Call for declaring 10 Jan. as Day of Hill Country Trade Union martyrs

Kandy District SJB MP M Velu Kumar has sought parliamentary approval for his proposal to declare Jan 10 as the Day of the Martyrs of the Hill Country Trade Union to mark the death of all plantation sector unionists killed during trade union actions.

The day has been selected in respect of Mulloya Govinthan an estate worker who was shot dead during a protest by a foreign estate owner during the time of British rule.

The motion submitted by MP Velu Kumar says Parliament should resolve “that the Hill Country Trade Union Martyrs Day be declared in order to commemorate the first worker and all the martyrs who laid down their lives in the pursuit of non-violent struggle for the rights and welfare of the plantation workers and that the day shall be set on the 10th of January as it aligns with the sacrifice of the first Hill Country martyr, “Mulloya Govinthan”, who was shot dead by a white national in the face of their opposition to the struggle, during the first trade union struggle for salary hikes of plantation workers in Sri Lanka unfolded from December 1939 to January 1940, and whereas through democratic means, the Hill Country plantation workers have fervently fought for and secured their rights and as a testament to their struggles, the Hill Country people of Indian origin have long demanded that these martyrs who selflessly laid down their lives in the pursuit of democracy be commemorated on a designated day, and the Hill Country plantation workers stand as a community in Sri Lanka’s history, having made significant contributions to its economic growth.”