Thondaman's bold gamble

The CWC is placed in a rare position of playing kingmaker in three upcountry Sri Lankan Provinces but it is in a far worse predicament as far as the future of Tamils of Indian origin is concerned.

THE results of the April 6 Provincial Council elections in Sri Lanka have served to highlight the importance of the Tamil vote in the upcountry regions comprising the Uva, Sabaragamuwa and Central Provinces. Twelve persons of Indian Tamil origin have been elected to these Councils, which have a total membership of 136. The premier organisation of the plantation Tamils, the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC), won eight seats - one each in Uva and Sabaragamuwa and six in Central Province. The Up Country People's Front (UCPF), the other party which represents Tamils of Indian origin, won two seats in Central Province, while the United National Party's (UNP) Tamil nominee was elected to the Central and Uva Provinces.

Ten Tamil representatives (barring the UNP's two) may not constitute a formidable number in overall terms. In fact, the figure is disproportionate to the size of the Tamil population in the tea and rubber producing areas of the hill regions. Yet the neck and neck verdict in the highland provinces has afforded the CWC a rare opportunity to play kingmaker; the Sri Lanka Freedom Party-led ruling People's Alliance (P.A.) cannot form a viable administration without the CWC's support.

In Central Province, the P.A. won 26 out of the 58 seats. It can cobble together a majority only with the aid of the CWC's six councillors. With the UCPF's support the P.A. will be able to get a clear majority. In Sabaragamuwa, the P.A. won 22 of the 44 seats, and the lone CWC councillor's support is crucial to get at least a thin lead. Likewise, the P.A. is dependent on the single CWC member in order to establish a thin lead in Uva where it won 17 of the 34 seats. If the ultra-left Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (People's Liberation Front) supports the P.A., the alliance can easily dispense with the support of the Tamil parties in Uva and Sabaragamuwa. The JVP won two seats each in both these councils. But the P.A. cannot do without the support of the Tamil parties in Central Province.

The CWC chief, Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman, holds a Cabinet portfolio in the Chandrika Kumaratunga Government. He also has the advantage of being able to extract maximum concessions in the form of important ministerial portfolios in the Councils, if he so desires. Yet the CWC has provided support only from outside as Thondaman does not want to "tie" his organisation with the P.A. on a permanent basis. He does not want to be identified with it at the provincial level (incidentally, the CWC refrained from contesting the elections under the P.A. banner). In effect, he wants to retain all the options, including that of withdrawal of support.

This situation is certainly complicated. How can a party take contradictory positions at the national and regional levels? But Thondaman is capable of reconciling seemingly opposite positions and interests. He is both an estate owner and the leader of the largest plantation trade union. Even as a Minister he has launched strikes against the government of which he is a part, with consummate ease. Ironically, he functions as a Minister while members of his party sit with the Opposition in Parliament. Technically they were elected on the UNP ticket and cannot cross over formally without forfeiting their seats. Thondaman, having been appointed as a National List Member of Parliament, is not vulnerable to the defection rule.

Thondaman and the CWC, however, have valid reasons for adopting an ambiguous position. Seventeen years of association between the UNP and the CWC has resulted in a greater understanding between the Sinhala and Tamil support bases of both parties. Thus candidates of these two parties fare well when they contest under the Sri Lankan system of voting where people vote for both a party and personally preferred candidates on a common list. The link with the UNP has been of particular benefit to the CWC. In the 1993 provincial and 1994 parliamentary elections, the CWC adopted the UNP's elephant symbol. The CWC won 17 seats in the Provincial Councils and nine seats in Parliament.

But with the advent of the Chandrika Kumaratunga phenomenon, the CWC realised that her platform of peace and charismatic personality would be an attractive proposition that no upcountry Tamil voter could resist. Besides, as a predominantly minority community party, the CWC too was obliged to endorse a manifesto for peace. So Thondaman moved over to the Government ranks. The 1994 presidential elections saw Chandrika Kumaratunga win handsomely, and her record vote of 63 per cent included that of the upcountry Tamils.

