The story of the race riots of 1958 is a story of violence, un-reason, jealousy, anger, fear, suspicion, vengeance and many other states of heart and mind which the people of Sri Lanka experienced. Many Lankans—Sinhalese and Tamils lost their lives in the May riots. Many of them lost their kith and kin, properties, their means of livelihood. The worst affected areas were, Colombo, Jaffna, Anuradhapura, Polonnaruwa, Baticaloa, Eravur and Kurunegala where the two communities clashed leaving ugly scars.
There is no sense in putting the blame on one ethnic group or the other. A race cannot be blamed for the brutality of a few, but the self-seeking attitude of politicians. Niether there is any sense in trying to find who started it; was it the Sinhalese or the Tamils? Answer depends totally on how far back in actions you want to go— a never ending and un-rewarding pursuit.
The riots that erupted on May 22, 1958, lasted until June 2, although intermittent disturbances happened even after the pronouncement of emergency on June 1. The estimates of the range of loss of life based on recovered body count exceeded 400. Most of the fatalities, say 80/85 percent were Tamils; some Sinhalese civilians and their possessions were also affected. Sinhalese hooligans attacked those Sinhalese who offered refuge to Tamils as well as in retaliatory harassment by Tamil gangs in Jaffna and Batticaloa. This being the first major race riots since 1915 Sinhala-Muslim clashes in the country, the events of 1958 shattered the trust the groups of people had in one another leading to further dispersion of people. Arson, rape, pillage and murder extended across the country.
The state police was blamed of being complicit or even fanning the clashes in several places. Quite a few Sinhalese did try to look after their Tamil neighbours, often jeopardizing their own lives to protect them in their homes.
Eastern Tamils carried out a few attacks as vengeance. In Eravur, Sinhala and Tamil fishermen fought on the seashore. Tamil mobs set up roadblocks, beating up motorists thought to be Sinhalese. In the Batticaloa district 56 cases of arson and attacks were recorded. In Jaffna district no deaths were reported, but some Sinhalese businessmen had their warehouses burned. A Tamil gang destroyed the Naga Vihara temple, which was rebuilt later.
Communal tension
In a strange distortion of logic, SWRD Bandaranaike, PM tried to explain a situation by substituting the effect for the cause. He said:
“An unfortunate situation has arisen resulting in communal tension. Certain incidents in the Batticaloa District where some people lost their lives, including D.A. Seneviratne, a former Mayor of Nuwara Eliya, have resulted in various acts of violence and lawlessness in other areas-for example Polonnaruwa, Dambulla, Galawela, Kuliyapitiya and even Colombo.”
The murder of Seneviratne on May 25 was officially affirmed to be the cause of the unrest, although the riots had begun on May 22 with the attack on Polonnaruwa Station and other incidents. No explanation was presented by the Prime Minister for mentioning Seneviratne’s name from the large number of people who lost their lives during the riots. The PM’s sudden decision on April 9 to abrogate the Banda-Chelva Pact, set the pendulum of reputation swinging back in favour of the Federal Party which appeared in public as the aggrieved party. Chelvanayakam was considered as a victim of the Government’s duplicity. It was under this atmosphere that the Vavuniya Conference was organised. Arrangements were made for the transport of supporters from every part of the island.
On May 22, over five hundred thugs and hooligans invaded the Polonnaruwa station, and smashed up the windows of the Batticaloa train in their frantic search for Convention-bound Tamils. Telegraph wires were cut—passengers entraining from Batticaloa were anxious at threats that hooligans was to attack them as they misunderstood that most of the passengers were on their way to the Federal conference at Vavuniya. At Welikande, all the passengers got off the train in fear. Thus a national disaster was averted.
In 1956 election platforms speeches by members of the SLFP and UNP the Sinhalese were told that they had to protect the Sinhalese, their language and their religion from the Tamil enemies. The UNP degraded into a communal Party too; they were planning to play out the SLFP by being more communal— the best method of deceiving the Sinhala masses. The party which was going to harm the Tamils most will have the support of the Sinhalese masses.
The Federal Party started the anti-Sri campaign with tar and brush and obliterated the Sinhala Sri. That was complete defiance of law and order.
Colombo city was on fire. The goons set fire to several Tamil shops in the Pettah and a row of stalls in Mariakaday. Looting went on a massive scale in Pettah, Maradana, Wellawatte, Kalutara, Kurunegala, Panadura, Weligama, Badulla, Galle, and Matara.
Law and order
Bandaranaike then invoked the Public Security Ordinance and declared Emergency. Army and Naval Forces were mobilized to restore law and order. An island-wide curfew was imposed, and the situation was brought under control by the disciplined action of security forces. 20,000 Tamils had become homeless refugees - in Colombo. Realizing the danger from the mobs, they were sent away by ships to Trincomalee and Jaffna.
The transformation came on May 28. By then stories of what had supposedly been done to Tamils in the south had reached. As with all rumours which increased during this time, many were totally baseless. What lastly unleashed the anger of the Tamils in Jaffna was the tale—repeated in a variety of forms by people-of the fate of the Hindu temple and burning alive its serving clergyman at Panadura. At market squares and street corners the crowds began to assemble. The petty local thugs obviously found in this circumstance a golden occasion for display their authority. They declared, that it was their duty to retaliate what had been done to their kith and kin in the south. The goons in the mob, always on the look-out for chances to display their skills, agreed.
What is lacking is conscientious leadership among both groups of people and statesmanship at the centre of administration. The cost of delaying decisions and surrendering miserably to political convenience when problems, which often flourish on neglect, presume massive proportions. The anti-Tamil riots of 1958 were minor compared with the 1983 pogrom; the reason for this is that the left-wing political parties which at that time led the working class were able to control the destruction. Unfortunately, they, in 1983 did not enjoy leadership among workers.
During the sixties and seventies, the Marxist parties compromised their ideologies by involving in coalition politics with the SLFP, a bourgeois party which supported Sinhala chauvinism. Hanging on to Sari-pota the traditional Left abandoned its policy on national issues. Thus the Communists and the LSSP, which campaigned for parity between the Sinhalese and Tamil languages, later switched to accept the SLFP/UNP’s “Sinhalese Only”. These leanings separated the Tamils from the main left-wing parties compelling them to accept Tamil chauvinism.
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