{"id":95445,"date":"2019-11-21T00:00:40","date_gmt":"2019-11-21T07:00:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=95445"},"modified":"2019-11-21T00:00:41","modified_gmt":"2019-11-21T07:00:41","slug":"trying-to-understand-how-tamils-vote-read-tulfs-1977-election-manifesto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2019\/11\/21\/trying-to-understand-how-tamils-vote-read-tulfs-1977-election-manifesto\/","title":{"rendered":"Trying to understand how Tamils vote: Read TULF\u2019s 1977 Election Manifesto?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Anyone\npuzzled as to what Tamils think & how that thinking translates to votes\nneed to first keep in mind some realities that Tamils are psychologically kept mesmerized\nby \u2013 the dream of creating an utopian separate state. This was first birthed in\n1949 with the formation of ITAK and kept alive via TULF\u2019s Vaddukoddai\nResolution in 1976 which formed the basis of the 1977 General Election\nManifesto that enabled TULF to win 18 seats though securing only 6.75% of\nisland vote. A. Amirthalingam went on to become the Opposition Leader & TULF\nthe Opposition of Sri Lanka. When you read the demands that TULF made of which\nITAK was a key party, you can link this up to the 13 demands placed by TNA at the\nrecently concluded Presidential Elections and will provide the answer to how\nand why people voted. The GOSL must take action against these separatist elements\nimmediately to reintegrate people to thinking of living peacefully in one\nnation under one law. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1977 election results \u2013 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

UNP won 140 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

SLFP won 8 seats<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TULF won 18 seats though\nonly securing 421,488 votes which was just 6.75% islandwide<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Registered voters – 6,667,58<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Valid votes – 6,243,573<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20110717002624\/http:\/\/www.slelections.gov.lk\/pdf\/General%20Election%201977.PDF\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Tamil United Liberation Front<\/strong>\u2028<\/strong>General Election\nManifesto<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(July 1977)<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

[The TULF\nthat went to polls with this manifesto won a majority of votes from the\nnorthern province of Sri Lanka<\/strong>, but not in the Eastern Province.\nNevertheless, the TULF used it to claim a mandate for secession from Sri Lanka and\nform an independent sovereign state (Arasu) of “Tamil Eelam” made up\nof the North and the East. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the TULF was NOT regarded as asking\nfor a full separation and there were independent “Hard-Line” Tamil candidates\nwho pushed the full separation objective and lost<\/strong>. In fact, Amirthalingam, the\nleader of the TULF came to a compromise agreement with J. R. Jayawardana, for\nobtaining extensive power devolution in the North and the East<\/strong>. This\nwas considered as an act of treachery by the LTTE which assassinated\nAmirthalingam and other democratic Tamil leaders. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Hill-country Tamils, led by Thondaman Sr. was not a party to the\nVaddukkoddei (Batakotte) resolution of 1976.] <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese people who gained political power\nfrom the British drafted for themselves, in fulfillment of their sovereignty, a\nconstitution which they put into operation, and the first general election\nafter Ceylon was declared a republic is being held now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The issue as to who would be put into seats of\npower will not be the only one that would be decided by the votes that people\nwould cast at this election.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do the Tamils and the Muslims who have lost their freedom accept a\nConstitution that has paved the way for the majority community, the Sinhalese,\nto usurp, in full, under a facade of sovereignty of the people, the totality of\npolitical power in this country? That is the issue to be resolved by the votes\nthat our people would cast at this general election.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time the Republican Constitution was\naccepted by the Constituent Assembly and thereafter, very important changes\ntook place among the political movements of the Tamils and in the midst of the\nMuslim people. The Tamil Parties that were at one another\u2019s throat with conflicting\ngoals came together, at last, to form the Tamil United Front. This became\npossible at a conference of the Tamil political Parties held in 1971 at\nValvettiturai. Organisational consolidation followed at Trincomalee and in 1976\nthe Front came to be called the Tamil United Liberation Front.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A number of incidents that took place in the\ncountry along with certain actions of the Government following the proclamation\nof the republic led to a rethinking in the minds of Muslim people also.\nParticularly the Muslims in the Eastern and North-Western regions of Ceylon\nrealised that their religion and language, lands and opportunities of\nemployment were all being taken away from them and that in their own native\nland their lives and property too were insecure. They also realised that\nmovements that accepted the leadership of the Sinhalese political parties would\nnot defend even these basic rights of theirs. This realisation led to the\nformation of the Muslim United Front.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bound together by the bonds of a common language\nand intertwining lives in a common territory and brought together by the common\ndanger of total destruction, the Tamils and the Muslims realised the\nindispensability of joint action. Subject to the safeguards of preserving the\nidentity of the Muslims and ensuring their sovereignty, the Muslim United Front\njoined the Tamil United Liberation Front as a constituent unit.<\/strong> The\nrights of the Muslim people in the Tamil State of Eelam will be amplified\nfurther in this manifesto. When we speak of the Tamil Nation, we refer to the entirety\nof the people in this country to whom the mother tongue is Tamil.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

