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Selected Writings -
S. Makenthiran
Plantation Tamils � The Oppressed People of Sri Lanka
29 December 2007 [also
in Word Format]
Immigration in the nineteenth century
In Sri Lanka live one of the most oppressed communities in the world. They are
the plantation Tamils living in the central hill country. This unfortunate
community has been treated like sub-humans by the successive Sinhalese
governments that were in power since independence in 1948.
In Sri Lanka, formerly called Ceylon, there are three major communities � the
majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils and Muslims. At the time of
independence, there was a population of about 8 million, of which the Sinhalese
composed of 66%, the Tamils 26% and Muslims 7%. The Tamils of Ceylon are of two
categories - the Eelam Tamils of the coastal Northeast Province, and the
Upcountry Tamils of the central highlands of Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa
Provinces..
It is common knowledge that the Northeast Tamils were the original inhabitants
of Ceylon (Eelam or Ilankai, as known earlier) descended from the great king
Ravanan or Ravaneswaran, the Lord of Lanka. The Sinhalese came uninvited to
Ceylon in the 6th century B.C, when Prince Vijaya and six hundred of his gang,
who were banished from their country in North East India, were tossed by the
seas and landed somewhere in Puttalam. They married the local Tamil women and
formed the Sinhala race. As history would have it, they became powerful and
gradually pushed the Tamils to the Northeast coast.
These Eelam Tamils are different from the Upcountry Tamils who were brought by
the British at the beginning of the 19th century from South India to work on the
plantations. The first batch of Tamil labourers came around 1823 from Tamil
Nadu, then called Madras Presidency. In two more decades, they will complete two
centuries of habitation in Sri Lanka.. They toiled on the Tea, rubber and
coconut plantations to make Ceylon prosperous under grueling, and inhuman
conditions.
When Ceylon was unilaterally granted independence by the British in 1948, there
were about one million Eelam Tamils and a little more that one million Upcountry
Tamils, out of a total population of about eight millions. The Eelam Tamils were
well off but the Upcountry Tamils lived in poverty and squalor. As a school boy,
teacher, accountancy student, and accountant, I had the experience of seeing the
Tamils in the estates and posses intimate knowledge of the terrible conditions
in which they lived.
Appalling living conditions
These Tamils from Tamil Nadu were brought to Ceylon as indentured labourers.
�Indenture� is a sealed agreement binding servant to master. The poverty
stricken ignorant and illiterate Tamils of South India were subjected to the
terms of indenture and brought to Ceylon to work on plantations. These
unfortunate Tamils were condemned to virtual slavery under the British, and
after independence to the Sinhalese masters.
The gangs of estate labourers were supervised by Kanganies, who came under the
overall supervision of a Head Kangany . The manager in charge of the estate is
called Estate Superintendent. Under him, the administration came under an
Assistant Superintendent, Head Clerk and clerks. The tea factory is supervised
by a Tea Maker and his staff. The Tamil women did the tea plucking and were paid
according too the weight of tea plucked. Other labourers were paid at an hourly
rate.
The living conditions of the plantation Tamils was appalling. They lived in
labour lines like the slave rows in the United States. Each family was given a
room and large families of ten or twelve children were crammed up in a room.
They had to use common toilets, and a common tap. Men and women had to bathe
from the common tap in the open. After independence, while the Sinhala dominated
government went all out to improve the quality of life of the Sinhalese, the
Tamils were neglected. The plantation Tamils were the worst off.
The health and educational facilities made available to this unfortunate
community was deplorable. There were dispensaries in the estates but no doctors.
Unqualified dispensers were attending to the sick. Schools were only up to 4th
or 5th standard. The objective was to discourage Tamils from improving in
education to make sure that they remained labourers.
Among the plantation Tamils, there were a handful who were economically better
off as clerks, tea makers, and head kanganies. The sons of these few plantation
Tamils, who were better off did get some chance to progress. But the vast
majority were in abject poverty and ignorance.
These Upcountry or Plantation Tamils, are wrongly referred to as Indian Tamils.
Sinhalese who claim to have come from India are not referred to as Indian
Sinhalese. In fact many Indians, who immigrated after the Upcountry Tamils,
merged with the Sinhalese and conveniently call themselves Sinhalese.
