The Federal Party begins a second phase of agitation, including members of the Muslim communities in the North and East.
Timeline of events under "Tamil nationalism" issue
Federal Party starts the 'anti Sri' campaign in the North, defacing the letter 'Sri' on vehicle licence plates and Sinhala letters on name boards in the North and East with tar.
Talks between S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and leaders of the Federal Party: the 'Bandaranaike–Chelvanayagam Pact' is signed, pledging to devolve state power through regional councils, to recognise Tamil as a national minority language and to slow Sinhalese resettlement in the North East.
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.
All Ceylon Tamil Congress leader, G.G. Ponnambalam, asks for ‘50:50’ representation (50% for the Sinhalese, and 50% for other minorities) before the Soulbury Commission.
Tamil leader, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, publishes a paper arguing that Muslims are Tamils by nationality and Mohammedan by faith.
PACT's overall purpose is to examine the root causes and contributory factors of conflict in Sri Lanka and to promote discussion on these themes. Many commentators are calling for the root causes of conflict to be addressed in a meaningful way. They argue that even if the LTTE is defeated militarily, the underlying conflict will continue until the addressal of these critical issues. Indeed, these issues existed long before the LTTE emerged as an armed militant group. What are these root causes, are they still relevant and what should be done about them? PACT's current feature seeks to unpack some of these issues
