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Today marks 37 years since the start of Black July - an anti-Tamil pogrom which took place across Sri Lanka for an entire week in July 1983.
On the night of July 23, 1983, fifteen soldiers from the Sri Lanka Army were killed by the LTTE in Thirunelveli - an attack described as retaliation for the killing of Charles Anthony and the abduction and rape of Tamil schoolgirls by Sri Lankan government forces.
The Army Commander at the time, Tissa Weeratunga decided to hold the soldiers’ funerals at the Borella Kanatte, while Prime Minister Premadasa was against it. However, the PM was overruled by President J. R. Jayawardene and the funeral was set to take place on July 24 at 5:00pm.
However, this arrangement for the funeral went against the usual procedure of handing over the soldiers’ bodies to their respective families for burial.
But on July 24, the soldiers’ bodies hadn’t arrived in Colombo yet, and the their families wanted the bodies so they could bury them. The bodies were still lying at the Palaly Army Camp. During this time, a crowd had gathered at the Borella Kanatte, angered by the delay.
The plane carrying the bodies arrived at Ratmalana Airport later that day and by this time, the crowd at the Kanatte had grown to around 8000, them demanding that the bodies be handed over to the respective families for burial.
The military funeral was cancelled by President J. R. Jayewardene, and made the decision to hand the bodies over to the families. The crowd at the Kanatte was informed of this decision and they slowly left the premises.
Upon leaving the Kanatte, a section of the crowd marched up to and destroyed the Tamil-owned Nagalingam Stores, marking the start of the pogrom. They attacked, looted and set fire to any building which had a connection to a Tamil person.
This spread to other areas of Colombo on that night, and continued the next day (July 25) to every Tamil-owned business in Fort, and then to Olcott Mawatha, Grandpass, Kotahena, Maradana, Modera, Mutwal, Slave Island, Narahenpita and Kirulapona.
Various mobs roamed the streets with clubs and knives, attacking and killing Tamils, and then moving onto Wellawatte and Dehiwela, to attack, loot and set fire to Tamil homes and shops.
Rioters used voter registration lists to identify Tamil homes and properties, which clearly indicated that government assistance was provided to obtain these lists for the purpose of destruction and killing.
37 Tamil prisoners at the Welikada Prison were killed by Sinhalese prisoners, using knives and clubs. Prison officers allowed their keys to be taken away for this purpose, but later claimed that the keys had been stolen from them.
The mob violence spread to Kandy, Nawalapitiya, Hatton, Badulla, Bandarawela, Hali-Ela, Welimada and Lunugala.
On July 27, a train was headed for Jaffna from the Fort Railway Station, when it was stopped and Sinhalese passengers attacked and killed 12 Tamil passengers. Some Tamils were burnt alive on the rail tracks.
After the riots and killing at the Welikada Prison, the Tamil prisoners were moved to the Youth Offenders Building, and on July 27, Sinhalese prisoners overpowered the guards and attacked and killed 15 Tamil prisoners.
On July 28, President Jayewardene made a televised address and blamed the LTTE’s actions for the manner in which the Sinhalese rioters attacked, killed and looted Tamils and their homes and shops/businesses.
On July 29, vehicles in Colombo were stopped and searched for Tamils, and any Tamil found was killed or set on fire.
On July 30, violence took place in Nuwara Eliya, Kandapola, Hawa Eliya and Matale. That night, the government banned the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, the Nava Sama Samaja Party and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) and blamed them for inciting the riots.
Let it be known that during the early stages of the riots in Colombo, police and military stood by and did nothing, with some even joining the rioters in their actions. The government was complicit during the pogrom and was even accused of supporting and encouraging the mobs.
President Jayewardene didn’t condemn the violence or even express sympathy to survivors and their families and the deceased. He didn’t take any actions against the rioters for the violence, looting and killings either.
In an interview with the Daily Telegraph on July 11, 1983, two weeks prior to the riots, President Jayewardene explicitly stated that he was not worried about the opinions of Tamils, and that even if he starved the Tamils, the Sinhalese would be happy.
Never, ever forget the atrocities that have happened in this country and educate yourselves on the history of these pogroms, remembering the complicity of the government and their inability to bring perpetrators to justice, failing the deceased and the survivors of the violence.
Absolutely vital reading about #BlackJuly https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041565073465351?s=21 https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041565073465351
There’s a belief that the #BlackJuly pogrom occurred as retaliation to the killing of the soldiers by the LTTE, but violence against Tamils had been occurring for so long, such as the Gal Oya riots in 1956 and the islandwide massacre against Tamils in 1958.
Months before the events of #BlackJuly took place, Tamils were being detained, tortured and/or killed.
Do read @PEARL_Action’s informative thread: https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041566033969157?s=21 https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041566033969157
Do read @PEARL_Action’s informative thread: https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041566033969157?s=21 https://twitter.com/pearl_action/status/1286041566033969157
