Sunday, July 20, 2008

Appu is tired of the whinge about Black July and the 1983 riots

Groan! The Lankan Blogosphere is coming alive with talk about Black July and the ethnic riots. When, oh when, are we going to stop talking about 1983?

Appu thinks its time we stopped looking back, be it 2,500 years or 25 years.

The 1983 riots had nothing to do with the killing of 13 soldiers. The 1983 riots were meticulously planned and executed by Min. Cyril Matthew, with the blessing of his lord and master, J R Jayawardene. The riots provided tactical support for J R’s strategy to ensure the whole country was at his mercy. Unfortunately for J R, he over estimated his ability to control the exercise or mitigate the consequences. JR did his most as President and then retired to fade away in style. His legacy was whitewashed and the bastard was eventually given a state funeral, whilst the nation continues to suffer his actions.

Sri Lanka, not just the Tamils, has suffered worse in the last 25 years. Impunity is a fact of life and nobody significant is accountable for anything (thats a quotable quote from Appu).

Nothing short of forward thinking can help us leave all this misery in the past. Dredging up the past, no matter how meticulously, isn't going to get us anywhere or prevent us from repeating the mistakes of the past.

Unlike South Africa, where the Anglican Church under Tutu played an iconic role in the forming of a national identity, a Truth and Reconciliation Commission is a non-starter in Sri Lanka... a country where the word IMPUNITY is defined as a 'commission of inquiry.'

The 1983 riots have been rehashed in great detail and analysed and reported on for the last 25 years. And yet, look at where we are today? We are a nation that asks and eats parippu.

All we do is ask for more... http://parippuplease.blogspot.com/

7 comments:

Jack Point said...

I am very fond of poring over the past, to reflect on things with the benefit of hindsight, but I guess Appu has a point.

I was even toying with going through newspaper archives to see what I could dig up and come up with my own post on this subject.

The past has become so politicised that no sensible discussion or debate can ensue, all we will see is an acrimonious war of words over what happened which will only serve to divide people further.

It is a testament to the depraved state that Sri Lanka is in that this should be so, but I guess Appu's advice that we focus only on forward thinking is the only solution in situations such as these.

realskullzero said...

Well..Dredging up the past.. what i have seen for many years is that both sides who keep a dumb mouth policy and those who scream their lungs out over the blogosphere or ny where else have their own narrow minded political ideas about Black July, sme want to contextualize that to the present and draw conclusions that Sinhalese pple r raciest others act as if Black July was not a big deal..and what appu has brought forward is quite eye opening to all of us,,

Author said...

It would be nice if you could provide a few news worthy reliable sources to your claim that JR Jayawardene instigated and orchestrated the 1983 riots.

BTW I am not a 'UNP man' I have no affiliation with any party.

Some military analyst and historians claim that the 1983 riots was sparked by influences in the north, the Tamil Tigers in what was then it's infancy and India's intelligence agency RAW.

Everyone seems have their own theories on this, 'Jack point' I encourage you to do your own research, I am yet to find an unbiased view of the what took place back then.

Rine said...

I guess if we never look back at the past, we risk committing the same mistake in the future.

However, I do concede that you do have a point. Sri Lanka seems to distort the memory of Black July with each remembrance mainly to match the political ambitions of those in power.

It is not a point in our history as either Sinhalese, Tamils or Muslims that we can forget. Thousands of lives were destroyed and we must honor them by remembering. This way we don't let any of these government or terrorist villains win.

- Gini said...

Hilal - suggest you start your research with Wikipedia. If you must have greater detail, go to Vijitha Yapa and pick up any of the books that deal with the subject. If access is possible, you might also want to seek out Nanda Matthew (son of Cyril). Nanda has acknowledged his father's role and has apologised for it. Another credible source of information on the subject will be ex.DIG TDSA Dissanayake who has authored several books on Sri Lanka and her leaders, JR included.

- Gini said...

Appu was very surprised to receive an email this morning with a link to a YouTube video made by a fruitcake called Douglas Wickramaratne.

Dressed like Will Smith from MIB, this joker (Douglas) claims Tamils ochestrated the 1983 Anti-Tamil riots. His explanation, "only Tamils would have known where the Tamils lived" ... lol :-)

Obviously Douglas is an LTTE agent trying to discredit the Sinhalese, by demonstrating such idiocy. Prabhakaran must be thrilled!

- Gini said...

rine said:
"I guess if we never look back at the past, we risk committing the same mistake in the future."

sigh!!!!

If rine baba can show Appu any evidence that Sri Lankans have avoided mitakes by learning from the past 2500 years, Appu will change his name to Sgt Nallathamby and shut down this blog.