THE situation has, however, changed since then. The prolonged war has caused much hardship to Tamils of Indian origin as the security forces have not been able to distinguish between native Tamils and those of Indian origin. As a result, the upcountry Tamils have also been subjected to harassment. An element of racism among the police and the security forces has also contributed to this. Also, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), which has infiltrated upcountry provinces in a big way, has indulged in a few acts, including an attack on the Temple of the Tooth in Kandy. Many upcountry Tamil youths have been detained without trial under the Prevention of Terrorism Act and emergency regulations for long periods. In a climate where consequences and not causes are remembered, public resentment is directed at the P.A. Government for this state of affairs.

Besides, the sufferings of the impoverished Tamil plantation workers have not been mitigated. Rapid privatisation of estates has resulted in retrenchment. Even those employed on a regular basis do not get work on all days. Since they are paid only for the number of days they work and not on a monthly basis, the income earned is not enough. Historically, the plantation Tamils are the most deprived segment of Sri Lankan society. The P.A. Government has done nothing much for their development despite Thondaman being a Minister.

As a result, the upcountry Tamil has become disenchanted with the P.A. and is increasingly turning towards the UNP. Thondaman and the CWC are also losing support in view of their association with the ruling alliance. Factors such as corruption, nepotism and a perceived inability to implement election promises have also been responsible for the CWC's decline.

The current context has placed the CWC in a far worse predicament than before. The upcountry or Kandyan Sinhalese harbour grievances against the Tamil plantation workers. Although a colonial creation, the hapless proletariat has been the focus of Sinhala resentment. The deprivation of citizenship and voting rights and forced repatriation that they faced was the result of pressures exerted by the Sinhala constituency. Unfortunately for the CWC, it finds that the Sinhala voter base of the P.A., whose chief constituent is the more nationalistic Sri Lanka Freedom Party, remains hostile to the CWC. Likewise, the Tamil vote bank is opposed to the P.A. Chandrika Kumaratunga herself may have attracted Tamil votes in the presidential elections, but her party does not enjoy a positive image among Tamils in general.

The local authority elections saw Sinhala supporters shunning the combined P.A.-CWC lists contested under the CWC's election symbol. Similarly, many Tamils did not vote for the candidates from the combined lists contesting under the P.A. symbol.

The beneficiary of this divide was naturally the UNP. In view of this bitter experience, the CWC was reluctant to tie up with the P.A in the Council elections. Instead it formed a new configuration called the Inthiya Vamsavali Makkal Perani (Indian Origin People's Front) along with 19 fraternal organisations. This placed the CWC in a position of strength in three Councils. In spite of his being in a position of advantage, Thondaman is reluctant to associate the CWC with the P.A. in the Councils. He knows that such an association can only erode the Tamil vote bank further.

THE bold gamble that Thondaman undertook in order to enhance voter support did not work to his expectations in the Provincial elections. He relied mainly on the controversial move to mobilise support by emphasising and asserting the Indian identity by leading the umbrella organisation. The formation of the Inthiya Vamsavali Makkal Perani was in a sense a historical regression. Inspired by the Indian National Congress, people of Indian origin in colonial Ceylon formed the Ceylon Indian Congress (CIC), in the presence of Jawaharlal Nehru on July 25, 1939. Its office-bearers had little connection with the plantation workers and represented Indian commercial interests. The rise of Thondaman within the CIC ranks saw the Indian Tamil plantation workers being drawn into the CIC.

With the dawn of Independence, the CIC, representing plantation workers' interests, contested the elections and won seven seats. Thondaman is the only elected representative of the country's first Parliament to hold office even today. In 1950 the CIC renamed itself the Ceylon Workers' Congress. This was to counter the charge that the estate workers regarded India and not Ceylon as their homeland. It also reflected the desire of most Tamil families to seek permanent domicilatory status in Sri Lanka. With Indian Tamils being deprived of their voting rights, the electoral fortunes of the CIC declined. By the 1960s, the CWC replaced the CIC completely. In the 1970s, the CWC began to play a strident electoral role under the auspices of its political wing.

Thus all organisations representing plantation Tamils forsook any overt mention of an Indian connection and emphasised their Sri Lankan credentials. Under Thondaman, these organisations have once again come under the "Indian" banner.

