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
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