H. L. D. Mahindapala
The Vadukoddai Resolution was written by the best of Tamil
political theoreticians / activists who encapsulated their version of the
history to justify their political claim for Eelam, a separate state. In it the
history of an imagined past was tailored to fit into the politics of the
present. Overnight it became the Bible of the Tamil separatists. Their main
objective was to demonise the Sinhala-Buddhists. Turning the Sinhala-Buddhist
into a bogeyman is the best argument they could manufacture to press their claim
for a separate state. So it listed a litany of complaints to project the Tamils
as the victims of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority in the post-independent age.
Victimology happens to be the primary base on which they lay
their claim for a separate state. Predictably, being a politicised document, the
narrative in the Vadukoddai Resolution contains a quota of inaccuracies,
distortions and exaggerations. At one point the Resolution claims that the
Tamils have been reduced to slaves of the majority”. Now this is a deliberate
departure from the truth to distort history for political ends. No Sinhala
society or state engaged in slavery the way the Tamils of the North have done
throughout the main part of their existence. The legalised slavery and
oppression of Tamils by Tamils had been the dominant political culture of
Jaffna, enforced mainly under the laws of Tesawalamai – a legal
code endorsed by the Vellala mudliyars in 1707, the Dutch period. No other
community in Sri Lanka has endured and suffered the indignities of legalised and
institutionalised slavery and oppression as the low-caste Tamils of Jaffna under
the ruling Saivite Jaffna Vellala (SJV) elite.
Though Jaffna was ruled by Tamil kings in feudal times and
Christian rulers in colonial times it was the SJV elite, acting as sub agents of
kings and colonial masters, which had a firm grip on the political culture of
the peninsula. As power- brokers and managers of the commanding heights of the
peninsular political culture the Vellalars deprived the low caste of their
liberty, dignity, security and individuality. To eke out a living, escaping
cruel punishment, the low-castes had to submit to the oppressive laws and
customs of SJV elite. The non-Vellalar slaves of Jaffna, though Tamil, were
never treated as human beings equal to that of the high-caste Vellalars. The
low-castes were kept under the heel of the Vellalars as an inferior species
though they were Tamils. The subhuman fascist culture of the Vellalars deprived
the basic human rights to their fellow-Tamils in the low-castes.
It can be argued convincingly that the Tamils – meaning the
Tamils of all castes and just not the SJVs – had their first and enduring taste
of freedom and dignity only in the last 72 years of independence. Throughout
their history, which began in the 11th and 12th centuries,
the dignity and the liberty the Tamils had can be compared to the freedoms and
dignity they had under Velupillai Prabhakaran. Those who had the freedoms were
those who cooperated with the fascist regimes, from Sankilli to Prabhakaran.
Those who did not conform had to either flee from Jaffna (Prof. Rajan Hoole) or
were killed (Rajini Thiranagama).
Prior to independence, all Tamils, particularly the low-castes,
had to live under iron fist of the Vellalar rule. Though there was a greater
measure freedom for the low-castes in the post-independent age, particularly to
question and rebel against Vellalar fascism, Vellalar fascism fought back with
all their fury (Maviddipural Temple entry case) to keep the low-castes in their
subhuman status.
Fascist Vellalaism took root as a ruling ideology in the
pre-colonial period when the Tamil kings gave their daughters in marriage to the
Vellalars. The Vellalars were always in cahoots with the ruling powers of the
day. They never failed to sidle up to the powers-that-be to retain their
supremacy, powers and perks in Jaffna. They were the most dominant, numerous
(52%) and powerful caste in Jaffna. No colonial master had dared to take on the
powerful Vellalars since casteism, slavery and Vellalar fascism were codified by
Claas Isaacks, the Dissawe of Jaffnapatam, on January 30, 1707. In the final
stages of the codification the Dutch Governor asked twelve Vellalar Mudliyars to
scrutinise it. It was officially codified only after the endorsement of the
Vellalar Mudliyars. (p.27, Chapter II — The Laws and Customs of the
Tamils of Jaffna, H. W.
Tambiah).
Tesawalamai virtually capped the power of the
Vellalas to rule Jaffna as subagents of the colonial masters with an iron fist.
