Dalit
Declaration
History
tells us that, disparities like the poor and the rich had begun ever since the
society was saddled with the divisions of government, property and families.
These societal disparities can be divided into two types: economical (class)
and gender. There is a basic deference between the societies in the Indian
Sub-continent and those of the rest of the world. The class and gender based
divisions have taken a different shape in Indian sub continent as Varna-Caste
division. The difference is still prevailing in the Indian sub continent.
World
over, profession of an individual does largely depend on his\her birth. But
the Varna based society not only allocated the profession based on
birth but goes further by providing the conceptual justice to the approach
with formulation of separate rituals for each community and making it
mandatory for all marriages to be performed within the respective communities.
This is prevailing only in the societies dominated by Hindu religion.
The
Vedas, authored by the Brahmins, divided people into four castes namely, Brahmins,
Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras, making them respectable
only in that order. The Rig Veda even stipulates the professions of each of
these communities but the birth was not inevitably related to the profession.
It was done so only after 185 B.C. when Brahmins ascended the throne by
ousting the Buddhists and Jains and created the “Manu Needhi”. This had
concretized the supremacy of the Brahmins\Kshatriyas. This, according to Dr.
Ambedkar is the way the Varna became caste.
“Manu
Needhi” written by Dr. Ambedkar brings out vividly these developments.
So does another book titled “Festivities of Jaffna” that speaks
about the 15th century period when Jaffna was brought under the
control of Ollandhar after a 40-year reign of the Portuguese.
The
book reveals that Jaffna was ruled by the descendants of the Aryan community
who followed the “Manu Needhi” concept of the Hindus in letter and spirit.
Later, a Portugese by name Philip took over the reins of Jaffna and
ruled as a dictator for 40 years before being overthrown by Ollandhars,
the verses say. Inscriptions found at Konesas inform us that as far as
rendering justice was concerned, “Manu Needhi” was widely followed.
The
descendants of Aryas, the Kings of Jaffna, are called Singaiyariyars.
Yazhppana Vaibhava Maalai (Festivities of Jaffna) gives the
names of the nine Kings who ruled Jaffna:
Vijaya
Koozhanga Singaiyariyar
i)
Kulasekara Singaiyariyar
ii)
Vickrama Singaiyariyar
iii)
Virodhaya Singaiyariyar
iv)
Marthanda Singaiyariyar
v)
Jeyaveera Singaiyariyar
vi)
Gunapoorana Singaiyariyar
vii)
Gunaveera Singaiyariyar
viii)
Kanaga Sooriya Singaiyariyar
“Kailaya Maalai“
states that the first kingdom of Jafna kings was formed in Nalloor during the
period of First Singaiyariya. The book also says that the name of the king was
Vijaya Singaiyariyar. Poet Mayilvahanan states that the King ascended
the throne at Nalloor at the most auspicious time, as per his astrologers’
advice. The foundation to the palace building was laid only at the “Muhurat”
time. The Fort was built with imposing buildings, temples, parks, bathrooms,
and accommodation for the army. The holy waters of the Yamuna were used in the
construction by Mr. Gangadhara Iyer and his wife Mrs. Annapoorani, both of
whom were given houses to reside by the King.
Before the King started residing at the palace along with his wife
Thilakavathy, the fort was built with Vinayaka temple on the east, the Veera
Kaaliyamman temple on the west, the Satta Natheswarar temple and
the Thaiyalnayagi temple on the north and the Saalai Vinayakar
temple on the South for protection and prosperity.
The Jaffna kingdom,
was run by Indian-Hindutva religious concept Hindu-ruled was later conquered
by the Europeans like the Portuguese, Hollanders and the British. The
northeast part of Jaffna came under the domination of non-Brahmin upper caste
(Vellalas). This is the basic difference between the casteism followed
in India and by the Sri Lankan Tamils, though there seemed little difference
when it came to upper caste domination.
Right from the days of
the Singaiyariyar kings till today, the National Customary Law is
followed to render justice to the Tamils in Jaffna. The Law implemented on
social front was Caste Customary Law. One Class Issacs of Holland made
national Customary Law legal. The upper caste Vodaiyars and the Mudaliyarrs
were serving as the advisers to him.
