Sri Lanka . Since the Anti Tamil pogroms of 1983 , known as Black July , Tamil nationalists in Sri Lanka attempted to create an independent state ( Tamil Eelam ) amid the increasing political and physical violence against ordinary Tamils by the Sri Lankan government which was dominated by Sinhalese Buddhist nationalism .
Tamil nationalists in both Sri Lanka and the Indian state of Tamil Nadu attempted to create an independent state ( Tamil Eelam ) amid the increasing political and physical violence against ordinary Tamils by the Sri Lankan government since the pogroms of 1983 , known as Black July .