Thoughts and Experiences Forty Years after The 21st October 1966 Uprising, a Turning Point in the History of Sri Lankan Tamils

Thoughts and Experiences Forty Years after

The 21st October 1966 Uprising,

a Turning Point in the History

of Sri Lankan Tamils

Comrade SK Senthivel

General Secretary, New Democratic Party

On 21st October 1966, a great revolutionary uprising took place in the

north of Sri Lanka. That uprising led to a major turning point in the long

history of the Sri Lankan Tamils. It occurred as a challenge to the two-

thousand year old caste system and the cruel practice of untouchability

associated with it, and was a clarion call for awakening and struggle to the

downtrodden by caste among the Tamils, living a slavish life, oppressed, and

denied their rights by the caste system and the practice of untouchability. The

uprising also was a pointer to the opening of new fronts in the path of struggle

against the national oppression of the Tamils as a whole.

It was the Revolutionary Communist Party.* led by Comrade N Sanmugathasan (Comrade Shan) that called for the struggle and initiated it.

In the 1960’s, there was a great debate in the international communist

movement on the question of the choice between the revolutionary path and

the parliamentary path, which led to splits in communist parties

internationally. The old communist party opted for the parliamentary path. The

Revolutionary Communist Party was founded under the leadership of Comrade

Shan to take the revolutionary path. It had overwhelming support in the South, 

the Hill Country and the North and the East. Internationally too, that was a

time when revolutionary struggles took place in several countries.

At the time, the national contradiction in Sri Lanka had begun to grow.

The forces of Tamil nationalist political domination used that growth to secure

their parliamentary seats and carry forward their elite class politics. To be

specific, the politics of the Saiva Vellala upper class elite was represented by

the Tamil Congress and that of the Saiva-Christian Vellala upper class by the

Federal Party, in the name of Tamil nationalism. While these elements spoke

of the unity and rights of the Tamils, non-violent struggle and their rivalry for

parliamentary seats, they showed no interest about the plight of the

downtrodden people living among the Tamils and denied of their rights by the

caste system and untouchability.

Meanwhile, the caste contradiction gradually came to the fore in the early

sixties to supersede the national contradiction. The people of downtrodden

castes comprising thirty percent of the total Tamil population suffered the

cruelty of untouchability under the caste system. Their democratic rights were

denied. They were not respected as a people entitled to equality and justice,

and were referred to in the neuter as ‘it’. Under the social conditions prevailing

then, they lived a life of sorrow as the toiling class at the bottom layer of

society and were kept economically, socially, educationally and culturally

backward by caste oppression.

It is important at this point to elaborate a little on the caste system that has

continued in history as a social structure. The caste system came to Sri Lanka

from the Indian sub-continent, and struck root and flourished not only among

the Tamils, but also among the Sinhalese. The caste system also exists among

the Hill Country Tamils of Indian origin, who were brought to the island by the

British colonialists. However, a rigid system of caste domination intertwined

with untouchability has been secure among the Tamils, especially those in the

north. A caste hierarchy like that in India has been preserved in Sri Lanka too.

Its basis was Hindu religious ideology and the feudal regime that defended it.

But, unlike in India, where the Brahmin was dominant at the peak, in the north

of Sri Lanka the Saiva Vellala elite dominated. These forces were as a class the

landowners and rulers. Among the Sinhalese, it was the Govigama, a feudal

elite caste group with station matching that of the Vellala, who were the rulers.

This basis was the meeting point for the unity of the Tamil and Sinhala elite

forces.

Any honest historian studying the historical development of Tamil

nationalism among the Sri Lankan Tamils cannot ignore the fact that the caste

system was one of its important structural components. Leaders from Arumuga

Navalar through Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan to GG Ponnambalam, upheld

Saiva Vellala elite domination that nurtured and defended the caste system.

When the Federal Party under the leadership of SJV Chelvanayakam upheld

Tamil nationalism, it acted in the form of Saiva-Christian Vellala elite

domination that defended the caste system. It should be noted that, even with

the advancement of the Tamil nationalist armed struggle, Saiva-Christian

Vellala domination and its sustaining ideology have not been eliminated.

