Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Sections
    • A-Z of Sri Lankan English
    • Banyan News Reporters
    • Longing and Belonging
    • Long Reads
    • LLRC Archive
  • Authors
  • Editors
  • Special Editions
    • End of war | 5 years on
    • 30 Years Ago
    • Mediated | Art
    • Moving Images
    • End of War
    • Remember the Riots
  • About
  • Contact
  • Site Guidelines
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • 2023
  • 2022
  • 2021
  • 2020
  • 2019
  • 2018
  • 2017
  • 2016
  • 2015
  • 2014
  • 2013
  • 2012
  • 2011
  • 2010
  • 2009
  • 2008
  • 2007
  • 2006
  • Subscribe: RSS | EMAIL
  • ARCHIVES
Groundviews

Black July

Year
Month
Easter Sunday Terrorist Attacks, Human Rights, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance

A Violent Past, An Uneasy Present

The true stories of the violence on July 1983 are not captured in newspaper headlines. 36 years ago, Page One of the Daily Mirror read, “Anti-Govt forces behind rioting and looting.” A…

Raisa Wickrematunge Raisa Wickrematunge on 07/26/201907/28/2020
Human Rights, Long Reads, Peace and Conflict, Remember the Riots

The Agony and Ecstasy of a Pogrom: July 1983

Two Survivors  Not all Tamils in Sri Lanka are Tamils. A few who have been born and bred in the South-Western parts of the island have been de-Tamilicised. They know very little…

Michael Roberts Michael Roberts on 08/12/201808/21/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Politics and Governance, Remember the Riots

A Forgotten Community: Remembering Black July

Writer S Karunakaran reflects on Black July from the perspective of a marginalised and often forgotten community – the Malaiyagha Tamils – and specifically those who tried to resettle in the North…

Maatram Maatram on 08/07/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Peace and Conflict, Reconciliation

The Impact of Violence: Remembering Black July

“When we talk of the 1983 unrest, the word ‘riot’ is used very often,” M Mayuran of the Mass Movement for Social Justice says. “But that word is quite complicated. A riot…

Maatram Maatram on 08/04/201808/04/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Politics and Governance, Post-War, Reconciliation

On Collective Humanity: Remembering Black July

“If the majority thinks that a minority community is posing a threat to them or are developing in a manner that creates fear among them, then it is a problem for the…

Maatram Maatram on 07/31/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Peace and Conflict, Reconciliation, Remember the Riots

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…

Maatram Maatram on 07/27/201807/31/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Media and Communications, Politics and Governance

Media As Memory: Remembering July 1983

The flat, cardboard boxes are stacked almost to the ceiling. The neatly glued label of one of them is clearly visible when a door opens – briefly releasing a puff of air-conditioned…

Raisa Wickrematunge and Amalini De Sayrah Raisa Wickrematunge and Amalini De Sayrah on 07/26/201807/30/2018
Human Rights, Identity, Issues

Reflections on July 1983: 35 Years On

July 23 marked the 35th anniversary of one of post independent Sri Lanka’s darkest chapters, the July 1983 pogrom against Tamil civilians throughout the country. An ambush of an Army patrol in Jaffna,…

Harim Peiris Harim Peiris on 07/25/201807/25/2018
Human Rights, Identity, Issues, Peace and Conflict

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…

Selvaraja Rajasegar Selvaraja Rajasegar on 07/25/201807/25/2018
Human Rights, Long Reads, Peace and Conflict

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…

Savitri Hensman Savitri Hensman on 07/24/201807/25/2018
Development, Peace and Conflict, Post-War

Up in Smoke: The Rio 35 years after Black July

Ratnarajah Navaratnam was born the same year his father, Appapillai, opened Navah Cinema in 1951. This was soon to be followed by the Rio Cinema in 1965. The Rio Hotel came more than…

Hafsa Razi Hafsa Razi on 07/23/201808/04/2018
Human Rights, Issues, Reconciliation

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,…

Raisa Wickrematunge Raisa Wickrematunge on 07/25/201708/01/2020
Human Rights, Issues, Reconciliation, Remember the Riots, Transitional Justice

Black July, Government promises and our future

I’m thankful to British Tamils Forum (BTF) for inviting me to share some reflections and thoughts on this occasion. Many of you gathered for this commemoration might be Tamils. Some may be…

Ruki Fernando Ruki Fernando on 07/26/2016
Human Rights, Issues, Peace and Conflict, Reconciliation, Remember the Riots

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…

Raisa Wickrematunge Raisa Wickrematunge on 07/22/201607/28/2020
Colombo, Human Rights, Human Security, Peace and Conflict, Politics and Governance, Remember the Riots

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.

Groundviews Groundviews on 07/29/200803/08/2011

Posts navigation

Older posts

  • Popular
  • Recent

Popular Articles

  • When Repeal Is Not Reform: An Anti-Terrorism Act Worse Than The PTA
  • Good Governance, Bad Governance and No Governance
  • Anti-Terrorism Bill: The Good, Bad and the Ugly
  • March 31 Protests and Aftermath: Updates
  • Mary's Consent for Jesus's birth: A Christmas reflection

Recent Articles

  • South Asia Faces a Volatile and Unpredictable Future: Amnesty International
  • Kamala Vasuki: Bringing Truth Through Art
  • When Repeal Is Not Reform: An Anti-Terrorism Act Worse Than The PTA
  • Anti-Terrorism Bill: The Good, Bad and the Ugly
  • Still on the Rotten Bridge

Facebook

Groundviews

Twitter

Tweets by @groundviews

Copyright © 2016 Groundviews. All rights reserved. All content on this site is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-No Derivative Works 3.0 License.

Web Design & Development by SABERION