A Critical Analysis – Nation, Homeland, and Self-determination

The liberation struggle of Tamil Eelam focuses on three basic fundamental principles: nation, homeland and self-determination. In layman’s term: Nation identifies the Eelam Tamil people as a distinct ethnic group on the island, homeland refers to the physical space occupied by the Eelam Tamil population for centuries and self-determination refers to the political autonomy that is vested within the people. Therefore, these words are not something that we ask ownership to but it’s naturally inherent to the Eelam Tamil struggle. To destroy the liberation movement, the Sri Lankan government has to effectively dismantle these three principles from history, present and ensure it never permeates into the future. The founding fathers of Sri Lanka were clever when they built the Sri Lankan state because they made these concepts exclusive to Sri Lankans by basing the state on chauvinist Sinhala-Buddhist ideology. To understand the fundamental principles, we also need to understand how the Sri Lankan state is structured to preserve Sinhala ideology while destroying the inherent principles of the Eelam struggle.