My name is Sudharshana Rajasingam. I am now 52 years old. I came to Canada in October 1986. Before the 1983 July riots, I was teaching at Methodist College in Colombo and I was eight months pregnant. My husband was working abroad. On the 25th of July, I got a phone call from a colleague telling me not to come to school because of “troubles.” The word trouble was not new to us - it meant racially motivated riots. It happened in 1971 and again 1977.

Amah, my younger sister and myself were home alone with the door locked as we waited till everything settled down. Around three in the afternoon, we heard loud banging on the door. We saw 35-40 people armed with sticks, and hatchets - shouting at us to come out. Surprisingly, we also saw Buddhist monks among the rioters. As voices moved toward the back of the house, my mother urged us to leave the house. As we ran out, I remember the crowded streets, people watching others getting beat, tires being thrown at people and set on flames. It was too much of a shock but we had only one goal- to get to the police station, which was closest to the house. We felt we would be safe there.

When we arrived at the police station, it was already crowded. Though one of the constables questioned us about our possessions, they did not show interest once they learned that we did not have TV or VCR in the house. Over the course of the day, more people were entering the area to find refuge. About 40 of us were confined in a small room. People who lived further down our road who came to the police station later told us how they had seen our house on flames and had wondered what had become of us.
Early next morning, we were ushered onto buses. I feared we would be sent to an army camp- fortunately that did not happen. We were taken to St. Peter’s College, which was set up as a refugee camp similar to most schools. Its cement desk platforms were used as beds among the now refugees of the riots. Fortunately, at our request, a priest helped us get a ride to the Methodist College where I was at least familiar with the people and surroundings. I stayed there 7 weeks and gave birth to my twins at a Nursing Home nearby. To cheer me up, I remember the nurse saying to me, “You must be excited to go home.” And I started crying.

Soon, we moved in with my aunt in the Eastern part and then to Jaffna after a few months. Staying in Jaffna was a whole other experience. I couldn’t take the random shooting of the army and hiding out in the house. We had to have a bag packed and ready with a change of clothing for the twins and their milk bottles in case we had to run.

Finally, in May 1984 unable to continue living in a state of tension we went to Chennai hoping to stay there for a few months until the situation settled in Jaffna. But we stayed on in India for a year. We had to renew our visitor visas every three months and the uncertainty of being able to return to Sri Lanka weighed heavily on us. In May 1985 we took my sister’s advice and went to England as a way of buying time. However, British Immigration did not entertain refugee claims and we were informed that we will have to leave when they notified us. Then, I heard through a friend who was already in Canada that Canadian churches were sponsoring refugees and that I could send in an application. Following long sets of interviews with the Canadian and the Quebec Immigration, we were finally granted visas to Canada and arrived in Montreal.

On October 8th, 1986, we arrived in Montreal where a church welcoming committee greeted us at the airport. They said, “Welcome to Canada. These are your house keys.” I could only cry. Since July 1983, I did not feel like I had a home. I was constantly moving from place to place. So, it was good to have a place to call home.

Now, 22 years later, I am working with women and their families with refugee experiences. As I work with women in their journey of healing from trauma arising out of civil war, militarization and struggle for self determination I feel that my healing is also going through a transformation. Yet it never ceases to surprise me how 25 years later the experiences Black July are so raw and etched into my soul.

http://www.blackjuly83.com/Survivors.htm

About Black July 83

The events of July 1983 are poignant for the entire Tamil population around the world. Between July 24 and 29, Tamils were systematically targeted with violence in Colombo and many other parts of Sri Lanka.

Sri Lankan Governments officials categorized the violence as uncontrollable race riots instigated by the killing of 13 Sinhala soldiers on the night of July 23. However, history and the course of events during Black July illustrate the Sri Lankan Government’s undeniable involvement in the genocidal acts against Tamils.

