Tamil Issue — Definition
Definition
The Tamil Issue in Sri Lanka represents one of South Asia's most complex ethnic conflicts that significantly impacted India-Sri Lanka relations for over three decades. To understand this issue, we must first recognize that Sri Lanka has two major ethnic groups: the Sinhalese majority (about 75% of the population) and the Tamil minority (about 15%).
The Tamils are further divided into Sri Lankan Tamils, who have lived on the island for centuries, and Indian Tamils, who were brought as plantation workers during British colonial rule. The conflict primarily involves the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are concentrated in the Northern and Eastern provinces of the island.
The roots of the Tamil Issue lie in post-independence Sri Lanka's language and education policies that systematically discriminated against Tamils. The most significant was the Sinhala Only Act of 1956, which replaced English with Sinhala as the sole official language, effectively excluding Tamils from government jobs and higher education.
This was followed by standardization policies in university admissions that required Tamil students to score higher marks than Sinhalese students for the same courses. These discriminatory policies created deep resentment among the Tamil community, leading to peaceful protests initially.
However, the situation escalated dramatically after the anti-Tamil riots of 1958, 1977, and particularly the Black July riots of 1983, where hundreds of Tamils were killed in Colombo and other areas. The failure of peaceful political solutions led to the emergence of various Tamil militant groups, with the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) eventually becoming the dominant force.
The LTTE, founded by Velupillai Prabhakaran in 1976, initially received training and support from India, particularly from Tamil Nadu, where there was strong sympathy for Sri Lankan Tamils due to ethnic and cultural ties.
The conflict escalated into a full-scale civil war after 1983, with the LTTE fighting for an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eelam. India's involvement in the conflict was driven by multiple factors: domestic pressure from Tamil Nadu, strategic concerns about Sri Lankan alignment with Pakistan and other powers, and humanitarian considerations.
The turning point came with the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1987, signed by Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and President J.R. Jayewardene, which aimed to resolve the conflict through political devolution rather than military means.
This accord led to the 13th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution, establishing Provincial Councils with devolved powers, and the deployment of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) to maintain peace and disarm militant groups.
However, the IPKF mission became controversial as it ended up fighting the very LTTE it was supposed to protect, leading to significant casualties and India's withdrawal in 1990. The conflict's impact on India was profound, culminating in the assassination of former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi by an LTTE suicide bomber in 1991.
This event marked a decisive shift in India's policy toward the LTTE and the Tamil Issue. The civil war continued for nearly two more decades, with multiple failed peace processes, before ending in May 2009 when the Sri Lankan military defeated the LTTE in a final offensive.
The end of the war raised new challenges regarding post-conflict reconciliation, accountability for war crimes, and the political rights of Tamils in a unitary Sri Lankan state.