| "The
outbreak of violence began when a train, presumed to be carrying Tamil delegates to the
meetings, was derailed and its passengers beaten up by ruffians. The next day Sinhalese
laborers set fire to Tamil shops and homes in nearby villages... Arson and beatings spread
rapidly to Colombo. Gangs roamed the districts where Tamils lived, ransacking and setting
fire to homes and cars and looting shops. Individual Tamils were attacked, humiliated and
beaten. Many were subjected to torture and some killed outright..." - Prof. Howard Wriggins; 'Ceylon-Dilemmas of a New Nation'; Princeton University Press. "On the night of May 25 (1958)...
almost simultaneously, on the government farms at Polonnaruwa and Hingurakgoda, the thugs
struck remorselessly. The Tamil labourers in the Polonnaruwa sugar cane plantation fled
when they saw the enemy approaching and hid in sugar cane bushes. The goondas wasted no
time. They set the sugar cane alight and flushed out the Tamils. As they came out
screaming, men, women and children were cut down with home made swords , grass cutting
knives and katties or pulped under heavy clubs." |
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