20th centuries the British recruited large numbers of South Indians, primarily Indian Tamils, to work in tea, coffee, rubber and coconut plantations in Ceylon. Ceylon's majority Sinhalese viewed Indian Tamils with deep suspicion, fearing that they would dominate the island's central highlands and ally themselves with the indigenous Ceylon Tamils, increasing the latter's political strength. Following independence from Britain in February 1948, Ceylon's Sinhalese dominated government introduced the Ceylon Citizenship Bill which had the effect of denying citizenship and making stateless the country's Indian Tamils, who by now accounted for 11 per cent of the population. The bill provided for citizenship by descent or registration but both required documentary proof, something that was difficult for most Indian Tamils, many of whom were illiterate. The ACTC opposed the bill which was passed by Parliament at its second reading on 20 August 1948. Shortly afterwards Ponnambalam decided to join the United National Party (UNP) led government which caused a split in the ACTC. Eventually the ACTC dissidents, led by Chelvanayakam, E. M. V. Naganathan and C. Vanniasingam formed the Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK, Federal Party) on 18 December 1949. Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi ITAK had four main aims: creation of a federal union in Ceylon with two states—a Tamil state in the Northern and Eastern provinces and a Sinhalese state in the remaining seven provinces; cessation of state-sponsored colonisation in the two Tamil provinces; unity amongst the Tamil speaking peoples of Ceylon—Ceylon Tamils, Indian Tamils and Muslims; and equal status for Sinhala and Tamil languages. Chelvanayakam lost his seat in the 1952 parliamentary election but regained it in the 1956 parliamentary election. As Ceylon's two main parties, the UNP and Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), introduced policies which further discriminated against the country's minorities, such as the Sinhala Only Act which made Sinhala the sole official language of Ceylon, ITAK's Tamil nationalism became more popular than the ACTC's conservatism. In the 1956 parliamentary election the ITAK overtook the ACTC as the most popular party amongst Ceylon Tamils. On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, led by Chelvanayakam, staged a satyagraha (a form of non-violent resistance) against the Sinhala Only Act on Galle Face Green opposite the Parliament. The satyagrahis were attacked by a Sinhalese mob as the police looked on, and ITAK MPs E. M. V. Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in Beira Lake. Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam