H. L. D. Mahindapala

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jaffna has a unique history:ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ from itsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ wombƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ cameƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the first mass murderer (Sangkili) of Sri LankaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and also the last (Prabhakaran). Sangkili killed 600 Catholics.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prabhakaran repeated Sangkili’s example by killing 600 policemen who surrendered to the LTTE on the undertaking given by Anton Balasingham, the Chief Negotiator of LTTE, to the Foreign Minister, A. C. S. Hameed, that they will be protected. The massacre violated the Geneva convention of protecting prisoners and also the undertaking given to the Sri Lankan Government who ordered the policemen to surrender inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the hope of saving the peace process going on at the time. Jaffna was also the first to carry out genocidal slaughtering of the Sinhala-Buddhists and ethnic cleansing by forcing the living to escape into the Vanni. Rulers of Jaffna were the first ever to expel the Muslims and Malays.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The crimes of the Tamils againstƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ non-Tamils are recorded in Yalpana Vaipava Malai. (See pp. 33 – 34 of Y.V.M edited by C. Brito). This historical record written in Jaffna byƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Mylvaganam in 1736, at the request of the Dutch governor,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ confirms that committing war crimes and crimes against humanity have been an integral and natural part of the violent political culture of Jaffna — a culture whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ran its course like a river throughƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the pre-colonial, colonial and post-colonial phases of its history.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The record states thatƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the history of Jaffna began and ended with mass murders,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ethnic cleansings, persecution, massacres of Tamils by TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and fascist tyranny, whichƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ eventually deniedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ even the children the rightƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to return home from school safely without being abducted by Tamil “liberators”.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ recurrentƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ violence came out of the womb of Jaffna as an autochthonous force without any provocation from the Sinhalese or other minorities. The violence of the Tamil against Tamils confirm this. For instance, Jaffna is also unique in that it was the only place where the Tamil man could not walk with dignity ever since the Vellahlas took command in the colonial period, particularly from the Dutch period when the Thesawalamai (laws/customs of the land) legitimized their power to own slaves. Some like the turumbas were allowed to walk only in the night to protect the purity of the sight of the high-caste Vellahlas who were likely to cross the path of the polluted low-castes in day time. Jaffna, the heartland of Tamils, was the only place where the Tamil man was reduced to a subhuman slave and kicked around like a pariah. In fact, the word pariah entered the English vocabulary from Jaffna. It is the only place where the Tamil man could not enter a kovil to worship their God unless he belonged to the right caste.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Jaffna was the only place where a TamilƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ boy or a girl could not go to school if they were not from the right caste, or sit in a chair of equal height occupied by a Vellahla student. It is the only place where a Tamil could not drink water from the well of the Vellahlas. It was the only place where a Tamil could not wear the customary clothes, jewellery or even bury the dead according to Hindu rites. It was also the only place in which the Catholic Church had separate pews that reserved the front rows for the high castes and kept the low-castes confined to the remote back rows. All the privileges and rights were instituted and reserved, by divine (Hindu), ecclesiastical (Catholic) and secular (Thesawalamai) laws, only for the upper-caste. The Vellahlas, in short, were the unrivalled supremacistsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and oppressors of Jaffna.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The oppression, persecution, massacres of TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ by Tamils which began in the pre-colonial period did not end with the Portuguese occupation of Jaffna in 1619. TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ denial of basic human rights wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ enforcedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ under the HinduƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ casteist ideologyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  throughout its historical phases. The systemic persecution and oppression of casteism inherent in Vellahlaism wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ continuedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ unabated underƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prabhakaran who ruthlessly politicized his violence to maintain his supremacy.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Prabhakaran transformed casteistƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  violenceƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ into institutionalized political violence. Prabhakaranism wasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ undoubtedly a gruesomeƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ genieƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that came out of the corked bottle ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Vellahlaism that pursued Tamils — boys, girls and elders — relentlessly until theyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ fell at his feet asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ subservient robots paying obeisance to his personality cult.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The denial of basic rights to the Tamils was first socially engineered and driven by the fascist political culture of Jaffna dominated by the Vellahlas. Their social control of Jaffna was adopted andƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ pursued rigorously and methodically by the cadres of Prabhakaran who infiltrated every corner of Jaffna to keep a tight grip onƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ individuals. Like the Vellahlas Prabhakaran used violence without an qualmsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ . His innovative contribution to Vellahla violence was to intensify the viciousness and the vindictiveness to a higherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ level which was applauded by the Vellahlas both at home and abroad.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ For instance, the low-castesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ under Vellahlas were beaten and burnt and dissidents under Prabhakaran who resistedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ his regime wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ liquidated summarilyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ (like the entire Vellahla leadership) or imprisoned in 6 x 6 barbed wire cages. According to reports, aroundƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 800ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ imprisoned Tamil dissidents, some of whom were fed to the crocodiles in the Iranamdu Tank, disappeared just before the Tamil Tigers pulledƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  out of Killinochchi, their administrative capital, and no one knowsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ how these Tamil prisonersƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ disappeared.