Tamil Eelam
Topic: Power-sharing: Majoritarianism versus Accommodation · NCERT: Class 10, Ch 1 "Power-sharing"
Meaning
Tamil Eelam was the independent Tamil state in northern and eastern Sri Lanka that several Tamil political groups demanded from the 1980s. The demand grew because requests for autonomy for Tamil provinces had been refused again and again. Beyond NCERT, the TULF's Vaddukoddai Resolution (1976) and the LTTE under V. Prabhakaran drove the demand.
Example
The Eelam demand drove the civil war of 1983-2009, which ended with the LTTE's defeat in May 2009. The 13th Amendment (1987) had offered provincial councils instead of separation, but it was never fully put into effect.
Don't confuse with
- Regional autonomy: this means self-rule inside the same country. Tamils first asked for autonomy. Eelam was a demand for full separation.