{"id":212151,"date":"2020-07-29T00:00:02","date_gmt":"2020-07-28T18:30:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/?p=212151"},"modified":"2020-08-01T22:16:15","modified_gmt":"2020-08-01T16:46:15","slug":"black-july-1983-reflections-on-the-anti-tamil-pogrom","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.colombotelegraph.com\/index.php\/black-july-1983-reflections-on-the-anti-tamil-pogrom\/","title":{"rendered":"Black July 1983: Reflections On The Anti-Tamil Pogrom\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Karikalan S. Navaratnam<\/a> \u2013<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Karikalan S. Navaratnam<\/p><\/div>\n

“The evidence points clearly to the conclusion that the violence of the\u00a0<\/i>Sinhala rioters on the Tamils amounted to Acts of Genocide<\/i>.” ~\u00a0The Review, International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), Dec. 1983<\/b><\/p>\n

July 2020, represents the 37th<\/sup> anniversary of \u201cBlack July<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u201d.\u00a0<\/span>It is a poignant\u00a0<\/span>reminder to the Tamil people and to our fraternity across the globe, of the\u00a0<\/span>precarious existence of our people in this \u2018blessed\u2019 isle, evoking a keen sense\u00a0<\/span>of anguish, grief and loss. A lot of water – nay, blood \u2013 has since gone under\u00a0<\/span>the bridge. The echoes of cries of pain of our people continue to reverberate\u00a0<\/span>in our hearts. While reflecting on the horrible past and the parlous state of\u00a0<\/span>our present, we need to brace up to risk further frontal attacks from the ultra-nationalist Sinhala-Buddhist (SB) forces. These tribal forces are led primarily\u00a0<\/span>by the Rajapaksas, who are primed to return after the General Election with\u00a0<\/span>renewed vigour and vengeance.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Predatory\u00a0 <\/span>politics<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

A cacophony of campaign slogans emanating from SB fascist fraternity,\u00a0<\/span>accentuate their ethno-religious superiority and suzerainty over the Tamil\u00a0<\/span>citizenry. Predatory politics fostering rabid racism<\/span><\/a> continues to underpin\u00a0<\/span>Sinhala leaders\u2019 winning strategy. Taking a cue from Mahinda Rajapaksa<\/span><\/a>\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>recent tirade decrying Federalism, his acolytes from the saffron brigade,\u00a0<\/span>Galagoda Atte Gnanasara Thero et al,<\/i> have warned of a \u201cblood bath\u201d if the Tamils opted for a\u00a0<\/span>federal state. Rants by Omalpe Sobitha Thero<\/i> rationalizing the 1983 genocidal\u00a0<\/span>attacks are disconcerting. Perhaps, remorseless savages are driven by a craving\u00a0<\/span>for re-enacting another \u201cBlack July<\/i>\u201d! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Genocidal campaign<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The sordid history of post-1948 Sri Lanka, spanning over 70 years, is interspersed\u00a0<\/span>with grisly scenarios of anti-Tamil pogroms. Flexing their majoritarian muscles and\u00a0<\/span>being imbued with Mahavamsa myths and medieval traits, SB oligarchs holding\u00a0<\/span>the reins of power had mobilized the fascist forces, the saffron brigades and the\u00a0<\/span>military mafia, and launched a campaign to politically exterminate the Tamil\u00a0<\/span>people \u2013 to systematically eliminate the Tamil element from the body politic of\u00a0<\/span>the country. For that matter, assimilation is another subtle form of annihilation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Looting – July 1983 | pic by Chandraguptha Amarasingha<\/p><\/div>\n

