The government passes the Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act (Act No.35 of 2003). The Act grants citizenship to persons of Indian origin residing in Sri Lanka since October 1964 and their descendants.
Timeline of events under "Indian Tamil issues" issue
Sri Lanka passes the Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act. All stateless persons of Indian origin lawfully resident in Sri Lanka (who were not amongst the 506,000 who had applied for Indian citizenship under the earlier pacts) were entitled to Sri Lankan citizenship under this Act.
India advises Sri Lanka that it no longer considered the 1964 and 1974 agreements to be binding as the implementation period had expired. Sri Lanka responds that it still considered the agreements to be in force until all repatriations were completed.
Sirimavo-Gandhi Pact: India and Sri Lanka agree to grant citizenship to the remaining 150,000 Tamils of Indian origin, bringing the total agreed to: Sri Lankan citizenship – 375,000 and Indian citizenship – 600,000.
India and Ceylon reach agreement regarding the issue of stateless 'plantation' Tamils of Indian origin living in Ceylon: Sirima-Shastri Pact.
Tamils in the north and east observe a 'hartal': shops are closed and work stops in protest against the deaths of two Tamils who were killed during the police response to an earlier demonstration.
Ceylon Parliamentary Elections Amendment Act No 48 of 1949 is enacted: Indian Tamil plantation workers lose the right to vote.
Proposals to deprive citizenship and voting rights for one million plantation Tamils in December 1948 leads to a split in the Tamil Congress: Chelvanayakam goes on to form the Federal Party (Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi) in 1949.
Ceylon Citizenship Act, No 18 results in over 700,000 Indian plantation workers becoming stateless persons.
