Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka

Not to be confused withSri Lankan Tamils.

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka

மலையகத் தமிழர் ශ්‍රී ලංකාවේ ඉන්දියානු දෙමළ ජනතාව
Indian Tamil woman working in a tea plantation in centralSri Lanka
Total population
842,323 (4.2% of theSri Lankanpopulation) (2012)
Regions with significant populations
Province
Central	484,429
Uva	154,252
Sabaragamuwa	104,063
Western	61,826
Languages
Tamil(L1) Sinhala(L2)
Religion
Majority Hinduism Minority Christianity Islam Buddhism
Related ethnic groups
Tamils Sri Lankan Tamils OtherDravidians

Indian Tamils of Sri LankaareTamil peopleof Indian origin inSri Lanka.They are also known asMalayaga Tamilar, Hill Country Tamils,Up-Country Tamilsor simplyIndian Tamils.They predominantly descend from workers sent fromSouthern Indiato Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work incoffee,teaandrubberplantations. Some also migrated on their own as merchants and as other service providers. TheseTamilspeakers mostly live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country, yet others are also found in major urban areas and in theNorthern Province.Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some haveTeluguandMalayaleeorigins as well as diverse South Indiancasteorigins. They are instrumental in the plantation sector economy of Sri Lanka. In general, socio-economically theirstandard of livingis below that of the national average and they are described as one of the poorest and most neglected groups in Sri Lanka.In 1964 a large percentage were repatriated to India, but left a considerable number as stateless people. By the 1990s most of these had been given Sri Lankan citizenship. Most areHinduswith a minority ofChristiansandMuslimsamongst them. There are also a small minority followers ofBuddhismamong them. Politically they are supportive oftrade union-based political parties that have supported most of the ruling coalitions since the 1980s.

The Tamils in Sri Lanka can be divided into two groups, theSri Lankan Tamils,who are native to the island of Sri Lanka and theIndian TamilsorHill Country Tamils,who are descendants ofbonded labourerssent fromTamil Naduto Sri Lanka in the 19th century to work inteaplantations.Many came as laborers to work in the plantations, but few of them came as business people. Most of the recruits came as they were recruited by the head man in their villages, mostly by high caste Tamils.

Sri Lankan Tamilsmostly live in the Northern andEastern Provincesand in the capital ofColombo,whereas Hill Country Tamils largely live in the central highlands.The Hill Country Tamils and Ceylon Tamils historically have seen themselves as separate communities, particularly due to the nativity of the island, and due to caste level differences as well.In 1949, theUnited National Party(UNP) government stripped theIndian Tamilsof their nationality, including their right to vote. Prominent Tamil political leaders such asS. J. V. Chelvanayakamand his Tamil opposition party opposed this move.

Under an agreement between the Sri Lankan and Indian governments in the 1960s, around 40% of Hill Country Tamils were granted Sri Lankan nationality and many of the remainder were repatriated to India.However, theethnic conflicthas led to the growth of a greater sense of common Tamil identity, and the two groups are now more supportive of each other.By the 1990s most Indian Tamils had received Sri Lankan citizenship and some were not granted Sri Lankan citizenship until 2003, during the peace talks between theTamil Tigersand theSri Lankan Government.

History

Initial recruitment

Indian Tamil worker at a tea plantation in Ceylon,The National Geographic Magazine,April 1907

The Hill Country Tamils derive their origins from aBritishcolonialera project. According to Professor Bertram Bastianpillai, workers around theTamil Naducities ofThirunelveli,Tiruchi,MaduraiandTanjorewere recruited in 1827byGovernor Sir Edward Barneson the request ofGeorge Bird,a pioneering planter.There is also a trading community of Indian Tamils who were not part of the plantation economy.As soon as these migrant workers were brought toMannar,the port at which they landed on their arrival by boat from South India, they were moved viaKurunegalato camps in the town ofMatale.There they werequarantinedfor a period of a week or more, examined for infectious diseases such assmall pox,choleraortyphoidand vaccinated against those diseases before they were sent toKandy,from where they were dispersed to locations where they would either work on estates already established by a previous gang of workers or clear land to establish new ones. Many died during their first few months of employment.They were instrumental in the establishment oftea,rubber,coffeeandcoconutplantations. They formed the bulk of the labour force of the plantation sector.