Historical records do
point out that the immigrant Vellalars, who migrated there after the 10th
century, carried the caste system followed in India forward in to Jaffna. From
the basic division of Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaishyas and Sudras, flowed,
in an inexplicable manner, many ‘untouchable’ castes like Pallars,
Paraiyars, Nalavar, Umbattans, Vannaan, etc. ‘Panchamars’ is
the term in vogue in Jafna that represented people from these five castes. The
caste system, nurtured over many centuries was developed by many right from
Sangiliyan, Arunuga Navalar, Pon Ramanathan, G.G. Ponnambalam to ‘Defiant
Tamilian’ Sundaralingam. Now it has acquired a new dimension in the form of
Tamil nationalism, with an added element of weapons. The Panchamars,
meanwhile, have been at the receiving end, facing many caste-based atrocities
and loss of lives.
The Europeans,
realizing the importance of support of the upper castes for their survival,
chose to ignore the law based on caste customs. It should, however, be
mentioned that it were the Europeans who paved the way for the social
upliftment of the Dalits in the northeast.
The caste
discrimination and untouchability prevalent over the past so many years, are
still in force in Lanka. Like they are doing in their own land (Lanka),
Tamilians unfailingly manage to keep up the tradition of these casteist
tendencies in all places where they manage to migrate to.
It is ironical that living in such a scenario, we do talk about Ethnic
hegemony, human rights, humanity, democracy, etc.!
Till now, no
worthwhile measures have been taken to prevent atrocities committed against
the Dalits in the caste-dominated Jaffna.
The agitation against
this untouchability, however, was started as early as in 1910 and has
continued despite many hindrances. This
declaration aims at not only reminding the sufferings the Dalits had to face
at the hands of Jaffna’s upper castes and their subsequent agitation but
also looks to find ways and means of finding a mechanism wherein these
suppressed lot can enjoy equal status in society.
The ill-treated Dalits
had started their organized agitations through the North-East Workers’ Union
way back in 1910. At that time, the upper caste students of Vattukkottai
College founded by English missionary even boycotted their classes to protest
against the admission of Jacob Gandhi, a Dalit student. Unnerved, Jacab fought
for his rights and with the help of a Brithsh Priest, who was the Principal at
that time, could successfully become the first Dalit student from that college.
The awareness among
Dalit people developed gradually with the help of some minor agitations. Yeve
Paul floated the “Oppressed Tamil Workers’ Society” in 1927 and to
instill the feeling of social liberation among the Dalits, a magazine “Jana
Dharma Bodhini” was launched. In
1928, Pon Ramanathan fought for schools to be set up in all areas only on
caste basis. In 1929, he even
demanded under the umbrella of “Hindu Maha Sabha” that the Koppai
Govt. Training Institute be made to admit only upper caste students. Yeve Paul led the Dalits’ protest against this. Since they
couldn’t face the Dalit agitations, the upper caste people burnt down as
much as 13 Dalit schools in 1930’s.
For many years, Dalits
were denied permission to burn the bodies of dead from their community.
In one such incident, Dalits were not allowed by the upper castes to
burn the body of a dead Dalit woman. This
turned into a major crisis and led to violence and clashes between the Dalits
and the upper castes. Chinna
Thambi, a Dalit youth lost his life in firing by the upper caste persons and
became the first Dalit martyr. The then British establishment informed this to
the Queen through telegram and subsequently the body was put to fire.
The 1940s witnessed
great awareness among the Dalits to fight for their rights.
“Sanmarga United Youth Front”
(SUYF) in Jaffna town played a stellar role in the agitation and helped
many Dalit leaders to come under one roof.
We cannot forget the
history of the protest by Pon Ramanathan, representative of Tamil leaders to
the enactment of ‘Voting rights for all’ came into force in Lanka during
1931. Due to the efforts of SUYF in 1942 to create a common forum to fight for
Dalits’ rights, a mammoth Dalit conference was convened in 1943. The
“Minority Tamils’ Mahasabha” was formed and Yeve Paul was
appointed its leader. This Mahasabha
fought for Dalits’ representation in education, employment opportunities,
teacher training, Tobacco workers’ future and for the overall economic
development of the Dalits.
At the second
conference of the Mahasabha held in 1944, many important resolutions
were passed. The demands included separate constituencies for Dalits or
appointment through direct nominations to the posts, and the allocation of 25
per cent of the seats in accordance with their overall population. These
demands were forwarded to the Lankan government. The next Mahasabha met
in 1945 to demand that Dalits be granted the same concession as Muslims in
education and admission to educational institutions.
