Srilanka, May 5 -- Another May Day has come and gone, with the governing party commanding impressive attendance, filling the Galle Face Green for the second time in five years. This robust showing arrives in stark contrast to recent history, when the former President wisely prohibited such gatherings under his "Clean the Green" concept.

"May Day is an alien concept; hence it cannot be declared as a public holiday."

This was the dismissive reply the Ceylon Labour Party, under the leadership of A. E. Goonesinghe, received from the British colonial government's Legislative Council in the early 1920s. The sentiment was echoed again in the 1930s by the State Council when newly emerging Marxist parties agitated for recognition of May 1st as ...