Talk:Sri Lankan Tamils

RfC about inclusion of additional name for an ethnic group

The following discussion is an archived record of a request for comment. Please do not modify it. No further edits should be made to this discussion. A summary of the conclusions reached follows.

There is a clear consensus that "Eelam Tamils" should be included in the lead. In fact, consensus was almost unanimous so there's honestly not too much point getting into the specific arguments, but there was general agreement that this term is both commonly used and present in reliable sources. Loki (talk) 06:39, 13 March 2024 (UTC)

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Can the article introduction about "Sri Lankan Tamils" also include another name "Eelam Tamils" that is used among themselves and in the wider Tamil-speaking world? Petextrodon (talk) 19:33, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

Agree, it is a common alternative name used amongst themselves, that is also present in the scholarly literature as the two current citations prove.[1] Oz346 (talk) 19:55, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

• Agree, to a point The first citation used by Oz346 distinguishes two ethnic groups, Eelam Tamils being one of them. If true, we should acknowledge both. Unfortunately, I can't access the second source. I dream of horses (Hoofprints) (Neigh at me) 20:49, 29 February 2024 (UTC) Fixed ping to Oz346 I dream of horses (Hoofprints) (Neigh at me) 20:50, 29 February 2024 (UTC)
• Disagee Although the references do state that some in the commuinity, especially the dispora commuinity may use this term to identyfy themselves. The provided sources fail to indicate that this is a term used commonly to identify this community such as in mainstream media. Cossde (talk) 23:03, 29 February 2024 (UTC)

• Agree - An ethnic group can have both endonym and exonym. While the article title itself should use the better known exonym, endonyms can also be included after "also known as" as no Wiki rule explicitly forbids them. Eelam Tamils is primarily an endonym that's used by some members of the Sri Lankan Tamil community[1] but it has also been used by some outsiders, mostly other Tamil-speakers from India and some scholars writing in English as the citations already provided in the introduction show.

[1] For example, in the Eelam Tamil Youth Conference that took place on 26 February 2012 in Toronto, which is home to the largest Sri Lankan Tamil population outside Sri Lanka, representatives from 14 Tamil Students' Associations (TSAS) in high schools, colleges, and universities in Canada passed several resolutions, one of which was the rejection of "Sri Lankan" identity in favour of "Eelam Tamils". Commenting on this, Prof. Amarasingam argued that this "may prove to be increasingly significant for the future of diaspora politics, especially for Tamil youth identity in Canada." Source: https://books.google.com/books?id=ZdTZCgAAQBAJ&pg=PA92

Therefore, this identity is notable enough to be featured in the introduction as an alternative name. --- Petextrodon (talk) 03:16, 1 March 2024 (UTC)

• Agree - Contrary to the misinformation being propagated by Cossde, WP:COMMONNAME is only applicable when trying to ascertain the title of an article. We are not trying to ascertain the title for this article. We are only trying to ascertain if it is valid to include Eelam Tamils in the lede. WP:OTHERNAMES requires significant alternative names for a topic to be mentioned in the article, usually in the first sentence or paragraph. Plenty of WP:RS have been provided to show that Eelam Tamils is an alternative name for Sri Lankan Tamils. So, yes, Eelam Tamils should be included in the first sentence.--Obi2canibe (talk) 20:24, 2 March 2024 (UTC)
• Agree - Check some international Tamil community / organisations such as International Council of Eelam Tamils, Swiss Council of Eelam Tamils, Norwegian Council of Eelam Tamils, Country Council of Eelam Tamils, Germany, and Italy Council of Eelam Tamils. The list goes on with the name Eelam Tamils. I do not know why non-Tamil are very keen to remove such name, and I assume they have misunderstands. They have the rights to call themself by any name. Non-Tamils should not point the fingers to say 'no' as it is non of your business. By the way, there are so many Tamils sources point to "Eelam Tamils", and I can give samples if anyone want to see. Eg: These are Sri Lankan published book, not by diaspora or main stream media --AntanO 07:16, 3 March 2024(UTC)
• Agree It is a common alternative name used. It is valid to include Eelam Tamils in the lede.There is plenty of WP:RS to include it.Pharaoh of the Wizards (talk) 16:42, 3 March 2024 (UTC)
• Agree: I have been asked to opine on this issue. I've seen the name used enough, at least as an endonym, to warrant mention. I concede that it's not the formal or professional term you'd commonly see in, say, academic writing, probably because Tamil Eelam is not a recognized country. However, I see that changing in the coming years and decades with the influence of the Tamil diaspora, many of whom identify as "Eelam Tamils." SinhalaLion (talk) 02:09, 6 March 2024 (UTC)

References

The discussion above is closed. Please do not modify it. Subsequent comments should be made on the appropriate discussion page. No further edits should be made to this discussion.