Joseph Stalin

Joseph Stalin is a Sri Lankan trade unionist. As of 2022, serving as general secretary of the Ceylon Teachers' Union. He has led campaigns against the militarisation of education in Sri Lanka. Early life Stalin was born in the 1960s, the son of an activist in the Ceylon Communist Party (Peking Wing). He was named after Soviet leader Joseph Stalin. CTU General Secretary In 2020, he opposed moves by the Sri Lankan government to convert schools into COVID-19 isolation centres. Later that year, he spoke out against the creation of a Director General – Sports position in the Ministry of Education, saying that the government was "attempting to undermine the education system by appointing unqualified people to high posts." In July 2021, he was arrested by police along with ten other demonstrators after protesting against the National Defence University Bill, a proposed law that human rights activists raised concerns would militarise universities in Sri Lanka. After two weeks of detention, he was released.