Tamil nationalism

Tamil nationalists in both Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu attempted to create an independent state (Tamil Eelam) amid the increasing political and physical violence against ordinary Tamils by the Sri Lankan government since the pogroms of 1983, known as Black July. After the island's independence from Britain, the Sri Lankan government passed the Citizenship Act of 1948, which made more than a million Tamils of Indian origin stateless.