The question is being raised by some
politicians as to why object to the elections for the provincial council in the
northern province when the other provinces are “enjoying” the opportunities
provided by the provincial councils. There is a reason for that though many
people have forgotten the history of the establishment of the provincial
councils through the now defunct Indo Lanka Accord. The so called Tamil problem
goes back to the second decade of the nineteenth century when the Legislative
Assembly was formed. The English did not give the Sinhala people or their
culture the due place and only one member was appointed to represent the
Sinhala people who had a history of more than two thousand years and who
essentially created and developed the unique culture of the country. The number
of Tamil representatives in the legislative assembly was equal to the number of
Sinhala representatives which was a glaring discrimination against the Sinhala
people. Further the Sinhala people were discriminated against in the
professions and the English were very generous when it came to giving
privileges to the English speaking Vellalas who had been brought to Sri Lanka
by the Dutch as agricultural labourers.
With the limited franchise introduced in 1912 and universal franchise
initiated in 1931 the English speaking Tamil Vellala leaders began to lose
their privileges in the legislature, professions and the society in
general and the colonial rulers and the
Tamil leaders interpreted it as discrimination against the Tamils in general.
The “problem” of a few Vellalas was generalized to a problem of the entire
Tamil community and the concept of a Tamil homeland was introduced. Tamil
leaders decided to use the ordinary Tamils to achieve their ambitions.
Vadukkoddai Resolution of 1976 was the
culmination of a process begun by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (ITAK) or the
so called Federal Party that had the objective of establishing a separate Tamil
State. We reproduce below relevant
sections of the resolution as many people have forgotten the resolution by now.
“The
first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front meeting at
Pannakam (Vadukkoddai Constituency) on the 14th day of May, 1976, hereby
declares that the Tamils of Ceylon by virtue of their great language, their
religions, their separate culture and heritage, their history of independent
existence as a separate state over a distinct territory for several centuries
till they were conquered by the armed might of the European invaders and above
all by their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own
territory, are a nation distinct and apart from Sinhalese and this Convention
announces to the world that the Republican Constitution of 1972 has made the
Tamils a slave nation ruled by the new colonial masters, the Sinhalese ,who are
using the power they have wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil Nation of its
territory, language citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment and
education, thereby destroying all the attributes of nationhood of the Tamil
people.
And,
while taking note of the reservations in relation to its commitment to the
setting up of a separated state of TAMIL EELAM expressed by the Ceylon Workers
Congress as a Trade Union of the Plantation Workers, the majority of whom live
and work outside the Northern and Eastern areas,
This
convention resolves that restoration and reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign,
Secular, Socialist State of TAMIL EELAM, based on the right of self
determination inherent to every nation, has become inevitable in order to
safeguard the very existence of the Tamil Nation in this Country.
This
Convention further declares -
that
the State of TAMIL EELAM shall consist of the people of the Northern and
Eastern provinces and shall also ensure full and equal rights of citizenship of
the State of TAMIL EELAM to all Tamil speaking people living in any part of
Ceylon and to Tamils of EELAM origin living in any part of the world who may
opt for citizenship of TAMIL EELAM.
that
the constitution of TAMIL EELAM shall be based on the principle of democratic
decentralization so as to ensure the non-domination of any religious or
territorial community of TAMIL EELAM by any other section.
that
in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the
pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth
shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.
that
TAMIL EELAM shall be a secular state giving equal protection and assistance to
all religions to which the people of the state may belong.
that
Tamil shall be the language of the State, but the rights of Sinhalese speaking
minorities in Tamil Eelam to education and transaction of business in their
language shall be protected on a reciprocal basis with the Tamil speaking
minorities in the Sinhala State.
that
Tamil Eelam shall be a Socialist State wherein the exploitation of man by man
shall be forbidden, the dignity of labor shall be recognized, the means of
production and distribution shall be subject to public ownership and control
while permitting private enterprise in these branches within limit prescribed
by law, economic development shall be on the basis of socialist planning and
there shall be a ceiling on the total wealth that any individual of family may
acquire.
This
Convention directs the Action Committee of the TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FRONT to
formulate a plan of action and launch without undue delay the struggle for
winning the sovereignty and freedom of the Tamil Nation;
And
this Convention calls upon the Tamil Nation in
general and the Tamil youth in particular to come forward to throw themselves
fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to flinch not till the goal of a
sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached.”
Unlike
in the other provinces there will be many candidates at the elections for the
provincial council of the northern province who support the Vadukkoddai
Resolution with many constituent parties
of the TNA and their members being either represented or being present
individually at the “convention”. The Vadukkoddai Resolution advocates and
approves the establishment of an Eelam and it is against the sixth amendment to
the constitution which states among others the following:
157A. (1) No person shall,
directly or indirectly, in or outside Sri Lanka, support, espouse, promote,
finance, encourage or advocate the establishment of a separate State within the
territory of Sri Lanka.
(2) No
political party or other association or organization shall have as one of its
aims or objects the establishment of a separate State within the territory of
Sri Lanka.
It was not only the
LTTE that fought for an Eelam, and those who abide by the Vadukkoddai
Resolution will be campaigning in the northern province provincial council
election. Would the TNA as a whole or as constituent parties adopt a resolution
before the provincial council elections to the effect that Vadukkoddai
Resolution is null and void. Politically all these resolutions, Accords, Pacts
have been sunk in the Nandikadal Lagoon
with the defeat of the LTTE as the latter was the heir to all of them
and was the culmination of the evolution of a problem that has a history going
back to the Dutch who brought the Vellalas to Sri Lanka. Nandikadal was the
political solution to a “problem” that has not been translated into law by
abolishing the thirteenth amendment and the provincial councils. Law is always
behind politics, technology and other systems of knowledge in general and it
takes some time for Law to catch up in a western style democracy that actually
does not represent the view of the people at any given time. The old left and Janavega
and other sorts of socialists and liberals who have been elected to the
Parliament do not represent the public view which will be asserted if a
referendum is held. However, before a Parliament that represents the view of
the public is elected and a cabinet is appointed accordingly or a referendum is held, the government
should at least amend the so called thirteenth amendment to have a clause
similar to the Article 63 of the constitution that makes it compulsory for the
MPs to take an oath to the effect or affirm that they would uphold and defend
the Constitution of the Republic, as far as Provincial Council Members are also
concerned before holding the elections to the northern province provincial council
elections. Otherwise if a majority of members are elected to the northern
province provincial council that does not uphold and defend the constitution
but abide by the Vadukkoddai Resolution it would spell disaster for the
country.
සිංහල ලිත් ඉලක්කම්