Eelam is our Homeland

"The struggle for Tamil Eelam is about the democratic right of the people of Tamil Eelam to govern themselves in their homeland - nothing less and nothing more. It is about freedom from alien Sinhala rule. It is not about securing benevolent Sinhala rule.... An independent Tamil Eelam is not negotiable. But an independent Tamil Eelam will negotiate. It can and will negotiate with an independent Sri Lanka the terms on which two independent states may associate with one another in equality and in freedom. Sovereignty, after all, is not virginity..."

"At the time of independence in 1948, Tamils of Ceylon constituted 26 % of the population and numbering over 2millions. There were equal number of Northeast (or Eelam) Tamils and Upcountry Tamils. After independence, the Sinhalese dominated government has reduced the number of Tamils by their racist policies, as will be discussed later. The depleted Tamils now form only 18 % of the Ceylon

Sangam.org - 39 population, of whom Northeast Tamils are 12.7 % and

Upcountry Tamils 5.5%. When Ceylon became independent, the Ceylon Tamils were a divided lot. The Tamils of Jaffna. Vanni, Mannar,Trincomalee, Batticaloa and the Upcountry were disunited and did not follow any effective policy. To add to this, the

pernicious caste system was a blot on the Tamils and Sinhalese alike. The dominant castes were Vellalas among

the Tamils and Goigama among the Sinhalese. They were farmers by tradition. The Tamil Vellalas failed to treat the others castes with due respect and there were occasional clashes. Now, with the civil war, it is all history, and as a result of it the Tamil society has been in the melting pot. At the time Ceylon was granted independence, the Tamils were content to live with the Sinhalese in a united Ceylon. There was no talk of separation, federalism or confederalism. G.G. Ponnambalam agitated for balanced representation or

50-50' as referred to by some. His argument was that there should be equal representation for the majority Sinhalese and all other minorities put together, to prevent dominance by the

majority community. GGs demand was rejected. Under the Soulbury constitution, Ceylon was given a British type constitution based on majority rule. The only safeguard for the Tamil minority in the constitution was an ineffective clause 29(2), that no laws shall be passed that would place

any community at a disadvantage. Ceylon became independent under a unitary constitution that was to prove to

be a dismal disaster for the unsuspecting Tamils, who were

cheated in the very year of independence."

"Thanthai Chelva resigned from his Parliamentary seat in 1972 as a protest against the new constitution and the

mistreatment of the Tamils by the Sinhalese. In 1975 when the elections were belatedly held, he won the Kankesanturai electorate resoundingly. He proclaimed that his victory was

a mandate for the Tamils to exercise the right of selfdetermination. The Tamil United Liberation Front was formed in 1976 by uniting the Federal Party, the Ceylon Tamil Congress and the Ceylon Workers Congress under the formidable leadership of Messrs. Chelvanayagam, G.G. Ponnambalam and Thondaman. On May 14, 1976, the TULF at a convention held in Vaddukkoddai presided over by Thanthai Chelva, passed a historic resolution calling for the formation of a

separate state of Tamil Eelam covering the Northern and Eastern provinces.

Thanthai Chelva breathed his last on April 4, 1977. After him, A. Amirthalingam, his deputy became the leader of the Tamils. In the general elections held in 1977 after Thanthai

Chelvas demise, the TULF received from the Tamils, an overwhelming mandate for a sovereign state of Tamil Eelam, winning 18 seats out of the 24 contested. By a twist of fate it

emerged as the official opposition in parliament because it was the second largest party. A. Amirthalingam, became the leader of the opposition."

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