On the 30th Anniversary of the Pogrom of July 1983
Photo courtesy Ilankai Tamil Sangam
Devanesan Nesiah-2 Aug, 2013
I was GA and District Secretary Jaffna at that time, and was not directly a victim of the pogrom, but was very much involved with the care of around 60,000 victims who moved into Jaffna in the days and weeks following the pogrom. But that is not all. My story starts earlier, around 1980, during the time that I was posted to the Sri Lanka Institute of Development Administration. I had an unexpected visit from Prof. A.J. Wilson and Dr. Neelan Tiruchelvam. I did not know it then, but the pogrom was already in the making.