Ghosts of Black July still haunt Sri Lanka

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau issued a statement to commemorate the 39th anniversary of Black July in which he said, “In July 1983, anti-Tamil pogroms erupted in Colombo, following decades of unrest and rising tensions across the country. Known as Black July, these deadly events triggered an armed conflict that lasted 26 years, cost tens of thousands of lives, destroyed homes and businesses owned by Tamils, and sent hundreds of thousands into exile. On this day, our thoughts are with all those who suffered and lost family, friends, and neighbours during Black July and the conflict that followed. We are committed to working together to help build a better future for everyone.”

While the Canadian prime minister was marking Black July, none of our national leaders thought it fit to remember this event. Instead, our newly appointed prime minister was seen worshiping one of the main perpetrators of this heinous crime. Dinesh Gunawardena, soon after assuming office sought the blessings of Elle Gunawansa, a monk accused of leading mobs that killed Tamils and burnt their properties during the 1983 pogrom. They were accompanied at the event by an ideologue and god-father of ultra nationalist Sinhala extremism, 93-year-old Gunadasa Amarasekara. The newly elected president, Ranil Wickremesinghe was a member of the cabinet of ministers in 1983 which was led by his maternal uncle J.R. Jayewardene. In his long years in politics, 39 years since the 1983 violence against the Tamil minority, Ranil Wickremesinghe has never expressed regret or even sorrow for the incident.

The more popular narrative on Black July is that it was a spontaneous bout of violence by the Sinhala majority in the wake of 13 army soldiers being killed by the then nascent LTTE on the night of 23 July 1983. The island-wide violence broke out when the government airlifted the bodies of the deceased soldiers and cremated them at the Borella general cemetery the next night without allowing the next of kin to carry out final rites in their respective villages. The “mob violence” that lasted for over a week killed more than 3,000 Tamil civilians, destroying their property and made tens of thousands destitute. 

While there has never been an official investigation into these incidents there is ample proof that the violence was not spontaneous carried out by enraged, ordinary citizens but an orchestrated pogrom that in the very least had the tacit approval of powerful persons, including the president. While the police and the military watched on without controlling the mobs, often joining in on the heinous crimes, several members of the government including cabinet ministers are accused of instigating and organising these acts.

To date, not a single individual has been held accountable for these crimes, not a single rupee paid as compensation or reparation for the losses and no apology rendered.

Black July remains the ugliest stain on the Sri Lankan State and by extension its people, especially the majority Sinhala community. It also marked the beginning of the bloody civil war that lasted 26 years, destroyed a whole generation of youth, isolated Sri Lanka amongst the community of civilised nations and prevented the country achieving any reasonable economic development as many other Asian countries had during this period. The shocks of July 1983 still reverberate to this date and ironically some of the characters who were very much part of the incidents in numerous capacities, including Ranil Wickremesinghe and Elle Gunawansa are still holding positions of prominence in the country.

The ghosts of July 1983 will haunt Sri Lanka as long as they are not laid to rest through a comprehensive truth seeking process that holds perpetrators accountable, acknowledges the harm caused by the State, offers reparations and makes commitments towards reconciliation and non-recurrence. Collectively as a people, Sri Lankans must face this shameful chapter in our history and strive to address those lingering ghosts that haunt us and attempt to build a more inclusive country for all our peoples.