STATELESS PLANTATION TAMILS OF MALAYAGAM & BURMA REFUGEES : NEHRU SHASTRI CONGRESS DITCHED TAMILS

STATELESS PLANTATION TAMILS

 India should join hands with Norway and participate in peace talks. It is no good to refrain from participation. Between 1871-1881 when coffee, tea plantations came up in large numbers in Ceylon, lots of Tamils from India went there seeking work. They constituted nearly 10 % of the then population of Ceylon. Donoughmore Commission constituted before independence said out of these roughly 50 percent labour were permanently residing in Ceylon. Jackson Report of 1928 said they were around 60 percent. The Soulbury Commission of 1946 stated 80 percent of these labour were permanent residents of Ceylon.

Donoughmore Commission had recommended that for all those who had lived for 5 years and above citizenship rights must be conferred. Ceylonese Government did not accept that recommendation, thus the crisis started. In 1940 both India and Ceylon discussed this issue. Again in 1941 September there was a bi party conference between India and Ceylon. The agreed joint declaration which emanated in this meeting was not implemented. 

The irony is in 1942 Ceylonese Government itself wrote to Indian Government requesting India to permit labour to come and work in its rubber plantations. In the first General Elections of 1947 plantation labour had voting rights. They backed the Ceylon Indian Congress and elected 7 members to Parliament. They were the deciding factor in another 20 parliamentary constituencies. D.S.Senanayaka, first Prime Minister of Ceylon amended the 8 th article of the Citizenship Act and disenfranchised plantation Tamils called as Malayaga Tamils. He passed in Parliament the amendment by 1949 and removed people of Indian origin from the voters list. That is how the voting rights of plantation Tamils who chose 7 Members to Parliament was deprived from them. 

Then Indian origin people were asked to apply for citizenship. 8,25,000 people applied for citizenship. Only to 1,00,000 people Ceylonese citizenship was granted. 

To resolve this deadlock at London both Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Ceylon Prime Minister Dudley Senanaiyaka talked but could not resolve. In 1954 a pact was signed between Jawaharlal Nehru and Sir John Kotewala, Ceylon Premier. It was never implemented.

By 1964, Srilankan Prime Minster Srimavo Bandaranaike and Indian Prime Minister Lal Bahadur Shastri signed a pact, wherein Srilanka agreed to give citizenship to 3,00,000 persons. India admitted to take back 5,25,000 persons.

"All American people were once migrants from Europe. Yet no European country foolishly signed a pact with America to take back its citizens. Even after signing such a pact India had left more than 2,00.000 people of Indian origin in Srilanka. India considers the whole Srilankan problem as one between its original inhabitant Tamils of Ealam and Sinhalese. Dravidian parties have totally forgotten about our people i.e stateless Tamils of Indian origin. To resolve the hardships caused to these stateless Tamils it is imperative India too to participate in the peace talks. India cannot keep away from any issue of South East Asia. India has left 2,00,000 of its citizens in Srilanka, when such being the case how can it keep away ? Is it not the duty of India to take responsibility for every Indian citizen on alien soil ?" asked N.Nandhivarman General Secretary Dravida Peravai  in a press meet on the eve of his departure to Vijayawada to attend the National executive of Samata Party as a Special invitee. Dravida Peravai had been the associate party of samata party headed by George Fernandes.

[Samata National Executive at Vijayawada: Union Ministers George Fernandes, Nitish Kumar, Digvijay Singh,  and Nandhivarman ,others ]

Courtesy: Daily Thanthi15.06.2002 & New Times Observer 10.06.2002

Columnist Rajiv Dhavan wrote an article in The Hindu titled

INDIA's REFUGEE LAW AND POLICY [Extracts]

With its open borders South Asia like Africa is a refugee prone region. India discovered this when absorbing the Tibetan refugees in 1959, the Bangla desh refugees in 1971, the Chakma influx in 1963, the Tamil influx from Srilanka in 1983, 1989 and again in 1995, the Afghan refugees from 1980s, the Myanmarese refugees for a similar period and migration and refugee movements from Bangladesh over the years........ In 1995 India following the Pakistan's example joined the Executive of the UNHCR. Though welcome, this half way house seems odd since India refuses to sign 1951 convention. Meanwhile a series of judgments by The Supreme Court and the Gujarat, Punjab, Gauhati and Tamil Nadu High Courts has reinforced the need for humane due process for the Chakmas, Srilankan  and other refugees. Some of the judgments expressly recognize the value and worth of UNHCR and invite it to involve more in the refugee questions in India..

This thought provoking article prompted Dravida Peravai to come out with its views.

DRAVIDA PERAVAI QUESTIONED THE WISDOM OF INDIA NOT SIGNING THE 1951 CONVENTION. DRAVIDA PERAVAI URGED THE 40 MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT FROM TAMIL NADU & PONDICHERRY TO COMPARE HOW TIBETAN REFUGEES AND SRILANKA TAMILS ARE TREATED?

"While Tibetan refugees live peacefully with properties and are moving freely in Coorg areas of Karnataka, why Tamil refugees alone are handled like cattle confined to camps? Let our M.P's ponder".

[Amnesty International representative speaks , Peoples Watch Henry Tipagne ,DP Gen.Sec Nandhivarman, Professor Lenin Thangappa, Trade Union leader S.Muthu and NCP leader Dheenadayalan are in the Human Rights symposium]

"There are 4 lakh of stateless Tamils in Myanmar, The Malayaga Tamils are still stateless. Those who came from Burma left their savings in the banks there, for the recovery of such property why no parliamentarian speaks ?"the statement published in many dailies raised certain questions.[27.09.2004]