Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)
SEP campaign team discusses US war threat to Syria
By our correspondent, 13 September 2013
Workers and youth who spoke to the SEP drew from their experience of the protracted civil war in Sri Lanka.
SEP campaign team discusses socialist program in Jaffna
By our correspondents, 4 September 2013
Socialist Equality Party campaigners in Sri Lanka explained the party’s program to workers, farmers, youth and fisherman in war-torn areas in the Jaffna district.
SEP candidate in Sri Lanka denounces US war threat
Hands off Syria!
By Paramu Thirugnanasambanthar, 4 September 2013
The Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) denounces the US war plans against Syria and calls on the international working class to oppose imperialist war.
TamilNet criticises WSWS article for opposing separatist program
By K. Ratnayake, 31 August 2013
TamilNet can only keep peddling the lie that “self-determination” is the sole solution for Tamils by maintaining silence on the political lessons of the war
Sri Lankan SEP holds its first election meeting in Jaffna
By our correspondents, 28 August 2013
The public meeting revealed a growing interest by workers, young people and women from the war-ravaged Jaffna in the SEP’s socialist program.
Sri Lankan military harasses SEP candidates for northern provincial election
By W. A. Sunil, 26 August 2013
Military intelligence officers visited the homes of candidates in a calculated attempt to intimidate the party.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold election meeting in Jaffna
22 August 2013
The meeting will address the pressing issues of the US drive to war against China and the government’s onslaught on living standards and democratic rights.
Socialist Equality Party manifesto for Sri Lankan provincial election
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 20 August 2013
The SEP is the only party fighting for a socialist and internationalist program in the September 21 elections for the Northern Province in Sri Lanka.
Australian SEP election candidate addresses Colombo meeting
By our correspondents, 16 August 2013
SEP assistant national secretary James Cogan explained that the party’s election campaign is aimed at building an international antiwar movement against the US war preparations for war on China.
India: NLC contract worker and WSWS supporter Sivakumar dies at 42
By Arun Kumar, 14 August 2013
Sivakumar belonged to the most abused and exploited section of the working class in India.
Military crackdown on Sri Lankan protesters: A warning to the working class
the Socialist Equality Party, 9 August 2013
This was a calculated attack, carried out on the Rajapakse government’s orders, to intimidate workers, young people and the poor throughout the island.
Australian SEP candidates to address meetings in Sri Lanka and New Zealand
6 August 2013
The meetings will discuss the socialist and internationalist perspective on which the working class throughout the Asia-Pacific region and internationally must build a new anti-war movement
Sri Lankan SEP to contest provincial council election in Jaffna
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 5 August 2013
The SEP will advance an international socialist program to oppose militarism and defend the democratic rights and living standards of working people.
SEP/IYSSE meeting in Colombo: Defend Edward Snowden!
By the Socialist Equality Party, 4 July 2013
The SEP is holding a public meeting in defence of the NSA whistleblower who has exposed the vast surveillance operations of US intelligence agencies.
Sri Lankan SEP holds May Day meeting
By our correspondents, 9 May 2013
The May Day meeting in Colombo was held under the banner: “Fight for international socialism to defeat US imperialist war drive.”
Sri Lankan SEP meeting marks 25th anniversary of Keerthi Balasuriya’s death
By our correspondents, 14 February 2013
Around 200 workers, youths and professionals attended the meeting held to discuss the enduring significance of Keerthi’s life and work.
Sri Lankan ex-lefts and the impeachment crisis
By Vilani Peiris and Sarath Kumara, 2 February 2013
Throughout this political crisis, the NSSP and USP have intervened to subordinate workers and youth to the United National Party, a right-wing bourgeois party.
Sri Lanka’s constitutional crisis: The way forward for workers
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 30 January 2013
The SEP calls for the broadest campaign by workers, the rural poor and youth to defend democratic rights on the basis of a revolutionary socialist program.
Sri Lankan SEP to mark 25th anniversary of Keerthi Balasuriya’s death
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 29 January 2013
The memorial meeting to be held February 10 will discuss Keerthi Balasuriya’s political and theoretical contribution to the struggle for socialist internationalism and its significance for the working class today.
