Black July 1983 Sri Lanka

1. LEST WE FORGET: the tragedy of July 1983’
July 23, 2010 in Memory , Understanding andEducation
Reproduced here is the Introduction to, and the table of Contents
of, ‘Lest We Forget: the tragedy of July 1983’. The book was published on the 25th
anniversary of
the events and introduced at a commemorative event conducted by the Bandaranaike Centre for
International Studies. It may be obtained from International Book House at 151 A Dharmapala
Mawata, Colombo 3. Further information may be obtained from the publisher at newpet@sltnet.lk or
037-2225884 or 011-2330742.
INTRODUCTION
The events of July 1983 were a watershed in Sri Lankan history. At its simplest, there was an attack
on Tamils in Colombo and elsewhere in the country, an attack that seemed to have at least some
official sanction. This was evident not only from what seemed official resources to which the attackers
had access, but also the reaction of the President, J R Jayewardene. In his first address to the nation,
several days after the attacks started, he declared that the attacks were the reaction of ‘the Sinhalese
people’ to the violence of Tamil terrorists. His first official response then was to introduce legislation
that had the effect of driving from Parliament the elected representatives of the Tamils.
This had two predictable consequences. The first was the wider perception that the attacks had official
sanction, which led to an even greater outbreak of violence on the following day, July 29th
. The second
was the superseding of the Tamil United Liberation Front by terrorist movements, most notably the
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam. And the events of July seemed to justify this, for it suggested that
the Sri Lankan state was a racist oppressive state against which violence was justified.
This perception has continued, fuelled by the enormous resentment felt by many Tamils who fled the
country at this time and later. Though after July 29th
the government called a halt to such violence,
and though this has never been repeated in the quarter century that has passed, it is understandable
that many Tamils, especially those who left in 1983 or soon afterwards, see Sri Lanka through the
prism of 1983. They, and their descendants, feel understandably bitter, and have striven since to
ensure that nothing of the sort can happen again. This has led to support for the concept of a separate
state, as canvassed most effectively by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, and hence continuing
funding of what is now one of the most ruthless terrorist organizations in the world. A collateral result
of this perhaps has been total ruthlessness in dealing with other Tamil groups, for the Tiger
determination to ensure a monopoly of support is fuelled by the enormous financial and political
rewards of such a monopoly as far as it concerns the Tamil diaspora.