One Question: Freedom or Servitude?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The General election of 1977 is a crucial one to\nthe Tamil Nation. So far as the Tamil territory<\/strong> is\nconcerned, this general election is a clash between the only political movement of the Tamil\nNation and the representatives of the various political parties of Sinhalese\nimperialism that keeps the Tamil nation under its heels<\/strong>. The\nelection in the Sinhala territory decides the question as to which of their\nparties should come to power. And in the Tamil territory<\/strong>, the question to be\nresolved is whether the Tamils want their freedom or continued servitude. The<\/strong> Tamil United\nLiberation Front will use this election to resolve the issue.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

History<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Ceylon is a single state now, yet by facts\nof history, by the languages spoken by its inhabitants, by culture, tradition\nand by psychology, it is the common home of two nations and consists of two\ncountries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The present republic of\nSri Lanka is in reality a union of Sinhala Land\u201d and Tamil Eelam\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fact that the Tamil nation has been living in\nthis country from pre-historic times enjoying its sovereign rights under a\nstate of its own is recorded in no less an authority than the great work of\nSinhalese history – Mahawamsa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even before the Christian era, the entire Island of\nCeylon was ruled by Tamil Kings, Senan, Kuddikan and Elara (Ellalan) <\/strong>and\nthereafter for over thousand years, as a result of struggle for supremacy\nbetween the Tamil Kings and the Sinhalese Kings the capital of the Sinhalese\nKings was gradually shifted southwards away from Tamil Centres. These are facts\nof recorded history.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is also a fact that the entire Island was under\nthe sway of Tamil Kings at times and the Sinhalese Kings at other times. From\nthis background of alternating fortunes, emerged, at the beginning of the 13th\ncentury a clear and stable political fact.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At this time, the territory stretching in the western\nsea-hoard from Chilaw through Puttalam to Mannar and thence to the Northern\nRegions and in the East, Trincomalee and also the Batticaloa Regions that\nextended southwards up to Kumana or to the northern banks of the river\nKumbukkan Oya <\/strong>were firmly established as the exclusive\nhomeland of the Tamils<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the territory of Tamil Eelam.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For several centuries before the advent of\nEuropeans to Ceylon in the 16th century, the Tamils have been living in this\nterritory under their own Kingdom. Tamils reigned supreme in this country with\ntheir own national colours and their own military forces.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portuguese who for over a century were at\ntimes entering into treaty relationships with these Tamil Kings and at other\ntimes meeting them in losing battle – fronts finally, in the war of 1619,\ncaptured the Tamil King, Sankili Kumaran, and took him to Goa where he was\nhanged.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was the assistance that King Sankili gave\nto the Kandyan King in transiting reinforcements from neighbouring South India\nfor the latter\u2019s war against the Portuguese that made the European power battle\nin full vigour for an indispensable capture of the Jaffna Kingdom.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil King was captured by the military might\nof the Portuguese aided by local Quislings. However, for three years\nthereafter, the Tamils continued to fight against foreign domination under the\nleadership of a coastal petty king Varnakulathihan. And they lost.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither the Sinhalese\nking nor the Sinhalese people did offer any assistance to the Tamils who were\nfighting to defend their state.<\/strong> It was their view that they and their country had\nnothing in common with the state of Tamil Eelam. This is exactly what we want\nthe Sinhalese people to reiterate now.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Portuguese who subdued the State of Tamil\nEelam continued to govern it as a separate state. So did the Dutch who captured\nit, in turn from the Portuguese. The Cleghorn Minute clearly establishes that\neven under the Dutch, the judicial district of Jaffna patnam that covered\nthe northern and eastern parts of the Island extended, in the west coast of the\nIsland, from Puttalam to Mannar and in the east, southwards up to the limits of\nKumana or the river Kumbukkan Oya that separated Batticaloa from the southern\nSinhalese district of Matara.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Tamil State was captured from the Dutch by\nthe British who too continued to retain its separate status till 1833 when, for\nconvenience of administration, it was brought under one all island authority,\nthe Government of Ceylon. Totally disregarding the history, traditions and\naspirations of peoples of these various states, the British brought together\nunder one authority the state of Eelam which they captured from the\nDutch, and Kandyan Kingdom which they overran in 1815 along with the\nSinhalese Kingdom of Kotte.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sovereignty of the Tamil Nation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sovereignty of the people of Tamil Eelam changed\nhands from the Portuguese who defeated them in battle into those of the Dutch\nand later into those of the British. Ceylon was granted independence on the\nfourth of February 1948.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though political power was transferred to the\npeople of this country, yet the British Queen continued to be the repository of\ntheir sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The republican constitution that came into\noperation with its acceptance by the Constituent Assembly on the 22nd of May\n1972 severed this legal continuity and guaranteed the sovereignty of the people\nof Ceylon proclaiming that the people of Ceylon themselves were the repository\nof this sovereignty.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But the representatives of the\nTamil Nation withheld their consent to this constitution and rejected it. 15\nout of the 19 Members of Parliament elected by the Tamil people rejected it and\nboycotted the meeting of 22nd of May 1972 that was called to accept that\nconstitution. It is clear that there is neither legal continuity nor the\nconsent of the Tamil Nation to this constitution.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The sovereignty of the Tamil Nation and the\nstatehood that was taken away from them, in the battlefield in 1619 by the\nPortuguese changed hands to the Dutch and later to the British by right of\nconquest. But it\nis clear that the Sinhalese Nation has not taken over the sovereignty of the\nTamil Nation through legal continuity or by consent or by right of conquest.<\/strong>\nThere is no doubt that the Tamil Nation, by standards of international law,\ndoes possess the right, on the basis of the right to self-determination, to\nre-establish its sovereignty and statehood and to draft for itself a\nconstitution and thus to administer its own affairs, all by itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhala Nation imposing its reign over the\nTamil Nation and the conversion of Tamil Eelam into a colony of the Sinhala State\nis undoubtedly nothing else but imperialistic rule. The present constitution is\none that was drafted on the basis of the right of self-determination of the\nSinhala Nation, on a mandate given by that nation for that purpose.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the same manner, the Tamil United Liberation Front views the\nforthcoming general election as an opportunity to obtain the mandate of the\nTamil Nation<\/strong> and on the basis of its\nright to self-determination, re-establish the independence of the State of\nTamil Eelam, the expression of the sovereignty of the Tamil Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