SEP holds meeting in Jaffna despite military threats
By our correspondent, 25 January 2013
The advertised venue had been closed by the management, citing “an order of the defence ministry”.
Sri Lankan SEP condemns defence ministry ban on Jaffna meeting
By the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 25 January 2013
The SEP organised a public meeting in Jaffna to introduce its perspectives, The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party, published recently in book form.
25 years since Keerthi Balasuriya’s death
South Asia’s foremost Marxist of the second half of the 20th century
Part two
By Wije Dias, 28 December 2012
The second part of a two-part series about the political struggle waged for proletarian internationalism by the Sri Lankan RCL’s founding general secretary.
25 years since Keerthi Balasuriya’s death
South Asia’s foremost Marxist of the second half of the 20th century
By Wije Dias, 27 December 2012
The upsurge of the class struggle today, driven by the ongoing breakdown of global capitalism since 2008, has underlined the necessity of studying the profound theoretical and political contribution made by Keerthi Balasuriya. Whether in North Africa or the Middle East, in the historically backward and the advanced countries of the world, the urgent need is to resolve the crisis of leadership of the working class on the basis of Leon Trotsky’s theory of permanent revolution.
Sri Lankan SEP marks 25th anniversary of Keerthi Balasuriya’s death
By our correspondent, 19 December 2012
SEP members and supporters attended the memorial ceremony in the Colombo General Cemetery.
The enduring significance of the life and work of Comrade Keerthi Balasuriya
18 December 2012
Comrade Balasuriya was convinced that the only force upon which the struggle for socialism could be based was the international working class, and that the principal task of revolutionary Marxists was to forge the political independence of the working class by saturating it, to use the well-known expression of Lenin, with socialist consciousness.
In Memory of Keerthi Balasuriya
By David North, 18 December 2012
Notwithstanding the immense political and economic changes of the past two decades, the issues and problems with which Keerthi grappled remain no less urgent and relevant today than they were at the time of his death.
Sri Lankan SEP public meeting on Historical and International Foundations document
By our correspondents, 24 November 2012
Workers and students discussed the main perspective resolution adopted at the SEP’s founding congress in 2011.
Lecture on Sri Lankan SEP’s historical and international foundations
5 November 2012
The lecture will launch the SEP’s new publication—The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party-Sri Lanka.
Sri Lanka: SEP holds Piyaseeli Wijegunasingha memorial lecture
By Sujeewa Amaranath, 20 October 2012
The lecture, “Counterculture or Scientific Socialism,” explained and defended Piyaseeli’s struggle for Marxism, particularly in the field of art.
D.N. Wickremaratne 1950—2012
Sri Lankan Trotskyist dies
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 11 October 2012
Wickremaratne joined the party in 1990 and was well known for his firm, principled commitment to the struggle for Trotskyism.
“Counterculture or Scientific Socialism”
Sri Lankan SEP to hold Piyaseeli Wijegunasingha commemorative lecture
25 September 2012
The SEP speaker will answer the recent post-modernist misrepresentation of Piyaseeli’s writings and explain her revolutionary Marxist standpoint.
Sri Lanka: US SEP presidential candidate speaks in Kegalla
By our correspondents, 31 August 2012
The candidate’s speech provoked an important and lively discussion in the question-and-answer session.
US SEP presidential candidate speaks with Sri Lankan plantation workers
By our correspondents, 30 August 2012
Visiting presidential candidate Jerry White discussed the necessity for the unity of the American and Sri Lankan working class.
US SEP presidential candidate declines to meet LSSP
29 August 2012
The WSWS publishes a letter from the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in Sri Lanka and the reply by US presidential candidate Jerry White.
Lively discussion with US presidential candidate at Colombo meeting
By our correspondents, 28 August 2012
The questions pointed to an understanding among workers and youth that the political situation in Sri Lanka is intimately bound up with broader international processes.
Sri Lanka: Colombo public meeting hears US SEP presidential candidate
By our correspondents, 27 August 2012
US presidential candidate Jerry White addressed a well-attended meeting in Colombo yesterday.
US SEP presidential candidate begins international tour
By our correspondents, 25 August 2012
Jerry White received a warm welcome from the Sri Lankan SEP on his arrival in Colombo yesterday.
