Students from the University of Jaffna held a commemoration event to remember the thousands of Tamils that were murdered by state-sponsored Sinhala mobs during the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom.
The students and staff at the university lit a flame and paid floral tributes to mark 40 years since the massacre.
A black flag was also hoisted at half mast at the university entrance.
Between 23rd July and 30th July 1983, Sinhala mobs targeted Tamil homes and businesses, looting and ransacking property. Driven from their homes, particularly in Colombo, over 3000 Tamils were massacred, whilst thousands more were effectively deported by the state to the North-East.
Eye witness reports described mobs chasing Tamils down the street with knives and setting them alight alive. Hundreds of women were raped. Tamil political prisoners TELO founders Thankathuari and Kuttimanei locked up in Welikada jail, deep within the island’s south, were also targeted as prison guards allowed Sinhala inmates to slaughter them.