Treatment of Tamil grievances

Before looking at the race riots that errupted in August 1981 after the District Council elections, we should look at some factors that had exacerbated tensions over the preceding four years. In its manifesto, the UNP identified four main grievances of the Tamils. First was education. The incoming government therefore abandoned the system of standardization that increased the number of Sinhalese gaining admission to university, while reducing the number of Tamils. There was some agitation about this change, but it was ignored as having been instigated by loyalists of the previous government. For two years then the admissions to university were purely on marks, which were equated with merit.

The number of Tamils gaining admission to university shot up dramatically in some especially sought after subjects. Complaints from the Sinhalese became more intense, culminating in an allegation by Cyril Mathew in parliament that he had evidence of cheating by some Tamil examiners. Instead of inquiring into Mathew's allegations, the government seemed to accept them in that it reintroduced the effects of standardization through a system of district quotas. Though this benefited deprived districts, some of them Tamil, the net result was that Tamil areas, where education was very much an industry, were the hardest hit. In particular this meant Jaffna. This time the response was more bitter. Expectations roused by the 1977 reforms were dashed; whereas in 1970, the ostensible grounds for change had been egalitarian principles, now it was in direct response to an allegation of cheating, and was deeply resented by the majority of Tamils.