The Tamil tragedy : the making of a minority in post-colonial Sri Lanka from the 1950s to 1980s

Abstract

This thesis examines the post-colonial conflict in Sri Lanka between the Sinhalese and the Tamils from the 1950s to the 1980s. Drawing on 10 oral interviews with Sri Lankans that lived in the country from the 1950s to 1980s — 9 Tamils and 1 Sinhalese — this thesis explores the post-colonial state’s discrimination of Tamils. It proposes that the Sinhala majoritarian government sought to make Tamils a minority through a tripartite form of political violence: (1) unjust legislations, (2) violence by state actors such as the army and police, and (3) orchestrating the 1983 riots. As 8 of my interviewees were Colombo Tamils, this thesis endeavours to retell experiences of violence through their perspectives. In doing so, it argues that Colombo Tamils were able to negotiate, coexist and adapt to the state’s discriminatory actions using their own faculties. Yet, the unexpected and remarkably violent nature of the 1983 riots were a historical turning point that irrevocably solidified Colombo Tamils’ status as a minority in the nation. Ultimately, this thesis intends to reject existing interpretations that tend to ossify Tamil experiences and responses to violence as homogenous.