With a view to dispelling the doubts of those who\nstill wonder whether there is no alternative to the re-establishment of our\nsovereignty in our exclusive soil, we wish to record here briefly to what\nposition of desperation the Sinhala imperialistic reign of the last 30 years\nhas driven the State of Tamil Eelam and the Tamil Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil Nation under Sinhala\nDomination<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Citizenship Laws<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The citizenship laws of this country were made\nwithin six months of the transfer of political power to the Sinhalese in 1948.\nAs a result of this legislation, the Tamil labourers of the tea and rubber\nplantations in the central hills of Ceylon whose blood and sweat alone have\nbuilt up and sustained the prosperity of this country were rendered stateless.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the eight representatives elected to\nParliament with their votes in 1947, not a single one could be returned in the\ngeneral election of 1952 or ever thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Constituencies, for the demarcation of which their\nvoteless numerical strength was taken into computation, returned Sinhalese\nrepresentatives whose numbers were thus inequitably swelled in Parliament. The\nSinhalese people who form about 70% of the population secured for themselves\n80% of the seats in Parliament. The concept of \u2018Safeguard to Minorities\u2019 was\ndistorted into \u2018Safeguard to the Majority Community\u2019 that ensured a position of\nexcessive representation to the majority community.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One could see this very same position continued in\nthe present Constitution as well. Thus, this disfranchisement of the plantation\n(Tamil) labour was the first step that paved the way for a series of denial of\nthe political rights of the minorities with a view to enthroning Sinhalese\nimperialism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils and Muslims of Ceylon were made doubtful\ncitizens by these Citizenship laws. In consequence they had to face a lot of\nmiseries in their day to day life. And to inquire into these irritations and to\nprovide relief to these people, the very government, in 1964, appointed a\ncommittee of government officers. The recommendations of this committee even\nafter 13 years, today, are still in cold storage awaiting implementation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To register a document of purchase of land made\nwith his own savings, a Tamil or a Muslim outside the Northern and Eastern\nProvinces finds himself in the plight of having to pay a discriminatory tax of\n100%. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils and Muslims who are unable to establish\nthat for two generations before 1948 they were born here are teeing shut out\nfrom business, travel, trade, employment opportunities etc. The first fruits of\nfreedom to the Tamil Nation was disfranchisement, statelessness, status of\nillicit immigrant and a position of doubted citizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Colonisation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The aggression against Tamil Eelam by planned\ncolonisation by the Sinhalese governments<\/strong> has been drastic and\ngrave. Beginning with the government of the United National Party and those of\nthe Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that followed, in\nturn, put into operation planned and state aided colonisation schemes by which\nlakhs and lakhs of Sinhalese people were planted in the homeland of the Tamil\nNation that was once ruled by the Tamil kings from whom foreign imperialism\nwrested this Tamil homeland through force of arms.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhalese people were put in occupation\u201d, at\nstate expense, of extensive tracts of the Eastern Province at Pattipalai Aru,\nAlla Kantalai, Padavikulam, etc. Illegal occupation of state owned lands by\nSinhalese people with covert government support was legalised and their\nownership regularised by the government. Lands and coconut estates taken over\nfrom the Tamils and Muslims in the Amparai district by the state, under the\nCeiling on Lands Act are now being distributed to the Sinhalese people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lands owned by the Tamil and Muslim peasants and\nalso lands which these people themselves developed and cultivated at places\nlike Kondaivettuwan and Akkilaveli have been forcibly taken over and handed\nover, with government help, to the Sinhalese people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Puttalam is yet another District where state\nconspired Sinhalese colonisation has deprived the local people of their\nterritory.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

