{"id":122019,"date":"2022-01-10T16:25:52","date_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:25:52","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=122019"},"modified":"2022-01-10T16:25:52","modified_gmt":"2022-01-10T23:25:52","slug":"vellalar-extremism-turns-into-tamil-nationalism","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2022\/01\/10\/vellalar-extremism-turns-into-tamil-nationalism\/","title":{"rendered":"Vellalar extremism turns into \u201cTamil nationalism\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala<\/strong><\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

In three simple\nsentences Prof. S. Arasaratnam, the historian, has summed up the overarching\nforce that governed Jaffna. He stated: The Vellahlas (sic) were thus the key\ncaste in the Tamil social system. They dominated the villages and ran its\naffairs. The numerous other castes served the Vellahlas.\u201d ( p. 110 \u2013 Ceylon,<\/em><\/strong>\nPrentice- Hall Inc. 1964). This defines the omnipresent, Vellalar-dominated\nhierarchy that penetrated every nook and corner of the peninsula and dictated\nits laws and customs (Tesawalamai)<\/em><\/strong> to the subservient\nnon-Vellalars. Even though Vellalars had no centralised political power during\ncolonial and post-colonial periods, their domineering role in every village,\napart from the power derived as influential subalterns to the colonial masters,\nmade casteist Vellalarism the overwhelming force\nthat dominated  Jaffna during feudal, colonial and post-colonial times.\nThe only time Vellalarism lost its supremacy was to Prabhakaran. In the\nVadukoddai Resolution the ageing Vellalar leadership declared war and handed\nover the gun to the non-Vellalar Tamil youth to wage war. The privileged\nVellalars who had the money, the qualifications and the English-speaking skills\nwent abroad in search of greener pastures, leaving the others\u201d to fight their\nwar. The Vellalars who legitimised violence in the Vadukoddai Resolution were\nhoping to ride into power on the backs of the non-Vellalar Tamil youth. It was\nPrabhakaran that came out of the Vellalar gun. He was the first-born\nchild  of the Vadukoddai Resolution. He took the gun and first slaughtered\nthe Fathers of the Vellalar Resolution which gave birth to him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prabhakaranism\nwas merely a variation of fascist Vellalarism without casteism. His \none-man regime was an ideological extension of Vellalarism run by the low-caste.\nCenturies of Vellalar political culture had fertilised the Jaffna soil for the\nrise of Pol Potist Prabhakaranism. He faithfully followed his predecessors in\npower. Born and bred in the Vellalar culture of violence there were no\nimpediments for Prabhakaran to deny the Tamil people their dignity, equality\nand justice. The Vellalars justified his unrestrained violence, violating every\ncode of the UN Charter, as a legitimate tool of  Tamil nationalism\u201d. The\ndepraved violence of  Magha of Kalinga, the first Tamil king, Sankilli,\nVellalars and Prabhakaran reduced their own people to the level of sub-humans.\nTamil regimes were run on dehumanising Vellalar violence. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Of\nall the forces that ruled Jaffna the Vellalars held power for the longest\nperiod, mainly as subalterns during the colonial period. Consequently, they\nemerged as the most influential and powerful caste in Jaffna. In particular,\nVellalarism reigned supreme, as a legalised force, from the time (1707) the\nDutch codified the Vellalar customs and laws. It was called Tesawalamai <\/em><\/strong>\u2013\nthe laws and customs of the land. It was approved by 12 Vellalar mudliyars<\/em><\/strong>\nbefore the Dutch officially made it the law of the land. The Vellalar mudliyars<\/em><\/strong>\nendorsed the Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong> because it enshrined their customs and\nlaws. It consolidated Vellalar power to rule the Tamils under their oppressive\nlaws, including slavery. The codified Vellalar laws and customs (Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong>)\nplaced them at the peak of the caste hierarchy, enabling them to oppress and\nsuppress those below them with a fascist fist. It is, for instance, the force\nthat denied the oppressed Tamils of Jaffna their right to occupy a seat in the\nbus. In Jaffna they had to travel seated on the floor boards. The Tamils found\ntheir dignity, equality, and justice only when they travelled in the buses of\nthe Sinhala-Buddhist South. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nfirst battle to regain and retain the threatened supremacy of the Vellalars was\nled by Moddely Tambi, the Vellalar Cannecappul<\/em><\/strong> (clerk to the\nCommander of Jaffna). He raised a force of Vellalars, including  those\nfrom  the Vanni, against the Dutch for sacking him. Dutch politics of the\ntime was focused on balancing  the rivalries of the castes which was a\npolitically explosive task. The Dutch didn\u2019t stop at dismissing Moddely Tambi.