2. For such support to continue, they have to convey the impression that another July 1983 is always
imminent. The firm manner in which, with one or two very small scale but dishonourable exceptions,
successive Sri Lankan governments have dealt with anti-Tamil racism, has made this unlikely, but of
course it would take only one major lapse for the case to seem cast iron. And, though successive
governments recognize this, there are political forces that wish to undermine elected governments,
and may therefore encourage racist violence for their own shadowy reasons.
One reason therefore to publish this book is to make it clear that such violence can only benefit the far
more sophisticated racist violence of the Tigers. It is therefore vital, that not only governments, which
tend to understand this already, but also society at large, recognize the enormity of what happened in
1983 and ensure that it is never repeated.
Another reason is to actually clarify what happened. For it is in the interests of all proponents of
extremism to suggest that the events of 1983 were not the results of the particular policies of
particular elements in government at the time, but were rather the natural outburst of Sinhalese
resentment against Tamils. Sinhala extremists would thus suggest that what happened was an
assertion of strength against separatist violence that should be replicated. Tamil extremists, more
practical in their approach, seek to declare that such violence is endemic in Sri Lanka, and that under
any political dispensation this is likely to recur. This can be presented, and relentlessly ha s been, as a
justification for separatism.
Central to both these partisan interpretations is a denial of the actual role of the government at the
time. Tamil extremists claim that the Jayewardene government was typical of Sinhalese governments,
ignoring the central role of Jayewardene himself in subverting earlier attempts at political compromise
(namely his opposition, along with the overtly racist opposition of his close ally in the United National
Party, Cyril Mathew, to the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact of 1958 and to the Senanayake-
Chelvanayakam District Councils Bill of 1968). Indeed, Jayewardene’s constitutional as it were
abhorrence of compromise can be seen in the manner in which he even subverted the District
Development Councils he had allowed to be set up in 1981, first by designating Cyril Mathew to head
the UNP election campaign, and then by financial strangulation of those Councils.
Conversely Sinhalese extremists play down the role of Jayewardene in their efforts to assert that the
violence was spontaneous. They thus see his failure to quell it as due to diffidence in the face of
nationalist emotion he could not comprehend. The illogicality of this argument, given the effectiveness
with which he quelled the less structured violence of July 29th
, is not important in comparison with the
purportedly patriotic point they wish to make.
Sadly, not only do these two agendas converge, but they find support in what might be termed the
intrinsic support for the Jayewardene wing of the UNP extended by elite decision makers in Colombo.
Though some of them subscribed to the Mathew argument that Tamils had had unfair advantages in
business, most are not racist in their approach. Their enemies rather are the left wing forces against
which they see Jayewardene, and his reintroduction of the open economy in 1977, as the chief
bulwark. So they cannot see Jayewardene as a villain, and instead subscribe to the interpretation
some members of his cabinet put forward after July 29th
, that the violence was perpetrated by leftists
who wanted to spread mayhem.
Such an argument indeed emerged three years ago, when the photograph that appears on the cover
of this book, showing an incident that occurred on the night of July 24th
, was used in an advertisement
designed to dissuade people from voting for the current President, Mahinda Rajapakse. The text of the
advertisement suggested that a vote for him would be a vote for the leftist forces that had engaged in
violence in the late 80s, ie the JVP. Ironically, voting against Mahinda Rajapakse meant supporting
Ranil Wickremesinghe, who had been in the Cabinet in 1983 and spoken after the events of July in a
manner that suggested he subscribed wholly to Cyril Mathew’s social and economic views. That the
eminent and very able businessman who devised the advertisement should propagate such a view
seems astonishing, and suggests that the facts of 1983 have now been forgotten in comparison with
the propaganda value to be obtained from it for particular purposes. The appalling suffering that so
many Tamils underwent is therefore ignored, as they become statistics and images to be bandied
about to fulfil various political agendas.

3. This volume therefore attempts simply to clarify the record, by republishing a number of writings that
addressed the issue direct, very shortly after the actual events. It begins with a section of descriptive
essays that also analyse, including the detailed description of what happened in the Welikade Jail
massacres, perhaps the most hideous episode in a hideous week. The relentless account of state
complicity in what occurred, along with descriptions of the courage of particular officials, the prison
guards who risked their own lives to save their charges, Major Sunil Pieris who promptly restored the
order that others in the security forces had subverted, is perhaps the best proof that the situation was
as I have described it above.
This section also includes an account of what might be termed the run up to the events, the racism at
Peradeniya which struck the student who wrote this account, Qadri Ismail, as a symptom of what
amoral and cynical statist interference had wrought.
The next section contains poetry that deals with the events, and with attitudes that contributed to
them. This is followed by fiction that addresses both the situation itself, and also the political
background. ‘The Lost One’, I should note, won the Deutschewelle short story competition for all
South Asia.
The final section deals with relevant points of view, beginning with Cyril Mathew’s equation of all
Tamils with terrorists, which formed his defence to criticism of his part in the attacks on Tamils in
Jaffna in 1981, the precursor – during which the Jaffna Public Library was burnt down – to the events
of 1983. In part because of the emotions roused by Mathew’s style of defence, which involved a
Motion in Parliament of No Confidence in the Leader of the Opposition, Appapillai Amirthalingam, there
were attacks on Tamils in the south of the country in that year too. However, given that Colombo was
exempt, decision makers in society were not aware of the enormity of what was brewing.
On a personal note, it was after such events that I took the International Centre for Ethnic Studies to
task for not having worked on problems in Sri Lanka, only to be told by its Executive Director in
Colombo that they were forbidden to look at events in Sri Lanka according to the agreement by which
they operated in Sri Lanka. The Executive Director in Kandy refuted this claim in a press article, but
there seems to have been a secret understanding, given the close links between Kingsley de Silva, the
Chairman of the Board, and President Jayewardene, because nothing was forthcoming until the events
of July 1983 burst the dam.
Even then however the initial response was not by ICES itself, but through a hastily set up Committee
for Rational Development that could be claimed to be independent even though it was sponsored by
the Colombo office. Its work was largely forwarded by Dayan Jayatilleka, now Sri Lankan Permanent
Representative to the United Nations in Geneva, whose commitment not only to pluralism but to
speaking up for it when it was not so popular must be recognized. I am grateful to him for
authorization to reprint material here that appeared previously in the Lanka Guardian. Other material
appeared previously in The New Lankan Review and in An Anthology of Sri Lankan Poetry in
English, while the account of the Welikade massacres was by the Jaffna University Teachers for
Human Rights, whose yeoman work continues to raise issues that should be addressed more promptly
than they usually are.
Following a report of the response of Ranil Wickremesinghe to the riots, exemplifying the Mathew
approach to economic analysis, I include an appeal by Bishop Lakshman Wickremesinghe, the first
Sinhalese leader to visit Jaffna after the events.
The section concludes with my own impressions of that period, culminating in Bishop Lakshman’s
death.
He had made the journey to Jaffna, in the midst of other frenetic activity, even though he was already
very ill, because he felt it imperative that the process of healing should start immediately. I think it is
not a coincidence that Lakshman Wickremesinghe and Dayan Jayatilleke, separated by thirty years in
age, are together renowned for having obtained the two best first class degrees in political science
from Sri Lankan universities. From different perspectives, when less perceptive members of
intellectual and social elites were more complacent, they assessed accurately the corrosive effects of