In the caste structure of the Sri Lankan Tamils, the Vellala elite occupy the

peak position as the highest caste. Vellalas at the next levels and the Brahmins

are also considered to be upper caste. In all they comprise 40% of the Tamil

population. The middle castes comprise 30%. The remaining 30% are the

downtrodden people who toil at the lowest level. It was upon them that caste

oppression, the cruelty of untouchability and the exploitation of labour have

been imposed. Such a caste structure, the caste contradiction and oppression,

under the circumstances, demanded a struggle against it. Such a struggle was

then seen as a historic necessity.

It was in full consideration of the above social reality and the sharpening

of the class contradiction that the Revolutionary Communist Party resolved in

the mid-60s to carry forward struggles. It was also decided to carry out the

struggles in the north, which was the bastion of the caste system. The Central

Committee of the Party handed over the entire responsibility for it to the

Northern Regional party leadership.

21st October 1966 was determined as the day of launching the struggle. It

was decided to conduct a procession opposing caste-based untouchability,

starting from Chunnakam, an important agricultural township, and hold a mass

rally at the Jaffna maidan. The Party applied for police permission for it. The

police refused permission for the procession, but allowed the meeting. The

political desires of the dominant upper caste forces were behind the refusal of

permission for the procession.

Nevertheless, over a thousand members of the various fronts of the

Revolutionary Communist Party mobilised to carry forward the decision of the

Party to go in procession in defiance of the ban by the police. People,

including youth, clad in red shirts and carrying red flags and banners with

revolutionary feeling and passion were getting prepared. I was among the

young comrades who were enthusiastically at the forefront of organising the

procession. I was twenty-two then, and was attracted to Marxism when I was

eighteen, while I was a student at school. The difficult condition of the

working class family to which I belonged; the rural environment pervaded by

casteism and untouchability; the denial of social justice, based on inequality;

and the pain and sorrow experienced as a result in my daily life raised many

questions within me. It was in the process of finding answers that I arrived at

accepting Marxism. Marxism is not merely for learning and appreciating. It

exposed clearly the horror, exploitation, and inequality of the existing social

system. It also pointed to methods of struggle to overcome and transform

them. I got ready at the age of eighteen to take my first steps along the road to

developing into a fully-fledged Marxist Leninist. I became a strong activist in

the student organisation of the Party, founded in 1964 as the Revolutionary

Communist Party under the leadership of Comrade N Sanmugathasan, and

later in its youth movement. I was granted membership of the Party in 1965

and, in the same year, the Party accepted my application to serve as full-time

member. Comrade M Karthigesan was then the Northern Regional Secretary.

Comrades KA Subramaniam, VA Kandasamy, Dr SV Seenivasagam, M

Kumarasamy, Neervai Ponnaiyan, K Daniel, V Sinnathamby and M

Sellathamby were among comrades in the leading group. Comrade KA

Subramaniam was the Northern Regional Secretary of the youth movement,

and Comrade RK Chudamani was treasurer.

Comrade K.A. Subramaniam showed a keen interest in guiding my

activities. He was a leading comrade who worked with a sense of

responsibility and initiative in the development of comrades who would stay

on for long to carry out party work. The national conditions and the

international environment of struggle at the time also contributed positively

towards many young comrades besides me to function with idealist motivation

and resolve to struggle.

It was in such a situation that the Party took the decision to carry forward

the struggle of October 21st. The decision of the party to conduct the

procession in defiance of the ban by the police gave revolutionary enthusiasm

to all the fronts of the Party.

The blow struck on the procession opposing casteism in Chunnakam on

that day, like the mythological blow on Lord Siva*2 carrying earth for a wage of

'pittu' (steamed rice cake) falling on all beings, became a blow on all people

among downtrodden Tamils who lived under the yoke of caste oppression. The

21st October 1966 Uprising was a firm pointer to the downtrodden people,

especially the younger generation, that the only way of winning their rights

was through struggle.

The 21st October 1966 Uprising was not a one-day event. Its historical

importance was that it became the biggest revolutionary assault on the caste

system which in the course of the history of Sri Lankan Tamils had developed

into a caste hierarchy. It cannot be denied that there have previously been from

time to time attempts to combat the caste system and reject untouchability. In

that sense, the organisational activities of the Jaffna Student and Youth

Congress formed in the 1920’s against untouchability comprised a remarkable

social event. That was a progressive facet of the nationalism adhering to

Gandhian principles. Subsequently, an organisation led by Joel Paul, an

educated member of the downtrodden community, and well-meaning

Christians have protested against the caste system and untouchability.