Community development

A boy goes out from home through a newly paved concrete road near a tea plantation inWalapane.

The community was a closed community confining themselves to the plantations, while actively contributed and contributes to the economic well-being of Sri Lanka but the socio-economic indicators of the community was among the worst in the country. The community in general was isolated, living inghettoswithin the central region as well as linguistically isolated from the majoritySinhalesevillagers who live in the valleys. They were captive labour whose life in its entirety was decided by their employers. Any social relationships or cultural ties were only among themselves or withSouth India.In the 1940s thetrade unionmovement had galvanized the plantation workers into a militant working class. They joined hands with theLanka Sama Samaja(orTrotskyist) Party, which carried the message of a working-class struggle for liberation from the exploitation by the mainly-British plantation companies.

Sri Lanka became independent in 1948 and the community believes that it became the first community marked out for discrimination by the new state of Ceylon in 1948. In theelections to the first parliamentof Ceylon, seven Indian Tamil representatives were returned to Parliament. The plantation workers voted either for Indian Tamil candidates or forLanka Sama Samaja Partycandidates. Dr.N.M. Pererawas the leader of the opposition in the first parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was the second largest party after theUnited National Party(UNP).

Disenfranchisement

Tea is one of the highest earners ofGNPof Sri Lanka

Main article:Ceylon Citizenship Act

See also:Soulbury CommissionandDonoughmore Commission

The firstprime minister,D.S. Senanayakeof the conservative UNP, reacting to the possibilities of losing power toleftistpolitical parties, commenced the task of weakening the leftist parties and their associate organizations. Indian Tamil labour had overwhelmingly supported these organizations. According to opposition parties he was also influenced by segments of the majoritySinhalesepopulation who felt their voting strength was diluted due to Indian Tamils. He introduced theCeylon Citizenship Act of 1948,theIndian-Pakistani Citizenship Act of 1949and amended theParliamentary Elections Actanddisfranchisedthe Indian Tamils along with many persons of Indian andPakistaniancestry. As they had no means of electing anyone to the Parliament they ceased to be a concern of parliamentary politicians. The plantation workers were thus forgotten from 1948 to 1964. They were unable to profit by any progressive legislation. The housing, health and education of the plantation workers was neglected.Infant mortalitywas highest in the country. Although since the introduction ofuniversal franchisein 1931, strong traditions of social welfare in Sri Lanka have given the island very high indicators of physical well-being. Impressive national statistics tended to hide the existence of deprived pockets within the population and the most deprived population group has been the plantation labour, which had been economically, politically and socially deprived.

Donoughmore Commission

TheDonoughmore Commissionof 1928 recommended universal franchise, and this was also meant to include the plantation workers as well. Page 57 of the report proposed:

In the first place we consider it very desirable that a qualification of five years residence in the Island (allowing the temporary absence not exceeding eight months in all during the five years period) should be introduced in order that the privilege of voting should be confined to those who have an abiding interest in the country or who may be regarded as permanently settled in the Island... this condition will be of particular importance in its application to the Indian immigrant population. Secondly, we consider that the registration of voters should not be compulsory or automatic but should be restricted to those who apply for it.

However, the very concept of universal franchise was anathema to most of the political leaders of that era.Ponnambalam Ramanathan,a highly respected leader, opposed universal franchise as he felt that the caste system was an integral part of the Hindu way of life,and led a delegation toLondonseeking to legally enshrine the caste hierarchy, and dethrone universal franchise. The Kandyan Sinhalese also objected to the enfranchisement of the Indian estate workers as they feared that their electoral base would be diluted by a large influx of Indian Tamil votes. They also argued that the tea estates were built on land confiscated by the British colonial government, and that the Kandyan peasants had been driven from their traditional lands and those injustices would be compounded if the Indian workers were legitimized. Governor Stanley, by an order in council introduced restrictions on the citizenship of Indian workers to make the Donoughmore proposals acceptable to the Ceylonese leaders. Thus the first state council of 1931, which consisted of many Tamil and Sinhalese members, agreed to not to enfranchise the majority of the Indian estate workers.

