{"id":97363,"date":"2020-01-06T23:25:11","date_gmt":"2020-01-07T05:25:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=97363"},"modified":"2020-01-06T16:04:51","modified_gmt":"2020-01-06T23:04:51","slug":"tamil-ideologues-twisting-history-to-suit-their-political-agenda-part-ii-reply-to-c-v-wigneswaran","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/01\/06\/tamil-ideologues-twisting-history-to-suit-their-political-agenda-part-ii-reply-to-c-v-wigneswaran\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamil ideologues twisting history to suit their political agenda \u2013 Part II Reply to C. V. Wigneswaran"},"content":{"rendered":"

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

The Vadukoddai Resolution was written by the best of Tamil \npolitical theoreticians \/ activists who encapsulated their version of the \nhistory to justify their political claim for Eelam, a separate state.  In it the \nhistory of an imagined past was tailored to fit into the politics of the \npresent. Overnight it became the Bible of the Tamil separatists. Their main \nobjective was to demonise the Sinhala-Buddhists. Turning  the Sinhala-Buddhist \ninto a bogeyman is the best argument they could manufacture to press their claim \nfor a separate state. So it listed a litany of complaints to project the Tamils \nas the victims of the Sinhala-Buddhist majority in the post-independent age. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Victimology happens to be the primary base on which they lay \ntheir claim for a separate state. Predictably, being a politicised document, the \nnarrative in the Vadukoddai Resolution contains a quota of inaccuracies, \ndistortions and exaggerations. At one point the Resolution claims that the \nTamils have been reduced to slaves of the majority\u201d. Now this is a deliberate \ndeparture from the truth to distort history for political ends. No Sinhala \nsociety or state engaged in slavery the way the Tamils of the North have done \nthroughout the main part of their existence.  The legalised slavery and \noppression of Tamils by Tamils had been the dominant political culture of \nJaffna, enforced mainly under the laws of Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong> \u2013 a legal \ncode endorsed by the Vellala mudliyars in 1707, the Dutch period. No other \ncommunity in Sri Lanka has endured and suffered the indignities of legalised and \ninstitutionalised slavery and oppression as the low-caste Tamils of Jaffna under \nthe ruling Saivite Jaffna Vellala (SJV) elite. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though Jaffna was ruled by Tamil kings in feudal times and \nChristian rulers in colonial times it was the SJV elite, acting as sub agents of \nkings and colonial masters, which had a firm grip on the political culture of \nthe peninsula. As power- brokers and managers of the commanding heights of the \npeninsular political culture the Vellalars deprived the low caste of their \nliberty, dignity, security and individuality. To eke out a living, escaping \ncruel punishment, the low-castes had to submit to the oppressive laws and \ncustoms of SJV elite.  The non-Vellalar slaves of Jaffna, though Tamil, were \nnever treated as human beings equal to that of the high-caste Vellalars.  The \nlow-castes were kept under the heel of the Vellalars as an inferior species \nthough they were Tamils.  The subhuman fascist culture of the Vellalars deprived \nthe basic human rights to their fellow-Tamils in the low-castes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It can be argued convincingly that the Tamils \u2013 meaning the \nTamils of all castes and just not the SJVs \u2013 had their first and enduring taste \nof freedom and dignity only in the last 72 years of independence. Throughout \ntheir history, which began in the 11th<\/sup> and 12th<\/sup> centuries, \nthe dignity and the liberty the Tamils had can be compared to the freedoms and \ndignity they had under Velupillai Prabhakaran.  Those who had the freedoms were \nthose who cooperated with the fascist regimes, from Sankilli to Prabhakaran. \nThose who did not conform had to either flee from Jaffna (Prof. Rajan Hoole) or \nwere killed (Rajini Thiranagama).  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to independence, all Tamils, particularly the low-castes, \nhad to live under iron fist of the Vellalar rule. Though there was a greater \nmeasure freedom for the low-castes in the post-independent age, particularly to \nquestion and rebel against Vellalar fascism, Vellalar fascism fought back with \nall their fury (Maviddipural Temple entry case) to keep the low-castes in their \nsubhuman status. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fascist Vellalaism took root as a ruling ideology in the \npre-colonial period when the Tamil kings gave their daughters in marriage to the \nVellalars. The Vellalars were always in cahoots with the ruling powers of the \nday. They never failed to sidle up to the powers-that-be to retain their \nsupremacy, powers and perks in Jaffna. They were the most dominant, numerous \n(52%) and powerful caste in Jaffna. No colonial master had dared to take on the \npowerful Vellalars since casteism, slavery and Vellalar fascism were codified by \nClaas Isaacks, the Dissawe of Jaffnapatam, on January 30, 1707. In the final \nstages of the codification the Dutch Governor asked twelve Vellalar Mudliyars to \nscrutinise it. It was officially codified only after the endorsement of the \nVellalar Mudliyars. (p.27, Chapter II — The Laws and Customs of the \nTamils of Jaffna, H. W. \nTambiah).                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          \n                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                          <\/em><\/strong>                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                              <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong> virtually capped the power of the \nVellalas to rule Jaffna as subagents of the colonial masters with an iron fist. \nTambiah wrote : Though slavery was abolished legally many of the depressed \nclasses remained as de facto<\/em><\/strong> slaves of their masters for economic \nreasons. In spite of the fact that slavery was abolished in 1844 it is \nsurprising to find that arguments have been advanced in case on the footing that \nit existed long after 1844.\u201d (Ibid \u2013 p.85). Tambiah cites the instance of \nPonnamabalam Ramanathan arguing in court that slavery was still valid in a case \nwhere the higher caste objected to the beating of tom-toms at a low-caste \nburial. (Ibid \u2013 p.85). The Vellalars determined the inviolable rituals from the \nwomb to the tomb. Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong> endorsed and enshrined the status \nquo of the hierarchical caste system with the Vellalars at the top, empowered \nwith the legal cover to own and employ slaves.  The combined force of the legal, \nreligious, ideological, traditional and feudal powers made the Vellalars the \nmost formidable force in the peninsular. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vellalars owned most of the land, all the Hindu temples \nwhich were religio-cultural centers of power, owned or managed some  of the \nnon-governmental schools,  generated ideologies through SJV leaders like Arumuga \nNavalar, to maintain the  casteist grip of the Vellalars to oppress the \nnon-Vellalar low-castes,  produced the political and intellectual leaders who \nwere committed to Vellalar casteism ( e.g. Arumuga Navalar and his disciple  \nSir. Ponnamabalam Ramanathan) , occupied practically all the key positions in \nthe colonial and post-independent governments and, most of all controlled and \nmanaged the political ideology that incrementally drove Jaffna to mono-ethnic \nextremism, preventing peaceful co-existence among  other ethnic  entities. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, what were projected as the interests \/ grievances of \nthe Tamils were essentially the vested interests \/ grievances of the Vellalars. \nThe Vellalars have consistently disguised their interests \/ grievances as that \nof the Tamils. But neither the interests of the Tamil-speaking communities, nor \nall the castes in the North have a place in the overwhelming Vellalar political \nagenda or net work. The Vadukoddai Resolution is a classic example. It is the \none and only overarching, comprehensive and historic manifesto to come out of \nthe peninsula expressing the totality of the SJV political agenda. It begins by \nnarrating their version of history and ends with a declaration of war against \nthe rest of the nation, urging the Tamil youth to take up arms and never rest \nuntil they achieve Eelam. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Though it was meant to express the collective goals of the \nTamils in essence it represents only the political interests \/ grievances of the \nVellalars. Eelam, for instance, was never a part of the Muslims or the Indian \nTamils. Like the Tesawalamai<\/em><\/strong> it was also approved by Vellalars \nbecause it was written for the Vellalars. The SJV- led Thamil makkal \nIyakkam<\/em><\/strong>, the pan-Tamil movement, never took off as a common front of the \nTamil-speaking people, because the Vadukoddai Resolution and all other political \nmovements initiated by the North represented essentially the political agenda of \nthe Vellalars only. This put off the other Tamil-speaking communities who had \ntheir own interests to pursue. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Any threat to Vellalars hegemony was resisted fiercely by the \nVellalars. Vellalar leaders like Sir. Ponnambalam Ramanathan went to London to \nargue that casteism \u2013 with Vellalars at the top \u2013 should be retained for the \ngood of the Empire. He opposed universal franchise as mob rule\u201d. The first \npolitico- legal challenge to Vellala hegemony was initiated in 1957 when Prime \nMinister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike passed the Prevention of Social disabilities \nAct. At no time in the history of Jaffna, from the feudal age to the colonial \nperiod, were any attempts made by any regime to challenge the oppressive fascism \nof the Vellalars who treated their own people with subhuman contempt. The Tamils \nof Jaffna (meaning Tamils of all castes) never had the freedom and the \nopportunity to walk in the God-given sun, or drink a sip of water as under the \npost-independent regimes. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vadukoddai Resolution represents, by and large, the \ninterests \/ grievances of the Vellalars transiting from their feudal caste \nsystem into a modern middle class. The fundamental interests of Indian Tamils \nand the Tamil-speaking Muslims drifted away from the Vellalar agenda because \ntheir interests were different, if not antithetical, to that of the Vellalar-led \npolitics. They had no direct interests in the divisive, white-collar \njob-oriented, middle class agenda of the SJVs.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Many anthropological and sociological scholars have documented \nthe horrors of SJVs oppression of the low-caste Tamils. They are freely \navailable for any researcher. It is the existential experiences of the average \nTamil, down the ages, that have a greater significance and relevance than the \nscholarly abstracts drawn from a distance. An eye-witness account from a Tamil \nwho lived in the British colonial times can be more vivid and telling than \nacademic reviews. Here is an account taken from the Tamil historian, Dr. Muruga \nGunasingam. He says: <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A letter addressed to the editor of the Morning \nStar<\/em><\/strong> by a Hindu from Batticoloa on 17 April, 1845 is very instructive, \ngiving us an insight in the caste system and how it \nworked:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u2026\u2026Mr. Editor, there is a cruelty manifested in Ceylon, \nparticularly among the Tamils, which may be regarded as worse than that of \nslavery. I mean the distinction of caste, by which more evil results to a large \nportion of inhabitants of the above-mentioned places than would be the case if \nthey were under the yoke of slavery.  Suppose a man of low-caste meets with an \naccident, will persons of high caste assist him? When he falls will they lift \nhim up? When his house is on fire will they attempt  to extinguish the  flame? \nOr to save his person or property? If  he is thirsty will they permit him to \ndraw water fromtheir wells? When he is sick will the doctor attend him? Will the \nwasherman \\wash his clothes? Or the barber shave him. No, when  a low-caste man \nvisits a high caste man\u2019s house  he must  go and sit very far from the house  \nand whenever he is met by one  of them he must  inform that person that he is of \nunclean caste and cannot therefore be  touched, and if  he acts contrary to his \ncase he must therefore submit  to punishment.\u201d ( p.87 \u2013 Sri Lankan Tamil \nNationalism, A Study of  its Origins, <\/em><\/strong>Murugar Guanasingam,<\/em><\/strong> \nMV Publication, Sydney, 1999). )<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Vellalar domination of Jaffna society is clearly \ndemonstrated in the following table:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

