For Umasuthan, hiding in banana bushes during the Black July savagery of 1983 saved his life. His escape was due to his quick-thinking and his determination to survive.

Twenty five years ago this month a reign of terror unleashed by the Sinhalese majority in Sri Lanka upon the Tamil minority left up to an estimated 3,000 dead and hundreds of homes, factories and businesses destroyed.

The repercussions would be global, with Canada at the forefront in accepting a mass exodus of Sri Lankan refugees and immigrants.

The horrors of Black July led to a thriving Sri Lankan community in Canada as more than 113,000 visas were issued from 1983 to 2008, according to Immigration Canada.

Nationally, there are an estimated 250,000 Canadians of Sri Lankan descent. About 200,000 live in the GTA.

On July 24, 1983, Umasuthan was told to leave his office at an accounting firm in Sri Lanka's capital, Colombo. He walked 5 km home because he was scared to take the bus.

"They can identify you as a Tamil from the way you talk. The accent is distinct from Sinhalese. As I walked home I saw shops being looted and burned," said Umasuthan, 52.

When he arrived at his rental home, the owners had fled. He and three friends stayed in the house. By 2:30 p.m. flames and smoke were obscuring the blue sky.

Umasuthan was terrified: "We had no problems with Sinhalese people. The mobs which came to Colombo were brought in from rural areas and hired on purpose to attack Tamils. The government army didn't participate, but they could have easily stopped them.

"Mobs came from outside the city with electoral lists to identify Tamil homes. We planned an escape route in case we got attacked," he said.

"Around 2 a.m. a mob of 25 jumped the gate and broke down the front door. We went out the back and jumped the fence into the banana trees. We hid there. We could hear them smashing things inside the house, but we didn't dare move. If they had searched in the backyard bushes, we would have been dead."

Thieves broke down the doors and stole TV sets, speakers, radios, cameras, even Umasuthan's wristwatch.

FRIEND HELPED OUT

With only the clothes on his back, Umasuthan ended up at an overcrowded refugee camp of 3,000 people set up at a school. There was little food and no washrooms.

Luckily for him, a Sinhalese friend, who was a partner at the accounting firm where he worked, later found Umasuthan at the refugee camp and offered to send him on a month-long contract to a Dubai accounting firm.

"He took me in his car, bought all the things I needed for the trip and put me on a plane a week later," Umasuthan recalled.

"The mood of the our people was so terrible. We wanted to have our own country. I probably would have joined the Tiger movement if I hadn't escaped to Dubai," he said.

"I'm not angry with the Sinhalese people. It's the government that wanted power and the government misused its power to get more power. The government figured if there is civil war, then people won't worry about the economy of the country and it was easy for them to create race problems."

After his month in Dubai, he worked in Zambia for two years. In 1986 he returned to Sri Lanka to start his own accounting firm but became fed up with Sri Lanka and immigrated to Canada in 1988.

He found a job within two weeks.

Umasuthan has built a comfortable life for his family in Toronto. He is married and has a 22-year-old daughter who just graduated from university with a science degree.

'SUPPRESSED'

"Canada has given me and my family a lot. Canada is a country where you have freedom of choice, freedom of movement and freedom of speech. We enjoy it because we were suppressed by all these things back in Sri Lanka. A lot of Canadians take that for granted and because I was affected by not having that, I enjoy it and appreciate Canada for it," Umasuthan said.

"I didn't have a clue about Canada before I came here. I was expecting a peaceful and beautiful life and truly that is what I got."

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The memories of Black July still haunt many Tamil Canadians.

"We're thankful that Canada opened its doors to give us fresh hope and a new life and a new beginning," David Poopalapillai of the Canadian Tamil Congress said.

The events leading up to Black July started after the Liberation Tamil Tigers of Eelam (LTTE) guerrilla rebels -- who have fought to create an independent state for ethnic minority Tamils in Sri Lanka -- ambushed and killed 13 state government soldiers on July 22, 1983 -- the day before Black July riots began.

In retaliation, on July 23 Tamil families were attacked at home and work. With voter lists in hand, rioters systematically looted and burned down hundreds of Tamil homes.

"Black July was one of the worst periods for Tamils. Living as a Tamil with dignity was impossible," says sociology professor Rudhramoorthy Cheran of the University of Windsor.

Decades later, the wounds run deep for many Tamils. And ethnic strife that started in Sri Lanka has spilled onto Canadian shores, creating controversy and conflict.

Thousands of Canadian Tamils gathered at a ral -ly in Ottawa earlier this month to protest a decision by the federal government to outlaw a Toronto-based Tamil non-profit group under the anti-terrorism act.

The government alleges money raised in Canada is sent to fund the Tamil Tigers. Some Tamil Canadians vow to fight the ban in court.

