MEDIA RELEASE

Commemorating July 1983: Bridges that Continue to Hold

By NATIONAL PEACE COUNCIL OF SRI LANKA

2008 JULY 21

On July 23, 1983 law and order in Sri Lanka virtually collapsed as mobs went on a rampage, inciting anarchy and fear, uprooting Tamil people, looting and burning their property and killing many of them. These mobs backed by sections of the then Government claimed they were motivated by the desire to avenge the killing of 13 Sri Lankan soldiers by the LTTE in the northern city of Jaffna. The large scale violence that engulfed the people, primarily victimizing those of Tamil identity twenty five years ago in July 1983, discredited Sri Lanka internationally and signaled the brain-drain that would impact the future economic and political trajectory of the country.

Underlying the anti-Tamil pogrom was, and remains, an exacerbated ethnic conflict. Instead of approaching this conflict through a concrete political framework, the Government at that time sought an immediate military solution to a problem that it narrowly described as being a ‘terrorist problem’. The failure of the State to protect the Tamil civilian population from the mobs, and its decision to escalate its military efforts, fueled Tamil aspirations for a separate State where their grievances could be resolved. Even to this day, the memory of the July 1983 pogrom remains the single most powerful legitimizing factor of support and inspiration for the Tamil militancy.

It is tragic that 25 years later, the Sri Lankan State continues to give its primary attention to militarily resolving the long-standing question of political rights and autonomy, with the result that mass human suffering continues. July 1983 has testified to the fact that violence knows no territorial delimitations or fundamental concepts of civil society - we are all victims of war, with our human rights and civil liberties threatened.

On the other hand, our work with the people convinces us that our fellow citizens are prepared to accept, and commit themselves to, a political solution that ensures justice and security to all. The people of Sri Lanka continue to believe in credible concepts of power sharing and peaceful coexistence. What was lacking then, and remains lacking now, is the preparedness of the country’s decision making leadership, both political and militant, to give leadership to the quest for a substantial political solution- one that can be effectively transferred from paper to the grassroots - and to actively construct the necessary power sharing accommodations to implement this political solution.

On the 25th Anniversary of what has been termed Black July, the National Peace Council also seeks to honour the memory of those who were victims of ethnic violence. But most importantly, we pay homage to those who, in times of heightened danger, risked their own security and well being to provide assistance to these victims, without any regard to ethnic differences or cultural identity. It is in moments like these that we have observed that the courage and empathy of humanity grows stronger.

During black spots of history, like 1983 or 1990, with the mass scale eviction of Muslims from the North by the LTTE, and the natural disaster of the tsunami of December 2004, a sense of an integrated national identity came to light; where fragmented communities realized that there is a sense of solidarity from the ‘other side’. These bridges of human cooperation and co-existence have continued to hold. Even in the bleakest of times there has remained an unfading hope that the interconnected social and cultural ties that have bound the country’s different ethnic communities will not be severed, but instead finally emerge strengthened.

The National Peace Council remains steadfast to its conviction that peace must come through non-violent, political means, and that peace needs to be negotiated with those categorized as ‘enemies’. In this time of commemoration of Black July we also affirm that we will work by the side of those who stand committed to these values and ensure that the State shall not be the oppressor but will be the protector and reconciler of the interests of all its ethnic and social groups.

Governing Council

National Peace Council of Sri Lanka

12/14 Purana Vihara Road

Colombo 6

Tel: 2818344, 2854127, 2819064

Tel/Fax: 2819064

E Mail: npcsltnet.lk

Internet: www.peace-srilanka.org

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organisation that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.

Source:

NPC Media Release-Black July 2008-07-21