Upcountry Tamils face "dismal prospect" - UPF

[TamilNet, Wednesday, 10 November 2004, 19:14 GMT]
Upcountry Tamils, many of whom still live in lands owned and controlled by their employers, face "dismal prospect" of being thrown out of their lands within the next decade as a result of the "menacing rise of racism" in the country, Mr. M. Sivalingam, Secretary General of the Upcountry People’s Front (UPF), said speaking at a book launching ceremony held at Samimalai, Bogawanthalawa in Hatton district Tuesday.

"Despite their two-hundred-year-history in this country, the Upcountry Tamils still live in the self-same 'lines' that the British colonial rulers built for them. Without lands of their own, they continue to live in the lands belonging to their employers.

"Upcountry Tamils continue to be branded as intruders. They should realize what their political demands should be", Sivalingam added.

The book "Theyilai Thesam (Tea Country)" was authored by the late Tamil writer "Kavimani" C.V. Velupillai.

UPF Secretary continued, "literary works will continue to provide social inputs to politics. Literary personages are endowed with farsighted socio-political perspectives.

"Mr Velupillai is leaving behind for posterity his farsightedness reflected in his belief that the areas predominantly inhabited by the Upcountry Tamils constitute their traditional habitat. This has to be comprehended by our sociologists, he added.

"Upcountry Tamils owe it to themselves to demand their rights in the upcountry which is imperative for their survival, and that is their primary political task", said the Secretary General of UPF.

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