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The Sri Lanka Tamils of Indian origin or '''Hill Country Tamils, ''' '''Up-country Tamils''' or '''Indian Tamils''' are descended from Indentured workers sent from South India to Sri Lanka in the 19th and 20th centuries to work in Coffee , Tea and Rubber plantations. These Tamil -speakers live in the central highlands, also known as the Malayakam or Hill Country. Although they are all termed as Tamils today, some also have Telugu and Malayalee origins as well as diverse South Indian Caste origins. SRI LANKA'S DISTINCT TAMIL SPEAKING COMMUNITIES Sri lanka also has two other Tamil speaking communities. They are the native Sri Lanka Tamils and Sri Lankan Muslims . Hill Country Tamils differ from these native communities by their Dialect , culture and socio economic conditions. But due to the discriminatory nature of Sri Lanka's politics towards its Minority communities, Hill Country Tamils have been migrating to traditionally Tamil speaking regions in the Northern province. Further after the Black July pogrom of 1983, Sri Lankan Tamil and Hill Country Tamils have come together in refugee and resettlement camps and differences are slowly melting away. Many Hil Country Tamils have intermarried with other communities including Sri Lankan Tamils and generally mark them as Sri Lankan Tamils in the an annual census. It should be noted that historically the upper castes (see Vellalar ) amongst Sri Lankan Tamils had discriminated against many Hill country Tamils based on Caste prejudices. But it is no longer observed. HISTORY Initial recruitment Although there is evidence of various Sri Lankan monarchs and Portuguese and Dutch Colonial authorities recruiting workers from India, the current Hill Country Tamils derive their origins from a British colonial era project. Many South Indian recruits who came prior to the British effort have assimilated as part of the Sinhalese or the native Sri Lankan Tamil communities (See Salagama ) According to Professor Bertram Bastianpillai workers around the Tamil Nadu cities of Thirunelveli , Tiruchi , Madurai and Tanjore were recruited by Governor Sir Edward Barnes on the request of George Bird, a pioneer planter. Social structure The social structure of the Plantation s strongly resembles the South Indian rural social structure. This community is rigidly bound by caste system. In a Plantation the Tea factory is the center of activities. It stands majestically 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 or Kanakkupillais, and supervisors. The Bungalow s of the planter and his assistants are in an isolated but peaceful area. These will be in close proximity to the office. The dwellings of the workers called Line Rooms are situated a little further away from the factories. Caste orientation of a plantation Those who are considered to be of higher castes such as Vellala s, Kallar , Agamudaiyar , Maravar , Naidu s, Reddiar s and Nairs occupy the first row of line rooms. They perform respectable jobs such as factory work and grinding of Tea. They work as minor employees too. 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 castes live in the dwellings that are away from the center and these dwellings are called distant or lower Lines. This group consists of Pallar , Paraiyar s, Sakkiliar , Washers and Barbers. The yard sweepers and changers of clothes are in the lowest rank. Survival of customs Even today they receive very meager facilities from the Management. These groups follow the customs, traditions, and festivities of the South Indian Tamil Ancestor s. The traditional musical instruments such as ''Thappu'' and ''Parai'' are used. Folk Dances such as ''Kavadi, Kummi and Karaga Attam'' are performed. Folk dramas called ''Koothu'' in its various forms such as ''Ponnar Koothu, Sangaran Koothu, Arujunan Thabas, Kaman Koothu'' are still prevalent among them along with ''Silambadi'' as an important feature. This community is eternally poverty stricken, continuously exploited, penalized by humiliations and cruelly afflicted by communal violence. Still amongst all these difficulties, they uphold their traditions, heritage and arts as fervently as possible. It is said that the plantation labourers are born in debts, live and die in debts. They cherish their cultural aspects and religious believes and preserve their distinctness. Religious patterns Mostly they use Hindu believes to guide their day to day lives. They have built temples and places of worship for their deities in estates, villages, town and whichever place they migrated within Sri Lanka. At first under a spreading Banyan or Bo tree they instituted a triangular shaped stone or planted a figure or a spear or a trident or a sword and worshiped it. The main deities worshiped by these people are Shiva , Parvathi, Vishnu , and Luxmi. Saraswathie, Murugan , Valli, Theivanai and Pillayar . They worship not only these figures but also the incarnations of these deities. When these migrant workers were brought from Thalai Mannar port via Kurunagela to Kandy , they were kept in Quarantine camps at a town called Matale for a week to observe for diseases such as Cholera and Malaria and were inoculated against them. In such a camp they instituted a stone as Mariamman under a ''Vilva'' tree. This worship which began in 1820 lead to the building of the famous Matale Sri Muthumariamman Temple in 1852. Another deity specifically worshiped as Kathirasen an aspect of Murugan. The trading community of the Nattukotai Chettiars introduced the worship of Lord Kathiresan and consequently built 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 their hometowns to Kathirkamam a place of worship for for Murugan in the down south of Sri Lanka. Deepawali , Pongal , Tamil New Year are celebrated as festivals by them. Folk deities Each caste has its own deity based on caste predecessors and are worshiped by these descendants as guardian angels. Example the Kallar cast had Nallananpillai Perumal as their guardian angel. They make vows and sacrifices to this deity. They submit offering on a particular date at a particular time annually. Mostly the night before Deepavali is set aside for worshiping the predecessors. Deities such as Madasamy, Muniandi , Kali , Madurai Veeran , Sangili Karuppan, Vaalraja, Vairavar , Veerabathran, Sudalai Madan , Nagaphooshani Ammann and Roda Mini are also worshiped. Temple socities There are 104 Registered Hindu Temples in the Nuwara Eliya District, 