SRIYANTHA WALPOLA
S. Thondaman, the CWC leader.

The assertion of Indian origin could have repercussions. Racist elements in the Sinhala community have in the past protested against efforts to recruit Indians to meet the shortage of teachers in schools in the estates and even efforts to attract Indian tourists by developing Sita Eliya in Nuwara Eliya. Sita Eliya is believed to be the "Ashokavana" where Sita was imprisoned by Ravana.

Yet Thondaman and other Tamil leaders, including those of the leftist trade unions, chose the option of displaying an Indian identity in an act of political brinkmanship. One compelling factor behind this was the decline in trade union membership. A new mode of ensuring communal solidarity became essential. Also, most trade unions have in the past thrived on a diet of CWC bashing. For all of them to merge, a common meeting point was necessary. The main compulsion was to cash in on the general loss of faith in the government and prevent a wave of support for the UNP. This resulted in a flagrantly "communal" campaign asserting the Indian identity and decrying the "Sinhala" UNP. Although this tactic paid some dividends for the CWC, the UNP managed to attract a sizable chunk of the Tamil vote.

But the strategy certainly seems to have backfired on all the Tamil organisations. Except for Mano Ganeshan of the Democratic Workers Congress, who won in Colombo, no other non-CWC Tamil of the "peacock front" (the election symbol used by the umbrella organisation) was elected. The "giant" CWC gained at the expense of the other "pygmy" organisations. In spite of the combined campaign, the overall vote of the Indian Tamil parties fell. One consequence of harping on the Indian identity was that most Sri Lankan Tamils in upcountry areas refrained from voting for the Perani. To a lesser extent, Muslims too did not vote for the front.

Ironically, the greatest blow to the fledgling Perani came from "Mother India". New Delhi's recent scheme which included citizenship benefits for 20 years on payment of a fee of $1,000 for People of Indian Origin (PIO) living abroad was not extended to Tamils of Indian origin in Sri Lanka. This facility, which would have enabled Tamils to invest, buy property and secure bank loans in India, was also not extended to those Indians living in Bangladesh and Pakistan. The denial of the status was construed as India's attempt to disown its umbilical connection, making the community an object of political ridicule.

Thondaman told the press that the decision to keep Sri Lanka's Tamils out of the PIO scheme was inhuman and that the community had been singled out for discrimination.

Thondaman's deputy and parliamentarian P. Devaraj, however, was more pragmatic. He told the press that he acknowledged the compulsions underlying New Delhi's decision to keep Sri Lankan Indians out of the PIO scheme. He, however, suggested the extension of some compensatory benefits. He said the Indian Tamils suffered because they were bracketed with the native Tamils. The onset of the Tamil issue and terrorism made New Delhi suspect all Tamils, Devaraj said. As a result, Tamils of Indian origin were finding it difficult to obtain Indian visas. Devaraj said that New Delhi was continuing with its policy of not antagonising the Sri Lankan Government, in the process sacrificing the interests of Indian origin Tamils.

There is general disillusionment among the front constituents since the provincial elections, with the result that the CWC is displaying its keenness to go it alone. The May Day meetings saw most plantation workers fragmenting under the Indian banner. A realignment of forces is likely to emerge from the hastily organised front.

MEANWHILE, a new organisation called the Sinhala Veera Vidhana has embarked upon a campaign to cleanse the "Sinhala towns and cities" of Tamils and Muslim businesses. It has called upon the Sinhala people to stop patronising Tamil and Muslim establishments. If the movement gathers momentum, the Indian Tamil community will be affected as there are very few Jaffna Tamil businesses left in the Sinhala areas since the 1983 conflict.

On May Day, the members of the movement clashed with the CWC in Nuwara Eliya. The CWC has alleged that the organisation with the connivance of the police attempted to disrupt its meeting. Thondaman complained to President Chandrika Kumaratunga and even threatened to withdraw support to the P.A. in the three Provincial Councils unless action was taken against the activists who disrupted the May Day celebrations were on. The President promised to hold an inquiry and urged Thondaman not to take political action over an administrative lapse.