Tambiah wrote : Though slavery was abolished legally many of the depressed
classes remained as de facto slaves of their masters for economic
reasons. In spite of the fact that slavery was abolished in 1844 it is
surprising to find that arguments have been advanced in case on the footing that
it existed long after 1844.” (Ibid – p.85). Tambiah cites the instance of
Ponnamabalam Ramanathan arguing in court that slavery was still valid in a case
where the higher caste objected to the beating of tom-toms at a low-caste
burial. (Ibid – p.85). The Vellalars determined the inviolable rituals from the
womb to the tomb. Tesawalamai endorsed and enshrined the status
quo of the hierarchical caste system with the Vellalars at the top, empowered
with the legal cover to own and employ slaves. The combined force of the legal,
religious, ideological, traditional and feudal powers made the Vellalars the
most formidable force in the peninsular.
The Vellalars owned most of the land, all the Hindu temples
which were religio-cultural centers of power, owned or managed some of the
non-governmental schools, generated ideologies through SJV leaders like Arumuga
Navalar, to maintain the casteist grip of the Vellalars to oppress the
non-Vellalar low-castes, produced the political and intellectual leaders who
were committed to Vellalar casteism ( e.g. Arumuga Navalar and his disciple
Sir. Ponnamabalam Ramanathan) , occupied practically all the key positions in
the colonial and post-independent governments and, most of all controlled and
managed the political ideology that incrementally drove Jaffna to mono-ethnic
extremism, preventing peaceful co-existence among other ethnic entities.
In short, what were projected as the interests / grievances of
the Tamils were essentially the vested interests / grievances of the Vellalars.
The Vellalars have consistently disguised their interests / grievances as that
of the Tamils. But neither the interests of the Tamil-speaking communities, nor
all the castes in the North have a place in the overwhelming Vellalar political
agenda or net work. The Vadukoddai Resolution is a classic example. It is the
one and only overarching, comprehensive and historic manifesto to come out of
the peninsula expressing the totality of the SJV political agenda. It begins by
narrating their version of history and ends with a declaration of war against
the rest of the nation, urging the Tamil youth to take up arms and never rest
until they achieve Eelam.
Though it was meant to express the collective goals of the
Tamils in essence it represents only the political interests / grievances of the
Vellalars. Eelam, for instance, was never a part of the Muslims or the Indian
Tamils. Like the Tesawalamai it was also approved by Vellalars
because it was written for the Vellalars. The SJV- led Thamil makkal
Iyakkam, the pan-Tamil movement, never took off as a common front of the
Tamil-speaking people, because the Vadukoddai Resolution and all other political
movements initiated by the North represented essentially the political agenda of
the Vellalars only. This put off the other Tamil-speaking communities who had
their own interests to pursue.
Any threat to Vellalars hegemony was resisted fiercely by the
Vellalars. Vellalar leaders like Sir. Ponnambalam Ramanathan went to London to
argue that casteism – with Vellalars at the top – should be retained for the
good of the Empire. He opposed universal franchise as mob rule”. The first
politico- legal challenge to Vellala hegemony was initiated in 1957 when Prime
Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike passed the Prevention of Social disabilities
Act. At no time in the history of Jaffna, from the feudal age to the colonial
period, were any attempts made by any regime to challenge the oppressive fascism
of the Vellalars who treated their own people with subhuman contempt. The Tamils
of Jaffna (meaning Tamils of all castes) never had the freedom and the
opportunity to walk in the God-given sun, or drink a sip of water as under the
post-independent regimes.
The Vadukoddai Resolution represents, by and large, the
interests / grievances of the Vellalars transiting from their feudal caste
system into a modern middle class. The fundamental interests of Indian Tamils
and the Tamil-speaking Muslims drifted away from the Vellalar agenda because
their interests were different, if not antithetical, to that of the Vellalar-led
politics. They had no direct interests in the divisive, white-collar
job-oriented, middle class agenda of the SJVs.