\nThe vacancy created by the sacking of a Vellalar was filled by appointing a\nmember of the rival caste, Madapally. In his Memoirs<\/em><\/strong> the Dutch\nCommander of Jaffna, Zwaardecoon, says that he sacked Moddely Tambi to reduce\nthe power of the Vellalars who were dominating the public service. Holding\nstrategic positions in the public service was a politically sensitive issue\nwith the Vellalars who guarded their key jobs in the administration \u2013 a means\nof maintaining their supremacy — with all their might. The Vellalars were ready\nto move heaven and earth\u201d (Zwaardecoon) to maintain their supremacy. Moddely\nTambi led the riot against the Dutch to regain their position, prestige and\npower. The Dutch, however, were out to cut down the power of the Vellalars who\nwere dominating the administration. Zwaardeecoon says in his Memoirs that he\nwas given the orders by the Governor to make the necessary changes,\nthat so many thousands of people should no longer suffer by the oppression of\nthe Bellales, who are very proud and despise all other castes, and who had\nbecome so powerful that they were able not only to worry and harass the poor\npeople, but also prevent them from submitting their complaints to the\nauthorities.\u201d He added: The Bellales, (Vellalars) seeing that they would be\nshut out from these profitable offices and that they would lose influence they\npossessed so far, and being the largest in number and the wealthiest of the\npeople, moved heaven and earth to put a stop the carrying into effect of this\nplan so prejudicial to their interests. \u2026\u2026.Moddely Tambi was the principal\ninstrument. He was the man who first appeared as a rebel, he had been injured\nby a long imprisonment and that this induced him to take revenge\u2026… They also\nprobably understood that it was my intention to diminish the influence of the\nBellala caste, and were thus induced to take this course to promote the welfare\nof their caste. I think that it was also out of their conspiracies that the\nriots arose from which the Commandement suffered during my absence in the months\nof May, June and July.  (Memoirs of Zwaardecoon<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 pp. 24 \u2013\n26.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In his statement\n(quoted above), Prof. S. Arasaratnam  confirms what the Dutch Commandeur\nof Jaffna Zwaardcoon wrote in his Memoirs:<\/em><\/strong> both confirm that the\nVellalars were the most powerful force in Jaffna. Zwaardeecoon, of course, was more detailed. He argues with facts about the fascist oppression of\nthe Vellalars who oppressed thousands of people\u201d and  their commitment to\nfight for profitable offices\u201d to prevent the loss of influence they\npossessed\u201d. He depicts them  as a power-hungry malevolent force. The\nVellalars policed the villages to keep the Panchamars<\/em><\/strong> (the five\nlow-castes) within caste boundaries. Whenever the Vellalars failed to win\nconsent they used ruthless physical force. Sporadic mini-battles were fought in\nthe villages to enforce Vellalar rituals which were imposed to keep the\nrebellious Panchamars<\/em><\/strong> in their immutable place. The post-Moddely\nTambi Vellalar violence was on a mini scale at the village level. The most\ndetermined battle was fought at Maviddipuram Temple in 1968 when they were\norganised to challenge the Vellalars head-on for the first time. They had the\nbacking  of the Communist Party (Peking Wing) led by N. Shanmugathasan.\nWhen the Panchamars<\/em><\/strong> staged a non-violent protest demanding their\nright to worship in the Maviddipuram holy shrine of the Hindus the Vellalars\nresponded by bashing their heads with bottles filled with sand. At the time,\nRajavarothiam Sampanthan was a Vellalar MP of the Federal Party. He and\nthe  other Vellalar MPS did not lift a finger to oppose the oppression,\nsuppression and persecution of the Panchamar<\/em><\/strong> Tamils. Prof. C.\nSunderalingam, a caste fanatic, marched up and down in the pathway to the\nentrance of the Temple with a walking stick, threatening  to hammer any Panchamar<\/em><\/strong>\ndaring to cross the Vellalar boundaries. Sampanthan did not take S. J. V.\nChelvanayakam, the leader of his Party,  to the American Ambassador or the\nIndian High Commissioner  to complain about Vellalarism \u2013 the dehumanising\nforce that denied dignity, equality and justice to his fellow-Tamils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vellalarism\nsurvived on systemic violence unleashed from time to time to retain their\nsupremacy in Jaffna during feudal and colonial periods. Prabhakaran was the\nfirst who was able to turn tables on the Vellalars. When the Vellalars were on\ntop they did not hesitate to suppress or massacres the rebellious Panchamars<\/em><\/strong>.