4. the racism that was rearing its head in government in the early eighties, and the long term damage
this could do to the country when combined with authoritarianism.
The ideas Bishop Lakshman expressed then might, had they been implemented, have averted some of
the polarization that has since taken place. But he died soon after, a martyr to his sense of duty.
Instead of healing we had political chicanery, discussions that were subverted as described in essays
in this book, while terrorism became more aggressive.
It is with regret then for the wasted years that followed that this book is dedicated to the memory of
those who died in that awful period; and of Lakshman Wickremesinghe, Bishop and Chairman of the
Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka.
Rajiva Wijesinha
Table of Contents
INTRO DUC TIO N
PART I – ANALY SIS
Political violence and the future of democracy in Sri Lanka – Gananath Obeysekere
The Bang and the Whimpers – Rajiva Wijesinha
1983 Anti-Tamil riots and militarization of the ethnic conflict – Kethesh Loganathan
The Massacres at Welikade – Rajan Hoole
Peradeniya – Towards Collapse? – Qadri Ismail
PART II – PO E TRY
Jean Arasanayagam
Nallur
1958…. ’71…. ’77…. ’81…. ’83….
Kamala Das
A Certain Defect in the Blood
Richard de Zoysa
Apocalypse Soon
Gajagavannama
Animal Crackers
Basil Fernando
Just Society
Yet Another Incident in July 1983

5. Yasmine Gooneratne
Big Match, 1983
Arjuna Parakrama
Wesak is here again
PART III – F IC TIO N
The Lost One – Nirmali Hettiarachchi
Action Stations – Rajiva Wijesinha
PART IV – SPE E C HE S AND RE F LE CTIO NS
TULF equals Terrorists – Cyril Mathew
SLFP’s nationalisation policies hit the Sinhalese businessman – Ranil Wickremesinghe
National Guilt and Expiation – Lakshman Wickremesinghe
A Diary of Society and Politics, 1983 – Rajiva Wijesinha
English literature - Poets and poetry
by Yasmin Gunaratne
Yasmin Gunaratne is a popular Sri Lankan poet, (employed as a teacher at Macquarie
University in Sydney). Yasmin's poems carry a calm and serene tone. She wrote her
poem "The Big Match" in 1983 highlighting the violence in July 1983, which darkened
the lives of many Sri Lankans.
Yasmin Gunaratne seems to be influenced by poets like Dryden. Her popular poem
'Peace Game' is rather satirical, emphasising a game organised by 'KIDS' with a team
of - odds and evens. Odds were "the children down the street and miscellaneous scraps
and strays." The evens were "my brothers and friends swell upright and regular guys".
Yasmin's 'Peace Game' is rather satirical and mirrors forth the shadow of discrepancy
between the Rich and the Poor and how even in a game the Poor Lot is cornered by the
Rich and Powerful.
The rich boys degrading the poor, and bringing disgrace to the word Peace itself. The
game ends by throwing the odds out and Evens winning the game by hook or by crook
method. The parents of the rich boys did not like the poor boys playing near their
houses.

