Forty three years after the anti-Tamil violence of July 1983, Sri Lanka still carries the burden of an injustice that has never been adequately acknowledged or remedied. The destruction of lives, homes and livelihoods on a hitherto unprecedented scale, in the capital city of Colombo and elsewhere, shattered the confidence of the Tamil community in the ability of the state to protect all its citizens equally. The passage of time does not diminish the responsibility of the state, nor can what happened be glossed over in the name of moving forward. Successive governments have failed to provide adequate redress to those who suffered. The unresolved issue of compensation for lives lost and property destroyed remains a source of deep grievance among survivors and their families, particularly when compared with the compensation provided to victims of more recent man-made disasters.

Addressing the humanitarian consequences of July 1983, however, is only one part of the responsibility that falls upon the state. The deeper obligation is to address the political and institutional failures that made those events possible and to ensure they can never recur. Lasting reconciliation requires minorities to have confidence that they have an effective voice in the governance of the country and that their concerns will be heard and acted upon. This is why the full implementation of constitutional guarantees, including meaningful devolution of power and the early holding of provincial council elections, is essential not only to reconciliation but also to preventing a repetition of the mistakes of the past.

The National Peace Council therefore calls upon the government to publicly acknowledge the state's failures in July 1983, establish a credible mechanism to address long outstanding claims for compensation for loss of life and property, expedite action on missing persons and the return of civilian lands, hold long overdue provincial council elections without further delay, fully implement the constitutional guarantee of language equality, and maintain regular dialogue with the elected representatives of minority communities. A government committed to national reconciliation must do more than promise equal treatment. It must take visible steps to provide justice for past wrongs while addressing the underlying causes of conflict so that the failures of 1983 are never repeated.

Governing Council

The National Peace Council is an independent and non partisan organization that works towards a negotiated political solution to the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka. It has a vision of a peaceful and prosperous Sri Lanka in which the freedom, human rights and democratic rights of all the communities are respected. The policy of the National Peace Council is determined by its Governing Council of 20 members who are drawn from diverse walks of life and belong to all the main ethnic and religious communities in the country.