{"id":249912,"date":"2026-11-14T00:13:24","date_gmt":"2026-11-13T18:43:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=249912"},"modified":"2026-11-14T00:13:24","modified_gmt":"2026-11-13T18:43:24","slug":"are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/","title":{"rendered":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)?"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Kasinathan Nadesan<\/a> –<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

Dr. Kasinathan Nadesan<\/p><\/div>\n

<\/i>Sri Lanka, popularly referred to as \u201cDhamma Deepa\u201d [island of justice or balance], is in reality built mostly on myth and deception.\u00a0 The very origin of the Sinhala race itself is shrouded in confusion and deception. While some argue he Sinhalese are Aryans who moved in a southerly direction and finally reached Sri Lanka during prehistoric times, others claim that they are pure natives who were born and evolved in Sri Lanka from the beginning and subsequently embraced Buddhism with its arrival from India during the period of Mauryan Emperor Asoka.<\/p>\n

Rajiva Wijesinghe, once Chairman of the Sri Lanka Peace Secretariat, had this to say about the origin of the Sinhala race in his book entitled \u201cCurrent Crisis in Sri Lanka\u201d published in 1986 by Navarang, New Delhi: \u201cLegend has it that the Sinhalese, the majority race in Sri Lanka now, are descended from a lion. Sinha stands for the lion that abducted a princess by whom he had two children. The son, Sinhabahu, found life in a lion\u2019s cave irksome, and stole away with his mother and his sister to the ancestral kingdoms. The enraged lion began to ravage the area and it was only his son who was able to kill him. Then the boy married his sister, who might have made for a happy ending had not their son Vijaya proved dissolute. He was sent with his followers into exile on a boat, which grounded in Sri Lanka. The ruling monarch there at the time was queen Kuveni, who fell in love with Vijaya and made him her consort. It did not take him long to get rid of her and send for reinforcement from India, through whom the race proliferated and filled the land\u201d.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Bestiality, parricide, incest, wantonness and betrayal may not seem an auspicious beginning for a race. But these are all part of legend, and legends do not require to be taken seriously. Personally, as a doctor with vast experience, I disregard Mahavamsa with a primary motive to safeguard the Sinhala race and Sri Lankan Buddhism.<\/p>\n

Looking back into the last seven decades since independence clearly shows the series of deceptions that the country had gone through, especially in reference to ethnic relations. The Tamils fully supported the Sinhalese at the time of the independence and agreed with the Westminster-type parliament, trusting the Sinhalese promises without any reservation. But They were betrayed in a matter of years and the Sinhalese went back 100% on their promises. It was a total deception to which Tamils fell victim.<\/p>\n

In 1799, Sir Hugh Cleghorn, the first British Colonial Secretary wrote to the British Government as follows, \u201cTwo different nations from a very ancient period have divided between them the possession of the Island. First the Sinhalese, inhabiting the interior of the country in its Southern and Western parts, and secondly the Malabars (Tamils) who possess the Northern and Eastern Districts. These two nations differ entirely in their religion, language and manners\u201d.<\/i><\/i><\/p>\n

Portuguese and Dutch ruled the Tamil and Sinhala Kingdoms separately, but the British artificially joined them for their administrative convenience only in 1833. On Feb. 4, 1948, the British left the Island, leaving it as one country, CEYLON, and put political power in the hands of the \u2018majority\u2019 Sinhalese. It was the Sinhala deception to which the Tamil leaders clearly fell victim and today, 70 years after, the Tamils are still struggling in the midst of racism, and hatred.<\/p>\n

D.S. Senanayake\u2019s speech in 1945 to solicit support from the minorities to accept the Westminster type parliament went like this,<\/p>\n

” … throughout this period the Ministers had in view one objective only, the attainment of maximum freedom. Accusations of Sinhalese domination have been bandied about. We can afford to ignore them for it must be plain to everyone that what we sought was not Sinhalese domination, but Ceylonese domination. We devised a scheme that gave heavy weightage to the minorities; we deliberately protected them against discriminatory legislation. We vested important powers in the Governor-General. We decided upon an Independent Public Service Commission so as to give assurance that there should be no communalism in the Public Service.(sic) I do not normally speak as a Sinhalese, and I do not think that the Leader of this Council ought to think of himself as a Sinhalese representative, but for once I should like to speak as a Sinhalese and assert with all the force at my command that the interests of one community are the interests of all. We are one another, whatever race or creed.”<\/i><\/p>\n

