The Struggle of Sri Lankan Plantation Communities for Land
By Herman Kumara, Convener, NAFSO, Chair Person, and Francis Raajan, Coordinator, Praja Abilasha Network, JH Sri Lanka
“Dan Danak, Dan Danak.” Bells have sounded in the tea estates since 1813 when the British colonizers brought the laborers [slaves] from Tami Nadu, India to work in their tea plantations. Plantation communities have been playing to the tune of their masters for two centuries while local Sri Lankan communities have rejected work in the plantations as laborers. Plantation laborers have been living in 8ft x 8ft cramped spaces which have served as their homes for generations. These same people lost their citizenship by parliamentary act in 1947 and along with it their basic human rights and dignity. A considerable number of plantation laborers were returned to India after the Sirima-Shassthri, an agreement signed in 1963 by both the Indian and Sri Lankan Prime Ministers to repatriate the “Indian Tamils.”
A protesting plantation laborer holds up a poster that says, “Need land to build a house for us - we still live in a 10 ft room.” Photo Courtesy of Francis Raajan
However, for the remaining plantation laborers, life has remained very difficult. Mothers have been obligated to take their babies into the fields with them as they picked tea buds to earn their livelihood. There were often no schools for the plantation children. Some plantations offer children a primary school education only. Even today, plantation communities are the least educated communities in the country.
The plantation communities are deprived of growing their own vegetables on the land near their living quarters. Thus, while living on some of the most fertile lands in the country, the laborers have experienced some of the highest rates of malnutrition. Water, sanitation, and health facilities were some of the poorest in the country.
While the tea plantations serve as the highest contributor to the national economy, the workers who sweat on behalf of the plantations receive very little compensation. Daily wages of plantation laborers are substantially below the country’s average. Female workers in particular are underpaid, receiving only 600 LKR ($4.50) a day compared with the 800 LKR ($6.10) that men receive. However, if laborers work less than 18 days in a month, and oftentimes the plantations will prevent them from working more than 18 days, their daily wage drops to 450 LKR ($3.43). The plantation trade unions don’t offer much help to the workers as they work in collaboration with the estate owners or the investors.
Citizenship has been one of the biggest issues facing the plantation communities. However, in 2002, the Government of Sri Lanka (GOSL) finally granted citizenship to close to one million people in plantation communities. This action opened legal opportunities for defending the rights of plantation communities - right to land, right to education, right to housing and right to basic needs for a dignified life.
In an era of modern day slavery, plantation laborers continue to suffer from low wages, poor working conditions and deplorable living situations while politicians continue to make false promises of remedying the situation. The Sri Lankan President proposed in the 2011 Budget that the government would distribute 37,000 hectares (91,428 acres) of uncultivated land among landless plantation communities.
However, land rights groups in Sri Lanka such as the Joining Hands network Praja Abilasha (PA), the National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) and People's Alliance for Right to Land (PARL) have uncovered that the GOSL has actually made plans to lease out those same lands for 99 years to multinational companies.
PA and NAFSO, together with the Movement for Land and Agriculture Reforms (MONLAR), initiated a campaign to obtain land rights for plantation communities.
The plantation communities are demanding that the GOSL to provide to each landless family:
1) 2 acres of land for agriculture and
2) 20 perches (330ft) of land for housing and home gardening.
Francis Raajan distributes leaflets during the plantation community land rights campaign in Deltota in Galaha (Kandy District). Photo courtesy of Praja Abhilasha
PA launched a petition campaign last year and handed over the petition to the relevant authorities, insisting their demands. PA highlighted the land grab issue and conducted a mass rally in Kandy, during the World Food[less] week of action.
During the last provincial council election in October 2013, PA organized a poster campaign with posters which read, “Vote only for the party which provides 20 perches land for housing and 2 acres for agriculture for each family who is landless.” PA also distributed leaflets and conducted group discussions on the land grabbing problem.
Many political parties raised up the land rights issue of the plantation workers during their election campaigns. Unfortunately, after the election, the political discussions on the issue ceased. However, PA, NAFSO, PARL and the plantation communities are resolved to continue to speak out and work for solutions for the marginalized communities of plantation workers.
