Tamil National People’s Front submits memorandum to Indian Foreign Secretary

07-Aug-2026

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Tamil National People’s Front (TNPF) Leader and Parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam handed over a memorandum to Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, urging India to take steps to prevent the creation of the proposed “Ekiya Rajya” (Unitary State) Constitution, abolish Sri Lanka’s unitary constitutional structure, and establish a federal Constitution recognising the Tamil nation and based on its distinct sovereignty.

The meeting between Indian Foreign Secretary Vikram Misri, who arrived in Sri Lanka on an official visit on August 5, and representatives of Tamil national political parties was held in Colombo.

During the meeting, TNPF Leader and Parliamentarian Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam handed over a letter outlining his party’s position to Mr. Misri.

The key points highlighted in the memorandum are as follows:

“We seek India’s intervention in securing a permanent political solution for the Eelam Tamil people, who have faced the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka for the past 77 years.

As a solution to the ethnic conflict, the Sri Lankan Government is currently engaged in drafting a new Constitution. It is essential that the political aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people are reflected in that Constitution.

With the support of our Tamil brethren in Tamil Nadu and the cooperation of the Tamil Nadu Government led by the Chief Minister, we have sought the intervention of the Government of India in this regard.

As a result of India’s involvement in the history of the Eelam Tamil struggle, the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed in 1987. Through that agreement, Tamils were recognised as a people who had traditionally inhabited the Northern and Eastern regions of Sri Lanka, and the principle was accepted that the Northern and Eastern Provinces should function as a single administrative unit with autonomy.

However, while claiming to implement that agreement, the Sri Lankan Government introduced the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and established the Provincial Council system within the framework of a unitary state.

The Provincial Council system was deliberately introduced to weaken the true objectives of the Indo-Lanka Accord and the political aspirations of the Eelam Tamil people for self-rule.

In a unitary state, the central government holds supreme legal authority over all state structures. Indivisible sovereignty is the fundamental feature of a unitary state, meaning that the powers of the central government are not constitutionally restricted.

Against this backdrop, the present Government has announced plans to complete and implement the draft ‘Ekiya Rajya’ Constitution prepared by the Government in power from 2015 to 2019.

Therefore, we request India’s intervention to prevent the creation of the proposed ‘Ekiya Rajya’ Constitution, abolish Sri Lanka’s unitary constitutional system, and establish a federal Constitution recognising the Tamil nation and based on its distinct sovereignty.”