Ceylon Workers' Congress

Organisation

The political potentiality of the Indian Tamil workers and the CIC led by Thondaman were viewed as threats to the power of the ruling

Even though the

Thondaman opposed those laws and argued that most of the Indians were permanent residents and were the sons and daughters of the soil as are the Sinhalese or the "Malabar Tamils". The Marxist politicians criticised the move as an act of capitalist-imperialist lackeys, while

Thondaman's political organization staged a non-violent satyagraha campaign against the implementation of citizenship laws and boycotted them for a period of time. Since 1952, the Indian Tamils could not elect any representative to the Parliament as their voting strength was drastically reduced.

Thondaman supported the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the 1960 elections and, after the victory of this party, was appointed to the House of Representative as a nominated Member of Parliament. On 3 December 1964, Thondaman declined to vote on a motion connected with the Governor General's Throne Speech. This brought about the downfall of the SLFP government led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

In the March 1965 elections, Thondaman shifted to the UNP to protest against the terms of the

He was out of Parliament from 1970 to 1977 after the defeat of the UNP in the general election of 1970. During this period the CWC under his leadership gradually allied itself with the major Tamil political parties and subscribed to form the Tamil United Front (TUF). He was also elected a leader of the triumvirate leadership of this Tamil political organization.

In May 1975, the TUF stressed that its objective was the setting up of the separate free, secular, sovereign, socialist state of Tamil Eelam and renamed itself into Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). Thondaman did not want to subscribe to this new separatist policy of the TULF and withdrew from it.

He shifted his loyalties towards the United National Party which came to power in 1977. He served on the select committee for the revision of the constitution in 1978. In September 1978, he was invited by President J. R. Jayawardhane to join the Cabinet, which he accepted after the Executive Council of the Ceylon Workers Congress decided to do so.

Since 1978, Thondaman has served as a Cabinet minister under Presidents J. R. Jayawardhane, R.Premadasa and since 1995 under president Chandrika Bandaranaike.

When he joined the UNP government, he explained that he owed his position to the CWC, and the CWC's policy was to get citizenship for the stateless and better working conditions for estate labour.

At the last

References