While this government has been providing these\nfacilities to the Sinhalese aggressors of Tamil Eelam, it let loose the army,\nunder Special Emergency Regulations, against the hill country Tamil labourers\nwho sought to make a living by opening and developing forest lands that lay\nunexplored and uncared for, at Punanai, in \u2018the Eastern Province. A cadju\nplantation scheme started at Kondaichi, in the Mannar District, is now a\nSinhalese colony of two thousand families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the very Tamil heartland of Jaffna, at\nColombuthurai, a Sinhalese colony, like Amarasekera Pura, has been opened up. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Eastern Province where, when the British left\nin 1948, there were hardly 10,000 Sinhalese, is now flooded with some\n180,000 Sinhalese people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The extent of this damage to the political power\nand influence of the Tamils is reflected in the newly created Parliamentary\nconstituencies of Amparai and Seruwila which have engulfed some 1,500 square\nmiles of Tamil territory. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And this constitutes a 2\/5th of the land area of\nthe Eastern Province whose further development lies within these fertile lands,\nthus usurped. The Tamil Nation is confronted with the danger of being rendered\na minority and being thus destroyed in its own homelands all over Tamil Eelam.\nThe Nation realises the need to liberate its land to save itself from\nannihilation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Language<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before the attainment of independence, a\nresolution was passed in the State Council, the legislature, in 1944 that\nSinhalese and Tamil shall be the official languages. Every Sinhalese political\nparty at that time accepted this policy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But Mr. Bandaranaiyake\u2019s government, in 1956,\npassed the Sinhala Only Act. The United National Party too supported it. At\npresent, all the Sinhalese political parties have accepted the policy of\n\u2018Sinhala Only\u2019. This Act, which, in 1956, was an ordinary law, has in the\nRepublican Constitution of 1972 been elevated to a constitutional status.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Regulations on the use of Tamil Language, which\nthe Tamils secured for themselves as a result of several struggles with the\ngovernment, have been deliberately dethroned in the constitution. Section 8 (2)\nof the constitution unequivocally stipulates that these regulations will not be\ntreated as being a part of the constitution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In consequence has developed a situation where the\nTamil speaking public servants have to groan under the loss of equal\nopportunities with the Sinhalese officers in matters of employment, promotions,\nextension of service, increments etc. The real intention of the Sinhala Only\nAct is to create a situation that would keep out the Tamil officers and ensure\nthe appointment of Sinhalese officers only, in government service.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The rulers are greatly successful in the\nendeavour. This is not an emotional issue as some are inclined to believe. In a\ncountry that is being overwhelmed with nationalisation, this is a life and\ndeath issue that affects the economic life of the Tamil Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Religion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Buddhism has been given pre-eminence in the\nconstitution and declared to be the only religion that would enjoy state\nprotection. Other faiths have no right to any protection except the right of\nbeing practised, in private. Tamil Nation comprises Hindus, Christians and\nMuslims. And the constitution has thus placed on them the stamp of second-class\ncitizens.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though the Tamils and Sinhalese have lived in this country for over\ntwo thousand years, yet the Tamils have continued to preserve their individual\nculture based on their language.<\/strong> This culture and the traditions were nurtured\neven under Portuguese, Dutch and British imperialistic rule.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The vital reason behind this survival was that though the Tamils\nin Eelam were not strong in numbers, yet they never lost the opportunities of\nmaintaining close bonds with the powerful fountain of Tamil culture across the\nPalk Strait, in Tamil Nadu, South India.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No doubt there were pre-eminent sons of Eelam like\nArumuga Navalar, Swami Vipulananthar, Father Gnanapiragasar and others who\nrendered tremendous service to the growth of international Tamil culture. Yet,\nif the bonds of art and literature etc. with South India are snapped, it is\ncertain that the culture of Tamil Eelam would weaken and turn into one that is\nSinhalese based.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent times, the government of: this country\nnot only imposed several restrictions on the import of cultural works,\nliterature, quality films etc. from Tamil Nadu but also put obstacles to the\nvisits of Tamil scholars and artists from Tamil Nadu. By the government policy\nof imposition of the Sinhala language several Sinhala words like poya, pola,\nlaksala, salusala are creeping into the Tamil language in Eelam. With the\ncurtailment of links with Tamil Nadu, on the one hand and the increasing tempo\nof Sinhala imposition on the other, Tamil language will undergo strange\ntransformation and the identity of the Tamil culture will be destroyed and\nfinally the Tamil Nation itself would disappear from this land. That is\nthe goal that the government has set for itself.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Education<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Through the help of Christian religious institutions under foreign\ncolonial rule and later through great educational institutions the Tamil people\nestablished by themselves, for themselves the Tamil students of this country\nwere in the forefront of education.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sinhalese students in districts like Colombo,\nKandy and Galle also enjoyed similar opportunities. It is imperative that the\nSinhalese, Tamil and Muslim students of the backward areas, deficient in such\nfacilities, should be provided with those facilities and enabled to go forward.\nThis is an obligation of the State. But several obstacles are put in the way of\nTamil students outside the Northern and Eastern provinces in obtaining even\nelementary education. Several Tamil elementary schools are being closed down to\nprovide accommodation for Sinhalese schools. Tamil sections in several\nSinhalese schools are being destroyed. Some are not functioning because of\nnon-appointment of sufficient number of teachers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a result Tamil students in several areas are\ncompelled to study through the Sinhala medium. In the heartland of Tamil Eelam, in the\nNorthern Province itself, a few people have been enticed with teaching jobs and\nSinhala Buddhist schools have been opened and approved and Sinhala has been\nmade the medium of instruction there.<\/strong> If\nthe government could display so much of audacity here, then one could easily\nfathom the depth and fanaticism of Sinhala imperialism in the annihilation of\nthe Tamil Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In the sphere of education, it was in the university admissions\nof 1970, that the gravest injustice was perpetrated against the Tamil\nspeaking students.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Large number of Tamil students qualified to gain university\nadmission to the medical, engineering and science faculties that year were shut\nout through an inequitable device, designated standardisation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

