Black July: Remembering Sri Lanka's Anti-Tamil Pogrom | The Agenda | Tamil Genocide Podcast

Mon, 25 May 2026 17:53:08 +0000

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Jun 29, 2023

Next month, Tamils around the world will remember the 40th anniversary of Black July. In July 1983, anti-Tamil pogroms erupted in Sri Lanka's capital of Colombo and across the country, lasting a week and plunging the country into a 26-year-long civil war. As the conflict raged on, tens of thousands of people were killed, and it forced thousands more into exile including here in Ontario - home to one of the largest Tamil diasporas in the world. Host Jeyan Jeganathan speaks with members of the Tamil diaspora and looks back at the horrific events and how it has shaped future generations.

00:00 Intro
01:20 What does Black July refer to?
01:56 Key points of disagreement with the Tamils and Sinhalese
03:42 What was the Sinhala Only Act?
05:12 What was the Bandaranaike–Chelvanayakam Pact?
06:07 Struggling with the language of Civil War
07:18 The role of colonization
09:18 Sri Lanka’s “ingrained anti-Tamil sentiment”
10:17 Personal stories of surviving Black July and the Civil War
16:22 A first-generation Tamil Canadian tries to understand her place in the world
18:33 How a mother navigates conversations of war with her children
20:20 The burning of the Jaffna Public Library in 1981 as a precursor to the Civil War
22:43 Coming to Canada as an 18-year old with $100 in his pocket
25:00 Emotional wounds never heal they fester
27:02 Is there a reluctance globally to call this a genocide?
30:00 Tamils are one of the most resilient groups of people
31:22 Grappling with Canada’s treatment of Indigenous people
35:33 Proud to be Tamil