Conditions under colonialism
Under the British rule, though the Plantation Tamils were suffering under
atrocious living conditions, as British subjects they were equal in the eyes of
the law. In the nineteen twenties Tamils of recent Indian origin were nominated
to the legislative council. In 1931 under the Donoughmore constitution, when
universal adult franchise was introduced, the Plantation Tamils were granted the
right to vote like all other Ceylonese.
In the thirties, the Sinhalese spearheaded by D.S. Senanayake, agitated in the
Legislative Council to send back some Indians and to discontinue and deport
Indians in government service. . In 1939 Jawaharlal Nehru (who later became the
first Prime Minister of Independent India) arrived to look into the problems
faced by people of Indian origin. Soon after, the Ceylon Indian Congress was
formed to lead the Upcountry Tamils. It was later to emerge as a powerful
political party and trade union in the country.
Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman, the Upcountry Tamil leader
It was about this time that Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman entered politics and
ultimately became the uncrowned king of the Upcountry Tamils. He led his people
through thick and thin for six decades. Born in Tamil Nadu in 1913, he came to
Ceylon in 1924 at the age of 11. His father had migrated to Ceylon as a kangany
and by hard work and enterprise become the owner of an estate. Young Thondaman
became a planter and so did many members of his extended family later. In 1940
he entered politics as Chairman of the Reception Committee of the Gampola Branch
of the Ceylon Indian Congress.
Developments after independence
The granting of independence to Ceylon was a tragedy for the Tamils. The Ceylon
government dominated by the Sinhalese, gave them step motherly treatment. The
Upcountry Tamils were living in extremely difficult conditions, but the Sinhala
dominated government completely neglected them.
The Ceylon Indian Congress led by Thondaman secured 8 seats in the first
Parliament out of a total of 101. Thondaman was elected to the Nuwara Eliya
seat. The block Upcountry Tamil votes influenced 12 other electorates in favour
of left parties,
Then like a bolt from the blue, came the terrible betrayal of the Tamils by the
Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake and the U.N.P. In the very year of independence,
the Upcountry Tamils who numbered over a million rendered stateless. In a
blatant act of perfidy, D.S. Senanayake, passed the Ceylon Citizenship Act
depriving citizenship to the Upcountry Tamils (over half the Tamil population)
who had lived in Ceylon for many generations. It was followed in the next year
by the Ceylon Elections Amendment Act depriving voting rights to those Estate
Tamils who constituted about 13% of the population. As a result, in the next
elections in 1952, not a single Tamil member was elected from the Upcountry,
where half the Tamils in Ceylon lived.
Ceylon Tamils fail to support Upcountry Tamil brethren
This was the first blow to the Tamils in Ceylon, and was to be followed by other
numerous serious acts of discrimination by the Sinhalese majority against the
Tamils by successive governments creating a permanent division between the two
communities. D.S. Senanayake who started this anti-Tamil policies can be called
the father of Sinhala racism. The Tamils even in this time of peril failed to
take a united action. To the dismay of the Tamils, G.G. Ponnambalam who posed as
the champion of the Tamils and minorities, voted in support of these
discriminatory acts against fellow Tamils to enable him to continue in the
cabinet. The Plantation Tamils, who were already living in sub-human conditions,
were left without any political voice.
The honour of the Tamils was partly salvaged by S.J.V. Chelvanayagam, who voted
against those despicable Acts of discrimination and broke away from the Tamil
Congress Party of G.G. Ponnambalam. In 1949 S.J.V. Chelvanayagam formed the
Federal Party to agitate for a federal constitution to safeguard the Tamil
rights. He was the first Tamil leader to alert the Tamils to the dangers of
unitarianism and Sinhalese hegemony. However, at that stage he only agitated for
a federal form of government and did not ask for a separate state for the Tamil
minority.
