by Geoff Wijesinghe

Today, Sri Lanka commemorates the 16th anniversary of the Black July of 1983, when UNP goon squads went on the rampage killing, maiming, looting, burning Tamils and destroying their business establishments and homes in an unprecedented bloodbath, a massacre of the innocents in which an estimated 4,000 helpless Tamil civilians were murdered in Colombo and other parts of the country.

The violence unleashed on the Tamils by heavily-armed State-sponsored gangs resulted in thousands of Tamils fleeing the country and it also gave rise to ruthless LTTE terrorism and the North-East conflict.

The first waves of violence of violence directed at Tamil civilians began on the morning of July 23 with truckloads of armed thugs in the city of Colombo mercilessly attacking the Tamils.

The attackers guided by household lists provided to them by some members of the J.R.Jayewardene Government went from road to road, lane to lane, house to house looting and torching Tamils, their business establishments and homes. Those travelling on the roads, too, were not spared. In one instance, two Tamil civilians travelling in a Volkswagen car were stopped by a mob. The two victims ran and tried to hide inside a church. But they were dragged out and burned alive along with their car. In another instance, the occupants of a house were roasted alive and their house reduced to ashes. These are just two of the thousands of incidents which began on July 23, 1983 and continued throughout the month, with the President Jayewardene and his Government covertly encouraging the massacre of the Tamils on no provocation, whatsoever.

A senior UNP Minister spearheaded the anti-Tamil riots which were planned in advance in a house by a group of UNP chauvinists.

Soon Sri Lanka was blackballed by the international community. The tourism industry which had the 400,000 mark in 1982 collapased totally and so did the economy. This country became an international pariah overnight.

It was not until the People’s Alliance Government led by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga took office in 1994 that Sri Lanka regained acceptance with the international community by giving top priority for human rights and recognising the rights of the Tamils who were hitherto treated as second class citizens by the UNP Government for 17 long years. The PA Government initiated peace talks with the LTTE soon after it was elected to office, but the terrorist organisation reneged on a cessation of hostilities agreement and without any notice resumed the war by launching a series of furious attacks.

However the PA Government has continued with its efforts to forge a lasting peace through a new Constitution which will ensure devolution.

Courtesy: Daily News, Friday 23, July 1999