The Donoughmore Constitution in the View of Eelakesari

Transcription

1 The Donoughmore Constitution in the View of Eelakesari Dr.K.Arunthavarajah Senior Lecturer Gr-I Department of History University of Jaffna Sri Lanka ABSTRACT The period of British rulers was an important era in the history of Eastern Countries. Some changes such as social, economic, culture and politics occurred in Sri Lanka during the period of British. There were some activities taken by the rulers to satisfy the Sri Lankan in politics. In this background the political constitutions and reforms were introduced from time to time. Anyway these constitutions and reforms created the Separation among the Sri Lankans. During the implementation of Donoughmore constitution some institutions and newspapers did not fail to bring out these pros and cons. The Eelakesari also pointed out the matter. This newspaper explored the pros and cons of this plan and rendered a volunteer service to Sri Lankan Tamil society. This research analyses on the basis of the social and historical approach. Eelakesari newspaper was considered as the primary source in this research. The contemporary news papers and books written in Jaffna and articles were used as secondary sources in this research. The Eelakesari had denounced the Donoughmore Constitution. Anyway the success was a questionable one. Keywords : Donoughmore Constitution, Elakesari, Democratic, Franchise, Tamil Congress Origins of News papers Executive, legislature and Judiciary are the three important organs of a Democratic government. The press plays the role of guiding the government in a proper way and thereby paves the way for safeguarding the rights of the people. Due to this role the News papers are considered as the fourth pillar of democracy (Anantharajah,N. 2002, p.01). Generally there are the many Medias available to provide information regarding the day to day happenings of the world to the people. Each media differs from the other in their way of presentation of facts. Presentation depends on the intention they have. The quality of each differs from one another. Recently many modern Medias have joined those already in existence. The radio, television and the newspapers are the common Page 13

2 Medias and out of these, the newspapers are the cheapest and therefore easily accessible to the common man. The history of the news papers in the world has a long history. The human beings searched for information and the process gathered the knowledge (Sivagurunathan,R.1993, p.18). This long time effort taken by the human beings resulted in producing newspapers. The invention of printing machine facilitated this development. Johan Guttenberg invented the first printing machine in the 14 th century. The printing activities gradually developed in the European countries. Following the development of printing, a reduction of the use of letters chipped in trees was observed. The special news had been printed in the pamphlet form since 17 th century. The impressive of growth of the news papers was in the 18 th century and since then the people had developed a habit of seeking for information through the newspapers. This development was not only in the European countries but also in the Asian countries. In India and Sri Lanka the newspapers were published only after the arrival of the Europeans. A printing press was started by an American church at Manipay in Sri Lanka in 1834 and it published the first Tamil newspaper in Jaffna. In 1842, the Jaffna Tract Society used this newspaper to spread Christianity. Further it published the newspaper named The Udayatharagai (Morning Star) in both Tamil and English (Udayatharagai,1841 January 07, p.02). This was the role model of other newspapers which later appeared in Jaffna. Origin of Eelakesari The Eelakesari newspaper which was published from the Jaffna Tamils area voiced for Tamils against the racist programmes of the time. Eelakesari appeared at the most important period of Sri Lanka s political and social history. Again this was the period when great changes in Sri Lankan politics and society were taking place. Scholars called the period around 25 years after 1930 as the era of Tamil literature. After Eelakesari had commenced its publication (Subramaniam,N. 1977, p.169). In the 1930s following the Salt Sathayagraha people s political awareness increased and this resulted in the rise of newspapers in Tamil Nadu. The periodicals such as Sudanthirssangu, Kalaimani, and Thinamani had come to being. During that time Eelakesari did what Saraswathi and Manikodi did in South India. The weekly newspaper Eelakesari was published from Thirumagal press, Chunnakam(Jaffna) in 1930 by N. Ponniah, who was from Kurumbasiddi in Jaffna (Eelakesari 1930 July 27. p.04). This News paper had been in publication for around 28 years since 1930 to Generally the Tamil news papers did not make any deviate from its traditional approach of dealing with only religious matters. Eelakesari was no exception. It also dealt with only religious culture but it did not give any importance to explain the religious doctrines. It gave importance mainly to the social and political matters in addition to religious aspects (Eelakesari, 1935 February 03, p.06). During the days of publication of Eelakesari the relationship between Jaffna and Tamil Nadu was very intimate. They had very close link in political, economic, and cultural fields. And also the doctrines of Gandhi had been in practice here. The Jaffna Youth Congress which was established in Jaffna accepted Gandhi and his principles as the role models of all their activities. Most of the volunteer organizations in Jaffna and India followed Gandhi s principles. Page 14

