Black July 1983 and repercussions

by W.T.A. Leslie FERNANDO

J.R. Jayewardene

Wijaya Kumaratunga

Hector Kobbekaduwa

When J.R. Jayewardene won the Presidential Election 1982, his main opponent Hector Kobbekaduwa of the SLFP polled 39.7% of the votes. In the Jaffna district Hector polled 77,300 odd votes, whereas J.R. Jayewardene could get only 44,780 votes. The sole Tamil candidate Kumar Ponnambalam got 87,265 votes, about 10,000 votes over Hector Kobbekaduwa.

Although the JVP leader Rohana Wijeweera could get only 2.19% of the total votes, the JVP election campaign displayed the organising ability of the party. J.R. Jayewardene realised that at a General Election, the UNP would not be able to get the 5/6 majority it enjoyed at the time. So he decided to extend the term of Parliament by a Referendum.

It was the 1970-77 Coalition Government that provided a precedent for it. The term of that government was to end in 1975. With the 1972 Constitution, it extended its term by another two years. J.R. Jayewardene justified the Referendum saying that 1970-77 coalition had extended its term without the will of people whereas he is doing it only with the consent of the people.

Before the Referendum the 'Attha' journal that played a prominent role in the Presidential Election campaign of Hector Kobbekaduwa was censured and its office was sealed. The powerful leaders of the SLFP like Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka and Wijaya Kumaratunga who worked hard for Hector Kobbekaduwa were taken into custody under a bogus Naxalite charge.

'Lamp', the symbol in favour of extending the term of Parliament was exhibited in public places. The order given by the Elections Commissioner to remove them was not implemented by the police. Those who opposed the extension were subject to bouts of thuggery and their polling agents were taken into custody under various pretexts. As a result such polling agents had to be withdrawn from the Attanagalla electorate.

On December 22, 1982, the day the Referendum was held, the thugs dominated at some polling booths. There was mass impersonation and in some places, the voters were not allowed to exercise the vote. In some booths, the voters had to mark the ballot and show it to the thugs. Even Hector Kobbekaduwas was impersonated. It is said that upto that time Referendum was the most corrupt election.

With all the thuggery and corruption when there were 31,452,233 votes in favour of the extending the term of Parliament, there were also 2,605,983 votes against it. The votes of the Workers' Congress led by S. Thondaman helped a long way for the victory of J.R. Jayewardene. The leader of the JVP, Rohana Wijeweera filed a case in Courts to declare the Referendum a nullity. All the allegations made by Wijeweera were confirmed by the report of the Election Commissioner. However, he could not maintain the action as the JVP was proscribed after the ethnic riots in 1983.

On May 18, 1983, there were by-elections for 17 selected seats lost by the UNP at the Referendum. Out of them UNP won 14, SLFP two and the MEP one. As the MEP leader Dinesh Gunawardena won the Maharagama seat contested in collaboration with the SLFP, the MEP got representation in Parliament.

By this time, attacks by Tamil armed groups on Government forces intensified. On July 23, 1983, thirteen soldiers died in a bomb explosion. As a result ethnic riots named later as the 'Black July' broke out all over the country.

The Black July created a worldwide black mark on Sri Lanka. However, the UNP Government was lukewarm in suppressing the riots. The rampage began on July 24, 1983, but the Government did not declare a curfew till 2 p.m. on July 26. Even that was not properly implemented. President J.R. Jayewardene addressed the nation only on July 28. There was a rumour that some government supporters were behind the riots.There were criticisms all over, on the manner the Government had reacted to suppress the situation. The Government in order to save its face proscribed the JVP, NLSSP and CP on July 30, 1983 thereby implying that they were behind the riots. Accordingly 30 from the JVP including Lionel Bopage and some active members of the CP were taken into custody. The leaders of the JVP including Rohana Wijeweera and the leaders of the NLSSP went underground. The proscription against the NLSSP and the CP was lifted on March 1984, but the ban against the JVP continued.