The genocidal campaign has been a work in progress initiated by the putative\u00a0<\/span>\u201cFather of the Nation<\/i>\u201d D. S. Senanayake, with his premier legislative enterprise to\u00a0<\/span>decitizenize and disenfranchise our \u201cMalayaha<\/i>\u201d (upcountry) Tamils.\u00a0Expounding the \u201cTen Stages of Genocide<\/i>\u201d, Dr. Gregory H. Stanton, of \u201cGenocide\u00a0<\/span><\/i><\/b>Watch<\/i><\/b>\u201d has identified \u201cExtermination<\/i>\u201d as the penultimate stage in the process\u00a0<\/span>and explained the theme: (Excerpts):\u00a0 \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cExtermination begins, and quickly becomes the mass killing legally called\u00a0<\/span><\/i>\u201cgenocide.\u201d \u2026\u2026..When it is sponsored by the state, the armed forces often work\u00a0<\/span><\/i>with militias to do the killing.\u2026\u2026\u2026.. Acts of genocide demonstrate how\u00a0<\/span><\/i>dehumanized the victims have become. Already dead bodies are dismembered;\u00a0<\/span><\/i>rape is used as a tool of war to genetically alter and eradicate the other group.\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Destruction of cultural and religious property is employed to annihilate the group\u2019s\u00a0<\/span><\/i>existence from history\u2026\u2026\u2026. Mass rapes of women and girls have become a\u00a0<\/span><\/i>characteristic of all modern genocides\u2026..\u201d<\/i><\/p>\n

Orgy of\u00a0 <\/span>violence<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

The horrors of \u201cBlack July\u201d 1983, featuring an orgy of frenzied violence targeting\u00a0<\/span>Tamils, commenced on 24 July \u2013 mass killings of several thousands,\u00a0<\/span>maiming,\u00a0<\/span>rape, sexual savagery, looting, arson and destruction, besides the massacre of \u00a0<\/span>Tamil prisoners at Welikada – orchestrated by State agents deploying organized\u00a0<\/span>squads of goons and criminal gangs and aided and abetted by the police and\u00a0<\/span>security forces. It was not the maiden experience of Tamils suffering organized\u00a0<\/span>racist terror. By reason of its enormity, intensity, ripple effects and global\u00a0<\/span>reverberations, the ghastly July 1983 experience sticks out.\u00a0 <\/span>It has been a catalyst\u00a0<\/span>for new political developments and far-reaching fallout, including the 30 years\u00a0<\/span>ethnic war.<\/p>\n

Mass atrocities – Glimpses<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The crimes of July 1983 | pic by Chandraguptha Amarasingha<\/p><\/div>\n

Dark days of the mass atrocities suffered by our people from time to time have\u00a0<\/span>not passed into distant memory.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

* 1956 \u201cSinhala Only\u201d Bill<\/b>:<\/span> On June 5, 1956 Tamil political leaders and volunteers\u00a0<\/span>performing peaceful Satyagraha<\/i> (non-violent protest) on the Galle Face maiden\u00a0<\/span>across the (former) Parliament building in protest against the introduction of the\u00a0<\/span>\u201cSinhala Only<\/i><\/span><\/a>\u201d Bill in Parliament that day, were beaten up by Sinhala hoodlums\u00a0<\/span>led by Junior Minister K.M.P. Rajaratne and Buddhist monks. The Satyagrahis<\/i>\u00a0<\/span>were left bleeding and bruised under the watchful eye of the police. The same\u00a0<\/span>mob went on a looting spree in the city targeting Tamil-owned shops. \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

* Gal Oya Massacre, June 11 to 16, 1956<\/b>:<\/span> On the heels of the Galle Face attacks,\u00a0<\/span>Sinhala colonists and employees of the Gal Oya Development Board\u00a0<\/span>commandeered government vehicles, dynamite and weapons and massacred\u00a0<\/span>over 150 Tamils in the Eastern Province. The murderous mob invaded Tamil\u00a0<\/span>homes and businesses on a looting spree.\u00a0 <\/span>Although initially inactive, after 5 days\u00a0<\/span>of turmoil, the police and army were able to bring the situation under control.<\/p>\n

* Emergency \u201958, by Tarzie Vittachi<\/b>:<\/span> The book\u00a0 <\/span>published in UK\u00a0 <\/span>in the wake of\u00a0<\/span>the 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom gives detailed account of the gory\u00a0 <\/span>events – murder,\u00a0<\/span>rape, pillage and arson \u2013 carried out during the dark days of May 22 to 29, across\u00a0<\/span>the country. The author Tarzie Vittachi<\/b>, an eminent journalist of international\u00a0<\/span>repute who was the Editor of \u201cCeylon Observer<\/i>\u201d at that time, had exposed the\u00a0<\/span>government\u2019s involvement in the riots which, though won him the\u00a0 <\/span>Magasaysay\u00a0<\/span>Prize in 1959,\u00a0 <\/span>rendered\u00a0 <\/span>him persona non grata<\/i> in Ceylon (Sri Lanka).<\/p>\n

