The Youth Leagues were societies of young people, mainly intellectuals, who wanted independence for

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 first of these organisations was the

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 ...

Students’ Congress, founded in 1924 and renamed the

Jaffna Youth Congress The Jaffna Youth Congress, was the first of Sri Lanka's Youth Leagues. It was influenced by the Indian Independence Movement, was secular and committed to Poorana Swaraj (Complete Self-Rule), national unity and the eradication of inequalities ...

(JYC) in 1926. It had its base amongst educated middle-class

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia ** Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nati ...

youth, especially and young graduates from

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

n Universities and from the newly founded

University College, Colombo Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...

. It drew enthusiasm and morale boosts from visits of leading Indian personalities, such as Gandhi and Nehru. In 1931 Kamaladevi Chattopadyaya addressed the opening session of the All-Ceylon Youth Congress, which brought together the Youth Leagues in the All-Ceylon Youth Congress. A group of young intellectuals who had returned to the island in the early thirties, having completed their studies abroad where they had been influenced by the

Marxist Marxism is a Left-wing politics, left-wing to Far-left politics, far-left method of socioeconomic analysis that uses a Materialism, materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to understand S ...

and labour movements, enthusiastically participated in the radical activities of the newly formed Youth Leagues, which became a focus of anti-imperialist agitation among the youth. In February 1933 they became involved in a strike at the Wellawatte Spinning and Weaving mills, the island's largest

textile Textile is an umbrella term that includes various fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, filaments, threads, different fabric types, etc. At first, the word "textiles" only referred to woven fabrics. However, weaving is not the ...

factory at that time with 1,400 workers (two-thirds of Indian origin and one-third Sinhalese). This gave the Youth Leaguers a chance for leadership as well as experience in trade union agitation. The South Colombo Youth League published an irregular journal in Sinhala, ''Kamkaruwa'' (The Worker). In November 1933 the Youth League radicals initiated a dynamic revival of the

Suriya-Mal Movement The Suriya-Mal Movement was formed in the British colony of Ceylon to sell ''Suriya'' flowers on Poppy Day for the benefit of Sri Lankan ex-servicemen. The movement became anti-imperialist in character, and was also involved in relief work during ...

. In opposition to the official

Poppy Day Remembrance Day (also known as Poppy Day owing to the tradition of wearing a remembrance poppy) is a memorial day observed in Commonwealth member states since the end of the First World War to honour armed forces members who have died in t ...

sponsored by the British colonial administration (which sent the funds it raised to Britain) the Youth Leagues sold the local ''Suriya'' (

Portia tree ''Thespesia populnea'', commonly known as the portia tree (), Pacific rosewood, Indian tulip tree, or milo, among other names, is a species of flowering plant belonging to the mallow family, Malvaceae. It is a tree found commonly on coasts ar ...

) flower, with the proceeds going to Ceylonese

ex-servicemen A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military. A military veteran that has ...

. During the malaria epidemic in 1934-5 these activists did relief work in the disease-stricken areas where over 100,000 people died. The Ministers of the Ceylon National Congress petitioned the colonial government to increase their powers, instead of demanding full independence, or even

dominion The term ''Dominion'' is used to refer to one of several self-governing nations of the British Empire. "Dominion status" was first accorded to Canada, Australia, New Zealand, Newfoundland, South Africa, and the Irish Free State at the 1926 ...

status. They were forced to withdraw their 'Ministers' Memorandum' after a vigorous campaign by the Youth Leagues.

References

UTHR(J), SOME MILESTONES IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF TAMIL POLITICAL CONSCIOUSNESS
accessed 3 November 2005.

accessed 3 November 2005.

accessed 3 November 2005.

accessed 3 November 2005.

accessed 3 November 2005. British Ceylon period Politics of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan independence movement Youth organisations based in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-poli-stub