1977 Anti-Tamil Organised Violence

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Faced with country-wide riots and racial violence directed against the Tamils within weeks of assuming office in 1977, Jayewardene at first refused to take any action: ‘we do not wish to declare emergency … it means the complete elimination of the freedoms of the people with regard to arrest, detention and legislation by gazette and avoiding parliament’. The armed forces (almost exclusively Sinhalese) reportedly encouraged attacks on Tamils in the South, while the police force (95 per cent Sinhalese) used its radio network to inflame the situation further by spreading false rumours. Soon, hundreds of Tamils were dead and thousands had fled for refuge in the North and East.