The present demand raised by the Tamil National People’s Front is a covert move of the Sinhala State aimed at concealing the demand for an international investigation into the genocide of Eelam Tamils and diluting the call for an independent Tamil Eelam.
This joint statement is issued by
Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam General Secretary Vaiko,
Tamilaga Vazhvurimai Katchi President Velmurugan,
Manithaneya Makkal Katchi Prof. Jawahirullah,
Dravidar Tamilar Peravai Prof. Suba. Veerapandian,
Dravidar Viduthalai Kazhagam President Kolathur Mani,
Thanthai Periyar Dravidar Kazhagam Kovai Ramakrishnan,
May 17 Movement Thirumurugan Gandhi,
Tamil National Liberation Movement Thyagu,
Tamil National People’s Movement Maniarasan,
Viduthalai Tamil Puligal Kumbakonam Arasan,
Self-Reliant Farmers’ Association Erode Ponnaiyan,
Film Director Pugazhendhi Thangaraj,
Tamil Puligal Party Nagai Thiruvalluvar,
SDPI Party President Nellai Mubarak,
Manithaneya Jananayaga Katchi Tamimun Ansari,
and Karunas of the Mukkulathor Pulipadai.
From the dawn of history, the Eelam Tamil nation existed as a distinct sovereign entity. During different periods, the Portuguese, the Dutch, and later the British ruled the Tamil nation of Eelam and the Sinhala nation as separate entities. For administrative convenience, the British merged these two nations into a single country and, when they departed in February 1948, handed over power to the Sinhalese, reducing the Eelam Tamils to second-class citizens.
When the Eelam Tamils, under the leadership of Thanthai Chelva (S.J.V. Chelvanayakam), waged non-violent struggles for their basic rights, the Sinhala State unleashed police and military repression upon them.
The agreements entered into by Sinhala Prime Minister Bandaranaike with Thanthai Chelva in 1957, and later by Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake in 1965, were torn up and thrown away.
Eelam Tamils were denied rights in education and employment and were subjected to brutal repression. Countless Tamils were shot dead; Tamil women were violated. Eleven Tamils were killed during the World Tamil Research Conference in Eelam. Concluding that Tamils could no longer live alongside the Sinhalese, Thanthai Chelva resigned his parliamentary seat in 1975 and contested the Kankesanthurai by-election on the demand for a sovereign and independent Tamil Eelam, winning with over 90% of the votes.
As the Sinhala State refused to change its oppressive course, on 14 May 1976, at Pannagam, Vaddukoddai, all Tamil organisations were brought together and it was declared that a sovereign and independent Tamil Eelam alone was the solution, and that the younger generation should carry this goal forward.
Thereafter, the armed struggle of Tamil Eelam youth began. On 5 May 1975, under the leadership of Velupillai Prabhakaran, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) were formed and emerged as a formidable force that shook the Sinhala military.
In 1981, Sinhala mobs burnt down the Jaffna Public Library, reducing more than 100,000 Tamil books to ashes.
In 1983, 53 Eelam Tamil prisoners were brutally murdered in Welikada Prison with the complicity of the Sinhala State.
In 1987, through deception, LTTE leader Prabhakaran was brought to India, and the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was imposed on the Tamil people. The agreement was signed in Colombo on 29 July 1987.
On 4 August, at the Suthumalai public meeting, Prabhakaran stated that the Indian power had imposed the agreement upon them, that he had no intention of confronting India, but warned that Sinhala chauvinism would soon swallow the agreement, and that the responsibility for protecting Eelam Tamils now lay with the Indian Government.
Even within a month, Sinhala President J.R. Jayewardene arrogantly announced that he would campaign against the promised referendum on the merger of the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Seventeen LTTE commanders were arrested by the Sinhala Navy and detained at Palaly Airbase on 5 October. When the Indian Army withdrew its protective cordon on instructions from New Delhi, Sinhala forces attempted to take them into custody. At that moment, Kumarappa, Pulendran, and ten other commanders bit cyanide capsules and died instantly.
LTTE media offices were destroyed by the Indian Army. Prabhakaran and the Tigers retreated into the Vanni forests and waged guerrilla warfare. The Indian Peace Keeping Force turned into a force attacking Eelam Tamils.
As early as 1983, when Indira Gandhi was Prime Minister, India’s Parliament declared that Eelam Tamils were the indigenous people of the island and that what was happening there was genocide. Prabhakaran wrote eight letters to the Indian Prime Minister seeking a ceasefire with the Indian Army — all went unanswered.
In 1989, after V.P. Singh became Prime Minister, the Indian Army was withdrawn from Sri Lanka.
During the 1990s, the LTTE defeated the Sinhala Army in many battlefields. Most notably, in 2000, at the Elephant Pass (Yaanai Iravu) battle, the LTTE defeated an enemy force twenty times larger, shocking the world. On 24 December 2000, the LTTE unilaterally declared a 30-day ceasefire and later extended it.
At this stage, Norway attempted to broker peace. Talks were held in Thailand, Norway, and Germany, but President Chandrika Kumaratunga sabotaged the process.
In 2006, 61 Tamil schoolgirls were killed in the Sencholai bombing by the Sinhala Air Force. Seventeen Tamils involved in tsunami relief work, facilitated by France, were also killed. The brutal gang-rape and murder of Tamil journalist Isai Priya, and the execution of eight naked, blindfolded Tamil men, were exposed to the world by Channel 4.
With military assistance from seven nuclear-armed powers, the Sinhala State massacred hundreds of thousands of Eelam Tamils. Tens of thousands of Tamil women were assaulted and killed. The Mullivaikkal genocide stands as one of the most horrific massacres after Adolf Hitler.
Adding insult to injury, India and Cuba, along with 29 other countries, passed a resolution at the UN Human Rights Council praising the Sinhala State and Rajapaksa. From that day to this, both the previous Congress governments and the present Modi government have continued to shield Sri Lanka from condemnation.
In this context, Northern Province Chief Minister C.V. Wigneswaran passed a resolution demanding an international investigation into the Tamil genocide. The Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly unanimously passed resolutions demanding a referendum for an independent Tamil Eelam and an international investigation into the genocide.
Even when Sri Lanka’s Supreme Court annulled the North-East merger envisaged in the 1987 Accord, the Indian Government remained silent.
Nineteen Tamils, including martyr Muthukumar, immolated themselves demanding action to stop the genocide.
Three years ago, the German Parliament unanimously demanded an investigation into the Armenian genocide that occurred 200 years ago. Yet, Eelam Tamils today stand abandoned.
In this situation, to bury the legitimate demand for an international investigation and to dilute the call for an independent Tamil Eelam, the present Sinhala State has been working behind the scenes. As part of this, an organisation named the Tamil National People’s Front has staged a deceptive drama, betraying Eelam Tamils by demanding mere autonomy and urging pressure on the Indian and Tamil Nadu governments.
We call upon Tamils in Tamil Nadu, political parties in India, and the international community to recognise this background and to act:
– for an international investigation into the genocide,
– for a UN-supervised referendum on an independent Tamil Eelam,
– for the removal of Sinhala settlements from Tamil lands, and
– for the withdrawal of the Sinhala military from the Tamil homeland.
We urge Tamils in Tamil Nadu and in the diaspora to undertake the necessary preparatory work to achieve these goals.
Headquarters
Marumalarchi DMK
‘Thaayagam’
Chennai – 8
23.12.2025