3 Donoughmore Constitution and Eelakesari In 1927 a royal commission under the Earl of Donoughmore visited Sri Lanka to ascertain why representative government as chartered by the 1924 constitution had not succeeded and to suggest constitutional changes necessary for the island's eventual self-rule. The Donoughmore Commission spent four months interviewing islanders. They held 34 sittings and interviewed 140 people. The commission declared that the constitution had authorized a government characterized by the "divorce of power from responsibility," which at times seemed "rather like holy matrimony at its worst." The 1924 constitution, considered by the commission to be "an unqualified failure," failed to provide a strong, credible executive body of representatives. To remedy these shortcomings, the commission proposed universal adult franchise and an experimental system of government to be run by executive committees. The resulting Donoughmore Constitution, promulgated in 1931 to accommodate these new proposals in government, was a unique document that provided Sri Lankans with training for self-government. Donoughmore constitution which was introduced in the period of British had degraded directly and indirectly the Tamil minorities. Really the history of Eelakesari published with the origin of Donoughmore constitution in Sri Lanka. In this reason this newspaper absorbed different subject matters. This newspaper had contained the following subject matters. Namely the advent of Donoughmore commission, their recommendations, the criticism related with that recommendations, activities of the State Council members, the elections which were held under this constitution and the awakening of Tamil leaders. The Donoughmore constitution was rejected by the minorities from the beginning. It absolutely abolished the influence of Tamils in Legislative Council. The beginning of the Eelakesari and the implementation of Donoughmore constitutions were the contemporary incidents. On the basis this newspaper focused the short comings and criticism about this constitution in its publications from time to time. Eelakesari had contained Sir. Pon. Ramanathan as leader and Jaffna youth congress as a guidance. This newspaper criticized the Donoughmore Constitution which was rejected by the two parties. Here it was not a wonderful matter. There were so many information published in the Eelakesari through the editor s headlines. Most of them were seen as denouncement and criticisms. This newspaper had criticized the plan before the implementation of this project. The following was one of the ideas published by the Elekesari. The nation had got benefits if the short coming constitution were not implemented. It people who live in different parts of the Country publish their own opinion the political reforms will be ceased (Eelakesari 1930 October 22 p.02). General Elections 1931 The election was held in 1931 according to the Donoughmore Constitution except Jaffna peninsula (except Mulaithevu and Manner electorate). Really this election was seen to satisfy Kandian Sinhalese and British government. The recommendations which were put forwarded by the Donoughmore commission were considered universal suffrage as democratic recommendations. There were so many oppositions seen among Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and others regarding Page 15

4 the implementation of universal suffrage (Mohamad Sameen 1998, p.167). There were different notions seen among the Jaffna youth congress (Silva,K.M.De 1981 p.424). The Eelakesari did not supported the implementation of universal suffrage according to the Donoughmore Constitution. The Donoughmore commission Put forwarded a lot of democratic recommendations whereas this newspaper would not like this constitution. The reasons were the lack of education and political knowledge among the Sri Lankan people. More over this news paper absolutely rejected the rights of women in election. The Eelakesari published the following ideas in the contemporary period. Does women have the own openions and talents to identify the correct ideas?. How can women know the constitution if men were not know the constitution? It was a suspicious one regarding the provision of benefits to women (Eelakesari 1930 September10, p.02). It is observed that the Hindu Organ news paper which was published in Jaffna in that contemporary period had the same idea (Hindu Organ, 1928 March 12, p.02). The Eelakesari had stressed the people should have a certain knowledge regarding the universal suffrage. The Eelakesari often published the details regarding the methods of pollings. So the uneducated Jaffna people easily understood the polling system. In 1930 the Eelakesari published as editor s headline as follows. The voters could not give their consent for the sake of others. They have to decide by their own who is the best in the society and cast the vote (Eelakesari 1930September17, p.02). The Authorities of Governor According to the Donoughmore Constitution the governor had accepted all authorities and responsibilities of Sri Lanka. But his authorities affected the democracy of the country. The Eelakesari had criticized about these activities Great depression happened in 1929 when the state council had decided to reduce the allocated amount for the European officers who travel to their own Countries from Rs 4, to 3,000 00, the governor had used his special authorities and stopped the above said plan. This incident was denounced by the First fruit of the authority (Eelakesari 1931Augest 05, p.02). We can observe that the Eelakesari had denounced the governor who used the special authorities in many situations. In 1937 the conflicts arouse between the state council and the governor regarding the police officers salary increasement. Here the governor used his special authorities and rejected the decision of state council. This activity was criticized by Eelakesari (Eelakesari 1931September18, p.02). Executive Committees One of the administrative methods in Donoughmore constitution had been criticized by many people. Seven committees performed executive duties. Each committee consisted of designated members of the State Council and was chaired by an elected Sri Lankan, who was addressed as Page 16