Many anthropological and sociological scholars have documented
the horrors of SJVs oppression of the low-caste Tamils. They are freely
available for any researcher. It is the existential experiences of the average
Tamil, down the ages, that have a greater significance and relevance than the
scholarly abstracts drawn from a distance. An eye-witness account from a Tamil
who lived in the British colonial times can be more vivid and telling than
academic reviews. Here is an account taken from the Tamil historian, Dr. Muruga
Gunasingam. He says:
A letter addressed to the editor of the Morning
Star by a Hindu from Batticoloa on 17 April, 1845 is very instructive,
giving us an insight in the caste system and how it
worked:
……Mr. Editor, there is a cruelty manifested in Ceylon,
particularly among the Tamils, which may be regarded as worse than that of
slavery. I mean the distinction of caste, by which more evil results to a large
portion of inhabitants of the above-mentioned places than would be the case if
they were under the yoke of slavery. Suppose a man of low-caste meets with an
accident, will persons of high caste assist him? When he falls will they lift
him up? When his house is on fire will they attempt to extinguish the flame?
Or to save his person or property? If he is thirsty will they permit him to
draw water fromtheir wells? When he is sick will the doctor attend him? Will the
washerman \wash his clothes? Or the barber shave him. No, when a low-caste man
visits a high caste man’s house he must go and sit very far from the house
and whenever he is met by one of them he must inform that person that he is of
unclean caste and cannot therefore be touched, and if he acts contrary to his
case he must therefore submit to punishment.” ( p.87 – Sri Lankan Tamil
Nationalism, A Study of its Origins, Murugar Guanasingam,
MV Publication, Sydney, 1999). )
The Vellalar domination of Jaffna society is clearly
demonstrated in the following table:
List of children in boarding schools
American Ceylon Mission Caste Statistics
-1824
V C
F W C Total
Tellippalai 26 1 1
0 0 28
Batticoloa 18 2 0
0 1 21
Panda-terrippu 19` 0 1 1
0 21
Ooduville 19 2 0
0 3 24
Manipay 13` 0 0
0 1 14
TOTAL 95 5 2
1 5 108
—————————————————————————
——————————————————–
Source: American Mission Report 1824, cited in Ibid –
p.88
(V = Vellalar; C = Coviar; F = Fishermen; W = Washmen ; C =
Chetty.)
The Sinhalese too had slavery and a caste system. But as Dr. H.
W. Tambiah, a leading authority on the caste system, says: Slavery among the
Sinhalese appears to stand on a different footing.” Quoting Dr. Hayley, an
authority on Kandyan Law, he says slavery among the Sinhalese was of the
mildest form. Absolute in law, it was in practice tempered by a large amount of
liberty and kindness…” IIbid- p. 75).
So when the Vadukoddai Resolution talks of Tamils being slaves
of the Sinhalese they were talking through their hat. As stated by Dr. Hayley,
the Sinhala-Buddhist culture was tempered by a large amount of liberty and
kindness.” The South was an open society. The north was a closed society. The
South was inclusive. The North was exclusive. The South was multicultural. The
North was monocultural. The South opened its doors and embraced all the major
ideologies – from Buddhism to Marxism – that blew in from abroad. The North put
up cadjan fences to prevent the Saivite Jaffna Vellalarism from being polluted
by alien forces. The South was democratic. It even fought a deadly war within a
democratic framework. The North was authoritarian. It fought the war under Tamil
fascism which was justified by the Tamil theoreticians. Jaffna was dominated by
the Sankilli culture of killing Tamils and ethnic cleansing. Prabhakaran gave
the Tamils a good dose of the Sankilli culture during his stewardship. With all
its infirmities common to all nations the South has maintained a liberal welfare
state that has given equal opportunities to all communities. In the South a
Tamil leader with only 16 MPs was given the honoured place of the Leader
Opposition in a House of 225 MPs. In the North the Chief Minister passes
resolution condemning all Sinhala leaders as genociders. In Tamil Nadu, for
instance, the only true homeland of the Tamils, it costs (in round figures) Rs.
170,000.00 to be a doctor in a government university. Tamil students in Sri
Lanka do not have to pay a cent to become a doctor or a lawyer. This is what
the Tamils call discrimination!
The list is long.
More of it in the next article.
