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Black July was an anti-Tamil pogrom that occurred in Sri Lanka during July 1983. The pogrom was premeditated, and was finally triggered by a deadly ambush on a Sri Lankan Army patrol by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) on 23 July 1983, which killed 13 soldiers. Although initially orchestrated by members of the ruling UNP, the pogrom soon escalated into mass violence with significant public participation.
Kalutara District is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative division of the country. The district is administered by a District Secretariat headed by a District Secretary appointed by the central government of Sri Lanka. The capital of the district is the city of Kalutara .
The Welikada Prison Massacre took place during the 1983 Black July pogrom against Sri Lankan Tamil minority in Colombo, Sri Lanka. Fifty-three prisoners were killed inside a high-security prison. No one has been convicted of crimes relating to these incidents.
Kathiravelu Nythiananda Devananda, commonly known as Douglas Devananda, is a Sri Lankan Tamil politician, Cabinet Minister and leader of the Eelam People's Democratic Party. Originally a Sri Lanka Tamil militant who fought against the Sri Lankan government for an independent Tamil Eelam, he became a pro-government paramilitary leader and politician. Due to his strong opposition to and vocal criticism of the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, they unsuccessfully tried to assassinate him over 10 times. Devananda is a proclaimed offender in India and is wanted on charges of murder, attempt to murder, rioting, unlawful assembly and kidnapping. He was sworn in as Minister of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources on 22 November 2019.
The Kent and Dollar Farm massacres were the first massacres of Sinhalese civilians carried out by the LTTE during the Sri Lankan Civil War. The massacres took place on 30 November 1984, in two tiny farming villages in the Mullaitivu district in north-eastern Sri Lanka. The Sri Lankan government labeled this as an attack on civilians by the LTTE.
Eelam War I is the name given to the initial phase of the armed conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE.
Eelam War III is the name given to the third phase of armed conflict between the Sri Lankan military and the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
Kalutara or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately 43 km (27 mi) south of the capital Colombo. The city holds a unique position for one of the four major rivers in Sri Lanka, the Kalu Ganga, which joins the sea at the centre of the city. Kaluthara is known for making rope, baskets, and other articles from the fibre of the coconut palm. The area also produces the Mangosteens, a fruit introduced from Malaysia in the 19th century.
Arunasalam Thangathurai was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
Achchige Patali Champika Ranawaka is a Sri Lankan electrical engineer and a politician. He is a Member of Parliament from the Colombo District of the Samagi Jana Balawegaya. He is currently the leader of a civil society named "43rd Brigade", after declaring himself as an independent Member of Parliament on 8 June 2022. He was the Cabinet Minister of Megapolis and Western Development, as well as Minister of Environment and Natural Resources, Power and Energy and Technology, Research and Atomic Energy.
The Welikada Prison is a maximum-security prison and the largest prison in Sri Lanka. It was built in 1841 by the British colonial government under Governor Campbell. The prison covers an area of 48 acres (190,000 m2). It is overcrowded with about 1700 detainees exceeding the actual number that could be accommodated. The prison also has a gallows and its own hospital. The prison is administered by the Department of Prisons.
Selvarajah Yogachandran, also known as Kuttimani was one of the leaders of the former Tamil militant organization TELO from Sri Lanka. He was arrested and sentenced to death, and was killed in the 1983 Welikada prison massacre along with the other TELO leader Nadarajah Thangathurai.
Kalutara electoral district is one of the 22 multi-member electoral districts of Sri Lanka created by the 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka. The district is conterminous with the administrative district of Kalutara in the Western province. The district currently elects 10 of the 225 members of the Sri Lankan Parliament and had 813,233 registered electors in 2010.
Lohan Evindra Ratwatte is a Sri Lankan politician and a Member of Parliament from Kandy District. He is the State Minister of gem and jewelry. He is the eldest son of General Anuruddha Ratwatte, former cabinet minister and deputy defense minister.
The Welikada prison riot was a prison riot that occurred on 9 November 2012 at Welikada Prison in Sri Lanka. The riot broke out during a search for illegal arms. The riot left 27 people dead and 40 injured. The government has appointed a committee to investigate the riot. Welikada Prison, which has around 4,000 prisoners, has witnessed a number of violent riots in its history. This prison riot was the worst in Sri Lanka's history since the 1983 riot, also at Welikada Prison, which left 53 prisoners dead.
Dr. S Rajasundaram was a Sri Lankan Tamil activist known for his struggle for the rights of Tamil people in Sri Lanka, through peaceful and democratic means. Along with his friend S.A. David, He founded Gandhiyam, a social service organization, named after the Indian revolutionary Mahatma Gandhi, that was aimed at economic, social, cultural revival of the Tamils and also fight the Sri Lankan state's repeated and continued policies of oppressing the Tamils and denying them of their rights. The Sri Lankan government unlawfully arrested along with him, several thousands Tamil activists and he was sentenced to the Welikada Prison where he was subsequently killed during the anti-Tamil pogrom of 1983.
Solomon Arulanandam David was a Sri Lankan Tamil architect, activist and founder of the Gandhiyam Movement.
Sanmugam Appacuddy Tharmalingam was a Sri Lankan Tamil physician, politician and Mayor of Jaffna.