The Upcountry Tamil leader S. Thondaiman, and their party Ceylon Workers
Congress carried on a hopeless and ineffective Satyagraha against the unjust
laws. It was our misfortune that the Tamils failed to unite at this desperate
hour for the Upcountry Tamils, who were suffering under the Sinhalese government
and thugs. Having seen the conditions in which these poor Tamils lived in
Ceylon�s hill country and how the Tamils lived in Apartheid South Africa, I can
say that the Tamils in Ceylon estates were treated very much worse. The Tamils
in Apartheid South Africa were also denied political rights, but they were
economically prosperous and much better off than the Estate Tamils of Ceylon�s
Hill Country
The Upcountry Tamils were not only handicapped economically, socially, and in
education. Now they were without any political leverage and no seat in
Parliament. It was infuriating to hear the Sinhalese refer disparagingly to the
Upcountry Tamils as �kallathonis� (illicit boat people) and the Northeast Tamils
as �para damalos�. The Sinhalese were under the illusion that they could
perpetually perpetrate any injustices on the Tamils with impunity, as the latter
were a powerless minority.
Renaming to Ceylon Workers Congress
In 1950, the name of Ceylon Indian Congress was changed to Ceylon Workers
Congress, and it became a powerful force as it controlled a large and strong
trade union. The word �Indian� is misleading and should not be used in referring
to Upcountry Tamils..
Sirimavo-Shastri Pact
In a glaring case of betrayal, the Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri
agreed to the repatriation of 600,000 of the one million Upcountry Tamils to
India. This was done against the wishes of the Tamils of Ceylon by signing the
Sirimavo-Shastri Pact in October 1964. The Northeast and Upcountry Tamils had by
then been alerted to the danger of Sinhalese racism and were against the mass
deportation. Under the agreement, 375,000 Upcountry Tamils were to be given
Ceylon citizenship. However, this was done at a slow pace by the Sinhalese
administration.
The worm turns
Thondaman became the champion of the orphaned and oppressed estate underdogs. It
is a sad fact that the Sinhalese thugs treated them like sub-human beings. It
was depressing to see the Tamil estate labourers manhandled by the Sinhalese
when they had to go to town. The Upcountry Tamil leaders gradually roused their
alertness and they began to assert themselves. The estate Tamils began to defend
themselves and give it back when provoked. This oppressed Tamil community was
gradually becoming a powerful force.
Eviction of estate Tamils
The Srimavo government was severely racist and evicted the estate Tamils by
various ruses. They nationalised the estates and uprooted the Tamils to settle
Sinhalese. During the repeated anti-Tamil riots by the Sinhalese, estate Tamils
like the Northeast Tamils were chased out of their homes. Consequently, some of
them sought refuge in the Northeast. The Tamil refugees from the estates were
trying to make a living in the remote areas of Northeast, but many were again
mercilessly attacked and uprooted by the Sinhalese army.
Common suffering of Northeast and Upcountry Tamils
The Tamils of both Northeast and the Upcountry, were bound by the common
suffering at the hands of the Sinhala state and mob terror. They were all made
refugees, victimised and uprooted from their homes. In the sixties and seventies
600,000 Upcountry Tamils were forcibly deported. In the eighties and nineties
600,000 Northeast Tamils were forced to flee the country as a result of
Sinhalese terror. The common suffering united the Tamils of all communities. The
ethnic cleansing of Tamils was effectively executed by the Sinhalese state and
mob terror.
Triumvirate of TULF leaders
When the Tamil United Liberation Front was formed in 1976, Thondaman was elected
to the triumvirate of leaders along with G.G. Ponnambalam and Chelvanayagam. The
Tamil United Liberation Front was formed in 1976 by uniting the Federal Party,
the Ceylon Tamil Congress and the Ceylon Workers Congress. The TULF at a
convention held in Vaddukkoddai presided over by Thanthai Chelva, passed a
historic resolution calling for the formation of a separate state of Tamil Eelam
covering the Northern and Eastern provinces. When the TULF decided to agitate
for separation, Thondaman chose a different path that he thought would help his
own estate community.
Re-entry into Parliament
In 1960 and 1965 Thondaman was made an appointed Member of Parliament to
represent the stateless Tamils. When the number of Tamils registered as citizens
increased, their influence in elections began to be felt. In 1971, after 30
years, he won an elections on the Tamil votes in Nuwara Eliya. In 1978 he was
appointed to the cabinet as Minister of Rural Industries. From then on, almost
always he held a ministerial post under different governments till his death. He
used his ministerial position to uplift the economic position of the estate
people and to regain part of the lost rights. In 1994 the CWC secured nine seats
in Parliament and became a force to be reckoned with in Sri Lankan politics.