Soulbury Commission

A decade later, theSoulbury Commission,which paved the way for the independence ofCeylonrecognized the "anxieties arising out of the likelihood of large-scale enfranchisement of the Indian immigrants", The Commission, therefore, left the existing basis of franchise in Sri Lanka undisturbed.D. S. Senanayakehad led the 1941 talks with Sir G. S. Bajpai of India and had reached agreement on modalities of repatriation and citizenship, although they were finally not ratified by Indian Prime MinisterJawaharlal Nehru.D. S. Senanayake had expressed the wish to "embrace all Indian workers who integrate into the country as members of the Ceylonese nation", and had been relatively sympathetic, as early as 1928, and as late as 1941, to the granting of citizenship to Indian workers who wished to become permanent residents of the island.

The Soulbury constitution came into effect in 1946. In trying to cobble an all-party cabinet inclusive of the Tamils, led byG. G. Ponnambalam,the Sinhalese nationalist groups led byS. W. R. D Bandaranaike,the Kandyan Sinhalese, Senanayake had to find a compromise formula. The 1947 elections had returned six representatives from the Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC), based on the votes of the franchised Indian workers and Hill Country Tamils. Although this worried the Kandyans, the main reason for Senanayake and others to review their attitude to Indian workers was the growing threat of Marxist infiltration into estate trade unions. In this he had won the concurrence of G. G. Ponnambalam for the second citizenship act, which required ten years of residence in the island as a condition for becoming citizens of the new nation. Senanayake, who had been very favourable to easy citizenship for Indian workers had increasingly modified his views in the face of Marxist trade union activity. The Bracegirdle affairwas regarded as the harbinger of such dangers. The fear of left-wing politics began to grow in the minds of Sri Lankan politicians of the era. The colonial government responded to the agitation of the leftists by imprisoningN. M. Perera,Colvin R. de Silvaand other left leaders. Anti Marxist feelings were shared by the mainstream Sinhalese and Tamil leaders alike. (,Ch. 36). The criticism in the house was levelled by Tamil members of the upper chamber (senate), like Senator Natesan, who pointed out that Senanayake had supported the franchise of the Indian Tamils till recently, and had "caved in" more recently.

Parliamentary acts

As the firstprime minister,D.S. Senanayake,leader of the UNP, feared the strong possibilities ofMarxistdisruption of government and commenced the task of weakening the Marxist parties and their associate organizations. Thus the newly independent first cabinet introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, the Indian-Pakistani Citizenship act of 1949 and amended the parliamentary elections act. The requirements of "ten years of residence for married persons, and seven years for unmarried persons", stipulations in the 1949 act were in line with the legislation used by European nations at the time. It also allowed citizenship to “a person born in Ceylon prior to the date of the Act coming into force, of a father born in Ceylon”. However, this was in effect a continuation of the older, somewhat harsherstatus quoof the Indian workers in the 1930s, prior to the Donoughmore constitution, which called for only five years' residence.

Opposition views

However, Ponnambalam and Senanayake were strongly criticized by the Marxist groups as well as by the pro-Sri Lankan TamilFederal Party,it branded Ponnambalam a "traitor", and Senanayake a "Sinhalese extremist".S. J. V. Chelvanayakam,the leader of the Tamil Arasu Katchi, contested the citizenship act before the Supreme Court, and then in thePrivy Councilin England, on grounds of discrimination towards minorities but the decision concluded that the citizenship act stipulated conditions well in line with those of European states.As the president of the Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC),S. Thondamanhad contested the Nuwara Eliya seat in the 1947 general election and won. His party put forward seven candidates in the plantation electorates and six of them were returned. Thus Thondaman became the spokesperson of the plantation workers. The CIC sat with the opposition, which included the Marxist parties. He opposed the 1948 citizenship act. Thondaman supported the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) in the 1960 elections; after the victory of the SLFP he was appointed to the House of Representatives as a nominated member of Parliament. However, he opposed the 1964 Sirima-Shastri Indo-Ceylon citizenship act. After the victory of the UNP in 1965, S. Thondaman was named as appointed member of Parliament by the UNP.

