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Revision as of 21:36, 30 January 2005

Tamil Eelam is the name given to a separate Tamil state that rebels in the northern and eastern provinces of Sri Lanka are fighting for.

Overview

The concept of Eelam or homeland was proposed by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in 1976. TULF was a coalition of Tamil parties who campaigned in the 1977 elections for an independent state for Tamils in Sri Lanka.

In the 1977 elections, the Tamil United Liberation Front was elected to Sri Lankan parliament from the northern and eastern provinces. TULF members from parliament however did not take the oath of allegiance to Sri Lankan state and as a result of this as per the constitution of Sri Lanka it lost its seats in the parliament.

From 1948 to 2002, there have been approximately 38 militant groups who have fought with the Sri Lankan Army for a separate country in Sri Lanka's northern and eastern provinces. This includes groups such as the LTTE - Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, (Tamil Tigers),'TELO - Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization, EPRLF - Eelam Peoples' Revolutionary Liberation Front, PLOTE - People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam, EROS - Eelam Revolutionary Organization of Students, and also lesser know groups such as TEA - Tamil Eelam Army, FTA - Ilankai Freedom Tamil Army, SRSL - Socialist Revolutionary Social Liberation.

Under the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord signed in July 1987, militants agreed to accept a provincial council system and surrendered their weapons to the Sri Lankan Army. However after several weeks LTTE recommenced attacks on the state and subsequently assassinated Indian Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi and Sri Lankan President late Ranasinghe Premadasa.

Today the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam is a banned terrorist organization in the United States and several other countries in the world.

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