The Tamil United Liberation Front (Tamil: தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, romanized: Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, Sinhala: ද්රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති පෙරමුණ, romanized: Dravida Eksath Vimukthi Peramuna) is a political party in Sri Lanka.
Formation
On 4 May 1972, several Tamil political groups, including the Federal Party (ITAK), Ceylon Workers Congress, and All Ceylon Tamil Congress formed the Tamil United Front (TUF) under the joint leadership of S.J.V. Selvanayagam, S. Thondaman, and G.G. Ponnambalam. The TUF changed its name to Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) and adopted the demand for an independent state to be known as the "secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam". The CWC declined to extend its support to the newly formed TULF.
The TULF became the official opposition as a result of the rout of the SLFP. The TULF's success would lead to riots in which hundreds of Tamils were murdered by Sinhalese mobs.
Throughout the 1970s and early 1980s, the TULF was frequently blamed by nationalist Sinhalese politicians for acts of violence committed by militant groups such as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). In fact, the TULF represented an older, more conservative generation of Tamils that felt independence could be achieved without violence, unlike the LTTE, who believed in armed conflict.
In October 1983, all the TULF legislators, numbering sixteen at the time, forfeited their seats in Parliament for refusing to swear an oath unconditionally renouncing support for a separate state in accordance with the Sixth Amendment to the Constitution of Sri Lanka.
During the 1980s, the LTTE began to see the TULF as a rival in its desire to be considered the sole representative of the Tamils of the north and east. Over the next two decades, the LTTE assassinated several TULF leaders, including A. Amirthalingam and Neelan Thiruchelvam.
Prince Gunarasa Casinader (EPRLF) G. Karunakaran (TELO) Thambimuthu Samuel Pennington Thevarasa (EPRLF), murdered 11 May 1990 Joseph Pararajasingham (TULF), from 1990 (replaces Sam Thambimuthu (EPRLF))