{"id":184939,"date":"2017-11-29T00:02:22","date_gmt":"2017-11-28T18:32:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=184939"},"modified":"2017-12-03T14:19:58","modified_gmt":"2017-12-03T08:49:58","slug":"tamil-question-the-tamil-nadu-factor","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/tamil-question-the-tamil-nadu-factor\/","title":{"rendered":"Tamil Question & The Tamil Nadu Factor"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Karikalan S. Navaratnam<\/a> –<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Karikalan S. Navaratnam<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201c\u2026\u2026..In the upsurge of political and cultural consciousness of the Tamils, the <\/i><\/span>Dravidian movement has played an exemplary role. The Dravidian leaders used to <\/i><\/span>claim that it was their sacred duty to champion the cause of Overseas Tamils.\u201d\u00a0<\/i><\/span>– (\u201cTamil Nadu and Tamils Overseas\u201d\u00a0<\/b>Prof. V. Suryanarayan, University of Madras)<\/p>\n

Emergence of\u00a0 <\/span>Dravidian Movement<\/b><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

The Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam <\/i>(DMK) was founded in 1949 by C. N. Annadurai <\/span>(affectionately called \u2018Anna\u2019 \u2013 elder brother, by Tamils all over). The Federal Party\u00a0<\/span>(ITAK \u2013 FP) was set afloat in Ceylon in the same year.\u00a0<\/span>The Congress Party was in <\/span>power in Tamil Nadu (then, Madras State). DMK entered the hustings\u00a0<\/span>in 1957 and <\/span>had since incrementally increased its presence in the Madras Legislative Assembly <\/span>of 235 members.\u00a0<\/span>At the 1967 elections Anna dealt a knockout punch to Congress <\/span>Party and floored it. The Congress could not thereafter wrest power from the <\/span>Dravidian parties \u2013\u00a0<\/span>DMK or, its breakaway rival, the ADMK.<\/span><\/p>\n

Madras, renamed Tamil Nadu :<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Incidentally, it was Chief Minister Anna who initiated the process and, almost a <\/span>month before his untimely death on 3<\/span>rd<\/sup><\/span> February 1969, rechristened the Madras <\/span>State, Tamil Nadu<\/a>.\u00a0<\/i><\/span>When the Sinhala leaders of post-1948 Ceylon sequentially introduced malevolent <\/span>measures, designed to cripple the Tamils politically, State leaders had murmured <\/span>their concern. Even the Indian media took little or no notice of the evolving <\/span>ethno-political situation in Ceylon. The unsophisticated Tamil population in <\/span>India virtually remained uninformed.\u00a0<\/span>D.S. Senanayake\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Ceylon Citizenship Act\u00a0<\/i><\/span>1948, which was the first legislative effort by a fledgling government, was not a <\/span>baby step; but a giant leap in a process contrived for eliminating the Tamil <\/span>element from the body politic of the country. SWRD\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>Sinhala Only<\/a> Act, 1956 was <\/span>another inimical step. Reactions from the Tamils in India were muffled. <\/span><\/p>\n

Slowly, Tamil Nadu was shaken from its slumber, courtesy, the ultra-Sinhala\u00a0<\/span>nationalists. The DMK platform accentuated the collateral consanguineous <\/span>relationship between the Tamils living on either side of the Palk Strait. <\/span><\/p>\n

Reverberations of\u00a0 <\/span>1958\u00a0 <\/span>riots:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The reverberations of the 1958 anti-Tamil riots were heard by the Tamils in India.\u00a0<\/span>In his \u201cHomeland<\/i>\u201d journal (15 June 1958) Anna wrote on the \u201cCinderellas in <\/i><\/span>Ceylon<\/i>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>DMK\u00a0<\/span>observed the \u201cCeylon Tamils\u2019 Rights<\/i>\u201d day\u00a0<\/span>with public rallies. Lest <\/span>his clarion call may be misconceived, Anna explained: <\/span><\/p>\n

\u201c\u2026..That does not necessarily mean,\u00a0 <\/span>demanding a Tamil Raj comprising Tamil <\/i><\/span>Nad and that portion of Ceylon wherein Tamilians are in a majority. The task <\/i><\/span>immediately ahead is to focus public attention on the problem. World opinion\u00a0<\/i><\/span>should be harnessed to the cause for justice and fairplay. The plight of the\u00a0<\/i>Tamilians in Ceylon should be placed before the discerning public all over the\u00a0<\/i><\/span>world<\/i>\u2026\u2026.\u201d\u00a0 <\/span>(\u2018Homeland<\/i>\u2019, 10 August 1958)<\/b><\/p>\n

Sixty years have since elapsed. Tamil Nadu people\u2019s perspective \u2013 tone and <\/span>diction – on Sri Lankan Tamil issue have drastically changed . <\/span><\/p>\n

Chelva\u00a0<\/span>visited Tamil Nadu<\/b><\/span>:<\/span><\/p>\n

Tamils boycotted the 1972 ( and 1978) constitution-making process. In March <\/span>1972, weeks before the new Constitution was promulgated,\u00a0 <\/span>Mr. S.J.V. <\/span>Chelvanayakam (Chelva) visited Tamil Nadu. He met with different political <\/span>leaders including\u00a0 <\/span>Chief Minister M. Karunanidhi and the octogenarian E.V.R. <\/span>Periyar, the father-figure\u00a0<\/span>of the Dravidian movement, and apprised them of the <\/span>plight of Tamils in Ceylon. Chelva\u2019s plea had struck a sympathetic chord among <\/span>the political class in Tamil Nadu and provoked public discourse on the subject.<\/span><\/p>\n

Tamils on\u00a0 <\/span>tenterhooks:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

It was as though the Sinhala nationalists wanted to keep the Tamil people on <\/span>tenterhooks.\u00a0<\/span>A series of onslaughts on the Tamil people in Sri Lanka excited <\/span>outrage and anger in Tamil Nadu and left them seething with indignation. Thus,<\/span><\/p>\n