July 24 (Day 1): At 1 o’clock in the morning of July 24, the army rounded up hundreds of Tamils in Trincomalee, Mannar, and Vavuniya in the Northeast who had fled the anti-Tamil riots of 1977 and 1981. These Tamils were forcibly taken and left without possessions in the central hills.

Before the riots broke out in Colombo, the army in Jaffna went on rampage killing 51 innocent Tamil civilians. In Trincomalee, similar violence broke out as members of the Navy randomly shot at civilians and burnt down Tamil property.

In the evening in Colombo, the state funeral was being organized for the soldiers. Thousands of people arrived at the cemetery but the bodies failed to appear. After waiting several hours, much of the crowd objecting the burial in Kanatte and demanded the bodies to be returned to the next of kin. As the large crowd began to leave the grave, a new group of people (identified as government gangs) entered the Borella junction and raised anti–Tamil cries. As the anti-government cry subsided and anti-Tamil cries became dominant, arson and murdering of Tamils broke out.

July 25 (Day 2): After the midnight lull, mobs were led by people with voter registration lists in hand torched Tamil homes, looted and destroyed Tamil businesses. All traffic was searched, and any Tamils found were killed, maimed, or burned alive. Cyril Matthew, Minister of Industries, was witnessed directly pinpointing shops to be burned down.

Many policemen were deployed throughout the city; however, they tacitly stood and watched on. Witnesses recall lorry loads of armed troops leisurely waving to looters who waved greetings back. Curfew was only declared by the President late in afternoon after the worst was over. However, the violence continued unabated. Tens of thousands of Tamils who were homeless, sought refugee in schools and places of worship.

In Welikade prison, 35 Tamil political prisoners who were awaiting trail under the Prevention of Terrorism Act, were massacred by Sinhalese prisoners with the complicity of jail guards using spikes, clubs and iron rods.

The violence spread rapidly throughout the country, engulfing towns like Gampaha, Kalutara, Kandy, Matale, Nuwara Eliya and Trincomalee. One town was completely wiped out - the Indian Tamil town of Kandapola, near Nuwara Eliya.

July 26 (Day 3): Government imposed a strict censorship of media reporting on the anti-Tamil violence. Word spread of Sri Lanka’s state of disorder as eye witness accounts and photographs taken by returning tourists illustrated the scale of violence. They described how Tamil motorists were dragged out of their vehicles and hacked to pieces while others were drenched with petrol and set alight in full view of the security forces. The International Airport in Colombo was closed.

July 27 (Day 4): 17 more prisoners at Welikade Prison were hacked to death just two days after the prison massacre. The surviving 36 prisoners are transferred to other prisons. Rioting continued and the curfew is extended. Witnesses of the violence reported that charred corpses of Tamil victims lined the streets of Colombo, some mutilated with X’s.

July 28 (Day 5): President J.R. Jayewardene addressed the nation for the first time since the anti-Tamil pogroms, only to fan the flames of anti-Tamil sentiments by stating that anyone who advocated for separatism would lose all their “civic rights”. He states, He states, “….the time has now come to accede to the clamour and natural request of the Sinhala people to prevent the country from being divided.” Vigilantes set up make-shift roadblocks in villages across the island, searched cars and buses for Tamil passengers. In one incident, a Sinhalese mob burnt to death about 20 Tamils on a minibus as European tourists look on in horror.

July 29 (Day 6): Tamils in Colombo began evacuating by cargo ship to the Northern city of Jaffna. Hundreds more internally displaced persons waited anxiously for the next cargo ship to transport them to Jaffna.

July 30 (Day 7): Violence began to dissipate. There was an extreme food shortage in Colombo and across the island as a result of the week long violence.

Post-Riots: Tamils fearing persecution, flea their homeland for Western countries. Tamil began to seek refugee in places such as Canada, Europe, Australia and the U.S. Canada introduces a “Special Measures” program for Sri Lanka allowing family members of those affected by the Anti-Tamil pogroms to join relatives already in Canada.