153 in Kandy region and 62 in Matale. Religious schools or Araa Nerri Padasaligal are conducted throughout the Central Province and 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. But there is a serious effort at conversions too. Many have converted to Christianity , Catholicism and Islam . Hindu Organizations such as the Vishva Hindu Parishad tries to stem the tide of conversions. COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT This community was a closed community confining themselves to the plantations. While it actively contributed and contributes to the Economic well being of this country their own social economic conditions are amongst the worst in the country. Being isolated and ghettoed within the heartland of Sri Lanka and also linguistically isolated from the Sinhalese villagers who live in the valleys. They were the classic example of captive labour whose life in its entity was decided by the employers. Any social relationship or cultural ties they had were only among themselves or with India. In the 1940's the trade union movement had galvanized the plantation workers into a militant working class. They joined hands with the Lanka Sama Samaja (or Socialist) Party, which carried the message of a working class struggle for liberation from the exploitation by plantation companies mostly of British Origin. With the dawn of the Independence things began to change drastically for the Plantation workers. They were the first community marked out for discrimination by the incipient state of Sri Lanka in 1948. In the elections to the first parliament of Ceylon seven Indian Tamil representatives were returned to Parliament. The plantation workers voted either for Indian Tamil candidates or for Lanka Sama Samaja Party candidates. Dr.N.M.Perera was the leader of the opposition in the 1st parliament and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was the second largest party after United National Party . Disfranchised Indian Tamils The first Prime Minister D.S.Senanayake saw the strong possibilities of a Marxist take over government and commenced the task of annihilating the Marxist Parties and their associate organizations. He introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948. The Indian Pakistan Citizenship act of 1947 and amended the parliamentary elections act and disfranchised the Indian Tamils. As they had no means of electing any one to the Parliament they ceased to be the concern of parliamentary politicians. The plantation workers were thus forgotten from 1948 - 1964. Their lives were in ruins. They did not profit by any progressive legislation of the Independent Sri Lanka. The Housing, health and Education of the Plantation workers were in total neglect. Infant mortality was highest among them. It became the dying community of Sri Lanka. Since the introduction of Universal franchise in 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. It has been economically, politically and socially deprived. Cheap captive labor for cash crops Based on the cultivation of cash crops, it is even today dominant in the countryís economy. It is a major earner of Foreign exchange and the largest employer. Cheap labour is one of the essential ingriedients of its success. Hence these immigrants were bonded and under paid. In 1921 workers were inpowered to break this 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 Rupees 17/83 in 1983, Rupees 72/24 in 1993 and became Rupees 101 in 1998. The wages of female workers was lesser than the male worker but was equalized since 1984. Even though there is an increase in the wages, the living wages are not sufficient to meet their day to day ends and they are always indebted. Hence they are poverty stricken. Socially backward, politically neglected and communally terrorized. 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 & 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 Swedish International Development Agency (SIDA) many schools were built. This helped the slight growth of literacy rates. The educated youths are more. More incorporated in teaching profession. As unemployment increased in the plantation sector youths looked for other avenues. A considerable number of Indian Tamale girls are employed in garment factories. Some seek greener pastures in the Middle East as housemaids. So we could observe the Indian Tamils not only towards urban areas but foreign nations too. Repatriation and rebirth Even though Srima Shasthri pact of 1964, Indira Sirimavo supplementary agreement of 1974 paved the way for the repatriation of 6,00,000 of persons of Indian origin to India another 3,75,00 persons were to accepted as citizens of Sri Lanka which made them enter the Polity. Still these repatriation agreements were the harbingers of the distruction of this community, which had evolved into a composite group with a distinct culture of its own. In the fifties and sixties this community was clamoring for education and recognition of its distinctive culture. This brought in the emergence of a community consciousness and the artesian of a distinct community. An educated middle class comprising of teachers, trade unionists and other professional began to make its appearance. There was a vigorous compaign for social anneliorations and increased educational facilities. There was a growing spirit of resistance. People destroyed Indian passports and refused to go to India. Repatriation was resisted and cries that fundamental rights cannot be smothered were raised. International opinion was canvassed against deprivation of Citizenship rights. The plantation people who built the prosperity of Sri Lanka were not prepared to leave this land they created as destitute. They were prepared to fraternise within the Sinhalese and accept Sri Lanka Leader ship in the Trade Union movement. They eschewed separate state as a political solution. In The General Election of 1977 they were able to elect 11 candidates. This helped the emergence of the plantation people as a political force but were faced with communal violence in 1977 and 1983, In 1984/5 to stop India intervening in Sri Lankan affairs the U.N.P. government eventualy granted citizenship right to all stateless persons. It should be noted that the willy politician late Saumyamurthy Thondaman was instrumental in using this electoral strength in assuring the socio economic conditions of Hill Country Tamils to improve. REFERENCES |
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