146
274
On 2nd June.-Belummahara, Ihala Imbulgoda, Weliwiriya East, Endera- mulla, Hunupitiya, Iriyawetiya, Wedamulla, Yatihena, Biyagama, Walgama, Kan- duboda, Tihariya, Galgomuwa.
SIR,
On 3rd June.
Village
Number.
Yakwala, Ogodapola, Kalatuwawa.
Damage to immerabie
property.
Rs. 9,807.50
450.00
231
Damage to movable property. Rs. 19,525.00
Grand Total.
239
240
500.00 450.00
Rs. 29,332.50 500.00
241
20.00
9,110.00
9,130.00
243
550.00
25.5
5,300.00
3,500.00
550.00 8,800.00
256
1,000.00
2,200.00
3,200.00
258
300.00
300.00
259
2,000.00
1,600.00
3,600.00
260
1,500.00
1,500.00
281
900.00
283
3,050.00
900.00 3,050.00
:
289
11,600.00
11,600.00
271
6,000.00
6,000.00
274
100.00
5,145.00
5,245.00
275
1,400.00
3,250.00
4,650.00
278
1,200.00
1,200.00
280
200.00
2,000.00
2,200.00
281
5,670.00
113,475.00
119,145.00
282
375.00
375.00
284
4,350.00
4,350.00
288
40.00
9,000.00
9,040.00
201
30.00
10,000.00
10,030.00
292
5,400.00
5,400.00
296
1,200.00
1,200.00
312
4,500.00
4,500.00
314
2,065.00
2,065.00
818
2,150.00
319
650.00
329
338
18,465.00 1,000.00 304,850.00 300.00
20,815 00
300.00
28,367.50
547,360.00
575,727.50
(Confidential.)
Enclosure 5 in No. 57.
1,650.00 304,850.00
Mahara Camp, 2nd September, 1915. WITH reference to your confidential circular of 7th July, 1915, I have the honour to forward the following report of the Alut Kuru Korale North of the Western Province.
A. Origin.
In the course of my investigations as Special Commissioner in different parts of the Western Province I have come across strong indications that, especially since the beginning of 1915, there has been greatly increased activity in all strong Budd- hist centres. Frequent meetings have been held and special speakers got down from Colombo and elsewhere to address them. The object of these meetings appears to have been to arouse a sense of national consciousness among the Sinhalese Buddhists to remind them of their historic past and inspire them with a fresh spirit of unity and cohesion: These meetings were generally held under the aegis of either tem- perance or education.
2. How far-reaching were the ultimate designs of the promoters of this move- ment must remain largely a matter of speculation, and is a subject on which the Government, with all available sources of information at its disposal, can best decide.
275
The sentiments publicly expressed, however, seem to have been rather "pro- Sinhalese" than actively "anti-Government in character. The presence in their midst of a flourishing Mohammedan community provided a convenient text for a sermon on the thriftlessness of the Sinhalese as a race and the need for the adoption of the maxim, "Ceylon for the Sinhalese," as their policy in future. Direct denunciation of the Moors as aliens and intruders may or may not have been indulged in-in many cases it was but the general result seems to have been the creation of a Moorish question in many villages which found direct expression in the village mind as soon as these disturbances broke out.
3. There also can be little doubt that the result of the Gampola perahera case in appeal helped to bring matters further to a head. The more enlightened leaders of the Buddhist community must have realized that an appeal to the Privy Council was doomed to failure, and, inspired possibly by the spirit of martial ardour that was abroad, they may have conceived the notion that the only course left to them now was to vindicate their cause in the eyes of Government by the arbitrament of force. Their leaders may well have hoped that, could they restrain their followers from overt acts of violence, confining themselves to creating a situation sufficiently serious to tempt the authorities to reach a solution by way of compromise rather than by armed force, the Buddhists as a whole could thus recover their prestige, while they themselves would win the thanks of a grateful Government for their intervention! 4. So far as the Alut Kuru Korale North was concerned these conditions only existed in a modified form. The Korale has a very large Roman Catholic popula- tion. The Roman Catholics must, no doubt, have heard of the propaganda preached at Buddhist meetings, or read of the same in the vernacular Press. There is no evidence however that the Catholics were in sympathy with the movement, nor were they allowed by their priests to join samagamas. None the less the Roman Catholics in several cases joined the looters, and indeed, in one instance, the crowd was led by the Annavi" of the Church.
5. Furthermore, all the rioting in this Korale took place subsequently to the outbreaks in Colombo and other parts of the district.
The riots at Minuwangoda and Divulapitiya-the two worst areas-took place on the night of the lat and the morning of the 2nd. Men of these and surrounding villages who had been in Colombo on the 31st and seen the looting in progress there are known to have returned in the evening with reports of the scenes which they had witnessed in Colombo and the apparent powerlessness of the authorities. looting at Veyangoda and Mirigama was over by the evening of the 1st, and crowds from both these places advanced on Minuwangoda and Divulapitiya, respectively, on the morning of the 2nd, and looted any boutiques which were still intact.
The
6. Yet another feature peculiar to this Korale is the sporadic looting of Moorish estates, eg, at Kadawala, Henpitagedera, Kaluwairippuwa West, which went on as late as 4th and 5th June, after rioting had ceased in other parts of the district. In view of the åbove considerations I incline to the view that the rioting in this Korale was a sympathetic outburst induced by influences external to the Korale rather than the result of a preconcerted plan of campaign. When once the first boutique was broken open distinctions of creed were forgotten in the common lust for loot.
1.
B.-Scope.
There are only four places in this Korale which could in any sense be called Moorish centres :-
(a) Minuwangoda.
(b) Divulapitiya.
(c) Kochchikade.
(d) Negombo.
These four places were all attacked.
(a) Minuwangoda.-All the Moorish boutiques here were looted on the night
of the 1st and the morning of the 2nd June by crowds from surrounding villages and also by men of Veyangoda. The mosque was attacked and broken down. The total damage to movable and immovable property, as assessed by me, amounts to Rs.80,410 :-
Number of Moors murdered
Number of Moors shot
Number of rioters shot
Number of rioters killed
Nil I
About 30 5
T
PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE
Reference :-
C.O. 882/10
|ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-
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