“I am the first to enter politics from here, and my brothers and sisters will undoubtedly follow,” Samuel told reporters.
Samuel was elected to the parliament at the general election held on November 14 from the Badulla district representing the National People’s Power party.
She is the daughter of plantation worker parents, and has been a grassroot level social activist.
“I studied political science for A/Level and was fascinated by Marxism, and I realised what we studied in school and what was practiced in other countries were two different things,” she told an interviewer ahead of the election.
“I was drawn to politics because I wanted to do something for my community. But people like me found it hard to enter politics because there are already established persons from our community.”
After A/Levels, she earned a diploma, and worked for the Education Cooperative Society. “One of the main problems our people have is the language barrier, so I taught Sinhala and English in areas where that was not available.”
Malayahas are Indian workers who arrived during the British period. They were denied formal citizenship after independence through a citizenship law enacted by a national assembly in the style seen in European nation-states, though they were born in the island and some were returned to India.
Citizenship was eventually given through the Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act, No. 35 of 2003, but the community, many of them plantation workers, still faces many issues.
Samuel, as well as generational politician and former minister Jeevan Thondaman, will now represent the community in the 10th parliament and hopefully ensure quality education, healthcare and many other facilities. (Colombo/Nov19/2024)
Tuesday November 19