The call by some Tamil politicians to the upcountry Tamil people, especially plantation workers, to settle down in the Northern and Eastern Provinces in the wake of the recent calamity caused by nature’s fury has stirred an intense debate in the political arena. 

Tamil Progressive Alliance (TPA) Leader and Member of Parliament (MP) Mano Ganesan, who visited the families of plantation workers in a landslide-affected area in the Kandy District recently, spoke of the need to relocate them to safer places. 

Ganesan said that he would talk to the Government about the possibility of settling these people in upcountry areas where there was no risk of landslides and asked them whether they would come forward to settle in the Northern and Eastern Provinces if enough land could not be found in upcountry areas. Most of those present responded that they were ready for it.

It is quite natural that people who have been badly affected by the natural disaster and who have lost their homes would express such sentiments in the midst of hardship. But on the basis of the response of that one group of people, it cannot be assumed that upcountry Tamil people will be ready to abandon their traditional means of livelihood and ways of life in order to migrate to the north and east in large numbers.

Tamil politicians express solidarity

With the media, mainly social media, attaching great importance to Ganesan’s meeting with the affected people, former MP and Ilankai Tamil Arasu Katchi (ITAK) General Secretary M.A. Sumanthiran announced that the upcountry Tamils were welcome in the north and east and that help could be given if they wanted to settle there on their own.

He was followed by Batticaloa District MP Shanakiyan Rasamanickam, who called upon Tamils living in unsafe areas in the hills to come and settle in the east. Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF) General Secretary Suresh Premachandran also stressed the need to provide support and assistance to upcountry Tamils to settle in Tamil areas.

This is not the first time that upcountry Tamils, particularly plantation workers, have been hit by a natural disaster. Plantation workers have long suffered from natural disasters such as landslides and floods, but governments have never come up with effective plans to ensure a safe life for them.

It is certainly to be welcomed that these Tamil politicians have expressed solidarity with the upcountry Tamil community and invited them to the north and east.

Sumanthiran stated that when the people of the upcountry said that there was no place to live safely given the distressing situation created after the sudden natural disaster, it was the duty of the Tamils of the north and east to welcome them.

He pointed out that he was continuing to work with Ganesan on the next steps to be taken and that there was a need to discuss such plans with the Government. The ITAK General Secretary added that many members of the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora had expressed their willingness to offer their lands in the north and east to upcountry Tamils. 

The NPP’s pledge

In any case, programmes to ensure that upcountry Tamils, especially plantation workers, are not affected again by natural disasters should be carried out primarily in the regions where they have traditionally lived as a people with a separate identity. There is no problem in sending them to the north and east on a voluntary basis under a broad programme of gradual resettlement to safer areas. Only the Government can implement such a scheme.

At this point, it is pertinent to recall the position taken by the National People’s Power (NPP) before the two national elections last year on the land and housing problems of the Tamil people living in the plantations.

On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the repatriation of the Tamil community from South India to the Sri Lankan hill country, the NPP issued a policy statement called the Hatton Declaration on the community’s rights on 15 October 2023. 

The paragraphs that deal with the land and housing problems faced by the Tamil plantation workers are as follows.

“The main problem facing the Malaiyaha Tamil people is the housing problem. According to the 2012/2013 population statistics, 67.8% of them still live in line rooms. A National People’s Power administration will initiate a programme to provide liveable housing to Malaiyaha Tamils through housing schemes that will help them develop into a prosperous community.

“Attempts are made to evict some workers from their homes when they leave plantation work. A rule by the NPP will prevent such actions. Although many families spent money and labour to build their houses, there is still no recognised land registration deed for the land.

“The problem of lack of title deeds is a problem faced not only by this community but also by colonists in other parts of the country. The NPP seeks to find a fair solution to this problem and ensure the land rights of the Malaiyaha Tamil people so that they can continue to settle in their homes without hindrance. Uncultivated areas and abandoned land in the plantation areas will be used to improve the livelihood of the unemployed youth of the Malaiyaha Tamil community.”

The NPP also promised in its 2024 Presidential Election manifesto that steps would be taken to recognise the identity and rights of upcountry Tamils and improve their land, housing, education and health facilities, as stated in the Hatton Declaration.

At this juncture, an important question arises as to what extent the NPP Government has focused on the fulfilment of this promise in the more than one year after coming to power.

With the land issue of the upcountry Tamil people back in focus following the recent calamity, the Tamil parties should urge the Government to keep its promise. The Tamil parties in the north and east should join hands with the parties that represent upcountry Tamils and the trade unions in a protest movement to place pressure on the Government in this regard.

When Ganesan brought to the attention of President Anura Kumara Dissanayake issues related to the relocation of upcountry Tamils to safer places, he promptly asked: “Where is the land?” Is it that the President promised to solve the land and housing problem in his manifesto without knowing where the land was?

The need for a broad assessment

Upcountry Tamils have already settled in the north, especially in the Vanni region. After a series of incidents of ethnic violence unleashed against Tamils during the United National Party (UNP) Government in the last century, a considerable number of upcountry people migrated to the north in search of safety. Their number is estimated to be more than 100,000 now. 

When an invitation is now given to upcountry Tamils to come to the north and east, a proper assessment of how the people who have already settled there are living is necessary. The first thing to consider is whether those people are equal in terms of access to livelihood and other facilities without discrimination among their northern brethren. 

While Sumanthiran says that many diaspora Tamils are willing to give their land to upcountry people, he should also take serious note of the fact that the people of the upcountry also have the experience where some diaspora Tamils who came back to Sri Lanka after the end of the civil war in 2009 asked for the return of their lands.

At the same time, it is also important to note how the present-day upcountry Tamil youth think about the future of their community. They do not wish to be called Tamils of Indian origin anymore. Their demand is that the separate ethnic identity of Malaiyaha Tamils should officially be recognised. There are those who talk about the concept of ‘Malaiyaha Tamil Thesiyam.’

Indeed, upcountry Tamils have unique problems, livelihoods, ways of life, and a culture in contrast to other Tamil-speaking communities in the country. If they start migrating to other parts of Sri Lanka, as northern and eastern Tamils do in large numbers to foreign countries today, there is a danger that they will lose their identity as a separate community and become unable to claim their unique rights.

Upcountry Tamils should not be seen as a nomadic group that can settle in any part of the country. Plantation workers are the main segment of the working class in Sri Lanka. These people have been working for generations for the country’s economic development. Even if they are to be relocated from disaster-prone areas, it is still appropriate to carry out these programmes primarily in the regions where they have traditionally been living and working. 

It is noteworthy that in a memorandum sent to the British Government in 1936 on the need to establish a federal system of government in Sri Lanka, Leonard Woolf, an Englishman who had served as Assistant Government Agent in Hambantota in the south during the British colonial period, proposed federal units (like Swiss cantons) for the Northern and Eastern Provinces, Kandyan Sinhalese, and coastal Sinhalese, and stated that the areas of the upcountry densely inhabited by Tamil plantation workers could be merged to form a separate unit.

It may be recalled that a white colonial official had said 90 years ago that the plantation Tamils had unique rights like any other community.

However, the first post-independence Sri Lankan Government stripped upcountry Tamils of their citizenship and thereby their voting rights, making them stateless. Who knows how long these people who won citizenship and voting rights after half a century of struggle, with many sacrifices having been made, will have to fight for the ownership of land, houses, and other facilities required for a decent life? 

(The writer is a senior journalist based in Colombo)

(The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the official position of this publication)