Comrade Linus Jayatilleke no more……..

A senior Marxist leader of Sri Lanka Comrade Linus Jayatilleke no more

A tribute by Meera Srinivasan of The Hindu newspaper “Very saddened to hear of the passing of senior Sri Lankan trade unionist Linus Jayatilleke, President, United Federation of Labour, yesterday.

Met him first in 2013, in Watawala, Nuwara Eliya, where he was campaigning for the land rights of Malaiyaha Tamils employed in the tea estates. Had the opportunity to listen to him speak at a seminar, held some years ago, on the Hartal of 1953, a massive strike action that many likened to the recent mass general strike, held against the Rajapaksas.

While his activism was focused on local workers’ wages and living rights, Linus had an admirable breadth of labour issues across the world. His demanding schedule didn’t prevent him from reading about contemporary movements elsewhere, he reached out to comrades everywhere, met them whenever and wherever he could, and kept learning, reflecting, and sharing. Most importantly, he had an inexhaustible reserve of optimism sans self-righteousness.

He once told me he was a priest before being fully drawn to the country’s then vibrant trade union movement with more political teeth. I wondered if that past had contributed to his particularly appealing manner of speaking, only enhanced by that baritone voice of his – pleasant while being persuasive and pushy. He laughed loudly. Rest in power, Linus.”

And my tribute to comrade Linus. Very very sorry to hear the sad demise of our friend and comrade Linus. Met his first time in 1980 at Amsterdam along Wasudeva and Bahu,

Met him many more times in Sri Lanka and abroad, and Always heard positive and struggling messages from him, a great orator and speaker, a great visionary leader of the Sri Lankan working class is no more

Our deepest condolences to comrades in Sri Lanka.

 

Farooq Tariq, Pakistan.