What were the demands made by the Sri Lankan Tamils?

Three Demands Made by the Sri Lankan Tamils

There were three demands made by Sri Lankan Tamils to the Sinhalese government. Since Sinhalese were a majority in the government, Tamils felt discriminated against. The struggle between the two was an ongoing issue in the country. the majoritarian measures of the government only worsened the matters and led to a civil war. The demand that was put forward by the Tamils were as follows.

• Sri Lankan Tamils wanted regional autonomy in the regions where they were majority. They wanted to make their own rules and regulation in tandem with their customs and religion.
• They wanted to give Tamil the status of an official language. Linguistic struggle was one of the major reasons for the conflict and Tamils wanted their language to be one of the official languages of the country.
• Sri Lankan Tamils also demanded equal opportunities in government jobs and education. Due to the Sinhalese majority, Tamils were at a severe disadvantage and were also heavily discriminated against, hence, they demanded equal opportunities.

Demand for Separate State

Apart from the three demands, the most serious demand made by Sri Lankan Tamils was that of an independent state ‘Tamil Eelam.’ Since the Sinhalese government did not give in to their earlier demands, Sri Lankan Tamils started demanding their own separate state in the eastern and northern parts of the country.

As they were not being treated equally, the Tamils demanded a separate and independent state. This led to the Civil War which devastated the country in various ways. Vellupillai Prabhakaran who was the leader of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam led the civil war in Sri Lanka.

Summary:

What were the demands made by the Sri Lankan Tamils?

The demands made by Sri Lankan Tamils include equal opportunities, recognition of Tamil as official language, and regional autonomy. When these demands were not met by the Sinhalese government, they protested and started demanding an independent state ‘Tamil Eelam.’ The struggle between the two communities ultimately led to a civil war.

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