From the mid-1950s to early 1980s, there was hardly any dispute between the two countries on the matters of security and sovereignty. There had been negotiated settlement of bilateral issues eg. the question of jurisdiction over Kachathivu Island in the middle of the Palk Straits. One of the main disputes between India and SriLanka has ‘ been regarding the political status of Tamil people of Indian origin taken to SriLanka by the British as plantation labourers.
There are four groups of Sri Lankan Tamil population,
1. ancient Tamils in the Jaffna peninsula,
2. professional elite Tamil in urban areas
3. non-Hindu Tamils and
4. Tamil immigrant labour.
The long standing problem of accepting the Tamil speaking population of Sri Lanka as its citizens and giving them regional autonomy could not be solved. The majority of Sinhalese demanded Tamils should y’ return to India, they deny the citizenship to Tamils by enacting the Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948. This was disentailed them franchise and other rights.
In 1956, Indian Prime Minister Lai Bahadur Shastri and Sri Lankan Prime Minister Mrs Sirimao Bandara Naike signed an agreement about to Tamil population citizenship, but in vain. In 1981 agreement between Indira Gandhi and Sirimao Bandara Naike was not implemented due to Tamil’s refusal to return to India.
