Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka

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Share of Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka according to the 2012 census

The Indian Tamils, Tamils ​​of Indian origin or Highland Tamils are that part of the Tamil population of Sri Lanka whose ancestors immigrated from South India ( Tamil Nadu ) during the British colonial period from 1840, mostly as plantation workers . They differ linguistically, culturally and in terms of their self-image from the native Sri Lankan Tamils . The approximately 840,000 Tamils ​​of Indian origin make up 4.2 percent of Sri Lanka's population (2012). Most of them live in the highlands in the center of the island. For the most part, they are employed as workers on tea plantations.

designation

Most of the Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka live on tea plantations in the central highlands of the island.

In the official Sri Lankan language, the Tamils, whose ancestors come from India, are called "Indian Tamils" ( English : Indian Tamils, Tamil : இந்தியத் தமிழர் Intiyat tamiḻar ). However, many members of this population group feel that the designation “Indian Tamils” is discriminatory because it implicitly denies them that they are Sri Lankan. They therefore prefer the term "highland Tamils " (English: Up-Country Tamils or Hill Country Tamils , Tamil: மலையகத் தமிழர் Malaiyakat tamiḻar ), which underlines their connection to the central highlands of Sri Lanka. Since a large part of the Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka work on tea plantations, the term " Plantation Tamils " (English: Estate Tamils or Plantation Tamils, Tamil: தோட்டத் தமிழர் Tōṭṭat tamiḻar ) is often used, however, because of the low prestige of the plantation work, often stigmatizing is felt. Many Indian Tamils ​​who live in cities like Colombo also reject the term "highland Tamils" because they do not want to be associated with the low-status plantation workers, and instead refer to themselves as " Indian-origin Tamils " (English: Indian-origin Tamils, இந்திய வம்சாவளித் தமிழர் Intiya vamcāvaḷit tamiḻar ).

history

Colonial history

Tamil plantation worker on Ceylon (1907)

For the establishment of a large plantation economy in Sri Lanka (then Ceylon), the British were no longer able to meet the needs of workers from the local, mostly Sinhalese, population from the beginning of the 19th century . That is why Indian Tamils ​​from South India ( Tamil Nadu ) were brought to the island as guest workers. Initially, the plantation economy of the English on Ceylon was oriented towards the cultivation of coffee , but a leaf disease led to tea becoming the most important cultivated product. Year-round workers were necessary for this. With the boom in tea cultivation, the workers brought their families to join them. They mainly settled in the tea-growing area in the central highlands of the island.

Not all Indian Tamils ​​came to Sri Lanka as plantation workers. Around a quarter of them were traders, moneylenders or other professions. The proportion of Indian Tamils ​​soon exceeded that of the native Tamils. They reached their highest value in the 1930s with 15 percent of the total population compared to 11 percent of the native Tamils.

After independence

After Ceylon gained independence from the British Empire in 1948, the situation of the Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka changed. In the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948, they were collectively stripped of their citizenship . 780,000 Tamils ​​of Indian descent, mostly born in Sri Lanka, became stateless . At first sight, Sinhalese nationalist statements were made. However, this step was also supported by important representatives of the native Tamils ​​such as Ponnambalam Ramanathan , who saw the influence and cultural independence of his population group endangered by the Indian Tamils.

The Ceylon Citizenship Act , passed shortly after independence in 1948, excluded the early immigrant ethnic Sri Lankan Tamils , who mainly lived in the north, from Ceylon citizenship. About eleven percent of the population became stateless. The Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act in the following year allowed citizenship to be acquired after 7-10 years, but required an extremely high minimum income - of around 875,000 applications, only 135,000 were approved.

In 1964 and 1974, two treaties were negotiated between India and Sri Lanka that provided for the repatriation of 600,000 Tamils ​​of Indian descent to India. 375,000 Indian Tamils ​​were granted Sri Lankan citizenship under strict conditions. In the period that followed, the government sought to deport the non-naturalized Indian Tamils. However, this turned out to be difficult, mainly because of the poor administration and the refusal of the Tamils ​​to emigrate to a foreign country. Even more than ten years later, only about half of all Indian Tamils ​​could be deported to India. In 1984/1985 the government decreed general naturalization for all remaining Tamils ​​of Indian descent in Sri Lanka. This was done to prevent further Indian intervention in Sri Lanka.

The 300,000 or more Tamil war refugees who came to India after 1982, of whom around 101,000 were still living there in 2018, are denied Indian citizenship .

Ethnic conflict

After independence, the ethnic conflict between the Sinhala majority and the Tamil minority in Sri Lanka intensified. Above all, the native Tamils ​​in the north and east of Sri Lanka demanded autonomy for the Tamil areas or even an independent state of Tamil Eelam . Even if the Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka were not directly involved in this conflict, they too were affected by the anti-Tamil pogroms that took place in 1958, 1977 and 1983 ( Black July ). The tensions eventually culminated in a civil war that raged between 1983 and 2009 between the Sri Lankan government and Tamil rebel organizations, most notably the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka were not directly involved in the civil war. While the Sri Lankan Katamil separatists emphasized the solidarity of all Tamils, they were hardly interested in the concerns of the Tamils ​​of Indian origin. Even the required state of Tamil Eelam would not have included the settlement areas of the Indian Tamils ​​in central Sri Lanka. Even though many Tamils ​​of Indian origin sympathized with the LTTE, they saw their future more in a multi-ethnic Sri Lanka. Nevertheless, in view of the polarization caused by the ethnic conflict, they too were exposed to increasing discrimination by the Sinhalese majority of the population.

