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PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE

Reference :-

C.O. 882/10

ALLY WITHOUT PERMISSION OF THE BE REPRODUCED PHOTOGRAPHIC-

COPYRIGHT PHOTOGRAPH-NOT TO

PUBLIC RECORD OFFICE, LONDON

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The assessment of the measure of damage was based upon the Riot Damages Act, 1886, and Repression of Crime Ordinance, by which the assessment by Commis- sioners in the declared riot areas of the damage done was to be apportioned and the This mode of assessment, responsibility placed on those resident in that area. roughly speaking, worked out in proportion to the means of individual.

every 7. The amount of damages payable by an individual is very small, and founded upon the area he inhabited, with due reference to his participation in the crime and the gain in the wholesale loot. It is but fair that those who take part in a crime and profit by it should indemnify the wronged.

8. Grateful as the Moslems are for the support rendered them by the Govern- ment, they do not think that the Government have acted without any regard to the wishes of the Buddhist community. They even go so far as to say that the Buddhist community has succeeded in misrepresenting the actual state of affairs, and, being backed up by wealth and influence, they have obtained the reversal of the decision of the competent tribunal formed especially to deal with the particular cases.

9. A letter, dated Colombo, 7th October, 1915, from a leading citizen of the island, runs as follows: As a result of our being altogether on the defensive and law abiding, we are looked upon as a community noted for bringing false evidence against the innocent Buddhists, and for demanding unfair and false compensation. After the lapse of the martial law things have taken a different shape. Some of the men who were convicted of death sentence and commuted to penal servitude, after being confirmed by His Excellency the Governor, during the martial law period, are released. But the poor Moslems who gave evidence, and whose evidence was believed by court martial authorities, are now charged with perjury. As wealth and educa- tion are in the hands of the Sinhalese they are trying their utmost to misrepresent matters to the Government. Of course our community is in lack of men to represent our grievances to the Government officials. Compensation is not yet fully paid, and the mosques are not yet rebuilt or repaired. I do not see the reason why the Govern- ment does not take speedy measures in putting these things right. Worst of all. shops are being taken to boycott Moslem traders. I am sorry we are unable to lay the matter fully, as we are under very peculiar circumstances.

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10. Again a letter, dated Colombo, 28th October, 1915, runs as follows: "I herewith enclose certain cuttings which will make matters very clear. The Attorney- General's speech will show you the gravity of our situation and extent of the suffering of the Moslem life and property. I need not point you out that the shame and disgrace that my community has suffered no pecuniary aid will ever satisfy. present attitude of the educated Buddhists is an awe to the Moslem community. The attitude of the prejudiced Ceylonese member, who is bent on giving enormous and unnecessary trouble to our British blessed Government, has instilled the spirit of encouragement into the Sinhalese, and if he succeeds in his fruitless and baseless attempts, with selfish motives in view, the existence of the Moslem community here will be at stake. The Ceylonese member is a Hindu and an ardent supporter of Hinduism. He has booked his passage to go to England to have an interview with the Secretary of State for the Colonies re the Compensation Ordinance. I doubt very much of his success there. I am sure, in the interests of the Moslems of Ceylon, the Secretary, Mr. Bonar Law, will refuse to give an interview to Mr. Ramanathan. Please see to all what is necessary as to make Mr. Ramanathan not to mislead the officials there, and save us from the perils that we are exposed to. The Moslem trade is completely ruined, and the shame is great."

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11. From the aforesaid it is quite evident that a riot of an unprecedented character took place in Ceylon, in which the Buddhists all over the island took part en masse. It is only fair that they as a community should pay compensation. It is impossible to assess the amount of damages on an adequate scale, as no compensation could be paid for the loss of life and dishonour of the victims. Even compensation for the material loss cannot be adequately met by the payment of a certain sum, as there must have been many who could not have come forward to claim it or give an exact valuation of odds and ends, the result of accumulation of a good many years.

I well remember a day when my own house in India (and the whole village) was looted by some twenty thousand Hindus. All our accumulations for seventy-five years were taken away, and, although we received a certain amount of compensation, it was not nearly adequate for the actual loss sustained. We could not possibly give an inventory of the things looted away. It is, indeed, very difficult for those who are sufferers to claim the amount actually representing their loss. It always falls short of actual loss.

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12. On one side there is wealth, education, influence, and the gain from the loot, while on the other poverty, ignorance, lack of influence, loss of honour, of life. and of property.

13. Mr. Ramanathan is coming to England with a view to deprive the poor Moslems of whatever compensation they have been awarded. By profession he is a lawyer and by religion he is a Hindu. He is armed with a certain number of petitions. One of the leading journals of Ceylon, the Ceylonese Independent, in its issue of 27th October, 1915 (a copy herewith enclosed), clearly describes the manner in which such petitions are prepared and the unreliability of the contents thereof. The petitioner signs a blank sheet of paper, and the contents are afterwards filled in to suit the occasion. It says: "Cannot the poor goiya' be left alone? Has he not been sufficiently exploited? The professional politician has now turned him on to the professional petition drawers--and the Legislative Council! Further uses may yet be devised for him. Meanwhile he pours in his petitions and prays for each petition drafted. And in a way the goiya is a sort of public benefactor. He signs blank sheets of paper in the hope that something will turn up. He will repudiate the suggestion that in the end he will be the wiser and poorer man. Mr. Ramanathan, as the champion of these goiyas, is a remarkable spectacle. He is the representative of the educated Ceylonese. He can hardly speak Sinhalese. How comes it, then that no Sinhalese gentleman has found it fit to take up the position and the attitude of Mr. Ramanathan? The answer is simple. No Sinhalese gentleman will adopt that attitude. Mr. Ramanathan is the representative of the noisiest and most irreconcilable section of the educated Ceylonese community, who have no word of sympathy for the wrongs done to the Moors, who are bent on creating and fostering racial differences. Was he justified in reading the petitions without having satisfied himself whether the statements were true? The true Sinhalese, who are jealous of the honour and good name of their countrymen, must be sought elsewhere. And they are to be found by the thousands all over the island. Mr. Ramanathan is taking the boat to London with sheaves of petitions to discredit the Government of the premier Crown Colony of the Empire for its acts in protecting from riot, rapine, and rape, from mutilations and murder of the most peaceful race in our midst."

14. Such is the nature of the petitions and the person who has undertaken to present them. There does not appear to be any justice in such a procedure. Mr. Ramanathan is not the representative of the people for this purpose, and if he were he ought to move through the Government of his own island. He may present memorial, statement of his case, and other things in writing to the Colonial Office through the Government of Ceylon.

13. The condition of the Moslems, who form a small section of the population in the island of Ceylon, is very grave, and their very existence depends upon the protection given to them by the Government. We have every confidence that you, Sir, as one of the principal representatives of a nation which truly claims to act in accordance with, and remains unequalled throughout the ages for its notions of, justice and equity, will not allow wealth and influence to crush the poor, law-abiding. honest, and loyal Moslems.

I am, &c.,

54661

No. 70.

THE GOVERNOR to THE SECRETARY OF STATE.

(Received 26th November, 1915.)

(Confidential.)

A. MAJID

The Queen's House, Colombo, Ceylon, 3rd November, 1915. [Published as No. 23 in [Cd. 8167], January, 1916.]

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