Preface
1.Introduction – concepts and
methodology used
2.Socio-cultural history in context
3.Socio-cultural evolution since 1800AD (a case study – Karainagar)
4.Winds of change – Tamil homelands (Phase 1)
5.
Socio-economic developments – an in depth case study -
Karainagar
6 .Winds of change – phase 2 –ethnic issues boil over –
implications
7.Mass movement of people, the 2nd wave and
creation of the Diaspora
8 .The identity issue revisited – so whither the
Diaspora?
In recent years there has been a great deal of discussion and
controversy over the subject multi-cuturalism especially in host
countries with substantial eastern migrants. Host countries with
western cultures have now shifted emphasis from multi-culturalism
towards integration of migrants into host country communities. The
migrants view that this emphasis on integration has the potential to
erode their identity as a community. How should the migrants meet
the challenge to their cultural identity? This requires migrants to
have a balanced historical perspective, especially a socio-cultural
one.
To make the history relevant and refreshing for this purpose a case
study approach to the community’s socio-cultural history is
attempted. The area selected was a village called Karainagar off the
Jaffna peninsular and the family (or paguthi) selected was the
Vidane Kanaga Thillaiyan (VKT) paguthi. The family tree of this
paguthi was needed first. When tracing the paguthi’s family tree,
the family tree went back to around 1800. During this period (the
heyday of colonial rule) the society in Karainagar witnessed a
radical transformation when the vestiges of the feudalism gave way
to a hybrid form of capitalistic society. The conservative character
entrenched in the centuries old value systems of the community
tempered the changes especially when the strong cultural roots
provided the glue to its rich past. The changes that occurred in
Karainagar also occurred in other villages in Jaffna and the Tamil
homelands. Accordingly the conclusions of this research in effect
represent the socio-cultural history of the Tamils in Ceylon since
1800. Enough has been written on the political evolution of the
Tamils in this period that the political aspect is kept out of the
study.
This case study
approach went into in greater depth into the socio-economic
evolution of a semi-feudal and caste structured society into a
successful market driven one, as it affected actual families. The
political turmoil in the 1980’s and after in Ceylon (Sri Lanka)
resulted in the changes in the Tamil homelands spilling over
indirectly into the host country environments to which the displaced
people moved. The study also covers the contribution of all
emigrants including those who ventured out overseas to countries
such as Malaya and Singapore in the late 19th and early
20th centuries. The attitudes of these early emigrants
and nature of the links that they maintained with their
counter-parts in Ceylon are also examined. Most importantly the
study examines the progress that the displaced people have made in
the last two decades in re-building their lives and the evolving
attitudes to issues of Tamil identity in the overseas communities.
Migrants from eastern cultures when settling into host country
environments of non-eastern cultures indulge in family tree tracing
activities; to some it is a pastime for others especially for those
with ‘settling in’ problems the urge to re-establish links with
friends and relatives they grew up and lived together is
understandable. Family trees per se are of interest primarily to the
members of the families concerned. It serves as tool to keep in
touch with members in the family tree. For the purpose of the study
abridged versions of the family tree should suffice and these are in
the appendices. However data in oral history form that was obtained
for building the family tree resulted in other findings sufficient
to re-construct the socio-cultural history of the community.
Chapter 1
Introduction – concepts and methodology used
Identity – definition in
context
Threats to a community’s
“identity” do occur in the history of most communities periodically.
Communities in pre-colonial times in the East lived in isolation
that threats to their identity only came during localized
inter-community invasions. These invasions were for brief periods.
In the history of Ceylon, Tamil invasions into Sinhala areas and
Sinhala invasions into Tamil areas did occur periodically.
The
effect of these inter-community invasions was felt more at the level
of the rulers and the lives of the ruled continued as before with
the identities of the affected communities remaining reasonably
untouched. In India, the Muslim invasions of the pre-colonial era
were of a different magnitude and character that religious
persecution and conversions followed the invasions.
The invaders
converted the rulers first who in turn tried to convert his subjects
for which the rulers most times used coercion. When conversions
follow invasions they contain elements threatening the values and
the identity of the affected communities. The tolerant character of
the Indian and eastern cultures easily absorb such identity shocks
that even the partition of the country that occurred could have been
avoided had not the colonial power involved created the environment
to make partition inevitable.
Identity for the conquered – the colonialists
view
An “identity” crisis of a
more serious character developed for Eastern (Indian) societies when
Western colonial powers for economic reasons moved east and occupied
the colonies for centuries. Although there were similarities in the
identity crisis that developed following the Muslim and colonial
invasions there were crucial differences between the two. The
culture and values of the colonial invaders were sharply different.
The colonial invaders were essentially materialistic and the
conversions that accompanied colonial occupation were intended to
erode the identity of an essentially eastern society. The scope and
depth of the change that the colonial powers envisaged was
succinctly summarized by an eminent proponent of colonialism, the
English colonial historian and influential politician; Lord Macaulay
in 1935 (about 200 years ago) who stated,
“We must at
present do our best to form a class who may be interpreters between
us and the millions whom we govern: a class of persons, Indian in
blood and colour, but English in taste, in opinions, in morals and
in intellect”.
This is the most
explicit statement of intent of the colonialists affecting the
identity of Eastern societies. In effect it meant that Western
values were to gradually replace the values of Eastern societies
undermining their socio-cultural identity. Colonialism also broke
down the economic isolation of eastern communities and with the flow
of goods traded globally, there was to be a growing movement of
people globally. The elites of the East were sent west to learn the
ways (the tastes, opinions, morals and intellect) of the
West. Briefly the colonialists brought to Eastern cultures
materialism and the crude individualism of the capitalist system.
Whither Multi culturalism and the identity issue?
The Tamils in Ceylon in
the colonial period who moved overseas (Malaya) from their homelands
as economic migrants since the end of the 19th century
kept their roots and identity intact at least until the 1950’s. The
culture of the host country (Malaya) was Eastern. However the recent
movement of Tamils in vast numbers following the 1983 ethnic carnage
in Sri Lanka created a diaspora in host countries whose culture is
basically Western. The diaspora was and is caught in a dilemma in
striving to maintain their own identity whilst at the same accepting
the host country demands for integration with host country
communities. The issue was one of finding the right mix between two
conflicting requirements. Multi-culturalism provided a sensible
model when the host country accepted the cultural identities of the
different communities that lived in the host country. This was and
remains official policy in most host countries. But with Western
host countries increasingly eschewing multi culturalism and with the
progeny of the diaspora growing up in totally different cultural
environments the Tamil community face the risk that it may gradually
loose its identity as a Tamil community. In these circumstances, the
future identity of the progeny of the Tamil diaspora and other
Tamils overseas gives cause for some concern. A clear understanding
of the relevant history is essential to address this issue
rationally.
Role of history
A renowned English
historian E H Carr in describing the role of history stated that
“Modern man peers eagerly into the twilight out of which he has
come, in the hope that its faint beams will illuminate the obscurity
into which he is going……. No consciousness of the future, no
history”.
In the heyday of colonial
rule when the vestiges of feudalism gave way to a modified form of
capitalistic society the conservative character entrenched in the
value systems in Eastern societies served not only as the glue to
its rich cultural past, it did temper the changes that followed.
Enough has been researched and written about the political evolution
of the Tamils in the last hundred years but on the issue of peoples’
identity, an in-depth research into the socio-cultural evolution
will throw some fresh light on (“its faint beams” will “illuminate”)
the “obscurity” that surrounds the issue of Tamil “identity”. A
proper understanding of its history by the community (especially its
progeny) is important especially when the community is at an
important cross road in its history.
Chapter 2
Socio-cultural history in context
scope and
approach
Unlike political history,
the study of socio-cultural history requires research in some depth
for readers to have a clear perception of the changes that took
place especially as it affected actual families and people.
Accordingly a case study approach is used here. The changes that
affected a pre-eminent elite family living in an isolated village
called Karainagar off the west coast of the Jaffna peninsular was
selected for microscopic investigation. The Kanaga Thillaiyan
Paguthi (family) was selected more so as verifiable oral history was
available to arrive at reasonably valid conclusions. The conclusions
of the legacy study done were found to be applicable to other
families living in villages in Jaffna. Hence it is reasonable to
assume that this study in effect represents a socio-cultural history
of the Tamils as a whole since 1800.
