Lest we forget

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Tomorrow (23) marks exactly 40 years since the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) set off that fateful landmine in Thinnaveli near Post Box junction in Jaffna that killed 13 soldiers which triggered the worst anti-Tamil riots in the country that claimed hundreds of lives and caused destruction to thousands of residences and Tamil owned businesses in what is now been infamously called the Black July. The mishandling of the situation as regards the burial of the 13 soldiers of the Patrol Four Four Bravo platoon by the then authorities plus the prolonged time it took to declare a curfew was the primary cause for the violence escalating to such horrendous proportions according to many. In the week following July 24 in 1983, mobs possibly controlled by an unseen hand, took to the streets to attack members of the Tamil community in the wake of the killing of the 13 soldiers. The country was to take more than three decades to recover from those sordid events, though many victims have still not found closure. The events that occurred from July 23 to 30, 1983 went on to mark a turning point in the escalation of the conflict in the North and East. While the deadly ambush of the soldiers in the North was undoubtedly an act of terrorism, there was no excuse or justification, whatsoever, for the killing and maiming of innocent Tamil civilians in the name of revenge. Needless to say, Black July, as the pogrom was collectively called, tarnished Sri Lanka’s reputation almost beyond repair and led to international condemnation and isolation.

The blackest episode to beset the country in its post Independence history while not only isolated the country but threw Sri Lanka into geo-political designs of regional and superpowers that are still impacting it in a big way. It also witnessed a massive brain drain from the country and took the country decades back in development and progress. It also triggered thirty years of civil war that sapped the country of its economic resources, the consequences of which are felt to the present day. The episode also gave India the opportunity to interfere in the affairs of this country in a big way- the chain of events leading to the enactment of the 13th Amendment that formed the basis of the devolution of power in the nine provinces but chiefly meant for the North and East.

Of course “Black July” cannot be viewed in isolation, without examining the root causes of the country’s ethnic divisions. When Sri Lanka gained Independence from Britain in 1948, it was one of the most prosperous countries in Asia, with the possible exception of Japan. However our power-hungry politicians in the North and South worked quickly to lose this advantage through their communal politics. They created mistrust and divisions among Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities, ending centuries of friendship and trust. They built ethnicity-centred schools that kept children of various communities apart. They derided the ‘other’ community in public in the hope of igniting ethnic passions in the voter’s minds to ensure their election and survival. Power-hungry and opportunistic politicians on all sides sabotaged every attempt that strove to bring all communities on an equal footing. Any kind of compromise and consensus was anathema to these politicians.

In this abhorrent process, they alienated the youth both in the North and South. Although Governments did launch various development projects, they basically neglected the youth. This led to the emergence of the JVP’s insurgent movement in 1971. Although it was crushed there was a lingering feeling among youth in the North and South that all Governments were alienating them. Certain politicians added fuel to the fire to meet their own ends. This also gave rise to the youth militant movements in the North in the mid-1970s. The first victim was eminent lawyer and Jaffna Major Alfred Duraiappa who was gunned down exactly 48 years ago by the Tamil New Tigers which later became the LTTE. The rest, as they say, is history, but the events of July 1983 took the conflict to an even more dangerous course with disastrous consequences for all Sri Lankans.

Regrettably, we may not have learned the proper lessons from the events of Black July and even the massive conflict that followed Fourteen years after the war ended in the North, most of us cannot get rid of the ethnic mindset. For instance, the Easter attack was the result of the radicalization of a section of Muslim youth by hate preachers. The Muslim community itself has turned the searchlight inwards to understand how and why such a horrifying act could come from within certain sections of their community. Yet communal-minded politicians will persist in portraying the other community as the enemy. The resultant strife is their only salvation. They simply cannot survive without the oxygen of ethnic conflict.

But survive we must- as a great nation that eschews such communal, religious and other man-made divisions.

The biggest lesson of Black July is that we urgently need to work towards having a truly Sri Lankan identity that has no place for ethnic divisions. Regardless of whether we are Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim or Burgher we must think and act as Sri Lankans. It is a feeling that has to come from the heart. Unity in diversity will bring us peace and victory. But the Government alone cannot establish ethnic harmony. Each of us- and all of us -must reject the politics of communalism and hatred and restore our faith in the oneness of humanity.