While Sinhalese students who obtained 229 marks\nwere admitted to the medical faculty, Tamil students who were admitted were\nrequired to obtain 250 marks. In the same manner, for admission to the\nEngineering Faculty of the Peradeniya Campus, a Sinhalese student had to obtain\n227 marks whereas a Tamil student had to score 250 marks. It is intolerable\nthat while a Tamil student with even 249 marks cannot gain admission, a\nSinhalese student with 227 marks could do so, with ease.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last 7 years this standardisation has been\nin operation in various guises and in every faculty of the university, the\nnumber of admissions of Tamil students has been going down.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Here is an illustration: Of the total number of students admitted\nto the university in 1969, the percentage of Tamil students was 40.8.<\/strong> This figure has been steadily going down and it was 16.3 in 1974<\/strong>,\nit dropped still further in 1975 and 1976. One could see that the sections that\nwere most affected by this injustice were the most backward ones in the Tamil\ncommunity. Thus, parents who lacked the means to employ private tutors to get\ntheir children pushed through this drastic ordeal had to forget about higher\neducation to their children. As a result, the student community was driven to\nthe brink of frustration and engulfed by anxiety about their future Could\nanyone deny that the Sinhalese reign that has been responsible for the grave\ninjury should be ended if this generation of youth is to live as human beings\nbrimming with self-confidence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Employment Opportunities<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The very same discriminatory policies pursued in\nthe sphere of education are being pursued in a worse manner in the field of\nemployment. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of a 22% population of Tamil speaking people, not even a 2 (two)\npercent are selected for jobs in the armed forces. <\/strong>In the police\nforce, at the level of the lowest rung, the constable, five percent of the\nplaces and in higher rungs an even smaller percentage of the places only, are\noffered. In the clerical and technical grades also, the percentage is the same.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because equal opportunities in education were\navailable in earlier times, Tamil students were able to gain enough places in\nthe medical and engineering professions. Now, even in these spheres as a result\nof the impact of standardisation, a percentage far less than the one\nwarranted by the percentage of the Tamil population is taken in. Vacancies in\nthe minor grades in the Tamil areas are filled with people selected in\ndivisional offices like Anuradhapura and Badulla in the Sinhalese areas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As an example could be cited the recent selections\nof the Ceylon Electricity Board for vacancies in the Tamil district of Jaffna<\/strong>. Out of the\npeople selected at the Anuradhapura office, 66 were Sinhalese and 2 (two) were\nTamils. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a country where, as a result of the policy of\nnationalisation, the private sector is shrinking, should we not ponder what\ntragedy would overtake the economic life of the Tamil Nation if the government\nshould adopt such a form of discriminatory policies. If our country is to\nprosper, the reins of our destiny must not be left in the hands of others. We\nmust become our own masters of our own Destiny. That is the irrevocable goal\nthat the Tamil Nation has set for itself, now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. Economic Development of Tamil\nEelam<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The state owned factories in Tamil Eelam today were set up 20 years\nago.<\/strong> Every single factory that was set up in this country, with\nforeign aid, was set up only in the Sinhalese Districts. Schemes like the\nKachchai Salterns, the Kankesanturai harbour development, Fishery Harbour at\nMyliddy, all of which were started between 1965-1970 by a government in which\nthe Tamil representatives too were members, have all been abandoned for the\nlast seven years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No major irrigation scheme of the government will\nhelp develop our Eelam. Save for the schemes like Gal Oya, Allai, Kantalai etc.\nwhose deliberate motive was the planting of the Sinhalese population in the\nterritory of Tamil Eelam, no irrigation scheme of any consequence that had as\nits objective, the welfare of either the Tamil or Muslim population in Eelam\nhas ever been implemented during the last twenty years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were of course some minor schemes of\nwhitewashing. When oil prospecting with Soviet aid was started in Mannar, the\nlocal Tamil and Muslim populations were ignored and 90% of the labourers were\nimported from the Sinhalese areas. In the private sector, obtaining licenses to\nstart industrial ventures in the Tamil areas is a Herculean task. Even in some\nminor factories started in the Tamil areas, the majority of the employees are\nSinhalese. Not only are the Tamil people ignored in the matter of employment\nopportunities in the state sector but also are the Tamil areas ignored in the\neconomic development. They have been allowed to deteriorate into backward\nareas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. Racial Terrorism<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the last twenty years, racial terrorism has\nbeen let loose in this country, against the Tamil and Muslim population in a\nmanner that reminded them that they were slaves who were not entitled to any\nrights or protection. Tamils and Muslims have been quite often the objects of\nviolence of the Sinhalese hooligans instigated by government supported\nSinhalese communal organisations and of the Police and the armed forces in\nwhose hands they suffered untold misery by way of looting and arson in homes,\nshops and places of business, by grievous injuries, loss of life and property\nand violation against women.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1956, Tamils were attacked in Colombo and in a\npart of the Tamil territory of Eelam that had been turned into Sinhalese land,\nAmparai. Age old Tamil villages like Thuraineelavanai had to resort to fire\narms in defence of their hearths and homes from attacks by Sinhalese hoodlums.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The communal fury against the Tamils in 1958 in\nthe entire Sinhalese land is a chapter of dreadful blot in the history of this\ncountry. Thousands of Tamils were taken to Northern and Eastern provinces in\ncommandeered ships and army protected convoys. Property worth several millions\nwere lost, several hundreds lost their lives and thousands their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil women were raped; pregnant women were\nslaughtered to pieces on public highways. The Murugan Temple priest at Panadura\nwas burnt alive. Several dead bodies were retrieved from one well alone at Maha\nOya. While Sinhalese terrorism raged against the Tamils all over the country,\nthe Sinhalese government arrested the Tamil leaders and put them behind bars.\nIt was insult added to injury.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Military terror was let loose in the Tamil\nprovinces against the Tamils who were engaged in a non-violent campaign of\nCivil Disobedience in 1961 to demand their language rights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No civilised country could have witnessed a police\nattack as barbarous as the one that the Sinhalese police made against the Tamil\npeople in their lakhs were listening in a state of rapture to a treat of a\nTamil literary talk by Professor Nainar Mohamed on the last day of the Fourth\nInternational Tamil Research Conference where Tamil scholars from the world\nover had assembled, on January 10th 1974 in Jaffna. The rulers of this country\nrefused either to hold an enquiry or even to express sympathy at the atrocity\nthat resulted in 9 Tamil deaths. This tells its own tale of the manner the\nSinhalese governments treat the Tamils in this land.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pararasa, a bank clerk was shot dead by the police\nwhile he was returning from a temple festival, in Jaffna. Tamil leaders, who\nwent to the office of the police superintendent, were set upon by the Sinhalese\npolice in civil clothes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ledchumanan, the Tamil youth, who refused to be\ndriven out into the street from his home in the tea plantations, was killed by\nthe police. Homes of Tamil labourers at Gampola were looted and set ablaze.\nUnjustified Sinhalese police attacks and the fury of Sinhalese hooligans have,\nfor the last few years been let loose against the Muslims also. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1976 alone, in no less than 40 places like\nMahiyangana, Gampola, Panadura, Nikawartiya etc. unprotected Muslims were the\ntargets of Sinhalese rowdies. Their losses ran into lakhs and lakhs of rupees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 2nd of February 1976, seven of the Muslims\nat prayer inside a Mosque at Puttalam were ruthlessly massacred by the\nSinhalese police, inside that holy spot. 271 houses, 44 shops 2 fibre factories\nbelonging to the Muslims of Puttalam were set on fire, 2 Mosques were burnt\ndown, 2 Muslim youths were burnt alive by the Sinhalese hooligans. The\ngovernment was not willing to hold a public enquiry into the horrible murders.\nThese incidents only reiterate the fact that the lives and property of Tamils\nand Muslims who are living as slaves in this country do not enjoy any protection\nfrom the Sinhalese governments.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