\nWhen Prabhakaran was on top he did not hesitate to slaughter the Vellalar\nleaders. For the first time the arrogant Vellalars were forced to crawl on\ntheir fours before low-caste Prabhakaran. Both, of course, shared one thing in\ncommon: both were fervent adherents of the old tradition of Tamils killing\nTamils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nSinhala state\u201d which is accused of discrimination\u201d had ruled Jaffna directly\nonly for 72 years, leaving aside the 17 years of Sapumal Kumaraya. Of the 72\nyears, roughly half of it was run by Prabhakaran. Any comparison of the two\ncultures in the two states will confirm that the Tamil regimes, starting from\nKing Magha to Prabhakaran, have been torturing, persecuting, oppressing and\nmassacring Tamils for centuries. Besides, it was only in the \u2018Sinhala state\u201d\nthat the Tamils of Jaffna enjoyed dignity, equality and justice. The Sinhala\nstate\u201d never denied them  the right to be human, or to go to school, or to\nsit in a chair with the other children, or to walk in sunlight, or to enter a restaurant\nand share a common table, or to dine together, or to have the same rights as\nthe Sinhalese in burying their dead, or for the women to cover the upper part\nof their body with a jacket, etc., etc. In fact, the Sinhala state\u201d raised the\ndignity of the Tamil identity to the highest global level as never done before.\nFor instance, there are 193 flags flying at the UN. Of these, only the flag of\nthe Sinhala state\u201d has given the Tamils a place. When the world salutes the\nflag of the Sinhala state\u201d they also salute the Tamils and the Muslims. No\nother state, not even India, the original homeland of the Tamils, has given\nsuch a dignified place to the Tamils. No other king\/leader of Tamils has ever\nraised the dignity\/honour of the Tamils to such dizzy heights. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Instead of\ngiving the Tamil their dignity, Tamil leaders policed their society to keep the\nTamil out of their society as unwanted pariah dogs. Social distancing and\nsegregation were codes imposed  by the Vellalars to maintain their\nsupremacy. Any invasion into their defined boundaries was considered a\npollution of their purity \u2013 a notion borrowed from the Indian caste system to\nexclude the other\u201d and maintain their purity, exclusivity and supremacy.  In\nthe post-Independent era the Vellalars opened their most violent front against\nthe Sinhala-Buddhists of the South when they realised that their supremacy was\nthreatened by (a) the loss of British patronage and (b) the establishment of\nmajoritarian rule based on democratic principles. In the 17th<\/sup> century\nModdely Tambi fought for Vellalar supremacy on casteist line because ideology\nof Vellalarism was a dominant force accepted by the Dutch. They could  use\ncasteism as an argument to prevent administrative power slipping out of their\nhands and going into the hands of a rival caste, Madapallys. In the 20th<\/sup>\ncentury the Vellalars have lost the legitimacy to fight for Vellalar supremacy\nlike Moddely Tambi on anachronistic ideologies of casteism. Nowadays, they\nfight to retain their feudal power under modern Western theories. Vellalar\nsupremacist fight under cover of minority rights, discrimination, racism,\nmajoritarianism and human rights. The outdated feudal language and the logic of\nModdely Tambi, the Father of Vellalarism, are no longer valid. The Vellalars\nhave adopted the new lingo of NGOs to justify and retain their supremacy\ninherited from feudal times. The caste power has also changed into class power.\nAccording to latest reports, the new Vellalar class\/caste maintains its caste\nboundaries on a low key, without  some of its earlier rigours. In other\nwords, Vellalarism continues to be a force in Jaffna signalling the Panchamars<\/em><\/strong>\nclearly that they are still outside the inner circle of the Vellalars <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaffna was\na domain ruled not by the Tamils but by the Vellalars who happen to be Tamils.\nThe Vellalars have been the dominant caste that possessed the power to impose\ntheir will on casteist principles. There was no space for any other caste to\nmake inroads into the central decision-making  process of Jaffna. Ever\nsince Moddely Tambi\u2019s revolt no other caste has been able to dislodge the\nVellalars from the strategic places. They dominated the commanding heights of\npolitics, administration, professions, civil and religious institutions. Even\ntoday key appointments to schools and University of Jaffna continue to be\nreserved for the Vellalars. This enables the Vellalars to manipulate and  manage\nmajor decisions that shape the contours of Jaffna society. Politics, religion,\ncustoms and laws (Tesawalamai)<\/em><\/strong> continue to be defined primarily\nby the Vellalars. No ideology \u2013 liberalism, socialism, pluralism, humanism\netc.,– ever gained even a toehold in Jaffna. Only one ideology triumphed \u2013 Vellalarism.