The Rise of Tamil Separatism in Sri Lanka ─ From Communalism to Secession

There are more than one hundred and twenty five civil wars, armed secessionist movements and minority uprisings in the world today. In many of these instances minority groups in nation states have become disillusioned with the ability or will of the majority to accommodate properly their political and cultural aspirations and have come to believe that the only solution lies in political self-determination which often implies secession. While, nation states remain opposed to the dismembering of their territorial integrity and resist any diminution of sovereignty.

This book explores the relationship between minority rights, self-determination, secession and irredentism by contextualising these issues in a detailed case study of the rise of Tamil separatism in Sri Lanka, locating the struggles of the Tamil minority in the context of the international law of self-determination. This book shows how in Sri Lanka communalism hardened into secession and how violence became the means of achieving that end. Focusing on the legal and human rights arguments for secession by the Tamil community of the North and East of the island of Sri Lanka the book demonstrates how the language of international law and international human rights played a major role in the development of the arguments for secession. Through a close examination of the case of the Tamil's secessionist movement the book presents valuable insights into why the modern nation states finds itself threatened by separatist claims and by bids for independence based on ethnicity.

G. Welhengama is now retired but was previously principle of the Liverpool Community College. He was a lawyer and judge in Sri Lanka and also stood as an MP for the Rajapaksha party in Sri Lanka, before teaching at Liverpool John Moores University in the Faculty of Law.

Nirmala Pillay is senior lecturer in law at Liverpool John Moores University, UK.