5 minister. Three British officers of ministerial rank, along with the seven Sri Lankan ministers, formed a board of ministers. The British ministers collectively handled responsibility for defense, external affairs, finance, and judicial matters. Because it had so many defects. But the Eelakesari said that this Executive Committees methods were not seen in any part of the world and it was introduced in Sri Lanka(Eelakesari 1931April 22, p.02). Further it focused some views regarding the Executive Committees methods as follows. It was not suitable to conduct the Executive committees methods of political but it is suitable to conduct the political administration by using some advice. The freedom of fully administrative divisions were not given in to the hands of ministers. The main responsibilities and state responsibilities were handed to the government officers (Ibid). After the implementation of the Executive Committees systems, the people realized that these were unwanted one. This news paper had shared its views through the readers. They were, the disputes among the members of the Executive Committees, the ministers were acted as puppets and the delay of administrative activities. Further this newspaper stressed that these methods should be removed from time to time. Instead of these the Eelakesari put forwarded what types of boards should be created. Many parties should be joined together and elect a leader. The leader should elect the suitable persons to conduct smooth administration. After that the board of administration should be created according to the ministers. Then only the political machine can work without any problem. so it is expected that these board of political administration should be changed (Eelakesari 1932, July17, p.06). Intermediate Election in 1934 Generally the Eelakesari had opposed the plan of Donoughmore constitution, even though it accepted the intermediate election. In this instance this newspaper had denounce the election and criticized competitors of G.G.Ponnmpalam and his comrades. And it asked a question how the members of Jaffna could be joined in this unchanged State Council (Eelakesari 1932 March 09, p.06). Finally this newspaper said that people should identify the correct candidates who are possessing the attitude of brother hood with Sinhalese (Eelakesari 1934 December 17, p.06). And it asked the people to support the representatives who opposed the racialism. From these we can identify that this newspaper had tried to create the national integrity. At the same time it had changed its policies after the independence. The results of intermediate elections were against the canvassing of Eelakesari. G.G.Ponnambalam had entered into the government through this election. Through this election the following candidates were elected from different divisions. They were G.G.Ponnambalam from Pointpedro, A.Mahadeva from Jaffna, T.Nadeshan from Kankesanthurai and Nevins Selvadurai from kayts. Page 17

6 Members of State Council The Commission proposed reforms which were implemented as the so-called Donoughmore Constitution, resulting in the abolition of the Legislative Council of Ceylon as the colony's legislature, and its replacement by a State Council in The structure and function of the State Council was experimental, and was based in part of the United Kingdom's London County Council. The State Council functioned in both an executive and legislative capacity, with seven committees performing executive duties. Each committee consisted of designated members of the State Council, and was chaired by an elected Ceylonese who was addressed as minister. The Ceylonese ministers formed a board of ministers with three British officials of ministerial rank who handled defense, external affairs, finance, and judicial matters. The State Council consisted of 58 members, of whom 50 would be elected by universal suffrage, with the remaining 8 members appointed by the governor. Eelakesari had criticized the activities of state board. This paper had made the propaganda that the candidates had entered politics for their own well wishes and they would not render their services to the people after the entrance to the State Council. The members of State Council could not performe any duties in view of governor special authorities. Therefore it is better that they should resign from their post. The ideas regarding the state members were focused by Elakesari as follows, The representative of people in state council had no any self esteem, shyness and dignity. It was not better that the governor had used special authority. If governor had state council and unrecognized proposals implemented they would have given up their positions (Eelakesari 1932 March 23, p.06). More over some news appeared in the Eelakesari regarding the State Council members duties, their rights, and the necessity of capturing the minds of people. General Election in 1936 The election that would be held in 1935 was put off in 1936 owing to the several reasons. The Eelakesari had highlighted the postponed elections as follows. The representatives who were selected at the beginning had lost the people s support and they would not be definitely selected in another election(eelakesari 1935,Feb24, p.06). But the results of elections in 1936 had seen against the national integrity and the ideas of Eelakesari. The four people who were considered as class disputes were selected from the four parts of Jaffna G.G.Ponnambalam had selected from Pointpedro and V.Thuraiswamy from Thenmarrachi. This newspaper had focused the results of elections as follows. The volunteers of nation had degraded due to the universal franchise and the lack of knowledge in politics (Eelakesari 1936 March22,p.08). During this period G.G.Ponnambalam was seen as an influenced leader among the Tamils. The following decisions were proposed in the meeting which was held in 1934 by G.G.Ponnambalam. They are Page 18

