July-December, 2017
Total Page：16
File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb
ISSN 0970-5260 Panjab University Research Journal (Arts) Volume XLIV No 2 July-December 2017 Editor-in-Chief Editor Ronki Ram M Rajivlochan Panjab University Chandigarh (India) Contents Article Author Page 1. Ethnicity, Caste and the Failure Kalinga Tudor Silva 1-16 of War-Related Long Term IDPS in Jaffna, Sri Lanka to Escape their Plight 2. Citizenship Certificate : Yasuko Fujikura 17-30 Transformation of Marginality in Nepal 3. The Re-interpretation of Caste Kanako Nakagawa 31-44 Mediated by Meat Market Struggles of Caste ordained Butchers in Nepal 4. Castes within Caste : Dilemmas Ronki Ram 45-62 of a Cohesive Dalit Movement in Contemporary East Punjab 5. Understanding Diversity and Paramjit S. Judge 63-76 Continuities in Religions Traditions : A case of Nihangs in Sikh Faith 6. In Search of the ‘Nomadic’ : Samir Kumar Das 77-94 Methodological Explorations 7. Kitchlew-The Soldier of National Anju Suri 95-102 Unity 8. Gender Dimensions of Workers’ Kasturi Datta 103-122 Struggle : A Case of Unorganised Women Construction Workers’ in Delhi NCR 9. Intra-Industry Trade of India with Simran K Kular 123-132 Oceania and South-East Asia 10. Re-Contextualising Industrial Manish Kumar 133-142 Sector in Punjab 11. Situating Sohan Singh Bhakna Karanbir Singh 143-154 in Post Ghadar Period 12. Indebtedness Among Rural Rupinder Kaur & 155-172 Households. A Case for Shri Navpreet Kaur Muktsar Sahib District of Punjab Book Reviews 13. Farida Khaq Na Nindee-ai : Ronki Ram 175-178 Panjab da Virsa, Itihaskari te Sahitkar 14. Vivekananda : A Reader Vivek Kumar Yadav & 179-182 Shubhra Shakya Ethnicity, Caste and the Failure of War-related Long-term IDPS in Jaffna, Sri Lanka to Escape their Plight Kalinga Tudor Silva International Centre for Ethnic Studies and University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka Abstract The war in Sri Lanka is typically understood as an ethnic war where the fault lines between the Sri Lankan state and the rebellious Tamil Tigers were primarily ethnic. Ethnicity and nationalism were part and parcel of the political narrativesin Sri Lanka, preceding, during and in the aftermath of the war. The metanarrative of ethnicity and ethno-nationalism, however, silenced a complex array of caste, class and gender configurations in society that operated side by side with and/or independently of ethnic mobilisations. As the war ended and the LTTE's tight grip on Tamil society loosened, caste, class and gender are resurfacing not only as group identities, but also as determinants of access to resources and a basis of power or lack of it. Using secondary data and qualitative research, this paper examines the plight of the remaining IDPs in Jaffna Peninsula who have not been able to escape their long-standing IDP status due to the unwillingness of the Sri Lanka's predominantly Sinhalese security forces to release the land acquired from them to set up the high security zones, on the one hand, and the inability of these IDPs, most of whom are from the bottom layer of the Jaffna Hindu society to secure alternative land in view of the tight control of the land market by the Vellalars, the dominant caste in Jaffna, the chronic poverty of the IDPs due to their limited land rights and further impoverishment through processes of displacement and related processes of social marginalisation. Key words: Caste, Internally Displaced People, Panchamar, Ethnicity, Postwar Sri Lanka The war between the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) from1983 to 2009 uprooted nearly all Tamilinhabitants in the Jaffna Peninsula irrespective of their social class, caste and gender . The total number displaced by the brutal war is estimated to be around 1.5 million. Among them nearly 750,000 people moved to foreign destinations in Europe, North America, India and elsewhere as refugees or as legal migrants. The remaining 750,000 were internally displaced within Sri Lanka in IDP camps, among relatives of the displaced and in various other living arrangements. Seven years after the end of the war, most of the persons internally displaced by the war have been resettled by the GOSL in either their original villages or in new settlements. The GOSL has declared its policy of resettlement of IDPs successful in terms of housing, infrastructure development, livelihood restoration, recovery and reintegration of IDPs. However, as of early 2017the resettlement of IDPs remainedan unfinished business and the last set of 2 Panjab University Research Journal (Arts) (Vol. XLIV, No. 2) ISSN 0970-5260 IDPs yet to be resettled remained an intractableproblem as they appeared to be collateral victims of the war as well as the parallel and mutually reinforcing processes of ethnic, class and caste oppression. As of January 2016, approximately 38,000 people (11,000 families) were identified by the state as remaining IDP population in Jaffna peninsula. The veritable "wretched of the earth" among them were some 3,970 war-displaced persons (1,100 families) who live in a total of 31 IDP camps located across six administrative divisions in the Jaffna Peninsula. Many of these IDPs have been living in the camps ('welfare centres' in government terminology) for well over two decades and others were actually bornin the IDP camps. The relief and subsidies provided to these IDPs by the state and NGOs stopped in 2011 and this has not encouraged them to move out. