Selling our souls for a mess of pottage

During the past six months, our country has been through three major elections. The winner in all three formats of the electoral process has been the National People’s Power (NPP) in collaboration with its stronger partner, the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). Whether it be in the north—formerly the stronghold of regional Tamil parties, in the upcountry—home to the Estate Tamil Community, or in Colombo—the stronghold of the United National Party (UNP), the NPP/JVP combine won numbers of seats.

This new combination of mostly inexperienced politicians in the party political field is today faced with a myriad of problems, including managing our foreign relationships.  

Since independence, our leaders, whether they be Sinhala or Tamil, have been in a constant state of confusion regarding our relations with our nearest and largest neighbour—India. For instance, D.S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of then Ceylon, went on to secure a defence pact to ensure continued British involvement in areas like defence and external relations, even after our country received independence. 

Senanayake feared regional big-power interference, and the defence pact was his method of countering the threat. His disenfranchisement of Indian origin Tamil plantation workers did not earn him many friends in Delhi. His pioneering efforts in opening colonisation schemes via the Gal Oya development scheme were opposed by Tamil political parties, who saw it as an attempt to change the demographics in Tamil-dominated areas.

Ajit Kanagasundram, son of the first chairman of the Gal Oya Development Board (GODB), K. Kanagasundram (a Tamil), notes, “unfortunately, the Tamil political parties, including the Federal Party, tended to interpret development work in the country with limited, short-sighted perspectives”. While their fears of Sinhalese majoritarianism was fair, ‘they failed to understand the land hunger of the Sinhala peasantry whose lands were confiscated by the British to open up the tea plantations in the hill country’.

Tamil politicians saw the Gal Oya Development Board programme, which intended to open up lands to sections of the dispossessed Sinhalese peasantry, as an attempt to resettle Sinhalese in Tamil lands.

New Delhi was displeased by Senanayake’s defence pact, the disenfranchisement of the Upcountry Tamils. It didn’t explicitly “back” the Tamil opposition to the Gal Oya scheme, but showed significant support opposing to the scheme.

In turn, this led to local Tamil political parties calling on India to intervene to help settle what were basically Lankan problems. To India’s eternal shame, it began cultivating these political parties and pressuring the elected Lankan governments on a variety of issues.

In turn, Indian interference led to growing racism between the Sinhala and Tamil communities and an increasing anti-Indian sentiment in the country at large.

Senanayaka’s decision to tie up with Britain—whose political establishment he looked on as democratic, can be viewed as a precautionary measure taken against the possibility of Indian interference in Lankan affairs.

Rather than discuss their fears with the newly elected government, Tamil politicians opposed major agricultural development schemes under the Gal Oya Development Board (GODB), which opened up forested areas for cultivation to all communities on the grounds that these were traditional Tamil Lands in the North and East. 

The major feature of the scheme—diverting water to the north—was lost sight of. Instead, opportunistic forces took advantage of the growing divide between the communities to build racism. In the end, it ultimately led to the 30-year ethnic war.

During the war, India provided initial support to militant Tamil organisations. Differences between India and the militants led to the one-time allies battling each other, and the subsequent withdrawal of Indian forces from the country. But India continues to play an important role in Lankan affairs, especially after Lanka’s economic meltdown.

Today, the Lankan Government and the Tamil politicians continue to feel let down by India. But both continue to play a supplicant role to our giant neighbour. The present government has signed a secretive defence pact with India. Tamil political parties, despite having been continually let down by that country, still run to big brother, calling for help to settle minor issues which are essentially local problems.

The call of Mother Lanka, “Give me a bard…” still cries to the heavens. Dare a bard answer that cry?