{"id":120587,"date":"2021-11-24T01:40:40","date_gmt":"2021-11-24T07:40:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=120587"},"modified":"2021-11-23T18:29:08","modified_gmt":"2021-11-24T01:29:08","slug":"erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-27-a1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/11\/24\/erasing-the-eelam-victory-part-27-a1\/","title":{"rendered":"ERASING THE EELAM VICTORY Part 27 A1"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

The   Tamil politicians had planned to achieve a\nseparate Tamil state in Ceylon, long before Independence or Sinhala Only. The\nwords Tamil Eelam\u201d was used for the first time in 1923, by Ponnambalam Arunachalam\nwhen he spoke before the Tamil League. In\nthis speech he spoke of the \u2018desire to preserve our individuality as a people.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1931, HAP Sandrasagara said,\u201dI will make Jaffna an Ulster and I\nwill be its Lord Carson.  In 1935 C.S. Rajaratnam,\nan Indian Tamil proctor resident in Kandy presented a memorandum to the British\nadministration asking for three self governing federal states. North and east for\nthe Tamils, the rest divided into two states for Kandyan Sinhalese and the Low\nCountry Sinhalese. This vision\nof a separate Tamil state was maintained steadily thereafter. A select timeline\nis given in Appendix 1.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Illankai Tamkil\nArasu Kadchi, ITAK said, [probably\nin 1948]  The Tamil-speaking\npeople in Ceylon constitute a nation distinct from that of the Sinhalese by\nevery fundamental test of nationhood, firstly that of a separate historical\npast in the island at least as ancient and as glorious as that of the\nSinhalese, secondly by the fact of their being a linguistic entity entirely\ndifferent from that of the Sinhalese, with an unsurpassed classical heritage\nand a modern development of language which makes Tamil fully adequate for all\npresent-day needs and finally by reason of their territorial habitation of\ndefinite areas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamil United Liberaton Front (TULF) declared the Vaddukoddai resolution in\n1976.The first National Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front meeting\nat Pannakam (Vaddukoddai Constituency) on the 14th day of May, 1976, hereby\ndeclares that the Tamils of Ceylon by virtue of their great language, their\nreligions, their separate culture and heritage, their history of independent\nexistence as a separate state over a distinct territory for several centuries\ntill they were conquered by the armed might of the European invaders and above\nall by their will to exist as a separate entity ruling themselves in their own\nterritory, are a nation distinct and apart from Sinhalese and this Convention\nannounces to the world that the Republican Constitution of 1972 has made the\nTamils a slave nation ruled by the new colonial masters, the Sinhalese ,who are\nusing the power they have wrongly usurped to deprive the Tamil Nation of its\nterritory, language citizenship, economic life, opportunities of employment and\neducation, thereby destroying all the attributes of nationhood of the Tamil\npeople.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This Resolution\nalso wanted \u2018restoration and recognition of the free sovereign secular\nsocialist state of Tamil Eelam based on the right of self determination\ninherent to every nation. (See Appendix 2)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

in 1977 TULF\nstated  that in the next general election\nit seeks a mandate to establish an independent secular socialist state of Tamil\nEelam that includes all the geographically continuous areas that have been\nthe  traditional homeland of the Tamil\nspeaking peoples of the country.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the first\nPeace talks at Thimpu, (1985) the LTTE stated its conditions. Any meaningful solution to the Tamil national\nquestion must be based on the following four cardinal principles:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

  1. Recognition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka as a\nnation.<\/li>
  2. Recognition of the existence of an identified\nhomeland of the Tamils in Sri Lanka. <\/li>
  3. Recognition of the right of\nself-determination of the Tamil nation <\/li>
  4. Recognition of the right to citizenship as a fundamental right of all\nTamils who look upon the island as their country. <\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