The communal politics of
the political elites in Sri Lanka since the days of Sir Baron
Jayatilleke (circa 1930’s) was tragic for the entire Tamil
community. The tragedy took the form of oppression and massive
numbers of Tamils being forced to flee from their homes in the North
and East of Sri Lanka. Amongst those who were displaced were an
influential diaspora dispersed widely around the world. The vast
majority of these displaced people yearn to maintain their identity
and links with their traditional homelands. Members of the diaspora
indulge in ancestry research to preserve the records of their roots
intact and keep the identity of the community alive for the benefit
of their progeny. The issue of identity is gaining more importance
with most host countries apparently moving away from their
commitment to multi-culturalism and emphasizing instead integration
with the host country community. Multi-culturalism accepted the
cultural identities of the various migrant groups in the host
country.
How should the diaspora respond to the challenge? Legacy
studies have a useful role in this context especially to correct
mis-conceptions that the culture and values that the migrants
brought hinder the migrants’ integration with the host country
communities. The cause for such a mis-conception is the faith that
mainstream host country communities especially the Anglo-Saxons
still have in the Macaulayan model, requiring migrants to “acquire
the tastes, opinions, morals and the intellect” of the host country
community.
The thinking underlying the Macaulayan model was the
attaching of labels or stereotyping of cultures – advanced or
backwards. In this mental frame it seemed logically to view the
eastern cultures as backward for the west to justify a role in the
progress of eastern societies out of the backwardness. Some
sections of the migrant community fall for these fallacious
reasoning and end up earning the crumps and not the substance of
progress. Ignorant of the richness of their own culture and values
their identity is bartered away in an unequal relationship. An
appreciation of socio-cultural history of migrant communities will
disabuse the affected migrants that notions or labels stereotyping
cultures - advanced or backwards are in the first place fallacious.
Why legacy studies?
Legacy studies of
families in the Tamil homelands at the grassroots level (Karainagar
is selected for this study) provide invaluable historical insights
to appreciate the changes that impacted on the socio-cultural
aspects of the lives of the community in the last two centuries and
how the community responded to the events as they unfolded in the
years just preceding and during the stormiest period of Tamil
history (1956 thru’ 1983 to the present). Such legacy studies will
leave behind a recorded history of the far reaching socio-economic
changes that visited these peoples in the last hundred years or
more. The changes of this period, especially those after 1940 were
momentous in the evolution of modern Karainagar and the Tamil
homelands. Mirror images of these changes were evident in most
regions in Jaffna and the Tamil homelands. The evidence of these
changes are now partly in archival and partly in oral history form.
To save this history and the available supporting historical records
further research is required to raise the standard of the recorded
history of the period. This study is a small step in that direction.
The keen interest in
tracing the ancestry or roots is viewed by some as a mere past time
for the diaspora living overseas. However it also underlines the
community’s inability to settle in comfortably into the host country
given the environment in the host countries. On the individual
level studies about the paguthies or families, their ties with other
paguthies (families in other geographical areas to cover the wider
Tamil community) is part of the natural urge in them to keep in
touch and maintain their links with the families and the community
they grew up in and lived with. More importantly it unravels the
socio-economic context in which the values of the community evolved
and how these still mould their way of life in the traditional Tamil
homelands and in the host country environments for the international
diaspora. These studies add depth and colour to the history of the
people. History is more than a chronological narration about rulers;
it is more a study about the ruled, the people, their attitudes and
aspirations.
Chapter 3
Socio-cultural evolution since 1800AD
(a case study – Karainagar)
The ancestry of the
Extended Vidane Kanaga-Thillaiyan Paguthi (VKT) is selected
for this study not merely because the pagithi occupied a pre-eminent
place in the relevant period but also because verifiable oral
history evidence is still available. Paguthi refers to a cohesive
group that adhered to norms to keep its identity intact over an
extended period of time. The ancestry of the VKT paguthi is
traced back to about 1800 AD. The Dutch rule had ended and the
British rule in Ceylon was beginning, circa 1800 AD. The VKT paguthi
was one of a handful of paguthies (families) of repute that lived in
the small island village of Karainagar off the west coast of the
Jaffna peninsular.
A study of the VKT paguthi is incomplete without
reference to the few other peer paguthies especially the Vidane
Veedu, Kantha Udaiyar and Ponn Udaiyar Veedus that were related to
the VKT paguthi through marriages over the years. These paguthies in
combination maintained their primacy by keeping marriages as far as
possible within these peer paguthies for over two hundred years.
There is one major short-coming in this study; it does not cover the
Maniyagaran paguthi related to the Extended VKT paguthi through a
number of marriages. The VKT pagithi’s relationship with the
Maniyagaran paguthy is not included for the simple reason that
collection of authentic oral history evidence of this paguthi was
not feasible.
The Karainagar elites-
study in context
Although there
certainly were a few other elite paguthies in Karainagar the
study of which may be relevant in understanding the legacy of these
other paguthies and hence the community that lived in Karainagar and
in the Tamil homelands generally; but this requires extensive effort
and time to complete. With the Tamil community dispersed in, the not
easily accessible Wanni territory, the suburbs of Colombo, Malaysia
(descendents of early migrants) and the diaspora in host countries
like Canada, Australia, the UK and other European countries,
assembling oral history in these circumstances is a logistically
impractical task.
Prudence demands that the study be kept to a
manageable level to achieve limited but concrete results before the
evidence that is available is lost for ever. Studies of this nature
although constrained by such limitations do contribute to unraveling
the underlying trends that shaped events for the Tamil community as
a whole. The observed trends in one area have a tendency to
replicate itself in other areas either simultaneously or after a
period of time.
Geographic Isolation – its impact
Karainagar is an island.
According to oral history the name Karainagar was a derivative from
Karai chedigal (plants) found there or because Karainagarans are
descendents of settlers from Karaikkudi. The validity of these
propositions has so far not been tested. The size of Karainagar is
about 16 square miles (8km long x 6 km wide) with a population
variously estimated at about 4000 in 1900 and 16000 in 1950. A 4 km
long causeway linking the island to the mainland was built during
the period when Sir W Twynham was the Government Agent of Jaffna
(1867 – 1884). An engraved stone plaque in the Sayambu hall
(Karainagar Hindu College) gives the date of the bridge as 1869. The
causeway ended the geographic isolation of Karainagar. Sir P
Ramanathan after a visit to the island in 1922 had Karaitivu
officially renamed Karainagar on 12.09.1922. The network of roads
linking the settlements within Karainagar was built after that.
Karainagar being an
island meant that logistically the movement of people in and out of
the island was limited that exposure to and interaction with peoples
outside Karainagar was minimal. Karainagar retained its homogeneous
character over the most part of the initial 150 years since 1800.
The island’s geography and socio-economic evolution provides the
backdrop to explain the radical character of the changes that
visited Karainager since 1900. The isolation was evident during the
Dutch rule. Although there is evidence that the fort Hammenheil in
the sea off the south west coast of the Karainagar was built using
the stones from the Palakaaddu Kannigal, Viyavil Ayanaar and
Punnalai Perumal temples the Portguese and Dutch stayed offshore
with little or no contacts with the people living in Karainagar.
The erosion of the geographic isolation
The erosion of the
isolation began in the last two decades of the 19th
century after the building of the causeway. The conservative and
insular character of its people was striking compared to people from
other regions in the Tamil homelands. Travel in and out of the
island and people to people contact across the straits was minimal.
Before the causeway was built according to oral history the people
from Karainagar went for the Nallur and Chellachannathi temple
festivals in bullock carts crossing the straits during the low tide.
People from Karainagar as did people from other regions also
traveled on regular pilgrimages to temples (especially the Nataraj
temple in Chidambaram) in South India using the Rameswaram route.
The pilgrimages were mostly in the rainy month of December when the
paddy growing needed the least attention. Even the Tamil homelands
in that period were isolated from the rest of the world. Occupying a
region in the north of the island of Ceylon it was separated from
the rest of the island by un-inhabited dense forests. The isolation
broke gradually with the construction of trunk roads and the railway
line to the north and east between the late 19th and
first half of the 20th century.
