The official statement of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam regarding casteism

The official statement of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam regarding casteism

The demon of casteism, the hateful oppression that has been mixed with the consciousness of the Tamileelam community for ages, is losing its grip today. Our 18-year armed struggle has achieved this.

As the Tamileelam liberation struggle gains momentum, the edge of casteism is also becoming blunted.

Manifestations of casteism can still be seen in some places today. Thus begins the article with an important incident that we encountered.

There is a village near Yarlpanam city. There is a good water well in that village. The land on which the well is located belongs to an individual. That individual considers himself an “upper caste”. There is also a section of people in that village called the downtrodden. These people do not have access to drinking water. They come to this good water well. They try to draw water. Seeing this, the owner of the well land runs over. He prohibits drawing water. He says that the downtrodden should not touch his well.

A similar incident occurs in Vadamaradchi and another in Karainagar.

The poor people who are affected come to the LTTE and complain. The LTTE calls the “upper caste” and asks for justice. They explain about social justice and equality. They talk about the changing world and human civilization. The well owners are not easily fooled.

He speaks arrogantly about his land, his well, and his caste. He tries to justify the outdated social traditions.

These are real incidents. The LTTE encounters some such incidents in Yarlpanam.

These incidents are a good example that the devil of casteism has not yet disappeared from our society.

Once upon a time in Yarlpanam, there was a dance of desecration of caste. That was also maintained as social justice. Later, the oppressed people took up arms against it, demanding justice.

“Untouchable Tamils” on one side, oppressed Tamils took to the field on the other.

The goal of this anti-caste struggle was that temples should be opened to the so-called downtrodden people and that discrimination should not be shown in tea shops.

Clashes took place for this. Blood was shed. Lives were lost.

This was a progressive struggle of that time. The fighting spirit of those oppressed people was revolutionary.

But casteism will not disappear without the minds of those who practice untouchability being opened and without equality in tea shops being provided.

At the same time, the struggle waged by the coalition leaders for the eradication of casteism in the name of “eradicating untouchability” is not only ridiculous but also a conspiracy to blunt the fighting spirit of the oppressed people against casteism with their own “intelligence”.

The play “Sama Bandhiposanam” they staged was used to advertise themselves as “upper caste people”. These struggles of the alliance were nothing, but advertisements conducted for political gains and did not have a revolutionary purpose to destroy caste antagonism.

“Caste” is a social problem that has been rooted in our social structure for a long time. Some researchers say that caste divisions emerged from the Varna clan system of the Vedic Aryan civilization, and later casteism took root and spread in the Dravidian society. Brahmins wrote the Vedic books. They created the Manu Nithi Shastras. Some studies say that in all of these, Brahmins were taught to be the highest caste and justified the caste system as a creation of God. It is not necessary to go into the origin of casteism here. From somewhere, somehow, this social injustice has also taken root and become a tree in the Tamileelam society. It is a fact that casteism is intertwined with the social relations, customs, economic life and ideological outlook of the people of Tamileelam. The caste system arises from economic relations based on occupational divisions. Religious norms, ideologies and laws try to justify and strengthen the caste system.

If we take the rural economic life, we can see that the caste system is based on occupational divisions. Each occupation is labeled with a different caste. Based on the superstition that one occupation is noble, and the other occupations are less noble or inferior, the working people are divided into castes. From these occupational divisions and the false statuses given to them, the stupid social relations of “high caste” and “low caste” and the rituals and traditions surrounding them have emerged.

It is stupid to discriminate against every occupation as noble, noble in labor or inferior. Casteism denigrates the greatness of industry. It humiliates the working class, the real proletariat, as downtrodden and untouchables. Casteism has been a factor in human slavery, the worst oppression and exploitation.

The foreign colonial rulers compiled the caste cases and customs that had been prevalent in the religious community for a long time and made them into laws. This is called the National Customary Law. These laws explain caste divisions and caste cases. This body of law is designed to justify and strengthen casteism and to maintain the aspirations of the ruling class, which is upper caste.

The foreign colonialists, who were skilled in the art of dividing and ruling, legalized social cases born of superstitions and strengthened caste contradictions. The so-called upper castes, who benefited from casteism, did not oppose casteism. This old reactionary ruling class only sought political power and did not dare to fight against the injustices and oppressions prevailing in our society.

To seize power, they staged some farce from time to time under the guise of anti-caste struggle and gained the support of the innocent oppressed people and ascended to power.

The emergence and growth of the LTTE movement and the national liberation struggle they led created an epoch-making revolution in the society of Tamileelam. The atrocities of state terrorism and the armed liberation struggle that opposed them had unprecedented impacts on our social structure. Our society, which had been sleeping in the past, woke up for liberation. Patriotic attachment emerged beyond class and caste prejudices. The ethnic consciousness that the people of Tamileelam were one people was also born. The LTTE movement, cutting off caste roots, built a national liberation army based on brotherhood from all social classes. The growth seen by the LTTE as a national liberation movement and their revolutionary political ideals posed a challenge to casteism. Our movement is working on the firm principle of building not only national independence but also an egalitarian society in which casteism has been abolished.

The emergence and growth of the LTTE movement, their idealistic struggle, and the actions of the LTTE, which transcended caste distinctions, have caused a major rupture in the foundation of the caste system. This has also brought about a major change in the sentiments of society.

Today, there is a mindset in our society that considers talking or acting about caste to be not only a crime, but also shameful and indecent. This is a huge change in the social consciousness that has existed for a long-time regarding caste.

The ghost of caste has not been completely driven out of our society. Caste cases do exist. Caste fanatics do exist. We also face caste problems.

It is not an easy task to cure a social disease that has taken root in our society over time and has become deeply rooted in the subconscious of the people. It is not wise for us to rush to drive away the ghost of caste through laws or coercion.

In today’s situation, we can look at these problems in this way.

Leading the oppressed people to the brink of death by showing casteism in the essential goods needed for life. This is cruel. It is unacceptable.

The other is other caste-related contradictions. These can be made ineffective over time through various approaches according to their characteristics.

The liberation struggle of the LTTE and the revolutionary objectives that arose from it have begun to dismantle the caste system. Casteism will not be completely eradicated without fundamental changes in economic relations and social thinking. Therefore, along with social revolution, mental revolution is necessary for the eradication of caste.

The basic policy plan of the LTTE is to carry out a social revolution aimed at economic equality. This policy plan can be implemented properly only after achieving national liberation and seizing power. It was possible to gradually break caste relations by implementing revolutionary economic plans and collective industrial efforts in the controlled areas since the pre-liberation period.

Bringing about a fundamental change in social thinking is essential for the eradication of caste. Because caste-based cases and customs have their origin in superstitions. A mental revolution is necessary to dispel this ignorance. Revolutionary awareness is necessary in the mental arena. This is where revolutionary education occupies an important place.

Revolutionary education must be taught to our young generation. The new young generation must be freed from old reactionary ideas, theories and superstitions and acquire a new progressive worldview. Only when the darkness of ignorance is dispelled, and new awareness and revolutionary thoughts take hold of young minds will the mental disease of casteism be eradicated from the newly emerging revolutionary society.

(Translation by Tamilpriya)