Strained Fraternity
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Strained Fraternity IDENTITY FORMATIONS, MIGRATION AND SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION AMONG SRI LANKAN TAMILS IN TAMIL NADU, INDIA NICOLAY PAUS THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE CAND.POLIT DEGREE DEPT. OF SOCIAL ANTHROPOLOGY UNIVERSITY OF BERGEN APRIL 2005 Acknowledgements This research could not have been conducted without the assistance and help of several people. I am primarily indebted to my dear friends in India and Sri Lanka who, in spite of their sense of insecurity, warmly received me and accepted me as a part of their lives. I also wish to thank Fr. Elias and other people from the Jesuit community in Tamil Nadu, Agnes Fernando, as well as the people at OfERR for helping me in the initial difficult stages of my fieldwork. Their help were of immense importance for me, and my research would have been much more difficult to carry out were it not for their assistance. Discussions with Manuelpillai Sooaipillai and Joseph Soosai were also helpful while preparing my journey to India. I also wish to stress my sincere gratitude to my supervisors during these years, Professor Leif Manger and Professor Bruce Kapferer. Their knowledge, feedbacks and advises have been highly appreciated. Furthermore, I wish to thank the Chr. Michelsen Institute where I have been affiliated as a student since February 2003. The academic environment and discussions with people at the institute has been very aspiring and helpful for my work. I am indebted to Marianne Longum Gauperaa for her great support before, during and after my fieldwork. Her own experiences and backing was of great help. Moreover, I wish to stress my sincere thankfulness to Bård Kårtveit, Bjørn Enge Bertelsen, Ragnhild Berg, Hege Toje and Tone Sissener for their constructive and helpful comments and feedbacks even when they were loaded with their own work. Also, thanks to Hege Myrlund Larsen for motivating and inspiring discussions on Sri Lanka. Many ideas were conceived during these conversations. Finally, a great thanks to my fellow students at the University of Bergen, Trine Syverinsen, Hanna Ihlebæk, Hanna Skartveit, Olav Aanestad, Siv Elin Ånestad, Bernhard Benum, Helene Corneliussen, Marthe Eikum Tang and others who have contributed to make my time as a student so enjoyable. Conclusively, I wish to thank Lise og Arnfinn Hejes fond for vital economic support. Contents Contents.............................................................................................................................v Abbreviations............................................................................................ix Measurements and Exchange Rates.............................................................ix Central political personalities in the text .................................................. x Glossary..................................................................................................xi Chapter 1 – Introduction...................................................................................................... 1 The field of research.................................................................................4 Outline of chapters ...................................................................................5 Central theoretical approaches...................................................................9 Clarifications of names and concepts ..........................................................17 Chapter 2 – History and nationalism as premises for contemporary adaptation.......................... 19 Introduction ...........................................................................................19 The British Raj and the ‘reinvention’ of Ceylonese society ..............................20 The emergence of Nationalism in Sri Lanka ....................................................22 Negotiating emerging nationalist mythologies ............................................23 Politicising legends and the past in a nationalist project ............................24 Questioning legends and the past in nationalist discourses ..........................25 1948: Independence prevails ....................................................................27 Independence and the disfranchisement of the Upcountry Tamils ...................27 The language issue and ‘Sinhala Only’ ......................................................28 Widening the Gap ..................................................................................29 Tamil militancy......................................................................................30 July 1983 .........................................................................................31 Thimpu................................................................................................31 The IPKF and the Indo-Sri Lankan accord ...................................................32 Eelam Wars and Peace Processes............................................................33 Tamil Nationalism and ‘Dravidianism’ in Tamil Nadu............................................35 ‘Periyar’ and the Non-Brahmin Movement...................................................36 DMK and the rise of Dravidian party politics in Tamil Nadu ...........................37 National Indian policy towards the Sri Lankan Issue........................................38 1971, RAW and India’s arming of the Sri Lankan Militants ............................38 Dravidianism and Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism, pre-1980 ..............................39 1983 – The Sri Lankan refugees and changing local Tamil politics ...............40 Deteriorating relations.........................................................................41 Final remark ...........................................................................................42 Chapter 3 – Sri Lankans in India in local contexts.................................................................. 45 Introduction ...........................................................................................45 The transition..........................................................................................45 Indian refugee policy and the refugees in India .............................................48 Camp Refugees ....................................................................................50 OfERR ............................................................................................50 Economic and social situation..............................................................51 Freedom of movement, work and education ............................................53 Camp lodging ...................................................................................54 Militants in Special Camps ......................................................................54 Sri Lankans outside camps......................................................................55 Official status of the Sri Lankans........................................................56 Raja Nagar and its surroundings ................................................................56 The location........................................................................................56 Caste and geographical origin ................................................................58 The wider locality – extended settlement patterns .....................................59 Social life and interaction .....................................................................60 Chapter 4 – Reflections on fieldwork challenges .................................................................... 63 Introduction ...........................................................................................63 Fear and sensitivity ...............................................................................65 Trust and power as methodological factors..........................................65 Sensitivity and the collection of data...................................................66 Insecurity and self-presentation..........................................................67 Fieldwork and locality ..........................................................................68 Conducting fieldwork ...........................................................................70 Long-lasting fieldwork ......................................................................70 Access to information .......................................................................71 Methodological challenges: Neutrality, language and gender .....................71 Neutrality .......................................................................................72 Language and “gatekeepers”...............................................................72 “The mystical stranger”.....................................................................74 Women and gender issues ...................................................................75 Anonymity............................................................................................77 Chapter 5 – Identity and local life........................................................................................ 79 Introduction ...........................................................................................79 Social life and identities in Raja Nagar.........................................................80 The negotiation of identities ...................................................................81 The life-world .....................................................................................83