Tamils gathered in Jaffna today to commemorate the 41st anniversary of the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, commonly referred to as Black July.
Tamils lit a lamp and observed a minute silence to remember the thousands of Tamils who were massacred by Sinhala mobs backed by the then UNP government. Tamil businesses were also looted and destroyed while thousands of Tamils were displaced by the violence. Tamil political prisoners locked up in Welikada jail, deep within the island's south, were also targeted as prison guards allowed Sinhala inmates to slaughter them.
Over 40 years have passed but no one has been held accountable for the atrocities committed.