* August 1977 & May-June, 1981:<\/b><\/span> JR Jayewardene assumed office as Prime\u00a0<\/span>Minister in July 1977.\u00a0 <\/span>Soon after, in August 1977<\/b>, anti-Tamil pogrom erupted\u00a0<\/span>leaving behind a trail of deaths, destruction and devastation. JR and his foot\u00a0<\/span>soldiers had tasted blood.\u00a0 <\/span>In 1981 (May 31 – 2 June<\/b>), truckloads of police gangs in uniform and in civvies went on a rampage and burnt down chosen targets in\u00a0<\/span>Jaffna \u2013 the Public Library, with its over 97,000 priceless books and manuscripts,\u00a0<\/span>offices of the \u201cEelanadu<\/i>\u201d newspaper, TULF headquarters, Jaffna M.P.\u00a0<\/span>Yogeswaran\u2019s\u00a0 <\/span>bungalow. Mercifully, Yogeswaran and his wife had escaped\u00a0<\/span>narrowly. Homes and shops across Jaffna town were set alight. The burning\u00a0<\/span>continued unchecked for two nights. President JR\u2019s trusted lieutenants,\u00a0<\/span>Ministers Cyril Mathew and Gamini Dissanayake were present in Jaffna and had\u00a0<\/span>personally orchestrated the orgy of terror.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

The crimes of July 1983 | pic by Chandraguptha Amarasingha<\/p><\/div>\n

Satanic sermons<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Incidentally, Cyril Mathew<\/span><\/a>\u2019s satanic sermons, delivered in 1970, capture the\u00a0<\/span>impulses of the majoritarian psyche: \u201cOh you Sinhalese!, who are full of patriotism and nationalism, we pray that, just\u00a0<\/span><\/i>as the disaster you are preparing to leave for the future generations of Sinhalese,\u00a0<\/span><\/i>by permitting the governments that you have set up in your name to betray\u00a0<\/span><\/i>Sinhalese rights, one by one, thereby strengthening Tamil power, is very clearly\u00a0<\/span><\/i>visible to us, it will become as visible to you also. We pray that your political\u00a0<\/span><\/i>blindness will vanish, and that you may see the truth! Let us unite as Sinhalese\u00a0<\/i>to repress the threats of the Tamils<\/i>!…\u201d\u00a0<\/span>(Vide: \u201cSinhalayage Adisi Hatura\u201d<\/i><\/b> (\u2018The Unseen enemy of the Sinhalese\u2019<\/i><\/b>), by\u00a0<\/span><\/b>Cyril Mathew<\/b>, 1970. Chapter 10<\/i> (\u201cThe future of the Sinhalese<\/b>\u201d) – (Reproduced in\u00a0<\/span>\u201cThe Mathew Doctrine<\/i><\/b>.\u201d<\/i> –Race & Class, XXVI, 1 (1984). <\/b>pp.133-4.)<\/b>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The mainstream media blacked out the brutal attacks on Tamil targets. They\u00a0did not carry any news on the incidents, lest it may expose the cruel and racist\u00a0<\/span>ethos of a sick society to the discerning outside world. Media outlets, owned and\u00a0<\/span>operated by \u201cpatriotic\u201d barons have always played an active role in promoting\u00a0<\/span>Sinhala-Buddhist<\/span><\/a> nationalistic campaign defending majoritarian aggression whilst\u00a0<\/span>sanitizing\/ suppressing information on atrocities committed against minorities.<\/p>\n

Welikada Prison Massacre<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

(As I was personally associated with these momentous events, perforce, I am inclined to revisit some of them which I had previously shared with Colombo Telegraph readers in these columns<\/i>). \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

