An Obituary (with Pictures) by Michael Pröbsting, International Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT), 9 July 2025, www.thecommunists.net

It is with great sorrow that we have learnt of the death of our Sri Lankan comrade Kumarasamy Kamalanathan on 30 June. He left his wife Punniyaseela, their two daughters, Praaveena and Bhavithra, their son Pradeepan and sons-in-law Kamaladhaashan and Sivaraja as well as many friends and comrades.

Born on 14 October 1960 into a Tamil family, Kamal – as he was called by friends and comrades – spent his whole life in the Central Province Nuwaraeliya District. This district is home of vast stretches of land of the country’s famous tea plantations. Before he became a small farmer, Kamal worked as a a photographer (which remained his life-long hobby), a clerk at a plantation estate as well as a teacher. He shared the living conditions of the Tamil masses who face super-exploitation and national oppression. Many of them live in small, isolated and poor villages which often have only limited access to electricity and water. An increasing number of plantation workers suffer from informalisation of work which allows the estate owners to avoid providing social security. Today the minimum daily wage of tea plantation workers is as low as 2.78 US-Dollar. In addition, they regularly experience discrimination by the Sinhala-dominated authorities and police. (1)

Comrade Kamal was a life-long fighter for social justice. He was dedicated to improving the living conditions of the plantation workers and small peasants by organizing them in trade unions. As President of the United Lanka Workers Union, he worked tirelessly to aid his colleagues. Recently, he collaborated with Sivagnanam Prabaharan (Coordinator of the Up-Country Social Research Centre) and Herman Kumara (Core Committee member of the South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication) for such purpose.

Kamal was also a Trotskyist for many years. In late 2011 he joined the group around our late comrade Maruthei Thangavel. (2) Like the founding members of the RCIT, these comrades were bureaucratically expelled shortly before from our predecessor organization – the League for the Fifth International. One of the reasons for this split was our consistent support for the program of national liberation of oppressed peoples – in the case of Sri Lanka this was advocacy of an independent Tamil state if the majority of the Tamils desires such. Hence, together with comrades in Pakistan and the U.S., we quickly found common ground for joining forces in building a new international organisation, the Revolutionary Communist International Tendency (RCIT). (3)

During one of my trips to Sri Lanka, I stayed in comrade Kamal’s house for about 10 days in January/February 2012. During this time, I had the opportunity to learn more about his living conditions and his personality. Kamal was a strong character and a natural leader. It was easy to understand why he was able to build and lead a trade union who defended the interests of the workers and small peasants. When we walked around in his village, I could see that he was a widely respected figure.

When we did sit together in the evenings with his wife Punniyaseela and his daughter Praaveena, he told me, among others, about his experience in the difficult years of the civil war. Between 1983 and 2009, the Tamil Tigers – a petty-bourgeois nationalist liberation movement – had waged an armed uprising against Sinhala-chauvinist government and demanded an independent state (Tamil Eelam). Albeit Kamal, being a Trotskyist, opposed their methods this was a challenging period for all revolutionaries given the tremendous repression by the state forces. It is sufficient to say at this point that he did show tremendous courage also in that period.

Together with comrade Thanga, Kamal played a leading role in building the section of the RCIT, the United Lanka Workers’ Party. The organization consisted mostly of Tamil workers and was based in the districts of Nuwara Eliya and Ratnapura. Kamal and Thanga worked hard to expand the organisation and to combine the party work with their trade union work.

However, with the severe illness of comrade Thanga, who died in August 2011, the work of the section faltered. Ultimately, the section ceased to function as an effective organisation. Nevertheless, we have continued to keep fraternal relations with comrades.

Kamal’s funeral demonstrated the widespread respect he had as a communist and trade union leader. His coffin was wrapped with a large red flag with hammer and sickle and dozens of people came together to show their last respect for a tireless fighter.

We send our deep condolences to his family and comrades. Kamal’s body has passed away, but his revolutionary spirit continues to exist among all of us who dedicate their life to the liberation struggle of the working class.

Comrade Kumarasamy Kamalanathan – Presente!

1) Shrestha, S., Dhar, S. And Prabaharan, S. (2022). South Asia Report: Plight of Tea Plantation Workers and Smallholder Farmers in South Asia. South Asia Alliance for Poverty Eradication (SAAPE), Nepal

2) In Memory of Comrade Maruthei Thangavel (1954-2021), https://www.thecommunists.net/rcit/comrade-maruthei-thangavel-1954-2021/

3) For the origins and the early history of the RCIT see our book by Michael Pröbsting: Building the Revolutionary Party in Theory and Practice. Looking Back and Ahead after 25 Years of Organized Struggle for Bolshevism, December 2014, https://www.thecommunists.net/theory/rcit-party-building/