On Documenting: Remembering Black July
“There is no proper record of what happened, or how the killings took place during that time. We do not have any information or documentation to pass it on to our future…
1983
3 Days in a Kovil: An Eyewitness Remembers Black July
“As we travelled a small distance, I stretched my feet under the seat and I saw swords and rods. There were around 11 people in the van. None of them could speak…
In the wake of the past, upholding all human rights
Thirty-five years ago, human rights and democracy in Sri Lanka unravelled in a spectacular manner. Yet the background to these blatant abuses included an erosion of economic and social rights, with which…
A Honeymoon in a Refugee Camp – Remembering Black July, 34 Years Later
S Sornalingam had always thought he would have happy memories of July 1983. On July 15 that year, he and Suhenthra Muthuraja got married in a civil ceremony in Jaffna. At the time,…
Everyday Heroes: Untold Stories of Black July
July 23. The date has an awful significance for some, and has been blotted out by time for others. On that date, in 1983, a group of LTTE militants killed 13 Army…
‘Baaldhiya’ or ‘Vaaldhiya’: Two Wor(l)ds Separated by a Consonant
I don’t think I had the slightest inkling of a problem between the sinhala and tamil people in Sri Lanka, until July 1983. But I should have. In the heady days of…
Mano Ganesan on his experience of the anti-Tamil riots in July 1983
Member of Parliament and Convener of the Civil Monitoring Committee, Mano Ganeshan, speaks about his experiences during the anti-Tamil riots in July 1983. For more articles on July 1983, please click here.
Shanthi Sachithanandan on July 1983
Prominent Tamil civil society activist Shanthi Sachithanandan shares her experiences of the July 1983 anti-Tamil riots in Sri Lanka. For the Sinhala version of the interview, click here and visit the Vikalpa YouTube Channel for…
Some Gruesome Experiences: Memories of July 1983 by DEW Gunasekara, Minister of Constitutional Affairs and National Integration
 I had my own gruesome experience of the Black July. It was 29th July at midnight that I received a telephone call from my friend and party comrade AJMO Dr. Indra…
Pricking the conscience on reminiscences of ‘Black July’
by Austin Fernando In July 1983, my Accountant Mr. Vallipuram at the Cooperative Department lived off Castle Street where his neighbour was a notorious Sinhalese thug. Until ‘Black July’ Vallipuram once told…
July 1983: Looking back in anger and despair 25 years on
Photo by Chandragupta Amarasinghe ONE What happened in mid-1983 and in the last week of July 1983 was obscene, a monumental atrocity, a disaster for Sri Lanka. In a context marked by…
My name is Cedric. Do you remember me?
July usually passes me by without too much notice, beyond the vague worry that there might be a Tiger attack on Colombo, and a few flashbacks to that weekend in 1983. But…
TNA MP Mr. R. Sampanthan remembers the events of July 1983
Tamil National Alliance MP Mr. R. Sampanthan speaks of the anti-Tamil riots of July 1983. Speaking of the “terrible experience for all Tamil people in Sri Lanka” he says that the riot…
AFLAME – Remembering Black July, 1983
AFLAME – Remembering Black July, 1983 What is a poem to a man hiding in the cellar of his neighbor’s house, breathing the way his hostess spices lentils and mutton, while son…
July: Life after 25 years
Anoma Rajakaruna shares her photos of people in black and white. Anoma has captured many expressions and many environments. Every photograph speaks differently. As a film-maker, photographer and poet ,Anoma has well…
