Lessons from Black July

Monday, 26 July 2021 00:00 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

This past weekend marked the 38th anniversary of Black July, one of the darkest days in Sri Lanka’s history. It was a week of extraordinary bloodshed that saw 3,000 Tamil lives taken by Sinhalese mobs, over 150,000 Tamils displaced and some 500,000 more forced to flee the country. And by the end, it had set Sri Lanka on an inexorable path of war and destruction, one that would forever be etched in its history.

It is often cited that the 1983 anti-Tamil pogroms were triggered by the killing of 13 soldiers by the LTTE on 23 July 1983. However, while that might have been what lit the proverbial fuse, anti-Tamil violence and rhetoric had been building steadily, much of it through the State, in the preceding months.

Indeed, even as the riots were ongoing, the then President J.R. Jayewardene, in a speech, gave no sympathy to the affected minority, rather choosing to emphasise Sinhalese grievances instead.

But we are not here to cast blame, but rather to ask the question, why? And what lessons can we take from it here and today? Well, like now, back then Sri Lanka was in the midst of an economic malaise stemming from a depreciating rupee, and both the inflation and unemployment rates hovering around 14%. So, the primary motive of the Government in sowing discord between Tamils and Sinhalese would have been as a means of distraction from its own failings.

But this is not a new nor original strategy. Governments throughout history across the world have used similar methods to divert public anger away from them to whomsoever might be a convenient target. Hitler did this with the Jews, and Idi Amin did it with Uganda’s minority Asian population. Simply put, when the going gets tough, governments seek scapegoats for the suffering masses to aim their ire and growing anger at.

In fact, in Sri Lanka, the rise of the BBS and similar extremist Sinhala-Buddhist actors, which led to incidents like which occurred in Aluthgama and Digana in years past, can be attributed to similar public discontent being channelled towards an easy-to-target minority.

So, the fact that the public dissatisfaction in 1983 manifested itself into one of the most racially motivated atrocities in the country’s history should come as little surprise.

Worse still, the events of Black July would go on to further cripple the Sri Lankan economy in the decades ahead, leading to widespread economic disempowerment that only further discriminated and marginalised minorities.

In this context, we as a population must be wary of being led along a similar path if the country’s present economic situation worsens. It is imperative that lessons are learned, and that as people we respect diversity, and, more importantly, understand that we are all human beings underneath our various religious and cultural beliefs.

The Government too needs to heed the lessons of Black July and the economic turmoil that followed. After the valiant forces successfully defeated terrorism, everyone – even those in the south – had one wish: that greater harmony could flourish among all communities. Something the Government and its people would do well to keep in mind in the difficult months ahead.