After the Black July, the ethnic issue became worse and the Government called an All Party Conference which was pledged in the UNP manifesto of 1977, in the latter half of the 1983. For this conference in addition to the party leaders, the religious dignitaries too were summoned. At this conference all agreed for some devolution of power.

Although the SLFP did not attend the conference, UNP, MEP, Leftist parties, TULF and the religious leaders participated. The MEP and the Buddhist leaders took up the position that a unit of devolution should not exceed a district. The TULF and the Ceylon Worker's Congress suggested that it should be a province. The Leftist leaders too endorsed it. At the end an agreement was arrived that the devolution should be on District Development Council basis. Accordingly the Government formulated a scheme of devolution on the decision arrived at the conference. However on December 24, 1984, the TULF refuted the All Party Conference decision.

A drastic consequence of Black July was that it compelled India to interfere in the internal matters of Sri Lanka. The refugees who had escaped to India because of Black July too became a problem to its government. It had its repercussions in Tamil Nadu politics as well. In this background, discussions between the Government in Sri Lanka and the terrorists groups were held in Thimpu at the instance of India. Although the Thimpu discussions failed, it prepared the ground to solve the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka with the collaboration of India.

When the JVP was proscribed after the Black July in 1983, it paved the way for the party to prepare for an armed struggle. Like the 1971 Insurrection, this time too the JVP began it by forming student organisations. At the beginning the JVP aimed at getting the proscription lifted. When they realised that it as not forthcoming, they took to arms. They engaged in armed robberies like the Galgamuwa Bank Robbery to collect funds.

In the latter half of 1986, the Patriotic Students' Front was formed in the Jayawardenapura University and extended to other universities as well. Daya Pathirana, the President of the Independent Students' Society that opposed it was assassinated. At the beginning of 1987, Deshapremi Janatha Balakaya who initiated.

Although the JVP denied any connections, it was later revealed that its commander was Saman Piyasiri Fernando, the leader of the JVP armed front. It organised camps and trained members for an armed struggle.

After the Thimpu discussions, the ethnic issue in Sri Lanka got intensified. By this time the LTTE came to the forefront among the terrorist groups and its cadres got training in Tamil Nadu camps. The LTTE was able to have connections with the Tamil youths in USA, Canada, Germany and the Scandinavian countries. They opened up offices in those countries and launched a massive international campaign. When the LTTE became strong it began to attack border villages and exterminate Sinhala families.

To meet this situation, there was no other alternative for the Government, but to wage war against the LTTE. Accordingly the Vadamarahcchi campaign was launched in 1987 to prevent the influx of arms and reinforcements to the LTTE from Tamil Nadu.

In this attack the Sri Lankan Forces victoriously surrounded Jaffna. The Indian Government at this stage under the pretext of a food shortage air-dropped food parcels violating the sovereignty of Sri Lanka. It was only Pakistan, China, Bangladesh, Nepal and the Maldives condemned the high handed action of India. Although J.R. Jayewardene followed a pro-West foreign policy, the Western countries remained silent, reluctant to antagonise India.

Under these circumstances, J.R. Jayewardene was helpless and he had to sign the Indo-Lanka Accord with Rajiv Gandhi, the Prime Minister of India. Prime Minister R. Premadasa, Defence Minister Lalith Athulathmudali, Health Minister Gamini Jayasuriya were against the accord. But J.R. Jayewardene had to give in, fearing an Indian invasion.

The SLFP, the MEP and the JVP vehemently opposed the Indo-Lanka Accord. It was supported by the LSSP, the CP, SLMP and some Tamil parties. The LTTE was committed to fight for a separate State and did not approve the Accord.

The majority of the people in Sri Lanka were hostile to the Accord and some took to streets against it.

The JVP played a prominent role to mobilise people against the Accord. Prof. K.M. De Silva and Howard Wriggins who has written the biography of J.R. Jayewardene, identifies the popular Opposition to the Accord as the largest demonstration and large-scale uprising in Sri Lanka, since the independence.