Subsequently, the Lanka Samasamaja Party, the first left political party in the

north, was active against caste-based untouchability under the leadership of S

Tharmakulasingam. However, it was only after the founding of the Communist

Party in Jaffna in 1945 that political and social work was carried out

extensively among the downtrodden. Meantime, the Minority Tamils Council

served as the body that put forward demands for the setting up of several social

organisations and the granting of various rights, highlighting the more popular

demands. The Communist Party was the supporting force behind it.

Associations such as the Minority Tamils Council, Thiruvalluvar Council,

Arunthathiyar Association, Toddy Tappers’ Union and the Washermen’s

Union put forward demands on behalf of the downtrodden people. But they

were unable to put forward demands for a comprehensive set of rights or

launch a firm struggle for the rights. They were only able to have some

reforms implemented. In 1957, under the Bandaranaike government, a law was

enacted for the elimination of social disabilities. Under that legislation, and as

a result of severe pressure, certain cafés and restaurants were made to serve on

an egalitarian basis. It was the Minority Tamils Council and the Communist

Part which took the initiative in the matter. Things did not change beyond that.

It was under intense pressure that the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple, the most

renowned temple in the North, was opened to the downtrodden. Elsewhere, in

cafés and restaurants in the smaller townships and villages in the north, there

continued to be two kinds of Tamils–those elevated in caste and those

downtrodden by caste. The doors of the remaining temples too remained

firmly shut to the downtrodden.

It was in this context that, following the 21st October 1966 Uprising

launched by the Revolutionary Communist Party, the campaign against

untouchability was undertaken by the Party and its Youth League all across the

north. The importance of people mobilising along the path of struggle was

emphasised. The campaign took place amid opposition, interference and

obstruction by the dominant castes, the police and casteist fanatics.

At this stage, the struggle moved towards its next stage. That concerned

the question of carrying out struggles in practice. Whenever a social liberation

movement initiates a struggle, the starting point and the basis of the struggle

should be in accordance with correct theory. It is essential that both theory and

practice should be farsighted and suit objective reality. 

The theory and practice for the mass struggles against caste-based untouchability were devised by the

party on that basis, and may be summed up as follows:

* The people downtrodden by caste, comprising thirty percent of the

Tamil population, belong, as a class, to the working class and, within

the system of caste slavery, remain at the bottom layer of society. Thus,

they are the people at the core of the struggle.

* It was affirmed that the struggle against caste-based untouchability will

be carried out on the basis of Marxism Leninism from the standpoint of

class struggle, and it was decided that the struggles shall be free of a

merely caste-based outlook and of parliamentary opportunism, and

aimed at winning fundamental democratic and human rights.

* Communists have embraced the Marxist world outlook and the politics

of class struggle. Thus, the Revolutionary Communist Party firmly

upheld the natural position that communists go beyond the issue of

elevated and downtrodden by caste, to be at the forefront of struggle

against all forms of oppression. The Marxist Leninists of the north were

firm in their will to carry forward that position.

* Importantly, the question of who the enemies were and who the friends

were was clearly determined. Policies were drawn in a way that the

casteist approach of ‘elevated by caste vs. downtrodden by caste’ did

not come to the fore. Those desirous of caste domination and the

casteist fanatics guided by them were included among enemies. At the

same time, it was decided to win over progressive and democratic

forces of goodwill from among the so-called upper castes as friendly

and supportive forces.

* It was decided that the form of struggle would take the form of a

popular struggle, mobilising the people and combining both lawful and

unlawful forms of struggle.

* Importance was given to the formation of a united front to unite all

forces that could be united to carry out broad-based struggles, while the

Party provided leadership and direction to the struggles.

* It was decided that the struggles will be launched in cafés, restaurants,

major temples, and other public places where the cruelty of caste-based

untouchability was practiced openly.

* Losses and sacrifices are inevitable in mass struggles. It was, however,

emphasised that unnecessary losses be avoided and that the struggles be

based on the people and reliant on the people rather than on

individualistic heroism. In particular, it was mandatory that no struggle

was carried out that was anti-people or was likely to harm the people.

