What Happened
In the July 1977 parliamentary elections, the Tamil Alliance group campaigning on an election platform of working towards an independent Tamil Eelam state won 18 seats by receiving the vast majority of the Tamil votes. This was not well received by the Sinhala polity.
Following incidents of police harassment of school girls in Jaffna, the Jaffna-Colombo night mail trains were attacked at the Anuradhapuram railway station. Violence against Tamils spread throughout the island. Tamils in Trincomalee, Vavuniya, Ratmalana, Badhulla and Colombo were badly affected.
The Sansoni Commission investigated the 1977 communal violence and reported that more than 300 civilians were killed. However, statistics collected by other non-governmental organizations put the number killed at more than 1500. These reports also said that many were injured with knife, iron bars, and logs.
Perpetrators
Sinhalese mobs
Sources & References
- NESOHR - Lest We Forget Volume I