A major episode of communal violence in Sri Lanka in which Sinhalese mobs killed scores of Tamils following the 1977 general elections.
Key Facts
- Official death toll
- 125 people
- Estimated Tamil deaths (other sources)
- ~300 people
- Trigger location
- Jaffna carnival
- Government accused
- Newly elected UNP-led government
- Primary victims
- Sri Lankan Tamils
Location
Cause → Event → Consequence
The 1977 general elections saw the Tamil United Liberation Front win a plurality of Tamil minority votes on a platform of secession. Ethnic tensions ran high following the result, and the newly elected UNP-led government was later accused by human rights groups of orchestrating the subsequent violence.
The pogrom began when police threatened and assaulted Tamils at a carnival in Jaffna, sparking clashes that escalated into broader police violence against Tamils and retaliatory Tamil attacks on Sinhalese. Violence then spread across the country, with the large majority of victims being Tamils, though Sinhalese were also attacked in Tamil-majority areas.
Between 125 and approximately 300 people were killed according to varying estimates. The pogrom deepened ethnic divisions between Sinhalese and Tamils in Sri Lanka and intensified Tamil grievances, contributing to the deteriorating intercommunal relations that would escalate in subsequent years.