People for Equality and Relief in Lanka (PEARL) said that Sinhala Buddhist majoritarianism – the root cause of violence – continues to harm the Tamil nation in a statement marking the 41st anniversary of Black July.
Thousands of Tamils were killed by state backed Sinhala mobs during an anti-Tamil pogrom between 23rd July and 30th July 1983.
Armed with electoral rolls, Sinhala mobs targeted Tamil homes and businesses, looting and ransacking property. Driven from their homes, particularly in Colombo, over 3000 Tamils were massacred, whilst thousands more were effectively deported by the state to the North-East.
Read more here: Remembering Black July 41 years on.
“Today, the government’s use of military occupation, land grabs, economic marginalisation, and cultural hegemony continues to be driven by the same Sinhala Buddhist majoritarian ideology,” PEARL wrote.
The advocacy organisation highlighted that “impunity for Black July persists” and the lack of accountability allowed Sri Lanka to “commit further human rights violations against the Tamil people.”
PEARL also noted that while the current Sri Lankan government said it would establish a Commission for Truth, Unity, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights said that “the environment for a credible truth-seeking process remains absent.”
Moreover, they added that Tamils in the North-East “have experienced no profound change following past elections in a majoritarian Sinhala-Buddhist unitary state.”
PEARL reiterated its continued support for an independent and international mechanism which will impartially investigate and prosecute those responsible for war crimes.
Read the full statement here.
