Ceylon Today Editorial

PLANTATION TAMILS AND MODI’S ROLE

17 May 2017

Indian Premier Narendra Modi's visit to the country last week drew attention to the wider political dimensions sandwiched in the so-called Plantation Tamils' issue. Current Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran has been at great pains to drive home his several 'justifications' to demand a merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces by citing the Muslims in that province as being 'Tamil Speaking People.'

Just a fortnight ago we heard Ceylon Workers Congress President MP Muthu Sivalingam make reference to plantation Tamils settled in the Vanni District, mainly Vavuniya, who are said to be facing all sorts of discrimination, whose votes have been assiduously, and hitherto unsuccessfully, sought by the TNA. The discrimination might be stemming from that as a lever to persuade them to vote directly for the TNA, the next time around. That populations grow rapidly, thus increasing the number of voters in that population segment is natural.

Sivalingam has said that 'the mindset of politicians in that area should change and they should begin to think equally that plantation Tamils are also Tamils'. This would suggest that it is other "Tamils" who are guilty of the discriminations against the plantation Tamils settled there.

Modi's visit can swing the increasing outflow of plantation Tamils from the hill country to several other parts of the country back to the plantations.

This would seem to be a factor behind the initiative to invite Modi to the Vesak celebrations and the unusual show in Dickoya. The promise of massive development aid from Modi for housing can be a powerful incentive even should they migrate to other parts of the country in search of better education and employment. Sivalingam added that the plantation Tamil youth must realize that 'whether we work in the estates or not, this is our home and our village.' Should an increasingly large number of plantation youth be 'encouraged' or even financed to secure employment outside the "village", marry and seek permanent residence elsewhere, their votes would also move out of the plantations and whittle down the voter base of the plantation district Tamil politicians such as Sivalingam.

"In 1948, at Independence, the Tamils had 33% of the voting power in the Legislature. Upon the disenfranchisement of the estate Tamils (in 1950), however, this proportion dropped to 20%. The Sinhalese obtained more than a 2/3 majority in Parliament, making it impossible for the Tamils to exercise an effective opposition to Sinhalese policies affecting them..." said Virginia Leary in Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka - Report of a Mission to Sri Lanka on behalf of the International Commission of Jurists, July/August 1981.

Robert Kilroy-Silk, MP and Roger Sims, MP United Kingdom Parliamentary Human Rights Group Report, in February 1985 further noted that:

"We do not accept... that there is any justification for denying civic and political rights to the million or so Tamils of Indian descent who work on the tea plantations."

A note in the Abdul Aziz Felicitation Volume, 1986, observes that "When the Ceylon Citizenship Act was passed in 1948, C. Suntharalingam, who was a Minister in the (UNP) Government of D.S. Senanayake, voted for the Citizenship Act, while G.G. Ponnambalam (Snr.), who was then, the leader of the Tamil Congress, voted against the Act, and so did Ponnambalam's Tamil Congress Party (that then represented the plantation Tamils' issues too). But, by 1949, G.G. Ponnambalam joined the Sinhala dominated Government of D.S. Senanayake.

On the issue of the Indian and Pakistani (Residents) Citizenship Bill, there was a split between the Tamil Members of the then Parliament. G.G. Ponnambalam, despite the pledge he had signed with the party representing the Plantation Tamil interests (i.e. the Ceylon Indian Congress as it was then known) in respect of Citizenship for the persons of Indian origin, voted for the Bill, while C. Suntharalingam voted against the Bill, and resigned his portfolio.

The Tamil Congress broke into two and S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, with his supporters formed the Federal Party....That means the estate Tamils have been exploited on all sides when political expediency indicated the 'need'.

There is good reason for the government and Modi coming together on this unusual jaunt in Dickoya. Better still that the estate Tamils as we fondly refer to them will be getting the benefit of some 300 Indian teachers and that technical colleges and other educational initiatives are to be taken with Indian aid to meet the demands of the younger generation of plantation youth who want higher education and better jobs, a better future.

The battle for their votes continues. It could be that Plantation Tamils are being enticed to migrate to northern Tamil areas and change the demographic and voting patterns. This could be one factor that has been causing much difficulty for the Delimitation Committee to finalize its report. It's a testing time for Plantation Tamil political leaders and Colombo alike.

Modi played a stellar role to solve this emerging crisis.

Daily News Editorial

President’s take on Galle Face crowd

17 May 2017

A full two weeks after the Galle Face May Day rally of the Joint Opposition President Maithripala Sirisena has come out with his own take on what was billed as the largest crowd ever at a May Day rally in this country, of course from the point of view of JO stalwarts. The crowd phenomenon had so emboldened the JO that it has gone gung-ho and strutting about predicting the imminent fall of the Yahapalanaya government, even before the target dates set by Mahinda Rajapaksa. Not only that, attempts are also being made to topple the North Central and Central Provincial Councils in the first flush of post Galle Face and a change in the equation in parliament too is being contemplated, with JO members predicting that their May Day tide will make the SLFP MPs in the government have a rethink.

Even the temporary reprieve received by MP Geetha Kumarasinghe has been attributed to the fallout of the Galle Face rally and so carried away are some JO MPs by their May Day frolics that Vasudeva Nanayakkara has once again reiterated his group’s pledge to join a SLFP led government after ousting Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe. In addition, certain JO stalwarts have also gone to the extent of interpreting the disillusionment among certain SLFP Ministers in the Unity Government to their highly successfully Galle Face May Day rally. Even the proposed Cabinet reshuffle is seen as the pressing of panic buttons.

