Peasants stand at Mannar on May day against Exploitation, Oppression, and Repression

In a significant show of solidarity, farmers, fishermen, dairy farmers, indigenous communities, and plantation workers gathered in Mannar to celebrate the Farmers’ May Day this year. This marks only the second time a Farmers’ May Day has been organized in Sri Lanka.

Under the theme “Let’s build farmer power against exploitation, oppression, and repression,” the event aimed to draw social attention to the numerous challenges faced by rural communities across the country. The event was jointly organized by activists working toward a National Farmers’ Movement and People’s Planning Forums from all eight provinces.

The May Day parade and rally highlighted several pressing issues affecting rural communities, including the exploitation of natural resources such as land, water, and seeds; human-elephant conflicts; pressure from the World Bank and International Monetary Fund; the predatory microfinance loan system that particularly burdens women; and the systematic exclusion of farmers, fishermen, dairy farmers, plantation workers (Malaiyaga people), and indigenous communities from national decision-making processes.

This year’s Farmers’ May Day declaration brought 30 key issues to the government’s attention. The declaration emphasized demands for a political solution to the national problem, stopping plans to seize lands from small-scale food producers including farmers, ensuring dignified living conditions and land rights for plantation workers, uniting the working and farming classes, immediately withdrawing from IMF loan programs, returning all lands seized from people in the North and East, halting the exploitation of natural resources, establishing food sovereignty as a fundamental right, and abolishing all repressive legislation.

Representatives from various community groups addressed the rally, sharing their experiences and perspectives on these critical issues.

The event represents a growing movement among Sri Lanka’s rural communities to organize collectively and advocate for their rights and livelihoods in the face of economic, environmental, and political challenges.

Northern Province Coordinator of the Movement  for  Land and Agriculture Reform (MONLAR) , Theva Krishnan:

We have all come together today and collectively created a political change. However, we need to examine whether this political change has brought about the transformation we intended.

You know that politicians in this country have spoken about concepts like peace and equality, but ultimately many Tamil people died in Mullivaikkal. In such a context, we must remember that within the current political environment, there is potential for self-serving exploitation under the guise of protecting people’s rights, limited to mere talk while pursuing narrow political agendas. This applies regardless of whether it’s the North, South, or East. We all need to unite in solidarity to address these issues. You know that wind power plants are currently operating in the Mannar area. In such situations, it is the farmer who becomes the victim. Therefore, everyone must unite to defeat this situation.

Sudesh Gamage, speaking on behalf of the Walawa Farmers’ Organization, stated:
‘We came to Mannar traveling for 10-12 hours because we need to rise against the rulers who steal our rights and attack our livelihoods. We started the initial step of the Farmers’ May rally in 2024 from Embilipitiya. This is the second phase. Coming to Mannar, we can see that farmers in the North face the same problems as those in the South. We are all one. The same blood runs in our veins. But the rulers divide us in various ways to seize their power. This is what has always happened. We came to the North today to tell them they cannot divide us again. Now we are one. We all stand together for our rights. Because there is no difference between North and South. They are trying to destroy the future of our children. The only answer to this is farmer power. We are preparing with brotherhood to build that farmer power together.'”

Mohamed Haleem, Secretary of the Mannar Fisheries Association, who joined this May rally, expressed his views as follows:

Mannar is a very small island, 4 kilometers wide and 30 kilometers long. On one side of Mannar, the sea is being exploited, on the other side, lands are being exploited, and on another front, they are trying to exploit the wind. Because of this, Mannar has become a prime location for resource exploitation. This exploitation has deprived the people of this region of their livelihoods. There are about fifty thousand people in Mannar who depend on the fishing industry. Today, due to these Indian trawler vessels, they have become unable to make a living. Recently, Prime Minister Modi visited Sri Lanka. We don’t know if there was anything about fishery resources in the agreements he signed with our President. We tell the government to inform the country about what’s in those agreements, whether there’s anything about our fishery resources. The people brought this government to power. If this government is going down the same path as the previous governments, then we can overthrow this government too next time.

Terrence Gamini, President of the Movement  for  Land and Agriculture Reform (MONLAR)

Farming as the farmer’s place has now been completely eliminated. We farmed to eliminate hunger. What has happened now is farming for profit. To make profits and increase yields, they are now eliminating the place of the farmer or farming itself. Because profit is necessary, they have turned the farmer into an entrepreneur by using genetically modified seeds, chemical fertilizers, and machinery. Even with increased yields, the farmer has been unable to satisfy their hunger. The consumer hasn’t been able to eat at a lower price either. If this continues, what will happen is our future generations will suffer from malnutrition. Don’t worry, the governments won’t let us die from malnutrition. They give subsidies. The rulers shamelessly say they have increased subsidies. No country has ever succeeded through subsidies. Neoliberalism is a system where they get rich by taking what is ours. We cannot stand against this process alone. That is why we need to unite like this to fight against their system.”

Ratugala Indigenous Leader Sudawannilatto

As the rightful owners of the first generation in this country, we protected this forest. But because of the Inginiyagala Development Project, we were expelled from the forest. We don’t know farming. We lived by hunting. Now we have lost not only our livelihood but also our culture and everything else. We came to Mannar today for our rights, to join with you in the struggle.

Vimukthi de Silva – ICC Member of La via Campesina

Food producers around the world have become severely victimized due to the free trade agreements of world powers. Even the current government is telling us not to grow food for consumption but to grow for export. This is a government that has gone crazy for dollars. On the other hand, world powers are currently carrying out serious land grabs. They are creating wars around the world and looting lands. This is what is happening today in Palestine, Haiti, and Egypt. The land belongs to food producers. No one can take away that right. Natural resources cannot be allowed to be seized under the guise of development as desired by powerful entities. For this reason, it is essential for us to organize and struggle globally, not separately. Looking at the situation in Sri Lanka, we know that microfinance loans have brought Sri Lankan women farmers to a state where they are losing their lives. Therefore, as a global women farmers’ movement, we clearly state that we must fight against this. We are organizing and acting as a global farmers’ movement against such processes that deprive food producers of their rights. The struggle is global, the fight is global.

K. Rasalingam, Eastern Province People’s Planning Forum

Land grabbing has become a major problem faced by the eastern community and farmers in our country. Land in the eastern region is being looted under the guise of various activities such as sacred sites, geological surveys, and activities of the Wildlife Department. In Mylattamadu, there are many farmers engaged in cattle farming, and the grasslands necessary for their cattle are currently being looted. They have been engaged in struggles for more than a year and a half now.

To free ourselves from the challenges we face today, we must protect the rights of our country’s farming and working people and establish leadership for this purpose. We have experienced that it is through struggle that we can obtain our rights. There is no solution without struggle.

Chintaka Rajapaksha, Co-convener of the People’s Action for a National Farmers’ Movement

Behind every slogan you see here is an issue intertwined with our lives. So what we have brought to this platform are a number of issues that significantly affect our lives. All these problems are what we call exploitation, repression, and oppression. We came to Mannar to build farmer power against all of these. It is the struggle for the rights of the oppressed farmers, fishermen, and workers that we are pledging in Mannar today. The victimized people suffering from every problem we mentioned are sitting here. They are thinking about how to protect their cultivation from elephants tomorrow, how to save their land, how to save our tanks, and how to oppose when Chinese and Indian fishermen come and take away our fish. These are the questions they are seeking answers to. It is difficult to find answers to all of these individually. Only if we all come together and embrace a single purpose can we fight these problems and find answers. That is why we have established the Action for a National Farmers’ Movement. Let us all unite and win our rights.”