Ceylon Citizenship Act

The Ceylon Citizenship Act No. 18 of 1948 was a controversial law passed by the Ceylon Parliament which did not grant citizenship to Indian Tamils, who were 11% of the population.

Background

During the 19th and early 20th centuries the British rulers of Ceylon recruited large numbers of South Indians, primarily Indian Tamils, to work in tea, coffee, rubber and coconut plantations in Ceylon. By 1946 their numbers had grown to 780,000, 11.7% of the population. Their presence was resented by Sinhalese nationalists. There was real fear amongst the Indian Tamils that once Ceylon obtained independence, the Sinhalese, who constituted 69.4% of the population, would take steps to remove them from the country.

The Bill

Shortly after independence on 4 February 1948 the new Sinhalese dominated government of Ceylon introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Bill before Parliament. The outward purpose of the Bill was to provide means of obtaining citizenship, but its real purpose was to discriminate against the Indian Tamils by denying them citizenship.^[1] The Bill stipulated that anyone wishing to obtain citizenship had to prove that their father was born in Ceylon i.e. that they were at least third generation immigrants. This was an impossible task for most Indian Tamils. Few were at least third generation immigrants because they tended to return to India to give birth.^[1] Those who were at least third-generation immigrants rarely had the necessary documents because they rarely registered births.^[1] Therefore, they could not prove the requirements for citizenship.

The Bill was opposed fiercely in Parliament by the Ceylon Indian Congress, which represented the Indian Tamils, and the Sinhalese leftist parties. The bill was also opposed by the All Ceylon Tamil Congress, which represented the Sri Lankan Tamils, including its leader G.G. Ponnambalam.^[2]

The Bill was passed by Parliament on 20 August 1948 and became law on 15 November 1948, just 285 days after Ceylon had gained independence from Britain. Only about 5,000 Indian Tamils qualified for citizenship. More than 700,000 people, about 11% of the population, were denied citizenship and made stateless.^[3]

Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act No.3 of 1949

In 1949 the Ceylon Parliament passed a different subsequent act called Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act No.3 of 1949 whose outward purpose, again, was to provide means of obtaining citizenship for the Indian Tamils. But in reality the conditions imposed by the Act were such that they discriminated against the Indian Tamils.^[1] The Act granted citizenship to anyone who had 10 years of uninterrupted residence in Ceylon (7 years for married persons) and whose income was above the stipulated level. Again, this was an impossible task for most Indian Tamils. They had a habit of periodically returning to India, thereby interrupting their residence in Ceylon, and most could not meet the income qualification.^[1] Only about 100,000 Indian Tamils qualified for citizenship under this Act.^{[citation needed]}

Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Amendment Act No.48 of 1949

Later in 1949 the Ceylon Parliament passed the Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Amendment Act No.48 of 1949 which stripped the Indian Tamils of their franchise. Seven of the 95 MPs elected at the 1947 general elections were Indian Tamils.^[4] Upcountry Indian Tamils influenced the result in 20 other constituencies, very often voting for the opposition Sinhalese leftist parties. None of the 95 MPs elected at the 1952 general elections were Upcountry Indian Tamils.

Aftermath

Department of Official Languages

The Department of Official Languages was established headed by the Commissioner of Official Languages, under the Ministry of Finance on 1 October 1956 to implement the Official Languages Act No 33 of 1956.

Appeal to the Privy Council

The constitutionality of the Act was challenged in the case of Kodakan Pillai v. Mudanayake [1953] UKPC 1. The petitioners argued that the law violated guarantees of equality under the Ceylon (Constitution) Order in Council of 1946.^[5]

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council dismissed the appeal, holding that the Ceylon Parliament had full legislative competence and that the Citizenship Act was:

"...not inconsistent with any provision of the Constitution. It is within the sovereign power of the legislature to determine the criteria for citizenship."

The ruling emphasized the supremacy of parliamentary sovereignty and found that citizenship was not a fundamental right, but a matter of domestic legislative discretion.^[6] Legal scholars such as Sarah Joseph and C. J. Ilangakoon have criticized the decision for ignoring the racially discriminatory effect of the law and adopting a narrow legal formalism that failed to uphold substantive equality.^[7]

Loss of Indian citizenship

See also: British subject, Indian citizenship, and Indian nationality law

Many Indian Tamils were denied Ceylonese citizenship and simultaneously stripped of Indian citizenship, rendering them effectively stateless. At the time of Ceylon’s independence in 1948, Indian Tamils were classified as British subjects without a fixed nationality.^[8] The Indian Citizenship Act of 1955 granted citizenship only to Indian nationals domiciled within India, requiring those abroad—including Indian Tamils in Ceylon—to formally register or opt for Indian citizenship.^[9] Due to factors such as illiteracy, administrative neglect, and confusion, few plantation Tamils completed this process.^[10] The Sirima–Shastri Pact of 1964 stipulated that India would repatriate 525,000 Indian Tamils, while Sri Lanka would grant citizenship to 300,000; however, approximately 150,000 remained in legal limbo.^[11] The subsequent Sirima–Gandhi Pact of 1974 attempted to resolve this by dividing the remaining population, but delays, poor implementation, and the ongoing civil conflict hindered progress.^[12] Many Indian Tamils who opted for Indian citizenship but remained in Sri Lanka.