Population development

In the Sri Lankan census, Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils ​​have been counted separately since 1911. The following table shows the number of Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka and their share of the total population since 1911.

year number percent
1911 531,000 12.8%
1921 602,700 13.4%
1931 818,500 15.4%
1946 780,600 11.7%
1953 974.100 12.0%
1963 1,123,000 10.6%
1971 1,174,900 9.3%
1981 818,700 5.5%
2001 855,000 5.1%
2012 842,300 4.2%

Demographics

Tamil women workers on a tea plantation in Sri Lanka

According to the 2012 census, around 840,000 Indian Tamils ​​live in Sri Lanka, which corresponds to 4.2 percent of the total population. It should be noted that the census data are based solely on the information provided by the respondents. It is likely that many Tamils ​​of Indian descent identified themselves as Sri Lankan Tamils in the census . The actual number of Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka is therefore likely to be even higher, even if it cannot be precisely quantified.

Almost 90 percent of Indian Tamils ​​live in the highlands in central Sri Lanka, where the tea plantations are located. Their share is highest in the Nuwara Eliya district , where they make up the majority of the population at 53 percent. There is also a notable Indian-Tamil population in the districts of Badulla , Kandy , Ratnapura , Kegalle and Matale . A large part of the Tamils ​​of Indian descent are still based on tea plantations. According to the 2012 census, 81 percent of Indian Tamils ​​in Sri Lanka lived on plantations. At the same time, 75 percent of the population living on plantations were Indian Tamils.

Culture

The social structure of the Indian Tamils ​​is the same as in rural Tamil Nadu . The community is determined by the caste system . The tea factory is the center of all activities on the tea plantations. The Tamil workers live on the tea plantation that runs their entire life. To this day, the tea pickers in Sri Lanka are without exception Indian Tamil women. The men are responsible for work in the factory and for cutting the tea bushes.

The decades in which Indian Tamils ​​were not citizens of Sri Lanka also contributed to the poverty and isolation of the plantation workers. They were not voters and no political grouping stood up for their interests. Child mortality and malnutrition among Indian Tamil children is well above the national average.

Your own position in society is shaped by the caste into which you were born. The caste system of the Indian Tamils ​​differs from that of the native Sri Lankan Tamils ​​in some points. The Vellalas, Kallar, Agamudaiyar, Maravar, Naidus, Reddiars and Nairs are regarded as higher castes; they have better housing and jobs. The harder physical work is mostly done by members of the lowly regarded castes such as Pallars, Paraiyars, and Sacciliar. The caste system still plays a major role, especially with the Indian Tamils, and modernization is also taking place here.

religion

About 90 percent of Indian Tamils ​​are Hindus, about 8 percent Christians (most of them Anglicans and Catholics) and about 2 percent Muslim.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Daniel Bass: Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Up-Country Tamil Identity Politics, London / New York: Routledge, 2013, pp. 63–71.
  2. a b Jakob Rösel: Sri Lanka. In: Wolfgang Gieler (Hrsg.): Handbook of foreigners and immigration policy. From Afghanistan to Cyprus. LIT, Berlin, Hamburg, Münster 2003, p. 601.
  3. Jakob Rösel: The civil war in Sri Lanka: Sinhalese hegemony and Tamil irredenta. In: Reinhard Mutz, Ulrich Ratsch, Bruno Schoch (eds.): Friedensgutachten 2000. LIT, Berlin, Hamburg, Münster 2000, p. 310.
  4. № 18 of 1948, from Aug. 20 in effect Nov. 15. The Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Amendment Act No. 48 of 1949 also deprived them of the right to vote.
  5. ↑ A distinction is made between the colonial immigrants, who mainly live on the tea plantations in the highlands (4% of the population) and the Jaffa Tamils ​​(11.2%). Further reading: Peebels, Patrick; Plantation Tamils ​​of Ceylon; 2001 (Leicester Univ. Press); ISBN 0718501543
  6. № 3 of 1949
  7. ^ Nehru-Kotelawala Pact, Jan. 18, 1954; Agreement on Persons of Indian Origin in Ceylon Oct. 30, 1964, known as the Indo-Ceylon Agreement or Sirima – Shastri Pact; Sirimavo-Gandhi Pact, June 28, 1974 terminated by the Indian side 1982. For more information: Pillai, RS; Indo-Sri Lankan Pact of 1964 and the Problem of Statelessness: A Critique; Afro Asian Journal of Social Sciences, Vol. 3 (2012), № 3, pp. 1-14
  8. Bass 2013, pp. 4–8, 53.
  9. ^ Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka: Population by ethnic group, census years.  - Internet Archive
  10. a b Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka: Population by ethnic group according to districts, 2012 .
  11. Bass 2013, pp. 61–63.
  12. ^ Department of Census and Statistics Sri Lanka: Census of Population and Housing - 2012 Sri Lanka. Population Tables, p. 19.

literature

  • Daniel Bass: Everyday Ethnicity in Sri Lanka. Up-Country Tamil Identity Politics. London: Routledge, 2013.