ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is the origins and evolution of a Tamil ethnic identity and separatist politics in Sri Lanka. It covers political and economic relations during the pre-colonial era, and the British colonial and early post-colonial periods. This includes the emergence of a dominant Tamil minority elite under British colonial rule and its reversal with the post-independence introduction of electoral democracy. The chapter also highlights the fact that a separatist ideology predated Sri Lanka’s post-independence linguistic and educational policies, as well as Tamil secessionist demands and political violence in Northern and Eastern Provinces that emerged in the early 1970s, and well before the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983. The chapter concludes by questioning the viability of ethnically based devolution of power as the appropriate mode for conflict resolution given the multi-ethnic nature of Sri Lanka, particularly in the Eastern Province.
