Malin Abeyatunge

As an annual ritual, the LTTE rump of the Tamil Diaspora may be getting ready to commemorate the so called ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Black JulyƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚ during the coming weekend in all big cities in Canada, UK, Australia, USA, Switzerland, Norway and some EU countries in their continuation of humiliating Sinhalese Buddhist Community. The local LTTE rump will also be in the limelight next few days doing the same thing. Of course, the LTTE rump may even try to link July Riots with the charges of War Crimes against Sri Lanka though it is totally irrelevant with 1983 riots. There will be big street dramas created with their demos, arrogant hate speeches, fake moaning, weeping, crying and doing every possible thing to attract the gullible western politicians who rely on Tamil votes for their survival and the well oiled western media like Channel 4, CNN. BBC, ABC with LTTE funds and the so called Humanitarian organisation like Amnesty International (who acknowledged receiving $50000 from a LTTE affiliated Canadian Tamil Front) and both local NGOS and INGOS who cough for a fistful of dollars.

Instead of healing the wounds, this annual ritual is digging deep into wounds to humiliate the tolerant Sinhala Buddhists and in general Sri Lankans. Sinhala Buddhist majority have manifested more than once that such event will never happen again (and never happened) by tolerating the LTTE atrocities in silence. When BuddhistsƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢ most sacred temple ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Dalada MaligawaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚was bombed, when Buddhist worshippers including young, old men and women and children observing ATA SIL were brutally gunned down by the LTTE at ƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ…-Sri Maha BodiyaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ”š‚, when LTTE killed 39 young Buddhist priests on a pilgrimage to Arantalawa, did the Sinhala Buddhists retaliate by taking law into their own hands and repeated 1983? DEFINTELY NO. ƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚ BUT THEY TOLERATED LTTE’S BARBARIC ACTS SILENTLY. But that does not mean that Sinhalese are timid. We are tolerant following BuddhaƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s Preaching.

Sri Lankans including all Presidents without any reservations condemned and apologised for this unfortunate event in July 1983 (which of course brought fortunes for half a million Tamils who sought refuge in the western world). But have any Tamil politicians or Tamil activists both local and overseas to date made any apologies to atrocities committed by LTTE on innocent Sri Lankans? DEFINTELY NO.

Very little is spoken about how the Sinhalese people risked their lives and helped the Tamil families at the riots. I Protected two families in my own home at Wellawatta during the riots.

It is an accepted fact that the July Riots was not Sinhalese against Tamils but committed by politically motivated thugs. Many of thugs were political thugs and paid mercenaries and there had been other ethnic groups among them. However, the fact remains that this incident came as a blessing in disguise to almost half a million Tamils of which may be 90% unaffected also sought political asylum and refugee status in affluent west. According to official figures, 471 Tamils were killed, 8077 of their houses burnt, 3385 of cases of looting. So the total affected is around 12000 in all incidents and If we take into concern every incident that affected assuming one family unit comprise of 10 members (above average) then the total would be around 120,000. However, taking the actual numbers game, one cannot fathom in proportionate to the numbers affected, how come over half a million Tamils found refuge in affluent countries like Canada, USA, UK, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and Australia to name a few.

I request the moderate Tamils (if any) when they think of the innocent people killed in July riots, please focus your attention also to almost thousands of innocent civilians killed by LTTE terrorists. If Sinhala Buddhist have to commemorate killings of innocent civilians by LTTE over the years, 365 days of an year is insufficient as it runs into thousands and thousands incidents and not one day incident like July 24 1983.

Lastly I reiterate the fact that the JULY 1983 riots was a Blessing in Disguise to half a million Tamils now living in affluent countries. Sadly itƒÆ’‚¢ƒ¢-¡‚¬ƒ¢-¾‚¢s they who financed, raise funds to procure arms, providing logistics and propaganda for LTTE until LTTE was militarily annihilated. However, the current LTTE diaspora has been using this incident to raise funds and keep on reminding their western allies that this what Sinhalese Governments did to us and continue to influence the gullibleƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  (a part) international communityƒÆ’-¡ƒ”š‚  for their support to carve out a separate Eelam for the Tamils.

It is high time that the Tamil politicians in Sri Lanka and the Tamil Diaspora stopped this annual ritual and bury the incident once and for all as just as much as Sinhalese Buddhists (not of timidity) have condemned it and forgiven the atrocities committed in order to move towards reconciliation. Sri Lankan Tamils should stop dancing to the tune of Tamil diaspora at least now and act according what they see and experience now in their new lease of life in the North and East.

So let us bury the hatchet once and for all.