The Prison massacre was yet another cruel chapter in the Black July chronicle. On\u00a0<\/span>Saturday, 16 July 1983 morning I visited prisoners Thangathurai,\u00a0<\/span>Kuttimany and\u00a0<\/span>Jegan at Welikada prison.\u00a0 <\/span>Senior lawyer M. Sivasithamparam and I had\u00a0<\/span>represented them (among several other political prisoners held at Welikade)\u00a0 <\/span>in\u00a0<\/span>the Colombo High Court. While leaving them, I promised to see them again the\u00a0<\/span>week after next. But, that was not to be!<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>

Kuttmuni<\/p><\/div>\n

TULF Convention<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On Saturday, 23 July 1983, I was in Mannar town to attend the TULF party\u00a0<\/span>Annual Convention. I was a Politburo member of the TULF. The 1st<\/sup>\u00a0<\/span>day sessions\u00a0<\/span>were over and 2nd<\/sup> day sessions were scheduled for Sunday, 24 July. TULF\u00a0<\/span>Members of\u00a0 <\/span>Parliament A. Amirthalingam (TULF Secretary), M. Sivasithamparam\u00a0<\/span>(President), V. Yogeswaran,\u00a0<\/span>R.Sampanthan (now, TNA leader) and\u00a0 <\/span>Neelan\u00a0<\/span>Tiruchelvam\u00a0<\/span>and\u00a0 <\/span>I\u00a0 <\/span>( not a M.P. ) were staying at\u00a0 <\/span>Mannar Rest House. In the early\u00a0<\/span>hours of 24th<\/sup> there was a phone call from Jaffna M.P. Yogeswaran\u2019s wife. She\u00a0<\/span>conveyed the grim message that a barrage of explosions were heard the previous\u00a0<\/span>night and that the army in Jaffna was running amok on a shooting spree. Follow-up calls from different sources, ominously informed us that attacks on Tamil\u00a0<\/span>targets were spreading out. Because of menacing military movements in Mannar\u00a0<\/span>we were compelled to cancel the Sunday political sessions.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Lawyer Manouri\u2019s Call<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

On 26 July morning some of us met at (Mannar M.P.) P. Soosaithasan\u2019s residence.\u00a0<\/span>There was a call to Sivasithamparam (Siva) from lawyer Manouri Muttetuwegama\u00a0<\/span>(Communist M.P. Sarath\u2019s wife and Dr. Colvin\u2019s daughter). She informed Siva that\u00a0<\/span>some of his clients in Welikada jail had been killed, the previous day (25th\u00a0 <\/span>July).\u00a0<\/span>She could not give details. Thereupon, Siva telephoned Mr. Jansz, the Deputy\u00a0<\/span>Commissioner of Prisons in Colombo and the latter confirmed that there was\u00a0<\/span>\u201csome bad news\u201d, but politely declined to give details. Mr. Amirthalingam, who\u00a0<\/span>arrived there a bit later, telephoned President Jayewardene. JR confirmed that\u00a0<\/span>some Tamil prisoners were killed and added\u00a0 <\/span>that he was \u201cnot going to hush it up\u201d\u00a0<\/span>and that the victims\u2019 names would be broadcast over the radio that night.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

53 Prisoners\u00a0 <\/span>butchered<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Even as army threats intensified in and around the neighbourhood, we moved out\u00a0<\/span>to the house of a party stalwart, V. Kayilayapillai in Iluppakadavai village. On the\u00a0<\/span>way we came across a group of local TULF functionaries, including Mannar DDC\u00a0<\/span>Chairman Sebamalai, with bleeding injuries. Army men lurking under a culvert had\u00a0<\/span>attacked them, damaged their vehicle and left them bleeding. After arranging for\u00a0<\/span>them to be taken to hospital, we proceeded to Iluppakkadavai. It was a spartan\u00a0<\/span>house of a farmer and there was no electricity. In the evening we all gathered in\u00a0<\/span>the front yard, with a battery-operated\u00a0 <\/span>radio, anxiously awaiting the broadcast.\u00a0<\/span>Those were agonizing moments. At 9.00 pm, names of 35 victims, including\u00a0<\/span>Kuttimany, Thangathurai and Jegan were announced. The government tried to\u00a0<\/span>make out it was a prison riot. Slaughter of further 18 Tamil prisoners on 27 July\u00a0<\/span>1983 said it loud and clear that it was a pre-planned operation, organized and\u00a0<\/span>orchestrated by Sinhala prison officers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Official complicity<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