The Mahasabha
was to represent to the Solburry Commission, set up by the British to amend
the constitution of Lanka in 1945. During
the commission’s visit to Lanka, GG Ponnambalam almost managed to prevent
the Mahasabha from representing to the Commission on Dalits’ rights
and problems. The Mahasabha successfully discounted Ponnambalam’s
claims before the Commission that all was well for the Dalits in Lanka. The Mahasabha
even managed to take the Commission for inspection to the Kanpollai village
where many atrocities were committed against the Dalits.
The infuriated upper
caste people unleashed a brutal attack on Mahasabha’s trio of MC
Subramaniam Ganapathy Pillai and James, who were responsible for bringing the
members of Solburry Commission. The three had miraculously escaped the attempt.
Although the Mahasabha did its best to convince the Commission of the
Dalits’ plight, the Commission fell prey to the upper castes’ cunningness
and opted for continuation of the law based on National customs (which
continue till date) that is detrimental to Dalits.
In the name of freedom,
the British handed over the reins of power in 1948 to the Sinhalese and Jaffna
upper castes before quitting the island. Dallits’ agitation for equality
took a new path by adapting Leftist ideology during this period. The Mahasabha
took up the case of allocation of houses to Dalits in 1955.
In 1956, the Sabha successfully won permission for Dalits to
gain access/entry to the Nalloor Kandaswamy temple.
Meanwhile, efforts by Ponnambalam’s Tamil Congress and SJV
Selvanayakam’s ‘Tamilarasu Pary’ to divide the Mabasabha failed.
Mahasabha’s Zoysa was attacked and humiliated him when he
visited Jaffna. This incident did,
in fact, manage to create divisions in the Mahasabha. During
Bandaranayaka’s period, Mahasabha’s long-standing demands were met
and it culminated in the enactment of the Abolition of Social Evils (Untouchability)
Act in 1971, which provided for penalty and jail term for violation of the
provisions of the Act.
From 1956-1960, as
many as 19 schools came up in Sandilipay, Karavetti, Mattuvil,
Kattuvanpulam, Puloli and Mandhuvil for Dalits, largely due to the
efforts of the Mahasabha. The
Mahasabha’s efforts against untouchability and for the economic
empowerment of Dalits yielded little results as the upper cast Saiva
Vellalars were occupying many important government posts.
This forced the Dalits to embrace Buddhism en masse in the year 1967
along with Comrade Yogaradanam under the leadership of Vairamuthu,
president of the Lankan Buddhist Congress.
As a corollary, Buddhist schools came up in Kanpollai, Karavetti,
Puthur and Poonagari villages.
In 1965, Arunthathiyars,
Vannaans and Umbattans’ organizations and Tiruvalluvar
Mahasabhai join hands to form a common forum called “Minority Tamil
United Front” in 1966 and convened their first Conference at Achuveli.
Resolutions were passed against the treatment of Dalits as secondary citizens.
The outfits like Tamilarasu Party and Tamil Congress Party invited to
the conference sought three months time to solve the problems of Dalit people.
However, as time passed by, we realized that their commitment was nothing
other than one of their social-political fraudulent acts.
The division between
Russian Communists and China Communists did affect Lankan Communists too. The
minority Tamils – pro China – came out from the Mahasabha.
21.10.1966 witnessed the birth of Lankan Communist party (Pro China). K Daniel
became the convener of Anti-Untouchability Movement (AUM). The first
conference of the party was conducted on 21.10.1967 at Karthikesu Hall named
after Karthikesu who was killed in the riot followed by 'Enter the tea shop'
protest. (Dalits were not allowed in tea shops in those days.)
In some villages,
Dalits were even denied access to potable drinking water. Dalits launched an
agitation, which came to an end thanks to the timely of the Lankan Government.
The government constructed tube wells and thus the problem was solved.
The Sanganai agitation
was launched in 1967 and spread throughout the North in the year 1968,
resulting in the murder of Vanniyan Kumaresu in Nichamam
village. His funeral procession witnessed violence in which many Dalits were
attacked. The Kampaha MP Mr. S.T. Bandaranayake
came to Jafna to help Dalits, who suffered a lot in Sanganai agitation.
We feel proud to emphasis that while no upper caste Tamil lawyer was not
coming forward to help Dalits in the cases against them, the lawyers like Vandee
Zoysa and HM Karavitha handled the cases in favor of Dalits by
getting the transportation expenses alone.
Meanwhile, upper
castes stepped up their atrocities in Savakacherry against Dalits. It
was learnt that the supporters of Tamilarasu party were also functioning from
behind the scene in favor of castiest elements. The atrocities resulted in the
murder of S Rathinam at Mandhuvil in 1968.