The social structure- the iniquitous caste
system
With about 25 percent of
the land area of Karainagar being arable, agriculture was the
mainstay of the economy. Rice, the predominant crop was grown in the
rainy season and garden crops in the dry season. The bulk of the
peasants called vellalas comprised a large pool of small holders and
a few landowners (who formed a powerful elite class). The vellala
caste was further stratified into sub-castes. Marriages within the
same sub-caste or a higher sub-caste were preferred. The disparity
in the size of landholdings of the small holders and the landed
elites was not as large as it was in India. The ratio was in the 1
to 10 range in favour of the landed elites. Coconut was also
cultivated. The foundation that supported this essentially agrarian
and mildy feudalistic society was a rigid and iniquitous caste
system.
Landed class elites and
Official Titles -
The office of Vidanes
The founder of the VKT
paguthi was Vidane Kanaga Thillaiyan who according to oral history
served as the vidane of Karainagar in the beginning of the 19th
century. Records of the Dutch years show that some pre-colonial
titles were in use under Dutch rule. However there is no evidence of
the Dutch appointing village level officials. Appointments of
mudaliyars to the larger administrative area were apparently made.
Villages despite their size were elevated to the status of the
lowest administrative unit only under the British colonial rule. The
English used the office of vidane to extend their administrative
control to the village level. It is not strange that the vidanes
were selected from the powerful landowning class for the influence
the landowning classes wielded in the villages then. The practice of
appointing vidanes from the landowning class changed only after
independence (1947) when under the revised selection procedures
commoners qualified for such appointment.
Other titles- mudaliyars, udaiyars,
maniyagars
According to oral
history, the status of functionaries such as mudaliyars, maniyagars
and udaiyars are not clear-cut. There are two schools of thought.
According to one school, the offices of mudaliyars and maniyagars
were higher than that of vidanes. Some others explain
that the office of Udaiyars replaced the office of mudaliyars
at some stage. However, the generally accepted and more plausible
view is that the office of udaiyars was below that of the office of
vidanes. Oral history provides evidence that of the udaiyar’s
principal duties conducting coronial inquiries into un-natural
deaths was one of them. Udaiyars were also referred to as guardians
of the peace. The fact however remains that there were functionaries
called udaiyars.
The administrative unit
larger than the village was the district, which is comprised of
several villages. For this, the English colonial administrators
initially appointed higher functionaries called Mudaliyars.
After independence, Karainagar that was part of a district, and came
under an office called District Revenue Officer (DRO). The DROs
replaced the office of Mudaliyars. The elites of Karainagar whose
influence was limited to one village could not qualify for
appointment as Mudaliyars. It is common practice for the later year
Karainagaran progeny to loosely attach titles such as Mudaliyar
and Mudali to their ancestors whether in fact they held this
office or not. Most vellalah families used the generic title of
Mudali in the kalveddus. This practice had caste connotations, and
did not necessarily refer to the title of any office held. The same
reasoning applies to the progeny’s claims to be descendents of
maniyagars.
The peasants, workers and others
The large pool of
landless workers was employed by (and economically dependent on) the
landed class. In that period (even until 1945) when the economy was
only partially monetary; wages for the landless workers were paid in
kind (measures of paddy). The landless workers who were mainly from
the lower castes lived in designated areas (akin to ghettos) away
from the areas where the landed classes lived. Fishing provided for
the livelihood of the fishermen class who lived in the coastal belt
around the island. The other labour classes were the craftsmen
(carpenters, masons, ironmongers making crude farming tools)
dhobies, barbers, and undertakers. These were the untouchables in
Karainagar.
The smallholder farmers
also worked for the landowners (as farm labour, vandikkarans or
freight haulers transporting produce using bullock carts and other
similar menial jobs) to supplement the meager income from their
small -holdings. The brahmins, the
priestly class whom unlike their counter-parts in South India were
not affluent enough to wield much influence in the
community.
The caste system
The caste system in
Karainagar and the Tamil homelands was less oppressive for that
historical period compared to the feudal system in the West, slavery
in the United States, and apartheid in most parts of Africa
especially South Africa. Although untouchability was degrading the
landed classes adopted a paternalistic view that they had a moral
duty of care for their workers.
In Western societies the equivalent
of the caste system was the oppressive feudal system. Vested
interests mis-interpreted the Hindu laws of Karma and rebirth to
sanctify casteism as did their Western counter-parts mis-interpret
aspects of Christian theology to sanctify slavery in the United
States and apartheid in South Africa. Mahatma Gandhi campaigned and
achieved reasonable success in reducing the iniquity in the caste
system.
Reverend Luther King campaigned with much less success
against the injustices of colour prejudice in the US. Nelson Mandela
in South Africa despite brutal suppression brought an end to the
three century old sufferings inflicted by apartheid only in the
dying decades of the 20th century.
In Karainagar and the
Tamil homelands the generality of the society tempered by religious
considerations ensured that the excesses of the caste practices were
moderated. Further-more unlike the Western feudalism, the caste
system was of a mild character as disparity in the size of
landownership and wealth between the landed classes and the other
classes was not as large compared to the landownership under the
Zamindari system in India or feudalism in the West. Hence there was
no clamour for land reform in the Tamil homelands. Any change in
land ownership occurred gradually on its own steam without violence
once money came to play a role creating conditions for social
mobility within the society. The landed classes were the losers.
They lost the land mortgaged to the money lenders through
foreclosure sales.
Role of religion - Saivaism
Temples dotted the
Karainagar landscape and temple going was the main leisure activity
for the people. There are 43 temples in Karainagar most dating back
to the 19th century or earlier. The more popular deities were
Pillaiyar, Murugan, Amman and Vairavar. There were two Sivan temples
(one the famous Eelaththu Chidambaram) and two Iyanaar temples.
Saivaism flourished. Judging by the number of temples to the size of
the population, faith in god and religion appears to have been
strong. The crude individualism that the colonial powers brought
with them was at variance with the basic values enshrined in Saiva
dharma. Saiva dharmic values provided the glue underlying the
cohesion in the extended family and the community. Parents and
elders were respected. By emphasising family and social needs over
crude materialistic individualism spirituality took the form of
selfless bhakthi.
Village elders – extended family
The extended family was
a powerful and close knit social institution. The head of the family
managed the affairs of the family allocating work and providing for
the sustenance of every member of the family. They were the
acknowledged elders to whom families turned to for advice and
guidance. In the VKT paguthi Moddaiyar filled this role until his
death in 1941. After him it was Maniyakaran Sinna Podiyar (the
maniyagaran of the Payarikkoodal Murugan temple); next it was
Perumal Kanapathy (an extended family elder). The latest was MA
Kandiah, a teacher by profession now deceased. Since almost none
from the VKT paguthi now lives in Karainagar or elsewhere in close
proximity there aren’t any families around to go to the elder.
However in the agrarian feudalistic set up the elders wielded much
influence and played an important social role.
Chapter 4
Winds of change – Tamil homelands (Phase 1)
Missionaries and opening of schools
By 1900 the British
colonial administration was firmly established throughout Ceylon
including Jaffna. The American missionaries (the early missionaries
to come to Jaffna, many others followed soon after) arrived in
Ceylon in the early part of the 19th century and in
Karainagar in the dying years of the 19th century. An
American girls school was established in Jaffna in 1823 and the
American Mission English school in Karainagar was only opened in
1915 (about one hundred years later). Six Tamil mission schools
(the more popular ones were Apputhurai and Govindar pallikkoodams)
were also opened during that period.
Late arrival of missionaries in
Karainagar
The late arrival
(nearly a century later) of the missionaries in Karainagar whilst it
heralded the penetration of foreign influence into an otherwise
socially stable and rigidly structured society left Karainagar
untouched by more than half a century of (material) progress that
other areas of Jaffna benefited from. Although conversion to
Christianity was the main motivation for the missionaries’ coming,
they opened up schools providing primary education in Karainagar.
For secondary education (few progressed to that level by 1900) the
missionaries encouraged students from Karainagar to move to the
larger American mission school in Vaddukkoddai.
The Hindu revival - India
The Christian
missionary activities created ideal conditions for a Hindu revival
India-wide and in the Tamil homelands. The names associated with the
revival in India include that of Ram Mohan Roy and Brahmo Samaj
(1818), Swami Dayananda and Arya Samaj (1875), Tilak and Annie
Besant and the Theosophical Society (1875), Ramakrishna (!879),
Vivekananda, Tagore, Gandhi, Aurobindo, Ramana Maharishi, Dr
Radhakrishnan, Ramalingaswami and a host of others.
