 Most importantly, it promised a free extra ration of eight pounds of cereal (the so-called "eta ata"), on top of the existing ration of two kilograms of rice.More portentous was the status of the Tamil parties.The old federalist Tamil parties had merged to form the Tamil United Liberation Front, led by Appapillai Amirthalingam, which had gone beyond regional autonomy to openly call for independence of the Tamil-speaking regions of the country.