    The first three conditions have been received\njoyfully by the   opponents of Eelam. They\nare bashed around, with great enthusiasm. The Sinhalese are not attempting to\nsquash any of this, commented Chandraprema. They intend to let this issue drag\non to its natural end. The Sinhalese like to fight to the finish. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The Tamil separatist movement has never deviated from its demands.  TNA manifesto for the 2010 General election demanded\nthe right of self determination, power sharing on federal model and a re-merger\nof north and east. TNA also wanted direct foreign investment to the north and\neast.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    TNA manifesto\nfor NPC election of 2013 said that the Tamils were a distinct people and from\ntime immemorial have inhabited this island together with the Sinhalese, the\nNorth and East are the historical habitation of the Tamils.  They are entitled as a people to self\ndetermination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The\nTNA manifesto for the 2015 General election  \nwas more elaborate. The manifesto said the Tamils are a distinct people\nwith their own culture, civilization, language and heritage. From time\nimmemorial Tamils have inhabited this island together with the Sinhalese\npeople. The continuous Tamil speaking Northern and Eastern province is the\nhistorical habitation of the Tamil people and the Tamil speaking peoples. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The 2015 Manifesto spoke of the need to exercise our right to\ndetermine our destiny, to ensure self government in the Tamil speaking north\neast of the country within a unified and undivided Sri Lanka. Sovereignty lies with the people and not\nwith the State, the manifesto said. The\nTamil people are entitled to self determination. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    C.V.Wigneswaran\ngave a speech in Jaffna, in 2016 before representatives from the Swiss Institute\nof Federalism, Fribourg, for  which he\nused the TNA Manifesto. His speech went on the Internet. There were over 100\ncomments within two days, most of them insulting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    R. Sampanthan, Leader of TNA gave a talk at\nthe 14th annual ITAK convention, 2012. \nHe said ITAK was created by Chelvanayagam for ensuring self\ndetermination of Tamils. We must have unrestricted authority to govern our own\nland, protect our own people and develop our own economy, culture and tradition\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     The\nTamils people have a distinct culture. The position that the north and\neast     are the areas of historical\nhabitation of the Tamil speaking peoples cannot be compromised. Sri Lanka was\nunited for the first time by the British. Up to 500 years ago, the Tamil people\nhad their own government in Sri Lanka, said Sampanthan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The 30 years after independence were filled\nwith betrayal and humiliation. Agreements were never kept. Tamils could not\nlive as equals and their peaceful struggle was met with violence. The Tamil\nSeparatist Movement therefore took the historical decision in 1976 to ask for a\nseparate government for Tamil Eelam.  \u2018It\nwas the violence against the Tamils that drove them to take up violence themselves,\ncontinued Sampanthan.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Achieving Eelam by ourselves was becoming\nincreasingly unrealistic so we turned to India [and got] the 13th<\/sup>\nAmendment. The rise and fall of LTTE has shown us that regardless of how strong\nsuch movements may be, or how just its demands, it is not realistic for the\nTamils to resort to violent political struggle. Also a struggle that is built\non military might not last. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The struggle for political rights has now entered\nan entirely new chapter, continued Sampanthan. Although the issue at hand is\nthe same, the prevailing conditions are different. In the new environment we\nhave found new ways of continuing with our struggle  together with the support and assistance of\nthe international community, said Sampanthan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    An environment which may fulfill our duties is\nslowly coming into existence. The world has recognized that the Tamils people\nhave faced continuous political persecution and that this persecution has begun\nto manifest itself in new ways in recent times. The international community had\nnow started to exert pressure on the government. The intervention of the international\ncommunity and the pressure being exerted upon the Sri Lanka will oblige the\ngovernment to act. We must be patient, continued Sampanthan.We must work in cooperation\nwith the international community. We must follow their advice and also advice\nthem. We must prove to the international community that \u2018that we will never be\nable to realize our rights within a united Sri Lanka\u2019.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     We must\nbe patient until the international community realizes that the Sri Lanka government\nwill never give political power to the Tamils in a united Sri Lanka .We must be\npatient till then. (Sampanthan repeats this exhortation to be patient about six\ntimes.) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    We are not defeated. We must act with wisdom and caution. The\nsoftening of our stance in certain matters  \nare diplomatic strategies to ensure that we do not alienate the\ninternational community. We have not abandoned our fundamental objectives. The\nstruggle is the same but the approaches we employ are different, the alliances\nare different.  US and India are now with\nus, said Sampanthan. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Sampanthan is preaching high treason. To\ncounter this, Sampanthan also addressed his \u2018dear Sinhala friends\u2019. He told\nthem, our political aspirations to acquire the rights due to us and the right\nto govern our   civil, political\neconomic, social and cultural affairs ourselves is a reasonable demand. It is a\njust aspiration with its roots in history. It is also a fundamental right of\nour people.  We do not seek to divide the\ncountry. Just as you live in your homeland we also want to live in our\nhomeland. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    \"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

