July 1983 and our political culture

- SLDF viewpoint

(August 03, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) This month marks the 25th anniversary of the bloody month of July in the year 1983. It was a tragic month in the history of Sri Lanka, when thousands of Tamils were exposed to rampant mob-violence carried out with the support of government ministers. It was a watershed in Sri Lanka’s post-colonial political culture of majoritarian autarchy, when the minorities lost all confidence in the state’s willingness to protect their lives and property. The violence which consumed Tamil civilians in all parts of the country outside the north and east was also repeated in two organised massacres of over fifty Tamil political prisoners in the Welikada high security prison.

While the causes and factors driving the ethnic conflict go back to the careless abandon with which our political forebears gave over to narrow communal nationalism in the competition for votes after the Donoughmore reforms of 1931, July 1983 was the starting point of the civil war and the rapid decline of the country into its current tragic chaos.

The trajectory of events from July 1983 to now have been replete with failures and missed opportunities on the part of successive governments, the Tamil nationalist movement and the various political actors engaged with Sri Lanka. However even during such dismal times as the riots of July 1983, great acts of courage were shown by civilians from all communities who came forward to protect their neighbours at considerable personal risk. Such acts of courage and humanity have been repeated on all sides of the ethnic divide throughout the history of the war. There were even in the darkest times, individuals and political actors who have pushed the cause of justice and acted with great moral courage. While mourning the deaths of all those killed in the course of the ethnic conflict we must reflect on past failings, the current predicament, the malignity of our political culture and consider the future for democracy, justice and pluralism for the younger generations that have been brought into conflict devastated Sri Lanka.

In reflecting on the historical significance of July 1983, in the rise of militancy and militarism, and the increasing violence throughout the country, we must recognise how July 1983 repeats itself in many other forms. We must remember the massacres of pilgrims in Anuradhapura in 1985, the massacres of TELO cadres in 1986, the onset of ethnic cleansing of the northern Muslims, the mosque massacres in the east and the counter massacres of Tamil civilians, and of the massacres of soldiers, policemen and militants who surrendered. We must also reflect on the efforts at resolving the ethnic conflict and the manner in which such efforts were stymied by the chauvinist forces in the south and narrow nationalist forces on all sides. Where have we arrived today? Have we come all that far from July 1983 and the years following it?

Successive governments and the continuation of conflict

The complicity of the government of the day in the events of July 1983 is now well documented. So is the failure of state security establishments, which not only failed to protect Tamils from mob violence but were themselves in several instances party to the crimes. The further round of alienation and displacement of minorities in July 1983 following on previous rounds of communal violence in 1956, 1958, 1977 and 1981, changed the demographic composition of many of Sri Lanka’s towns and villages and raised questions about the possibility of inter-ethnic coexistence; a burning question that remains even to date the most difficult problem to solve in formulating a political solution.

Successive governments have failed to use the memory of July 1983 to bring about a change in our political culture and a process of reconciliation, or for that matter to create a national debate and dialogue to guarantee the safety and alleviate the fears of minorities. Neither have successive governments taken Tamil parliamentary politics and for that matter any Tamil democratic movement seriously, and have only engaged the minorities through the lens of patronage. During the aftermath of the violence of July 1983, the government of that time expelled Tamil politicians from parliament paving the way for Tamil militancy to fill the vacuum. Even the progressive initiatives taken during the mid 1990s to find a political solution and the government of the time acknowledging the injustices committed against minorities were quickly lost in a tragic replay of the history of communalist forces taking over mainstream politics once again. The current government neither acknowledges nor apologises for injustices suffered by the minorities. National parliamentary politics continues on the same narrow partisan path in obstructing the possibility of a political solution, to the detriment of the minorities and the country as a whole; majoritarianism and pandering to Sinhala Buddhist nationalism and its underlying racism has characterised many opportunistic governments.

The rise of Tamil militancy and its failings

Though the beginnings of Tamil militancy go back to nearly a decade before 1983, it was following the violence of July 1983 that the country witnessed the explosion of Tamil militancy with large numbers of Tamil youth joining different groups, spontaneously willing to sacrifice their life for a separate Tamil state. But a simplistic reaction to Sinhala nationalism by an exclusivist counter-Tamil nationalism with rapid militarised growth vitiating democratic ideals including internal democracy, marked the failure of Tamil militancy as a whole.

Most Tamil militant groups, especially the PLOTE and LTTE, followed by TELO and to a significantly lesser extent the other groups, have indulged in abusing human rights, particularly by killing off internal dissidents, opponents and critics. In its most potent form this led to the elimination of all the other groups by the LTTE and its consequent fascist claim for sole representation. The beginning of internal killings also goes back to the LTTE’s monopolistic ambitions and targeting of effective leaders of other groups such as Sundaram of the PLOTE in January 1982 and the leaders of other groups then fearing LTTE spies among them. Once they began killing, the same logic demanded more.

The LTTE in particular has not shown any restraint towards killing Sinhalese and Muslim civilians. In 1990, the entire population of northern Muslims were ethnically cleansed by the LTTE. Every time the LTTE wanted to break a peace process, e g 1987, 1990, 1995 and 2005, it has done so by provoking reprisals through attacking Sinhalese civilians and security personnel. Further the LTTE, its breakaway faction and the TNA of the late 1980s in particular have indulged in the brutality of forcibly conscripting Tamil youth and children. Such militarization and a political culture of violence has decimated the Tamil polity and alienated the Tamil community from other communities.

In spite of this stifling militarised politics, dissent continues in the Tamil community. Progressive minded individuals and organisations have consistently taken a stand for democracy and human-rights and opposed communalism, providing hope for reconciliation in the future.

Towards a just political solution

Twenty five years after July 1983, Sri Lanka is again mired in a horrendous war with the same attendant culture of impunity and rampant human rights abuses. The little hope offered by mechanisms such as the All Party Representative Committee (APRC) and the Commission of Inquiry (COI) have disappeared following the government’s overt scuttling of the first and undermining the latter through executive interference. Both the government and the LTTE show absolute disregard to civilian life. The number of IDPs and civilian suffering have reached immense proportions. Inter-ethnic coexistence and pluralism have taken a serious toll with the war. Communities have been polarised by a political culture of majoritarian hegemony creating new challenges for reconciliation.

While the situation appears darker than ever before, we re-iterate that there is no military solution to the conflict. The need of the hour is to arrest impunity and to find a just political solution that addresses the grievances and aspirations of all communities in Sri Lanka. The political culture that the generation after July 1983 has known has been one that is driven by war, and Sri Lanka cannot afford to sacrifice another generation to such a tragedy. In mourning the violence, militarization and polarisation that were exacerbated by the brutal events of July 1983, we must espouse a political culture that eschews violence, pushes for demilitarization and works towards coexistence and democratisation, by bringing together and re-energising progressively minded individuals and organisations across all communities.

(Sri Lanka Democracy Forum (SLDF) statements are drafted by its twenty member Steering Committee)
- Sri Lanka Guardian