Nehru-Kotelawala Pact

Main article: Nehru-Kotelawala Pact

On 18 January 1954 Indian Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Ceylon Prime Minister John Kotelawala signed the Nehru-Kotelawala Pact under which India agreed to the repatriation of any Indian Tamil who wanted Indian citizenship. But India refused to automatically provide Indian citizenship to those who did not qualify for Ceylon citizenship.^[1][13]

Sirima-Shastri Pact

Main article: Sirima-Shastri Pact

On 30 October 1964 Indian Prime Minister Lal Shastri and Ceylon Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike signed the Sirima-Shastri Pact (also known as the Indo-Ceylon Agreement) under which India agreed to the repatriation of 525,000 Indian Tamils. Another 300,000 would be offered Ceylon citizenship. The fate of the remaining 150,000 Indian Tamils would be decided later.^[1][14]

Sirima–Gandhi Pact

Main article: Sirima–Gandhi Pact

On 28 June 1974 Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi and Ceylon Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike signed the Sirima–Gandhi Pact under which India and Sri Lanka agreed to grant citizenship to the 150,000 Indian Tamils whose status was left unresolved by the Sirima-Shastri Pact.^[1][15]

In 1982 India abrogated the Sirima-Shastri Pact and Sirimavo-Gandhi Pact. At this point 90,000 Indian Tamils who had been granted Indian citizenship were still in Sri Lanka and another 86,000 were in the process of applying for Indian citizenship.^[1][16]

Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act

In 1988 the Sri Lankan Parliament passed the Grant of Citizenship to Stateless Persons Act which granted Sri Lankan citizenship to all Indian Tamils who hadn't applied for Indian citizenship under previous agreements.^[1][17]

Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act No.35 of 2003

On 7 October 2003 the Sri Lankan Parliament unanimously passed the Grant of Citizenship to Persons of Indian Origin Act No.35 of 2003 which granted Sri Lankan citizenship to all Indian Tamils who had been residing in Sri Lanka since October 1964 and their descendants. This amounted to 168,141 persons and included those who had been granted Indian citizenship under previous agreements but were still living in Sri Lanka, though they had to rescind their Indian citizenship.^[1][18] All Indian Tamils living in Sri Lanka had finally been granted Sri Lankan citizenship, 55 years after independence.^[19] Since 2006, some Indian Tamils have applied for Overseas Citizenship of India.

Political and social impact

The Ceylon Citizenship Act had profound political and social impacts, most notably disenfranchising nearly one million Indian Tamils and undermining the trade union and leftist political movements that had significant support among plantation workers.^[20] The act established a legal and political precedent for ethnically exclusive policies within the post-colonial Sri Lankan state. This exclusionary legislation also caused significant diplomatic tensions with India, which culminated in bilateral agreements—the Sirima-Shastri Pact of 1964 and the Indo-Ceylon Agreement of 1974—focused on the repatriation and naturalization of Indian Tamils.^[21] The Citizenship Act played a crucial role in fostering ethnopolitical divisions that ultimately escalated into the Sri Lankan Civil War, although Indian Tamils were not the primary actors in the armed conflict. It symbolized the exclusionary nature of the Sri Lankan state, alienating both Indian and Sri Lankan Tamils and undermining their faith in electoral politics, thereby encouraging the radicalization of Tamil youth.^[22][23] Moreover, it contributed ideologically to Sri Lankan Tamil nationalism, while reinforcing perceptions of Sinhala-Buddhist dominance in state institutions.^[24]

Current Status

Main article: Sri Lankan nationality law

The original Ceylon Citizenship Act of 1948 has been largely superseded by subsequent citizenship legislation in Sri Lanka, including the Sri Lankan Citizenship Act of 1980, which updated and expanded the legal framework for citizenship.^[25] While the 1948 Act laid the foundation for citizenship law, many of its provisions, particularly those that disenfranchised Indian Tamils, have been amended or nullified through bilateral agreements and legal reforms.^[26] Nonetheless, its legacy continues to influence citizenship policy and ethnic relations in Sri Lanka.^[27] The current citizenship regime incorporates elements of the original act but seeks to address statelessness and provide clearer pathways to citizenship for various ethnic groups.^[28]