10. Imposition of a New\nConstitution on the Tamil Nation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drafting a new constitution and its imposition on\nthe Tamil Nation is the climax of the dictatorial actions, samples of\nwhich were shown here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Ceylon Parliament, which became a symbol of\nperverted democracy when its citizenship laws helped grab 80% of Parliamentary\nrepresentation by the 70% Sinhalese population, after the general election of\n1970, was formed into a Constituent Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The deliberations of this Assembly were conducted\nunder a state of emergency, proclaimed in 1971, where the freedom of speech and\nfreedom of writing were all taken away from the people and while a strict press\ncensorship was in force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The two-thirds majority of the Government and the\nSinhala communal majority were fully exploited.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All the Amendments to the Basic Resolutions\nintroduced on behalf of the Tamil speaking people were rejected, in-toto, by\nthe Sinhalese majority in the Assembly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A federal scheme with an Autonomous Tamil states\nand an Autonomous Muslim state with three Sinhalese States put forward by the\nFederal Party, a constituent of the present Tamil United Liberation Front, as a\nsolution to the racial problems of this country, was turn down by the Assembly\neven before being examined.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Neither any Sinhalese Party nor any member from\nthe majority community came forward to discuss or offer any alternative scheme\nthat could meet with the aspirations of the Tamil Nation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Attempts made by the Tamil members to secure a place\nin the Constitution at least for the Regulations for use of the Tamil Language\nproved abortive. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only outcome of these efforts was the\nintroduction, in the Constitution, of section 8 (2) that categorically stated\nthat these Regulations on the use of Tamil Language shall not form a\npart of the Constitution. Realising the futility of any continued\nparticipation, the Tamil representatives in the Constituent Assembly walked\nout.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Assembly meeting of 22nd May 1972, which was\nsummoned to pass the Constitution, was boycotted by 15 out of the 19 elected\nTamil representatives.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Out of the four that voted in favour of the\nconstitution, two lost their representative character after having been\nexpelled from their party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress; one was elected as a\ncandidate of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party) and was expelled\nfrom that party and thus lost his right of representation. The fourth was a\nmember who contested on an anti-government platform and won as an independent.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence it is obvious that this constitution was\nrejected 100% by the Tamil people. The manner in which the unanimous opposition\nof the Tamil Nation was ignored and how the new constitution was imposed on\nthem has only confirmed the psychology of the Sinhalese imperialistic masters\nthat they are ruling over a slave Nation according to their own whims and\nfancies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They have done away with the meagre safe guards\nprovided for the minorities in the constitution left behind by the British,\nplaced their own language and religion at such high a pedestal that no one\ncould ever tamper with them and through this imposed constitution, made the\nTamils their slaves without any share in the political power of this State.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Does the Tamil Nation have an\nalternative?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The leader of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam\nbefore the withdrawal of British power, demanded balanced representation for\nthe protection of minorities.<\/strong> Though the Soulbury Constitution rejected the demand<\/strong>, yet it\nincorporated a safeguard in Section 29 of that constitution. But the new\nRepublican Constitution of 1972 has deleted that safeguard.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mr. S. J. V. Chelvanayakam through his Ilankai\nTamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party), toiled for 25 years to safeguard the rights\nof the Tamil Nation through the device of federalism. He entered into\nagreements with Premier Bandaranaike and his Sri Lanka Freedom Party and also\nwith Premier Dudley Senanayake to obtain at least regional autonomy for the\nTamil Nation. These agreements were later abrogated because of opposition from\nthe Sinhalese people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The demand for a federal solution was rejected by the Constituent\nAssembly<\/strong> even without a debate.\nNeither the six-point demand of the Tamil United Front nor the twenty-point\ndemand of some Tamil elders ever had any reception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the alternative now left to the Nation\nthat has lost its rights to its language, rights to its citizenship, rights to\nits religions and continues day by day to lose its traditional homeland to\nSinhalese colonisation? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the alternative now left to a Nation that\nhas lost its opportunities to higher education through standardization, and its\nequality in opportunities in the sphere of employment? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What is the alternative to a Nation that lies\nhelpless, as it is being assaulted, looted and killed by hooligans instigated\nby the ruling race and by the security forces of the State? <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Where else is an alternative to the Tamil Nation\nthat gropes in the dark for its identity and finds itself driven to the brink\nof devastation?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is only one alternative and that is to\nproclaim with the stamp of finality and fortitude that we alone shall rule over our land that our\nfore fathers ruled. Sinhalese imperialism shall quit our Homeland\u201d.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil United Liberation Front regards the general election of\n1977 as a means of proclaiming to the Sinhalese Government this resolve of the\nTamil Nation.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