Colombo press conference announces US SEP presidential candidate’s visit to Sri Lanka
By our correspondents, 23 August 2012
Jerry White, the Socialist Equality Party’s US presidential candidate, will address public meetings in Colombo, Kegalle and Galle.
Sri Lankan SEP meeting discusses socialist policy for fishermen
By our correspondent, 12 July 2012
The SEP and ISSE campaign dealt with the issues raised by protests by fishermen earlier this year against fuel price hikes.
India: The lessons of the NLC betrayal
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 11 July 2012
The Stalinist unions deliberately blocked any political fight against the state and central governments, and a turn to other sections of workers.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold meeting on fishermen’s struggle
By Socialist Equality Party, 26 June 2012
The public meeting in the western Sri Lankan port of Chilaw will discuss a socialist program for fishermen and their families.
Sri Lanka: SEP holds plantation workers’ congress
By W.A.Sunil, 25 May 2012
The SEP plantation workers congress in Hatton last Saturday reflected important political shifts in the Sri Lankan working class
India: WSWS team attacked as NLC strike enters second month
By Arun Kumar, 22 May 2012
The assault on WSWS supporters, who were distributing a leaflet exposing the role of the government and the unions, is a clear sign that a betrayal is being prepared.
Sri Lankan SEP condemns attack on WSWS supporters in India
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 21 May 2012
The assault by AIADMK thugs is a warning to workers of the methods that governments and employers will use to suppress opposition to the deepening assault on jobs and living standards.
Sri Lanka: SEP and ISSE hold May Day meeting
By our correspondents, 9 May 2012
Over 200 workers and youth attended the SEP and ISSE May Day meeting held in Colombo last week.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold plantation workers’ congress
Socialist Equality Party, 7 May 2012
The plantation workers’ congress on May 20 will discuss and adopt a socialist program to defend the democratic rights, jobs and living conditions of estate workers.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold May Day meeting
By the Socialist Equality Party, 21 April 2012
An SEP and ISSE public meeting in Colombo on May 1 will to mark international workers’ day.
SEP campaigns for plantation workers’ congress
By Panini Wijesiriwardane, 17 April 2012
A campaign team visited the Shannon Tea Estate near Hatton, where workers are fighting the company’s increased tea plucking targets.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 12
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 7 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 11
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 6 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 10
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 5 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 9
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 4 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 8
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 3 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing its publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 7
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 2 April 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 6
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 31 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 5
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 30 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 4
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 29 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 3
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 28 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
Sri Lankan SEP calls plantation workers’ congress
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 27 March 2012
The Plantation Workers’ Congress will be held on May 20 to discuss and adopt a socialist program to defend basic democratic and social rights.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 2
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 27 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is continuing publication of The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka)—Part 1
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 26 March 2012
The World Socialist Web Site is publishing The Historical and International Foundations of the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) which was adopted unanimously at the party’s founding congress in Colombo, 27–29 May 2011.
Sri Lanka: Oppose the government’s price hikes!
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 22 February 2012
Workers and the rural masses in Sri Lanka confront a common struggle with their counterparts globally against the austerity agenda being imposed by governments around the world.
Sri Lankan SEP condemns government attack on the party’s rights
By our correspondents, 20 February 2012
The SEP and ISSE in Sri Lanka held a public meeting last Monday against the military’s banning of a meeting and the intimidation of SEP members in Jaffna.
Sri Lanka: SEP open letter to the defence minister
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 11 February 2012
The Socialist Equality Party demands that the Rajapakse government immediately ends the harassment and threats by the military against party members in Jaffna.
Sri Lanka: Military continues intimidation of SEP in Jaffna
By our correspondent, 10 February 2012
After banning an SEP public meeting in Jaffna, the military has intensified its threats against party members.
Sri Lanka: Colombo meeting to defend SEP’s democratic rights
By the Socialist Equality Party, 6 February 2012
The SEP and ISSE in Sri Lanka are holding a public meeting on February 13 against the government’s attack on the party and its members in Jaffna.
Hands off the SEP! Defend SEP members in Jaffna!
