Tamil Nadu politicians are welcome to visit Sri Lanka and see the plight of hill country Tamils before hastily commenting on matters pertaining to them, Sri Lankan Minister Palany Thigambaram said.
“While they [State politicians] have always spoken up for ‘Eelam Tamils’ in the north and east, they seldom acknowledged the existence or challenges of Tamils living in the hill country,” the Minister for Hill Country New Villages, Infrastructure and Community Development told The Hindu on Friday.
He was responding to a statement issued by DMK working president M.K. Stalin recently on the removal of leading hill country political figure and the late leader of Ceylon Workers’ Congress Savumiamoorthy Thondaman’s name from at least three government institutions. Mr. Stalin tweeted to External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj, seeking New Delhi’s intervention on the Sri Lankan government’s “condemnable act” against “Indian Tamils.” Replying on twitter, Ms. Swaraj said: “Thiru @mkstalin - We will take up this matter with the Government of Sri Lanka .”
However, the issue had nothing to do with the Sri Lankan government, Mr. Thigambaram clarified. “In fact, compared to its predecessors, the government led by President Maithripala Sirisena and Prime Minister Ranil Wickremesinghe is doing more for our community,” he said.
In 2015, the Sirisena-Wickremesinghe combine came to power, backed by a huge mandate from hill country Tamils, in addition to that of minority Tamils and Muslims in the north and east. It coincided with the rise of a new crop of leaders representing hill country Tamils who formed the Tamil Progressive Alliance -- that Mr. Thigambaram is part of -- challenging the CWC, whose politics they accused of being corrupt and self-serving.
An icon
A trade unionist-turned-politician who helmed the CWC for decades, Savumiamoorthy Thondaman is celebrated by many as an icon of the hill country, where over a third of the community’s million-strong population toils in tea estates. After his death in 1999, his grandson Arumugam Thondaman leads the party. From the late 1970s to 2015 the CWC aligned itself to the government of the day.
Observing that by erasing Savumiamoorthy Thondaman’s name from institutions the Ministry was “dishonouring a great leader”, CWC vice president Senthil Thondaman said the party is holding one protest a day in the 1,300 estates where it has members.
Arguing that names of public institutions must reflect a broader history, Minister Digamabaram said: “Not just Mr. Thondaman, many other leaders like Natesa Iyer have worked for our community. We felt those contributions must also be recognised.” Urging Tamil Nadu politicians “not to go by rumours,” he said it was important that they find out the facts on the ground. “Such comments made by them adversely impacts our relationship with the Sinhalese here. Let them [State leaders] come and see how the hill country Tamils live. Even today, 40,000 families do not have toilet facilities.”
