The ‘Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam pact’ document is symbolically torn up amid protests by a faction of Buddhist monks (Eksath Bhikku Peramua) and other nationalistic groups.
Extract from Emergency ’58: The Abrogation of a Pact
“On the morning of April 9 a police message reached Mr Bandaranaike warning him that about 200 bhikkus or monks and 300 others were setting out on a visitation to the Prime Minister’s residence in Rosmead Place to demand the abrogation of the Pact. They would arrive at 9 a.m.
“The Prime Minister left the house early that morning to attend to some very important work in his office. The bhikkus came, the crowds gathered, the gates of the Bandaranaike Walawwa were closed against them and armed police were hurriedly summoned to throw a barbed-wire cordon to keep the uninvited guests out. The bhikkus decided to bivouac on the street. Peddlers, cool-drink carts, betel sellers and even bangle merchants pitched their stalls hard by. Dhana was brought to the bhikkus at the appointed hour for food.
“In the meantime, the Prime Minister was fighting off the opposition to the Pact among his own party colleagues with desperate fury.
“At 4.15 p.m. the B—C Pact was torn into pathetic shreds by its principal author who now claimed that its implementation had been rendered impossible by the activities of the Federalists.
“The Prime Minister had gone home that afternoon accompanied by half a dozen Ministers who stood on the leeward side of the barbed-wire barricade while Mr Bandaranaike listened to the shrill denunciations of the monks. The Minister of Health sat on the Street facing the monks and preached a sermon, promising them redress if they would only be patient. The Prime Minister consulted his colleagues. The monks had won. The Magic Pact was no more. But the monks insisted on getting this promise in writing. The Prime Minister went into the house and the Health Minister, hardly able to suppress the look of relief on her face, brought the written pledge out to the monks. Yet another victory for Direct Action had been chalked up.”
For a full account of the events leading up to and following the 1958 communal riots, we recommend Tarzie Vittachi’s award winning Emergency ’58: The Story of the Ceylon Race Riots, 1959 Ramon Magsaysay Award for Journalism, Literature and Creative Communication Arts.
Related events
‘Anti-Sri’ campaign launched
Campaign in response to the ‘anti Sri’
Communal riots spread across the country
Emergency declared
‘Senanayake-Chelvanayagam pact’ is signed
Sie.Kathieravealu said,
If I remember correctly, the communal riots of 1958 spread to many parts of the country. By ship, Tamils from the South were transported to Jaffna and Sinhalese people from Jaffna were brought to the South. I was one of those ‘refugees’ travelling north. I traveled by a cargo ship named “Gladiator”, along with nearly 900 others. The common talk on the ship at that time was that the country had been divided.