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Vellahla casteist elite did not feel threatened seriously under colonial powers until the incrementally evolving constitutional changes introduced by the British colonial masters reached a critical point in the 30s to empower the average citizen, irrespective of caste, creed, class, religion or race by introducing universal franchise under the recommendations of the Donoughmore Commission. Democratisation of the electorate — one of the first experiments of its kind in the world in the 30s equalizing the low-castes with the high-castes — was anathema to the Vellahlas who were forced to climb down from their high pedestal and seek the votes from the low-castes. Their reaction was to oppose the Donoughmore recommendation and demand communal electorates rejecting territorial constituencies. The casteist Vellahlas who were ensconced for centuries in their impregnable feudal fortress inside Jaffna suddenly found the foundations cracking and threatening their grip on power both inside and outside the peninsula. Their instant reaction was to shift to communalism asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ theyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ perceived the Sinhala majority in the south asƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the bigger threat to their power bases, especially with the impending constitutional changes that would lead to independence.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Besides, they began to react aggressively only in the dying days of the British raj when they felt that they could no longer rely on the protection of their colonial masters. In the early twenties of the twentieth century, when communal divisions came to the fore, they clamoured for protection by insisting on communal representation as opposed to territorial representation. In the mid-twenties, the English-educated, idealistic Tamil youth, however, rejected communal representation and campaigned for national unity on the basis of territorial representation. But in the thirties when the wave of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ idealisticƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Tamil youth began to wane Jaffna took an irreversible turn towards communalism. It was driven into an ethnic cul-de-sac by G.G. Ponnambalam (Snr), “the embodiment of political aggression”, (p. 65 — S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ A. J. Wilson, C. Hurst & Co (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1994). The virulent anti-Sinhala-Buddhist line he took made theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ JaffnaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ TamilsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  prisoners of their own ill-fated mono-ethnic ideology.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Starting from theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ post-Ponnambalam thirties the trend of keeping external interventionists out and internal opponents silenced and suppressed gathered a new momentum. Jaffna, in any case, was a closed society that demanded conformity at any cost. The Hindu ideology of casteist supremacy gave the Vellahlas the upper hand in controlling the socio-political forces of the peninsula.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The politics of Jaffna was consistently determinedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  by the casteist/classist interests of the Vellahlas. No one else had the chance ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ getting even a toe-hold in JaffnaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ politics. But as the power of the Hindu casteism as an ideology to maintain the supremacy of the ruling Vellahlas declined, particularly under the impact of Christianity and to some extent left-wing ideologies, not to mention the creeping market forces, the Vellahla elite took to mono-ethnic extremism as the next best internal force to hold the fractured Jaffna polity together under their control. So on the eve of Independence (1948) the Vellahlas were in total control of the commanding heights of peninsular politics, economics, religious and societal forces. They owned the land and the Hindu kovils — two key strategic centres that gave them almost total control of Jaffna society. The English-educated Vellahlas were also dominating the public service, a vital base needed to wield power over not only Jaffna but the whole nation. Having obstructedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the non-Vellahla low-castesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to gain access to education they also became the numerically superior English-educated class which gave them easy entry into the professions and the public service.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Besides, the HinduƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ religious reformationƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ initiated and launched by Arumuka Navalar (1822 — 1879), a committed Vellahla casteist, impacted decisively in Jaffna to reinvent and reinforce the new casteist hierarchyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ that exist to this day. Single-handed he reconstructed arbitrarily the Hindu ideology to elevate and anoint the Vellahlas as the divinely ordained ruling caste.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ He was, of course, providing a vital missing link in the Hindu casteist hierarchy. The key missing link in the Hindu hierarchy based on the classical Hindu casteist ideology, was the absence of the Brahmins at the top in Jaffna. Yalpana Vaipava Malai was the first to point this out. It says: “There was one requisite, however, that even royalty could not easily supply, namely a Brahman, for performing sacred rites, as it accounted a great pollution for Brahmans to cross the sea or dwell in the land of Rakshasas.” (p.10) The Vellahlas Hindus worship Arumuka Navalar almost as a demi-god for elevating them to the rank of Brahmins — right on the top of the Hindu hierarchy in Jaffna. But the low-castes have contempt for him and when V. Navaratnam, MP, organised a procession to pay homage to his image carried around Jaffna N. Shanmugathasan of the Communist Party led a counter protest which stoned and obstructed the passage ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Navalar’s image carried atop a festival cart. The “Sinhala Government” had to send a police reinforcements to keep the peace between the two caste groups.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The colonial masters, of course, did not dare disturb the Hindu universe in case it roused political passions of the entrenched Vellahla ruling caste — the most powerful force in peninsular politics. Their power infiltrated every niche of the colonial administration, from top of the British administration to the village council in every remote corner of Jaffna. Though the Sinhalese were in the majority it was the Jaffna Tamils (read the Vellahlas) who acted as the majority. Prof. K. M. de Silva, foremost historian of Sri Lanka, stated that even Gov. William Manning was convinced that the Tamils (read the the Vellahlas because the low-castes had no voice in peninsular politics)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ constitutedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ a majority.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They were also successful in diverting a lion share of the resources to the north and the east. Jane Russell, in her well researched book, Communal Politics under the Donoughmore Constitution, 1931 – 1947, points out: “From 1900 to 1931 the Northern and Eastern Provinces had received almost 50% of the total government expenditure on major irrigation works.” (p. 170). In the 80s’ the People’s Quality of Life Index — an index which measures the quality of the life on the ground as opposed to the abstractƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and remote GDPs and GNPs — placed Jaffna on the top of the scale based on the high quality of health, education, transport and other infrastructure flowing into it to elevate it above the other provinces. Jaffna became the citadel of the Vellahla priviligentsia, giving them an enormous sense of being superior to all others.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ All this makes it clear that every aspect of social and political life in Jaffna was effectively controlled by the Vellahlas. The first communal political organisation, the Maha Jana Sabhai formed in 1921 was “overwhelmingly a Vellahla organisation” (p.94 – Ibid)ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ .ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  The grassroot village committees too were under the control of the Vellahlas. In 1927 there were 371 Village Committees in the north and Jane Russell states: “In most instances the Vellahlas controlled the Village Committees either by successful gerrymandering or electoral wards or by manipulation and intimidation of other castes.” (97 – Ibid). She adds: “In the late 1920s and early 1930s, the Jaffna Youth League had set up a number of Youth Service Leagues in the villages, but by 1934 these had fallen into desuetude. After 1933 the village political arena was dominated by the conservative, communalist and caste-minded leaders of village opinion.” (p. 99– Ibid). A. J. Wilson, Professor of Political Science, University of New Brunswick, Canada, states: “On the whole, the Tamil Vellahlas have dominated government service and the professions, with the occasional member from the minority castes.” (p. 140 — S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947 – 1977, C. Hurst & Co (Publishers) Ltd, London, 1994).

