“Ceylon On Verge Of Race War”

Press, Volume C, Issue 29504, 4 May 1961, Page 15

“Ceylon On Verge Of Race War”

(N.Z. Press Association— Copyright)

LONDON. May 3. Ceylon was teetering on the edge of race war, the “Daily Mail” reported today in a dispatch sent from India to avoid Ceylon’s censorship.

The administration of the Prime Minister, Mrs Bandaranaike, had been brought to a halt in the provinces by the Tamil disobedience movement. At issue were equal rights for the Tamil language with Sinhalese, the language of the majority race. The report said troops rushed in by air from the south to re-establish civil authority ran riot. "They forced Tamil men out of their homes at gunpqint, dropped them miles away, then returned to rape their women and pillage homes and shops." it said. When the curfew which had allowed this to happen was relaxed the Tamils immediately organised themselves to carry on the struggle fnr separation, the report said. The Government quickly clamped down a dusk-to-dawn curfew. Since then not a day had passed without Tamil attacks on the southern security forces. “Incensed by the raping looting and the arrest of their leaders, the Tamils switched from ‘lying down' strikes to stoning the curfew patrols. “The Sinhalese troops retaliated by opening fire and many Tamils were killed," the report said. “Next the Tamils organised

armed sabotage bands. Military convoys were ambushed. Snipers harassed patrols.” Official buildings and buses were set on fire, the report said. “The Air Force is running a hush-hush nightly service of flying hearses to the south, carrying the bodies of Sinhalese soldiers killed by Tamil snipers and saboteurs. “Now both Tamil provinces are under war-time conditions. Food is scarce. Petrol is rigorously rationed. Normal trading has dropped to a trickle. There is no communication with the rest of the island. “If the full facts leaked out in the south there would almost certainly be a race riot and civil war," the report said. A Reuter report from Colombo yesterday said a Government appeal to people in northern Ceylon to surrender firearms had had a fairly satisfactory response, but about 450 guns had yet to be traced. It said the Prime Minister (Mrs Bandaranaike) told a May Day rally that the Government was prepared to use stern measures to quell any disturbances. Soldiers and sailors were patrolling all areas. According to an official communique all was quiet throughout the country.