The Sinhalese people trace their origins to a blend of early North Indian migration and long-term integration with indigenous and South Indian populations on the island of Sri Lanka. The Sinhala language is an Indo-Aryan tongue brought to Sri Lanka around the 5th to 6th century BCE by settlers from northern India (such as regions in Bengal or western\/northwestern India). According to the ancient chronicle texts like the Mahavamsa<\/i>, the Sinhalese civilization begins with the arrival of Prince Vijaya, a banished prince from northern India. Because of its geographic separation, the Sinhala language evolved distinctly from its continental Indo-Aryan sister languages, later absorbing significant influences from Pali and Sanskrit through the introduction of Buddhism. Modern genetic and historical studies show that while the language and elite founding traditions are North Indian, the majority of the Sinhalese genetic ancestry is closely tied to indigenous islanders and South Indian (Dravidian) populations due to centuries of intermarriage and regional contact. Research indicates that the Sinhalese share a high degree of genetic proximity with Sri Lankan Tamils, reflecting a rich multi-ethnic history rather than a strict single-group replacement.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankan Tamils originally trace their roots to southern India (Tamil Nadu and surrounding regions), with early maritime, trading, and migration waves crossing the Palk Strait over many centuries. As Dravidian people, Tamils share linguistic and cultural origins with the Tamil-speaking regions of southern India. Because northern Sri Lanka is separated from India by only about 32 kilometres (20 miles), early fishermen, traders, and settlers began arriving on the island at an ancient date. The descendants of Tamil-speaking groups who migrated from southern India in ancient and medieval times, eventually establishing historical communities and entities such as the Jaffna Kingdom and east coast chieftaincies (Vannimais). A separate community composed of descendants of workers brought over from Tamil Nadu by British colonial rulers in the 19th century to labour on tea and coffee plantations. While historical records, inscriptions, and medieval kingdoms document a long-standing and continuous presence of Tamils in northern and eastern Sri Lanka, opinions on the exact timeline vary. Some traditional or nationalist viewpoints emphasize deep indigenous or early pre-Buddhist roots on the island, whereas mainstream historical consensus points to waves of migration and interaction from \u201cTamilakam\u201d (ancient South India). Genetic studies also show a close historical overlap between the island’s ethnic groups.<\/p>\n

Sri Lankan Tamils and the Sinhalese share an exceptionally close genetic profile, forming a single tight genetic cluster despite speaking languages from two distinct language families (Dravidian and Indo-Aryan). Genetic studies show that both groups derive the vast majority of their ancestry from South India, alongside shared ancient South Asian roots and centuries of intermarriage on the island.<\/p>\n

Because of thousands of years of geographic proximity, migration, and intermixing, the genetic distance between the two communities is negligible. Whole-genome research shows both populations sit on the standard South Indian genetic cline. Their DNA is primarily composed of Ancient Ancestral South Indian (AASI) hunter-gatherer ancestry (~45% to 65%), mixed with ancient Iranian-farmer-related ancestry and a small amount (under 10%) of Eurasian Steppe ancestry. A landmark study published on ScienceDirect<\/a><\/span> found that Sri Lankan Tamils and Sinhalese are genetically closer to each other than to almost any other population in South Asia. Earlier admixture studies also noted that the two communities share roughly 55% of their common gene pool on the island. Both groups carry minor genetic contributions from the indigenous Vedda people. However, both the Sinhalese and Sri Lankan Tamils remain genetically much closer to each other and to South Indians than they are to isolated Vedda communities.<\/p>\n

