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Research Journal of the University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka- Rohana 11, 2019

secure profitable positions and acquire upward social mobility. But as the economy
was tottering at the time, the government was unable to provide employment

opportunities for such a vast number of educated youths. Therefore, unemployment,

underemployment, poverty and youth unrest were rampant among both Sinhala and
Tamil youth. The discontented Sinhalese youth then began to engage in violent

actions against the government in 1971.

Frustration was a common issue of the time but the Tamil politicians, high caste
Tamil youth and lower caste Tamil youth assumed that they were the only affected

parties and that the Sinhalese community was in a better position when compared

with their own situation. They also perceived certain policies implemented by
successive Sri Lankan governments during the post-independence period as well as

in the 1970s as being favourable to the Sinhalese while subjecting the Tamils to
deprivations. Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike introduced the Official

Language Act, no. 33 of 1956, which made Sinhala the only official language of
Ceylon in 1956. Later, in the 1972 constitution, the government re-affirmed Sinhala

as the official language, and declared that Buddhism shall have the “foremost place”

(The Constitution of Sri Lanka, 1972, pp. 4, 5). However, it should be mentioned
here that the constitution has clearly pointed out that protection will be afforded to

all religions and to the cultures of all communities in Sri Lanka (The Constitution of

Sri Lanka, 1972, p. 12). In addition, the constitution contains a number of clauses
aimed at protecting the language rights of the Tamil community (The Constitution of

Sri Lanka, 1972, pp. 5-7). Even though the upper caste Tamil leaders did not agree
with some of these provisions they expected to enjoy an equal status with the

majority community in the national political arena. Tamil leaders claimed these
legislative enactments would bring in an era of “apartheid” with the Sinhalese as the

“masters and rulers” and Tamils being forced to accept “subject status under them.”

Therefore, they feared they had become second class citizens of the country under
the dominance of the Sinhalese. They felt they were formally deprived due to those

implementations. However, in the 1970s, the government had allowed the use of

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