‘It is ironic that the SAARC Summit being held in Colombo on July 27 to August 2, coincides with the 25th anniversary of Black July. Sri Lanka volunteered to host the summit, although it was not its turn, and despite the war that is currently raging and costing the country dearly. The government has spared no pains to make the SAARC Summit a success. It is possible that the government sees the success of the summit as redeeming it internationally, if not also locally.’
___________________
by Dr. Jehan perera
(July 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The month of July has become virtually synonymous in Sri Lanka with the memory of the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983, also known as “Black July.” The large scale violence that engulfed all sections of the people and victimized the Tamils twenty five years ago signaled a turning pointing in the country’s history and also did much to discredit Sri Lanka internationally. On July 23, 1983, law and order became virtually non-existent as mobs went on the rampage and a massive sense of threat and of being under siege gripped the whole country.
Mobs roamed the streets of Colombo and elsewhere rooting out Tamil people, looting and burning their property and killing hundreds of them. These mobs backed by sections of the then government claimed they were motivated by a desire to avenge the killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in the northern city of Jaffna.
Underlying the anti Tamil pogrom was, and remains, an unresolved ethnic conflict. Instead of choosing to resolve the conflict through political means, the government at that time sought a military solution to a problem it narrowly described as being a terrorist problem. The failure of the state to protect the Tamil civilian population from the mobs, and its decision to escalate its military efforts, fueled the Tamil campaign for a separate state. It led to hundreds, if not thousands of young Tamils voluntarily joining the ranks of the militancy, with many taking up arms against the state. It also led to a Tamil flight abroad.
Today there are over a million Sri Lankans of Tamil origin who constitute a diaspora community that is largely alienated from Sri Lanka and constitute the main funders of the LTTE that continues in its futile and self destructive efforts to carve out a part of the island for Tamil rule. But most painful and destructive by far is the continuing alienation of the Tamil community from the Sri Lankan state, especially in regard to the ongoing war against the LTTE. Tens of thousands of them are displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands remain vulnerable to vicissitudes of the war.
There is a sense of powerlessness to influence the course of events that is affecting them in every aspect of their lives, not least in their personal security. Any Tamil is liable to be suspected of having links with the LTTE and to be detained on the slightest suspicion of those in the security forces. Any time a Tamil person is stopped at a security checkpoint, of which there are many especially within the north and east, and in Colombo and other multi ethnic towns, there is a possibility of being held back for further questioning. The plight of leading journalist and human rights activist, J S Tissainayagam, who has been in custody for over four months without any legal charge is a symbol of the plight of the Tamils.
REDEEMING FEATURES
On the other hand, there is also much that is redeeming and hope giving in the present situation. One of my memories of the July 1983 events was being questioned by a mob that was busy burning Tamil shops in my neighbourhood on the morning of July 23. I was a student doing research in between my university studies. When I asked the people who were burning the shops why they acted thus, they asked me “Sinhalade? Demalade?” (Are you Sinhalese or Tamil?) These were the shanty dwellers not far from my home, whose tenements I had often walked past for many years. They were not satisfied with my response that I was Sri Lankan citizen, and threatened me with bodily harm unless I declared my ethnic identity which, in the interests of self preservation, I did.
However, it was not only the shanty dwellers who participated in the rioting. Later that morning I traveled to the downtown area of Colombo Fort to see what was happening there. Amidst billowing flames that spread through Tamil owned office buildings I saw a small bulldozer-like vehicle being used to ram the iron grills of a Tamil owned shop. The office workers who were standing outside watching the mayhem cheered every time the bulldozer banged into the grill. Members of the security forces in big trucks passed by, but made no attempt to intervene. Later the stories emerged of how the security forces had protected the victims, how neighbours had taken in victims, so that even in the midst of a tense and terrible situation, the bonds of human solidarity often prevailed. But what happened out there in the open was plain to see, and the television cameras beamed an awful message from Sri Lanka to the world.
That was 25 years ago. Today there will be very few people, either shanty dwellers or office workers, who will ever justify or cheer a pogrom against their fellow Tamil citizens in Colombo or elsewhere. Our political, religious and civic leaders have told us time and again that what happened was terribly and dreadfully wrong, and must never happen again. And indeed, it has never happened again, despite much greater provocations, including the LTTE bombing of the most sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the more recent spate of bus and train bombings by the LTTE that have caused hundreds of casualties.
The people have changed, and so have the government leaders changed, so that there is a deeper appreciation among the people at every level that the Tamil people of this country ought to be considered as equal citizens with equal rights, entitled to their own dreams of a better life for themselves and their children. There is a desire for a peaceful end to the war, if such a thing can be accomplished in the face of the enduring obduracy and deathly militancy of the LTTE. There is also the recognition of the need for political compromise and for compensation to those who have lost so much in the course of the past 25 years of war and ethnic conflict. Most politicians too, on either side of the political divide, would agree with these sentiments and would work hard to achieve them if they could.
