Category: Statement

The diabolical horrors unfolding in Gaza compel people of conscience across the world to take a principled stand in solidarity with the Palestinian people. The current violence unleashed indiscriminately on Gaza in particular, is supposedly aimed at eradicating Hamas whose surprise attack on 7 October, and abhorrent killings of civilians as well as subsequent taking… Continue reading Sri Lanka must act in solidarity with Palestine!

Working women are bearing the debt burden! In 1908, 15,000 working women marched through New York City demanding decent working hours, better pay, and voting rights. In 1910, at the Second International Conference of Working Women, Clara Zetkin proposed the idea of an International Women’s Day. On this 8 March 2023, we are moved by… Continue reading International Women’s Day: Sri Lankan Women Demand Democracy, Economic Justice, and Freedom – Feminist Collective for Economic Justice

Sri Lanka, along with many other low- and middle-income countries, has experienced a series of financial shocks due to both external and internal factors. Global forces have caused food and energy import costs to soar and interest rates to rise, even as the currency has devalued significantly. These shocks,  along  with  a  history of  policy… Continue reading Statement by academics on dealing with Sri Lankan debt, January 2023

We are a group of feminists writing to call urgent attention to the extra-constitutional attempts of the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) to suppress dissent. Lacking a popular mandate, hunting down student protestors and activists, including a LGBTIQ activist has become a central strategy of the political élite to retain power. The latest move by… Continue reading SL Govt – Stop Labeling Student Protestors and Activists as Terrorists!

As a professional trade union which has historically stood for social justice in Sri Lanka, FUTA is appalled by the massive repression unleashed on leading Aragalaya activists by the illegitimate Wickremasinghe-Pohottuwa government. FUTA as an organisation identifies itself with the spirit of the Aragalaya. We stand by the brave youth and activists drawn from all… Continue reading “Illegitimate Government, Immediately Halt Repression!” FUTA Statement on the Current Situation

We, the undersigned academics who work on Sri Lanka and South Asia more broadly, fully condemn the violent assault on peaceful protestors in Colombo by the Sri Lankan security forces on 22 July 2022. We are aghast at reports that five of the protestors were abducted and tortured by security force personnel; violently beaten, forced… Continue reading “We condemn the violent assault on peaceful protestors” — Academics Abroad

The July 9th uprising is a revolutionary moment. The people have spoken, in their millions, in the midst of a grave economic collapse, demanding change and clamouring for greater democracy. They pointed out the dire failure of the political leadership at the top. Gotabaya Rajapaksa fled overseas, without resigning, holding the country to ransom; and… Continue reading The Executive Presidency must go!

[i]The Sri Lankan nation is facing the worst financial, economic, and socio-political crisis in 74 years since independence. The entire world is aware of the extreme economic, financial, social, and political turmoil that the citizens and working people of Sri Lanka are going through and the extreme difficulties they are facing. Following the resignation letters… Continue reading The Solution to the Current Crisis is to Establish a Government Conscious of Workers’ and Farmers’ Rights – Ceylon Plantation Workers’ (‘Red Flag’) Union

  Our broken nation lies before us, caught up in an unprecedented social and economic tragedy of incomparable historic proportions.  Young and old spend hours and days queuing for petrol, gas, medicine.  Some have even died in these queues.  The cost of food skyrockets before our eyes, and our beloved farmers, unable to tend their… Continue reading Our broken nation lies before us: ‘The People’s Command’ – From the Galle Face Aragalaya bhoomi

As the national trade union representing university academics, which has stood firmly behind the ongoing people’s struggle for democracy and economic stability, the Federation of University Teachers’ Associations (FUTA) strongly condemns the non-consultative and self-serving appointment of Mr. Ranil Wickremasinghe as Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by President Gotabhaya Rajapaksa on 12 May 2022. On… Continue reading An Undemocratic Political Deal: FUTA on Ranil Wickremesinghe Appointment