Siva Parameswaran
Tamil people in the plantation sector both in India and Sri Lanka have demanded an international intervention into their miseries, socio-economic backwardness, division of families and loss of lives and property for over decades.
A resolution to this effect and to take India, Sri Lanka and the UK to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to seek redressal for what they call “gross violation of Human Rights” for two centuries.
The meeting was organized by the Indian Origin Upcountry Tamils front-an organization comprising of those who were repatriated to India under the controversial Sirimavo-Shastri pact in 1964.
The declared objective of this agreement was that all persons of Indian origin in Ceylon who have not been recognised either as citizens of Ceylon or as citizens of India should become citizens either of Ceylon or of India.
Over 525,000 persons who were repatriated such under the pact claim they have not been fully integrated into the Indian society and have been constantly facing socio-economic difficulties coupled with serious livelihood problems.
“The repatriation has put us in a very vulnerable position and that was due to the very wrong policy of the British, Sri Lankan and the Indian government. The British government took us as indentured labourers to work in coffee and tea estates to suit their economic benefits. After a century and Half the Sri Lankan government under Sirimavo Bandaranayake in a sinister move to satisfy the growing demand of the right-wing Sinhala Buddhist chauvinism repatriated us dividing our families and friends. The Indian government which accepted us did not take the necessary steps to reintegrate us into the Indian society. As such we are living in a state of limbo for over six decades” said M.S.Selvaraj, National President of the Indian Origin Upcountry Tamils Front.
Tamil Progressive Alliance leader and Colombo district parliamentarian Mano Ganesan who participated in the meeting as the special invitee said, “the Indian foreign policy on Sri Lanka by the successive governments has failed, and that’s the prime reason for not only the issues faced by the upcountry Tamils but also the Eelam Tamils.”
Mano Ganesan added the time has come for the Indian Origin Tamils (IOT) and those repatriated under the ‘devious Sirimavo-Shastri pact’ to work jointly to seek justice from the international community
“I support the move to internationalize the issue”
Citing the examples of indentured labourers from India taken to work in Sugarcane, Tobacco, Coffee, Tea, Rubber and other plantations in the Caribbean, Fiji, Mauritius, Malaysia, and other places he said, “the lives of those who went there are far better than the lives of those who were taken to Sri Lanka whose lives are still miserable. While they have been fully integrated into the mainstream society socio-economically ad politically, those in the nearby island nation were left in the lurch”.
Adding further Mano Ganesan said, “by dividing the IOT, we were politically weakened. If such a repatriation has not happened then numerically they would be the second largest community in Sri Lanka. In such a scenario the number of Tamils MPs in the present-day context would have been at least 40 with a minimum of 25 being elected from upcountry”
He further blamed the policies of the governments of Sri Lanka, India and the UK for their plight and misery of the upcountry Tamils across the Palk straits.
- T. John, President of the Kerala State Agriculturalists Federation called upon the meeting to pass a resolution to take the case of the upcountry Tamils in both India and Sri Lanka to the International Court of Justice, which was passed. He recalled how the plantation Tamils in Kerala and Tamil Nadu stood with the Eelam Tamils in their struggle for over 40 years. “We were always with them, and their support to us globally would be very helpful when we face a uncertain future”.
Tamil Nadu based senior journalist and human rights activist TSS Mani echoed the sentiments of the repatriated plantation Tamils from Sri Lanka saying, “this is a fit case to be brought before international forums including the ICJ. The backwardness and plight of these people was part of a planned strategy by Sri Lanka and India aided by the British to divide and weaken the strong plantation community Tamils in Sri Lanka”.
He further said, internationalizing the issue is the first step towards seeking natural justice and reparation for the IOT people in Sri Lanka.
“Indian foreign policy should be based on the welfare of the Tamil people rather than maintaining a friendly relationship status with Sri Lanka” said Esan Murugesan President of the Tamil Nadu Agriculturalists protection movement and Human Rights lawyer. He called upon the state and central governments to convert the plantation workers into agriculturalists, and it is easy for them to do it.
Secretary of the Tamil Nadu agriculturalists joint federation K.A.Subramaniam pointed out the trend both in Tamil Nadu and Sri Lanka of Tea estates being gradually closed, which jeopardizes the lives of thousands of workers whose only livelihood was out of the skills related to the tea plantations and its production. He cited the move by the Tamil Nadu government to close the state owned TANTEA-TamilNadu Tea Plantation Corporation- by gradually reducing the workforce and not developing the plantations. “My relatives in Sri Lanka such a move is happening in Sri Lanka and the estate owners are colluding with the government there to gradually close down plantations- in particular the smaller ones”.
Pointing to the plight of the Sri Lankan refugees living in various camps in Tamil Nadu, Selvaraja says most of them lodged there are IOT persons who relocated to the war zone in search of employment and due to various natural disasters at various points of time. “They live on the doles given by the government which is not sufficient”.
A joint action committee to work for internationalizing the plantation community Tamils issue was formed at the meeting with Mano Ganesan as it Hon. President.
