Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka was enacted on 8 August 1983 and made it a criminal offence to advocate secession and establishing a separate state within Sri Lanka .It also made it mandatory for Sri Lankan members of Parliament and holders of official posts not to support a separate state within Sri Lankan borders and take an oath on this. This was done as

Tamil United Liberation Front The Tamil United Liberation Front (, ) is a political party in Sri Lanka. Formation On 4 May 1972, several Tamil political groups, including the Federal Party (ITAK), Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC), and All Ceylon Tamil Congress formed the Tami ...

had called for a separate state called

Tamil Eelam Tamil Eelam (, ''tamiḻ īḻam''; generally rendered outside Tamil-speaking areas as தமிழ் ஈழம்) is a proposed independence, independent sovereign state, state that many Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils in Sri Lanka and the Sri Lan ...

in the

Vaddukoddai Resolution The Vaddukoddai Resolution was adopted on May 14, 1976, in Pannakam, near Vaddukoddai, Northern Province, Sri Lanka. It called for the creation of an independent Tamil Eelam by the Tamil United Liberation Front under the leadership of S. J. ...

and the

Black July Black July (; ) was an anti- Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 ...

riots had taken place which led to the Sri Lankan Civil War. This led to members of the Tamil United Liberation Front in the Sri Lankan parliament refusing to take the oath and forfeiting their seats. Tamil separatists led by the

Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; , ; also known as the Tamil Tigers) was a Tamil militant organization, that was based in the northern and eastern Sri Lanka. The LTTE fought to create an independent Tamil state called Tamil Eela ...

took over leadership of the Tamils during the course of the Sri Lankan Civil War.

References

1983 in Sri Lanka 06 Sri Lankan Tamil history August 1983 in Sri Lanka {{SriLanka-stub