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The up-country Tamils have been, and continue to be, one of the most deprived sections of Sri Lankan Society. It is 200 years since their arrival in Sri Lanka when they were brought to the country from India by the British to work on the up-country plantations. They have been variously described as Malaiyaha Tamils, Tamils of Indian Origin and Plantation Tamils with the label Malaiyaha Tamils becoming increasingly popular in recent times. 

Despite their invaluable contribution to the Sri Lankan economy over the years, they have lagged behind other communities in education, health, housing and overall economic well-being. They were collectively discriminated after Independence when they were deprived of citizenship and disenfranchised in 1948 rendering them Stateless people.

They became the victims of a political decision by the first government of Independent Sri Lanka. The two Marxist political parties, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and the Communist Party enjoyed wide support among the Malaiyaha Tamils and the then government feared such a large vote base could make the political left too powerful.

As a result of their disenfranchisement, the Malaiyaha Tamils became political non-entities with no elected representative to influence national policy or look after their interests. They could only expect a member of Parliament to be nominated by one of the political parties as a token of their representation and as a result their interests suffered.

Their most notable representative for many years was Savumiamoorthy Thondaman who founded and led the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) which functioned both as a trade union and political party. However, there was little he could do as a nominated member and the Malaiyaha Tamils hardly benefitted from his presence in the legislature.

It was only after Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike succeeded in entering into an agreement with Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri in 1964 that the first step was taken to correct the historical injustice committed by the Sri Lankan government in 1948 when it disenfranchised the Malaiyaha Tamils.

In terms of the Sirima Shastri pact, 300,000 of around 975,000 Stateless people were granted Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) citizenship by the Sri Lankan government, while the Indian government agreed to confer Indian citizenship on 525,000 of these people. In later years this number was reduced, and larger numbers were granted citizenship by the Sri Lankan government.

The status and future of the remaining 150,000 Stateless people were to be the subject matter of a separate agreement between the two governments and was resolved in later years.

It was only after the grant of citizenship in accordance with the Sirima Shastri Agreement that up country Tamils could elect their own representative. The first such representative was Savumiamoorthy Thondaman who remained a Parliamentarian for several years and went on to hold office as a cabinet minister.

Two recent events served to highlight the plight of the Malaiyaha Tamils. In July this year a walk was organised from Mannar to Matale to highlight the history of this beleaguered community and its journey through political and economic discrimination. The walk was designed to give an impetus to the Malaiyaha Tamil community’s legitimate concerns and the struggles and disparities experienced by these workers and to advocate for the safeguarding of their rights.

Taking a cue from the walk, which was entirely a civil society initiative, the CWC organised the Naam 200 (We are 200) event at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium which was graced by President Ranil Wickremesinghe and Indian Finance Minister Nirmala Sitharaman.

At this event President Ranil Wickremesinghe pledged to provide ten perches of land to each member of the Malaiyaha Tamil community as a means of uplifting their sub-standard living conditions symbolised by the infamous line rooms they regarded as their houses.

On December 20, 2022, the Economy Next website had reported that the Cabinet had approved a proposal by President Ranil Wickremesinghe to implement programmes to improve living conditions of up-country plantation workers.

Despite re-instated citizenship rights and higher degrees of political representation, the plantation sector is still one of the most deficient communities in terms of healthcare, literacy, and higher education. These social indicators of deficiency are mostly visible among the Malaiyaha Tamil women, who comprise more than half of the plantation work force but suffer the greatest marginalisation.

Other than the structural reasons that have held back the progress of the Malaiyaha Tamil community, the slow pace at which the grievances of the community have been addressed are largely due to the failure of the political leadership of the community. Most of them have been pre-occupied with obtaining ministerial posts and other privileges in return for delivering the votes of their community to one national party or the other.

Whatever improvements in their living conditions have been obtained “by the way” rather than as core demands. Savumiamoorthy Thondaman often projected himself as a “kingmaker” in the formation of successive governments using the vote bank of his community as a bargaining chip for political power.

The national political parties too have to be blamed for neglecting the Malaiyaha Tamil community who are an integral part of the Sri Lankan nation. They often took the easy way out at elections by outsourcing the collection of votes to the political parties which worked exclusively in the up-country areas in return for ministerial positions and other benefits from the leaders of such parties.

It is time the Sri Lankan State is restructured and geared to address the problems of the deprived sections of society including the Malaiyaha Tamil community. This can only be done by vigorous affirmative policy initiatives that ensure equitable rights for all. (javidyusuf@gmail.com)