Black July: Remembering the victims of 1983
It’s the end of July. It’s summer. Time to enjoy the sun and time for checking out the beaches and have fun with family and friends. For us Tamils it’s summer as well, but for us this end of July is also a time of remembering.
We Tamils remember “Black July”. We Tamil remember the pogroms that took place in 1983 and that barely one seems to know. In this little post I want to share with what happend during these days in July 1983.
What do we call “Black July”?
In July 1983 pogroms against Tamils living in Sri Lanka took place throughout the whole country. It happend as a reaction to the attack the LTTE committed, having killed 15 soldiers.

Starting in Colombo the pogroms more than seven days with more than 3000 Tamils being killed by a Sinhalese mob. A vast number of homes and shops of Tamils were destroyed, more than 150,000 Tamil had no home anymore.
That was the time when many Tamil fled, became refugees in Europe, USA, Australia and Canada. But that was also the time when many young people joined paramilitary groups such as the LTTE and the dream of an sovereign state of Tamil Eelam rose.
This pogroms can be seen as the beginning of the armed resistance of Tamil paramilitary groups against the Sinhalese government.
What happend?
Following part describes what happend before, during and after the pogroms. That’s not that much detailed, but if you are interested in reading more, just have a little search for “Black July”.
July/24th
Before the riots really broke out the army in Jaffna went on rampage. They killed 51 innocent Tamils. In Trincomalee, similar violence broke out as members of the Navy randomly shot at civilians and burnt down Tamil property.
As mentioned above, the LTTE killed 15 Sinhalese soldiers in Jaffna on July 23rd. The government decided that the funeral should be held in Colombo in the evening of this day, but the bodies of the soldiers did not appear. While the crowd waiting for the funeral began to leave a gang enters and starts should Anti-Tamil paroles. This was the real beginning of the pogroms.
July/25th
People with voter registration lists move around the areas of Colombo grabbing Tamils out of their homes and out of the traffic and brutally kill them. Homes are set on fire. Human bodies, too. Alive.
While all this happens, police and army is just watching. In a prison, 35 Tamil prisoners were killed by Sinhalese prisoners while jail guards did not take any action.
The violence started in Colombo but now everywhere throughout Sri Lanka people are running with lists through the streets and are killing Tamils.
July/26th
A strict censorship is imposed by the government. But nevertheless news and media is spread throughout the world as fleeing tourists can report about the happenings and have taken pictures. As a consequence the airport in Colombo gets closed.
July/27th & July/28th
The pogroms continue. More Tamil prisoners are killed, more Tamil civilians are killed. On 28th is the first time that the president of Sri Lanka speaks out, but the only message is:
… the time has now come to accede to the clamour and natural request of the Sinhala people to prevent the country from being divided …
July 29th/30th
Tamil take the chance that the violence calms down slowly to escape from Colombo the Northern cities dominated by Tamils. As a result of the violence there is a shortage for food and that again is the reason that the pogroms start to dissipate.
After the pogroms
After the pogroms many people join the Tamil armed forces against the Sinhalese government. But more flee fearing persecution and seek refugee in Europe, the US, Canada and Australia.
Remembering the people
So these are the days we remember when talking about “Black July”. Many Tamils were killed in these days but that was just the beginning. These days were the starting point for a civil war that lasted until 2009. And the war cost many more lives of Tamils as the genocide that took place during the end of the civil war was much more brutal.
And what is the current result? Tamils still live in Sri Lanka without being treated equally, still fearing the government and still hoping for some better days. Remembering the people who lost their lives just makes us more confident that we must fight for our rights and can’t let such things happen again.
