Anti Tamil pogrom of ‘83
The day all hell broke loose …
by Wijitha Nakkawita
The anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 which later became known as the “Black July” the 16th anniversary of which falls this week is the most gruesome event that tarnished the image of Sri Lanka worldwide and shook the Lankan society to its very foundation. As audio-visual records spread worldwide through the international wire services the world looked upon with horror at the brutalities that were executed with State patronage on innocent victims. It was the turning point the domestic communal problem became internationalised.
Years later, when the trauma and anguish that the innocent people suffered then are somewhat forgotten, it is pertinent to peruse the records of events that led to those ignoble acts, at least to find out what went wrong and what indeed was wrong with the body politic of our country then and to see how such nightmares and horrible events of suffering could be averted.
Since independence in 1948 and even before that during “Dominion Status” days as a British Colony in the 1930s, there were certain political elements in the legislature who had advocated extremist points of view regarding the status of the three ethnic groups the Sinhala, the Tamils and the Muslims.
Yet, even after independence the official language was English and from time to time there was a popular demand to make Sinhala and Tamil the official languages. In 1956 MEP government led by SLFP leader S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and UNP led by Sir John Kotelawala had both promised during the election campaign to make Sinhala the official language. When Mr. Bandaranaike came to power Sinhala was made the official language with provisions to make reasonable use of the Tamil Language in Tamil majority areas. Later the first devolution of power accord between Bandaranaike and Federal Party leader S. J. V. Chelvnayakam was signed and UNP bigwig J. R. Jayewardene launched a protest with some of his supporters against the accord claiming that Bandaranaike was going to betray the country to the Tamils. The race riots of 1958 and the abrogation of the pact followed. Mutual suspicions between the Sinhala and Tamil communities followed those unfortunate events.
But till 1976 the Tamil political parties did not press for a separate State or an Eelam. The Vaddukkoddai Convention of the Tamil United Liberation Front, (TULF) marked the beginning of yet another chapter in the political history of Sri Lanka.
Small clandestine youth groups of insurgents were growing even before the convention and these youth mostly concentrated in the smuggling area of Velvettithurai shuttled between India and Sri Lanka for arms and ideology that the South Indian DMK was ever ready to give. But these groups did not get the official blessing of the Indian government till J. R. Jayewardene came to power in 1977. India began to believe that Jayewardene was cultivating strong links with USA and the Sri Lankan regime was hostile to India and Prime Minister Indira Gandhi who was a staunch friend of Sri Lanka and a close friend of the Bandaranaike family got the Indian intelligence and espionage group RAW to arm and train young Tamil insurgents on Indian soil.
Then on 23.7.1983 around 11.45 p.m. a group of 14 Army personnel travelling in a jeep and a truck on patrol at Thinnavely in Jaffna were blown up by a landmine. The two vehicles were thrown up in the blast while Tamil insurgent youth who had laid the ambush fired at the military personnel killing all 14 of them.
On the next day the bodies of the soldiers were to be brought to Colombo and a large crowd gathered at the General Cemetery, Kanatte, but the bodies were not brought for burial as expected. The Government later said that the bodies were not brought as the crowd became restless and angry and that made the members of the families of the soldiers more grief stricken and angry. But an eyewitness, an aunt of one of the officers killed in the blast, related how the crowd was behaving and that there was a method in the mode of behaviour on that day. The National Intelligence Bureau and the CID which were present among the crowd had recorded the angry protests and the abuse heaped on the then President J. R. Jayewardene and Premier R. Premadasa. Those tapes were played before the President and the Premier who after listening gauged the mood of the crowd which went berserk attacking even the senior policemen in uniform who had come to Kanatte that evening.
The mob that was in an ugly mood went out attacking shops at Borella and Narahenpita.