    \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n This Tamil homeland is called Eelam.\nThe Eelam map starts north of Chilaw, goes up to Jaffna, then down the east\ncoast and ends at Panama. Eelam includes 1\/3 of the land mass and 2\/3 of Sri\nLanka\u2018s coastline. This means that a vast proportion of our valuable natural\nresource will be held by a mere 10% of the population.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Eelam\ntakes in the oil producing seas near Mannar. Two successful hydrocarbon\ndeposits have already been found in the Mannar basin. On the east coast Eelam\ngathers in the valuable Pulmoddai mineral sands, and Trincomalee harbor. The\neast coast faces the Bay of Bengal along its full length. It is beautifully\npositioned. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Eelam will\nalso get the sea around Eelam. Under UN Law of the Sea, Sri Lanka is entitled\nto claim an extended area of seabed, which will amount to about 20 times Sri\nLanka\u2018s  land area. A good chunk of this\nwill go to Eelam. Eelam will be getting, in the high seas,   the  \nterritorial waters, the contiguous zone, and the extended exclusive\neconomic zone, with its enormous untapped economic resources. (Continued)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    APPENDIX 1<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

     (1923)  The word Tamil Eelam was used for the first\ntime in 1923, by Ponnambalam Arunachalam when he spoke before the Tamil League. In this speech he spoke of the \u2018desire to\npreserve our individuality as a people.\u2019  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

     (1931)  In 1931, HAP\nSandrasagara  said I will make Jaffna an\nUlster and I will be its Lord Carson. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1935) C.S. Rajaratnam, an Indian\nTamil proctor resident in Kandy  formed\nthe  Federated Communities Progressive\nAssociation  in 1934.In 1935 Rajaratnam\npresented a memorandum to the British \ngovernor asking for three self governing federal states. North and east\nfor Tamil, with two other states for Kandyan Sinhalese and the Low Country Sinhalese.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1935) In 1935, ‘ the\nTamil politicians forwarded to Britain a federal structure consisting of\n3 federal states,  north south Kandyan\nwhich even the Jaffna newspapers had dismissed as impractical. (Jane Russell\n“Communal politics under the Donoughmore Constitution” p 192)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     (1948).\nin 1948  Chelvanayagam  started the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi,(  ITAK) Illankai Tamil Arasu Kadchi means Sri\nLanka Tamil State Party\u201d. It does not mean Federal Party. The inaugural and\nfirst business meeting of the ITAK was held, in 1949, not in Jaffna but in  Maradana at the GCSU Hall. Chelvanayagam made\nhis first \nPresidential speech there. It was \npublished by ITAK   and was known as the Maradana Resolution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

