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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
Co. 882/10
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC- COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH--NOT TO
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9. It was in recognition of the importance of the Tamil community the Gov- ernment before the introduction of the existing constitution provided for adequate representation of their interests in the Legislative Council. In the last Council which was dissolved in March, 1921, the Singhalese were represented by 3 nominated Members, including the Kandyan Sinhalese Member, and the Tamils by 2 Members. And the Ceylonese elected Member happening to be a Tamil, there were in that Council 3 Sinhalese and 3 Tamil Members.
10. The Memorialists respectfully bring to your kind notice that the intro- duction of the new constitution has given a grievous set back to the Tamils, and there exists in consequence a general feeling of dissatisfaction among them. Instead of an equal number of Singhalese and Tamil Members, as was the case in the old Council, there are now in the new Council 13 Sinhalese Members-10 elected and 3 nomin- ated as against 3 Tamil Members-2 elected and 1 nominated. There are also in this Council 3 European unofficial Members as against 2, 2 Burghers as against 1, and 2 Mohammedans (one of whom is an Indian), as against 1 in the old Council. It will thus be seen that while the number of Tamil Members remains the same, the number of Singhalese has more than quadrupled, and every other community has also gained. This is the result of the introduction of pure territorial representation in regard to the Low-country Singhalese and Tamils, while all the other communities are allowed to have communal representation.
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11. It may be said that the Tamils joined their Singhalese fellow subjects in asking for territorial representation, and that the Government is not to blame for the present result. This is not correct. Although this Association, in 1909, with out practical experience of the working of a system of pure territorial representation in a country like Ceylon, inhabited by races and creeds with diverse interests, asked for the substitution of Provincial for racial representation, yet the Tamils refused to join and co-operate with the Ceylon National Conference held in December, 1918, in Colombo, which developed in the following year into the Ceylon National Con- gress, as they were afraid that by consenting to unqualified territorial representation they would be swamped by the Sinhalese majority. It was after a letter of assur- ance sent to the Jaffna Association which represented the Tamil interests, dated 7th December, 1918, through Sir P. Arunachalam, who was President of the Conference, signed by the Honourable Mr. James Peiris, and Mr. E. J. Samarawickrame, two very prominent Sinhalese leaders, as Presidents of the Ceylon National Association and the Ceylon Reform League respectively, pledging "to secure as large a repre- sentation as possible to the Tamils"
'to accept any scheme which the Jaffna
Association may put forward so long as it is not inconsistent with the various prin-" ciples contained in the Resolutions (of the Conference)
"and to actively support a provision for the reservation of a Seat to the Tamils in the Western Province so long as the electorate remains territorial," the Tamils joined the reform movement, in the hope that the constitutional reforms asked for would not only maintain the proportion of Sinhalese and Tamil representation in the Legislative Council as then existed, but also promote the general welfare of the whole Island. A copy of this letter,* with the covering letter of Sir P. Arunachalam addressed to Mr. A. Sapapathy, who was then a Member of the Legislative Council representing the Tamils, is hereto annexed for your information.
12. It will be seen from the Memorial of this Association addressed to the Right Honourable Sir Walter Long, the then Secretary of State for the Colonies, dated 2nd January, 1918, that this Association was not opposed to the introduction of territorial representation, but prayed that by a combination of territorial and communal representation the proportion of Tamil representation to Singhalese repre- sentation as it then existed should, as far as possible, be maintained.
13. The Memorialists would invite your kind attention to the speeches made in the course of the Reform Debate by the two Representatives of the Tamils in the Legislative Council on the 11th December, 1918, to show that the Tamils have always in joining the reform movement insisted on the then proportion of Tamil to Singhalese representation being maintained. Mr. K. Balasingham, the then First Tamil Member, said: "I wish to bring to Your Excellency's notice that the Tamils desire that whether under a territorial or racial basis of representation there should be the existing proportion of representation between the two principal races maintained in any reformed Council." Mr. A. Sapapathy, the Second Tamil Member, said:
Enclosure in No. 29.
