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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 11, 2019

As discussed earlier, researchers have categorized relative deprivation based feelings
in terms of IRD and GRD. In that context it is clear that lower caste people had

suffered both IRD and GRD because of the hegemony of upper caste Tamils. Thus,

generally the lower caste people realized they were being deprived as a group in the
face of Vellalah dominancy. That was the main reason behind the organized anti-

caste struggles that took place even in the 1920s. Group sense was more powerful
than individual sense when the need to organize effective events arose. Anti-caste

struggles were commonly visible in Jaffna society even in the 1950s. Participation

of a number of people working as a group with a particular aim, such as organizing
events or fighting for rights, will always achieve more effective results than the

participation of a large number of people acting separately and individually.

During the post-independence period even the high caste Vellalah leaders and
Vellalah youth came to realize they were relatively deprived. The depth of their

deprivation-based feelings varied according to the time period. They realized they
were deprived to a greater extent during the post-independence period as compared

to the status they enjoyed during the pre–independence period. Another thing they

felt was that they were relatively deprived after comparing their status with the
contemporary Sinhalese political groups. According to the relative deprivation

theory, if such comparisons arouse negative feelings among individuals or a

particular group, this could give rise to egoistic relative deprivation feelings among
them. It will be noticed that Vellalah Tamils too felt compelled to act as a group

rather than as individuals. They engaged as a group in agitation movements at the
national level during the post-independence period, by demanding equal

opportunities with the Sinhalese. Therefore, it is clear that GRD is more significant
among Vellalah Tamils than IRD. In the 1970s, they were able to mobilize the

depressed caste youth by appealing to their sense of ethnic pride. In this context

caste-based frustrations became a secondary issue and the feelings related to
ethnicity-based deprivations became more prominent among all layers of Tamil

youth. Thus, the Tamil youth as a single group became a united force against the

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