BRUTAL REALITY
But unfortunately, the reality is that the problem today does not lie with the people, or even with the political leaders. Rather, the problem is embedded in the nature of the state that has become so powerful and centralized, and distant from the sufferings of the people, that it can act with ruthlessness to suppress any opposition to its way of thinking. The people are by and large compelled, by their lack of power, by their lack of information, and by their fear, to acquiesce in these actions by the centralized state. It is tragic that 25 years after the July 1983 pogrom, the state continues to give its primary attention to militarily resolving a problem it describes as a terrorist problem, with the result that human suffering and human rights violations continue.
In a larger international context, the ruthlessness of the state when it confronts opposition, especially violent opposition to itself, can be seen in the South Asian region. Mass graves are being unearthed in one South Asian country after another, where the victims of anti insurgency measures due to ethnic and other conflicts are found. The brutal manner in which the Sri Lankan state stamped out the two JVP insurrections by Sinhalese people shows that when the state is threatened, its victims can be of any ethnic or social and economic class. Also significant is the fact that the general population acquiesced in the collateral damage on sections of the Sinhalese people in the government’s pursuit of a military solution against the JVP. Similarly they acquiesce today in the collateral damage that is inflicted on the Tamil people in the government’s pursuit of a military solution against the LTTE.
It is ironic that the SAARC Summit being held in Colombo on July 27 to August 2, coincides with the 25th anniversary of Black July. Sri Lanka volunteered to host the summit, although it was not its turn, and despite the war that is currently raging and costing the country dearly. The government has spared no pains to make the SAARC Summit a success. It is possible that the government sees the success of the summit as redeeming it internationally, if not also locally. The loss of a seat on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, and the possibility of the loss of the economically crucial GSP+ tariff concession of the European Union have been warning signs of Sri Lanka’s international vulnerability that the government would like to counter.
However, the mobilization of the power of the state to create a conducive environment for the visiting foreign dignitaries from the eight South Asian countries has been fraught with controversy. With barely a fortnight’s notice hundreds of shanty dwellers have been forcibly displaced from prime land in the heart of Colombo, and their homes destroyed, ostensibly to ensure security for the visiting SAARC dignitaries. The news media carried sad images of destroyed homes, and one of a little girl clutching a chicken, amidst the little belongings that her family had salvaged. Although Black July and the SAARC Summit span a time period of 25 years, they both point to the direction of state reform, in which the chief objective would be to ensure that violence and brute force will never be used in dealing with one’s own citizens. Together and in solidarity we have to work for the day when the state in South Asia will be the protector and reconciler of the interests of all its ethnic and social groups.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
___________________
by Dr. Jehan perera
(July 21, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The month of July has become virtually synonymous in Sri Lanka with the memory of the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983, also known as “Black July.” The large scale violence that engulfed all sections of the people and victimized the Tamils twenty five years ago signaled a turning pointing in the country’s history and also did much to discredit Sri Lanka internationally. On July 23, 1983, law and order became virtually non-existent as mobs went on the rampage and a massive sense of threat and of being under siege gripped the whole country.
Mobs roamed the streets of Colombo and elsewhere rooting out Tamil people, looting and burning their property and killing hundreds of them. These mobs backed by sections of the then government claimed they were motivated by a desire to avenge the killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers in the northern city of Jaffna.
Underlying the anti Tamil pogrom was, and remains, an unresolved ethnic conflict. Instead of choosing to resolve the conflict through political means, the government at that time sought a military solution to a problem it narrowly described as being a terrorist problem. The failure of the state to protect the Tamil civilian population from the mobs, and its decision to escalate its military efforts, fueled the Tamil campaign for a separate state. It led to hundreds, if not thousands of young Tamils voluntarily joining the ranks of the militancy, with many taking up arms against the state. It also led to a Tamil flight abroad.
Today there are over a million Sri Lankans of Tamil origin who constitute a diaspora community that is largely alienated from Sri Lanka and constitute the main funders of the LTTE that continues in its futile and self destructive efforts to carve out a part of the island for Tamil rule. But most painful and destructive by far is the continuing alienation of the Tamil community from the Sri Lankan state, especially in regard to the ongoing war against the LTTE. Tens of thousands of them are displaced from their homes and hundreds of thousands remain vulnerable to vicissitudes of the war.
There is a sense of powerlessness to influence the course of events that is affecting them in every aspect of their lives, not least in their personal security. Any Tamil is liable to be suspected of having links with the LTTE and to be detained on the slightest suspicion of those in the security forces. Any time a Tamil person is stopped at a security checkpoint, of which there are many especially within the north and east, and in Colombo and other multi ethnic towns, there is a possibility of being held back for further questioning. The plight of leading journalist and human rights activist, J S Tissainayagam, who has been in custody for over four months without any legal charge is a symbol of the plight of the Tamils.