And every vote that you cast for the Front would go to show that the\nTamil Nation is determined to liberate itself from Sinhalese domination.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil Eelam – A Secular Socialist\nState<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hence the Tamil United Liberation Front seeks in the General Election\nthe mandate of the Tamil Nation to establish an independent sovereign, secular,\nsocialist State of Tamil Eelam that includes all the geographically contiguous\nareas that have been the traditional homeland of the Tamil speaking people in\nthe country.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time The Tamil United Liberation Front proclaims the following guarantees\non the political, social and economic structure of the State of Tamil Eelam.<\/strong>\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Front declares that the Tamil State of Eelam\nwill be established on the basis of these guarantees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. FOLLOWING SHALL BE THE CITIZENS OF TAMIL EELAM:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

(a) All <\/strong>those people now living in the territory of Tamil Eelam<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(b) Tamil speaking persons from any part of Ceylon<\/strong>\nseeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) Tamil speaking people of Ceylonese descent<\/strong> living in any part of\nthe world<\/strong> and seeking citizenship in the State of Tamil Eelam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Political power shall be decentralised<\/strong> so that no one region or no one religion is allowed\nto dominate over any other region or religion thus ensuring regional autonomy\nfor the people in the various regions in the pattern of federalism\nobtaining in Switzerland. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that\nparticularly Muslims who form a part of the State of Tamil Eelam will be\nestablished in the Regions where they are in a majority as an autonomous\nprovince with the right to secede on the basis of the right to\nself-determination.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. The Tamil United Liberation Front guarantees that neither a Tamil\nmajority region nor a Muslim majority region will be allowed to be colonised by\nthe other group<\/strong> thus ensuring that no\ngroup of people is reduced to a minority in its own Region.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Caste system<\/strong> along\nwith the atrocity of untouchability and the grave injustice of attributing\nsocial superiority or inferiority by birth will be totally eradicated<\/strong> and any such practice subjected to rigorous\npunishment by law.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. The State of Tamil Eelam shall be a secular<\/strong> one where all the religions practised by the people\nin the State will receive equal protection and aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Tamil shall be the official language of the State of Tamil\nEelam<\/strong>, while the Sinhalese living in the State will be provided the right to\nbe educated in their own tongue and to transact their business with the state\nin their own language<\/strong>. Similarly guarantees will be sought from the\nSinhala State about the language rights of the Tamil-speaking people living in\nthat state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. In Tamil Eelam, which shall be a\nscientific socialist State<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(a) Exploitation of man by man will be prevented\nby law;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(b) Dignity of labour will be protected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(c) While the private sector will be permitted\nwithin limits imposed by law, means of production and distribution will be\nstate owned or subject to state control.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(d) Full protection will be afforded to tenant\ncultivators and residents on privately owned lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(e) Economic development of the Tamil State of\nEelam will be on the basis of Socialist planning.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(f) A ceiling will be fixed on the wealth an\nindividual or a family could accumulate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