However, the sober reality must have dawned on most who consider May Day crowds as the barometer to gauge the popularity or otherwise of a political party or a grouping, following the down to earth views expressed by President Sirisena. Speaking at a function at Aralagangwila to distribute land deeds among the needy President Sirisena went onto stress that crowds at May Day rallies were not the be all and end all. He said the public were well aware as to who drew the largest crowds at the last Presidential Election. But for all that, he, as the Common Candidate, emerged the victor. He warned those who are overwhelmed by the Galle Face crowds not to harbour any thoughts that the government is going to collapse under the sheer weight of the May Day crowds.

Like the President said, there are many dynamics at play at an election that are not reflected in May Day crowds. The President of course is dead right. To begin with, there is the overwhelming numbers that constitute the middle class in this country who don’t bother with May Days. Voters also include segments that belong to different religions, castes, classes and other demographies. There is also the aged the youth, and most importantly the floating vote that are not factored in May Day crowds. There are other dynamics in electoral politics that May Day crowds don’t reflect. For example, the vast percentage of those who traditionally vote for the UNP are those who don’t care for political rallies or May Day parades which are mostly attended by the hoi polloi who are provided with buth packets and fortified with hooch. A good many of these folk are even unaware where they are taken or for what purpose. To most village folk, a trip to Galle Face is a rarity, nay, a novelty, and for others, a venue for entertainment and a golden opportunity to take in the capital city, similar to villagers descending on the city to view Vesak in their thousands.

Election predictions based on crowds at political and May Day rallies have come a cropper even in the past. There were unbelievable crowds at the final political rally of Vijaya Kumaranatunga, in Katana, presided over by Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike, in 1977, at a time when the actor turned politician was at the zenith of his popularity. For all that, the rather drab and unimpressive Wijayapala Mendis won the poll by a majority of over 4,000 votes. It was the same at the 1982 Presidential Election where Hector Kobbekaduwa drew massive crowds compared to JRJ who eventually polled 53% of the vote.

President Sirisena also made the pertinent observation that there were crowds numbering well over one hundred thousand (laksha ganan) who came to greet Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi at Dickoya and that, had all these crowds being included in their May Day rallies they could have filled the Galle Face esplanade several fold. In fact these crowds represented the solid UNP vote, with the plantation community well known for their allegiance to the UNP, though, they prefer to have their own May Day celebrations in their own backyard, thereby denying their vast presence at the UNP May Day rallies.

Hence, crowds don’t tell a tale in electoral politics and the sooner this fact sinks into heads of the JO membership, now on cloud nine, the sooner they would come to terms with reality. Mahinda Rajapaksa of course has always been enamoured by crowds and this time too has based his political fortunes on the JO Galle Face May Day rally.

The Island Editorial

Signalling left, turning right

17 May 2017

 

Last week saw a dramatic turn of events replete with irony. Some Joint Opposition (JO) big guns let out a howl of protest and even called for a black flag protest against Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit, which, they claimed, would set the seal on some controversial trade and economic pacts between India and Sri Lanka. Former President Mahinda Rajapaksa also declared that he would not attend any functions graced by PM Modi unless they were related to the Vesak festival. But, he made an about-turn and had a nocturnal meeting with the visiting Indian leader.

Whoever would have thought Rajapaksa, who accuses India of having engineered his downfall in 2015, would seek an appointment to see Modi? They did not obviously discuss anything related to Vesak or exchange pleasantries at night. What the two leaders discussed has not been revealed, but their powwow may have been aimed at bringing about some kind of rapprochement. The JO has apparently realised that if its political project is to reach fruition it has to win over India, which is capable of throwing a monkey wrench in the works.

Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe was seen holding hands with the Indian PM last Friday and the following day he flew to Beijing, where he praised China’s One Belt One Road initiative, which India looks askance at. India will not take kindly to Sri Lanka’s backing for the Chinese project. The yahapalana government knows which side its bread is buttered. That is why it is making a desperate a bid to propitiate China, which alone can provide it with loans.

The yahapalana leaders declared before the 2015 presidential polls that they would scrap the Chinese-funded Port City Project immediately after coming to power. But, nothing of the sort happened. Instead, they have agreed to give the Chinese more land to be reclaimed from the sea in addition to the Hambantota Port and 15,000 of acres around it. China, which got what it needed from the Rajapaksa government, has received much more from the present administration! Whoever would have thought the yahapalana leaders would be so embarrassingly obsequious to the Chinese?

China now has both main parties, the UNP and the SLFP, in its pocket!

The JO leaders have opposed the government efforts to lease out the Trincomalee oil tank farm to India. They are also opposed to the ETCA (Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement). But, with a history of signalling left and turning right, they are likely to go ahead with the deals the present administration has struck with India if they succeed in capturing power. Like China, India may also get much more, in such an eventuality.

The yahapalana leaders and their rivals in the JO are in this predicament, having to appease both China and India in this shameful manner, owing to foreign policy blunders on their part. The Rajapaksa government duped itself into believing that with China and Russia on its side it did not have to care two hoots about the other powerful nations such as the US and India. That turned out to be a costly mistake. Its international enemies ganged up against it and deprived it of trade concessions besides launching a human rights offensive against it and backing the 2015 regime change here. Its successor thought it would be safe so long as it was in the good books of India, the US and Europe. Today, it is without sufficient funds, having unnecessarily antagonised China to please India and its western allies.

The present-day rulers and their bêtes noires trying to make a comeback ought to realise that they have to get their foreign policy right without being puppets of any world power. Else, the country will be the loser with its harbours, airports and land being handed over to foreign powers.