I am glad you made reference to the dearth of documents about the 1977 Pogroms. Scholars of conflict resolution and historians from both side of the divide and the human rights NGOs - of which there were only a few at that time.

Here is a story of the Tamil who was born in Anuradhapura(m) and had a family, house, thrivng business enterprise, and long term close friend of K. B. Ratnayake. His business enterprise , and house were looted and burnt. He and his family escaped to Jaffna. Mr. Ratnayake could not help him.They stayed with my brother and family. He never went back. He died after an year. A first cousin of mine and her husband who was a policeman, and two children, escaped from Kandy to Jaffna to their home. Her sister and her husband who lived in Ratmalana escaped from a mob that were threatning their lives and ready to burn down the house. They ran away and then ended up in Jaffna and lived with her sister. A niece of mine, her husband escaped from Kandy to Kilinochchi. Their rice mill was looted and the empty building burnt. I hope people will tell their stories.

In 1956, I was near Galle Face hotel on the Galle Road, when two of my friends and I met the Mob going down Galle Road towards Wellawatte. I am not yet ready to tell that shameful story, but I will someday soon. Sam Wijesinha’s Book, “All Experience.” mention an event that shows that SWRD would make a pact with the devil to become Prime Minister, and the frame of political strategy he used that backfired and began the pogroms. I quote, “In an election rally at Polannaruwa in 1956 he unleashed a tirade that dug deep into issues of race and language. When he was returning to Colombo, in MWH de Silva’s car, MWH said to him,’You have sowed the wind, our people will have to reap the whirlwind.’ Pat came the reply from the master of the metaphor, ‘We will cross that bridege when we come to it’ “.

He came to that bridge. But the forces that made him PM never let him step on the bridge. His wife, personally a woderful person, and her Ministers made things worse for the unity of the Tamils and Sinhalese. His daughter tried to bridge the widening gap, but the forces she encountered were stronger and numerous and wanted unity only on their terms. She and her advisers increased the intensity of the problem.

Now it is the turn of the Rajapakse Dynasty to subdue the Tamils like Duttagemunu did. Did anyone know that the password to send an email to the President of SL is duttagemunu? Check the SL website and try to send an email to him.

The Correspondent was seeing destruction, killing and violence to its utmost. He walks along the streets of Colombo and spots out a mob doing destruction. And in that mob he saw a few monks robed in saffron.

He went near one of them and asked “you are a Buddhist monk, and you dont believe in killing even a life in an egg. How do you justify killing of Tamils?”

He replied “yes we must not break an egg and kill the life in it, but it is alright to kill a Tamil”.

Even Buddhism was twisted to be anti Tamil since 1983, and became the reason for the present brutal and bloody war in the North East.

Now anti Tamilism exists as a function carried out by the state. Sinhala mobs are no longer necessary to kill Tamils. Now there is planned, calculated and militarised genocide by the state. The situation has become worse than ever before.

The reason forr anti Tamil violence was sol;ely the then president of the country JR Jeyawardene. He made a speech to the Sinhala race after the military attack on a convoy of soldiers in the north and 13 soldiers wwere killed.

He Said that the Sinhalese will not just wait but will teach Tamils a lesson. He instigated the masses, emotionalised them, justified violence both directly and indirectly and sent them on a Tamil destruction mission. The stupid president never knew that he was doing this against his own citizens, the Tamils.

I disagree with the writer when he wrote “In a context marked by the push for self-determination by the principal forces representing the Sri Lankan Tamils and an armed underground insurgency involving restive youth in the extreme north, government functionaries and elements of the ordinary populace took it upon themselves to unleash punitive attacks on Tamils living in the Sinhala-majority areas in the south. In both the towns and in several parts of the supposedly idyllic countryside Tamils were killed, assailed, maimed, terrorized and forced to flee or hide.”

As a president he should have approached the self determination to Tamils sdifferently with much wisdom, which he was lacking.

You can refer to the Hansard. He said to late Amirthalingam, who was then the leader of the opposition, in Parliament, indirectly that he would give the right of self determination to Tamils.

When Amirthalingam stated that the people of North East want self determination JR said “what makes you think that I will not give it?”"

Again a tragic story of deceiving Tamilss politically to prevent them getting their legitimate right to rule themselves.

On 23rd July 1983, a peaceful race, predominantly ‘turn the other cheek’ type philosophy, chilled out citizens committed some of the biggest atrocities in the world. Sri Lankan’s established themselves firmly in the world map amongst the Nazi’s and similar minded people for whom genocide was a leisure activity of choice.

With that has come our beautiful countries downfall.

As a Sri Lankan, I am sorry, I apologise profusely to all those Sri Lankan’s whose homes were burnt, relatives killed, and businesses looted.

I urge for the healing process to begin.

At least now.

The GOV of SL to officially acknowledge what happened. A monument in remembrance.

Everyone’s experiences recorded.

So that we learn. And move on.

Move on we must. PLEASE.