Eelam was always Island of Sinhalese: The Legal, Historical, and Constitutional Truth”

 

The name “Eelam” was never Tamil in origin, nor did it denote a separate ethnic homeland. It is a historical term rooted in the identity of the Sinhalese — the island’s first and continuous inhabitants. While Part 1 exposed the linguistic and literary distortions behind the modern separatist claim, this second part dismantles the political fraud using the tools of constitutional law, legal maxims, and international jurisprudence. The truth is clear: Sri Lanka is a unitary, sovereign nation — and the Sinhalese have defended that unity for centuries, often with their lives. To twist “Eelam” into a separatist slogan is not only a lie — it is a violation of truth, law, and justice. No movement for Tamil Eelam can erase the fact that Eelam was always the island of the Sinhalese.

(Part 2 of: ‘Did You Know Eelam Originally Referred to the Island of the Sinhalese?’)

https://www.shenaliwaduge.com/did-you-know-eelam-originally-referred-to-the-island-of-the-sinhalese/

1. Setting the Record Straight

Recap Part 1: Linguistic, literary, and colonial evidence proves “Eelam” denoted Sri Lanka as the island of the Sinhalese.

This part will now show how law, constitutions, and maxims of justice uphold that fact against separatist distortion.

2. Historical Etymology and Indigenous Identity

 

Reaffirms:

• “Eelam” derives from “Hela”/“Elu” = Sinhalese people.
• Ancient Tamil texts referred to Sri Lanka as a Buddhist, foreign land(not Tamil).
• Colonial authors (Baldaeus, Queyroz, Knox, Tennent) confirm the island was ruled by Sinhalese kingdoms.

 

Legal Maxim: Veritas non est alleganda contra factum

• “Truth cannot be alleged against an established fact.”
  You cannot fabricate ethnic sovereignty in the face of overwhelming historical record.

 

3. Constitutional Framework of Sri Lanka

• Article 9: Buddhism given foremost place, protected by the State — rooted in Sinhalese Buddhist civilization.
• Articles 1 & 2: Unitary state; Sovereignty rests with the People (not ethnic groups).
• Article 3: Sovereignty is in the People and is inalienable.
• Article 157A: Prohibits promotion of separatism. Even peaceful advocacy for a separate state is unconstitutional.
• No clause provides for ethnic secession or a mono-ethnic federal state.
• The Sinhalese are not a settler community—they are the native custodians.

 

“Lex est quod populus constituit” – “The law is what the people have established.”

The Constitution is the will of Sri Lanka’s people, who overwhelmingly rejected separatism in Parliament and by vote.

 

Supreme Court of Sri Lanka – 2006 ruling on the de-merger of the North and East:

“There is no legal basis for a merged Tamil homeland. The merger was never constitutionally valid.”

 

4. International Law and the abuse of Self-Determination

 

• Article 1(2) – UN Charter: Self-determination must not interfere with territorial integrity of sovereign nations.
• Declaration on Friendly Relations (UNGA Res 2625):

“…Nothing in the principle of equal rights and self-determination shall be construed as authorizing any action which would dismember or impair… the territorial integrity of sovereign and independent States.”

• UNGA Res. 2625 (1970): Self-determination cannot disrupt existing sovereign states or be used for ethnic separatism.
• ICJ ruling (Wall Opinion, 2004):

“Self-determination cannot be invoked to violate the territorial integrity of an existing state unless a people is under colonial domination.”

 

• Legal Maxim:Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus

“False in one thing, false in everything.”

Tamil separatist narrative rests on false history — it discredits the entire claim.

 

• “Nemo plus juris ad alium transferre potest quam ipse habet”
  –“No one can transfer more rights than they themselves possess.”

Tamil separatists cannot demand secession on lands they never historically owned or ruled.

 

• ICJ Advisory Opinion (Kosovo, 2010): Only permitted when a people are under oppression or colonization — not applicable to Sri Lankan Tamils. In fact the National Armed Forces carried out the world’s biggest & first humanitarian rescue operation to save some 300,000 Tamils held hostage by banned terrorists LTTE.

 

5. The Vaddukoddai Resolution:   

• Declared in 1976 by elites (TULF), falsely claiming historical Tamil sovereignty.
• It had no legal foundationand was never recognized by any international body.
• Led directly to the terrorist LTTE campaign, which killed Sinhalese, Tamils, and Muslims alike.
• Legal Maxim:Constructive Fraud — deception without a direct lie, used to influence international sympathy.
• Legal Maxim:

“Ex turpi causa non oritur actio” – “No right of action arises from a base cause.”

A political resolution based on fabricated history, false racial oppression claims, and leading to terrorism, cannot give rise to any lawful demand.

 

International Principle Violated:

The Montevideo Convention (1933) defines a state as requiring a permanent population, defined territory, government, and capacity to enter into relations.
Tamil Eelam meets none of these.

6. Sinhalese Sacrifice & the Defense of the Island

 

UN Charter Article 2(4):

Prohibits use of force against the territorial integrity of a member state.
LTTE violated this, not only against Sri Lanka but also international law.

 

• From ancient invasions to colonial resistance to LTTE terror — it has been the Sinhalesewho have defended the island with their lives.
• Legal Maxim:Ubi jus ibi remedium — “Where there is a right, there is a remedy.”
  The Sinhalese, as historical custodians of the island, have both the right and the moral claim to protect its unity.

Later day arrivals cannot stake claim to any part or whole of island that had been nurtured & defended by the original custodians.

 

World’s Largest Hostage Rescue Operation (May 2009) by Sri Lankan Armed Forces saved 300,000 Tamil civilians, exposing the fraudulent “oppression” narrative.

 

Legal Maxim:

 “Justitia nemini neganda est” – “Justice is to be denied to no one.”

The Sinhalese, who have given their lives to protect all communities, deserve international justice and recognition — not false accusations.

 

Legal Maxim:

“Fiat justitia ruat caelum” – “Let justice be done though the heavens fall.”

The truth must prevail — even if it shatters decades of separatist propaganda backed by billions in foreign funding.

7. Conclusion: Restore the Truth, Reject the Lie

The next time you hear “Tamil Eelam,” ask not just what it means — but who it belonged to.

And ask how many billions were wasted on an internationally illegal, historically false, and constitutionally prohibited campaign to carve out a homeland from a land that was never theirs.

 

Sri Lanka is one nation, one people, one history — and the Sinhalese, by blood and by birthright, remain its rightful defenders. That is why it is a national betrayal to remove History from the school curriculum (Grades 1–5).

 

On what legal, educational, or cultural grounds — and to appease whom — is this being done?

A nation without its history is a nation waiting to be hijacked and turned into a vassal state again.

 

 

 

Shenali D Waduge