     (1949)\nHLD Mahindapala recalls that  on Independence\nday Feb 4, 1949  M Thiruchelvam, Neelan\u2019s\nfather, then Deputy Solicitor General was seen \ntravelling in a car which flew the Nandi flag.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1957) In 1957 Nadesan asked for regional autonomy. ( S Nadesan ‘Regional\nautonomy’ reprinted in 1984) <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1959) In 1959 Chelvanayagam asked for \nan autonomous Tamil state as a single geographical unit. (Wiswa Warnapala.\n‘Ethnic strife and politics in Sri Lanka’ p 127).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1959)  In 1959 \nC. Suntharalingam founded the Eela\nThamil Ottrumai Munnani (Unity Front of Eelam Tamils) .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1959) In 1959 there was a request for a ‘university for the Tamil speaking\npeople in the Tamil speaking areas in order to preserve their language and\nculture’ This was refused (University Commission Report, 1959 p 149)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (1963) In\n1963 Suntharalingam published Eylom: Beginning of the Freedom Struggle<\/em>[1]<\/a>, where he said, I propose to invite\nthose Eyla (Eelath Thamils) Thamils who accept the policy that the time has\ncome for the partition of Ceylon and for the restoration of the Thamil state\nthat existed before  the British took\nover in 1802, to come forward and join the fight for the Freedom and\nIndependence of the Eyla Thamil Nation.(Wikipedia)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    APPENDIX 2<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    VADDUKODDAI\nRESOLUTION 1976.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    The resolution unanimously adopted at the first national convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front held at Vaddukoddai on may 14, 1976.\u00a0 Chairman \u00a0SJV Chelvanayakam <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas, throughout the centuries from the\ndawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations have divided between\nthemselves the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of\nthe country in its Southern and Western parts from the river Walawe to that of\nChilaw and the Tamils possessing the Northern and Eastern districts; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe Tamil Kingdom was overthrown in war and conquered by the Portuguese in 1619,\nand from them by the Dutch and the British in turn, independent of the\nSinhalese Kingdoms; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe British Colonists, who ruled the territories of the Sinhalese and Tamil\nKingdoms separately, joined under compulsion the territories of the Sinhalese\nand the Tamil Kingdoms for purposes of administrative convenience on the\nrecommendation of the Colebrooke Commission in 1833; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas, the Tamil Leaders were in the forefront of the Freedom movement to rid Ceylon of colonial bondage which ultimately led to the grant of independence to Ceylon in 1948; And, Whereas, the foregoing facts of history were completely overlooked, and power over the entire country was transferred to the Sinhalese nation on the basis of a numerical majority <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    thereby reducing the Tamil nation to the\nposition of subject people; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nsuccessive Sinhalese governments since independence have always encouraged and\nfostered the aggressive nationalism of the Sinhalese people and have used their\npolitical power to the detriment of the Tamils by-<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (a) Depriving one half of the Tamil people of\ntheir citizenship and franchise rights thereby reducing Tamil representation in\nParliament,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (b) Making serious inroads into the\nterritories of the former Tamil Kingdom by a system of planned and state-aided\nSinhalese colonization and large scale regularization of recently encouraged\nSinhalese encroachments, calculated to make the Tamils a minority in their own\nhomeland,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (c) Making Sinhala the only official language\nthroughout Ceylon thereby placing the stamp of inferiority on the Tamils and\nthe Tamil Language,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (d) Giving the foremost place to Buddhism\nunder the Republican constitution thereby reducing the Hindus, Christians, and\nMuslims to second class status in this Country,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (e) Denying to the Tamils equality of\nopportunity in the spheres of employment, education, land alienation and\neconomic life in general and starving Tamil areas of large scale industries and\ndevelopment schemes thereby seriously endangering their very existence in Ceylon,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (f) Systematically cutting them off from the\nmain-stream of Tamil cultures in South India while denying them opportunities\nof developing their language and culture in Ceylon, thereby working inexorably\ntowards the cultural genocide of the Tamils,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (g) Permitting and unleashing communal\nviolence and intimidation against the Tamil speaking people as happened in\nAmparai and Colombo in 1956; all over the country in 1958; army reign of terror\nin the Northern and Eastern Provinces in 1961; police violence at the\nInternational Tamil Research Conference in 1974 resulting in the death of nine\npersons in Jaffna; police and communal violence against Tamil speaking Muslims\nat Puttalam and various other parts of Ceylon in 1976 – all these calculated to\ninstill terror in the minds of the Tamil speaking people, thereby breaking\ntheir spirit and the will to resist injustices heaped on them,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (h) By terrorizing, torturing, and imprisoning Tamil youths without trial for long periods on the flimsiest grounds,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    (i) Capping it all by imposing on the Tamil\nNation a constitution drafted, under conditions of emergency without\nopportunities for free discussion, by a Constituent Assembly elected on the\nbasis of the Soulbury Constitution distorted by the Citizenship laws resulting\nin weightage in representation to the Sinhalese majority, thereby depriving the\nTamils of even the remnants of safeguards they had under the earlier\nconstitution, And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nall attempts by the various Tamil political parties to win their rights, by\nco-operating with the governments, by parliamentary and extra-parliamentary\nagitations, by entering into pacts and understandings with successive Prime\nMinisters, in order to achieve the bare minimum of political rights consistent\nwith the self-respect of the Tamil people have proved to be futile; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe efforts of the All Ceylon Tamil Congress to ensure non-domination of the\nminorities by the majority by the adoption of a scheme of balanced\nrepresentation in a Unitary Constitution have failed and even the meagre\nsafeguards provided in article 29 of the Soulbury Constitution against\ndiscriminatory legislation have been removed by the Republican Constitution;\nAnd,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe proposals submitted to the Constituent Assembly by the Ilankai Thamil Arasu\nKadchi for maintaining the unity of the country while preserving the integrity\nof the Tamil people by the establishment of an autonomous Tamil State within\nthe framework of a Federal Republic of Ceylon were summarily and totally\nrejected without even the courtesy of a consideration of its merits; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe amendments to the basic resolutions, intended to ensure the minimum of\nsafeguards to the Tamil people moved on the basis of the nine point demands\nformulated at the conference of all Tamil Political parties at Valvettithurai\non 7th February 1971 and by individual parties and Tamil members of Parliament\nincluding those now in the government party, were rejected in toto by the\ngovernment and Constituent Assembly; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas, even amendments to the draft proposals relating to language, religion, and fundamental-rights including one calculated to ensure that at least the provisions of the Tamil Lanaguage (Special Provisions) Regulations of 1956 be included in the Constitution, were defeated, resulting in the boycott of the Constituent Assembly by a large majority of the Tamil members of Parliament; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe Tamil United Liberation Front, after rejecting the Republican Constitution\nadopted on the 22nd of May, 1972, presented a six point demand to the Prime\nMinister and the Government on 25th June, 1972, and gave three months time\nwithin which the Government was called upon to take meaningful steps to amend\nthe Constitution so as to meet the aspirations of the Tamil Nation on the basis\nof the six points, and informed the Government that if it failed to do so the\nTamil United Liberation Front would launch a non-violent direct action against\nthe Government in order to win the freedom and the rights of the Tamil Nation\non the basis of the right of self-determination; And,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthis last attempt by the Tamil United Liberation Front to win Constitutional\nrecognition of the rights of the Tamil Nation without jeopardizing the unity of\nthe country was callously ignored by the Prime Minister and the Government;\nAnd,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nthe opportunity provided by the Tamil United Liberation leader to vindicate the\nGovernment\u2019s contention that their constitution had the backing of the Tamil\npeople, by resigning from his membership of the National State Assembly and\ncreating a by-election was deliberately put off for over two years in utter\ndisregard of the democratic right of the Tamil voters of Kankesanthurai, and,<\/p>\n\n\n\n

