The Hartal 1953 () was a country-wide demonstration of civil disobedience and strike, commonly known as a hartal, held in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) on 12 August 1953. It was organized to protest against the policies and actions of the incumbent United National Party government. It was the first mass political action in Ceylon and the first major social crisis after independence. This event is of historical significance because it was the first people's struggle against an elected government in the country.
Led by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and other leftist parties who called on the public to resist the government and demonstrate civil disobedience and strikes, the hartal was primarily a protest of the labouring class, and as such there were no exclusions based upon caste, ethnicity or religion. The protests saw much sabotage and destruction to public infrastructure, as a means of frightening and halting the government. This occurred mainly in the Western, Southern and Sabaragamuwa Provinces as well as other minor protests around the rest of the island. The demonstrations lasted only a day with at least 10 people killed, resulting in the resignation of the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake.
Background
In 1948 Ceylon had gained independence becoming a Dominion and Don Stephen Senanayake becoming the first Prime Minister of Ceylon. In March 1952 Senanayake died which began a violent tussle between his son Dudley Senanayake and his nephew John Kotelawala for his succession. The Governor General at the time Lord Soulbury arbitrated in favour of the late Prime Minister's son. In the General Elections held in May later that year, Dudley Senanayake's United National Party (UNP) secured a majority in Parliament giving him the premiership. However the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), and others, complained about irregularities that took place during the election and felt it had lost the most during it.
Economic crisis
The people had been accustomed for a rice subsidy, which was the staple diet of the island. Dating back from the rationing during World War II, the rice subsidy was issued for ration cards and over the 1940s had become a basis for the sustenance of the local population. The United National Party had promised in the 1952 election campaign to maintain the price of rice at 25 cents a measure. Soon after the election, the government faced a sudden economic crisis. In July 1952, the food subsidies were running at the rate of 300 million rupees, which was a third of the estimated revenue in the planned budget for the coming year. Ceylon depended heavily on rice exports and the global price of rice increased because of the Korean War. R. G. Senanayake, Minister of Trade and Commerce negotiated the Ceylon-China Rubber-Rice Pact, a barter systems which allowed Ceylon to trade its rubber for rice from the People's Republic of China without affecting its foreign reserves. The pact came into effect despite the opposition of the Finance Minister J. R. Jayewardene who was pro-United States which was engaged in bitter fighting with the People's Republic of China in the Korean War. However, it did not help the government's financial position, with its trade surplus of 345 million rupees in 1951 turning into a trade deficit of 200 million rupees in 1952.
Social welfare cuts and the price of rice
On this backdrop, the government outlined its policy to cut down the food subsidy and Prime Minister Dudley Sirisena stated that continuing the subsidy would ruin the country during his Throne Speech on 7 July 1953. The government proposed to cut the rice subsidy, making the ration cards called the hal potha (rice book) obsolete. This effectively increased the price of rice from 25 cents to 70 cents per measure with effect from 20 July. The price of sugar increased concurrently. Other social welfare measures were also cut down to save government expenditure. From 10 July onwards, the free mid-day meal for school children was withdrawn, postal fee and railway fares were also increased.