder of the People's Republic of China (PRC) ...

and the take-over in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Deng Xiaoping Deng Xiaoping (22 August 1904 – 19 February 1997) was a Chinese revolutionary leader, military commander and statesman who served as the paramount leader of the People's Republic of China (PRC) from December 1978 to November 1989. After CC ...

, the party strongly denounced the new line of the Chinese leadership. In 1978, Party, led by N. Sanmugathasan, issued a public statement in defiance of the decision of the Central Committee not to accept the decision of the Tamils

self-determination The right of a people to self-determination is a cardinal principle in modern international law (commonly regarded as a ''jus cogens'' rule), binding, as such, on the United Nations as authoritative interpretation of the Charter's norms. It stat ...

and reject the

Three Worlds Theory In the field of international relations, the Three Worlds Theory ( zh, s=三个世界的理论, p=Sān gè Shìjiè de Lǐlùn) by Mao Zedong proposed to the visiting Algerian President Houari Boumédiène in February 1974 that the internationa ...

. This decision led to a split with Tamil self-determination and TWT defenders, and many, including Samal De Silva, K.A. Subramaniam, S. K. Senthivel, S. D. Bandaranayake left the party and formed a new political party called the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (Left).

1980s onwards

The party regrouped internationally amongst those who reaffirmed

Maoism Maoism, officially called Mao Zedong Thought by the Chinese Communist Party, is a variety of Marxism–Leninism that Mao Zedong developed to realise a socialist revolution in the agricultural, pre-industrial society of the Republic of Chi ...

, and was one of the signatories of the founding declaration of the

Revolutionary Internationalist Movement The Revolutionary Internationalist Movement (RIM) was an international communist organization founded in France in March 1984 by 17 various Maoist organisations around the world. It sought to "struggle for the formation of a Communist Internation ...

. In 1991 a conference was held which reconstructed it as 'Ceylon Communist Party (Maoist)'. N. Sanmugathasan led the party until his death in 1993.

International affiliations

The party already maintained strong connections with China in the era of Mao Zedong. Following the beginning of the Naxalite insurgency, CCP supported the CPI (M-L) by working as the liaison point between the Naxalites and China. Ajith Rupasinghe Surendra was affiliated the pro-Democracy factions in the

Nepalese Civil War The Nepalese Civil War was a protracted armed conflict that took place in the former Kingdom of Nepal from 1996 to 2006. It saw fighting between the Nepalese royal government and the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) throughout the country. ...

. Party was a member of the former Revolutionary Internationalist Movement.

References

{{Authority control Maoist parties Communist parties in Sri Lanka Political parties established in 1964 1964 establishments in Ceylon Revolutionary Internationalist Movement Anti-revisionist organizations Maoism in Asia