SRI LANKA 23 July 2008 Tamilans observe 25th anniversary of Black July, the start of present conflict

July 23 in 1983 marked the start of the present ethnic violence between the Tamilans and the Sri Lankan government. Thousands of Tamils had to leave Sri Lanka. They became refugees in the United States, Canada, Europe and India or they took up armed struggle. Colombo could face an embarrassing situation if any major violence is prompted by the Black July anniversary.

The 15th South Asian Association of regional co-operation summit (SAARC) is scheduled in Colombo in Aug 2008. The SAARC summit is to be attended by heads of the eight member nations plus representatives from observer countries like United States, China and Japan.

On 2 Jan 2008, the Sri Lanka government officially pulled out of the 2002 cease-fire accord with Tamil rebels. The peace accord was mediated by Norway.

Black July happened when members of the banned Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) organization ambushed a military convoy in the North of Sri Lanka on 23 Jul 1983 near Jaffna in North Sri Lanka. What followed on the next day (July 24, 1983) was an alleged series of acts of violence initiated against the minority Tamilans by the Sinhalese army. The impetus to the violence was alleged to have been given by Sinhalese mobs who had gathered at the Colombo Cemetery where the bodies of the soldiers were to be buried. Following the violence, the government declared an emergency curfew in Colombo on 24 Jul 1983.

The situation escalated in a full-fledged civil war. The most violent act allegedly happened on 25 Jul 1983 at Welikada high security prison. A Truth Commission under the chairmanship of former Chief Justice S Sharvananda reported in 2001 that 1000 killings happened during that period. It was estimated that 18,000 properties were destroyed. It is estimated that up to 3000 Tamils were killed, some of them burned alive, and thousands more injured. Over 700,000 Tamil people out of a total of about 1.2 million Tamil people living in this country at the time had to run away and find homes in other countries.

Ethnic violence in Sri Lanka is believed to have its roots in the colonial British government as the Tamilans were disproportionately represented in civil services. After independence on 2 Feb 1948 the Sinhalese government started to give more priorities to the majority groups, sparking ethnic violence. This was given impetus with the Srimaou Bandaranaike's declaration of the "Sinhala Only Act" that was passed in 1956. The act envisaged that Sinhala is the only official language in the island nation. This triggered violence in the ethnic community that culminated in the “Black July 1983.” An amendment was brought to effect in 1987 that enabled both Tamil and Sinhala to be recognized as official languages, but the change failed to impact on the ethnic violence that started in “Black July.”

ARTICLE WRITTEN BY NEWSAHEAD CORRESPONDENT C.BALAJI, WHO IS AVAILABLE FOR FREELANCE ASSIGNMENTS IN INDIA AND THE REGION. email: mohan balaji