[QODLink]
Central & South Asia
Isolation of the Tamils
In the 1960s the import of Tamil language literature and films were banned.
Last Modified: 27 Jan 2009 17:55 GMT

The Tamils saw the move to sever cultural contacts as an attempt to isolate them [GALLO/GETTY]
The Sri Lankan government claimed that its 1960s ban on the import of Tamil language films, books, magazines, journals, etc. from Tamil Nadu, India was to save foreign exchange.

However, the Tamils saw this as an attempt to sever their age-old cultural contacts with Indian Tamils and did not buy the government line.

They took it as another governments attempt to isolate them. 

The proscription of the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagham, a party that championed Tamil rights in India and Sri Lanka, and the Tamil Youth League were also seen in the same light.
Source:
Al Jazeera
Topics in this article
Country
Featured on Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera's exclusive publishing of a key Guantanamo prison military document lays bare the brutality of force-feeding.
Former military official says poverty and anger in indigenous communities mean conditions for an "insurgency" are ripe.
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
Featured
Syria: The War Within
Two years since the start of the uprising, rebels and Assad's forces remain locked in conflict.
China Rising
A four-part series that gives a rare insight into the country on the move, with history in tow.
Iran Elections
News and analysis of 2013 presidential contest as Ahmadinejad finishes second term.
Crisis in Bangladesh
Extensive coverage of war crimes tribunals and controversial calls for blasphemy laws.
Al-Nakba
Series on the Palestinian 'catastrophe' of 1948 that led to dispossession and conflict that still endures.
join our mailing list