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ And yet it is this Tamil priviligentsia that cried discrimination. Soulbury Commissioners in dismissing the claim of discrimination by “the Sinhala Government” laid by G. G. Ponnambalam pointed out that 32% of jobs in the public service were held by 12% of Jaffna Tamils. The average mentality of the English-educated Jaffna was “fixated on working as government employees..to get a clerkship in government service.” Bishop Sabapathy Kulendram of Church of South India even urged the Jaffna Tamils to give up their “craze for clerkship”. (p.72 — Ibid). It was in support of this craze for clerkship in government service that G. G. Ponnambalam cried discrimination by the Sinhala-dominated government at a time when the British were still ruling Ceylon, as it was known then. Soulbury Commissioners dismissed this claim pointing out that 32% of jobs in the public service was held by 12% of Jaffna Tamils.

It is convincingly clear that “the conservative, communalist and caste-minded” Vellahlas left no space for any other force, group or individual to infiltrate Jaffna as rivals to their power. They used every means at their disposal to cling on to their feudal power and colonial privileges, positions and perks. Ponnambalam, led the anti-Sinhala racist hysteria based on fictitious claims which, however, gained currency in the subsequent years, particularly after the passing of the Sinhala Only Bill in 1956. This language issue will be dealt separately. That too was used by the Vellahla upper caste to consolidate their power. In fact, the language issue became the mostƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ pivotal and exploitable issue for the Federal (Vellahla dominated) Party to overthrow Ponnambalam and emerge as the unrivalled political party in the northƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and toƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ push peninsular politics into irreversibleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ mono-ethnic extremism. .