The above matters were not determined clearly and definitely in a day or

two. The correct and the incorrect were identified through continuous debate

and the discussion, and debate from time to time of practical knowledge and

experience. The guidelines of Comrade Mao Zedong of going to the people,

serving the people and learning from the people were of great help during this

period. It was thus that a firm mass struggle could be carried out with calm

under the conditions that prevailed.

Struggles inspired by the broad and widespread impact of the 21st October

1966 Uprising took place within a year of its launching. Café-entry and

temple-entry struggles had started by mid 1967. A situation of direct

confrontation arose as a result of the café-entry struggles in Changanai. Sinnar

Karthigesu lost his life as a victim of shooting by casteist fanatics. The first

conference following the launching of the Mass Movement for the Abolition of

Untouchability was held in the Town Hall, Jaffna at a forum named after him,

the first martyr of the 21st October 1966 Uprising. It was at this conference that

STN Nagaratnam, a communist supporter and a socially concerned person

firmly opposed to caste-based untouchability, was elected chairman of the

Mass Movement for the Abolition of Untouchability. Comrades Dr SV

Seenivasagam, K.A. Subramaniam and N (Mann) Mutthiah were elected Vice

Chairmen. Mattuvil V Chinnaiya and Alvai K Ganesan were elected Joint 

Secretaries. K Daniel was elected Organiser. A General Committee of thirty-

five and its Executive Committee were also elected.

In order to inform the people of the south, and other progressive movements on the critical situation of the struggles, Communist Party arranged for the site viewing. Chief among them is Gampaha constituency MP S. D. Bandaranayake. K.A. Subramaniam also showed him directly the villages affected by the northern struggle and the barricades that had been erected around the temples and wells, which had been locked for fear that the oppressed people would enter.

The Mass Movement was neither narrowly caste-based nor with a

parliamentary outlook nor aimed at securing concessions, titles and positions.

It was founded as a broad-based mass movement that united that included all

who opposed and rejected casteism and untouchability. Those who served in it

carried forward consciously and responsibly the social task before them. They

contributed collectively through dedication, sacrifice, bravery, public interest,

and hard work for the struggle. The lofty feelings and actions that I witnessed

in an environment of revolutionary struggle and the thoughts that I shared with

comrades like me are still fresh in my mind. Besides, I should add that it was

the experiences of those struggles that were the cradles for our continued

revolutionary political stand and public life.

Following the struggle in Changanai, struggles for equality took place in

cafés where equality in Chavakachcheri, Kodikamam, Acchuveli, Karaveddy,

Nelliyadi, Urumpirai, Maruthanarmadam, Chunnakam, Kankesanthurai,

Tellippalai, Chitthankeni, Vaddukkoddai, and in parts of Jaffna town where

equality was not in practice in cafés. Such demands for equality and emphasis

of democratic and human rights were not easily accepted by the forces of caste

domination. Struggles in areas such as Changanai, Kodikamam, Manduvil,

Acchuveli, Karaveddy, Kanpollai and Nelliyadi became direct clashes and

went on for months and years. That in Changanai went on for three years.

Up to fifteen militants at the forefront of the struggle became martyrs to

the struggle. Many were imprisoned and tortured in police stations. Many were

seriously wounded. At the same time casteist fanatics too were attacked and

annihilated. Many women were at the forefront of struggle.

The struggle to enter the Maviddapuram Kandaswamy Temple, one of the

major temples in the north, went on for three years. During the period the

temple remained closed. The Amman temple in Mattuvil too suffered the

same fate. The Selvacchannathi temple at Thondamanaru and the Azhvar

temple in Vallipuram were opened to all as a result of the struggle. Some

temples were opened amicably as a consequence of the impact of the ongoing

struggle.

