Tamil youths have led commemorations of the Black July pogroms against Tamils in 1983, with events held in Toronto and London to mark the 30th anniversary.

"We ourselves took shelter in a Muslim house nearby, who gave us shelter, and subsequently, Sinhalese friends, kept us in their house for four days and we were put in a ship and transported to Jaffna.

That was the second such incident in my life. The first being, in the year '77, when there was violence unleashed against Tamils in Colombo. Then too, I was transported that time by air, from Ratmalana airport to Palali, by the government of Sri Lanka.

So twice in my student days I was taken away from the capital city, once by air and once by ship, totally at the cost of the government of Sri Lanka, to the North. The government being unable to protect me, in its own capital, thought that I'd be safe in my home, and sent me to my homeland.

 A freelance journalist, C Mayuran, was attacked by 5 individuals that ambushed him with a white van in Jaffna today, reported Lankasri news.

The journalist and a friend, C Sivadas, were taken to Jaffna Teaching hospital to have their injuries treated.

This week marks the 30th anniversary of the anti-Tamil pogrom on the island of Sri Lanka, remembered as 'Black July'. The attacks saw Sinhala mobs roaming streets across the country, killing, burning, looting and raping their way through Tamil neighbourhoods. Tamils were singled out for attack purely on their ethnic identity - their facial appearance, their fledgling Sinhalese, their cultural symbols, and their names on electoral rolls. The pogrom was brutal - an inevitable outcome of decades of rising Sinhala nationalism and anti-Tamil sentiment. Black July was not a reactionary act of rioting. It was the persecution of one ethnicity by another, with the full endorsement of the state - an act of genocide. 

The Sri Lankan president, Mahinda Rajapaksa, has asked his secretary, Lalith Weeratunga, to appoint a commission to look into disappearances that have taken place over the 30 years of armed conflict, announced the President's media unit.

According to the President's spokesperson, Mohan Samaranayake, the terms of reference and members of the commission are yet to be appointed.