They had served alcohol to hardcore criminals in the jail, armed them with\u00a0<\/span>machetes, kitchen knives, clubs etc, opened the cells for them and set them upon\u00a0<\/span>the Tamil prisoners. In the two days of gory attacks, 53 Tamil prisoners were\u00a0<\/span>butchered to death and their bodies were piled up in front of a Buddha statue\u00a0<\/span>(within the prison complex). There was a strong contingent of army on guard\u00a0<\/span>outside the Welikada jail. Responding to the clamour and commotion inside, they\u00a0<\/span>had rushed to the spot and figured out what was going on. Waving at the armed\u00a0<\/span>convicts, the soldiers continued to watch the \u201cfun\u201d apathetically. Perhaps, to\u00a0<\/span>them, the victims were not humans, but vermin.\u00a0<\/span>(BTW, on 25 July 1983 Siva\u2019s house at Colombo-Norris Canal Road was looted and\u00a0<\/span>razed to the ground , and my house at Cotta Road, Borella was attacked by a mob\u00a0<\/span>led by a saffron-robed\u00a0 <\/span>monk.)<\/p>\n

Indian Foreign Minister calls<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Late in the night, a messenger from the local sub-post office showed up with an\u00a0<\/span>urgent message: There was an important telephone call waiting for Mr.\u00a0<\/span>Amirthalingam. (In that village, only the local post-office cum dwelling had the\u00a0<\/span>telephone facility). Taking care not to alert the restive army, we avoided using the\u00a0<\/span>vehicle headlight and instead using a torch light, gingerly proceeded to the post\u00a0<\/span>office. The call was from \u2018India House\u2019 (Indian High Commissioner\u2019s residence) in\u00a0<\/span>Colombo. The caller was Indian Foreign Minister Mr. Narasimha\u00a0<\/span>Rao. Mr. Rao\u00a0<\/span>expressed condolences on the loss of lives and wanted\u00a0<\/span>Amirthalingam\u00a0<\/span>to\u00a0<\/span>travel\u00a0<\/span>to India early for \u201cdiscussion\u201d.<\/p>\n

Watershed moment<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Evidently, feelings were running high in Tamil Nadu over the killings of Tamils and\u00a0<\/span>Prime Minister Indira Gandhi had dispatched her Foreign Minister with a strong\u00a0<\/span>message to President JR Though an impulsive small step that Mrs. Gandhi had\u00a0<\/span>taken, it was a watershed moment in Indo-Sri Lanka relations. Mr. Amirthalingam\u00a0<\/span>arrived in India in 1st week of August 1983.\u00a0<\/span>I had left for India\u00a0 <\/span>before he did.\u00a0<\/span>On\u00a0<\/span>my way to Katunayake airport, I passed by the skeletal remains of burnt out\u00a0<\/span>houses, business places and charred remains of hundreds of vehicles\u00a0<\/span>strewn all\u00a0<\/span>over. Mercifully, I did not come across any human remains. Probably, they had\u00a0already been removed. Nonetheless, the cruel scenes conjured up images of\u00a0<\/span>brutal attacks on hundreds of Tamils who were hacked to death or burnt alive.<\/p>\n

Conclusion<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

In 2009, the Vanni war witnessed acts of consummate savagery committed by the\u00a0<\/span>government forces in furtherance of their genocidal campaign against Tamils.\u00a0<\/span>Tens of thousands of\u00a0 <\/span>Tamil civilians had perished at the hands of the security\u00a0<\/span>forces in the \u201cNo-fire Zones<\/i>\u201d in Mullivaikal. Post-war postures of the SB political class\u00a0 <\/span>have increasingly become belligerent.\u00a0<\/span>If our collective memory serves us right, we have heard them striking quite a\u00a0<\/span>conciliatory note in the face of LTTE\u2019s destructive and formidable firepower.\u00a0<\/span>Of course, SB leaders had always been impervious to the sober entreaties of our\u00a0<\/span>erstwhile leader S.J.V. Chelvanayakam, but had readily understood and were\u00a0<\/span>more responsive to\u00a0<\/span>Prabakaran\u2019s\u00a0<\/span>lingua franca<\/i>! \u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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