INJUSTICE AND HOPE:

Advocating Federalism for Sri Lanka’s Eelam Tamils

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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of any organization, institution, or affiliated individuals. This article is intended for informational and educational purposes only and should not be construed as legal, political, or professional advice. While every effort has been made to ensure the accuracy of the information presented, readers are encouraged to conduct their own research and consult relevant experts for guidance regarding specific issues.

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Foreword

The question of how to build a just and inclusive Sri Lanka is not merely academic—it is deeply personal, and profoundly urgent. This work is born out of reflection, research, and lived engagement with the constitutional dilemmas that have shaped our island’s history and continue to define its future.

As someone who has studied federal systems, conflict resolution, and pluralist governance across continents, I have come to believe that the Eelam Tamil issue cannot be resolved through centralized authority or symbolic gestures alone. It requires structural transformation—one that respects identity, empowers communities, and reimagines sovereignty not as domination, but as shared stewardship.

This publication draws inspiration from global models, particularly Canada’s pluralist framework as articulated by Bob Rae. His vision—that power must be shared to be just—resonates deeply with Sri Lanka’s own challenges. The examples of Belgium, Switzerland, India, and Canada show us that federalism is not fragmentation—it is a framework for unity through diversity.

What follows is not a prescription, but an invitation: to rethink power, to embrace pluralism, and to imagine a Sri Lanka where every community has a voice, a stake, and a future.

— Wimal
Brampton, Ontario
September 2025

Introduction:

Between Broken Promises and the Promise of Federalism

Tonight, I am writing this with a heavy heart, carrying the voices of a people wounded but unbowed-the Eelam Tamils of Sri Lanka. Their story is a mosaic of pain and resilience, of a community battered by historic injustices yet unbroken in its hope for justice, dignity, and self-determination. The solution, I believe, is not more empty promises or heavy-handed majoritarianism, but bold, meaningful power-sharing-federalism or genuine pluralism-where every community has not just a seat, but a voice at the nation’s table.

Let us remember: the arc of history is not drawn by the powerful alone, but by those who demand justice, even when the world has looked away. Let us not be content with silence over injustice, but speak thunderously for what is right¹.

The Weight of History:

Numbers Don’t Lie, and Neither Do Wounds

Let’s begin with the facts-searing statistics and indelible scars that demand our reckoning. In 1948 and 1949, a pair of Citizenship Acts robbed over 700,000 Indian-origin Tamils-the backbone of Sri Lanka’s tea industry-of citizenship and the right to vote²¹. Imagine nearly a million people awakening as aliens in the land of their birth. Entire generations rendered stateless; democracy twisted so the decitizenized Tamils still “counted” toward Sinhalese parliamentary seats, but could not themselves vote². “Ceylon for the Ceylonese,” thundered parliamentarians-code for exclusion, a chilling refrain that echoes today².

1948-49: Over 700,000 Tamils rendered stateless-11% of population¹ 1956: Sinhala Only Act-29% of citizens told their mother tongue had no place in public life, bureaucracy, or justice³¹ 1970s: University standardization-Tamil students forced to score up to 21 points higher than Sinhalese peers to enter medicine or engineering; their share of admissions in science falling from 27% to just 7% in five years⁴³¹ 2009-2025: Amidst “peace,” the Tamil North and East remain the most heavily militarized regions in peacetime Asia. In Jaffna alone, there are reports of one soldier for every six civilians. Land seizures persist; the wounds of war are never allowed to heal⁵¹

These are not just numbers. They are lives. They are dreams deferred, dignity denied, families shattered. “We are asked to move on, but our wounds still bleed. Reconciliation without justice is just silence over injustice”¹.

Milestones of Marginalization:

A Brief, Bitter Chronology

Let’s give names and dates to these betrayals, so no one can call them “ancient grievances” or mere errors of the past.

· 1948-49: Ceylon Citizenship Acts: More than 700,000 Up Country Tamils-people who tilled the soil and fueled the nation’s economy-declared strangers in their own land overnight. They lost their citizenship, and with it, the right to vote and to belong⁶²¹.

· 1956: Sinhala Only Act (Official Language Act No. 33): With one stroke, 29% of the country-Tamils and Muslims-were told their languages had no value in government, courts, or education. The policy not only excluded but humiliated, sparking protests brutally crushed, and setting the stage for decades of unrest. A Sinhalese academic observed: “A large number of Tamil public servants had to accept compulsory retirement because of their inability to prove proficiency in the official language”⁷³.

· 1971-77: University Standardization: The state used “standardization” to slash Tamil representation in universities-especially in medicine and engineering-from 27.5% to 7% in the sciences. Merit gave way to ethnicity; hope was replaced by bitterness. “A Tamil street sweeper’s son was moved out so a Sinhalese Permanent Secretary’s son could take his seat,” recalled one academic⁴³.

