COLOMBO: Sri Lanka tightened security on Sunday as activists lit oil lamps in the capital Colombo commemorating the hundreds killed in 1983 anti-Tamil riots that fuelled a deadly civil war.

“Let’s not forget the slaughter of Tamils,” read a banner carried by members of North-South Solida­rity, a group of rights defenders from the country’s majority Sinhalese and minority Tamil communities.

Several dozen activists lit coconut oil lamps and candles outside Colombo’s main cemetery, where the inter-communal violence started 40 years ago.

The then-government attempted a mass burial at the cemetery for 13 Sinhalese soldiers killed in a Tamil rebel land mine attack on July 23, 1983.

Relatives demanded indivi­dual funerals for the soldiers and clashed with police, before turning their attacks on Tamils and Tamil-owned shops in the area.

What began as a spontaneous backlash against Tamils degenerated into state-led deadly violence that lasted six days.

Official estimates place the riot death toll between 400 to 600, but Tamil gro­ups say the actual number is in the thousands.

Published in Dawn, July 24th, 2023