8. While the Socialist State of Tamil Eelam would\nfollow a policy of non-alignment, it would, in the international field, lend\nits support to the anti-imperialist forces and democratic liberation movements.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

9. The State of Tamil Eelam will develop\nfriendship with the progressive forces in the Sinhalese State and would on the\nbasis of fraternity, work out a peaceful solution for the mutual problems\nfacing the two nations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liberation – how will it be\nachieved?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil Nation must take the decision to establish its sovereignty\nin its homeland on the basis of its right to self-determination<\/strong>. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The only way to announce this decision to the Sinhalese government\nand to the world is to vote for the Tamil United Liberation Front<\/strong>.<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil speaking representative who get elected through these\nvotes, while being members of the National State Assembly of Ceylon, will also\nform themselves into the NATIONAL ASSEMBLY OF TAMIL EELAM\u201d<\/strong> which will draft\na constitution for the State of Tamil Eelam and to establish the independence\nof the Tamil Eelam by bringing that constitution into operation either by\npeaceful means or by direct action or struggle.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The National Assembly of Tamil Eelam will draw up\nand implement plans relating to the economic development social progress,\nprotection of territory, educational development etc.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Action will be taken to enlist international\nsupport to achieve the freedom of Tamil Eelam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other programmes of work<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The problems of the Tamil-speaking people outside\nTamil Eelam are getting complicated today. Particularly the up country Tamil\nworkers are being forcibly driven out of their places of work and places of\nresidence by the Sinhalese government and government abetted Sinhalese\nhooligans. It is quite clear that the terrible act of arson on the homes of\nTamil labourers and the police firing that caused the death of the Tamil youth,\nLedchumanan, in the Devon estate, have been pre planned and deliberate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil United Liberation Front will fight for\nthe rights of these workers who have toiled for the prosperity of this country,\nto live in their own homes with security of employment fully guaranteed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil United Liberation Front will work for\nthe basic human rights and political, social and economic rights of the Tamil-speaking\npeople living in any part of Ceylon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the same time, the Tamil United Liberation\nFront will set up a special organisation to prepare plans for the well-being of\nand to give all assistance to the Tamil Speaking people who wish to migrate to Tamil\nEelam to set up their lives in their new homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is indispensable that every person who is a\nmember of the Tamil Nation that aspires to be free must be able to live in\nenjoyment of human rights, in full. Hence, as an important aspect of the\nliberation movement, intensive steps will be taken for the abolition of the\ncaste system and social disabilities imposed on any section the Tamil people.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil United Liberation Front will take steps to\ndevelop friendship with the progressive forces, in South Ceylon, that recognise\nand are sympathetic towards, the aspirations of the Tamil Nation and with\ncountries that are sympathetic towards the freedom movements particularly with\nthe anti imperialist forces abroad.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Conclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Tamil Nation is at a turning point in its\nhistory. The unity we have achieved has made the Sinhalese imperialists take a\nfresh look at the situation. In this background, as a first step towards the\nrealisation of the freedom of the Nation, the unanimous verdict of the\nTamil-speaking people is indispensable. Hence we appeal to you to set aside\nyour passions for, or prejudices against, individual candidates, to forget\ndifferences of region, caste or religion and, with the one and the only\ndetermination of making the Tamil Nation master of its Destiny.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

VOTE<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8     For the Tamil United Liberation Front.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8     For the emancipation of the Tamil Nation.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u00d8    \nFor the Freedom of Tamil Eelam<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\nhttps:\/\/www.sangam.org\/FB_HIST_DOCS\/vaddukod.htm?fbclid=IwAR2c1sW5K2hR8vfudl1Rxlrs2_hT4VpP1cGZ6i7BJ4Flnedp_zA-FxT-x_0\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Is this not the essence\nre-introduced via TNA\u2019s 13 demands which the UNF candidate accepted and assured\nto deliver if TNA delivered the required votes. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

SEE HOW MUCH THESE\nSENTIMENTS ARE STILL ALIVE – https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/Jaffna5\/<\/a>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Integration cannot take place when such thoughts and demands are embedded in the thinking of the Tamil leaders who pass these thoughts on to the Tamil people & voters. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shenali D Waduge<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Anyone puzzled as to what Tamils think & how that thinking translates to votes need to first keep in mind some realities that Tamils are psychologically kept mesmerized by \u2013 the dream of creating an utopian separate state. This was first birthed in 1949 with the formation of ITAK and kept alive via TULF\u2019s Vaddukoddai […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1498,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[47],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-95445","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-shenali-waduge"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95445","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\/1498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=95445"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/95445\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=95445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=95445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=95445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}