Govt working on healing ‘deep scars’ left by historical injustices faced by IOTs – Jeevan

Minister of Water Supply and Estate Infrastructure Development Jeevan Thondaman has welcomed the decision of the Madras High Court, which he says brings to light the longstanding injustices faced by the Indian Origin Tamil (IOT) community of Sri Lanka.

The Indian government is yet to fulfil its treaty obligations on agreements entered into with the Sri Lankan government to repatriate not less than 600,000 Indian-origin Tamils (IOTs) in Sri Lanka and grant them citizenship, observed India’s Madras high court on Thursday (Nov. 30) while granting relief to a repatriate from Sri Lanka by directing the Central Government of India to treat him and his family members as Indian citizens.

Taking into X (formerly Twitter) to welcome this, Thondaman said “the Sirima-Shashthri pact’s forced repatriation of our people, who had enriched Sri Lanka for over 150 years at the time, remains a stark reminder of the historical injustices imposed on my community that continue to resonate”.

“Our community, torn from their homeland, denied Sri Lankan citizenship for nearly 50 years, and left in limbo without Indian citizenship, has endured decades of statelessness”, he added.

Meanwhile, the minister also mentioned that although citizenship issues were finally resolved in Sri Lanka in 2009, this has profoundly affected their access to basic rights, identity, and dignity. 

“Today, our Government is working on healing the deep scars left by these injustices”, Thondaman said, adding that President Ranil Wickremesinghe’s committee on Integration of the Plantation Community seeks to find and implement practical solutions to fully integrate the IOT plantation community to Sri Lankan society.

He also highlighted that the President’s recent announcement to provide every estate worker family 10 perches of land, will finally give them ownership over the land they have lived and toiled in for 200 years. 

“But this is not enough. Every IOT forcibly taken away, must also have the right to return back to Sri Lanka. This is not just a demand; it’s a call to rectify historical wrongs”, he said.

“Both Sri Lanka and India must take responsibility for restoring the rights and dignity of every individual affected. The long-term impact of statelessness on the IOTs is a collective failure of both countries.”

The minister said he is committed to work with all partners including neighbours India, to ensure justice and a rightful place for the IOT community in our shared history.