161
89
**5. I am unable to agree to give any security that there will be no disturbance
at the perahera.
*
I
Security will be given as regards damage to persons or property by elephants. request that I may be excused from furnishing stamps for the bond-as stamps were not given in former years.
"6. I request that elephants be brought into the town by 5.30 p.m.,. tions taken that the elephants are not frightened by motor-cars.
.and precau-
"7. I have no objection to the public from outside the Central Province not being allowed to come into the perahera, but temple tenants from temple villages in the four Korales and seven Korales should be allowed to come.
"8. I do not anticipate that there will be any disturbance at the Ehala perahera."
C. B. NUGAWELA,
SIR,
Colonial Secretary's Office, Colombo, 9th August, 1915. Esala Perahera, 1915, at Kandy.
I AM directed by His Excellency the Governor to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 5th August, 1915, forwarding a copy of a communication from six Unofficial Members of the Municipal Council, Kandy, regarding the Esala perahera, and to state that the matter is one wholly outside the scope of a Council which exists for the purpose of attending to the municipal needs of the town of Kandy. The members will serve a useful function if they assist in every way they can to prevent disorder and promote all steps taken to preserve the good name of the town of Kandy under martial law.
I am, &c..
F. C. GIMSON.
28th June, 1915.
Enclosure 3 in No. 52.
Diva Nilame.
C. S. VAUGHAN.
The Chairman, Municipal Council,
Kandy.
Enclosure 4 in No. 52.
MARTIAL LAW.
SIR,
Kandy, 2nd August, 1915. We have the honour to address you under the following circumstances:- We have just heard that the annual perahera is to be observed this year as usual. We, as members of the Municipal Council of Kandy, three of whom are Buddhists, consider it our duty to inform you that, in our opinion, the perahera of the present year should not take place. In expressing this opinion we feel that we are voicing the wish of the Buddhists in and around Kandy. At this time those who took part in the recent riots are still being tried, and a levy of over Rs. 30,000 has been made on the inhabitants of the town. We have reason to believe that the majority of the Kandyan chiefs who take a prominent part in the perahera, as well as the Buddhist priests, would welcome, with a sense of relief, the intelligence that this year's pera- hera is not to take place.
As an additional reason for dispensing with this festival we would urge that the perahera, if it is to take place, would attract large numbers of people, among whom there would be undesirable persons of both the Sinhalese and Moorish com- munity whose presence might endanger public tranquillity.
In these circumstances we consider that we shall best perform our duty as guardians of this town by asking that the perahera should not be held, and thus preventing all possible risks of disturbance, which the allowance of the perahera at this juncture might give rise to.
There is no reason for anticipating that the stopping of the perahera would be viewed with disappointment by the Buddhists in general, or would create dissatis- faction amongst them. We have the authority of the leading Buddhists of Kandy for asserting that such will not be the case.
We have, therefore, to request that you will be good enough to communicate our views on this subject to His Excellency the Governor as speedily as possible. It was first our intention to ask for a special meeting of Council in order that all its members might have an opportunity of voting on the question whether the perahera should be stopped, but to save time, we, as representing the majority of the members, resolved upon addressing you as we now do.
We are, &c.,
EDWIN BEVEN.
E. L..WIJEGOONEWARDENE. D. E. WEERABOORIA,
J. C. RATWATTE,
C. A. LABROOY.
V. M. SARAVANAMUTTU.
The Chairman of the Municipal Council,
Kandy.
Rules for the Municipality of Kandy, to be strictly enforced by both Military and Civil Authorities.
STREETS and roads may be open for pedestrians till 2 a.m. on the nights of 16th to 21st August inclusive, and of 23rd to 26th August inclusive, and for the whole night of 27th August, 1915.
2. All arrack and toddy taverns shall be closed from 16th to 28th August in- clusive. All foreign liquor taverns shall be closed daily at 2 p.m. from 16th to 28th August inclusive.
3. The windows and outer doors of upper stories of all buildings in Castle Hill Street, between Ward Street and King Street, shall be closed, and no one shall remain in the verandahs or balconies of such upper stories hetween the hours of 7 p.m. and 2 a.m. on the nights of 18th to 27th August inclusive, with the exception of Sunday, 22nd August.
H. H. L. MALCOLM, Brigadier-General
Commanding the Troops, Ceylon.
Colombo, 11th August, 1915.
SIR,
Enclosure 5 in No. 52.
ESALA PERAHera, 1915.
The Kachcheri, Kandy, 31st August, 1915.
WITH reference to my letter of the 10th July, I have the honour to report that the Diva Nilame and the Basnayake Nilames subsequently wished to postpone the Esala perahera until the country should have become more settled. They later on decided to hold it as usual.
2. The arrangements for the maintenance of public order were in the hands of The Honourable the Officer Commanding the Forces, who considered that the security usually taken for the elephants was sufficient for the chiefs and their tenants, from whom no disturbance was likely to arise. The leaders of each community were warned that they would be held responsible for any breach of the peace by their own people; all arrack and toddy taverns within the municipal limits were closed, the foreign liquor taverns remaining open till 2 p.m. daily. The upper stories of all houses in Castle Hill Street between Ward Street and King Street were also shut on such days as the perahera passed the Katawagam Dewale and the new mosque. Picquets of Punjabis were stationed at the Old Palace, the United Service Library. the Jail, and at Messrs. Cargill's establishment, and a detachment at the Queen's Hotel: the presence, however, of the military was not very noticeable; a picquet also followed the perahera to Getambe on the night of the water-cutting. A copy of the order issued by the Honourable the Officer Commanding the Forces is annexed.
М
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
LIIT
C.O. 882/10
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE. LONDON
ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO