restaurants. The struggle was launched at the larger restaurants. A situation conducive to such equality existed in restaurants such as Subash Cafe and SeKu owned by friendly members of the Malayali community. It was here that it was clear that the Tamil nationalists, who boast that Tamils are the most ancient community, had on no occasion opened their businesses on an equal basis to members of the depressed community. It was this that we pointed out to the Tamils then. Two kinds of Tamil people existed then. One was the elevated kind; and the other was the depressed kind. One can recognise the two kinds if one stood opposite a tea boutique. On one side will be those whose tea is served in properly made cups or brass beakers; and on the other side will be those who have it in empty soda bottles, and low grade cans. This duality could be changed only in a few restaurants in 1958. But nothing significant happened across the northern region. society It was against this historical background at the time that left comrades launched the upsurge of October 1966, led by the Party comprising Marxist Leninists. It was a mass upsurge under the red flag bearing the slogan “Let the Caste System Fall Apart! Let Egalitarian Justice Arise!” The forthcoming 21st October marks fifty years since that event. The upsurge of 21st October 1966 was a vigorous upsurge against caste-based untouchability in which over a thousand youth took part, and was the most important upsurge in the Tamil society of the time. The struggle initiated by that upsurge enabled the building up of a front in the Tamil society called the “Mass Movement for the Eradication of Untouchability”. There were not only members of the depressed community. Members of the upper castes, leftists, communists, revolutionaries, democrats, progressives among people of various description participated in the struggle. That was why the campaign, besides developing into a broad-based campaign, facilitated struggles for equality in other matters as well.
Vavuniya: Comrade N Pradeepan chaired the meeting organized by the Vavuniya Regional Branch. The meeting was addressed by Comrades V Mahendran, Chandrapadman, Mahendran, KK Arunthavaraja, N Praveena and R Rajesvaran. Matale: Comrade David Suren chaired the meeting organized by the Matale Regional Branch. Comrades S Mohanraj, Jazeema Ismail and Manivel Rudra also addressed the meeting. Ragala: Comrade P Mariyathas chaired the meeting organized by the Ragala Regional Branch of the Party, and Comrades S Mohanarajan, Ragala Panneer and Semmalar Mohan. Colombo: The meeting organized by the Mass Movement for Social Justice was chaired by Dr S Sivasegaram, and the main address was by TG-Z MeeNilankco. The talk was followed by discussion and films on the life and politics of Comrade Castro. International Day of Struggle to Save the Natural Environment A meeting was organized by the New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Party on 12 November 2016 under the banner of the International Coordination of Revolutionary Parties and Organizations (ICOR) in Jaffna to mark the International Day of Struggle to Save the Natural Environment. The speakers were Comrades SK Senthivel, K Thanikasalam, S Sivasegaram and S Thanujan. The talks emphasized the dangers posed by the growing environmental crisis, the dominant role of capitalism in creating and aggravating the crisis and the significance of the struggle to the struggle to protect the environment. Political Public Seminar The New-Democratic Marxist-Leninist Matale Region conducted a public seminar titled “Will the Governance Regime Relieve the Toiling Masses of their Sorrows?” in Matale on 26th November 2016. The well