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| Sunday, 31 August 2003 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Flashback: Tinneveli, July 1983: The aftermath in Colombo As the word got around about the ambush at Tinneveli it invoked anger in the Sinhala people and fear in the Tamil people. The General Cemetery in Colombo, where the dead soldiers were to be buried with Military honours, was the epicentre of one storm on Sunday 24th July, 1983. Jaffna was the epicentre of another storm, for that morning the Sri Lanka Light Infantry had gone on the rampage to avenge the 13 deaths. Earlier in the day there was much controversy as to what type of funeral should be accorded to the dead soldiers. Major General T.I. Weeratunge, the Army Commander, who had arrived in Jaffna that morning, and the entire Army contingent in Jaffna were opposed to the funeral being held there. That left two options open. The first was to hand over the dead to the next-of-kin for funerals in the respective hometowns and thereby risk 13 separate riots. The second was to bury the dead in Colombo under Emergency Regulations and to face the consequences in the city. During the communal riots of 1958, 1977 and 1981 Colombo was amongst the last places to be affected. It was not affected at all in the communal riot of 1956 or in the insurrection of 1971. On that basis it was decided, at the highest levels, to have the funeral at the General Cemetery in Colombo with Military honours. The next-of-kin were duly informed. The Army drew up a detailed plan for the military funeral which was to be attended by the President, the Prime Minister and the Cabinet. By 3 p.m. Brigadier Kenneth Pereira, Director Logistics at Army Headquarters, who was in charge of funeral arrangements had added the final touches. An Air Force aircraft would bring the bodies to Ratmalana Airport. Thereafter A.F. Raymonds, the well-known undertaker, would prepare the bodies for burial and seal the coffins because many of the bodies were mutilated. The cortege would then be brought to the funeral parlour of A.F. Raymonds and then be taken to the General Cemetery for burial at 5 p.m. The Paansakula ceremony (final Buddhist rites) was to be performed by Buddhist priests from a nearby temple. Brigadier Pereira had pleaded with the Buddhist priests to avoid any inflammatory utterances in their sermon and on second thoughts he decided to omit the sermon altogether. Brigadier George Thevanayagam who was in charge of military ceremonies had arranged for funeral parties, from several regiments. The Army band was to be in attendance and the last post was to be sounded by buglers from the Sri Lanka Light Infantry. By 3 p.m. the Deputy Inspector-General of Police Metropolitan Range, Mr. Edward Gunawardene, took over command of the Police arrangements at the cemetery. With characteristic skill he left nothing to chance and kept in readiness a riot squad from the Borella Police Station. By 5 p.m. there were no signs of the bodies. This caused the weeping relatives and their Members of Parliament to plead that the bodies be handed over to them. They all claimed that their grief was compounded by the fact that they were denied their obligations of arranging the funeral in a manner compatible with time-honoured family tradition. As their clamour increased the crowd also increased. It included over 3,000 slum dwellers from adjoining Wanathamulla. By this time the bodies, clothed in new uniforms and wrapped in polythene bags had barely reached the Army Camp at Palali, 20 miles from Jaffna. Procedural problems at the Jaffna mortuary and inadequacy on the part of undertakers in Jaffna had caused the inordinate delay. After an emotional farewell from troops stationed at Palali the funeral flight, an Air Force Avro, took off from the Palali Air Force Base, at 6.05 p.m. In the meantime the helicopter bringing General Weeratunge to Colombo returned to the Gurunagar Army Camp on a Presidential directive. The President wanted the General to spend the night in Jaffna in view of a rampage by the troops that morning which had caused many deaths. As punishment 29 soldiers were summarily dismissed from the Army. By 7.20 p.m. when the Avro arrived at Ratmalana the crowd at the cemetery had increased to over 8,000. Besides the crowd had taken up the cry of the next-of-kin to hand over the bodies. As the crowd became more restive they began to fill the graves with sand to forcibly prevent a burial. It was followed by a hail of stones and vituperations. They then broke the equipment to be used at the funeral and hurled it at the Police. The projectiles descended on may senior officers, amongst others on Mr. A.C.A. Gaffoor, Senior Superintendent of the Police. The 300 pound giant almost fell into a half closed grave. After he regained his balance he took out his revolver and fired a few shots in the air. That failed to quieten the crowd. When the crowd became restive again there was another stream of obscenities and a hail of stones and Police Sergeant Welikala was seriously injured. At that point the riot squad was called upon to fire tear gas. A baton charge followed. Thereafter the Police withdrew and the Army handled the crowd control operation. By 8.30 p.m. the cortege had left Ratmalana Airport for the cemetery under a heavy Army and Police escort. In view of the upheaval in the cemetery Brigadier Pereira, who had earlier