FRAGILE – In this the 40th year since the July ’83 pogrom and the heinous violence unleashed on the Tamils in Sri Lanka the Women and Media Collective expresses its deep regret and remorse for the bereavement, loss, grief and scarring suffered by the community. We deplore the consequences of the violence, the long years of war and continuing conflict as well as the many displacements and the creation of an unmoored and hurting diaspora. We condemn unequivocally the continuing lack of political will to negotiate a just solution to resolve the structural causes of the ethnic conflict 40 years after July 1983 and 14 years after
May 2009.
The pogrom of July ’83 including the massacre of Tamil prisoners at Welikada were not
spontaneous acts but a set of events instigated by the State for which there is yet to be an
official apology or accountability. Impunity is still rife for all the horrendous violence and
violation of rights meted out upon Tamils and Muslims throughout the years of war and in its
aftermath. While for the Tamil people July ’83 remains a searing wound of pain and loss, for many others it is today barely a memory and for the State an inconvenient truth. July ‘83 cannot be allowed to recur ever again and for this we need to actively demand political will and required support to secure justice and a sustainable solution to Sri Lanka’s protracted ethnic conflict.
spontaneous acts but a set of events instigated by the State for which there is yet to be an
official apology or accountability. Impunity is still rife for all the horrendous violence and
violation of rights meted out upon Tamils and Muslims throughout the years of war and in its
aftermath. While for the Tamil people July ’83 remains a searing wound of pain and loss, for many others it is today barely a memory and for the State an inconvenient truth. July ‘83 cannot be allowed to recur ever again and for this we need to actively demand political will and required support to secure justice and a sustainable solution to Sri Lanka’s protracted ethnic conflict.
We are privileged to be associated with FRAGILE, the exhibition curated by Chandraguptha Thenuwara and featuring the work of six artists – four women and two men who seek to understand the impact of political violence in contemporary Sri Lanka through lived experiences of the war, anti-Muslim violence, the consequences of gender and ethnic discrimination and the suppression of dissent and democratic process.