Art is a powerful medium of expression that is incorporated by activists and advocates across multiple cultures and spaces to commemorate and establish a sense of permanent memorialization of history. In Sri…
There is a quote attributed to Morgan Freeman, which basically states that the only way to stop racism is to stop talking about it. I am not sure where, when or why…
In 1983, a series of bloody riots swept Sri Lanka, marking the start of the country’s 26 year brutal civil war. Intermittent unrest had been occurring since the late 1950s and state…
The horrific events of July 1983, when a wave of state organised arson and murder against Tamils left many dead, displaced or traumatised, shocked people in Sri Lanka and internationally. Many people…
Dr. Radhika Coomaraswamy, a prominent lawyer, diplomat and human rights advocate, is widely recognised for her significant contributions to the field of international human rights and women’s rights. She served as the…
It was July 25, 1983 – that fateful day, which altered the trajectory of my life forever. Growing up in Colombo, we had come to accept the sad fact that ethnic conflicts…
An expert in Transitional Justice, accountability and reconciliation, former Commissioner of the Human Rights Commission of Sri Lanka, Ambika Satkunanathan shares a powerful story of loss and perseverance during Black July and its impact…
While Colombo bore the brunt of the violence of Black July in 1983, other areas of the country were also affected. Groundviews conducted interviews with survivors in Bandarawela, many of whom described…
I was in Jaffna in July 1983, staying with a few friends of mine at the boy’s hostel of the University of Jaffna. The hostel was situated right by the Kokkuvil train…
I don’t have any kind of greedy idea that you will get this letter. And yet, I cannot leave off from writing this letter to you. The mind flutters like the…
Bandarawela town is the definition of a picture perfect landscape, surrounded by green hills, lush trees and bright flowers. But Bandarawela is also evolving into an urban hub in its own way….
Half a century ago, it was higher education, saving universities from Tamil encroachment. Today it is Buddhist heritage, saving archaeological sites in the North and the East from Tamil encroachment. Tomorrow another…
Pradeep The timing could not have been more disastrous. Shirani and the children were in Colombo when the riots broke out in July 1983. Arvind was three and Arjun was one year…
When I confronted my Sinhala neighbour in my broken Sinhala over a certain issue recently, My Tamil neighbour pleaded, “Maureen we are Tamils, we can be in trouble”. I was shocked to…
It is painful to read how Sri Lankan government ministers rallied their goondas to fan out in neighborhoods looking for Tamil homes marked on voter lists. It is painful to…