    Whereas,\nin the by-election held on the 6th February 1975, the voters of Kankesanthurai\nby a preponderant majority not only rejected the Republican Constitution\nimposed on them by the Sinhalese Government, but also gave a mandate to Mr.\nS.J.V. Chelvanayakam, Q.C. and through him to the Tamil United Liberation Front\nfor the restoration and reconstitution of the Free Sovereign, Secular,\nSocialist State of TAMIL EELAM. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    And,\nwhile taking note of the reservations in relation to its commitment to the\nsetting up of a separated state of TAMIL EELAM expressed by the Ceylon Workers\nCongress as a Trade Union of the Plantation Workers, the majority of whom live\nand work outside the Northern and Eastern areas, <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This convention\nresolves that restoration and reconstitution of the Free, Sovereign, Secular,\nSocialist State of TAMIL EELAM, based on the right of self determination\ninherent to every nation, has become inevitable in order to safeguard the very\nexistence of the Tamil Nation in this Country. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    This Convention further declares – that the State of TAMIL EELAM shall consist of the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces and shall also ensure full and equal rights of citizenship of the <\/p>\n\n\n\n

    1. State of TAMIL EELAM to all Tamil speaking people living in any part of Ceylon and to Tamils of EELAM origin living in any part of the world who may opt for citizenship of TAMIL EELAM.<\/li>
    2. that the constitution of TAMIL EELAM shall be based on the principle of democratic decentralization so as to ensure the non-domination of any religious or territorial community of TAMIL EELAM by any other section.<\/li>
    3. that in the state of Tamil Eelam caste shall be abolished and the observance of the pernicious practice of untouchability or inequality of any type based on birth shall be totally eradicated and its observance in any form punished by law.<\/li>
    4. that TAMIL EELAM shall be a secular state giving equal protection and assistance to all religions to which the people of the state may belong.<\/li>
    5. that Tamil shall be the language of the State, but the rights of Sinhalese speaking minorities in Tamil Eelam to education and transaction of business in their language shall be protected on a reciprocal basis with the Tamil speaking minorities in the Sinhala State. <\/li>
    6. that Tamil Eelam shall be a Socialist State wherein the exploitation of man by man shall be forbidden, the dignity of labor shall be recognized, the means of production and distribution shall be subject to public ownership and control while permitting private enterprise in these branches within limit prescribed by law, economic development shall be on the basis of socialist planning and there shall be a ceiling on the total wealth that any individual of family may acquire.<\/li><\/ol>\n\n\n\n

      This\nConvention directs the Action Committee of the TAMIL UNITED LIBERATION FRONT to\nformulate a plan of action and launch without undue delay the struggle for\nwinning the sovereignty and freedom of the Tamil Nation;\n\nAnd this Convention\ncalls upon the Tamil Nation in general and the Tamil youth in particular to\ncome forward to throw themselves fully into the sacred fight for freedom and to\nflinch not till the goal of a sovereign state of TAMIL EELAM is reached. (END)\n\n\n\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

      \n\n\n\n

      [1]<\/a> wikipedia<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

      KAMALIKA PIERIS The   Tamil politicians had planned to achieve a separate Tamil state in Ceylon, long before Independence or Sinhala Only. The words Tamil Eelam\u201d was used for the first time in 1923, by Ponnambalam Arunachalam when he spoke before the Tamil League. In this speech he spoke of the \u2018desire to preserve our individuality […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-120587","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120587","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=120587"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/120587\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=120587"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=120587"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=120587"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}