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CASTE and NATION-BUILDING Constructing Vellalah Identity in Jaffna

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CASTE and NATION-BUILDING Constructing Vellalah Identity in Jaffna CASTE AND NATION-BUILDING Constructing Vellalah Identity in Jaffna CASTE AND NATION-BUILDING Constructing Vellalah Identity in Jaffna Bahirathy Jeeweshwara Räsänen SCHOOL OF GLOBAL STUDIES Doctoral Dissertation in Peace and Development Research 19 November 2015 School of Global Studies University of Gothenburg © Author Bahirathy Jeeweshwara Räsänen Cover layout: Mr.T.Sanathanan Photo: Jaffna Fort Printing: Kompendiet, Gothenburg - Sweden, 2015 ISBN 978-91-628-9607-2 (print) ISBN 978-91-628-9608-9 (pdf) http://hdl.handle.net/2077/40771 To my beloved Father who had great confidence in me; and to my husband and sons who at times lacked a wife and mother because of my long preoccupation with this project AN EPIGRAPH In my analysis of the Vellalah caste identity im- bedded in Tamil nationalism, I wish to empha- sise that I have no intention of depreciating the intentions of any key figures of the Tamil nation project in Sri Lanka. Any critical orientations towards the roles they have played with respect to their cultures and communities are presented for the sake of critical analysis of contemporary social issues; they are undertaken in the spirit that there will always be multiple discourses in the discussion of any subject. My modest attempt here is to open up a space for self- critique so that history can be reoriented towards a rigorous account of our social failures so that they are not repeated in the future. Abstract This doctoral thesis explores the meanings and practices associated with Vellalah identity in the context of the Tamil nationalist project in Jaffna, Sri Lanka. Given that caste is a culturally sensitive identity and practice among Tamils, I investigate how the dominant caste identity was constructed, (re)negotiated and transformed. I do this via a case study on Vellalah identity by looking at the construction of Vella- lah identity historically, as well as in contemporary Jaffna, with a main focus on the years 2004–2007. This study, in a sense, tries to unpack the Sri Lankan conflict with an inside account of the Vellalah Tamils who were one of the major protagonists of the ethno-national war which lasted more than three decades. The Vellalah, being the hegemonic elite and intelligentsia of the region, monop- olised the social, cultural, economic and political resources. An analysis of this study is imbedded in an interpretive constructive approach undertaken with narrative methodology. At a theoretical level, this study discusses the intersections of identity, caste and nationalism. It tries to account for how Vellalah identity is historically constituted, how major elements of caste relate to Vellalah identity, how the LTTE both influenced caste and Vellalah identity, and finally how war impacted caste and Vellalah identity. This study attempts to shed light on how the Vellalah articulations and (re)negotiations of caste identity shifted the Vellalah to always sustain them- selves through power and the societal elite. It also discovers that the internalised caste identity is dynamic and durable. Moreover, it exposes that the axis extend from the Vellalah and the oppressed castes always entails a we-and-them perspec- tive. The central argument of this thesis is that while Vellalah identity evolved over time with certain stable markers of its identity and thus of caste identity, during the period of Tamil militancy such markers of caste identity were radically destabilised in the re-articulation of Tamil nationalism. It also explores the extent to which such destabilisation resulted in permanent shifts in caste-based practices and the identifi- cation arenas of the Vellalah, but found that despite some changes to caste practices during the LTTE period, caste-based identities did not dissolve but have rather returned in the post-war period. Importantly, this study contributes with the basis that these Vellalah negotiations of identity can provide insight into mechanisms through which dominance and oppression are (re)articulated and how collective identities are (re/de)constructed and renegotiated over time. Key words: Vellalah identity, nation-building, Tamils, caste, negotiation, cultural schema, identification arena. Abbreviations ACTC All Ceylon Tamil Congress CBO Community Based Organisation CE Common Era CM Chief Minister CP Communist Party CYC Ceylon Youth Congress DS Divisional Secretariat EPDP Eelam People’s Democratic Party EPRLF Eelam People’s Revolutionary Liberation Front EROS Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students FDCTL Forum for Depressed Class Tamil Labours GA Government Agent GO Government Organisation German Technical Co-operation GTZ HRW Human Rights Watch HSZ High Security Zone IDP Internal Displaced Person/People INGO International Non-Government Organisation ITAK/FP Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi/Federal Party JP Justice of Peace JUSTA Jaffna University Science Teachers Association JVP Janatha Vimukkthi Peramuna JYC/CYC Jaffna Youth Congress/ Ceylon Youth Congress LSSP Lanka Sama Samaja Party LTTE Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam MOU Memorandum of Understanding MP Member of Parliament MSF Medicines Sans Frontiers MTA/MTM Minority Tamil Association/Minority Tamil Mahasabha NGO Non-Government Organisation NPC Northern Provincial Council NSTMA Northern Sri Lankan Tamil Minority Association PLOTE People’s Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam PWM Progressive Writers Movement SLFP Sri Lanka Freedom Party TC Tamil Congress TELO Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation TMVP Tamil Makkal Viduthali Pulikal TNA Tamil National Alliance TPM Tamil Purist Movement TUF Tamil United Front TULF Tamil United Liberation Front UNDP United Nations Development Programme UNHCR United Nations High Commission for Refugees UNHRC United Nations Human Rights Council UNICEF United Nations International Child Education Fund UNP United National Party UTHR University Teachers for Human Rights Contents Acknowledgments ..............................................................................................v Notes on Transliteration ..................................................................................viii 1. Introduction ...................................................................................................1 1.1 Research Questions ...................................................................................7 1.2 Exploring Vellalah Identity Narratives .....................................................12 1.3 Relevant Academic Research ...................................................................16 1.4 Contribution ...........................................................................................18 1.5 Delimitations .......................................................................................... 19 1.6 Outline of the Thesis ..............................................................................20 2. Methodological Reflections ...........................................................................23 2.1 Epistemological Positioning .....................................................................23 2.2 Case Study ..............................................................................................24 2.3 Field Conditions and Representation ........................................................29 2.4 Methods of Data Collection ..................................................................... 31 2.4.1 Interviews and Observations ......................................................................... 31 2.4.2 Structured Written Survey............................................................................33 2.4.3 The Self as Informant ...................................................................................34 2.4.4 Text as Narrations ........................................................................................ 35 2.5 Researcher’s Positioning ..........................................................................35 2.5.1 Narratives .....................................................................................................36 2.6 Practice of Analysis .................................................................................38 2.6.1 The Rationale of Thematic Representation ....................................................39 2.7 Concluding Discussion ............................................................................41 3. Analytical Framework for Understanding Vellalah Identity ...........................43 3.1 Introduction ............................................................................................43 3.2 Dynamics of Identity ..............................................................................44 3.2.1 Collective Identity ........................................................................................46 3.2.2 Identification ................................................................................................47 3.2.3 Identity and Power ........................................................................................48 3.3 Theorising Caste .....................................................................................49 3.3.1 Cultural Schemas ..........................................................................................53 3.4 Intersectionality and the Context of Nation-Building............................... 55 3.4.1 Nationalism and National Identity ................................................................56 3.4.2 The Nation-Building Project ........................................................................57
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