6. So they fought their battle 'over their parents' vegetable beds.' The ironic effect of
these words bring to limelight the selfish characteristics of the rich people. The poet
describes clearly and briefly the fact that Evens were welfed lot and the little thin
"scrawny odds would never dare to say the teams were not well matched".
The "Stunted little fools." The contrasting physical features of the welfed lot and the
strawny odds stressing the discrimination prevailing The Rich and The Poor Yasmin
Gunaratne's elegant wording creating the exact imagery bringing forth the ironic effect
clearly and effectively. The Poet seems to have attempted at exposing the clear fact the
discrepancy prevailing in society.
PEACE GAME seems to be a satirical poem with sarcasm running throughout and the
underlying idea "War and Peace seem to be the creation of a privileged group to suit
their needs. Yasmin Gunaratne's language style is simple but ironic. The ironic effect is
maintained throughout the poem.
In the poem Peace Game the poet has kept a blank space in the last line in 'Peace
Game' "Or War - I can't remember which.... The poet seems to abhore "Social
Dimensions" prevailing in the society.
The Poet's simple language style, appropriate imagery used in an exquisite manner
maintaining the swift and rhythmic flow of the poem. Her arrangement of suitable
words, emotive language with clear syntax and the tone prevailing in a striking manner,
with a touch of mild satire.
Mrs. C . Ekanayake,
Retd. Specialist
Teacher Eng.,
St. Anne's C ollege,
Kurune gala.
In the literary arena Yasmin Gooneratne stands apart as a stalwart among the South As
ian writers for she has
brought to limelight the sensibility of Sri Lankan literatutre to the Western audienc
e. Her poetry collections: Word Bird
Motif and The Lizard's Cry and Other Poem stand testimony to her poetic caliber. A cr
itical awareness of Sri Lankan
social reality has been recorded by Yasmin Gooneratne in her poems. She uses her poem
as a political allegory to satirize
the dimensions of the racial prejudice that decimate equality in the society. In the
poem The Big Match, Yasmin

7. Gooneratne has registered her sorrow over the violent communal clashes which complete
ly disrupted the diligently built
cultural poetics of the multiracial and multicultural country.
KEYWORDS: Postcolonial Poetry, Srilankan Poetry, Yasmin Gooneratne, the Big Match
INTRODUCTION
Yasmine Gooneratne is an acclaimed South Asian writer for she has authentically portr
ayed political and social
reality that exists in Sri Lanka. She completed her Under Graduation from University
of Ceylon and received her Ph.D in
Literature from the prestigious Cambridge University. She became a resident of Austra
lia in 1972. In 1981 she received the
most honoured Degree of Doctor of Letters by Macquarie University, Australia. Between
1989 -1993 she was bestowed
with the responsibility of Foundation Director of Macquarie University's Postcolonial
Literatures and Languages Research
Center. In 1990, Gooneratne became an Officer of the Order of Australia for distingui
shed service to Literature and
Education. She has written volumes of literary essays, poems, short stories, a family
memoir and two novels: A Change of
Skies and Pleasure of Conquest. Her poetry collections: Word Bird Motif and The Lizar
d's Cry and Other Poem stand
testimony to her poetic caliber. She received the Writer's Fellowship at Varuna Write
r's Center in 1991. She received
Marjorie Barnard Literary Award for Fiction inl992. Her novel was shortlisted for 199
1 Commonwealth Writers Prize.
Her achievements are recorded in Who's Who of Australia 1997 and in The Oxford Compan
ion to Australian Literature.
Yasmine Goonaratne has acknowledged her success in the field of literature to her nat
ive soil which imbibed her with
sublime sensitivity and sensibility of a creative writer. She was fortunate to be edu
cated during the peaceful golden period
of Sri Lankan history.
Literature records history from the precepts of an individual's life and thereby crit
iques the social, cultural and
political life of that period. History as recorded in literature is always read with
reference to the present problems.