· Post-2009 Militarization: Even after the war’s end, more than a decade later, tens of thousands of soldiers remain in Tamil-majority areas, occupying private land, running businesses, surveilling civilian life, and shaping politics. In the Northern Province, up to 75% of army divisions are stationed, amounting to one soldier for every five civilians-20 times the occupation density of Northern Ireland at the height of its conflict⁸¹.

Is this what victory looks like? Or peace?

The Cost of Exclusion:

The Human Toll

Let us never forget that behind every statistic lies a mother’s tears, a child’s hunger, a scholar’s broken dream. In the words of Professor John McGarry, “Federalism is not a panacea, but in deeply divided societies, it is often the best way to guarantee both peace and democracy”⁹.

Job discrimination: By 1970, Tamils who made up 21% of the population were reduced to less than 5% in the civil service-down from 50% in the 1950s due to language laws and quotas⁷³. Education: A generation of Tamil youth, denied university access, saw their futures bleached away. Bitterness replaced aspiration; radicalism replaced faith in the system¹⁰¹. Land and dignity: Over 12,000 acres of land in Tamil areas remain under military control today. Religious sites are bulldozed; cemeteries are erased; remembering the dead is criminalized⁸¹¹.

Let these numbers be our indictment-and our call to action.

Power-Sharing Is Not Separatism:

Lessons from the World’s Most Successful Federations

It is time to burst the myth that giving Tamils a share in power threatens the unity of Sri Lanka. Federalism is not secession, it is hope. It is not nation-breaking, but nation-building.

The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka has ruled: Advocating federalism is not advocating secession. In fact, “federalism is one constitutional form through which internal self-determination might be realized; and ... sovereignty might be shared among peoples within the country”.

The Canadian Experience:

"Pluralism Is Our Strength"

Let’s listen to Bob Rae, Canada’s former Premier and long-time advocate of power-sharing:

“Canada works best when power is shared rather than concentrated. Our country’s idea is pluralism, which accepts the limits of sovereignty and nationalism and stresses the need for cooperation between governments. Government institutions that are over-centralized do not work well-at their best they are sclerotic and hierarchical-at their worst they are corrupt, authoritarian, and dictatorial”¹².

Rae’s reflections are not idle theory. Canada survived its own crises of identity-Quebecois demands for autonomy, First Nations’ calls for justice-by sharing power, not by shutting the door. Decentralization brought the excluded “to the table.” After hundreds of years of exclusion, Indigenous Canadians, French-speakers in Quebec, and newcomers from every continent are now active shapers of their own destinies¹³¹⁴.

“Pluralism is not about tolerating difference-it’s about celebrating it. In a country as complex as Canada, we thrive because we understand that unity does not mean uniformity,” Rae insists¹.

Switzerland:

Four Languages, One Switzerland

The world holds up Switzerland as a beacon-a country with four official languages, each canton wielding real autonomy, and direct democracy woven into national life¹⁵¹. The result? No rebellion, no partition. “Swiss federalism is an effective mechanism for respecting and preserving diversity within the nation... It balances autonomy and national cohesion,” note scholars¹⁶.

Belgium:

Power-Sharing over Partition

In Belgium, deep tensions long divided Dutch-speaking Flanders from French-speaking Wallonia. The solution? Radical federalization: equal power at the center for each community, autonomy for language regions, and mechanisms for veto and remedy. Today, political conflict is met not with violence, but with negotiation¹⁷¹.

· Six million Flemish, four million Walloons, and smaller German communities share power. Neither dominates; both survive and prosper.

India:

Diversity Managed, Not Suppressed

India is the world’s most populous democracy. Its states are organized by linguistic and cultural lines, and even in its most troubled regions, autonomy and special status have kept the country together. From Kashmir to Nagaland, where insurgency once reigned, the principle is clear: respect the distinctiveness of each group, or face unending unrest¹⁸¹.

Federalism in India is not perfect. But it is proof that, where centralization fails, accommodation can succeed.

What Federalism Can Offer Sri Lanka:

Soundbites and Substance

“Federalism works when minorities are given real power-not just token representation. Autonomy within unity is key to peace.” -John McGarry¹

“Integration is not assimilation. True unity is built on the right to be different, but equal.”

“Dispossessed, displaced, disillusioned-the Tamil people carry scars etched by history.”

Let’s be clear:

· Federalism can guarantee regional control over land, language, education, culture, and local governance-ending the cycle of exclusion.

· Shared rule at the center ensures that “all are represented; none are voiceless.”

· Self-governance for Tamils is not a threat to Sinhalese, but a guarantee of peace for all.

Countering the Myths:

Federalism and the Fear of Secession

Critics of federalism say it risks division or balkanization. But as John McGarry and comparative research demonstrate, federations only fail where democracy and inclusion are lacking. Communist “pseudo-federations” like Yugoslavia and the Soviet Union were centralized, undemocratic, and imposed from above. True federations-voluntary, negotiated, and democratic-thrive¹.