Still, if Black July could be seen to have a silver lining, then it is Tamil immigration here, creating a diverse, richly textured society, says Cheran. "It has been very good to have Tamils in Canada."

"Canada was good enough to open its borders immediately and 32,000 Sri Lankans arrived in Montreal from July to September in 1983," said University of Toronto professor Dr. Joseph Chandrakanthan. "They immigrated well into mainstream Canadian life and in every part of socio-economic life they've excelled."

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Balasubramaniam Mahendran escaped Black July, thanks to a lot of luck and the kindness of Sinhalese friends.

On July 24, 1986, Mahendran, now 52, rode his motorbike to work, just like every other day.

"As I got closer to work, I saw smoke outside the building and in the sky," he recalled in an interview with the Sun.

"That's when I heard the news of riots going on. We were asked to go home. I lived 20 km away, so I asked a Sinhalese friend to come with me on my motor bike," said the soft-spoken Mahendran.

"When we reached the city, we saw big mobs of 100 people with sticks and knives and then I jumped onto the side of the lane and dropped the bike and ran," Mahendran said.

"My friend picked up the bike and followed me to the lane and we took another road to my father's workplace."

"By the time we got home, they had already looted our house. They destroyed all of our stuff. Everything we owned was burned, including my father's car," he said.

Mahendran and his family made it safely to a refugee camp, where they stayed in limbo. Eventually they moved to a small house near his father's work. His dad died of a liver disease later that year and the family struggled to survive.

Emigrating to a new country and a new culture wasn't easy at first either. Mahendran worked as a gas attendant and security guard and took odd jobs to eke out a living until he earned his certified general accounting designation.

'IT WAS REALLY TOUGH'

"It was really tough making ends meet, so I worked long hours at odd jobs when I first got to Canada. Now I own my own home and we have a great life," Mahendran said.

"Canada is a good country. I couldn't stay back home. Every night was a nightmare. The things I saw with my eyes was such a bad experience. I don't think I can ever visit there again. I can't face it. We were running for our lives. I was lucky to have escaped, but I'm very sad that I was born in that country and I couldn't have peace and harmony while living there," he said.

Mahendran now works as an accountant in Toronto and lives with his wife Nilani, 50, their son Pradap, 20, and daughter Nimisha, 16.

"Canada is a great country that has given us an opportunity to come here and be away from those problems.

"Tamils were deprived of a lot of rights in Sri Lanka. What we have here in Canada is freedom of rights and safety which Tamils don't have in Sri Lanka. For this, I am so happy to be Canadian."

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Former textile technologist Peri Casinathen still has nightmares and carries emotional scars from Black July.

The 63-year-old was living and working in the free-trade zone outside Colombo when a friend called to tell him about the killing of 13 government soldiers by the Tamil Tigers.

"I knew things were heating up and something bad was going to happen. A friend called me and said LTTE Tamil Tigers had blown up 13 soldiers and that I'd better get back to Colombo because I lived in a isolated area," Casinathan recalled.

He found his parents' home looted. Cousins' and friends' homes were burned to the ground.

"My family was safe, but the killings were horrible. I'll never forget what I saw," Casinathen said shaking his head.

"When I arrived at work, I saw my managing director (an Italian) and his face was as white as a sheet and he was not able to speak. His driver told me that they saw bodies on the road and shops burning on the drive in," he said.

"When my wife and I came home, members of the Sri Lankan air force came to our house and instructed us to leave, otherwise we were told we would be dealt with."

Casinathen and his family escaped to a friend's home.

His twin girls, Tharani and Dharshini, who were 3 years old at the time, were sent outside the house to play since the twins had learned to speak Sinhalese from their nannies.

The neighbours were told Ca sinathen and his family were Colombo Chetties (half Sinhalese, half Tamil).

'THE LUCKY ONES'

"I went back to my parents' home and it looked as if a cyclone had blown through it. The entire house was destroyed. I found my college graduation certificate on the ground covered with footprints," Casinathen said, adding he showed that diploma to Immigration Canada when he was interviewed as a refugee claimant in 1984.

"We are the lucky ones. We left the shores of Sri Lanka, but the trauma has not left us," he said. "The trauma my wife and I went through cannot be forgotten. It caused permanent scars in our minds that will not be erased. ...

"Compared to the people who lost their lives, what we lost is nothing. Looking back at the events, it is a miracle we are alive," Casinathen said.

"If I had stayed in Sri Lanka, I would have died. I don't like to keep my mouth shut. In Sri Lanka, I used to write to the newspapers and openly call for separatism," he said.

Casinathen said Canada has been a good country to build a life with his wife, Rushila, and his daughters. Their son Dharshan, 20, was born in Canada.

"Canada has been our safe haven and we are thankful for everything we have," he said, adding daughter Tharani is getting married this summer. [courtesy: Sun Media]