Land Reform Law
The Land Reform Law No. 1 of 1972 was a land reform policy enacted by the United Front government of Sri Lanka, led by Sirimavo Bandaranaike, then Prime Minister. It aimed to dismantle the colonial legacy of land concentration, particularly among foreign-owned plantations and absentee landlords, and redistribute land to the rural poor, especially the dispossessed Kandyan peasantry.
The Land Reform Law of 1972 represented an ambitious attempt to rectify colonial-era land inequities and empower rural peasants under a socialist framework spearheaded by Minister Hector Kobbekaduwa. However, the program’s flawed execution, limited compensation, exclusion of marginalized groups, and negative impact on foreign investment contributed to economic decline and heightened ethnic divisions in Sri Lanka.[1] [2][1]
Historical background
[edit]During British colonial rule (1815–1948), the administration implemented policies such as the Waste Lands Ordinance of 1897 that allowed the Crown to appropriate vast tracts of land, especially in the central highlands, which had traditionally been used by the Kandyan Sinhalese peasantry for subsistence farming and shifting cultivation. This resulted in the dispossession and landlessness of many Kandyan peasants as lands were sold or leased to British plantation companies cultivating tea, rubber, and coconut.[3][4]
In the decades following independence, the government established commissions—including the Kandyan Peasantry Commission—to investigate the socio-economic conditions of rural communities and address grievances related to historic land alienation. The commission’s findings highlighted widespread poverty, landlessness, and marginalisation of the Kandyan peasantry due to colonial-era land seizures.[5][6]
The commission recommended comprehensive land reform measures to restore land rights and promote rural development. These recommendations, alongside rising demands from leftist and nationalist political parties, laid the groundwork for the Land Reform Law of 1972. This law aimed to impose ceilings on landholdings, reclaim surplus lands from large estate owners, and redistribute them to landless peasants, particularly targeting the Kandyan regions that had suffered most from colonial dispossession.[2][7]
Ministerial oversight and the Land Reform Commission
[edit]The Land Reform Commission (LRC), tasked with carrying out the reclamation and redistribution of land, was placed under the authority of the Minister of Agriculture and Lands, Hector Kobbekaduwa.[8] He played a central role in formulating the legislation and was responsible for guiding the LRC’s operations.[2] Kobbekaduwa’s leadership was instrumental in driving the government’s socialist agrarian agenda, focusing on empowering rural peasants and breaking up colonial-era landholdings.[8] and he later contested the 1982 presidential election as the SLFP candidate.[8]
The Land Reform Commission (LRC) was the primary agency responsible for:
- Identifying and surveying excess land holdings.[2]
- Issuing vesting orders to transfer ownership of surplus lands to the state.[2]
- Facilitating redistribution to landless farmers, cooperatives, or state enterprises.[2]
Compensation to landowners was:
- Paid primarily in government bonds with long maturities and low face value relative to market price.[1]
- Considered inadequate by many landowners, especially foreign plantation companies and urban elites.[1]
- A point of contention that led to political opposition and legal challenges.[1]
Economic effects and impact on foreign direct investment
[edit]The nationalisation of estates and land redistribution had severe economic consequences:
- Declining productivity in state-run plantations.[2]
- Reduction in export volumes of tea, rubber, and coconut.[2]
- Significant decline in foreign direct investment (FDI) due to investor fears over nationalisation and inadequate compensation.[1][2]
- Capital flight and decreased reinvestment worsened the country’s foreign exchange position.[2]
- Contributed to economic difficulties culminating in the liberalisation reforms of 1977 under the United National Party (UNP).[2]
Political and ethnic consequences
[edit]While land reform addressed historical Kandyan peasant grievances, it also:
- Marginalised Indian Tamil plantation workers, many of whom lost jobs and land access.[6][9]
- Facilitated Sinhalese colonisation in Tamil-majority areas, increasing ethnic tensions.[7][9]
- Indirectly contributed to the socio-economic context that led to the Sri Lankan Civil War.[7][9]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c d e f Lakshman, W. D. (1989). Land Reforms in Sri Lanka: A Historical and Empirical Appraisal. Institute of Policy Studies.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k Moore, Mick (1985). The State and Peasant Politics in Sri Lanka. Cambridge University Press.
- ^ Wickramasinghe, Nira (2006). Sri Lanka in the Modern Age: A History of Contested Identities. University of Hawaii Press.
- ^ Peebles, Patrick (2001). The Plantation Tamils of Ceylon. Leicester University Press.
- ^ Shanmugaratnam, N. (1985). "Ethnic Relations and the Gal Oya Settlement Scheme". South Asia Bulletin. 5 (1).
- ^ a b Hollup, Oddvar (1995). "The Disintegration of the Tamil Community in Sri Lanka". Anthropologischer Anzeiger. 53 (4).
- ^ a b c Pfaffenberger, Bryan (1982). "The Political Construction of Ethnic Identity in Sri Lanka". Ethnic and Racial Studies. 5 (1).
- ^ a b c Snodgrass, Donald R. (1966). Ceylon: An Export Economy in Transition. Richard D. Irwin.
- ^ a b c Shastri, Amita (1997). "The Material Basis for Separatism: The Tamil Eelam Movement in Sri Lanka". The Journal of Asian Studies. 56 (1).