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"The Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces which contain the vast majority of the permanent Tamil population claim to have a number of Representatives in this Council under the new reforms in the same proportion as the existing Sinhalese and Tamil representation. The claims of the Tamils to maintain a larger proportion of representation than they are entitled to by their numerical strength, and the reasons for those claims are fully set forth in paragraphs 10 and 11 of the Memorial of the Jaffna Association to the Secretary of State, dated 2nd January, 1918:"
14. The Memorialists humbly venture to think that it was on the basis of the Memorial above referred to, the Right Honourable Lord Milner, the late Secretary of State for the Colonies, insistently put the question to the Ceylon Reform Deputa tion that waited on him, headed by Mr. H. J. C. Pereira, K.C., as to what provision that Deputation was disposed to suggest under the territorial system for the adequate representation of a large and important community, which was in a minority. This question was not answered by the Deputation.
15. The Memorialists beg further to submit that the present proportion of Tamil representation in the new Council is, as stated above, a great disappointment and a real grievance to the Tamils. The inadequate representation of the Tamils in the present Legislative Council has been admitted by a Resolution of the Ceylon National Congress held in December, 1920, by the Honourable Mr. James Peiris, in the course of the Reform Debate in the Legislative Council on the 1st December, 1921, by Mr. H. J. C. Pereira, as President of the Congress of December, 1921, and by the European press of this Island.
16. Neither the Tamils, nor any other communities, nor even the Government seem to have realized before the real working of the territorial system of represen tation in its application to the Singhalese and Tamils alone that it would prove so disastrous to the interests of the latter as it has done. The anomaly and injustice of its application is evident from the fact that the premier Tamil Province with 13,987 registered voters is allotted only one territorial Member, while the North- Central Province where the Singhalese form the vast majority of the population with only 385 voters is also given one member, just as the other Kandyan Singhalese Provinces with comparatively small number of voters are given one Member each in addition to two nominated Kandyan Singhalese Members.
17. The Memorialists beg to bring to your special notice that though the Tamils expected that in some of the Singhalese Provinces, at least one or two Tamil Members would be elected by special arrangement, yet the Singhalese leaders of the Congress were so eager to see all those territorial Seats filled by Sinhalese, that for the nine Seats allotted to the seven Singhalese Provinces only Singhalese Members were returned, and the Low Country Products Association, which is also given representation returned a Singhalese Member. With two Kandyan Singhalese nominated Members and one additional nominated Low-Country Singhalese Member, the number of Singhalese Unofficial Members in the present Legislative Council, is, therefore, 13, as against only 3 Tamil Members-2 elected and I nominated.
18. It is also submitted that the experience of territorial elections under the new constitution has shown that, with the low franchise now granted. Singhalese will ordinarily be elected in the Singhalese Provinces, and the Tamils in the Tamil Provinces, and that even outstanding men of eminence who have rendered distin- guished public Services, belonging to another race would have little chance of being elected in Provinces where their race does not form the predominant population. Territorial representation in Ceylon is practically communal representation of the Singhalese and the Tamils, to the great advantage of the former, and disadvantage of the latter, as pointed out above. It is for this reason the Singhalese welcome it and insist on retaining unqualified territorial representation, while the Tamils demand increased number of territorial Seats in their Provinces and also Reserved Seats in places where they form important minorities.
19. The Memorialists beg to state that the principle of territorial represen tation has to be evolved gradually in a place like Ceylon, which is inhabited by people of diverse races hitherto represented in Council on a communal basis. It is quite feasible to adjust territorial representation in its initial stages so as to avoid results which are advantageous to one community and detrimental to the interests of others. by a suitable arrangement of electoral areas and allotment of Seats, and in special areas by the reservation of Seats to safeguard the interests of important minorities, who, under an unqualified territorial system, cannot be expected to secure representation in those areas.