Black July After 31 Years; The Sinhalese And Thamils Remain Deeply Polarized
By Veluppillai Thangavelu -July 19, 2014
Veluppillai Thangavelu
Thirty one (31) years ago on July 24, 1983 Sinhalese mobs executed an orgy of violence that surpassed all other previous pogroms executed in 1956, 1958, 1977, 1979 and 1981.
The events of July 1983 are poignant for the entire Thamil population around the world. Between July 24 and 29, Thamils were systematically targeted with violence in Colombo and many other parts of Sri Lanka.
1983 pic by Chandraguptha Amarasingha – A Tamil boy stripped naked and later beaten to death by Sinhala youth in Boralla bustation
The pogrom was a backlash by Sinhalese extremists following the mass funeral of 13 Sinhalese soldiers killed in an ambush on the previous day in Jaffna by members of the Liberation Tigers of Thamil Eelam (LTTE). In a deliberate attempt to inflame racial passions the GOSL gave wide publicity to the killings by televising, broadcasting and publishing the news. On the contrary the reprisal killings in execution style of innocent Thamils went unreported in contrast to the wide publicity given to the killing of the 13 soldiers in Jaffna.
Below is a synopsis of how the 1983 riots unfolded with all its fury:
Sri Lankan Governments officials categorized the violence as uncontrollable race riots instigated by the killing of 13 Sinhala soldiers on the night of July 23. However, history and the course of events during Black July illustrate the Sri Lankan Government’s undeniable involvement in the genocidal acts against Thamils.
July 24 (Day 1): At 1 o’clock in the morning of July 24, the army rounded up hundreds of Thamils in Trincomalee, Mannar, and Vavuniya in the Northeast who had fled the anti-Thamil riots of 1977 and 1981. These Thamils were forcibly taken and left without possessions in the central hills.
Before the riots broke out in Colombo, the army in Jaffna went on rampage in Jaffna. According to the report of the Presidential Truth Commission on Ethnic Violence (1981 – 1984) the army in Jaffna, in revenge for the killing of the 13 soldiers, killed 10 Thamil civilians on Sunday, 24 July 1983. By the evening, the number rose to 51 reprisal killings of Thamil civilians. They were all random killings just opening fire at the whims and fancy of marauding army personnel. Read More