Their
contribution was to tear up some of the malignant ritualistic and
sociological overgrowth that masked the essence of the Hindu faith.
The attitudes to sati, animal sacrifice in temples, child marriages,
polygamy, divorce and widow-marriage, untouchables and castes that
were primitive and savage underwent gradual but radical change. The
missionaries pointed to these weaknesses in Hindu practices to
further their agenda.
The Hindu revivalists, by correcting the
distortions in the philosophical underpinnings based on which some
of these social practices were explained returned Hinduism to its
core teachings. By focusing on Gita’s Karma yoga lessons that urged
devotees to perform their duties to fellow human beings (social
work) the revivalists removed the mis-interpretations in the Law of
Karma that explained the average Hindu’s indifference to the
sufferings of the untouchables. In line with these teachings Mahatma
performed Karma yoga in his campaign for the uplift of the Harijans
whilst preaching for purity of thought, words and deeds.
Furthermore
the Hindu revivalist movement nurtured a class of cultured Hindus
who were able to explain the significance of rituals and other human
actions by relating them to the underlying Hindu philosophy. The
excessive obsession with certain prescribed rites that had little or
no relevance to actual spirituality were the low points that
Hinduism fell into just before the revival. An average Hindu could
no longer claim to be moral and religious and still condone caste
injustice. Similarly in everyday life, a true Hindu cannot claim to
be religious and yet compromise on observing basic dharmic values
like speaking the truth, not causing hurt to others in words and
deeds and avoiding evil acts.
Hindu revival in Jaffna –
Arumuga Navalar
Jaffna was deeply
influenced by these developments in India especially South India.
From earlier times Jaffna Saivaites undertook regular and arduous
pilgrimages to temples in South India especially Chidambaram. The
inspiration for Eelaththu Chidambaram in Karainagar is traced to
those close links. South India countered the activities of the
missionaries with a Hindu revival there. The Hindu revival in India
inspired their counter-parts in Jaffna.
The moves to counter
the growing influence of the missionary school activities in the
Tamil homelands came in 1847 when Arumuga Navalar opened his own
Hindu English school (Saiva Aangila Vidyalaya) in Vannarponnai,
Jaffna. This venture was doomed to fail in the face of the hostility
of the British colonial administration. The objective of the
colonial education as summarized by the colonial historian Lord
Macaulay in 1835 is quoted again here:
“It
is impossible for us with our limited means to attempt to educate
the body of the people. We must at present do our best to form a
class who may be interpreters between us and the millions whom we
govern: a class of persons, Indian in blood and colour, but English
in taste, in opinions, in morals and in intellect.”
Although the policy
implementing Macaulay’s objectives were alien and ran counter to
Saivite values, there were Saivites (then aptly called the “brown
sahibs”) who traded the values of their ancestors for the Macaulayan
value model. In his celebrated 1866 address or sermon Navalar
cautioned the Tamils against neglecting their religion and the
values underlying it in preference for values that the colonial
administrations were foisting on the population. Navalar’s Saiva
Vina Vidai addressed the dilemma of Saivites confused by the alien
values that were parleyed to undermine the sanctity of Saiva values.
Except for a minority the faith in Saivaism of the mainstream Tamils
remained solid.
The most historic step
that Navalar took was in 1871 when he founded the Saiva Paripalana
Sabha, which served as a forum to muster Hindu consciousness to
protect Saivaism and its values through out Jaffna. Navalar was
closely associated with and contributed much to the revival movement
in South India as well. Navalar traveled between Jaffna and Tamil
Nadu frequently and spent time in espousing the Hindu revival cause
in South India. He set up a press in South India. He used pamphlets
and lectures effectively to deliver his message to Saivites. He
groomed up followers who continued his work to awaken the
consciousness of the Saivites and Hindus.
Hindu revival in Karainagar - Sayambu master
Inspired by Navalar,
Sayambu master (born in 1866) founded the Hindu English School in
Karainagar in 1888. Originally called the Thirugnanasampanthamoorthy
Nayanar School, the school taught besides English, religion
(Saivaism). Sayambu master was the head master until he retired in
December 1931. Like Navalar, Sayambu was dedicated to the cause and
it used to be said, “What Navalar was to Jaffna, Sayambu was to
Karainagar”. Navalar and Sayambu were visionaries driven by a
passion to save the East from the pernicious aspects of Western
culture.
His successor as the
Head Master of the Hindu English School was the former Head master
of the American Mission English School, Ponnudaiyar Veluppillai (of
the Ponnudaiyar paguthi and through marriage the extended Vidanai
Kanaga-Thillaiyan paguthi)
Sayambu’s efforts
raised the standards of that school to a level that it earned
affiliation to Jaffna Hindu College in 1921. Sayambu’s work was
continued by Kanagasabai (1935 -1945) before A Thiagarajah the next
Principal earned the school its Maha Vidyala status.
There were others in
Karainagar who were inspired by Arumuga Navalar and Sayambu to
contribute to the Hindu revival movement building schools and
temples. Before the end of the 19th century Tamil Saiva
schools like the Subramaniya Vidyalaya, Viyavil Saiva Paripalana
Vidyala and Suntharamoorthy Vidyalaya followed soon after. In all,
Karainagar by the time of independence had 17 schools of which 6
were Christian schools, the rest Hindu schools. The Hindu schools
were in most cases located in the vicinity of temples, which
students visited for prayers before school lessons. There were
nearly 43 temples in Karainagar.
Hindu revival in Karainagar – The Hindu
Sabhas
Hindu revival was also
evident in a number of Hindu religious organizations that sprung up
in Karainagar in this period. The Karainagar Hindu Youth Sangam
(1911), Karainagar Saiva Maha Sabai (1924) and Manivasagar Sabha
amongst others played key roles in the Hindu revival. Murugesu
Arumugam Kandiah a 5th generation VKT paguthi progeny was
the president of Karainagar Saiva Maha Sabai in the period 1980-
1990. He was a close associate of Sivapathasundaram a deeply
religious Saivite, author of numerous Saivite books and principal of
Victoria College in Chulipuram. These organizations arranged visits
to Karainagar of distinguished personages from India and through
religious programmes contributed to the containment of the
conversions in Karainagar to an extent that no other region in
Jaffna did. The strong conservative streak in the community did make
the task easier for the Saiva Paripalana Sabha and other similar
Saiva organizations.
The late arrival of
foreign missionaries and the Hindu revival movement that followed
explains why the changes and the material benefits from the changes
were felt late in Karainagar. The spillover effect of employment
perks showered on the converts to Christianity also converted the
non-converts to the economic benefits from having some basic English
education. Some who were economic converts assumed Christian names
that were dropped soon after the necessary education for entry into
the world of economic opportunities was accomplished. The
conversions in Karainagar (with a conservative tradition born of its
isolation), thanks to the work of the Hindu revivalists were
minimal.
Chapter 5
Socio-economic developments –
an in depth case study - Karainagar
Outward migration – the
first wave or phase
The follow-on effect of
the English education that the missionary and the Hindu revivalist
schools gave, led to the outward migration from Karainagar.
Karainagarans followed the example of those in Tamil regions outside
Karainagar in seeking economic opportunities outside Karainagar and
the Tamil homelands.
Malaya – the first choice
The scramble to move
out of Karainagar in search of employment and other economic
opportunities overseas (then Malaya) and in South Ceylon began in
earnest in the last quarter of the 19th century.
Initially the jobs were semi-skilled and in the lower rungs of the
colonial administration in Malaya and South Ceylon. The better
qualified few worked as clerks and translators in the government
sector; others as clerks, overseers and kangannis in inhospitable
rubber estates and road construction work in Malaya. In number terms
the outward migrants were not large but their economic contribution
was significant relative to the size of the population then.
South Ceylon – the second choice
Those less skilled who
moved to South Ceylon became itinerant traders, corner shops keepers
selling betel, beedi (cheap form of cigarettes), owners of beedi
making shops, small time hospital and transport (lorry) contractors
amongst others. In numbers terms this economic sector was
significant. Entry into this low capital intensive economic sector
was easy. To succeed the entrants needed enterprise, hard work and
capacity to bear up with hard living conditions. They found a niche
which laid the foundation for their success and to call themselves
“businessmen”. Although the use of the term “businessmen” is a
misnomer yet they were pioneers who set foot into the commercial
sector and whose contribution to the development of Karainagar and
the Tamil homelands was significant. Even in this sector the
communities from Manipay, Uduvil, Atchuvely, Vaddukkoddai and
Chundukuli in Jaffna, performed much better than Karainagarans.
Malayan pioneers’
success
However the foundation
for the accelerated changes in Karainagar that was to follow in the
2nd half of the 20th century was laid in the 1st
half of the 20th century. The thrust of change in the
socio-economic landscape of Karainagar was vigorous enough that
Karainagar caught up with and overtook their counter-part regions in
Jaffna that had benefited from the early introduction of English
education the missionaries brought there. An essentially agrarian
society slowly changed when overseas earnings from the Malayan
pioneers filtered into the economy. Compared to those who moved to
South Ceylon the Malayan pioneers were economically better off. They
accumulated more wealth than their Ceylonese counter-parts at that
time. Without exception the families of the retired Malayan
pensioners lived in reasonable comfort and were respected by the
wider community. The money (capital) remitted back by the Malayan
pioneers went into building larger houses (by 1940 there were about
a dozen such houses in Karainagar). The philanthropists amongst them
also built temples (like the Moddaiyar Murugan Kovil in
Payarikkoodal) and improvements to schools.
The few not so
philanthropically inclined Malayan retirees became unlicensed
moneylenders. The practice of usury was extensive. Gains by
foreclosing on defaulting borrowers enabled some of these money
lenders to accumulate wealth fast enough to join the ranks of the
new landed class in very short periods of time. The losers were the
traditional landed elites who continued with a life style that they
could no longer afford in the emerging new capitalistic economic
order. Economic change led to social mobility creating the “new
rich” class. Social mobility took place at the expense of the
traditional landed elites.
In the first half of
the 20th century the children of the Malayan pioneers
received better English education. Crude individualism that
accompanied the colonialists had not eroded the extended family
values amongst the pioneering Malayan Tamils significantly that
other children in the extended families of the Malayan pioneers
continued to benefit from their generosity. This care for others
extended at least to the extended family limit. By the 1940’s a few
of these beneficiaries successfully entered the local University
College and thence into professions like medicine, engineering and
administration.
Moddaiyar – the founder
of modern Karainagar
Moddaiyar earned a reputation as a successful
early Malayan pioneer. On return from Malaya, Moddaiyar also
pioneered into the political arena in a significant way. Oral
history does not throw much light on Moddaiyar’s childhood and
youth.
He was reputed to be a
brave and fearless personality and according to oral history he had
INA (Indian National Army) leanings which were strong amongst the
plantation workers in the estates in Malaya where he worked.
Subhash Chandra Bose was a hero to many there. Since the activities
of the INA were secretive the activists were closely monitored by
the authorities. The source for oral history about Moddaiyar’s INA
activities and his INA associates was his wife. Moddaiyar’s wife
died in 1945 and with her death the only source of reliable oral
history on this aspect of Moddaiyar’s life was lost. Moddiayar
suffered persecution for his INA leanings that he had to leave
Malaya pre-maturely and return to Jaffna. Oral history on these too
is unavailable to give precise details.
On his return he
invested in buying political influence at the local government
(village council) level and used that office to improve
infrastructure in Karainagar like roads. Moddaiyar as Village
Council Chairman for over a decade in the thirties constructed a 5km
long road to Eelaththu Chidambaram and the Hindu cremation grounds
in Thinnakkali, North Karainagar. The former road also serves as the
arterial road for tourists to the famous Casuarina beach. The other
section of the road was to the sudallai madam which Moddaiyar built.
The madam was a boon to mourners during funerals. It provided
shelter from the scotching heat of the sun when funeral rites are
conducted in the cremation grounds. Unlike the rest of the roads in
Karainagar this road has withstood the ravages of the conflict over
the last three decades. Social uplift was the motivation behind
Moddaiyar’s public works. The road is still called Moddaiyar theru
and the madam, Moddaiyar madam. Moddaiyar is the 4th
generation progeny of the VKT paguthi.
The history of
Karainagar is therefore incomplete without a comprehensive account
of the life and works of Moddaiyar Kanapathippilai a 4th
generation progeny of the VKT paguthi. Moddaiyar is one of the most
successful Malayan pioneers who entered local government politics to
achieve his vision of a modern Karainagar. It is no exaggeration to
assert that Moddaiyar is the founder of Modern Karainagar.
There would have many others like Moddaiyar in other villages around
in the Tamil homelands who likewise would have contributed to the
progress of the Tamil homelands.
Local pioneers who
moved south – their success
Amongst the local
pioneers those who contributed most to the Karainagar economy were
the trading classes. They were essentially small time shop keepers,
traders and others. Though poorly educated, in most cases they
accumulated wealth rapidly to earn respectability in an essentially
agrarian community where money then the symbol of wealth was scarce.
In economic terms the
success of the local pioneers who moved South initially was limited
compared to the Malayan pioneers. This changed. The itinerant
traders (oddukkadaikkarar) grew up into petty shop owners and
traders in certain localities (Grandpass, Mutwal, and Kochchikkadai) of Colombo and in towns especially the smaller ones in the South
mostly in the up country estates.
Though life was hard in these
places (crime infested slums) their drive to succeed paid off. A
significant number of these traders initially became richer as
carriers in the drug (opium and ganja) trail running from India via
Valvettithurai into South Ceylon. The market for such drugs was in
the slums of Grandpass, Mutwal and Kochchikkadai. The ill-gotten
wealth gave these “businessmen” class entry into the class of the
“new rich” in the 1950’s and thereafter. Besides the petty shop
keepers, small time contractors won an increased share of contracts
especially hospital contracts to join the ranks of the “new rich”.
With competition getting tough with too many players entering this
low capital intensive economic sector a few successful contractors.
diversified into other economic sectors like planting. One
successful contractor bought into the corporate sector that owned a
leading English newspaper.
This trend towards diversifying was
logical and inevitable in face of competition from the established
corporate sector dominated and managed by the Agency houses. The
established corporate entities were better funded and better
managed. Walkers won almost all the major construction and
infrastructure contracts.
The cash dowry system and social mobility
The “new rich” who could
afford fatter dowries gradually bought respectability through
marriages into families belonging to the higher social orders. On
the other hand the progeny of the elite paguthies to offset the loss
of their economic clout in the emerging new economic order willingly
accepted marriages into the “new rich” families. Conscious that the
lack of a good educational background set limits to their capacity
to acquire wealth the “new rich” invested in finding places for
their children in good schools. Money served as the catalyst that
accelerated the economic decline of the earlier landed classes and
in its place the emergence of the “new rich” and “new landowners”.
Such social mobility eroded the rigid iniquities in the caste system
of that time. Money became the agent of social mobility.
Public and private sector employment
With the higher positions
(of responsibility) being reserved in the colonial civil service for
those of British descent, the majority of those who joined the
clerical and similar government positions stagnated initially. But
this changed gradually with the coming of self-rule under the
Donoughmore (1929) constitution. Those in the public service also
accumulated wealth and influence surpassing the Malayan Tamils also
essentially a middle class community. The public sector employees
were wealthy enough to give their children a better education in
schools in Karainagar and Jaffna and later in Colombo. They lived in
better localities like Bambalapitiya and Wellawatte.
The
contribution to Karainagar of the public sector employees was much
higher than that of their Malayan counterparts on account of their
numbers and education. The public sector employees at all levels
soon came to dominate public life and to become the agents of the
rapid change and progress that Karainagar, Jaffna and the Tamil
homelands witnessed in the years following independence. The baton
of leadership of the political and socio-economic change in
Karainagar and the Tamil homelands after 1950 passed on to the
employed local pioneers who formed a vibrant indigenous middle
class.
Post-pioneer Tamil
Malayans – their outlook
The contribution of the
early Malayan pioneers was remarkable. The Malayan pensioners, who
valued their roots, retired and returned to their homeland bringing
back the savings that they had accumulated. The injection of capital
into the peninsular at this stage of economic development was
invaluable. In contrast the contribution to the Tamil homelands from
those who stayed back in Malaya (post pioneers Malayan Tamils) was
negligible. The Malayan Tamils who stayed back were essentially a
middle class, and in the years immediately following Malayan
independence were of modest affluence.
