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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