Tamil Eelam

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Tamil Eelam / தமிழ் ஈழம் / tamiḻ īḻam


Flag	Coat of Arms

Anthem:

Political status

Unrecognized de facto quasi-independent state

Languages

Tamil (de facto official)
English

Capital

Trincomalee

President

Velupillai Prabhakaran^[1]

Independence
(from Sri Lanka)

No official declaration

Area

19,509 km² claimed^[2]
6,600–9,750 km² administered
(40–50% of claimed area)

Population
(of claimed area)

3,162,254 (2001)^[3]

Currency

Sri Lankan Rupee (LKR)

Time zone

UTC +5:30

Calling Code

+94

Tamil Eelam (Tamil: தமிழ் ஈழம், tamiḻ īḻam) is the name given by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), to the independent state to which they aspire in the Northern and Eastern portions of the island of Sri Lanka. Ilaṅkai (இலங்கை) and Īḻam (ஈழம்) are both Tamil names for the entire island.

Tamil Eelam is only recognized as an independent state by the LTTE. The LTTE administers around 40 to 50% of the land claimed for Tamil Eelam. These include the entire districts of Kilinochchi and Mullaiththeevu, most of Mannar, Batticaloa and Vavuniya districts and parts of Trincomalee and Amparai districts.

The portion of Northern and Eastern Sri Lanka under the control of the LTTE is run as a de facto quasi-independent state, with its own supreme court,^[4] police force,^[5] army, navy (the Sea Tigers), air force,^[6] intelligence agency, and a central bank,^[7] although these institutions are not formally recognized by the Sri Lankan government. It is dependent on electricity and commodity supplies from the government held area through the A9 highway. It does not have its own currency and uses the Sri Lankan rupee. The LTTE has often accused the government of imposing embargos on essential goods, causing distress to the civilians. It does not have its own airport and foreign travellers must go through the Colombo airport.

1 Central issue
2 See also
3 External links
4 References

[edit] Central issue

The concept of Eelam or homeland is a central issue in the Sri Lankan conflict that has been under way for more than two decades. It was first proposed by the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) in 1976. The 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 TULF was elected to parliament from the northern and eastern provinces. In order to counter separatist tendencies, the government added a new clause to the constitution in 1978 requiring all MPs to pledge allegiance to the unity of the state, which resulted in the boycott of the parliament by the TULF. A number of militant groups then emerged fighting for an independent state.

A stamp which was issued by one of the militant groups in the early 1980s.

As used by both the TULF and the militant groups, Tamil Eelam has only referred to the northeasterly portions of Sri Lanka (principally, the districts of Jaffna, Kilinochchi, Mullaitivu, Mannar, Puttalam, Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Batticaloa and Amparai claimed by Tamils as being their traditional homeland. Some of the early militant groups such as the EPRLF, however, adhered to a wider concept of Eelam, by which they meant all parts of the island of Sri Lanka with a Tamil majority, including the upcountry districts with an estate Tamil majority, traditionally part of the Sinhalese heartland. For all practical purposes today, though, the demand for an independent state is limited to the northern and eastern provinces.

A token issued by the LTTE and its limited postal services.

From 1948 to 2002 there have been approximately 38 militant groups who have at one time or another fought for Tamil Eelam's independence. This number includes the better known groups such as the LTTE (also known as the Tamil Tigers), Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO), Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF), People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE), Eelam Revolutionary Organisation of Students (EROS), and also lesser-known groups such as Tamil Eelam Army (TEA), Ilankai Freedom Tamil Army (FTA), and Socialist Revolutionary Social Liberation (SRSL).