Talk:Sri Lankan Tamil people

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[edit] photo of arugam bay children

Hello, I was wondering whether the children on the photo are indeed Tamils (Rather than Sinhalese or Muslimsm who are majoritary in that area IIRC). Maybe one can find another photo which portrays Eastern Tamils better than this one. As it is, the photo looks just like run-of-the-mill South Asian village children. I would propose removing this picture from the article, but I leave the decision to regular editors of this page Jasy jatere 12:32, 13 September 2007 (UTC)

DoneTaprobanus (talk) 05:55, 16 March 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Can we add this pic

Tamil Population by District to the article ? Taprobanus 15:48, 2 October 2007 (UTC)

[edit] Reflist Change

I changed the reflist from one column to two, since there were enough citations to warrant such. Ottava Rima (talk) 23:48, 4 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks Taprobanus (talk) 17:25, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Copyedit Request

Hi, re Sri Lankan Tamil people article- I'm not really good at copyedit, and apart from that I do not have any time left to juggle, unfortunately. Although I'm truly interested in this topic and a number of topics related to Tamil, I'm unable to participate or contribute at this time. Unlike the SLT, most of the articles related to Tamil in WP are in real mess! At present I'm not able to do much. I looked at the SLT article and it appears like the lead para needs major modifications. I don't know why one has to say, right at the opening, Sri Lankan Tamil people (Tamil இலங்கைத் தமிழர்) or Sri Lankan Tamils or Ceylon Tamils, are a trans-national minority who are native Tamils from Sri Lanka. Is it not better to simply state the facts first? Say, like- Sri Lankan Tamil people (Tamil இலங்கைத் தமிழர்) or Sri Lankan Tamils or Ceylon Tamils, are Tamil speaking people of Sri Lanka. They constitute a majority in the northern and eastern regions of Sri Lanka, though they are in minority in the rest of the country. Due to the prolonged political unrest, spanning more than 50, ..." Then slowly introduce the facts of alienation and the historically perceived deeper ethnic-political-religious divide etc. I do understand why there is "trans-national minority" etc. there. But I think, it starts of with a certain confrontational or controversial tone right at the beginning. There is so much scope to say in this article about the glory and struggle of SLT! It is a great pity I'm not able to make any useful contribution here at this point in time. --Aadal (talk) 17:55, 5 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Sri Lankan Tamil people

Hey, I think Sri Lankan Tamils are called as Eezhath Thamizhar (ஈழத் தமிழர்) rather than Ilangai Thamizhar (இலங்கைத் தமிழர்) in Tamil. Wiki San Roze †αLҝ 23:08, 8 April 2008 (UTC)

See academic book citations for Eelam Tamils should be used if challenged Taprobanus (talk) 17:40, 13 June 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Eelam Tamils

The term Eelam Tamils is used by public figures today, by resources, as well as for self-identification by Tamils of Ceylon. The same as Ceylon Tamils. It is also in Sangam literature. Wubbabubba (talk) 20:06, 15 April 2008 (UTC)

Not a single Sri Lankan related article is either WP:GA or WP:FA quality except the three Jaffna kingdom related ones. Belive me, I have put enough hours into this article and I will take it all the way to FA status. Words like Eelam Tamils are more politically loaded than in actual usage in academic circles in English but is a vaild usage in Tamil language without any conotation for Tamil Eelam. (example Sangam Tamil literature) The article once upon a time had that terminology but attracted a lot of negative attention because of it, as this is a Wiki articles that attract such negative attention never reach FA status.Taprobanus (talk) 20:13, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Also a BIG THANKs for your interest, can you kindly work on the section that requires expansion that is Post independence politics, when you have time ?Taprobanus (talk) 20:25, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
I understand why you feel concerned, and respect your efforts to get this article to FA status. I also believe you know that wikipedia is not a place to cater to those few who feel uncomfortable with what they perceive to be a fact's 'connatations'. That Ceylon Tamils have also been identified as Eelam Tamils for over 2000 years cannot be and isn't being disputed. However, understanding your desire to not attract negative attention to this article until getting it to FA status, I will not persist on its inclusion for now. I will try my best to work on sections. The article looks great. Well done! Wubbabubba (talk) 20:32, 15 April 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, a section that is altogether missing is Folk traditions.Tamil people automatically assume that only Carnatic Music and Bharatnatyam are our sole expression of culture but forget the realilife experiences of all the village folks who have no idea what these expressions are. I have a book but it is solely on Batti Tamils. I can also get some traditions of Negombo Tamils from the internet but have nothing on Jaffna Tamils, the most Sanskritized group so with less of a folk tradition than others but nevertheless requires a mention about them. Do you have any books on them ? Taprobanus (talk) 22:09, 19 April 2008 (UTC)

[edit] Some thoughts for improvement

Taprobanus, I was looking over the article (did not spend too much time on it though) but felt some things could be improved. Examples being,

  • Try to keep the political and military unrest part as short and neutral as possible. Currently it reads a bit propagandist and could get in the way of the article making progress by way of edit wars.
  • Y Done
  • In the lead, focus on general details of Tamils in Srilanka (in a few lines), culture: religion, cuisine, festivals and populations rather than highlighting political issues.

Doing...

  • A quick look at the cuisine section and saw this sentence The emphasis is on minimum use of ingredients to turn out simple, wholesome fare with nutrition for the family rather than gourmet for a sophisticated palate. This reads as is the mainland Tamil cuisine is not wholesome. Needs some work there. In fact this is a good section to expand and attract attention of the right kind.

Y Done

  • As always, the literature section should give more details on literature:What a writing was about in a few lines, perhaps provide comparisons to contemporary Tamil literature on the mainland (India) and even comparisons to Sinhalese literature of that time and in neutral terms.

In short this article has good possibilities.Thanks. More later when I have time. Doing... Dineshkannambadi (talk) 13:04, 22 April 2008 (UTC)

Thanks for all your suggestions, I am taking a short break and will get on with this little later. Taprobanus (talk) 22:11, 22 April 2008 (UTC)
  • This sentence "In the 10th century Pandya and Chola wars against Sri Lanka culminated in the Chola annexation of the island, which lasted until the latter half of the eleventh century" in the history section could be a red-hot button. I am ofcourse, not very familiar with Sri Lankan history. Better to clarify from other sources as well.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 22:53, 24 April 2008 (UTC)
  • Maintain consistancy in dates, either use 2nd century OR second century.Y Done
  • Use ndash between citation page numbers instead of a dash such as pp.34-35. Doing...
  • provide disambiguation for all vernacular terms, if possible wiki link it.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 14:56, 25 April 2008 (UTC)

Yes, I think that sentence can be a hot button issue. More sources should be put in, to better clarify.--DavidD4scnrt (talk) 20:32, 27 April 2008 (UTC)

  • I think the "Lead Image" should show Tamils "in Sri Lanka" rather than Sri Lankan Tamil immigrants in Canada. The earlier image was excellent. The current image could also be used in the article in the section that describes their immigration to the west.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 18:24, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
Thanks, I am not ignoring the comments, I am trying to finnish the article as best and then go over the suggestions later Taprobanus (talk) 22:31, 5 May 2008 (UTC)
  • Try to provide only "power links", links which provide extra and directly related information to the reader about the article.Dineshkannambadi (talk) 19:17, 9 May 2008 (UTC)