Final rectification

TheJ.R.Jayawardenegovernment that came to power in 1977 rectified the existing shortcomings of the Indian citizenship act and granted citizenship to all Indian estate workers (see below). Even at that time, Thondaman was the leader of theCeylon Workers Congress,the party of the Hill Country Tamils, and had become a skilful player of minority-party politics. He had avoided joining with theTamil United Liberation Front(TULF) resolutions of 1974, which had continued with the policies of the ITAK. Thus the Hill Country Tamils had successfully charted a course of cooperating with successive Sri Lankan governments.

Inside a Tea processing factory

TheSirima-Shastri Pactof 1964 and Indira-Sirimavo supplementary agreement of 1974 paved the way for the repatriation of 600,000 persons of Indian origin to India. Another 375,000 persons were accepted as citizens of Sri Lanka, which made them enter the polity. These repatriation agreements were the harbingers of the destruction of this community, which had evolved into a composite group with a distinct culture of its own. In the 1950s and 1960s this community was clamouring for education and recognition of its distinctive culture. This brought in the emergence of a community consciousness and the artisan of a distinct community. An educated middle class made up of teachers, trade unionists and other professional began to make its appearance. There was a vigorous campaign for social amelioration and increased educational facilities.There was a growing spirit of resistance. People destroyed Indian passports and refused to go to India. Repatriation was resisted. International opinion was canvassed against deprivation of citizenship rights. The plantation people who were not prepared to leave, destitute, the land whose property they had built. They were prepared to fraternize within the Sinhalese and accept Sri Lankan leadership in the trade union movement. In thegeneral election of 1977they were able to elect 11 candidates. This helped the emergence of the plantation people as a political force, but they were faced withcommunal violencein1977,1983and in 2000.In 1984–85, to stop India's intervention in Sri Lankan affairs, the UNP government granted citizenship right to all stateless persons. The lateSavumiamoorthy Thondamanwas instrumental in using this electoral strength in improvement of the socioeconomic conditions of Hill Country Tamils.The plight of the repatriated persons in India has not been good.

Society

Demographics

Historical population

Year	Pop.	±%
1911	531,000	—
1921	602,700	+13.5%
1931	818,500	+35.8%
1946	780,600	−4.6%
1953	974,100	+24.8%
1963	1,123,000	+15.3%
1971	1,174,900	+4.6%
1981	818,700	−30.3%
1989 (est.)	873,000	+6.6%
2001	855,000	−2.1%
2011	842,323	−1.5%
Source:Department of Census & Statistics Data is based on Sri Lankan GovernmentCensus.

Censusoperations started in Sri Lanka in 1871. The Census of 1871, 1881, 1891 and 1901 had lumped together Sri Lankan Tamils and Indian Tamils. Since 1911, Indian Tamils have been shown as a separate category. The population statistics are revealing. In 1911, Indian Tamils constituted 12.9 per cent of the population, whereas Sri Lankan Tamils formed 12.8 per cent; in 1921, 13.4 per cent and 11.5 per cent; in 1931, 15.2 and 11.3; in 1946, 11.7 and 11.0; in 1953, 12.0 and 10.9; in 1963, 10.6 and 11.0; in 1971, 11.6 and 11.2; and in 1981, 5.5 per cent and 12.7 per cent respectively.

The statistics reveal a more than 50 per cent fall in the Indian Tamil population between 1971 and 1981. The main reason for the fall was the repatriation of Indian citizens to India. Another fact is that many Indian Tamils, after acquiring Sri Lankan citizenship, declared themselves as Sri Lankan Tamils. Some Tamils who migrated to urban areas and also to the north and the east also followed this same example.

Language

See also:Languages of Sri Lanka

Distribution of languages and religious groups of Sri Lanka on D.S. division and sector level according to the 1981 Census of Population and Housing

Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka predominantly speakTamil,however depending on where they live in the country, they may also additionally speakSinhalaand orEnglish.According to the 2012 Census 61.5% or 412,685 Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka also spoke Sinhala and 13.0% or 87,435 Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka also spoke English.