Seduced by the modest
affluence that they enjoyed, the Malayan Tamils genuinely accepted
Malaya (called Malaysia after independence) as their homeland. In
consequence they loosened their ties with their Tamil homelands,
gradually forgetting their roots. Further-more living in the shadow
of the glory of recognition that the early Malayan pioneers earned,
some from the more affluent section of the post pioneer Malayan
Tamils developed a patronising attitude towards the sufferings of
their counter-parts back in the Tamil homelands. This attitude was
born out of poor contact with developments back in Ceylon and
ignorant of the tremendous progress that a larger, affluent,
better-educated and growing middle class in the Tamil homelands had
achieved in the face of the disadvantages from an increasingly
aggressive policy of state discrimination.
Except for the minimal
links with their immediate relatives living in the Tamil homelands
some of the not so well educated Malaysian Tamils continued to show
an attitude of detached superiority in relating with their
counter-parts in the Tamil homelands. This was most explicit in the
simplistic views that they expressed on the ethnic issue in Ceylon.
The ethnic issue was casually dismissed with statements like “What
do the Tamils as a minority really expect or want?” However soon
after an irony of history was in the making in the form of
independent Malaysia’s bumi-putra policy. The small Malaysian Tamil
community as descendants of the late 19-century migrants and not
indigenous Malays were viewed as an inconsequential minority. The
bumi-putra policy shook the Malaysian Tamils out of their stupor.
Yet in relating to their counter-parts (the Ceylonese Tamils) a
thinning die-hard Malaysian Tamil minority clings on to the
condescending attitudes that they nurtured for decades. Their
interaction socially with the counter-parts in and from Ceylon even
in remote Australia was cold and aloof until a few years ago.
However the positive attitude towards the Ceylon Tamils of the
mainstream Malayan Tamils is warm and growing.
Chapter 6
Winds of change – phase 2 –ethnic issues boil over –
implications
Communal politics in
Ceylon and Malaysia compared
Following independence
with the advantage of an early start in education and sheer
industriousness the local pioneers from Jaffna progressed into the
higher echelons in the public service. The Tamils gained a
dis-proportionate share of the top jobs in the civil service and
similarly moved into top positions in the private sector. This
success was replicated in professions such as medicine, law,
engineering, public administration and the like as well. The
achievement was remarkable by any standard. For the Malayan
counter-parts the higher echelons in the public service were
difficult to penetrate. In the immediate aftermath of independence
of Malaya the colonialist retained some of the top positions as
advisers to the Bumi putras. Soon after the Bumis stepped into those
positions as the logical successors to the British in independent
Malaysia.
Unlike their
counter-parts, in Ceylon those who started as itinerant traders and
petty shop keepers graduated as small time traders developing skills
in the commercial sector. The Malayan Tamils on the other hand
neglected the commercial sector totally and failed to acquire
comparable skills to break into that sector. Competition from the
skillful Chinese commercial community also acted as deterrent for
those contemplating entry into this sector.
It is in the
traditional professional sector like medicine and engineering that
the Malayan Tamils enjoyed a measure of success.
In Ceylon the
disproportionate distribution of economic opportunities (employment
in the public and private sectors and the professions) in favour of
the Tamils just before independence and in the immediate aftermath
of independence was a historical accident. Yet it sowed the seeds
for the racial conflict that boiled over and caused the trauma on an
unimaginable scale for the Tamils as a whole. Initially it took the
form of decades of discrimination limiting access to economic
opportunities especially in employment. Any form of protest against
discrimination was repressed. The repression took the form of police
and army oppression.
This later developed into a systematic
uprooting of a brutalized community from their homes and their
dispersal around the world. What is now left in Karainagar is a few
isolated settlements, war damaged houses and access roads to those
houses still in serious disrepair. The rice fields are there but
the original and the new landed classes are missing. A, once
successful community that lived in Karainagar as elsewhere in Jaffna
became displaced people. These events are well documented for the
historians of all times.
For the Malaysian
Tamils the ethnic policy was not as tragic. When the bumi putra
policy in post independent Malaysia began to bite, the Malayan
Tamils were disadvantaged and marginalised in the public and private
sector employment, which was the mainstay of their livelihood. There
were ethnic riots and violence but the target was the more
successful Chinese community.
With the Indian Tamils using their
numbers to politically assert their due claims, the small Malayan
Ceylon Tamil community became an inconsequential minority that they
were left alone and did not suffer trauma on the scale that their
counter-parts in Ceylon did. Unlike in Ceylon the need for people to
flee their destroyed homes to save their lives did not arise in
Malaysia. The few who left Malaysia were economic migrants looking
for greener pastures though in justification some pointed to the
bumi-putra policy as unjust and denying them and their children
opportunities to achieve their aspirations. The movement of people
out of Malaysia on account of ethnic violence or oppression was
negligible and Malaysia did not create the equivalent of a Ceylon
Tamil diaspora.
Chapter 7
Mass movement of people, the 2nd wave
and creation of the Diaspora
The initial outflow overseas – more economic
than racial
The ethnic conflict that
was brewing since 1956 caused the disillusioned Tamils from the
middle class to begin moving out of Ceylon. Initially the
discrimination against the Tamils hurt those in the traditional
professions of the Tamils specifically when the additional language
proficiency requirement was imposed for promotions and entry into
the public service. The ‘Sinhala only’ Act of 1956 of the Ceylon
Parliament was a clear statement of intent of the state. In response
the initial outward movement of Tamils (in the 1960’s and 1970’s)
began. Only a handful moved and the motivation for which was more
economic than political or racial.
The subsequent massive outflows overseas –
the 1983 violence and oppression
The response to the
passive resistance of the Tamils to the state sponsored
discrimination was repression that intensified the ethnic tensions
by stages burgeoning into near civil war level. There were riots in
succession (1956, 1963, 1973, 1978 and 1983). The victims were the
Tamils in South Ceylon. There was extensive loss of lives and
property.
The vicious 1983 riots
inflicted untold suffering and heavy loss of Tamil lives and
property. This drove the pacifist Tamil population into supporting
the emerging insurgency. Claiming to fight the insurgency the level
of state repression increased again dramatically. To escape the
ruthless repression the Tamil population had to move out of their
homes on a mass scale. The movement took tidal wave proportions and
refugees who fled overseas went first to India, and thereafter to
Australia, Canada and Europe. The bulk of the exodus was middle
class families with skills. Harrowing accounts of the sufferings of
the people during this mass exodus evoked international sympathy and
is still remembered by the affected people. This class of refugees
had the skills to settle in and re-build their lives in the host
countries. They now constitute an influential overseas community
that is still conscious of its roots. There are a few amongst the
diaspora who strike a discordant note but the mainstream remains
conscious of their roots and identity.
The massive (1990s) outflows to safe havens
within Ceylon
The atrocities that
followed the armed forces offensive in the early 1990’s to retake
Jaffna from the insurgents led to another outflow of Tamils
(involving those who could not flee overseas earlier) of massive
proportions (over 300000) to safe havens especially to the Wanni and
suburbs of Colombo. In the Wanni, protection from oppression by the
armed forces was guaranteed. Oral history recounts of the sufferings
of these people remain as permanent scars in the memory of affected
peoples though decades have passed. The displaced (including the
very young and aged) fled with meagre provisions (food and clothing
to last the trek by foot over 100 to 150 miles).
Unable to bear the
din of indiscriminate shelling that not only destroyed homes, the
pain of loosing of all household possessions to the looting armed
forces, the constant fear of mid-night knocks on the door and
arrests by members of the armed forces drove ordinary people to
undertake the painful “long march” despite the tremendous physical
risks involved. Before venturing on the long trek fearing that the
valuable jewels they carry may be snatched by sentries at the armed
forces check points most refugees wrapped them in cellophane and
buried them in the houses they left hoping to recover them on
return. These were looted by the armed forces using sophisticated
detectors.
These harrowing stories that reduced a thriving community
to abject poverty and immense hardships are narrated by the victims
to visiting overseas relatives and friends even today which
naturally evoke much sympathy for the victims and anger towards the
perpetrators of these crimes. However visitors also observe that in
a decade these displaced people have rebuilt their lives thanks to
the resilience of the victims themselves, the supportive overseas
Tamils and the organized support of authorities in the Wanni
territory.
