The Vaddukoddai Resolution was adopted on May 14, 1976, inPannakam, nearVaddukoddai,Northern Province,Sri Lanka. It called for the creation of an independentTamil Eelam by theTamil United Liberation Front under the leadership ofS. J. V. Chelvanayakam. It was a major event in the modern history of Sri Lanka, as it was the first time the demand for a separate state for theSri Lankan Tamils was made; Tamils had previously only demanded devolution or power sharing under afederal system.[1][2][3] TULF contested the1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election on its demand forTamil Eelam and won an overwhelming mandate in the Tamil areas, becoming the main opposition party in Sri Lanka, the only time a minority party has done so. It gave impetus to Tamil nationalists, who claimed it was a democratic endorsement of a separate state.[4][5][6][7][8]
The adoption of the1972 Sri Lankan Constitution made Sri Lanka a unitary state withSinhala being the sole official language and Buddhism becoming the state religion. TheFederal Party led byS. J. V. Chelvanayakam wanted a Federal state withTamil being an official language. Prior to this point, ethnic tensions between the Sinhala and Tamil residents of the island had been growing due to events like the passage of theCeylon Citizenship Act, which stripped all Indian Tamils of the island of their citizenship, the passage of theSinhala Only Act which made Sinhala the only official language of the country, as well as two pogroms in1956 and1958. Earlier accords signed includingBandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact and the Dudley-Chelvanayakam pact aimed at compromises were not implemented by the Sri Lankan Government.[9]
TheTamil United Liberation Front demand forTamil Eelam led the Sri Lankan Government to pass the6th Amendment, which made it mandatory for all members of parliament to take an oath for the unitary state of Sri Lanka. TheTamil United Liberation Front resigned and refused to take the oath at a time when Tamil militancy was on the rise. Tamil Separatists led by theLTTE took over leadership of the Tamils during the course of theSri Lankan Civil War.[10]
^Das Selbstbestimmungsrecht der Sri Lanka-Tamilen zwischen Sezession und Integration. Stuttgart: Steiner. 2000. p. 394.ISBN3515077170.
^Jacques Bertrand ,Andre Laliberte (2010).Multination States in Asia: Accommodation or Resistance. Cambridge University Press. p. 109.ISBN978-0521143639.
^Kearney, Robert (1985). "Ethnic Conflict and the Tamil Separatist Movement in Sri Lanka".Asian Survey.25 (9, Sep., 1985). University of California Press:898–917.doi:10.2307/2644418.JSTOR2644418.
