- by FK
- The Guardian
- Issue #2148
A dramatic presentation of the party’s history.
Melbourne comrades attended and participated in the Jathika Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) 60th anniversary celebration on 31 May this year with enthusiastic members of the Sri Lankan diaspora.
Members learned about the party’s history through suppression and armed uprisings to its current position after winning presidential, parliamentary, and local elections. As previously described in this paper, the JVP worked with community organisations to form a genuinely representative government that swept the parliamentary elections in November 2024.
Despite most of the audience being Sinhalese speakers, the local JVP branch kindly translated a large part of the proceedings into English. Melbourne comrades enjoyed a variety of revolutionary JVP songs and a phenomenal dramatic presentation of the party’s history. I still have the Sinhalese version of ‘The Internationale’ ringing in my ears!
Communist Party of Australia General Secretary Andrew Irving was one of the speakers, describing the CPA’s long involvement with the JVP, and paying tribute to Sri Lankan party members’ persistence and organisation. Comrade Andrew was also amongst those invited to light a traditional oil lamp as a way of wishing the JVP future success.
Andrew Irving addressing the crowd.
