A creative video worth sharing by TYO-Canada, “I Remember ’83”
1983. Over 3000 Tamils were murdered, and 150,000 were left homeless during the Sri-Lankan state sponsored anti-Tamil riots. On July 23rd 1983 in the matter of 6 days, police and army troops assisted a Sinhalese mob in attacking Tamils in this islands south.
The remaining survivors were placed into camps and faced internal deportation to the islands north east. This has lead to the ethnic cleansing of Sri-Lanka’s capital, Colombo, and other areas in the south.
26 years later, the genocide continues. Today, the Sri Lankan government withdrew from a peace agreement and went to war. The armed phase of the war is over, but all other forms of war are continuing. The entire collective cultural life of the Tamil people has been destroyed and replaced.
Since 2009, international governments have failed to respond to war crimes, crimes against humanity and the genocide committed by the Sri Lankan government.
The armed struggle of the Tamil people may be over, but through the colonization and militarization of the Tamil homeland, cultural and physical genocide of the Tamil people continue.
And while decades of Tamil resistance have counteracted Sri-Lankan oppression, After 2009 the process of occupying and colonizing of Tamileelam have reached unprecedented levels.
An independent referendum should be conducted to recognize the aspirations of Tamil people.
Let’s make a difference, let’s bring justice to the victims of the anti-Tamil riots.
I Remember Black July
I Remember the Tamil Genocide