Although the Sinhala language belongs to the Indo-Aryan family of northern India, the Sinhalese gene pool is predominantly South Indian. Population studies estimate that roughly 70% of the Sinhalese genetic makeup comes from South Indian populations, particularly Tamils. Historical migrations from South India between the 13th and 18th centuries\u2014followed by cultural and linguistic assimilation known as Signalisation\u2014heavily shaped several coastal Sinhalese castes. Classical admixture studies found an approximately 25% genetic contribution from Northeast India (Bengal). More recent genome-wide analyses on ScienceDirect also detected faint, shared DNA segments with Southwestern Indo-Aryan groups like the Marathas, alongside minor West Eurasian maternal lineages (such as haplogroup U7) linked to ancient maritime trade. Geneticists have also identified traces of East and Southeast Asian genetic markers in the Sinhalese population, reflecting historical trade and cultural links across the Bay of Bengal. Genetic studies distinguish between two main Tamil communities in Sri Lanka, as well as mainland Tamils in India. Sri Lankan (Ceylon) Tamils group shares a common Dravidian-speaking ancestral base with Tamils from Tamil Nadu, dating back to early migrations around 300 BCE. However, over two millennia of island living and intermixing with the Sinhalese have given Sri Lankan Tamils a distinct genetic profile that clusters slightly closer to the Sinhalese than to mainland Indian Tamils. Up-Country (Indian) Tamils descended from plantation workers brought from Tamil Nadu during the 19th-century British colonial era; Up-Country Tamils show minimal historical mixing with the Sinhalese. As noted by the University of Colombo<\/a><\/span>, their DNA remains virtually identical to that of mainland Tamils in Tamil Nadu.<\/p>\n

I have travelled widely in India and found great relationships among Malayalis, Sinhalese and Tamils be their food habits, attending temples though Malayalis are Hindus and Sinhalese are Buddhists, clothing, house design, to name a few. Malayalis (from Kerala, India) and Sinhalese (the majority ethnic group of Sri Lanka) are distinct South Asian ethnic groups that share deep historical, cultural, and genetic ties due to their proximity across the Indian Ocean. While their languages belong to completely different language families, centuries of trade, migration, and shared tropical geography have created notable overlaps. Historical records and genetic studies point to centuries of migration and intermixing between coastal Kerala and Sri Lanka. Some southern Sinhalese communities trace historical roots to migrants from Kerala, while certain Malayali communities, such as the Ezhavas, hold oral histories linking their ancestors to ancient Sri Lanka.\u00a0 During the 20th-Century Labor Migration during the early 1900s, tens of thousands of Malayalis migrated to Colombo to work in ports, railways, and businesses. Many eventually assimilated into Sri Lankan society and adopted Sinhalese surnames. The Keralite social reformer Narayana Guru<\/a><\/span> visited Sri Lanka in 1918 and 1926, strengthening spiritual and cultural bonds between Sri Lankan Buddhists and Malayali communities.\u00a0 Because Kerala and Sri Lanka share a tropical monsoon climate, both groups rely heavily on coconuts, rice, fish, and spices in their cuisine. Both cultures also share a deep historical reverence for elephants in religious festivals and pageants.<\/p>\n

But our Sri Lankan illiterate, racists, both Tamils and Sinhalese, have no clear idea at all about the racial formation of Sri Lanka. Had they been taught true Sri Lankan History then we would not have had all these unnecessary ethnic disputes. The historic truth is that the island belongs to both races. Since the present-day Sinhalese are in Majority due to various geopolitical events, does not mean the country is purely a Sinhala Buddhist land. Best way is to say Sri Lanka is a Sinhala Buddhist majority country. But this reality cannot be ingrained into the minds of most people because it is extremely advantageous politically to the Sinhalese.<\/p>\n

Since of late, especially after President Anura\u2019s government took over power, this cry called \u201ckallathoni\u201d(illegal immigrants) has become very popular. The irony is that the ignorant racists even called President Anura a kallathoni. This clearly shows their state of mind and total ignorance. Any educated person, who has studied and understood the real, authentic Sri Lankan ethnic history will never say this. Sri Lankan Tamils are a native ethnic group who have lived on the island of Sri Lanka for centuries, and “Kallathoni” is a derogatory, racist slur rather than an accurate historical or legal term. If it is true, except the \u201cVeddas\u201d, all the others are kallathonis. Even Weerawansa, Gammanpila, Sarath Weerasekara and many racist monks are all kallathonis. Many of these people have never read authentic Sri Lankan history. Owing to their language limitations, they have to rely on what is being uttered by monks or go by Sinhala books that are biased and modified for racial and political reasons. The famous stamp issued in 1956 for the Buddha Jayanthi, depicting the arrival of Vijaya on a boat with his cronies (kallathoni) in Lanka and received by the Dravida Yaksa Queen Kuveni was withdrawn from circulation in a few days. They realised that they had let the cat out of the bag, confirming that the Sinhala race too are kallathonies!<\/p>\n

