46
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882/10
| COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO
BF
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE
REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC.-
74
4. At 10 p.m. I received a wire from the station master at Ahangama that a Leaving the Assistant gang of men, fully armed, was marching on Weligama. Superintendent of Police in charge here I took out an armed force of police and Volunteers on a motor lorry. Our arrival was timely. We found the Mudaliyar in conversation with a number of men who had arrived from Ahangama at the out- skirts of the town. No weapons were, however, to be seen, and the men disclaimed hostile intention, stating that they had heard a relative of theirs had been injured, and had come to see him. I ordered them to disperse to their homes, and they did so at once. I may add that none of these Ahangama people were seen at the subsequent riot.
On 4th June I had the proclamation of martial law tom-tomed throughout the district, and issued orders for the closure of all taverns and licensed premises. At noon I proceeded to Kamburupitiya, eleven miles inland, and saw the Mudaliyar and' the headmen. All seemed quiet here. At 3 p.m., while still at Kamburupitiya, I received a message from Matara that the large Moorish mosque at Godapitiya, near Akuressa, was being attacked, and that rioting had broken out at Weligama. Goda- pitiya being the nearer (ten miles) I proceeded there in my car with my Kachcheri Mudaliyar, who was with me. On arrival I found a terrible scene of ruin, but no sign of the rioters, who had all cleared off, though their cries could be heard from the surrounding jungles. The village was in flames. The mosque, one of the finest in the district, had evidently been blown up with dynamite, while the coco-nut trees around it had been felled so as to fall on the roof. There was one dead Moorman in the compound, while eight others were seriously injured. Two of the latter died subsequently. The police from Akuressa had been present throughout, but, as there had been no time to inform them of the proclamation of martial law, they did not fire, and, in fact, had not got their carbines with them.-But we shall have good evidence against the ringleaders. I left the Mudaliyar to look after the wounded men and returned to Matara, which I reached at 8 p.m.
5. I found that news of the Weligama riot had arrived about 2 p.m. Volun- teers and police were sent out, but arrived too late to prevent much damage being done. Two mosques and many boutiques were devastated. The rioters, however, were still present. They started to run as soon as the Volunteers and police under Sergeant Parker arrived. He had only to fire one shot to surround and capture seventy-eight of them.
6. I believe the riot might have been prevented had the Mudaliyar given the order to the local police to fire. Both the Assistant Superintendent of Police and I had carefully explained to him that he had been appointed Unofficial Police Magistrate in order to give the necessary order. I believe that a couple of shots would have scattered the mob at the outset. The only explanation the Mudaliyar can give is that he misunderstood our instructions. (He has subsequently explained that he considered the mob too strong for the police.) I make this report against him with regret, because I believe he left nothing undone to stop the riot by means of persuasion. He did, in fact, by this means save a considerable part of the Moorish quarters.
7. The riot was almost entirely the work of people from the surrounding villages. Few of the Weligama people took part in it. A rumour had been circu- lated by some agitators that two Buddhist priests had been killed by Moormen at Weligama. The rumour appears to have been taken to the villages around Godapitiya and to have been the cause of the riot there also.
8. The seventy-eight rioters arrested at Weligama have all been charged in the police court and convicted.
9. On the 5th a detachment of Punjabis arrived. Two motor-car patrols were sent out at noon in the direction of Kamburupitiya and arrived in the middle of a The troops riot. The police at Kamburupitiya had already started to fire. arriving from the other side at once opened fire, and killed or wounded over thirty of the rioters. Two of the ringleaders were captured and brought to Matara. At It was found on 3 p.m. I received news of a riot at Gandara, and sent out two cars. arrival that the local police and headmen had dispersed the crowd without force before any damage was done.
10. At 10.30 p.m. came news of a riot at Deniyaya (forty-two miles from Matara) The Officer Commanding Troops was averse from sending out so far, The assistance was, of but as the call was an urgent one he eventually did so.
course, too late to be of any use. The Mudaliyar had collected several planters to assist him, but, for want of rifles, they had not fired on the crowd. Five boutiques and a mosque had been destroyed.
75
11. On the 6th I received news of a riot which had occurred the previous day at Horagoda, a small Moorish hamlet in Weligam Korle. The mosque and village were destroyed. This was a bad case, because there is good evidence that the rioters were led and egged on by four headmen. The latter will be arrested, and, I hope, tried by court martial.
12. About the same time the Paraduwa estate, which belongs to Macan Marikar, was looted and devastated. The bungalow was built many years ago by Lord Elphinstone.
13. On the morning of the 8th what might have developed into a riot in Matara Town was checked by the promptitude of a Volunteer, who, seeing some Moors and Sinhalese fighting with one another, fired into the middle of them when they refused to desist. A Moorman was shot. In this case the quarrel seems to have been started by the Moormen. On the same day I conducted a house-to-house search for arms, but found nothing of a suspicious nature. Since the 8th there has been no further trouble.
14. The riots have been confined to the two days, 4th and 5th June, and to the western side of the district, viz., Weligam Korle, Morowak Korle, and the western portion of Gangaboda Pattu. The four Gravets, Kandaboda Pattu, and Wellaboda Pattu have escaped.
15. It is a matter for congratulation that Matara Town itself has been free from trouble. There is every reason to believe that agitators were at work here and had fixed on the night of the 4th as the time for commencing the riot. But they found the preparations which had been made were too much for them, and gave up the attempt. In this connexion much credit is due to Mr. Ludovici, Assistant Superintendent of Police, for the completeness of his preparations and his general vigilance. A number of local gentlemen, both Burgher and Sinhalese, did excellent work as special police, and for several nights were almost continuously on patrol. The small detachment of Volunteers also rendered appreciable assistance. Mudaliyar of the Gravets and his headmen have patrolled the outskirts of the town every night since trouble was anticipated, and have been of much help to the police. 16. I do not think that any further trouble need be anticipated. The punish- ment meted out at Kamburupitiya was a salutary and effective lesson.
The
17. The High Priest of the district and other influential people have used their authority to stop further rioting, and pamphlets to this effect, signed by the High Priest, have been widely distributed.
18.
As regards the cause of the riots, it is quite clear that as far as this district is concerned they were due to the work of agitators from outside. The local Sinha- lese have no grievance against the Moors, and in several places, e.g., Weligama, have been on very friendly terms. The methods employed in the work of destruction indicate the presence of some organization. Mosques at a long distance apart were destroyed about the same time by identical methods. Anonymous letters were received by headmen and others in Matara, abusing them for not having followed the example of Colombo and other places. Some of the persons arrested have stated they were told that the Moors were to be destroyed by the order of Govern- ment, because Great Britain was at war with Turkey, an idea which evidently appealed to a credulous and ignorant peasantry.
The Honourable
The Government Agent, Southern Province.
I am, &c.,
G. F. R. BROWNING, Assistant Government Agent.
Enclosure 3 in No. 40.
J. S. DE SARAM,
Office Assistant.
EXTRACT FROM the Diary of the Government Agent, NORTH-WESTERN PROVINCE, FOR THE MONTH of May, 1915.
GOVERNMENT Agent, Kandy, wires:-
90 Distur
bances antici
In view of rioting, Kandy, police at Weuda should be on the alert." Passed this on to Assistant Superintendent of Police, who has passed on instruc- pated. tions Weuda police to be on the alert. Various excursions and alarms during the night as regards rioting or attempted rioting at Polgahawela and elsewhere. Sub- Inspector, Polgahawela, demanded ten extra police, but I sent him four by motor-car in the middle of the night. All quiet here, went round at midnight and all was quite quiet.