A Reminder to Sinhala-Buddhist Authorities: Symbols Imposed on Tamil Homeland Will Not Endure
The events unfolding in Tamil areas today serve as a clear reminder that imposed religious and cultural symbols do not create reconciliation—only resentment.
History offers many lessons. One such example is Kosovo. Following a political settlement that recognized the will of the people, state-imposed cultural and religious symbols were removed almost overnight. This was not an act of vengeance, but a consequence of self-determination and political resolution.
Tamil people remind the Sinhala-Buddhist establishment that Mahavamsa-based symbols forcefully planted in the Tamil homeland will never gain legitimacy. These symbols do not represent faith; they represent state power imposed on a historically distinct people.
Long before the Mahavamsa chronicle was composed, Tamils practiced Buddhism in Sri Lanka for more than a thousand years. Tamil-Buddhist inscriptions, archaeological sites, and donor records across the North and East establish this fact beyond dispute. Buddhism in its early Sri Lankan form was not Sinhala-exclusive.
Over time, Tamils moved away from Buddhism not because they rejected its philosophy, but because religion was politicized. State-aligned clergy accumulated land, interfered with governance, and abandoned ethical discipline. When Buddhism became an instrument of domination rather than compassion, Tamil society naturally returned to Saivism and plural religious traditions.
Today, Sinhala-Buddhist structures erected in Tamil regions are experienced by Tamil Saiva communities as instruments of intimidation, not worship. Incidents such as those surrounding Thaiyiddi Vihara are not religious developments; they are political provocations that inflame historical trauma and deepen mistrust.
These actions expose an uncomfortable truth: there can be no reconciliation without consent, no unity without justice, and no peace without respect for historical ownership of land, culture, and belief systems.
The continued imposition of Sinhala-Buddhist identity in Tamil homeland only reinforces the conclusion that Tamils must regain control over their land, heritage, and political future. Forced symbolism has failed everywhere it has been attempted. Sri Lanka will not be an exception.
Legal Bottom Line
Under the UN Charter, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) Articles 1, 18, and 27, and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) Articles 8, 11, 12, and 26, the state-imposition of religious and cultural symbols in the Tamil homeland constitutes forced assimilation.
Such actions violate internationally protected minority and indigenous rights, including:
- The right to self-determination
- The right to freedom of religion
- The right to cultural integrity
- The right to land, heritage, and traditional ownership
These violations are not matters of domestic preference; they are breaches of binding international norms.
Reconciliation cannot be built on denial.
Peace cannot be built on erasure.