The July 1983 Massacres in Sri Lanka

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This is an Instagram post that was shared by brownhistory and submitted by Kartik Amarnath.

The caption reads: "..The July 1983 massacres took place over the course of several days. After the first wave of violence, rumors were spreading that the Tigers were coming to Colombo. That’s when things got really bad.

Appa, 24 at the time, heard the mobs nearing his block in Anderson Flats, where many Tamil families, including ours, lived. The mobs instructed Sinhala families to stand outside their homes with the lights on so they wouldn’t be harmed. Appa saw someone he knew who was part of the mob and gave him money in exchange for safety. He then rushed home and told his parents and brothers to go hide with Sinhala neighbors while he'd stay back, posing as Sinhala.

When the mob made it to his home, the person he paid off tried convincing the others that Appa was Sinhala and this was a Sinhala home. The mob leader wasn't convinced and stepped into the apartment, stopping at the kitchen. 2 steps further and he would have seen the picture of Pillayar (Ganesha) around the corner, blowing Appa’s cover. All Appa could do was pray.

After an eternity, the mob leader inexplicably turned around and left, instructing the others to keep moving. 2 steps was the difference between life and loss. 2 steps further, and maybe I wouldn’t be alive to write this.

So many people refer to this time in 1983 as ‘the riots.’ This was not a riot. It was a government sanctioned anti-Tamil pogrom. Exactly 39 years later and amidst an unfathomable economic crisis, human rights violators continue wielding power. Today’s economic crisis and the 1983 pogroms have a kinship. Financial capital and corrupt elites cash out on vulnerable people’s pain.

Our homeland can see better days. But only when Muslims, Malayaha & Northeastern Tamils, Afro-Lankans, the Wanniyala-Aetto, working classes, oppressed castes, LGBT+ peoples, dissidents, and the interests of our life-sustaining ecosystems are all truly at the table. Otherwise, we’ll once again be on the menu.

The first pic is of Anderson Flats (cred: S. Kangara 2019). While Appa’s home was barely spared, mobs attacked neighboring Tamil homes and hurled their belongings into the courtyard from the upper levels."

ADDITIONAL METADATA
Date: July 29, 2022
Type: Website
Source: Archival Creators Fellowship Program
Creator: Kartik Amarnath
Contributor: Kartik Amarnath

PROVENANCE
Collection: Kartik Amarnath Fellowship project
Donor: Kartik Amarnath
Item History: 2022-07-29 (created); 2022-07-29 (modified)

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