“Federalism is about ‘shared rule’ as well as ‘self-rule’-and all federations entrust important powers to their federal governments. A group that finds itself outside the federal government will have less stake in the federation and more incentive to secede. There is evidence from all the successful federations that power-sharing practices at the federal level are crucial,” writes Professor McGarry¹⁸.

The Ongoing Crisis:

Militarization and the Illusion of Normalcy

A decade and a half after “victory” over the Tamil struggle, the North and East remain under de facto military occupation¹¹¹⁹. The military runs schools, businesses, welfare programs, resorts, and even cultural festivals-tightening surveillance, undermining civil administration, and discouraging dissent. The land taken for “security” has not been returned; Buddhist monuments sprout in Hindu villages; and the psychological toll is crushing⁸²⁰.

Statistical punch:

· In some areas, the ratio is 1 soldier for every 5 civilians-four times the force density of Iraq at the height of the “surge,” and far greater than that in Kashmir or Chechnya⁵.

· More than 12,000 acres remain under army control; land returns are token gestures¹¹.

Is this normalcy? Is this reconciliation? No nation can heal while one part lives under perpetual occupation.

Unfinished Business:

Justice and Restitution

The world has condemned the crimes-100,000 lives lost in civil war, tens of thousands of civilians killed in the final onslaught, disappearances, sexual violence, and cultural erasure²¹²⁰. Yet, justice and accountability remain elusive. Tamils still fear to mourn their dead or speak their mother tongue in their own homeland.

Bob Rae’s words should haunt Sri Lankan leaders and inspire all who care about justice:

“Pluralism accepts the limits of sovereignty, and stresses the need for cooperation between governments... Over-centralized institutions become corrupt and dictatorial. Canada works best when power is shared, not hoarded”¹².

The Case for Federalism:

A New Architecture for Sri Lanka

Only a pluralistic, power-sharing system can heal these wounds. Federalism means:

1. Genuine Regional Autonomy: Tamils in the North and East to manage their land, language, education, and cultural affairs.

2. Shared Rule at the Centre: Representation not as a token, but as a right. No more decisions about Tamils without Tamils.

3. Minority Rights in Law: Protection from discrimination in jobs, schools, land, and public life; restoration of dignity.

4. Demilitarization: Return land and livelihoods to civilians; restore local governance; end the surveillance state.

5. Truth and Reconciliation: Not through symbolic gestures, but through justice, restitution, and guarantees of non-recurrence.

A Final Plea: Soundbites for the Soul-and the Future

“Sinhalese and Tamils have both bled. Only federalism can erase the border between victim and victor, and allow a shared future.”

“No flag is worth more than the dignity of a child denied her language, her home, her hope.”

“History cannot be erased-but the future can be rewritten.”

Let us not be the generation that stood by while a people bled in silence. Let us be the chorus that demanded justice, and refused to accept the tyranny of the majority as democracy. Let us revive the idea that Sri Lanka’s strength comes from its diversity, not its homogeneity-from meaningful power-sharing, not one-sided power-hoarding.

Let’s heed the wisdom from Canada, Switzerland, India, and Belgium, and build a Sri Lanka where every child can speak their mother tongue without fear, go to a school funded by their taxes, mourn their war dead with dignity, and shape their region’s future by right, not by permission.

Let Sri Lanka become, at last, a land where wounds don’t shape the future-where that future is written together. The price of peace is not submission, but justice.

Selected Quotes and Defining Statistics

· Bob Rae: “Canada works best when power is shared rather than concentrated... Pluralism accepts the limits of sovereignty and the need for cooperation between governments... Over-centralized institutions become corrupt, authoritarian, and dictatorial”¹²²².

· John McGarry: “Federalism works when minorities are given real power-not just token representation. Autonomy within unity is the key to peace”¹.

· Ceylon Citizenship Acts (1948-49): Over 700,000 Tamils denied citizenship; stripped of representation, dignity, and belonging²³¹.

· Sinhala Only Act (1956): 29% of population denied linguistic parity; “One language, two nations. Two languages, one nation”-Colvin R. de Silva (1956)²⁴.

· University Standardization (1971-77): Tamil science admissions fall from 27.5% to 7%; merit replaced by ethnicity-“It was a case of taking away something we prized and had earned, and giving us something we never wanted”⁴¹⁰.

· Post-war militarization: Up to 1 soldier for every 5 civilians in the North (far higher than Iraq or Chechnya at war’s height)⁵.

· A call for justice: “Reconciliation without justice is just silence over injustice”¹.

Conclusion:

The Call of Our Time

Power-sharing is the antidote to discrimination, and federalism is the framework through which Tamils, Sinhalese, Muslims, and all Sri Lankans can shape a common destiny.

Federalism is not “the f-word” of fear; it is the first word of hope.

Let’s give every Sri Lankan a homeland-and a future worth defending.

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INJUSTICE AND HOPE: Advocating Federalism for Sri Lanka’s Eelam Tamils