Sinhalese View Tamil-Speaking People as a Threat, Says Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam
29-Oct-2026.
The majority Sinhalese community views Tamil-speaking people, who form the majority in Sri Lanka's Northern and Eastern Provinces, as a potential threat to the Buddhist religion it seeks to protect, Gajendrakumar Ponnambalam, a Member of Parliament representing the Tamil National People's Front, has said.
He made these remarks while addressing a session titled Transitional Justice and Human Rights in Contexts of Ethnic Cleansing at the fifth international conference on Transitional Justice and Human Rights: A Comparative Study of the Kashmiri Pandits and the Tamil Community of Sri Lanka. The conference commenced in New Delhi on 28 October 2026.
Ponnambalam noted that India was one of the world's most powerful countries and stressed that the issues discussed at the conference would have a direct impact on the lives of Tamil people. He emphasised the need to examine the underlying causes of the problems faced by Tamils.
Explaining Sri Lanka's population composition, including the numerical proportions of majority and minority communities and the geographical distribution of ethnic groups across different regions, he said that many Sinhalese believed they had been chosen by the Buddha to preserve Buddhism in its original form.
He further stated that the majority Sinhalese community viewed Tamil-speaking people, who form the majority in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, as a potential threat to the Buddhist religion they seek to protect.
Ponnambalam also pointed out that large Tamil-speaking populations lived not only in the Northern and Eastern Provinces but also in several parts of South Asia, including Tamil Nadu. He alleged that, viewing this as a threat, the Sri Lankan Government was denying and undermining the identity of the Tamils and recognition of their status as a nation.
He also commented on the need to understand international law in the context of international politics and discussed how transitional justice and accountability should be addressed.
