Black July

{{Infobox civilian attack | title = Black July pogrom | image = LocationSriLanka.png | caption = Location of Sri Lanka | location = Sri Lanka | coordinates = | target = Primarily Sri Lankan Tamil and some Sinhalese civilians | date = July 24, 1983 - July 26, 1983 | time = | timezone = +6 GMT | type = Decapitation, Burning, Stabbing, Shooting | fatalities = between 400 and 3000 It is estimated that between 400 and 3000 It has become a day of remembrance for the Sri Lankan Tamil diaspora around the world.

Background

During the colonial period many Sri Lankan Tamils, particularly those from the Jaffna peninsula, took advantage of educational facilities established by missionaries and the British policy of divide and rule which placed minorities in positions of power in colonies, and soon dominated the civil service and other professions. When Sri Lanka became independent in 1948, a majority of government jobs were held by Tamils, who were a minority of the country's population. The elected leaders saw this as the result of a British stratagem to control the majority Sinhalese, and deemed it a situation that needed correction. In 1956 Sinhala Only Act which initially restricted the fair use of Tamil and English languages. Protests against this policy by the Tamils was met with mob violence that eventually snowballed into the 1958 riots. Throughout the 1960s, protests and state repression against protests created further animosity. In 1971, the policy of standardization that was implemented strained the already tenuous political relationship between the Tamil and Sinhalese communities. There was also a series of notable ethnic riots known as the 1977 riots following the United National Party coming to power in 1977. In 1981, the renowned public library in Jaffna was burnt down by a violent mob. The Jaffna Library was well known at the time as a nexus of Tamil activity with various Tamil groups vying for control. Until 1983, there were similar incidents of low level violence between the government and the mushrooming Tamil militant groups with a significant number of murders, disappearances and cases of torture attributed to both sides.

Events of July 1983

The events dubbed Black July began after members of the rebels Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (the Tamil Tigers or the LTTE) organization ambushed a military convoy in the North of Sri Lanka on the evening of July 23, 1983 outside the town of Jaffna in the North of Sri Lanka. This was the latest of a string of Tamil rebels attacks targeting Sinhalese policemen. In the July 23 massacre of 13 soldiers, initially, a road-side bomb was detonated beneath the jeep that was leading the convoy, injuring at least two soldiers on board. As soldiers traveling in a truck which was following the jeep dismounted to help their colleagues, they were ambushed by a group of Tamil Tiger fighters, who fired at them with automatic weapons and hurled grenades at them. In the ensuing clashes, one officer and 12 soldiers died immediately, while two more were fatally wounded, bringing the total death toll to 15 along with number of rebels. Kittu, a regional commander of the LTTE later admitted to planning and carrying out the ambush.

In order to avoid a violent backlash from the population due to the ambush, formed mobs and started attacking and assaulting Tamils, while looting and burning their properties in retribution for what happened. Members of the underworld criminal gangs then joined in. The mobs were equipped with voter registration lists, thereby giving credence to an organized attack with support at government level, burning and attacking mainly Tamil residences and business, while army and government officials were deployed late. While a number of Tamils fled the city, many of the Sinhalese and Muslim people tried to save the lives and properties of Tamils despite the activities of the gangs. Many Tamils were sheltered in government buildings, temples and Sinhalese and Muslim houses during the following days.

The government declared an emergency curfew in Colombo on the evening of the 24th; however, the police were unwilling, or unable

The curfew was extended nationwide on July 26 as a precautionary measure, as there were more outbreaks of violence against Tamils in areas where various ethnic groups lived together. By the evening of the 26th, the mob violence began to slacken off, as the police and army patrolled the street in large numbers and began to take action against the rioters. The soldiers killed in the Jaffna ambush were quietly buried during the night curfew. Also, during the early stages of riots, it is alleged the local police officers and military stood by doing nothing. By July 26, however, police and the army were out in the streets taking actions against the mobs and most of the violence died out. The government extended the curfew to prevent violence from spreading to other parts of the country. A brief span of rioting broke out on July 29 when police shot dead 15 Sinhalese looters.

Even though some Tamil politicians accused the ruling UNP for not taking appropriate actions to prevent the riots, according to the government it took vital counter measures from the very early stages to combat rioters and safeguard the Tamil community. Curfew was enforced immediately after the riots broke out. The attacks, according to the government, were carefully organized and government properties such as trains, buildings and buses were the initial targets. Prime Minister Ranasingha Premadasa formed a committee to organize shelter and feeding for an estimated 20,000 homeless Tamils in Colombo. These temporary shelters were situated at five school buildings and an aircraft hangar. After the number refugees increased to around 50,000 and the Government with help from India took measures to send Tamils north by ships.

Tamil civilians in other cities, including Galle, Matara, Gampola, Nawalapitiya, Pussellawa, Ginigathhena, Hatton, Kandy, Nuwara Eliya, Badulla, and Anuradapura, were also attacked by Sinhalese mobs. and 3,000

More than 18,000 houses and numerous commercial establishments were destroyed and hundreds of thousands of Tamils fled the country to Europe, Australia and Canada.

Gallery

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References

External links

Black July '83 Extensive survivor stories and documented history about Black July

24 July 1983, Peace and Conflict Timeline (PACT)

Remember, Groundviews - Articles from Government Ministers and civil society on the 25th commemoration of Black July and the 50th commemoration of the anti-Tamil riots of 1958

July still black after twenty years, The official website of the Sri Lankan government

President Kumaratunga's speech on the 21st Anniversary of 'Black July', South Asian Terrorism Portal

Remembering 1983 black July riots in Sri Lanka, LankaLibrary

History of Tamil Eelam, EelamWeb

Horror of a pogrom: Remembering "Black July" 1983, D.B.S. Jeyaraj

Category:1983 riots Category:History of Sri Lanka Category:Ethnic riots Category:Riots and civil unrest in Sri Lanka Category:Civilian massacres in Sri Lanka Category:Human rights abuses in Sri Lanka Category:Allegations of State terrorism by Sri Lanka