Anti Tamil hostility
In the ethnic violence of 1977 and 1980, the plantation Tamils were the worst
affected. As a result of the recurring ethnic violence against Tamils, many
plantation Tamils had taken refuge in the Northeast and settled down there as
farm hands. In the 1983 massacre of the Tamils by the Sinhalese, the estate
Tamils also suffered and many fled to India and the Tamil homeland of Northeast
Sri Lanka. The Sinhalese politicians used the armed forces to uproot them. They
were forcibly put into buses and taken to the plantations and dumped there. The
Gandhiyam Movement which was looking after their welfare was crushed and the
organizers, Dr. Rajasundaram and Architect David were arrested and treated like
common criminals.
Thondaman extracts concessions
Thondaman used his political and ministerial position to win back some of the
rights of his oppressed people. Most of the Tamil Upcountry people, fought and
got their civic rights. Wages also were increased due to trade union action.
Thondaman succeeded due to various factors. He was a master strategist and used
his cabinet position to obtain concessions. He used the strength of the CWC
trade unions to pressurise the government and estate employers. He used the
block Tamil vote in parliamentary, local and presidential elections. He used the
voting power of the CWC in Parliament to influence the formation of governments.
He came to be regarded as king maker, much to the resentment of Sinhala racists.
In 1988 the UNP government of Premadasa passed an Act to grant citizenship to
the Tamils of the Upcountry, who had been made stateless, but still remained
after the mass deportation under the infamous Srimavo-Shastri Pact. The Bill was
opposed by the SLFP.
Northeast rebellion helps Upcountry Tamils
Most of all, he was greatly helped by the fear the Sinhalese government had of
the armed resistance in Northeast. As the estate Tamils were isolated in the
central highlands, the Sinhalese would have suppressed them. With the LTTE
hammering the SL armed forces in the Northeast, the government did not want a
revolt in the Highlands. Thondaman used his influence with his people to prevent
the Upcountry Tamil youth from joining the armed rebellion. Such a revolt would
have had far reaching consequences. Nevertheless, the estate youth settled in
the Northeast could not be prevented from throwing in their lot with their
bothers and sisters of the Northeast. Many fought and died, shoulder to shoulder
with the brave youth of the Northeast against the Sinhalese forces. The truth is
that despite all the strategies of Thondaman and the strength of the Upcountry
Tamils, they would have been kept down by the Sinhalese, if the Northeast Tamils
had not posed a serious armed threat.
Death and succession
.
When Thondaman died at the age of 86 in 1999, he was still active as a cabinet
minister. He was given a well attended state funeral, and he was the only Tamil
to be given that honour. Over 100,000 people attended his funeral. His people
cried. Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman can be considered the greatest of all Upcountry
Tamils and his contributions were unique. He was regarded as the uncrowned king
of the Upcountry Tamils and a king maker in Sri Lankan politics.
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So great was his influence with his people, that his grandson Arumugam Thondaman
was recognized as his successor even before his death. Arumugam Thondaman became
the President of the CWC and leads the Upcountry Tamils. Periyasamy
Chandrasekeran, is the leader of the Upcountry Peoples Front, another party
representing the oppressed Plantation Tamils. He is in favour of forging a
united front of the Tamils of Upcountry and Northeast to secure their rights.
Both Arumugam Thondaman and Chandrsekeran have held posts in the Sri Lankan
government.
Upcountry Tamils dissipated
As part of the Sinhalese policy of ethnic cleansing, the Sri Lankan state
carried out forced strerilisation of Plantation Tamils to reduce their numbers.
Half the number had been expatriated to India. Many were killed in the series of
anti-Tamil Sinhala genocide and many fled to the Tamil homeland in the
Northeast. Death rate is high due to lack of facilities. Due to abject poverty,
230,000 Tamil children are estimated to be employed in Sinhalese homes as
domestic servants and exposed to abuse. The rate of unemployment and/or
underemployment among Estate Tamils is high.
Remnants of Upcountry Tamils granted citizenship
In 2003, the Parliament unanimously decided to grant citizenship to the remnants
of the Tamils left in the Upcountry numbering 168,141. It was a long and
protracted struggle against Sinhalese oppression. The struggle for economic
survival of this battered community continues. The frustrated Tamil youth are
restless, and resent the miserable conditions that their parents and ancestors
endured.
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