Social structure

See also:Caste system in Sri Lanka

Typical line housing of estate workers

The social structure of theplantationsresembles the South Indian rural social structure. The community is generally bound by thecastesystem. In a plantation, the tea factory is the centre of activities and it stands in the central part of the plantation. The office adjoins this and these are surrounded by the quarters of the staff members such as clerks, tea makers, conductors, petty accountants orkanakkupillais,and supervisors. Thebungalowsof the planter and his assistants are in an isolated areas. These will be in close proximity to the office. The dwellings of the workers calledline roomsare situated a little further away from the factories.

Those who are considered to be of higher castes occupy the first row of line rooms. They perform respectable jobs such as factory work and grinding of tea as minor labour work. Even though they belong to the labour category they are influential among conductors, tea makers,kanganies(or supervisors) and other officials. The workers considered low caste live in the dwellings that are away from the centre and these dwellings are calleddistantorlower lines.This group consists ofPallar,Paraiyars,Sakkiliar,washers and barbers. The yard sweepers and changers of clothes are in the lowest rank.

Customs

These groups follow the customs, traditions, and festivities of their South Indian Tamilancestors.The traditional musical instruments such asthappuandparaiare used and folk dances such as thekavadi,kummiandkaraga attamare performed. Folk dramas calledkoothuin their various forms such asponnar koothu,sangaran koothu,arujunan thabasandkaman koothuare still prevalent among them along withsilambadias an important feature.

Religion

See also:Hinduism in Sri LankaandVillage deities of Tamils of Sri Lanka

A temple toHanumannearNuwara Eliya

In general they useHindubeliefs to guide their day-to-day lives. There are number of temples and places of worship fordeitieson estates and in villages, towns and other places within Sri Lanka to which they have migrated. When a place is decided to be settled, the settlers would institute, under abanyanorbotree, a triangular shaped stone or figure of a deity, plant a weapon of a popularly worshipped god such as a spear, trident or sword and worshipped these. The main deities worshipped are, in order of popularity, the goddessMariamman,Muruganand his consorts,Valliand Theivanai,Pillayar,Siva,Parvathi,VishnuandLaxmi,and the goddess of wisdomSaraswati.

In 1981 about 90 percent of the Indian Tamils were Hindus.They have little contact withBuddhism,and they worship the Hindu pantheon of gods. Their religious myths, stories ofsaints,literature, andritualsare distinct from the cultural sources of the Sinhalese. Furthermore, a minority of the Indian Tamils- 7.6 percent are converts toChristianity,with their own places of worship and separate cultural lives. In this way, the large Tamil minority in Sri Lanka is effectively separated from the mainstream Sinhalese culture and is fragmented into two major groups with their own Christian minorities.

The first known temple was built in Matale. It began as a stone an icon of the goddessMariamman.At this very location where the worship of her began in 1820, the now-famous Matale Sri Muthumariamman Temple was built in 1852. The trading community of theNattukotai Chettiarsintroduced the worship of Murugan in his form as Lord Kathiresan at Matale and was to subsequently build the Kathiresan temple at Matale. The annual festival of this temple is celebrated in the month of July. Devotees of the plantation sector walk from the tea estates and hometowns they live in toKathirkamam,a place considered sacred by both Buddhists and Hindus, in the South of Sri Lanka, where Murugan is worshipped in the form of Skanda.Deepavali,PongalandTamil New Yearare commonly celebrated as festivals.

Folk deities

Each caste has its own deity based on caste predecessors and are worshipped as guardian angels, such as theKallarcaste had Nallananpillai Perumal as their guardian angel to whom vows and sacrifices are made. Deities such as Madasamy,Muniandi,Kali,Madurai Veeran,Sangili Karuppan, Vaalraja,Vairavar,Veerabathran,Sudalai Madan,and Roda Mini are also worshipped.

Temple societies

There were 104 registered Hindu temples in theNuwara EliyaDistrict, 153 in Kandy region and 62 in Matale in 2001. Religious schools oraraa nerri padasaligalare conducted throughout theCentral Provinceand registered schools of such nature are, Nuwara Eliya 22, Kandy 54 and Matale 11. A considerable number of Hindu associations and institutions have been established and are functioning actively. There is a serious effort at conversions to other religions as well. Many have converted toChristianityandIslam.Hindu organizations such as theVishva Hindu Parishadtry to stem the tide of conversions.

