The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) are holding a public meeting in the Colombo suburb of Dehiwala on May 1 to mark international workers’ day and discuss the vital political issues confronting the working class in South Asia and throughout the globe.

Internationally, the working class and oppressed masses are facing the growing danger of world war as the greatest breakdown of global capitalism since the 1930s intensifies national rivalries and antagonisms. At the same time, governments are seeking to impose the burden of the economic crisis on workers through an onslaught on jobs, living standards and democratic rights.

US imperialism is seeking to offset its historical decline through the use of its military might and is making preparations for war against China. Obama’s “pivot to Asia” has inflamed tensions throughout the region by encouraging US allies such as Japan, South Korea and the Philippines to take a more aggressive stand. Any one of a number of flashpoints, from the Korean peninsula to maritime disputes, could trigger the slide to war.

South Asia is being drawn into the vortex of US machinations. India has formed a strategic partnership with the US, knowing that Washington wants to use it as a counterweight against China. Obama has extended the US-led war in Afghanistan into Pakistan, with a mounting toll of civilian deaths from drone attacks. The Sri Lankan government is desperately trying to ward off US threats to pursue its war crimes—threats that are aimed at forcing it to distance itself from Beijing.

The only way of preventing war, social counterrevolution and the escalating attacks on democratic rights is through the independent mobilisation of the working class in an internationally unified movement to abolish capitalism and establish socialism. The SEP and its sister parties of the International Committee of the Fourth International are fighting for that revolutionary perspective. We warmly invite workers, youth and intellectuals to attend our meeting and participate in the discussion.

Date and Time: Wednesday, May 1, 3.00 p.m.

Venue: S. de S. Jayasinghe Hall, Dehiwala.

Main speaker: Wije Dias, SEP General Secretary.