First broadcast on aired on the MTV, Shakthi and Sirasa terrestrial TV channels in Sri Lanka from 23rd to 30th July 2008, Never Again in Sri Lanka featured 22 videos in Tamil, Sinhala and English on the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983 in Sri Lanka. The 30 second videos on the site featured well-known Sri Lankan civil society, film, teledrama, entertainment, academic and religious personalities including:

  • Bellanwila Wimalaratne Thero
  • Asoka Handagama
  • Iranganie Serasinghe
  • Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne
  • Upekha Chitrasena
  • Sunila Abeysekera
  • Kasun Kalhara
  • Prof. S. Sandarasekaram

View the videos in Tamil, English and Sinhala below.

In addition to these videos, the following content was submitted to Groundviews in July 2008, 25 years after the riots of 1983 and 50 years after those in 1958. Nearly all submissions were exclusive for Groundviews and came from award winning poets and novelists, senior Government Ministers, Members of Parliament, renown scholars, human rights defenders, civil society activists, artistes, senior civil servants, a former Secretary of Defense and others.

It bears reflection today, 29 years after the horrible events of July 1983.

Also in 2008, Vikalpa’s YouTube Channel also recorded 35 short interviews with prominent persons from civil society as well as from ordinary citizens on their thoughts on the events of ’58 and ’83. The combined playlist can be viewed below. For more videos, visit the channel here.