Tamil

The second secret to Mr Rajapakse's election was that, at the Tigers' command, north-eastern Tamils did not vote.

A prominent politician, Vaiko, roars in his office that the hangings would be a "betrayal of the Tamils" , and would provoke popular fury.

This follows protests in the Tamil-majority Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where there has always been sympathy for fellow Tamils in Sri Lanka.

Third, it has given Sri Lankan Tamils no more than vague assurances that it will tackle the grievances that have stoked the conflict.

Many Tamils fear a nationwide crackdown on anyone suspected to have had links with the LTTE.

The Secretary General is welcoming the president's promise to resettle most of the displaced Tamils by the end of the year.

Though the Tigers demand independence for the north-east, most Tamils would settle for a decent measure of autonomy.

David Parajasingham, a spokesman for the British Tamils' Forum, said that he was concerned the hunger strike would spread.

During the war, most Tamils fleeing persecution were granted asylum.

The conflict began more than twenty-five years ago, when minority Tamils began fighting for an independent homeland.

This will not persuade Tamils that their grievances have been fully investigated.

Ragiv's leadership was tested in 1987, India became involved in one of the most violent separatist struggles by the Tamils of Sri Lanka.

Those who are ethnic Tamils can be expected to come under further scrutiny in high security zones.

Tamils require an end to the discrimination that has virtually barred them from holding jobs in the army and police.

In Sri Lanka, armed battles between Buddhist Sinhalese and Hindu Tamils have taken many lives on both sides.

They were never fully accepted there, they say, being seen as quasi-Tamils.

Can we ignore the history of how Tamils were targeted, discriminated, and marginalized in Sri Lanka?

The racial conflict explodes between Singhalese and Tamils in the country. The girl's father is killed and the mother takes the girl away.

But neither candidate has offered a proper power-sharing deal to Tamils in the north and east, where most of them live.

About 300, 000 Sri Lankan Tamils in Canada are the biggest group of the ethnic community outside their country.

Patching up foreign ties and reconciliation with the aggrieved Tamils are the most important tasks facing Sri Lanka's rulers.

The mainly Sinhala province also has a large population of Indian-origin Tamils working in plantations.

In the way of ambitious minorities, these Tamils thrive in business, as do Sri Lanka's Muslims.

Tamils, by most independent accounts, still feel alienated.

To most Tamils, however, the east does not appear a beacon of hope.

Yet the government of President Mahinda Rajapaksa is making even moderate Tamils at home and overseas feel its victory as their defeat.

Indian Tamils, a distinct ethnic group, represent about 5% of the population.

After the rout of the Tigers in May, nearly 300, 000 Tamils who fled the fighting were fenced inside sprawling camps near Vavuniya.

The President says he will win the hearts of the Tamils in the North and the East and make certain terrorism does not resurface.

And Sri Lanka's diaspora is dominated by ethnic Tamils.

Many Tamils in Sri Lanka itself still see the government, not the Tigers, as their enemy.

But Sri Lankan Tamils should also rejoice.

That is not how it looks to those in the camps, nor to Tamils elsewhere in Sri Lanka as their countrymen celebrate the triumph.

The people of Tamilnadu, the Tamils, are strict vegetarians.

But little is being done to reassure moderate Tamils that the government cares for their plight.

The Tamils say they are not free to move outside the camp.

More than 200, 000 Tamils were interned in camps for months, while the government processed the inhabitants to identify Tamil Tiger members.

About 200, 000 Tamils have taken shelter in what the government calls welfare camps and villages.

After the founding of the LTTE, in 1976, leaders of rival groups and Tamils too moderate to agree with him were sought out and killed;