amended the programme for the funeral, radioed directing the cortege be diverted to Army Headquarters. Then the Minister of Internal Security Mr. T.B. Werapitiya, (UNP-Patha Dumbara) and a retired Deputy Inspector-General of Police, and General Sepala Attygalle, a former Army Commander and now Secretary Ministry of Defence, left for 66, Ward Place, the private residence of the President situated less than a mile away. On hearing their report the President cancelled the Military funeral and decided to hand over the dead to the next-of-kin at Army Headquarters. The decision was duly conveyed by Brigadier Pereira over the public address system at the cemetery around 10 p.m., whereupon the weeping relatives left quietly and the restive crowd left in an unruly state. Anticipating further trouble Mr. Edward Gunawrdene rushed the riot squad from the cemetery to seal off the Ward Place - Kynsey Road junction near the residence of the President. The crowd that dispensed along D.S. Senanayake Mawatha marched upto Borella junction, less than half a mile away and smashed up Nagalingam Stores, a leading Tamil establishment. It triggered off a chain reaction around Borella junction which is the intersection of five main roads, D.S. Senanayaka Mawatha, Baseline Road, Cotta Road, Ward Place and Maradana Road. The rampaging mob, which suddenly mushroomed to about 10,000 set on fire any Tamil building. It included the Borella flats where some Sinhala people lived. The next targets were leading Tamil houses in the neighbourhood. The home of Mr. J.A. Selvaratnam, retired Superintendent of Police C.I.D. on Kuruppu Road, the home of the leading surgeon Dr. A.S. Thavarasa off Cotta Road, were set on fire. Air Force troops from the nearby Guwan Pura were rushed in to assist the Police. Their presence saved the home of Air Commodore C.E. Puvimanasinghe in Rodney Place, from a similar fate. The much respected Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Rudra Rajasinghem, himself a Tamil, was directing Police operations at Borella, Meanwhile the Police repeatedly fired tear gas shells. The intensity of the firing was so rapid that the effects of the tear gas was felt by the sentries at the residence of the President, a quarter mile away. After exhausting their stocks of tear gas shells, the Police opened fire in the air with rifles. That finally caused the mob to disperse. They did so in the direction of Dematagoda, Maradana and Narahenpita. Soon those areas were smouldering. So was Thimbirigasyaya which is adjoining Narahenpita and Grandpass which is adjoining Maradana. The Fire Brigade had arrived in Borella but in the height of the drought the water pressure in the hydrants was insufficient. Thus Borella was aflame for hours and the Borella Police Station had become a virtual refugee camp. President J. R. Jayewardene summoned a meeting of the Security Council for 9.30 a.m. that morning. The Security Council consists of the President, the Minister of Internal Security, the Secretary to the President, the Secretary of Defence, the Service Commanders and the Inspector-General of Police. While this meeting was still in session at the President's House, the official residence of the Head of State, barely 100 yards away the Ambal Cafe, a Tamil establishment in the Bristol building was aflame. The fire quickly engulfed the entire building. Soon Sarathas, a leading Tamil clothier on York Street just 100 yards away suffered the same fate. In rapid succession Tamil shops down Baillie Street right in front of the President's House were set on fire. By the time the Security Council adjourned their meeting and the President enforced a curfew in Colombo, every Tamil establishment in the Fort shopping area was aflame. the rioting spread to Olcott Mawatha, opposite the Fort Railway Station. Ananda Bhawan, a thosai boutique, Rajeswari Stores, an ointment store and Ajantha Hotel, all Tamil establishments were set on fire. By 10 a.m. the slums of Colombo in Wanathamulla, Slave Island, Maradana, Narahenpita, Hateyawatte, Kirillapone, Canal Bank, Grandpass, Modera, Kotehena and Mutuwal erupted with savage fury. Slum dwellers armed with crow bars, kitchen knives roamed the streets inflicting death and destruction on Tamils. On the previous night Wellawatte and Dehiwela, which contain the largest concentration of Tamils in Colombo, was unharmed. Now the mob from Canal Bank roamed these areas setting fire to Tamil homes and destroying Tamil shops. Looting followed. Mobs from Slave Island and Maradana stormed into the Fort and at the Bo Tree Junction turned into Gas Works Street and Fourth Cross Street which had a preponderance of Tamil establishments. They caused extensive destruction till Inspector Gerad Ignatius opened fire and contained the mob. Earlier another mob had entered the Main Street and reduced the Tamil shops there to shambles, till Inspector Ignatius opened fire and brought the situation under control. He was subsequently promoted to the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police. (Now he is a Deputy Inspector-General of Police) The slums in Grandpass and Kotahena erupted about the same time and Mr. R. C. N. Gunesinghe, Assistant Superintendent of Police, himself opened fire at Panchikawatte and Armour Street. Kotahena was particularly badly affected and the Police opened fire again in Armour Street. |
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