In what can be termed as the first armed struggle by the minority
Tamils, woman militant Chellakili sacrificed her life by exploding a
bomb hidden in a pot, to protest against denial of entry into Amman
temple at Mattuvil. Protest was also held for denial of entry into Maavittapuram
Kandasamy temple where a Dalit forcibly entered the premises.
He was evicted by Sundaralingam and others and was beaten up.
However, even Sundaralingam who was glorified as ‘defiant Tamilian’
could not face the heat of the Dalits’ agitation. Along with the protest
demanding entry into temples, demand for entry into all snacks/tea shops was
also made. Dalits cannot forget till the date that Mr. M. Sivachidambaram,
M.P. from Uduppiti, has done little to change the situation despite the fact
that he made pleas to the government to take steps to meet the demands of
Dalits to allow them in temples and tea shops. The AUM, however, had many
victories to its credit during this period through its continual agitations.
Dalits’ protects had
been guided by leftist ideology. This had become a nightmare to the capitalist
outfits Tamilarasui Party and Tamil Congress. They all came together to
form a ‘Tamil Liberation Alliance’, and put forth the slogan of “Tamil
Eelam”, the manifestation of the ambitions of Saiva Vellalars.
They tried to use the movement to safeguard their interests alone.
A Dalit man attempted
to take bath in a public pond and was chased away by upper castes.
Fearing for his life, he scaled a Coconut Tree and was finally brought
down and murdered by uprooting the tree itself.
This 1971 incident in Tenmaratchi and the 1981 incident of
slaughtering of hens and cattle belonging to Dalits are still fresh in our
minds. In 1982, two Dalits were hacked to death in Punnalia Kattuvan
village.
The following are
among more than 15 Dalits killed by upper caste men from 1967 to 1982:
i)
Chinna
Karthikesu (Sanganai)
ii)
Rathunam (Mandhuvil)
iii)
Vanniyar
Kumaresu (Kanpollai)
iv)
Ma. Sevaratnam (Kanpollai)
v)
Ka. Selvarasa (Karavetti)
vi)
Mu Kandhaiah (Karavetti)
vii)
Ariyaratnam (Achuveli)
viii)
Nallappu (Sanganai)
ix)
Annachamy (Punnalaikattuvan)
x)
Vaithee (Sandilippai)
The
upper caste persons, who were holding key positions in government, branded
these men as ‘terrorists’. By
making Rajalingam as an M.P. from Udupitti, the Tamil Liberation
Alliance sought to project as if there was no atrocity committed on any Dalit.
They also tried to eliminate the
leftist thoughts from the minds of Dalits. Dalits, however, did not fail to
realize that how the castiest social psychology influenced Rajalingam.
Rajalingam was invited to inaugurate the electricity supply to the Pillaiyar
temple at Karavetti. But the local government gave the temporary power
connection outside the premises, thereby denying the Dalit M.P.’s entry into
the temple. This cunning
diplomacy humiliated no less than a person than a Member of Parliament!
In
The North province, a traditional Tamil stronghold, the evidence of the
caste-based system was quite visible during the early period of twentieth
century. The evidences had not faded away in the following decades. The
villages, colonies of Dalits, roads leading to these colonies, their lifestyle,
their temples, wells, and other historical evidences are still in place.
Many houses had this smallest possible entrance to interact with the
‘untouchable’ who could never make it to the next room in the house.
The other room was spacious enough to host ‘upper caste’ guests.
Daniel has mentioned about these aspects in one of the publications of
AUM.
It
is worth mentioning that AUM had staged many propaganda plays by the likes of
Daniel. The poems of poets like K Pasupathy, too instilled in Dalits a
new confidence and rejuvenated them. The Kalai Ilakkiya Perumandram (a
broad based forum of arts and literature) started during 1980s and Daniel was
functioning as its organizer. Makkal Ilakkiyam (People’s Literature)
and other magazines such as Thenkoodu, Vaagai, and Thaaragai
dealt with problems faced by Dalit in their lives. Even now, persons like Theniyan
and Dominic Jeeva are doing their best for the upliftment of Dalits
through their literary creativity.
The
armed uprising to get a separate Nation for Tamils by some Tamil groups in
1983 led to many groups taking up the arms. Some groups with Leftist
tendencies and some Right wing groups with moderate approach too indulged in
the agitation based on their political philosophy ambitions.
Dalits,
who were till then fighting for their own rights and societal acceptance, were
confronted with the socialist slogans for separate Tamil Eelam.