The next morning dawned and with it all hell broke loose. Well organized gangs that had the blessings of powerful Government politicians mainly from the city of Colombo began their orgy of murder, looting and arson in broad daylight while the Police and the Armed Forces appeared to be helpless. I remember taking a vehicle out of Lake House to Wattala, with my colleagues also taking a Tamil acccountant at Lake House, Mr.Edward, who also lived in Wattala. Five colleagues and the driver were all Sinhalese and we kept Mr. Edward between us in the middle of the vehicle and at each 100 meters or so gangs armed with clubs, swords and knives stopped each vehicle and inspected them to see whether any passenger or driver was a Tamil. Smoke filled the streets of Colombo and while we were leaving Lake House a flourishing texitle shop, Sarathas was being looted while the armed forces and police were turning a blind eye to the crime.
According to records violence continued on July 25, 26, 27, and 28. On July 28 after witnessing looting, murder and arson for five long days during which 79,000 Tamil people became refugees, with Colombo itself creating 64,000 refugees the first citizen of the country, President J. R. Jayewardene belatedly addressed the nation. He said “This violence was particularly aimed at Tamil people…. caused by a deep ill feeling and suspicion between the Sinhala and Tamil people for several years.” He put down the causes first to the events of 1956 conveniently ignoring the role he played in the creation of dissension and the riots of 1958.
The day after President Jayewardene addressed the nation India’s Foreign Minister Narasimha Rao arrived in Colombo for talks with the President and the press reported that India was deeply concerned with the plight of the Tamil minority and that it was prepared to help by giving humanitarian aid for the victims of violence.
On July 25 Premier R. Premadasa making a statement in Parliament said that well organiized gangs attacked shops,other business houses and homes of Tamil people. He said that according to Police information 48 murders, 209 cases of arson, 7 cases of looting, 20 cases of mischief and 20 cases of other violence were reported.
In the meantime, at the Welikada Prison in Colombo 35 Tamil prisoners and one Sinhala prisoner were killed in riots against Tamil prisoners, among whom were some suspected Tamil insurgents.
The Government on the July pogrom announced: “The situation is now under control but on the same day it was reported that some person had lobbed a grenade at the Army personnel patrolling 5th Cross Street, Pettah, Colombo and the Army opened fire on the occupants of the building killing a number of persons while one soldier died when his gun went off by accident.
On the next day July 30, the Government promulgated some draconian provisions of the Public Security Act proscribing three political parties, The Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CP) , The Nava Lanka Sama Samaja Party (NSSP) and the Janata Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP). It was alleged that those political parties were responsible for the organized violence against the Tamils. It seemed to be a stupid decision to those who had studied the policies of these political parties. It also was an ideal case of palming off the baby, as the majority in the country were aware that it was the UNP government with some of its Ministers who had organized the violence against the Tamils in July 1983.
While Vasudeva Nanayakkara, Eheliyagoda Member of Parliament and the leader of the NSSP and Dr. Wickramabahu Karunaratne, a University Don of the same party, were named as suspects of the “Crimes”, H. G. S. Ratnaweera, K. P. Silva, D. E. W. Gunasekara and H. M. Samarawickrama all leaders of the CP were arrested and remanded. Former M.P. for Habaraduwa Prins Gunasekara was also remanded. The CP and the NSSP were two political parties which had always championed the rights of the minorities from their inception and the Government was making a mockery of justice by incacerating the leftists who were anything but racists.
Black July 1983 made some sections and supporters of the UNP Government rich overnight. Despite the claim made by the UNP Premier Premadasa that there were only 48 murders, 209 cases of arson, 7 cases of looting the actual number of such crimes was much bigger than what he claimed. The city of Colombo and the suburbs were filled with smoke from the very first day of rioting, while there seemed to be only the ‘Law of Lawlessnes,’ and the terror gangs came in lorries or vans were armed with swords, knives and clubs carrying petrol to set homes or offices on fire.
Most notable matter that was observed was that the gangs carried official Householders Lists and stopped their vehicles in front of the homes or offices of the Tamil people. If the UNP Government of J. R. Jayewardene had not provided them with those official documents, how could the gangs have had access to them ? It meant two things. The Government deliberately delayed the burial of the corpses of the soldiers on July 24, to plan an attack on the Tamil people in Colombo and the suburbs to provide their own goons with documents to make sure that only Tamils were attacked. Any other political party or group could not have managed both these things without State power.
Courtesy: The Sunday Observer, 25 July, 1999