\nIt is an ideology based on the claim that only the pure\u201d Vellalars are\nentitled to wield power in Jaffna. The other\u201d is excluded and thrown out as\noutcastes. In the absence of the Brahmins in Jaffna, the Sudra Vellalars\nelevated themselves to be the lords and masters  of Jaffna on spurious\nclaims of purity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sudra\nVellalars, however, are the least qualified to claim the purity of the Brahmins\nwho are supposed to have come from the head of  Brahma. The low-caste\nSudras came from the feet of Brahma, according to the classical Indian caste\ntradition. Vellalarism has survived on fictitious claims of purity. Take the\ncase of the pure\u201d Vellalars who have no qualms about sleeping with low-caste\nconcubines, or drinking toddy in low-caste taverns. Obviously, principles of\npurity and superiority are raised only to grab and retain power. Vellalarism\noperates on a  political network systematised to consolidate power in the\nhands of a dominant endogamous caste. The ideology of purity is enforced to\nsegregate the powerless low-castes from the Sudra Vellalars, the self-appointed\nhigh caste. This system was devised by the Vellalars to maintain an iron-fisted\nhierarchy structured on division of labour and rigid rituals. The rituals are\ndesigned specifically to control those below them with the sole intention of\nforcing the non-Vellalars to serve the power, needs and the demands of the\nhierarchy. It strips human beings of  their basic rights, even to walk in\nthe sun, and reduce them to subhuman factotums. If, for instance, a Vellalar\nmet a Turumban<\/em><\/strong>, the lowest caste forbidden  to walk in\ndaylight, he would be hammered mercilessly for polluting the purity of the eyes\nof the Vellalar. Vellalarism maintained its supremacy by denying equality,\njustice, and dignity of the non-Vellalars. Dehumanising their fellow-human\nbeings is the most demeaning obscenity of the Vellala supremacists. It\nostracises fellow-human beings and throws them down the hierarchy to make those\nat the top feel superior. Vellalarism is caste fascism of the most oppressive\nkind. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\narchitecture of overarching Vellalarism is layered to reinforce and preserve\nits supremacist base and its superstructure. It seeks to control every aspect\nof social life, from the womb to the tomb, to prevent any deviation that would\nthreaten its power. Each defined hierarchical layer is fenced with ritualistic\nboundaries drawn to elevate Vellalar supremacy in every sphere at every level\nwhile, simultaneously, circumscribing the living space of the Panchamar<\/em><\/strong>\nto shrink them into subhuman non-entities.  Any transgression of the\nboundaries is suppressed with brutal violence to protect and maintain the\nsupremacy of the Vellalar hierarchy. Vellalars wield power ruthlessly to\nprevent any threat to its supremacy and exclusivity, both of which are based on\nself-serving definitions of purity and pollution. Its legitimacy and authority\nare derived from its definitions of purity \u2013 fictitious principles introduced\narbitrarily to  elevate them above the rest. Maintaining the supremacy of\nthe hierarchy is the primary mission of its political agenda. It resists any\nexternal, legal, political or social incursions into its domain. Whenever it is\nunable to wield political power directly, it inveigles its way into centres of\nreigning power (Portuguese, Dutch, British, or Sri Lankan) in order to keep\nlines of communication open to influence decision-making in its favour. If that\nfails, it does not hesitate to mobilise its forces to combat any force that\nthreatens its supremacy. Its relentless violence is perpetrated perpetually to\npursue its casteist political agenda. Its casteist boundaries limits the living\nspace of the other\u201d to exclude them as unwanted outcasts of the elitist\ncircles at the top. In contemporary times when the ideology of casteist\nVellalarism has lost its legitimacy the Tamil intellectuals either borrow\nmodern theories to  justify the antiquated casteist hierarchy, or divert\nattention  from its horripilating history to demonise the Sinhala-Buddhists.\nVellalarism was, in short, inhuman violence to discipline and control the Tamil\nslaves as subhuman factotums. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nVellalar intellectuals who have been crying from the roof tops of the UN and\nUNHRC in Geneva are reluctant to raise their voices in sympathy with the untold\nsuffering  of the Panchamars <\/em><\/strong>persecuted by the Tamil\npriviligentsia. It is because the Tamil diaspora too is run by the guilty\nVellalars who justified Tamil oppression of Tamils, including abduction of\nTamil children to fight in the futile Vadukoddai War, in the name of Tamil\nnationalism\u201d. The Vellalars constructed Tamil nationalism\u201d as their last\nrefuge. They could no longer hang to casteist supremacy based on outdated\nideology of purity and pollution. Besides, with internal forces of Panchamar\u2019s<\/em><\/strong>\nchallenging their supremacy they could not present a united front against the\nSinhalese of the South. Tamil nationalism\u201d and the language issue were  constructed\nby the Vellalars as a last resort to unite the fragmented peninsula on caste\nfault lines. Its early manifestations of 50-50\u201d and federalism\u201d were\npolitical constructions created by the Vellalar leadership who  fought\nonly for the protection and preservation of Vellalar supremacy. The last\nmission of Sir. Ponnambalam Ramanathan to London was to convince the British\nmasters that casteism should be preserved for the stability, law and order of\nthe colony. G. G. Ponnambalam did not raise 50-50\u201d in the name of Tamil\nnationalism\u201d. Like his predecessor, Moddely Tambi, his mission too was to\nprevent  the erosion of Vellalar power. His cry of 50% share of power was\naimed at retaining Vellalar supremacy in the administration and the\nlegislature. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He did not\nask for separatism or federalism. In fact, he said: Federalism is bad for\nCeylon and worse for the Tamils.\u201d His primary aim was to gain and preserve the\ndisproportionate share of power to maintain the supremacy of the Vellalars.\nThrough British patronage they had already gained a disproportionate share of\npower  in the British administration. Ponnambalam made  the next move\nto grab a disproportionate share of power in the legislature. That is the\nmeaning of 11% of Jaffna Tamils demanding 50% of power in the centre. Under the\ncolonial and the independent regimes  their political agenda was driven to\nacquire as much power as possible in the centre to preserve their supremacy.\nThe Moddely Tambi syndrome never let Jaffna Tamil politics.  In the post-Moddely\nTambi period only enhanced variations of his grab for power was played out on\nan aggressive scale. However, his casteist ideology had run out of time in the\n20th<\/sup> century. It was of no use to his successors. They craftily took\nto fashionable Western theories as their old casteist ideology based on the\nVellalar purity and pollution was no longer viable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vellalar\nthrust for power climaxed in the Vadukoddai Resolution of 1976. By that time\nVellalarism had transformed into Tamil nationalism\u201d \u2013 the last phase of\nVellalar casteism.  Tamil nationalism\u201d was manufactured by the Vellalars\nfor the Vellalars to retain their supremacist status. They declared war in the\nVadukoddai Resolution to ride into power on the backs of the low-caste youth.\nIt was the last gambit of the Vellalars. As usual they took to violence when\nthey failed to get the consent of the majority to legitimise their supremacy.\nThey abandoned the democratic mainstream and openly decided to go for\nmilitarism. In the penultimate sentence of the Vadukoddai Resolution the\nVellalar leadership urged the Tamil youth to take up gun and never cease firing\nuntil they achieved Eelam. The next step was logical:  the Vellalars\nweaponised Jaffna, mobilised the necessary military forces, internationalised\nit, financed it from abroad, legitimised it with Western theories, lobbied for\nit globally, propagandized Tamil Pol Potism as a liberating force\u201d and, most\nof all, demonised the Sinhala-Buddhists as their bogey. Like the way the\nhigh-caste Vellalars slept with low-caste concubines, disregarding principles\nof purity, they were quAite happy to go to bed with Pol Potist Prabhakaran as\nlong as he was fornicating with violence to produce their Eelam baby.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ncritical role played by Western  theories to cover up and legitimise\nVellalar fascism as Tamil nationalism\u201d needs a special study. In fact, there\nare many Ph. Ds awaiting the exploration of the hidden history of Jaffna. In\nparticular, Jaffna University should confer an honorary doctorate on Selvy\nThiruchandran for her brilliant study of Vellalar hypocrisy, obscenities,\nviolence, oppression and fascism in here book, Caste and its Multiple\nManifestations<\/em><\/strong>. Of course, Jaffna university will not have the courage\nto do it. At least one of the other universities must honour her for the\nintellectual courage with which she has handled this tabooed subject. Despite\nthe censorship imposed by the Jaffna University there are a few Tamil\nintellectuals who have begun to talk about the horrors of Vellalar casteism.\nIt\u2019s only a trickle right now. It is time for the Tamil intellectuals to turn\nit into a flood. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

H. L. D. Mahindapala In three simple sentences Prof. S. Arasaratnam, the historian, has summed up the overarching force that governed Jaffna. He stated: The Vellahlas (sic) were thus the key caste in the Tamil social system. They dominated the villages and ran its affairs. The numerous other castes served the Vellahlas.\u201d ( p. 110 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-122019","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-h-l-d-mahindapala"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122019","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=122019"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/122019\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=122019"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=122019"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=122019"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}