Before Bakthi movement took hold in Tamil Nadu around 6th century most of the Tamil population was Buddhist. A notable portion were Jains. These two religions contributed to Tamil language immensely. The most admired Tamil classics Silappatikaram and Manimekalai are Buddhist works. The ethics text Tirukkural, and even the ancient grammar Tholkapiam are claimed by some to be created by Buddhist authors.
Equality, non-violence, and enlightenment offered by Buddhism sharply contrasted that of Hinduism where caste hierarchy was supreme. According to Hindu order, most of the Tamils were Sthuras, or the lowest of the low. Thus Buddhism had a wide following among Tamils.
After the Bakthi movement Tamil Kings obeyed the Sanskrit order, and forced the Hindu religion onto the masses. From that time on until Christian missionaries Tamils were chained by the constrains of the caste system. The Colonial rule enabled the Dalit Tamils to oppose the Hindu caste system. In a desperate effort to escape the caste system many Dalits converted to Christianity and Islam. A significant portion also converted back to Buddhism.
Today many Tamils are returning to Buddhism. For instance, consider the online Tamil Buddhist Encyclopedia: http://www.tamilbuddhism.com/. There does not even exist a similar Buddhist reference work in Sinhalese. You can refer to many BBC articles (http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/south_asia/6050408.stm) where Tamils are converting back to Buddhism.
Sri Lankan Tamils are divided into Hindus, Christians, and Muslims. They are divided into numerous factions, and have a history of violent infighting. It is this history that engaged the pacifist Buddhists into war. For the cause of united Sri Lanka, it not impossible for Tamils to return to Buddhism. In fact this is the aim of the project sponsored by Niranjan de Silva Deva-Aditya, Member of European Parliament (http://www.tamilnet.com/art.html?catid=79&artid=26500). At the least Tamils should learn to respect Buddhism, and not question its privileged position in Sri Lanka. After all, Buddhism is also the religion of the Tamils,
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