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 31 January 2012
The decision to block the SEP public meeting, called to demand the release of all political prisoners, was taken by the highest level of the Rajapakse government.
Sri Lankan army instigates violence against Jaffna SEP members
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 28 January 2012
The attack on the SEP is a warning of the police-state measures being prepared by the government against the working class as a whole.
Sri Lanka: SEP/ISSE meeting to demand release of political prisoners
By the Socialist Equality Party, 24 January 2012
The SEP and ISSE will hold a public meeting in Jaffna on January 29 to call for the immediate and unconditional release of all political prisoners.
Sri Lanka: Support the struggle of plantation workers against higher workloads
the Socialist Equality Party, 18 January 2012
Workers at the Welioya and Bogawantalawa tea estates are engaged in a fight against an attempt by management, assisted by the unions, to increase productivity targets.
Sri Lankan filmmaker Prasanna Vithanage supports SEP campaign for release of political prisoners
By Panini Wijesiriwardena, 9 December 2011
“The military machine and repressive laws developed during the war are being used against people throughout the whole country.”
SEP-ISSE meeting to demand release of Sri Lankan political prisoners
2 December 2011
The Sri Lankan SEP and ISSE is holding a public meeting in Colombo on December 8 on their campaign for release of political prisoners.
Sri Lankan SEP/ISSE holds public meeting on JVP crisis
By our correspondents, 29 November 2011
In a well-attended meeting in Colombo, the SEP and ISSE explained the roots of the JVP’s political break-up and the necessity for a Trotskyist party.
JVP dissidents in Sri Lanka: a new political trap
By K. Ratnayake, 19 November 2011
The JVP critics are desperately attempting to prevent a further erosion of the party’s standing among workers and youth disgusted with its repeated betrayals and foul communal politics.
SEP campaigns at J’pura University for release of political prisoners
By our correspondents, 9 November 2011
The SEP and ISSE warned that the detention of Tamil youth by the Sri Lankan government is part of a wider assault on the democratic rights of workers and youth.
The JVP crisis and the SEP’s struggle for Marxism in Sri Lanka
By the International Students for Social Equality, 8 November 2011
The ISSE will hold a public lecture in Colombo on November 17 on the internal crisis of the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna and its implications for workers and youth.
Sri Lankan NSSP repudiates socialism and the October Revolution
Socialist Equality Party Sri Lanka, 25 October 2011
The NSSP of Sri Lanka has declared its hostility to Trotskyism and socialist revolution.
SEP launches campaign to release Sri Lankan political prisoners
Statement Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 4 October 2011
The SEP’s campaign is inseparable from the broader struggle to defend the democratic rights of the working class and rural masses from the attacks of the government.
A socialist perspective for Sri Lankan workers
18 August 2011
The SEP and ISSE will hold a public meeting in Colombo on August 22 to discuss a socialist program for the rising wave of working class struggles.
Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka) holds founding congress
By our correspondents, 21 June 2011
The founding congress of the SEP in Sri Lanka took place in Colombo on May 27-29, adopting a perspectives resolution that reviews the key strategic experiences of the struggle for Trotskyism in the Indian subcontinent.
Sri Lankan SEP public meeting on Middle East uprisings
14 June 2011
The Sri Lankan SEP announces a meeting in Jaffna on “Mass uprisings in the Middle East and Permanent Revolution.”
Defend Sri Lankan free trade zone workers
the Socialist Equality Party, 1 June 2011
The SEP condemns the brutal police crackdown unleashed by the government on thousands of protesting workers in Katunayake free trade zone.
Sri Lankan SEP holds meeting on Libyan war
By our correspondents, 27 April 2011
The SEP’s campaign revealed a growing interest among workers and youth in international developments and particularly the imperialist bombing of Libya.
Sri Lankan SEP meeting discusses Egyptian Revolution
By our correspondents, 2 March 2011
Speakers explained that the convulsions in the Middle East and North Africa demonstrated that the working class internationally was entering into a new period of revolutionary struggles.
SEP/ISSE meeting in Colombo on the Egyptian revolution
16 February 2011
A SEP-ISSE public meeting in Colombo on February 25 will discuss the political implications of the overthrow of the hated Mubarak regime.
