In mid-January 2011, WIMAL FERNANDO, the veteran Sri Lankan left and democratic rights activist and former trade unionist, was interviewed by Ahilan Kadirgamar and Balasingham Skanthakumar, to record his recollections of almost five decades of struggle for social change. Fernando begins with vignettes of the radical movement of Sinhalese youth in the late 1960s and early 1970s leading up to the first Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP – Peoples Liberation Front) insurrection in 1971; his experiences thereafter as a leader in the Ceylon Teachers Union (CTU) until the July 1980 strike; followed by the establishment later that year of the Movement for the Defence of Democratic Rights (MDDR); and concludes with his launching of the Movement for Free and Fair Elections (MFFE) in the early 1990s to campaign for changes to the electoral system and the strengthening of democracy. The interview was transcribed, and interpolations inserted by B. Skanthakumar, and edited by Meena Nallainathan.