| 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom in Trincomalee | |
|---|---|
 Location of Sri Lanka | |
| Location | Various locations in Trincomalee District, Eastern Province, Sri Lanka |
| Date | June–July 1983[1] (+8 GMT) |
| Target | Tamil Civilians |
| Deaths | 30+ |
| Injured | 100+ in June[2] |
| Perpetrators | Sri Lankan military, Sri Lankan Home Guards, Sri Lanka Police, Sinhalese mobs |
| Motive | Ethnic cleansing |
The 1983 anti Tamil pogrom in Trincomalee was organised violence by Sinhalese mobs and security forces, which targeted the Tamil population of Trincomalee between June and July 1983.[1][3]
At least 27 Tamils (including women and children)[4] were killed in the ensuing violence, with hundreds of Tamil homes, shops, hotels, boats and temples being destroyed.[5][6][1] These events served as a prelude to the subsequent Black July pogrom that followed the killing of 13 soldiers in 23 July, and triggered the Sri Lankan civil war.[5]
Nancy Murray, a member of the council of the Institute of Race Relations, summarised the violence as follows:
"The two-months pogrom at Trincomalee left the town in ruins, thousands homeless and over 30 dead by the end of July. There was a certain method in all this destruction. For years, the government had been sponsoring Sinhalese settlement of Eastern Districts. These settlers were too willing to take part in acts of aggression against their Tamil neighbors, as part of their expansionist drive."[1]
- ^ a b c d Murray, N. (1984). The state against the Tamils. Race & Class, 26(1), 97-109. https://doi.org/10.1177/030639688402600107
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TT883p10was invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Tamil Times vol 2, No.9, July 1983, Anti Tamil Pogrom 1983, p.2
- ^ The Guardian, 4 July 1983, Frances Ashborn - Killings, arson and looting in Trinco, p.6
- ^ a b Haraprasad Chattopadhyaya, Ethnic Unrest in Modern Sri Lanka, An Account of Tamil-Sinhalese Race Relations, 1994, Publisher: M.D. Publications , p.67
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
TT883was invoked but never defined (see the help page).