TNPF urges India to support a Federal Constitution to ‘safeguard Tamil nation’

The Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) urged India to back a Federal Constitution in Sri Lanka to “recognise and safeguard the Tamil Nation,” rejecting any proposals that adhere to the existing Unitary State structure. 

The call comes as Sri Lanka’s President made his inaugural visit to India this week.

In a letter addressed to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on December 14, TNPF Leader Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam MP and General Secretary Selvarajah Kajendren underscored the failures of Sri Lanka’s post-independence policies, particularly in addressing the island’s ethnic conflict. They stressed that a “system change” is necessary, as the current state structure has led Sri Lanka into economic and political collapse.

The TNPF reiterated its long-standing rejection of the 13th Amendment to Sri Lanka’s Constitution, stating that it fails to provide meaningful autonomy or self-governance for Tamils. “36 years after the introduction of the 13th Amendment, the situation is far worse than at the time it was introduced,” the letter stated. It referenced over 30 judicial rulings from Sri Lanka’s highest courts that have held against devolution, effectively keeping all powers concentrated in Colombo.

The party argued that treating the 13th Amendment as a starting point for negotiations poses a political danger. “Effectively, it would mean that the Tamils, for the first time in our history, will be accepting a Unitary constitution. Such a step runs the very real risk of the Sri Lanka State taking up the position that since the Tamils have accepted the Unitary constitution by accepting the 13th Amendment, there no longer remains an ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka,” the letter warned.

The TNPF criticised the Interim Proposals for a new constitution drafted between 2015 and 2019, commonly referred to as the “Ekeeya Rajaya” proposals, which denote a Unitary State. “Just as much as the 13th Amendment fails to meet the minimum threshold of going beyond the Unitary State structure to be considered by the Tamils, these proposals too fall grossly short of the minimum threshold to be considered by the Tamil people,” the TNPF stated.

Reiterating its commitment to the Thimpu principles, the TNPF emphasised that a solution to Sri Lanka’s ethnic conflict can only be achieved through a Federal Structure that recognises the distinct sovereignties of the Tamil Nation and the Sinhala Nation. The Thimpu principles, articulated in 1985 during talks between Tamil leaders and the Sri Lankan government under Indian auspices, remain a cornerstone of the Tamil struggle for self-determination.

The TNPF highlighted that their proposals, based on the Thimpu principles, were submitted to the experts committee led by Romesh de Silva PC under the Gotabaya Rajapaksa administration, as well as to the Indian High Commission in Sri Lanka. These proposals align with the substantive provisions of the Indo-Lanka Accord of 1987.

The TNPF acknowledged India’s influence in Sri Lanka, particularly after its role in helping stabilise Sri Lanka’s economic crisis. “India, by coming to Sri Lanka’s rescue, has managed to win the respect of many among the Sinhala people,” the letter stated.

The organisation urged India to support the Tamil people’s rejection of the Unitary State structure and instead champion a Federal Constitution that “will recognise and safeguard the Tamil Nation and will allow the realisation of the Tamil peoples’ inalienable right to self-determination.”

See the full text of the letter below.