Tamil Eelam Homepage

[kurd-l at burn.ucsd.edu]

From: Arm The Spirit <ats at locust.etext.org>

Tamil Eelam Homepage
http://www.eelam.com

The Tamil people of the island of Ceylon
(now called Sri Lanka) constitute a
distinct nation. They form a social entity,
with their own history, traditions, culture,
language and traditional homeland. The
Tamil people call their nation 'Tamil
Eelam'. 

As a nation, Tamils have the inalienable right to
self-determination, a universal principle enshrined
in the U.N. Charter that guarantees the right of a
people to political independence. 

Apart from the right to self-determination,
Tamil Eelam may also be justified in terms of
international law under the concept of reversion of
sovereignty and the concept of effectiveness. 

Before a succession of western nations (including
the Portuguese, Dutch and the British) ruled the
island, there were two distinct kingdoms on the
island, the Tamil Kingdom in the north and the
Sinhala kingdom in the South. 

For ease of administration, the British
amalgamated the two distinct nations into a single
entity with its capital in Colombo. The British gave
Ceylon independence in 1948, handing over
control of the entire island to a Sinhalese
government, based in Colombo, which renamed
the island Sri Lanka. 

The Sinhala state's oppression of the Tamil people
began in various forms almost immediately,
attacking everything that defined the Tamils as a
nation. 

A series of laws that discriminated against Tamils
were implemented. These included making
Sinhala, instead of English, the only official
language of the country, i.e. Tamils could not be
employed unless they learnt Sinhala. The
educational structures were altered to restrict
Tamil admissions to higher education. Investment
in Tamil areas was minimised. 

Recruitment of Tamils into the security forces was
restricted. The Sri Lankan security forces are
almost exclusively Sinhalese. The security forces
have been responsible for and continue to carry
out human rights abuses and atrocities against
Tamil civilians on a genocidal scale. 

Sinhala colonisation of traditional Tamil areas was
started in the fifties, and was intensified in the
eighties with the security forces wiping out Tamil
villages and replacing them with Sinhala
settlements. Colonisation continues unabated. 

Anti-Tamil rioting, with the active participation of
the Sri Lankan security forces, has claimed
thousands of Tamil lives. Thousands more suffered
torture and rape. 

As the Tamil people sense of helplessness
deepened, Tamil politicians advocated a separate
Tamil state. In 1977, the Tamil United Liberation
Front resolved in its Vaddukoddai Resolution to
campaign for political independence on the basis
of the Tamil nation's right to self-determination. 

At the general elections of 1977, the TULF
demanded a clear mandate from the Tamil people
to launch a national campaign to establish the
sovereignty of the Tamil homeland. These
elections were effectively a referendum the Tamil
speaking people voted overwhelmingly in favour
of secession. 

The Tamil call for independence was met by island
widespread anti-Tamil rioting. The Sri Lankan
government forced all elected MPs to take an oath
that they would not seek a separate state. 

With all democratic ways to achieve equality
having failed repeatedly, an armed struggle for
self-determination began, led by the Liberation
Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). International Law
recognises that the armed resistance of the Tamil
people to Sri Lankan rule is lawful and just. 

Today, the LTTE has evolved into a military and
political organisation representing the aspirations
and hopes of the Tamil people.

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