They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils that the state was preferring the majority Sinhalese for educational opportunities and government jobs.
[1] And when the government launched plans to settle poor farmers in the sparsely populated areas of the dry zone in the North Central Province and the Eastern Provinces alongside irrigation projects the Sinhalese nationalist groups viewed it as a "reclamation and recreation in the present of the glorious Sinhalese Buddhist past" resulting in many Tamils viewing it as a deliberate attempt of the Sinhalese-dominated state to marginalize them further by decreasing their numbers in the area.
[2] The militant groups also represented not only a revolt against the Sinhalese-dominated status quo but also an expression of inter-generational tensions in a highly traditional society where obedience to parental authority was expected.
[1] The most important contributor to the strength of the militant groups was the Black July pogrom which was perceived as an organized event in which over 3000 Sri Lankan Tamil civilians were slaughtered by Sinhalese mobs, prompting many youth to prefer the armed path of resistance.
The membership of the largest and most important rebel group, for example, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), was generally drawn from the Karaiyar or fisherman caste, while individuals belonging to the Vellala or farmer caste were found in considerable numbers in a rival group, the People's Liberation Organization of Tamil Eelam (PLOTE).
Among the many leftists groups the major one was the pro-Indian and Marxist Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front, militarily defeated by the LTTE but a faction of which is part of the TNA and others working with the Sri Lankan government as paramilitaries.
People's Liberation Army (PLA) in reality the military wing of EPRLF, Led by EPDP founder and leader Douglas Devananda.
Important achievement of the PLA was the 1984 kidnapping of American couple Stanley and Mary Allen from Columbus, Ohio, in Jaffna.Another minor but notable group was Tamil Eelam Army (TEA) of Panagoda Maheswaran involved in the attack against an Air Lanka flight in Madras, India.
[17] However, civilians giving evidence to the Lessons Learnt and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) claimed that the paramilitary groups were still engaged in violence, including abductions and murder.