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights,ZeidRa'ad Al Hussain, who visited selected IDP camps in Jaffna in February 2016, referred to them as a 'lingering sore' in post-war recovery in Sri Lanka (Sunday Times 28-2-2016). The Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) has not been able to resettle these long-term IDPs due to a combination of factors, including the forcible acquisition of their land by the predominantly Sinhalese military for the establishment of the high security zones (HSZs) and the refusal by the security forces to release the acquired land for IDP resettlement on the grounds of security for military installations, complete landlessness of some of the IDPs and the dogged refusal of these remaining IDPs to move to alternative sitesand accept the package of incentives proposed by the government. This had resulted in a deadlock in the government plans to complete the resettlement process and proceed with the post-war recovery in Sri Lanka. Prior research by Thanges and Silva (2009),Thanges (2013, 2015) and Rasanen (2015) found that many of these long term IDPs belong to a socially excluded group within Jaffna Tamil society, a group collectively identified as "depressed castes", "Panchamar", "minority Tamils" or "a minority within a minority". While the war displaced most Tamil inhabitants in the Jaffna Peninsula irrespective of their caste and class, the largely overlapping categories of upper class and the high castes in Jaffna (see Pfaffenberger 1982, 1990) were able to move out to safety from the IDP camps using their social networks, marketable skills and the financial resources at their disposal. On the other hand, the displacement of depressed caste IDPs was prolonged due to the forced acquisition of their land by the military, a process that may have been facilitated by the interstitial nature of their original settlements, their fragile land rights and lack of representation in and the inability to influence the state. Moreover, they may be prevented from moving out of IDP camps due to their lack of financial and social capital, continuing disadvantages and discriminations they experience in the land market and in access to public utilities in general and the caste-blind and ethnically-driven policies of the state. What steps should be taken to prevent the recurrence of such outcomes in situations of mass displacement and refugee crisis caused by armed conflicts remain an important analytical and policy question. Ethnicity, Caste and the Failure of War-related Long-term IDPS in Jaffna, 3 Sri Lanka to Escape their Plight Using secondary data and rapid ethnographic assessment, this paper examines how, side by side with poverty,subordinate caste status inhibit their transition from IDPs to settlers in postwar Jaffna society. Social Profile of the Remaining IDPs in Jaffna Peninsula The IDPs remaining in a total of 31 Welfare Centres or IDP camps in Jaffna Peninsula constitute a marginalised section of Jaffna society in terms of their ethnic, social class, caste and gender configurations. While all of them are Sri Lanka Tamil by official ethnic categorisation adopted in Sri Lanka, they represent the bottom layer of Jaffna society in respect of social class, caste and gender make-up of the long-term IDP population. Basic information about selected IDP camps in various administrative divisions is given in Tables 1 to 6. Table 1 Social Profile of IDP Camps in Tellipalai Divional Secretary Division (DSD), January 2016 Name of Welfare Centre Number of families Number of People Caste Pillaiyar WC 10 30 Pallar Alaveddy 18 55 Nalavar Konatpulam 300 676 Nalavar NeethavanIilam 58 206 Nalavar Coir Industry 20 60 Nalavar & Pallar Urani 30 114 Nalavar Total 436 1141 Source: Population Information from Official Records, Jaffna Kachcheri and Caste Identity Established through Key Informant (KI) Interviews Table 2 Social Profile of IDP Camps in Sandilipai DSD, January 2016 Name of Welfare Centre Number of families Number of People Caste Companypulam 10 18 Nalavar Sandilipay CMCT 9 31 Nalavar Kaddudai II 17 36 Nalavar Total 36 85 Source: Population Information from Official Records, Jaffna Kachcheri and Caste Identity