The struggles carried forward by the Mass Movement for the Abolition of

Untouchability under the leadership and guidance of the Revolutionary

Communist Party yielded a variety of experiences and understanding. The

mass struggles that occurred over a period of five years (1967-1971) served as

a major turning point in the history of caste-based untouchability among

Tamils. Political, social and cultural awareness among the downtrodden by

caste was heightened in the course of these struggles. Art and literature

reinforced the struggles. Literature was enriched by short stories, novels and

poetry. Plays such as Sangaaram, Kandan Karunai, Kaduzhiam and Kudinilam

were centred on the struggles. In 1969, the Mass Movement for the Abolition

of Untouchability held its second conference at the Martyr Ratnam Forum in 

Jaffna. An art exhibition that accompanied it served to expose caste-based

untouchability. This exhibition which portrayed the life of misery of the

downtrodden by caste and the cruelty of untouchability and emphasised their

rights was held for three days in Colombo; and had a major impact in the south

of the country.

Many creative writers, artistes and educationists, from among persons with

social concern and supporters of Marxism Leninism, joined in these mass

struggles, and made their contributions willingly and without reservations. The

casteist outlook and approach of today’s advocates of ‘Dalitism’ had no role in

that environment. This made the experience and practice of that situation

distinctly different from that in India. Marxist Leninists, democrats and writers

and artistes who came from among those elevated by caste were at the

forefront of the struggle. They shed blood. They were tortured in prison. That

made history. Besides, that became the strength of the mass struggle and

contributed to its success. The struggles provided a clear historic lesson forty

years ago that narrow casteism, narrow regionalism and narrow nationalism

cannot win the true liberation or the rights of the broad masses.

Thus the 21st October 1966 Uprising and the mass struggles in its wake

served as a major turning point in the history of caste-based untouchability

among Tamils in Sri Lanka. The Tamil nationalist leadership did not support

or sympathise with the struggles in any way. The extreme Tamil nationalist

youth organisations that succeeded it did not come forward to appreciate the

historical experience of those mass struggles or to learn from the theory,

concepts, method of struggle or the tactics. It is, however, true that the

Revolutionary mass struggle against caste-based untouchability served to

create among the Tamil youth a new environment for carrying out the struggle

against national oppression.

The 21st October 1966 Uprising and the mass struggles that followed won

and established the equality and democratic rights of those downtrodden by

caste in the course of the history of caste-based untouchability. It paved the

way for the downtrodden by caste to free themselves to whatever possible

extent from the slavish life of pain and sorrow. It was a harbinger of economic,

educational and social advancement. The historical role of the 21st October

1966 Uprising in securing for a people, who were given second class treatment

in the name of the caste system, a status of social equality deserves to be

praised and remembered forever.

Nevertheless, the social reality is that, forty years after the uprising,

casteism has still not been completely eliminated from among the Tamils.

While economic changes and the environment of Tamil national struggle tend

to give the impression that casteism has been eliminated, actual life

demonstrates that the reality is otherwise. As long as the basic ideology of

Hindu religion-cum-caste structure which was rigidly constructed during the

feudal era lasts, it will not be possible to eliminate casteism. It is through

carrying forward revolutionary struggles for social change based on class

struggle that casteism could be destroyed. The uprising of 21st October is a

good illustration for it.

In the crisis ridden situation in which the Tamil national liberation struggle

is being carried forward, an environment has emerged in which it is necessary

to examine in depth, on various fronts, the theory, aims, methods of struggle

and the future. Some super genius intellectuals suggest that all Tamils should

abandon contradictions of class, caste, gender oppression, and regionalism to

unite under Tamil nationalism as a divine mantra. Such views are none but

short-sighted notions arising from the failure to take into account the social

contradictions, the development of the inherent contradictions, and their

reactions. A so-called unity without policy, principle or aim and put forward

with a superficial and conservative outlook cannot achieve any form of

liberation.

Thus, for the Tamil liberation struggle to advance along the correct path, it

is necessary to have the internal contradictions identified correctly and adopt

the correct approach for their resolution. Besides, it is necessary to pursue

broad-based unity and tactics of people -based struggle. For that, it is important

to learn from the direction, path and journey charted by the struggle of 21st

October.

* Both the revisionist party and the Marxist Leminist Party used the name Communist Party of

Ceylon at the time. The name Revolutionary Communist Party is used to avoid ambiguity and

to distinguish the Marxist Leninist tradition from the revisionist

*2 The reference is to South Indian Saivaite mythology, where Lord Siva once assumed the form

of a wage labourer to put right a wrong committed by the Paandiya king. The labourer was

struck with a stick as punishment for neglect of duty and the blow was felt by all beings.

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