8. Past history is seen as a solution to the problematic of the present day paradigms of
hierarchies operating within the power
structures of society that defiles union of the divergent races. Literature as a vehi
cle of social reform envisages preserving
the bond of peace and the order of civilized community amidst diversity. The traumati
c experience of the ethnic crisis has
inspired many poets of Sri Lanka.
A critical awareness of Sri Lankan social reality has been recorded by Yasmine Gooner
atne in her poems.
She uses her literary caliber as a consensus to critique the dimensions of the racial
prejudice that annihilate equality in the
S. LAVNYA
Assistant Professor, Department of English, PSGR Krishnammal
College for Women, Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, India
ABSTRACT
124
S. Lavnya

9. society. Recurrent themes in Yasmine Gooneratne's works are the interactive forces of
the past and its implication in the
present. Post colonial discourse deals with the binary opposition between 'other' / '
I or we'. The conquest and destruction
of indigenous cultures were due to the opposition between the 'other' / 'I or we'. Th
e 'other' is specific social group which
is supposed to be inferior to the dominant sect who is termed as 'I or we'. As Todoro
v claims we have to realize 'others'
are also T for peaceful co-existence.
Subjects just as I am, whom only my point of view - according to which all of them ar
e out there and I alone am
in here - separates and authentically separates from myself. I can conceive of these
others as abstraction, as an
instance of any individual's psychic configuration, as the Other - other in relation
to myself, to me; or else as a
specific social group to which we do not belong. This group in turn can be interior t
o society: women for men, the
rich for the poor, the mad for the 'normal': or it can be exterior to society, i.e.,
another society which will be near
or far away, depending on the case: beings whom everything links to me on the cultura
l, moral, historical plane;
or else unknown quantities, outsiders whose language and customs I do not understand,
so foreign that in extreme
instances I am reluctant to admit that they belong to the same species as my own. (3)
In the poem Big Match, 1983; Yasmine Gooneratne has registered her sorrow over the vi
olent communal clashes
which completely disrupted the diligently built cultural poetics of the multiracial a
nd multicultural country. The violence of
July 1983 was a moment of ignominy in the history of Sri Lanka for the ruling Sinhale
se majority conducted an officially
sanctioned pogrom against the Tamil minority. Even after the harrowing effects of the
aftermath of the Second World War,
humanity has failed to learn the importance of compassion and humanism. Though Sri La
nka had a rich cultural heritage,
the discrepancy prevailing in society has ransacked the edifice of the cultural mosai
c of a multi racial community.

10. Sri Lanka was granted freedom as a consequence of the struggle for independence in In
dia. Indians forged with a
single consciousness as a nation forgetting their inherent differences of language, r
eligion and creed to gain freedom from
the British but unfortunately there was no nationalistic credo among the Sri Lankans
for freedom was granted to them.
After their Independence from the British rule in 1948, the Tamil minority wanted the
ir privileged position to continue but
the Sinhalese majority wanted to tilt the balance to their advantage. This created a
chasm between the two racial
communities which resulted in sporadic outbreak of violence. In 1956 Sinhalese was ma
de the official language which
distressed the sentiments of Tamil populace. Racial sentiments became a poignant weap
on in the hands of the power
mongering politicians. In the 1970s the Tamil United Liberation Front clamored for a
separate state called Elam.
Their radical ideologies, legitimization of terrorism, international involvement resu
lted in ethnic conflict which seems to be
endemic.
Of the Tamils, less than a half live in the North of Sri Lanka; the majority live amo
ng the Sinhalese. The Tamil
minority enjoys a much better position in Sri Lanka than most minorities in other cou
ntries, and also, partly
because of favored treatment ensuing from the classical colonial policy of "divide an
d rule" during a century and
a half of British occupation, they became, in the words of Sri Lanka's leading histor
ian, K.M de Silva "a minority
with a majority complex." (Goonetilleke 450)
The violence of July 1983 created a sudden upheaval in the socia l constructs of Sri L
anka; suddenly multitudes
were driven out of the country as refugees. The pathos is that the violence was targe
ted particularly against the Tamils, the
ethnic minority. The commercial institutions belonging to the Tamils were selected an
d targeted. Suddenly Tamils in Sri
Lanka were made paupers who had to flee to save their lives forgetting their heritage
and the legacy of their fore fathers.

