What is the significance of Black July?
Periodic protests by Tamils against discrimination and lack of representation were subsequently met with violence by the state and/or the majority community. While Black July 1983 can be seen as following in this series of previous anti-Tamil riots that have punctuated Sri Lankan history, or in the climate of increasing counter-violence to the violent suppression of the Tamil protests, Black July is on a different scale. It was planned well in advance and executed by all apparati of the state, caused destruction and horror to an extent not yet seen nor could be justified, and can never be forgotten. Black July was the watershed moment which transformed and escalated ethnic tensions and skirmishes into an all-out civil war, which continues today.