REDEEMING FEATURES
On the other hand, there is also much that is redeeming and hope giving in the present situation. One of my memories of the July 1983 events was being questioned by a mob that was busy burning Tamil shops in my neighbourhood on the morning of July 23. I was a student doing research in between my university studies. When I asked the people who were burning the shops why they acted thus, they asked me “Sinhalade? Demalade?” (Are you Sinhalese or Tamil?) These were the shanty dwellers not far from my home, whose tenements I had often walked past for many years. They were not satisfied with my response that I was Sri Lankan citizen, and threatened me with bodily harm unless I declared my ethnic identity which, in the interests of self preservation, I did.
However, it was not only the shanty dwellers who participated in the rioting. Later that morning I traveled to the downtown area of Colombo Fort to see what was happening there. Amidst billowing flames that spread through Tamil owned office buildings I saw a small bulldozer-like vehicle being used to ram the iron grills of a Tamil owned shop. The office workers who were standing outside watching the mayhem cheered every time the bulldozer banged into the grill. Members of the security forces in big trucks passed by, but made no attempt to intervene. Later the stories emerged of how the security forces had protected the victims, how neighbours had taken in victims, so that even in the midst of a tense and terrible situation, the bonds of human solidarity often prevailed. But what happened out there in the open was plain to see, and the television cameras beamed an awful message from Sri Lanka to the world.
That was 25 years ago. Today there will be very few people, either shanty dwellers or office workers, who will ever justify or cheer a pogrom against their fellow Tamil citizens in Colombo or elsewhere. Our political, religious and civic leaders have told us time and again that what happened was terribly and dreadfully wrong, and must never happen again. And indeed, it has never happened again, despite much greater provocations, including the LTTE bombing of the most sacred Temple of the Tooth in Kandy and the more recent spate of bus and train bombings by the LTTE that have caused hundreds of casualties.
The people have changed, and so have the government leaders changed, so that there is a deeper appreciation among the people at every level that the Tamil people of this country ought to be considered as equal citizens with equal rights, entitled to their own dreams of a better life for themselves and their children. There is a desire for a peaceful end to the war, if such a thing can be accomplished in the face of the enduring obduracy and deathly militancy of the LTTE. There is also the recognition of the need for political compromise and for compensation to those who have lost so much in the course of the past 25 years of war and ethnic conflict. Most politicians too, on either side of the political divide, would agree with these sentiments and would work hard to achieve them if they could.
BRUTAL REALITY
But unfortunately, the reality is that the problem today does not lie with the people, or even with the political leaders. Rather, the problem is embedded in the nature of the state that has become so powerful and centralized, and distant from the sufferings of the people, that it can act with ruthlessness to suppress any opposition to its way of thinking. The people are by and large compelled, by their lack of power, by their lack of information, and by their fear, to acquiesce in these actions by the centralized state. It is tragic that 25 years after the July 1983 pogrom, the state continues to give its primary attention to militarily resolving a problem it describes as a terrorist problem, with the result that human suffering and human rights violations continue.
In a larger international context, the ruthlessness of the state when it confronts opposition, especially violent opposition to itself, can be seen in the South Asian region. Mass graves are being unearthed in one South Asian country after another, where the victims of anti insurgency measures due to ethnic and other conflicts are found. The brutal manner in which the Sri Lankan state stamped out the two JVP insurrections by Sinhalese people shows that when the state is threatened, its victims can be of any ethnic or social and economic class. Also significant is the fact that the general population acquiesced in the collateral damage on sections of the Sinhalese people in the government’s pursuit of a military solution against the JVP. Similarly they acquiesce today in the collateral damage that is inflicted on the Tamil people in the government’s pursuit of a military solution against the LTTE.
It is ironic that the SAARC Summit being held in Colombo on July 27 to August 2, coincides with the 25th anniversary of Black July. Sri Lanka volunteered to host the summit, although it was not its turn, and despite the war that is currently raging and costing the country dearly. The government has spared no pains to make the SAARC Summit a success. It is possible that the government sees the success of the summit as redeeming it internationally, if not also locally. The loss of a seat on the Human Rights Council of the United Nations, and the possibility of the loss of the economically crucial GSP+ tariff concession of the European Union have been warning signs of Sri Lanka’s international vulnerability that the government would like to counter.
However, the mobilization of the power of the state to create a conducive environment for the visiting foreign dignitaries from the eight South Asian countries has been fraught with controversy. With barely a fortnight’s notice hundreds of shanty dwellers have been forcibly displaced from prime land in the heart of Colombo, and their homes destroyed, ostensibly to ensure security for the visiting SAARC dignitaries. The news media carried sad images of destroyed homes, and one of a little girl clutching a chicken, amidst the little belongings that her family had salvaged. Although Black July and the SAARC Summit span a time period of 25 years, they both point to the direction of state reform, in which the chief objective would be to ensure that violence and brute force will never be used in dealing with one’s own citizens. Together and in solidarity we have to work for the day when the state in South Asia will be the protector and reconciler of the interests of all its ethnic and social groups.
- Sri Lanka Guardian
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