The rest (another about
100000) took the risk and moved to Colombo to live with friends and
next of kin. These refugees lived cramped in one roomed annexes in
the Colombo suburbs paying exorbitant rents which was possible only
because of the generosity of their relatives living overseas. These
refugees have also since rebuilt their lives without any state
support over the past ten years. Most have moved into better
accommodation and living conditions have improved. Again the
benefactors are their relatives living overseas. The immediate and
extended family cohesion remained strong enough to alleviate the
hardships of these displaced people. The identity factor still
burning strongly in the hearts and minds of the communities living
overseas played and continues to play a major role in the
improvements of living standards of these displaced people. A return
to their homes in the North for conditions of normality to return
remains a dream for these displaced people.
Chapter 8
The identity issue revisited – so whither the
Diaspora?
Integration – The Tamil
diaspora and others
The Tamil people from
different regions in Jaffna who moved into host countries overseas
had to learn to live together forgetting regional parochialism and
other divisions. In the two decades since 1983, the prejudices that
kept them apart back in the homeland broke down. In recent years the
Malayan Tamils too driven by self-interest saw advantages in moving
closer to the Ceylon Tamils. The disdain customarily shown by the
few Malayan Tamils for decades slowly disintegrated. The Malayan
Tamils grew eager for marriages into the successful Ceylon Tamil
families. Marriages between these two communities are common now.
This trend is most evident especially in Australia. The two
communities moving closer in a foreign environment augurs well for
the identity of the Tamil people.
A devastated and deserted homeland
A visit to Karainagar
and Jaffna today provides evidence of the drastically changed
character of the demographic topography in these places. There are
only a couple of families of the elite VKT paguthi that still live
in Karainagar. Poor and desolate the families etch out a meager
living. The total number now living in Karainagar is estimated at a
few hundred. For the Jaffna peninsular as a whole a reasonable
estimate is a few hundred thousand. The middle class who moved out
of the country to become the diaspora is still a minority. Where
have all these people moved to? The estimates are that about 150 000
are in Canada, 40000 in Australia, 10 000 in Britain and about 5 000
dispersed around the world. Over a hundred thousand (100 000) moved
South to Colombo and its suburbs.
About another 200 000 have settled in territory about a hundred
miles away from Karainagar and Jaffna in the Wanni territory not
under government control.
The progeny in the host countries makes it
The size of the progeny
of the various paguthies that are dispersed across the phase of the
earth in countries as far apart as England and Canada and Australia
is over 200 000 strong. These countries took the most number of
refugees. Some refugees in small numbers are in European countries
such as Norway, Denmark, France, Germany and Switzerland.
Professionals – in traditional vs. new
professions
Twenty years have passed
since the 1983 trauma. Initially the bulk of the refugees from the
Tamil homelands without the education and skills in line with the
host country requirements did not move up the social ladder in the
host countries. They were and are employed in semi-skilled and
clerical positions in the public and private sector. Some are in
junior supervisory positions. From amongst the progeny of these
refugees who entered countries such as England, Australia and Canada
there emerged a class of professionals. They are in both the
traditional and new professions. With a host country education that
is more in tune with local requirements this emerging class of
professionals are in diverse fields. Most still hog the traditional
fields such as medicine, engineering, accounting, law and teaching.
A few ventured into the more lucrative new professions in the
service sectors especially investment banking, commercial banking
and financial services. The success earned by both classes of
professionals improves the image of a community tarnished earlier as
benefits roters (benefits roting is widespread that cuts across all
communities in host countries). There is still a stubborn remnant
number who condone such abuse of the system... The VKT paguthi has a
number of its progeny in the class of successful people.
Professionals in the new professions
- Are they
pioneers?
Amongst those who first
moved out of Ceylon (not as refugees) in the 1970’s who were the
better educated and with specialized skills first went to countries
such as Singapore, Malaysia, Indonesia, Hong Kong and the United
States. These countries were seeking to import specialized skills in
short supply within the country; hence the demand for the skills of
certain professionals in these countries. Singapore a successful
commercial hub for over 4 decades encouraged overseas professionals
especially those with skills for its service and non-traditional
economic sectors such as development and investment banking.
The new
world of globalization and intense international competition has
created an attractive market for those with specialised skills in
the newer disciplines such as corporate governance, finance,
actuarial methodologies, funds management, and information
technology. The new disciplines now attract the best and the
brightest (scholar category). The contribution of the extended VKT
paguthi here needs special mention.
In entrepreneurship, a progeny
(Senthilnathan* 6th generation) of the VKT paguthi in England has
been successful. The success of other members of the VKT paguthi
includes a 5th generation VKT progeny of Sinnarta
Veluppillai, his daughter and son. The skills of members of this
family are in senior (including holding board of directors
positions) management levels and in development banking, investment
banking and specialized law fields with leading international
corporate players in a globalised market. Likewise in the area
finance, the success of Kulendran a 7th generation VKT
progeny and grandson of a VKT village elder Subramaniam Kanapathy
needs special mention. In the medical field a VKT progeny
(Pathmanathan a 6th generation VKT progeny and grandson
of Sinnarta Veluppillai) achieved a break-through in the field of
microsurgery in Malaysia to enter into the Guinness Book of records
in 2003.
By the criteria of
numbers the contribution of the Extended VKT paguthies in Singapore,
Australia, Canada and England in the traditional medical and
engineering fields has been extremely good and numerous. A special
mention of the progeny of the Ponn Udaiyar paguthi is remarkable
producing at least 2 distinguished academics (who were professors in
world renowned universities), doctors and scientists.
A detailed study of the
contribution of other related elite paguthies in Karainagar is
necessary for a more balanced appreciation of the success of
Karainagarans as a whole. Similar studies to measure the success of
professionals in the other regions of Jaffna will vouch to the
determination of the Tamils to achieve despite the setbacks they
suffered.
Pioneers in the new professions - their role
The
exodus from their homelands was a traumatic chapter in the history
of Tamils in Sri Lanka. But the trauma also opened up new
opportunities for the progeny of the diaspora in the adopted
countries. Like the Malayan Tamil pioneers at the end of the 19th
century the determination with which the present diaspora managed to
turn the opportunities presented into success stories in such a
brief period (2 decades) augurs well for the entire community. In a
world that is moving fast in the direction of globalizing the trade
in services, the timely involvement of Tamil professionals in the
new professions with international scope is a pioneering
contribution equaling that of the Tamil Malayan pioneers in the late
19th and early 20th centuries. It adds depth
and width to the professional skills pool in the community lifting
the profile of a community further to a level never before achieved.
The professionals from
the traditional fields have a role in the re-development of a
devastated homeland but for the Tamil homeland’s longer-term growth
and progress and to face the challenges posed by globalization,
professionals in the new professions have a major role to play. The
size and depth of skills in the new professions pool will be a key
determinant for progress and continued success of the community in
the globalised environment for any emerging nation. Hence to assess
progress using the traditional indicators of progress like the size
(numbers alone) of the professional pool alone is inadequate. The
quality and mix of the skills pool is as much or more important.
The role of the
extended VKT paguthi progeny
Material success alone
does not guarantee the long-term success of a community. Materially
some sections of the paguthi have lost out but this is more than
offset by the success achieved by the rest of the paguthi. Those
successful were driven by an urge to succeed in a highly competitive
environment overseas. Observing the core values of the community
(like hard work - the formulae for success) the successful ones also
realized that doom awaits a progeny that easily gives up those core
values that originally fired the community’s pioneering spirit.
Keeping in touch with its proud roots stimulates a community to
strive harder to keep abreast and progress in a broader sense.
In
this respect the success of the extended VKT paguthi is remarkable.
Although a natural dilution in the lineage occurred (with movement
of peoples and marriages outside) the VKT paguthi members who pride
over their lineage have kept the values and the identity of the
ancestral paguthies. Senthilnathan, (son of MA Kandiah), and his
sisters Theivayanai and Thevakuncharam (Dr) all 6th
generation progeny of the VKT paguthi nourished by their extended
family values ensured that almost the entire extended family
benefited from the progress the family achieved. They gave the
family the leadership keeping alive joint family values and not
allowing selfish individualistic craving for own wealth and fame to
interfere with the commitment to their Karma yoga activities. It was
Karma Yoga in action a core value in the Tamil identity.
Marriages – within peer paguthies within
Karainagar
Though paguthi
considerations no longer have as much bearing on marriages, the
progeny of the extended VKT paguthi do retain in a substantial
measure the conservative streak that they inherited. This is evident
especially in the most fundamental social institution, marriage.
