13th Amendment – Bottom line of Tamil’s Aspiration

(In response to an article appeared in the Sri Lanka Guardian of August 25th , 2008 titled “Empowerment of Sri Lankan Tamils without the 13th Amendment (13A)”)

(September 09, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) Sri Lanka Guardian has picked up a paragraph from the said article and highlighted it as a prelude, which inter alia states that “Douglas Devananda and Anandasangaaree are still hanging on to the dying SJVC paradigm and it was Col. Karuna who made the revolutionary break-away”. This statement of the writer reveals that he is not aware of the contents of the proposal submitted by the TMVP, the party lead by Col. Karuna, to the APRC. The proposal begins as follows:

“The TMVP recommends the full implementation of the Provincial Councils Act – as originally envisaged – brought-forth through the 13th amendment to the constitution following the Indo-Sri Lankan Agreement of 1987, with additional powers devolved to the Provincial Councils to address political realities that have since arisen.

The TMVP is convinced that the devolution of political powers from the central government to the Provincial Councils under the Indo-Lanka agreement must be the bottom line and basis to evolve solutions to the current crisis in Sri Lanka”

Other salient features of the proposal are:

The powers to be devolved to the provincial governments should be clearly defined and not restricted by the Central Government except under special circumstances defined in the constitution.

The use of Tamil by the Tamils while dealing with the government and its institutions should become a reality.

State-aided colonization schemes in the north and east should be brought to an end.
Special powers to be vested to the North and East provinces on subjects such as Education, Economic development, Power to procure finance locally and internationally and Social and infrastructure development.

This proposal of the TMVP, in no way contradicts or undermines the spirit of the Douglas Devananda doctrine of three stage policy (1st stage – immediate implementation of 13A, 2nd stage - to reinforce the 13A by conferring additional powers – concurrent subjects, 3rd stage – final solution with asymmetric devolution of powers to the North and East Provincial Councils) and Anandasangaree’s Indian model concept. In fact, it adds strength to the dogma of both.
The writer has not only flawed in his findings that Douglas Devananda and Sangaree are towing the line of SJVC and not Col. Karuna, but has also distorted many historical facts, which I intend to elucidate in the right perspective in the paragraphs below.

The article under reference begins with the exposition that “GG Ponnambalam and SJV Chelvanayagam jointly handled the Tamil separatist paradigm for nearly 70 years”. GG entered politics in the early 1930’s. SJVC joined the All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) formed by him later. GG died in December 1977 and SJVC pre-deceased him. How is the arithmetic of 70 years of GG-SJVC era came into being is a puzzle, I am leaving it to the readers to solve.

The writer states that “Siva Kumar committed suicide while under arrest for the murder of a police officer”. The fact is that he (Sivakumaran) was caught, while on the run after an attempted bank robbery in Kopay town.

The writer asserts that “Tamil separatism was first raised in 1918 and it went through different phases historically, but it became official in 1949 with the formation of the Tamil state party by SJVC”.

This is a total distortion of the political history of Sri Lanka. There is no historical evidence available to suggest that the Tamil political leadership have ever considered or demanded a separate state, not even a devolved unit in Tamil dominant areas in the pre-independence era. What they have advocated and aspired for was for a power sharing arrangement at the centre so that no single community would be in a position of majority in the legislature as against the combination of all the other communities.

In fact, the Tamil leadership have joined hands against the colonial ruler to bring about more constitutional reforms. The following excerpt from the book “History of Sri Lanka” by K.M.De Silva illustrates this fact.

“The Tamils have played a major role in inspiring against the British feelings in Sri Lanka”
The call by the “Jaffna Youth Congress” to boycott the June 31, 1930 General elections as a protest against the Donoughmore constitution as the constitution did not go far enough to grant freedom to Ceylon, is another example to judge that the Tamil polity has aspired to live in a united Sri Lanka.

The argument that the Tamil separatism became official in 1949 with the formation of the Tamil state party by SJVC is another blunt by the writer. At the inaugural meeting of the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) held in Colombo on December 18, 1949 this is what SJVC has said as the policy statement of the party.

“To work unceasingly for the achievement of a Tamil state within the Federal framework of a united Ceylon, as the only way to ensure that the Tamil-speaking people in Ceylon could live with honour and self-respect”.

The Federal Party lead by SJVC never advocated for separatism, until the Vaddukottai Resolution of 14th May 1976. The Tamil people have in fact rejected such a concept in the 1970 General election, when it was put forward by a brake away faction of the ITAK lead by V. Navaratnam, said to be the onetime “brain box” of the ITAK.

From Power Sharing at the Centre to Right of Self Determination.

Having pointed out some of the distorted facts in the said article, I wish to enlighten the writer and the readers alike of the events and causes that have led the Tamils of Sri Lanka to endorse for the right of self determination, as an inevitable safeguard for their very existence, in the July 1977 General Elections.

SJVC’s Federal concept failed to get acceptance before the Tamil people at the General Election of 1952, a clear indication that Tamil speaking people at that time rejected that concept.

However, the political developments in the South since then have made the Tamil people to give overwhelming support to the Federal policy of the ITAK as a means to ensure their equality, honour and self respect.

The main cause for igniting such a feeling amongst the Tamils was the race between the two major rival political parties in the south to legislate Sinhala as the official language, which finally ended up in the enactment of the law on June 5, 1956. For example, on the eve of UNP’s reluctance to include in the agenda of its annual convention in February 1956 to resolve to grant parity of status for Tamil, seven Tamil MPs of the UNP including one Minister and one Deputy Minister resigned from the party and joined with the ITAK MPs. They formed a united front to,
“carry on the struggle for the creation of a Tamil state which will offer to federate with the Sinhalese state on terms of complete equality, if acceptable to both nations, or elect to remain independent”.

The other causes for such change of stance by the Tamils are:

The mechanism used in the selection of settlers for several irrigation schemes in the East, which was designed to change the demography of the area.

About 200 Tamil volunteers led by 12 members of parliament who were staging a silent protest outside the parliament building at Galle face green, on the day the Sinhala only act was passed, were manhandled by a mob, while the police looked on. This was followed by sporadic rioting in the city with Tamils getting manhandled on buses, trains and in the streets.

Unilateral abrogation of the Banda-Chelva pact within nine months of its signing
The attack on May 22 on the ITAK delegates by stopping the train in which they were travelling to attend party convention at Vavuniya. Four of the delegates were killed in the attack. Another train carrying the delegates was derailed the following day. Within a week the riots spread to all parts of island. The worst still to remember was the burning of a Brahmin priest alive by pouring petrol on him in Panadura. The other excesses occurred in Polonaruwa and Hinguragoda, where Tamils were chopped with swords and grass cutting knives or burnt alive. (In spite of all these, there was not even an attempt to harm a single Sinhalese out of a total number of about 2,100 lived in Jaffna at that time.)

The implementation of the Official Languages Act with effect from January 1961, without any conciliation for the Tamil public servants resulted in the pre-mature retirement of many.
The brutal force used by the police to crush the “Satyagraha Campaign” of the ITAK in 1961, which was strictly a non-violent campaign. This is what Mr. Chelvanayagam said during the high time of “Satyagraha Campaign”,

“The Parliamentary means of objection have failed merely because the Party was outnumbered by a communal majority. Therefore, the Party wants to restore to extra-Parliamentary measures which are not normal. By adopting this method, the party subjects itself and its supporters to undergo suffering without hurting its opponents. The Party members and its supporters know very well that they would be subjected to arrest, detention.”

The Times of Ceylon, the evening daily, in its editorial on 22nd February, 1961 about the police brutality reported as follows.
- Sri Lanka Guardian