Sri Lankan SEP holds a public meeting to defend WikiLeaks and Julian Assange
By our correspondents, 24 December 2010
The meeting unanimously passed a resolution denouncing the campaign against Assange as “a political witch-hunt” and calling for the working class to defend WikiLeaks.
SEP Sri Lanka public meeting: Defend Julian Assange and Wikileaks!
15 December 2010
The SEP is holding a public meeting in Colombo to defend WikiLeaks and Julian Assange and discuss the political significance of the WikiLeaks’ exposures for the Sri Lankan and international working class.
Sri Lanka: SEP meeting in Jaffna on anniversary of Trotsky’s assassination
By our reporters, 2 October 2010
The Socialist Equality Party held a well-attended meeting in the northern town of Jaffna to mark the seventieth anniversary of the assassination of Leon Trotsky.
International condolences on the death of Sri Lankan Trotskyist
By our correspoondents, 14 September 2010
The sections of the international Trotskyist movement in Britain, Germany and Canada sent messages of condolence to the SEP in Sri Lanka.
Piyaseeli Wijegunasingha, a Sri Lankan Trotskyist, dies at 67
the Socialist Equality Party, 6 September 2010
It is with a great sense of loss that we report the untimely death of comrade Piyaseeli Wijegunasingha, a member of the Socialist Equality Party (SEP), the Sri Lankan section of the International Committee of the Fourth International (ICFI). Piyaseeli was a lifelong Trotskyist, a Marxist scholar, and fighter for the interests of the international working class.
Public meetings in Sri Lanka
Seventy years since the assassination of Leon Trotsky: The return of history and the strategy of the world revolution
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 1 September 2010
The SEP and ISSE will hold a series of public meetings in Sri Lanka on the historic legacy of Leon Trotsky and its relevance to today’s fight for world socialist revolution.
SEP meeting in Sri Lanka warns of police-state measures
By our correspondents, 9 August 2010
The Socialist Equality Party held a public meeting last week to oppose a recent police-military operation against slum dwellers in the Colombo suburb of Mattakkuliya.
Sri Lankan SEP to hold a public meeting against police-state measures
29 July 2010
The methods used against the Tamil masses during two decades of civil war are being turned against working people as a whole as the government wages its “economic war” to “build the nation”.
Mass roundup in Sri Lankan capital: a sharp warning to the working class
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 13 July 2010
The recent military-police crackdown against impoverished slum dwellers in Colombo is a warning of the police-state methods being used to implement the Rajapakse government’s “economic war”.
Sri Lanka: State-owned newspaper publishes death threat against SEP
By Wije Dias, 8 May 2010
The government-owned Daily News, on its editorial page on April 23, published a highly provocative article against the SEP that contained an explicit death threat against the party.
Sri Lankan SEP holds final election meeting
By our correspondents, 7 April 2010
The Socialist Equality Party (SEP) and the International Students for Social Equality (ISSE) in Sri Lanka held a public meeting in Colombo on Sunday evening to conclude the party’s campaign for the April 8 general elections.
Sri Lankan SEP holds election meeting in Jaffna
By our reporters, 26 March 2010
Around 100 people attended the meeting, where speakers explained the global dimension of the capitalist debt crisis and the struggle facing the working class.
Sri Lanka: Condemn the EPDP attack on SEP members in Jaffna
the Socialist Equality Party (Sri Lanka), 20 March 2010
The SEP urges all workers and youth to oppose the physical attack and threats by EPDP thugs on our members in Jaffna, northern Sri Lanka, on March 19.
Sri Lankan SEP press conference condemns government’s anti-democratic measures
By our correspondent, 20 February 2010
The Socialist Equality Party in Sri Lanka held a press conference in Colombo on Thursday to oppose the government’s anti-democratic crackdown, including the arrest of opposition candidate General Sarath Fonseka.
Sri Lankan SEP replies to the United Socialist Party
By Wije Dias, 4 February 2010
While the USP boasts that its “united front” with the right-wing UNP defended democratic rights, the SEP insists that the USP’s class collaboration undermined the ability of workers to defend their rights through independent action.
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