Dalit people, especially youths, who had faith in leftist ideology,
joined with these organizations that propagated socialistic ideas. So it
became inevitable that Dalits became active and dedicated members (militants)
in the separatist groups like EPRLF and EROS. The most important factor for
their participation in such organizations was their faith that getting a
socialistic Eelam alone would ensure their liberation from age-old curse of
untouchability.
Unable
to tolerate the presence of large number of Dalits in EPRLF, the upper caste
people and the reactionary forces in Jaffna, in a perverted way, called the
EPRLF (Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front) as Eelam Pallar Revolutionary
Liberation Front, to satisfy their bruised egos. These Dalits were targeted and murdered in the guise of being
“Indian agents” by Liberation Tigers.
The irony was that some harmless Dalit and thinkers, who struggled for
the rights of Dalits, were also murdered. Natesan, who was killed in 1985, was
the leader of a co-operative society in Sanganai. Appaiya, belonging to
Jafna association too was killed.
The
famous Jaffna Library, burnt down during the genocide started by the UNP
government in 1981, was renovated/rebuilt during the Chandrika regime.
The efforts to reopen the Library on 05.02.2003 by ex-Mayor of Jaffna,
Chellan Kandhaiyah, a dalit, were thwarted by threats from LTTE rebels.
Chellan Kandhaiyah stated in his interview to the “Dailly Mirror” (dated
01.3.2003) as follows: “I belong to the minority community in this country.
They (Liberation Tigers) don’t want a Dalit’s name be mentioned in the
Jafna Library inaugural nameplate. I believe that Tigers had approached this
issue purely on caste lines.”
Mr.
Rajadurai, Principal, Jaffna Central College for more than 10 years, was
murdered on 12.10.2005 for being a Dalit.
The basic reason for the killing is the upper caste mentality that
could not tolerate Rajadurai’s great respect in the campus because of his
admirable services to the College.
Even
today, it is a fact that more than ninety per cent of those killed in the
Jaffna peninsula are Dalits. Be
it Allaippatti murders in 2006 or the Karavetti killings or the elimination of
Auto drivers and Barbers – we should keep in mind that all those who were
killed were Dalits.
The
dominance of Saiva Vellalars is mainly responsible for Dalits being
denied their educational, economic and other rights.
We have established through historical evidences that the trend
continues even now in many forms including the one in the name of Tamil
nationalism. The discussions over the solution package by German Srilankan
Democratic Front should take the social and political rights of the Dalits in
the northeast into consideration. Political
power, if any, earned in the name of Tamil nationalism would in no way serve
the interests of the Dalits, who are denied their due social respect and basic
human rights.
The
anti-caste discrimination laws exist just for namesake in Lanka.
In reality, Dalits are being denied the social justice because of the
oppressive mentality prevailing in the society. That’s why Dalits expect
guarantee to access the power centers. We also seek to ensure that the
solution packages put forth by the Tamil people must include some guarantees
in accordance with the proportion of the population of various castes.
50%
of representations in the North and 25% in the East is a must for the Dalits
at all levels in the power-sharing arrangement.
If such an arrangement is put in place and exists for the next 50 years,
then only it would improve the social status of the Dalits who have been
subjected to oppression over many centuries.
1.
To ensure political representation to Dalits, constituencies must be
earmarked as “Dalit only” in the first place. This reservation policy
should be followed in Parliament as well as Assembly elections.
2.
Government jobs at all levels should be made available to Dalits on the
basis of their population.
3.
The archaic Jaffna National Customary Law should be abolished and
replaced by a new Civil Law giving social justice to Dalits (only bonded
labour law was removed so far and that too, at the behest of the British
initiative).
4.
(a) A separate Commission should
be set up to look into the grievances of Dalits. This Commission should be
made to conduct a research about the Dalit status in economic, educational,
residential and other matters. (b)
The Commission should obviously have only Dalits as its Members besides some
Muslim and Sinhalese representatives.
References:
1.
Saathi
Amaippin Thotramum Valarchchiyum
(‘Emergence and Growth of Caste system’ published by Pudhiya Bhoomi)
2.
Danielin
Ezhuththukkal
(‘Daniel’s Writings’ - compiled by Kalanidhi Se. Tirunavukkarasu)
3.
Ilangkaith
thamizhar Thesa Vazhamaikalum Samuga Vazhamaikalum (Lankan
Tamils’ National Customs and Social Customs by Si. Padmanabhan)
4.
Dalit Arasiyal (Dalt Politics by A Marx)
5.
Yaazhppana
Vaibhava Maala (Festivals of Jaffna)
