147
.
276
Mr. Luddington, Police Magistrate, Negombo, came here and ordered the police to fire.
Very good work was done by the Sub-Inspector, Minuwangoda, throughout the riots.
(b) Divulapitiya.-The rioting here took place on the night of the 1st and the morning of the 2nd June. The looting was done by men of the surrounding villages All the Moorish and also by crowds which came from the Mirigama direction. boutiques were looted, and the damage as assessed by me amounts to Rs.67,070:-
Number of Moors murdered Number of Moors injured Number of rioters killed
Number of rioters shot
Nil
1
1
Nil
(c) Kochchikade.-The rioting here took place on the morning of 2nd June. It was done largely by men of the Chilaw District: the looting was stopped by the arrival of Punjabis. An attempt to loot was made on the night of the 1st by a crowd from Halpe and Ambalaye led by an "Annavi" of the Roman Catholic Church, but it was frustrated by the Kochchikade headman and Vidane Arachchi. The damage, as assessed by me, amounts to Rs.22,920.
I have no accurate statistics as to persons injured, but I understand that no Moorman received any personal injuries, while at least one of the rioters was shot when attempting to swim the Maha Oya.
(d) Negombo. One small rice and curry stuffs boutique was partially looted on the night of 1st June, by outside padda-boat men and a few Negombo undesirables. The Police Magistrate and police were promptly on the scene, and stopped. the loot- ing before more than about Rs.100 worth of damage was done.
On the following day Negombo was in a state of great unrest, and crowds from outside villages were advancing on the town. Looting finally broke out in Main Street about 3.50 p.m., but as the District Judge, police, and the Ceylon Light Infantry were on the scene, the rioting was stopped within seven or ten minutes by During this time seven the Ceylon Light Infantry firing blank on the crowd. boutiques were partially looted, and damage to the extent of Rs.2,350, as assessed by me, was done.
The Punjabis arrived soon after, and no further disturbances occurred in the town: hostile crowds from the surrounding villages continued to threaten the various approaches to Negombo town during the night.
Number of Moors murdered
•
Number of Moors shot
Number of rioters killed.
Number of rioters shot
Nil
Nil
1
3
Thanks to the action of the District Judge and police, and the timely arrival of the Punjabis, Negombo was saved from what would undoubtedly have proved a most serious riot had the situation once got out of hand.
2. Outside these four centres the damage done was either to isolated village boutiques or to Moorish estates, as mentioned by me earlier in this report.
In all sixty-two boutiques, one mosque, four dwelling-houses, and ten estates were looted in thirty-two different villages of this Korale, and the total damage as assessed by me amounts to Rs.190,057.
3. As regards paragraph 2 of your circular under reply. I have to report that the only mosque damaged in this Korale was promptly rebuilt.
As regards the methods of assessment employed by me, every effort was made In most instances, how- to arrive at an independent estimate of the damage done. ever, owing to the grossly exaggerated claima put in by the Moors it was impossible to rely on Moorish evidence alone when fixing the amount of compensation to which they were equitably entitled.
The Honourable
The Colonial Secretary.
I am, &c.,
H. M.-M. MOORE, Special Commissioner, Western Province.
Enclosure 6 in No. 57.
REPORT ON THE RIOTS IN Hapitigam Korale.
THE first outbreak of rioting in the Korale was on the night of 31st May, near Ambepussa railway station. A large number of people began to collect in
977
The
groups, and the Moors were threatened, though no actual damage was done. crowds again began to collect on the 1st June, but were dispersed by the Muhandiram and the vidane Arachchi of Udugaha Pattu, with the help of the Sub-Inspector of Police, Mirigama, and four constables. Meanwhile the bazaar at Mirigama was attacked and looted, despite the efforts of the Mudaliyar and the Muhandiram. The boutiques of two coast Moormen at Indiparape and Nawana were also looted.
The disturbances seem to have been at their greatest height on the 2nd. Though not much damage was done then the whole Korale appears to have turned out and paraded the roads in excited mobs. One gang marched from Diwulapitiya to Mirigama and looted the boutiques at Banduragoda and Kitulwala on their way. Part of the gang appears to have returned to Diwulapitiya about 9 a.m. that morning. The rest probably marched straight on the Giriulla and attempted to cross the Maha Oya into Kurunegala District. While crossing the bridge they were fired upon by the Punjabis stationed there and several were killed and wounded. The crowd then seems to have dispersed.
A curious fact in this incident is that nearly all the casualties come from villages from seven to ten miles distant from Giriulla. But for this fact there would have been practically no evidence that these villages had taken any part in the riots; in fact, several of the boutiques in the villages have escaped, while the others were looted by the people of other districts.
On the 2nd there were also disturbances at Kudagammana, Kotadeniya, Indi- parape, Pohonoruwa, Danowita, and Ambepusse. At Ambepusse a party of Punjabis came by train and fired on the looters. Only one boy was wounded, and he subsequently died.
The only
On the 3rd isolated houses at Weweldeniya and Bataliya were looted. Moor village in the Korale, Kaleliya, was also attacked, but only the houses by the roadside were damaged. The mosque and houses at some distance from the road were not injured. One Moorman was shot here. The outrage was the more dastardly as the man had been paralysed for many years.
With this exception no other Moorman has suffered any injuries. Undoubtedly the main object of the rioting was to loot the Moor boutiques and thus probably to drive the Moors out of the country. There seems to have been no personal ill-feeling against the Moors themselves. It is possible that there may have been some inten- tion to distinguish between the coast Moors and the Ceylon Moors. In Indiparape there are two Moor boutiques. The boutique of the coast Moorman was looted on the 1st, while that of the Ceylon Moor was only looted on the 2nd. Again, the boutique of a coast Moorman at Nawama was looted on the 1st, while the neighbouring boutiques at Kotadeniya and Erabadda were not looted till the 2nd.
From the confused nature of the rioting it is impossible to trace out any signs of a preconcerted plan. The disturbances at Ambepusse undoubtedly spread from the Kegalle District, The rioting at Kotadeniya and Mirigama was probably inspired by some firebrand like Bandaranaike. By the 2nd June the rioting had become general. But even then it is significant that many boutiques and also the mosque at Kaleliya have escaped. If there had been any prearranged plan this mosque would have been one of the first objects of attack.
On the other hand it must be noted that several members of the big temperance samagama at Mirigama took an active part. A speech has also been reported from Kal Eliya, where it was said that unless something was done there would be nothing to report to the samagama. It would seem that, while the disturbances had not been arranged (at least for this date), when rioting did break out the members of It is also noteworthy the samagama did their best in the way of organization. that on the 28th May there was a large meeting of the samagama at Mirigama, where inflammatory speeches are said to have been made.
The Mudaliyar and the Muhandiram were fairly active in trying to quieten the people once the rioting had started. They had some success in the cases of Kal Eliya and Ambepusse. Possibly the failure of the Mudaliyar to save the bazaar at Mirigama, which is close to his house, may be due to the fact that the rioters became bolder when it got dark. In any case the boutiques were not looted till after daylight. The Muhandiram and the son of the vidane Arachchi, Udugaha Peruwa. The influence of the vidane received injuries from stones thrown by the crowd. Arachchi of Udugaha Peruwa seems to have been good, as none of the boutiques in his division was looted, in spite of the large crowds who assembled at Giriulla. The police vidane of Weweldeniya Pahalagama also saved the boutiques in his division,
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