Now there are many who reject \u201cMahavamsa\u201d, since what was written by Mahanama Thero in Pali in 600 CE does not go in favour of their distorted history. From ancient times the Sinhalese depended heavily in South India for their survival. King <\/span>Kashyapa is credited with the construction of the Sigiriya<\/span><\/a><\/span> citadel and the surrounding city. He acquired the throne by overthrowing his father King Dhatusena<\/span><\/a><\/span> and usurping his brother Moggallana<\/span><\/a><\/span>, the rightful heir to the throne. He imprisoned and killed his father by building a wall around him. Kashyapa became the king of the country in BCE 473, as the second king of Sri Lanka. However, Moggallana, the rightful brother to the throne fled to South India, fearing that his brother would kill him too. But he returned with an army composed of Tamil soldiers to regain the throne and finally Kashyapa was killed.<\/p>\n

Unfortunate things in Sri Lanka are due to longstanding ethnic tension, riots and political turmoil that went unresolved and ended up in a civil war that happened for several decades with immense loss of human lives and economy. I am a Sri Lankan Tamil, truly patriotic and non-racial, yet come across even educated Sinhalese who find it difficult to see the logic when it involves ethnic matters. Similar types of Tamils are there on the other side of the fence. This is a curse for us. When I supported Anura as President, there were allegations that I am supporting because being a Tamil and along with Diaspora Tamils have financed the President to get Eelam and even to destroy Buddhism. This is very sad situation but I know it is difficult to change this mindset. But the only satisfaction I have is that despite all these rhetorics the historic truth is that Sinhalese, Tamils and Veddas are natives of Sri Lanka and are blood relations.<\/p>\n

Dr Kasinthan Nadesan – Retired Forensic Pathologist.<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[…]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2675,"featured_media":249913,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_hide_featured_image":false,"_jetpack_featured_image_duplicate_dismissed":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,8],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-249912","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colombotelegraph","category-editorial"],"yoast_head":"\nAre Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"[…]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Colombo Telegraph\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"600\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"346\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Kasinathan Nadesan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Kasinathan Nadesan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"12 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Kasinathan Nadesan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33\"},\"headline\":\"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)?\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":2503,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"Opinion\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/\",\"name\":\"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/11\\\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg\",\"width\":600,\"height\":346,\"caption\":\"Screenshot\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)?\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/\",\"name\":\"Colombo Telegraph\",\"description\":\"In journalism truth is a process\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33\",\"name\":\"Kasinathan Nadesan\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Kasinathan Nadesan\"},\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/www.colombotelegraph.com\\\/index.php\\\/author\\\/drkasinade\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph","og_description":"[…]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/","og_site_name":"Colombo Telegraph","article_published_time":"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00","og_image":[{"width":600,"height":346,"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Kasinathan Nadesan","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Kasinathan Nadesan","Est. reading time":"12 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/"},"author":{"name":"Kasinathan Nadesan","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33"},"headline":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)?","datePublished":"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/"},"wordCount":2503,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","articleSection":["Colombo Telegraph","Opinion"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/","name":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)? - Colombo Telegraph","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","datePublished":"2026-11-13T18:43:24+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","width":600,"height":346,"caption":"Screenshot"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/are-sri-lankan-tamils-really-kallathonis-illegal-immigrants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Are Sri Lankan Tamils Really Kallathonis (Illegal Immigrants)?"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/","name":"Colombo Telegraph","description":"In journalism truth is a process","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/#\/schema\/person\/2a6e0904b82368711fd21b780d87fb33","name":"Kasinathan Nadesan","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/622c0fab579aaeef1d00cba43313a90ca679fa5085f2225e48726a1204a1242c?s=96&d=identicon&r=g","caption":"Kasinathan Nadesan"},"url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/author\/drkasinade\/"}]}},"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/11\/Kallathonis-Illegal-Immigrants.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249912","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2675"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249912"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249912\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":249916,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249912\/revisions\/249916"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249913"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249912"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249912"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249912"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}