List of children in boarding schools <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

American Ceylon Mission Caste Statistics \n-1824<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

                            V           C            \nF            W           C                        Total<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tellippalai          26          1            1              \n0            0                     28         <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Batticoloa          18           2            0             \n0            1                     21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Panda-terrippu 19`         0           1            1            \n0                         21<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ooduville            19        2            0            \n0            3                         24<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Manipay            13`        0            0            \n0            1                         14<\/p>\n\n\n\n

TOTAL                 95         5            2            \n1            5                         108<\/p>\n\n\n\n

————————————————————————— \n——————————————————–<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Source: American Mission Report 1824, cited in Ibid \u2013 \np.88<\/p>\n\n\n\n

(V = Vellalar; C = Coviar; F = Fishermen; W = Washmen ; C = \nChetty.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sinhalese too had slavery and a caste system. But as Dr. H. \nW. Tambiah, a leading authority on the caste system, says: Slavery among the \nSinhalese appears to stand on a different footing.\u201d Quoting Dr. Hayley, an \nauthority on Kandyan Law, he says slavery among the Sinhalese was of the \nmildest form. Absolute in law, it was in practice tempered by a large amount of \nliberty and kindness\u2026\u201d IIbid- p. 75).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

So when the Vadukoddai Resolution talks of Tamils  being slaves \nof the Sinhalese they were talking through their hat.  As stated by Dr. Hayley, \nthe Sinhala-Buddhist culture was tempered by a large amount of liberty and \nkindness.\u201d The South was an open society. The north was a closed society. The \nSouth was inclusive. The North was exclusive. The South was multicultural. The \nNorth was monocultural. The South opened its doors and  embraced all the major \nideologies \u2013 from Buddhism to Marxism \u2013 that blew in from abroad. The North put \nup cadjan fences to prevent the Saivite Jaffna Vellalarism from being polluted \nby alien forces. The South was democratic. It even fought a deadly war within a \ndemocratic framework. The North was authoritarian. It fought the war under Tamil \nfascism which was justified by the Tamil theoreticians. Jaffna was dominated by \nthe Sankilli culture of killing Tamils and ethnic cleansing. Prabhakaran gave \nthe Tamils a good dose of the Sankilli culture during his stewardship. With all \nits infirmities common to all nations the South has maintained a liberal welfare \nstate that has given equal opportunities to all communities. In the South a \nTamil leader with only 16 MPs was given the honoured place of the Leader \nOpposition in a House of 225 MPs. In the North the Chief Minister passes \nresolution condemning all Sinhala leaders as genociders.  In Tamil Nadu, for \ninstance, the only true homeland of the Tamils, it costs (in round figures) Rs. \n170,000.00 to be a doctor in a government university.  Tamil students in Sri \nLanka do not have to pay a cent to become a doctor or a lawyer.  This is what \nthe Tamils call discrimination!<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The list is long. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

More of it in the next article.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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 […]<\/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-97363","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\/97363","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=97363"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/97363\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=97363"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=97363"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=97363"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}