The month of July is generally described as ‘Black July’ by Tamils from the North and East who suffered immensely due to the bloodiest communal riots in the country in July 1983.

In Colombo as well as in the suburbs, nearly 3000 Tamils were massacred, injured and thousands more were internally displaced in Colombo following the damages caused by the rioters to the movable and immovable assets of Tamil residents.  

Tamils of all walks of life who had lived in Colombo for decades suffered heavy losses when their homes and businesses establishments were looted and ransacked, and were compelled to seek shelter at makeshift camps which were set up at the Hindu temples and Tamil schools in Colombo.

The July 1983 communal riots occurred following an attack on a military vehicle by the LTTE at the Thirunelvely area in Jaffna on July 23. The attack led to the deaths of thirteen soldiers and the riots started following the funerals of the dead soldiers at the Kanatte cemetery in Colombo.

Tamil prisoners numbering 53 who were serving jail terms at the country’s premier prison in Welikada in Colombo, were brutally massacred.  On 25th, Sellarasa ‘Kuttimani’ Yogachandiran, leader of the Tamil Eelam Liberation Organisation (TELO) and Ganeshanathan Jeganathan, a political writer, had their eyes gouged out in mockery, before being killed by fellow inmates at the high-security Welikada Prison in Colombo. A total of 37 Tamil prisoners were murdered on July 25^th and 18 more were killed two days later.

The communal upheaval continued in Colombo and in the suburbs nearly for a week, yet President J. R. Jayewardene with his executive powers, did not come forward to direct his law and order enforcement officials to curb the riots and to arrest the rioters.

The communal upheaval in July 1983 led to several land mark developments in the political history of Sri Lanka, primarily the Indian involvement with the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord in 1987, which led to the inclusion of 13^th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution.

From the time the 13^th Amendment was annexed to the Constitution, Tamil political parties have been urging the Governments in power including the Governments of President Chandrika Bandaranaike and Presidents Mahinda Rajapakse and Gotabaya Rajapakse to implement it.

Ever since veteran Tamil politician late R. Sampanthan took over the leadership of the Tamil National Alliance, he kept on emphasizing on the extensive implementation of the 13^th Amendment which was opposed by even the hardcore LTTE vehemently.

Sampanthan not only emphasized the importance of the 13^th Amendment to the Lankan leaders but even to the international community when he met foreign dignitaries as well as when he addressed international forums. Therefore the 13^th Amendment had been the `mantra’ of Sampanthan until his death in Colombo last year.

At present the only veteran Tamil political leader who was a contemporary of late Sampanthan and who still lives in his constituency in Kilinochchi, despite severe health issues, is TULF leader V. Anandasangaree.

Sampanthan and Anandasangaree were the two Tamil politicians who stood by their late leader Appapillai Amirthalingam when the Indo-Lanka Accord was signed between late President Jayewardene and late Indian Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi.

In later days, Sampanthan and Anandasangaree had fallen out following the stance Sampanthan had taken to be in the good books of the LTTE. However, both Tamil politicians took a common stance with regard to emphasizing on the extensive implementation of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution.   

This year will be the thirty-eighth year of the signing of the Indo-Lanka Accord which led to the inclusion of the 13^th Amendment to the Constitution. However, despite the emphasis made on the implementation of the 13^th Amendment, not only by Lankan Tamil leaders but by India and the international community, the successful implementation of the 13^th Amendment still remains a distant dream.  

In the meantime, since the month of July commemorates the bloodiest period of communal disturbance in the country, it is important to remember the atrocities committed against Tamils.

Therefore the month of July, 1983 will remain as the worst ethnic calamity in post independent Sri Lanka.