11. Media has sensationalized and commercialized the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka for mos
t of the newspapers
Sri Lankan Cultural Poetics: Yasmin Gooneratne's the Big Match
125
worldwide carried the horrific racial conflicts as the headlines. 'Flash point in Par
adise.' 'Racial pot boils over.'(4)
Journalism has lost its ethical base: instead of creating an awakening about the need
of brother hood, it converted racial
conflict into best selling news item. The ethnic conflict is worldwide problems for m
ost of the nations have become
multiracial due to immigration. The solution to this conflict remains a nightmare for
we have accepted the concept of
universal brotherhood as a theoretical proposition but we have failed when it comes t
o practical implementation.
The ethnic crisis or racial problems are a watershed in the history of human civiliza
tion.
Most affluent people affected by the racial violence left Sri Lanka for the Western c
ountries for a better
livelihood. The civil war in Sri Lanka created the largest Tamil diaspora in the worl
d. Though they left their native country
with bitter feelings and suffered from a sense of alienation. They hoped to reinstate
new roots in the adopted country but
when the civil war turned tumultuous they thanked their fortune for being alive.
And even the gone away boy
who had hoped to find lost roots, lost lovers,

12. lost talent even, out among the palms, makes timely return giving thanks
that Toronto is quiet romantic enough
for his purpose. (5-10)
The powerless citizens of Sri Lanka are in an absurd situation wherein they have to b
e objective and practical
amidst irrevocable calamity. The innocent people who lost their kindred, friends, and
property can never be offered any
comfort or consolation. Though they are aware that any solution, abstraction or absol
ution is impossible to redeem them
from their predicament, they sit back and analyse the root cause for their long malad
y. Yasmine Gooneratne revokes the
past historical actuality that started the communal violence and converted the countr
y into a sacrificial pyre.
Their independence from colonial rule never gave them an opportunity to merge various
sects with patriotic feeling.
In 1956 when Sinhalese was made the official language the sentiments of the Tamil wer
e hurt which led to the radical view
of their political ideology; "see the first sparks of this hate/fanned into flame in
Nineteen Fifty Eight" (17-18). The malice
and ill will continued to spread like fire and resulted in the "Big Match fever" - th
e incident of 1983 when an attempt was
made to annihilate the Tamil minority from the country.
The local people live in constant fear and their situation is traumatic. Every day en
ds with curfew and dawn starts
with new game of violence. They keep vigil night and day to safeguard their lives. La
ck of security and lack of faith in
humanity turns them desperate and addicted to alcohol. The situation turns them paran
oiac for they are tugging at the
threshold of death. Amidst the chaos of nihilism there still lurks a ray of hope that
humanism would bloom. The Sinhalese
and Tamils continue their friendship in spite of the politically incited hatred.
as though we are neighbours still as we had been
in 'Fifty Eight,' 'Thanks, by the way, for ringing.

13. There's nothing you can do to help us, but
it's good to know some lines haven't yet been cut.'(42-45)
Jaffna, once a land of beautiful landscape has been turned into a battle ground. The
poetess laments
that"... landmarks of our childhood / curl like old photographs in the flames" (48 -49
). Young boys instead of empowering
the nation by useful enterprise lay down their precious life for political doctrines.
The sight of dead bodies strewn on the
126
S. Lavnya
streets had become a common sight in the violence prone area. They have no time to sp
are, to stand and stare at the
deceased for their life is at stake.
The joys of childhood, friendships of youth
ravaged by pieties and politics,
screaming across our screens, her agony
at last exposed, Sri Lanka burns alive. (57-60)
CONCLUSIONS

14. Gross human rights violation, radical power politics, legitimized terrorism ravaged t
he nation to shreds.
The agony and anguish of the nation was exposed to the world through the poignant lit
erary works. In spite of international
involvement, peaceful co existence remains a farfetched dream. With the expectation t
hat her poetry might act as a panacea
for the troubles insinuated by separatist mentality and would bring peace to the war
ravaged country.
REFERENCES
1. Gooneratne, Yasmine. (2000) "Big Match, 1983." Ed. John Thieme. The Arnold Antholo
gy of Post- Colonial
Literatures in English. USA: Oxford University Press.
2. Tzvetan Todorov, (1992). The conquest of America: The Question of the Other Tr. Ri
chard Howard Harper
Perenial.
3. Goonetilleke, D. C. R. A. (1992). "Sri Lanka's "Ethnic" Conflict in Its Literature
in English." World Literature
Today. 66. 3.