Labour practices

Manual tea plucking in Sri Lanka.

Based on the cultivation of cash crops, labour is the dominant sector in the country's economy. It is a major earner of foreign exchange and the largest employer. Cheap labour is one of the essential ingredients of its success. Hence these immigrants were bonded and underpaid. In 1921 workers were empowered to break these bonds of indebtedness tying them to the estates. The minimum wages ordinance was extended to plantation labour in 1927 marginally raising the wages that had not changed since the 19th century. This daily wages was 41 Cts. in 1933. Owing to trade union activities it was raised to Rs 17/83 in 1983, Rs 72/24 in 1993 and became Rs 101 in 1998. The wages of female workers was less than males but has been equalized since 1984. Even though there was an increase in wages, the living wages are not sufficient to meet their day-to-day needs. The plantations were nationalized under the 1972 land reform law and its 1975 amendment. The state owned plantations are managed by the Sri Lanka Plantation Corporation and the Janatha Estate Development Board. The nationalization did not result in any basic change on the plantation sector. The state has been forced to take a greater interest in the health, housing and general well-being of the labourers. Hence estate schools were nationalized and brought into the general educational system. With the grant of theSwedish International Development Agency(SIDA), many schools were built. This helped the slight growth ofliteracy rates.With the increased unemployment, plantation sector youths looked for other avenues. A considerable number of Indian Tamil girls are employed in garment factories. Some work in theMiddle Eastas housemaids. There is net migration towards urban areas as well as foreign countries. Prior to the commencement of theSri Lankan civil warmany had migrated to the Northern Province.Now the plantation communities have the Plantation Human Development Trust, developed to protect their rights and ensure adequate facilities are provided such as crèches and toilets. Other NGOs work towards the development of the plantation communities such asShining Life Children's Trustand Hanguranketha Women's Foundation.

Prominent people

Muttiah Muralitharan,greatest spin bowler in history, is of Indian Tamil descent

• Muttiah Muralitharan–Sri Lanka internationalspin bowler;world record holder for mostwicketstaken in bothTest cricketandODI's
• Savumiamoorthy Thondaman– Post-independence politician
• Mano Ganesan– Prominenthuman rightsactivist, trade unionist and politician
• Arumugan Thondaman– Sri Lankan politician

See also

• Sri Lankan Tamils in India
• Colombo Chetties
• Bharatakula
• South Indian Immigration towards Sri Lanka

Further reading

• de Silva, C.R. (1987, 2nd ed. 1997).Sri Lanka – A History,New Delhi, Vikas Publishing House.ISBN81-259-0461-1
• de Silva, K. M. (2005).A History of Sri Lanka.Colombo:Vijitha Yapa. p. 782.ISBN955-8095-92-3.
• Ross, Russell (1988).Sri Lanka: A Country Study.United States: U.S. Library of Congress.
• Kartikecu, Civattampi (1995).Sri Lankan Tamil society and politics.New Century Book House. p. 189.ISBN81-234-0395-X.
• Radhakrishnan, V."Indian origin in Sri Lanka:Their plight and struggle for survival".Proceedings of First International Conference & Gathering of Elders.International Center for Cultural Studies, USA. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-03-20.Retrieved2008-01-23.
• Suryanarayan, V (2001-07-17)."Sri Lanka: In search of a new identity".Frontline. Archived fromthe originalon 2008-05-29.Retrieved2007-01-24.
• Indrapala, K (2007).The evolution of an ethnic identity: The Tamils of Sri Lanka.Colombo:Vijitha Yapa.ISBN978-955-1266-72-1.
• Nadarajan, Vasantha (1999).History of Ceylon Tamils.Toronto:Vasantham. p. 146.
• Spencer, Jonathan (1990).Sri Lanka: History and the Roots of Conflict.Routledge. p. 253.ISBN0-415-04461-8.
• Muthiah, Subbiah. (2003).The Indo-Lankans: Their 200-Year Saga.Indian Heritage Foundation. p. 317.ISBN955-8790-00-1.

External links

• Media related toIndian Tamils of Sri Lankaat Wikimedia Commons