7 1. The equal representative in state council. 2. The ruling method of administration should be continued 3. The new reforms which were recommended by governor should be rejected (Chandrakanthan A.J.V, 1996, p.66). Generally his requests were accepted by Tamil Congress only. The Eelakesari had also followed their ideas (Pathmanathan,R. Thinamurasu, 2000 July 10, p.16). The Eelakesari had focused its views as follows. The unions should be formed in several parts of Jaffna the knowledge of politics should be taught to the people regarding the development of nation and politics. If it were not happened the false leaders spread their news to give danger for the nation (Eelakesari 1939 February 05, p.08). General election was not conducted in Sri Lanka till The reasons were the world war and the reduction of government expenditures. This news paper said that the general election was not conducted for several years the members of State Council were in power for many years the members did not attend the meeting regularly and they failed to observe the State Council s activities. Further the people had lack of knowledge in politics due to the interruptions of election (Eelakesari 1941 August 31, p.06). The Eelakesari had published not only its denouncement regarding the Donoughmore Constitution but also the creative work of others. The Eelakesari had considered Sir. Pon. Ramanathan as a true volunteer and it had the eagerness to send him to the State Council(Ibid). Conclusion The Donoughmore constitution was seen as a debate subject matter up to the independence of Sri Lanka. This constitution did not satisfy any society. Especially its recommendations affected the minorities. For these reasons the Eelakesari had not accepted this constitution. This constitution had an aim to eradicate the political racialism but it seemed to induce the racialism disputes. This constitution was considered as a prototype to create the independence state in Sri Lanka. But this plan deceived the groups of the Donoughmore constitution. Further it indirectly affected the political parties development and the uniqueness of representatives. The Eelakesasri opposed the Donoughmore constitution from the beginning and it said that it was a dangerous one to the national integrity. This news paper had done so many awakening programmes for people who got the knowledge about politics. In those days most of the papers had an aim to publish the religious activities. But the Eelakesari had given its voice for the political independence of people. But it was a questionable one that how many people got its benefits. Because the results of elections during the period of Donoughmore constitution seemed against the Eelakesari s propaganda. Even though the voice of Eelakesari was seen as the voice of Tamil society in Sri Lanka till the end. Page 19

8 References\ Notes Books 1. Anantharaj, N.(2002), Suthnthiraththukku pinnar Tamil Paththirikaikalthurajin Valarchchi Oru parvai, Tamil Illakkia peruvila (Tamil), Educational Cultural & Sports Ministry, Colombo. 2. Mohamad Sameen,(1998), Oru Serupanmai Samukaththin Pirachchinaikal (Tamil), Kumaran Publication, Chennai. 3. Silva,K.M.De.(1981), A History of Sri Lanka, Oxford University Press, Delhi. 4. Sivagurunathan,R.(1993), Illangajil Tamil Paththirikaithurajin Valarchchi (Tamil), Manimehalai Publication, Chennai. 5. Chandrakanthan, A.J.V,(1996), Sri Lanka Tamil Nationalism its origin and development in the 19 th century and 20 th centuries, C.Hurst & Company, London. 6. Subramaniam,N. (1977), Eelaththu Tamil Novel Ilkkiyam, Proceeding of the Fourth International Conference Seminar of Tamil Studies, International Association of Tamil Research, Sri Lanka. News Papers Report 1. Eelakesari (Tamil), Thirumakal Press, Chunnakam. 2. Hindu Organ (Tamil), Saivaparipaala saba Vannarpannai. 3. Morning Star (English), American Church, Manipay. 4. Thinamurasu(Tamil), D.D. Ector prizes private Ltd. Colombo. Report of the Commission on Constitutional Reform, Vol. 6677(Great Britain Parliament), H.M. Stationery Off, Page 20