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Plantation workers root for Ranil

V.S. Sambandan

Community seeks better life

BANDARAWELA (Sri Lanka): Behind every brew of the world-renowned Sri Lankan tea lies the sweat and toil of nearly a million plantation workers — a minority Indian-origin Tamil community that backs the former Prime Minister and Opposition leader, Ranil Wickremesinghe, in the November 17 presidential poll.

"Ranil should and will win. I have no doubt," said Gamini Nandasiri, a Sinhalese truck driver in the plantation districts, who speaks Tamil and counts several plantation Tamils as his friends and colleagues. "There must be someone who helps plantation Tamils. That is Ranil. It is from the leaves they pluck that Ceylon Tea is sent the world over. They need a better life. It will be good for all of us," he said.

The Plantation Tamils comprise about 5.5 per cent of Sri Lanka's 19 million population and total 7.5 lakhs of the 13.32 million voters.

Traditionally supporters of the United National Party (UNP), Mr. Wickremesinghe's alliances with two political parties representing the Estate Tamils — the Ceylon Workers' Congress and the Up-Country Peoples' Front — have ensured that he retains the block vote of this constituency.

The number of the plantation Tamil vote base defies easy count as the CWC has normally contested under the symbol of its major alliance partner.

Pathetic conditions

The sylvan setting of a tea estate is in sharp and cruel contrast to the pathetic conditions of the workers. "We will surely vote. We will vote for the person who helps us," said a middle-aged plantation worker, her limpid brown eyes concealing the hardship of a long day at work. "The local UNP leader is a very good person. He has helped us a lot," she continued, her weathered, bare toes doodling on the damp plantation soil. "We have a lot of difficulties — improper housing, lack of proper roads." Successive governments have spoken about improving housing and infrastructure facilities for the plantation workers, but they continue to live on the margins.

Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, who is the other main contestant, has promised a lot — a plot of land to each plantation worker and free-hold rights to the land where their dwellings exist — to name a couple.

However, these have been blinded by the over-riding reality of Mr. Rajapakse's alliances with the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and the Jathika Hela Urumaya (JHU) — both of which advocate Sinhala majoritarianism.

Mr. Rajapakse draws support from the traditional base of his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). Jagath Kumar, who runs a small road-side plant nursery in the Badulla district, is quite clear of his choice.

"Ranil favours only the big traders, not us," he said.

In the larger island-wide picture, the consolidation of the plantation sector's vote is significant for the Opposition leader. The question whether this would translate into victory would largely depend on how Mr. Wickremesinghe pushes forward his People's Agenda — as he has named his manifesto — against early indications of an impending Sinhala-Buddhist swing for Mr. Rajapakse.

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