| Description | Track 1: silence 0.17 mins
Interview with an unidentified man. He talks about problems faced by developing countries because of the lack of foreign exchange and the stagnant prices received for raw materials and discusses efforts made to encourage young people to take jobs in agriculture, the government policy of 'Free Education', and the overwhelming popularity of arts subjects in favour of science subjects, and the resulting high unemployment levels. He discusses the recent disturbancies in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) and places this in the wider context of youth disturbances in India, France and other countries. He talks about his belief that the insurgents exploited people with nothing to lose, to cause disruption, and discusses the survival of elements of the caste system in Ceylon as social distinctions based on birth. He goes on to talk about the effects that the insurgency has had on people's views about political violence and the proposed changes to the constitution (tracks 2-6).
Track 7: recording errors 0.16 mins
Interview with another unidentified man. He gives his opinion about the origins and growth of the Sinhalese movement, the radicalisation of young people in rural areas, and the racist elements of this movement because of the opposition to capitalist expansion by India and the belief that plantation workers of Indian origin were instruments of this despite their poverty and lack of property. He talks about efforts to organise the plantation workers, the reaction of Sinhalese youth to capitalism and the contribution of landlessness and rural unemployment to the social crisis in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). He considers the survival of elements of the caste system amongst both the Sinhalese and Tamil populations, the dominant castes in the country, and the the majority of support for the JVP (Janata Vimukti Peramura) or People's Liberation Front amongst the lower castes. He talks about the social backgrounds of the JVP leadership, which was not based in middle class intelligensia (tracks 8-13).
Track 14: silence 12.53 mins
Total: 36.31 mins
Dubber's reference number: PLA KF571E0553380 |