Fundamental changes occurred in this area in the last 30 to 50
years.
About 150 years ago
marriages were as far as possible kept within the peer paguthies.
Marriages outside the paguthies were taboo and rare then. With the
custom of inter-peer paguthi marriages being so strong in the
pre-1950 years, marriages into non-peer paguthi families were
frowned upon by the conservative Karainagar elites then who
mistakenly attributed this as necessary to keep the purity of their
lineage. Well-known marriages within peer paguthies include that of:
Moddaiyar Kanapathy* a
4th generation VKT paguthi who married Theivanai daughter
of Vidane Vaithylingam and a 3nd generation progeny of
the Kantha udaiyar/vidanai paguthi.
Theivanai’s younger
sister and the 2nd daughter of Vidane Vaithylingam,
Valliammai a 3rd generation progeny of the Kantha
udaiyar/vidanai paguthi married Ragunather a 3rd
generation progeny of the Ponn udaiyar paguthi.
The daughter of this
couple (Ragunather and Valliammai) Maheswary, a 4th
generation Kantha Udaiyar/Vidane and Ponn udaiyar paguthies married
Veluppillai a 4th generation progeny of the VKT paguthi. Veluppillai
is a blood cousin of Moddaiyar. Maheswary was known as Vidanayatte
paiththi.
The eldest daughter of
Veluppillai and Maheswary, Thapomany a 5th generation
progeny of the VKT paguthi and 5th generation progeny of
the Kantha udaiyar/vidane paguthi married Thillainather a 5th
generation progeny of the Kanthar udaiyar paguthi (family).
The brother of
Thapomany and son of Veluppillai/Maheswary, Sivasubramaniam a 5th
generation progeny of the VKT and 5th generation progeny
of the /Kantha Udaiyar/Vidane paguthi married Kamalam (Kamalawathi)
a 6th generation progeny of the Kanthar udaiyar paguthi
(family) in 1962. Sivasubramaniam used to be called Vidaneyatta
peeddan.
Oral history is
unavailable to establish the inter-peer paguthi marriages in the
period before Moddaiyar. Official records of Hindu marriages in this
period are also unavailable.
Apparently the custom of
maintaining the chain of inter-peer paguthi marriages did not
continue after 1962. Inter-paguthi marriages between the three peer
paguthies occurred over several generations at least until the early
1960’s.
Although records and
oral history of inter peer-paguthi marriages in the period before
Moddaiyar’s marriage are patchy, it is well known that the marriages
of two female progenies of the Chettiyar paguthi established the
link between the Ponn Udaiyar and Kanthar Udaiyar paguthies. Kanthar
udaiyar married Chettiyar’s sister-in-law and Chettiyar’s daughter
married Ponn udaiyar’s son Veluppillai. Similarly both Kandappar
Paaraththai and her brother Kandappar Sinnathamby both 3rd
generation progeny of the VKT paguthi married the brother and sister
of the Maniyakaran (Subramaniam) paguthi. Details on the
Maniyagaran paguthi could not be included in this Extended VKT
paguthi study, as oral history evidence was not readily available
for validation.
Other marriages within
Karainagar
The socio-cultural
changes since the 1950’s saw the decline of the influence of elite
landed classes and the ascendancy of the new rich. Non-peer paguthi
marriages became the norm. Even those who went for non-peer paguthi
families (unsure of the social standing into which they were
marrying) did not accept marriages outside Karainagar before 1950
and more so before 1900. The attitude to marriages changed
drastically in the last 50 plus years.
With people gaining
education and people moving within the country and overseas and
social mobility engined by momentous economic changes, there were
more intra peer paguthi marriages than inter peer paguthi marriages.
With the emergence of a new class structure (especially the
so-called new rich) in the Tamil homelands money became a major
consideration in marriages within both the Ceylon Tamils and Malayan
Tamil communities.
Marriages outside peer
paguthies and outside Karainagar
Lineage purity –
rapidly shifting boundaries
Socio-economic changes
eroded the (economic) power of the land owning paguthies and
emerging new rich (especially the traders) had the money power to
buy into the old landed classes. The measure of wealth no longer was
based on the criteria of land ownership; money and near money assets
taking its place. The composition of the wealthy changed in the
first half of the 20th century that marriage outside the
peer paguthies gained acceptance.
There are still families
even in overseas host countries such as England, Australia and
elsewhere who take pride over their children marrying into
Karainagar families. The obsession with maintaining a pure
Karainagar lineage that replaced the obsession of the landed elites
with maintaining the pure peer paguthi lineage shifted further that
marriage outside Karainagar is now readily accepted. This shift out
occurred even earlier when Malayan Tamils who settled in Malaysia
married Chinese spouses. When the Tamils moved into non-Asian host
countries such as Britain, Australia and Canada populated
predominantly with westerners both the Ceylon Tamil and Malayan
Tamils learned to gracefully accept marriages into white families.
The boundaries of the preferred lineage purity have moved far out
that the concept of lineage purity becomes meaningless. There are no
winners or loosers amongst those making lineage purity claims
(whether paguthi or Karainagar lineages). Those gloating a winner’s
status today have no assurance of the claim lasting the next day.
This social change though inevitable for the diaspora in most host
country environment has important implications for the issue of
Tamil identity.
Lineage purity, Tamil national identity and
multi -culturalism
So, how does an
obsession over the purity of lineage impact on the more fundamental
issue of maintaining the home country cultural identity for the
progeny living in host countries of diverse cultures? This is a
burning issue for the Tamil diaspora. The diaspora as migrants is
torn between their desire to maintain their cultural identity and
the political compulsions in host countries for integration with the
rest of the community in the host country. The mainstream diaspora
ended up in these host countries after waging a struggle to keep
their identity and paying a very high price for it.
The call by
racist groups especially that migrants integrate with the host
country communities amount to losing their own core identity. This
is not in the spirit of “multi-culturalism” that offered an
acceptable integration model for immigrant communities. But most
host countries that once loudly proclaimed their championship of
“multi-culturism” now express these words in much muted tones! The
epic (Civil Rights movement in the US) struggle of the progeny of
the Afro-Americans who were brought to the US (the bastion of
democracy!) and kept down as slaves for decades struggled to keep
their identity. Lynching ensured that protests against such
inhumanity by Afro-Americans were kept peaceful! This was a
democracy in action and Alex Hayley vividly captured it in his epic
“Roots” some years back.
The success achieved in
the various fields by the Tamils (in the Tamil homelands and as
displaced people) is enviable. To sustain the pace of progress, the
progeny of succeeding generations need the motivation of the
community’s identity and values. To nurture this motivation, the
consciousness of their identity has to be kept alive. It has to sink
into the psyche of the progeny of the generations to come. Although
a tiny fraction of the Tamil community is prepared to jettison the
concept of cultural identity as irrelevant garbage, the mainstream
show commitment to the core values in the Tamil identity.
To fire up
this commitment to identity consciousness the Tamil progeny has to
be kept aware of the community’s proud heritage. Lineage and history
studies of the Tamils as a community have a contribution to make
here. Identity consciousness of the past and the present reflect
the changes that a society passed and is passing through. The
consciousness of the past and present is important. But if history
is to be of relevance it should also give due place to the
consciousness of the future as well. “No consciousness of the
future, no history” said E H Carr. The community has to constantly
keep the consciousness of the future to revitalize the community’s
values and identity in facing the challenges of the future. This
ensures that the identity consciousness remains relevant.
The sounds
of Sivapuranan and Suprabhatham continue to resonate the moral (ara
olukkam) and spiritual (aanmeeka olukkam) values of the community;
for the present day worldly life which is focused on material
progress social values (udal olukkam) has not kept pace with the
socio-cultural changes in the last hundred years. The 19th
century Hindu revival revitalized the social values (udal olukkam)
to reflect the end of the feudalistic social order but the quality
of the revitalizing in the social values (udal olukkam)area has
fallen short. Hence its inability to cope with the emergence of the
new capitalistic social order. The shortfall is most transparent in
its inability to moderate the excesses of crude individualism and
obsession with one’s own material success in the new social order.
To give moral values (ara olukkam) its due place in their lives, the
community needs to revitalise the social values (udal olukkam) for
the two values (olukkam) to work in harmony. For this purpose the
community needs to re-visit the Kural to progress materially without
compromising on the moral and spiritual values strongly embedded in
the community’s identity. |