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Vellahlas were riding high on the idea of a linguistic federal state and germinated this idea successfully “among sections of Ceylon Tamils, especially lower-rung government servants in Colombo and the farmers of Jaffna” (p.66 – Ibid).ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The government servants and the farmers belong to the same Vellahla caste.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ These two categoriesƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ were also key political bases of the Vellahlas.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Chelvanayakam did not launch his Federal Party in Jaffna. He preachedƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  his separatist gospel firstƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ to the Tamil public servants at the Government Clerical Service Union in Maradana on December 18, 1949 — long before S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike ever dreamt of breaking away from the UNP and forming the SLFP.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ AnotherƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ peculiar characteristic of the Vellalhlas that irredeemably fixed their mindset was their sense of superiority,ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ unwarranted by any known civilized norms, . This was first noted by the Dutch administrator of Jaffna, Zwardekoon, who identified the two main characteristics of the Vellahlas when he referred to them as “that unbearably proud and obstinate Bellale caste…..” The unwarranted pride and the stupid obstinacy of the Jaffna Tamil leadershipƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ haveƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ inculcated their minds with ambitious illusions which are beyond their capacity to achieve them. Their failure to grasp the realities that has hit them time and time again has beenƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ notƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  only the primary cause of their downfall but also theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ cause of theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ untold suffering to the Tamil people.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ It is partly this factor that led Prof. Kumar David to label the Tamil leadership as “stupid”. ItƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  is worse than that. The Tamil leaders have been the Pied Pipers who treated their people like rats in stinking sewers and led them all the way, lured by mantras of separatistƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ dreams, to Nandikadal.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ 

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The mass massacres of Tamils, the persecution and denial of basic human right to the Tamils by the Tamil leadershipƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ puts it beyond any doubt that other thanƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ shedding crocodile tearsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ the Vellahlas wereƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ neverƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ committed to lift theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ oppressed Tamils from the depthsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ into which they had fallen as a result ofƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ violent and viciousƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Vellahlaism. TheƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ most privileged VellahlasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  were adepts inƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  projectingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  themselves as the victims of oppressive “Sinhala governments”ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ — a line which was swallowed hook, line and sinker by the SinhalaƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ political scientists of the left who had never explored the dark side of the Sri Lankan moon. The VellahlasƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ also used a sophisticated vocabulary and narrative of victimology to portray themselves as the Tamils though it never included the low-castes they oppressed throughoutƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  their history,or the Indian Tamils or theƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  other Tamil-speaking communities.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ They always ganged up against anyone opposingƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  or threatening their power bases.ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The Dutch were the first to face the wrath of the Vellahlas when they rebelled against the Dutch for appointing a Madapalli canakepulle, writer of the commander of Jaffna, in the Dutch administration. The appointment from the rival caste of Madapallis to such a high position closest to the centre of Dutch government led the Vellahlas to revolt which, of course, rattled the Dutch.

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ The biggest battles fought by the Vellahlas were not to liberate their domain from the colonial masters,or to liberate their people from serfdom of Hindu casteism but to be a part of the colonial administration at the highest level for them to consolidate their powerƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ and privileges by acquiring key positions in the administration of the colonial rulers. Vellahlas manoeuvring for positions of power in the colonial administrations were constant headaches to the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British. Highlighting the Vellahla revolt against the Dutch Mudliyar C. Rasanayagam states: “…..the Madapallis perhaps on account of their royal origin considered themselves higher than the Vellahlas. Their struggle for supremacy continued for a very long time and became so troublesome that the Portuguese and after them the Dutch Governments had to secure peace by treating them exactly alike in the matter of honours and offices. The Dutch Governor Van Rhee writing in 1697 had to exclaim: “I think it necessary to state that a bitter and irreconcilable hatred has always existed in Jaffna between the caste of the Bell alas and the Madapallis so that these may not be elevated in rank and the offices of honour one above the other. For these reasons the two writers to the commander (canakepulles) are taken from these two castes so that one of them is a Bellala and the other a Madapally” (pp. 389-90 — Ancient Jaffna)

ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ Haughtiness and obstinacy that goes with haughtiness have been encoded indeliblyƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in the DNA of the Vellahlas. They were never ashamed to proclaim it loudly. The consequences of theseƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ twoƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ characteristicsƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ will beƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ consideredƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ in the next issue.