Dear
Mr.
Sabaratnam,
I
am
a
regular
visitor
to
Sangam
website
to
learn
about
the
Tamil
history
on
“Pirapaharan
story.”
I
was
encouraged
by
Mr.
Bala’s
e-mail
and
wish
to
contribute
my
part
as
well.
From
1979
to
December
1983,
I
was
working
at
Browns
Group
at
Darley
Road,
Colombo.
I
was
staying
in
a
house
at
Gregory’s
road
in
front
of
D.S.
Senanayake
Maha
Vidhiyalaya
in
the
middle
of
1983.
It
is
closer
to
the
“Kanata”
end
of
the
Gregory’s
road.
The
house
was
owned
by
one
of
my
relatives
who
was
living
in
UK
but
visited
Sri
Lanka
with
his
wife
at
the
time.
He
was
repairing
the
house.
Therefore,
he
and
his
wife
were
staying
near
Hultsdrof
and
I
was
staying
with
two
of
my
friends
in
that
house.
On
Sunday
night,
we
visited
the
house
owner
to
inform
him
about
the
repairs.
We
came
back
after
having
dinner
at
their
place.
We
usually
come
up
to
Borella
junction
by
bus
and
walk
to
our
home.
On
Sunday
night,
we
had
to
“negotiate”
ourselves
through
the
crowd
near
Kanata
junction
because
of
large
crowd.
We
saw
army
bands
and
thought
“A
minister
or
a
dignatory
must
have
died”.
We
didn’t
know
anything
about
“Thirunelveli
incident”.
Before
we
went
to
our
home,
we
crossed
over
to
“Baudda
loga
mawaththa”
to
buy
some
“coke”.
The
shop
was
owned
by
a
Sinhalese
man
but
there
was
a
Tamil
boy
working.
When
we
went
to
the
shop,
the
boy
was
in
tears.
He
was
beaten
up
by
his
boss.
He
said
to
us
in
Tamil
that
his
boss
hit
him
because
kottiya
killed
his
people
in
Jaffna.
Obviously,
he
could
not
make
the
connection.
We
realised
that
there
is
going
to
be
problem
but
we
strongly
believed
that
nothing
will
happen
in
Colombo.
We
quickly
came
back
home.
The
house
we
were
living
in
is
situated
between
two
houses
in
a
by-lane
in
front
of
the
D.S
Senanayake
College.
On
the
right
hand
side,
the
occupant
was
the
daughter
of
Prof.
Sunderalingam,
“the
Adangaa
Thamilan”
of
Vavuniya.
On
the
left
hand
side
which
towards
the
main
road,
were
Messers
M.R.
Fernando
who
has
a
large
estate
in
Hatton.
As
it
is
in
a
by-lane,
we
have
a
house
in
front
of
ours,
as
well.
It
was
occupied
by
Mr.
Senanayake,
the
owner
of
D.S.I
shoes.
His
wife
owned
a
shop
that
sells
“Grandfather
Clocks”
in
Ford.
It
was
near
the
“Rajeswari
Hotel.”
Apart
from
“Vastha
Aunty,”
Prof.
Sunderalingam’s
daughter,
we
had
never
spoken
to
anyone,
near
our
house.
We
had
been
living
there
only
for
a
short
while,
just
to
supervise
the
building
repair
work.
“Vastha
Aunty”
is
a
smart
lady
like
her
father
and
a
very
kind
person,
too.
Messers.
M.R.
Fernando
used
to
park
their
tank
vehicles
which
transport
“Acetic
Acid”
to
Hatton.
But
he
never
comes
out
and
speaks
with
the
drivers.
In
fact,
we
never
saw
him,
in
person.
But
“Vastha
Aunty”
always
had
a
chat
with
the
drivers
who
were
mostly
Sinhalese.
These
drivers
usually
had
the
habit
of
calling
us
“Kottiya”,
whenever
we
went
pass
them.
But
we
also
slow
down
and
chat
with
them
as
we
were
proud
to
be
called
"kottiya."
On
Sunday
night,
24th
of
July,
we
woke
up
because
of
a
huge
roaring
noise.
A
Sinhalese
driver
went
to
“Vastha
Aunty”’s
house
and
told
her
something.
She
called
us
and
asked
us
to
stay
put
and
not
to
make
any
noise
or
turn
on
the
radio.
The
night
passed
without
any
other
incidents.
In
the
morning,
I
walked
to
Darley
Road.
It
is
a
long
walk
but
there
was
no
direct
public
transport.
Near
the
Town
hall,
I
saw
thick
smoke
in
the
sky.
But
still,
I
walked
up
to
“Walker
&
Graig”
building
at
Darley
Road.
There
weren't
many
people
there.
I
was
met
by
Mr.
Sangaratne
who
was
my
senior.The
Browns
Group
employed
one
of
the
largest
group
of
Tamils
in
those
days.
People
like
Mr.
Sangaratne
give
us
the
hawkish
look
every
time.
For
us
Tamils
he
is
a
Sinhala
racist.
He
shouted
at
me
for
coming
to
work
on
that
day.
He
said
there
were
lots
of
trouble
in
Colombo
and
no
Tamil
employees
had
come
to
work.
He
asked
me
to
get
back
home
first,
then
he
called
one
of
the
Browns
Group
drivers
and
asked
him
to
drop
me
near
the
Town
Hall.
He
told
me
not
to
take
the
driver
to
my
house,
even
if
he
offered.
Then
only,
the
situation
sunk
in
to
me.
When
I
came
back
home,
my
other
friend
who
was
working
at
Maharaja’s
factory,
Ratmalana
was
at
home.
He
was
in
a
state
of
shock
and
panic.
Mr.
and
Mrs.
Senanayake
who
owned
the
D.S.I
shoes
company
were
at
our
house,
too.
They
were
trying
to
calm
him
down.
He
had
gone
up
to
Bambalapitya.
He
saw
ca
ouple
of
Tamil
shop
owners
had
been
stabbed
by
the
crowd.
He
got
off
the
mini
bus
and
managed
to
come
back
home
by
another
bus.
He
is
a
fair
skinned
boy.
It
was
the
first
time
we
spoke
with
them
and
they
told
us
not
to
go
out
at
all.
They
provided
us
the
food
for
the
following
couple
of
days.
On
the
day
that
“Kottiya
awa”
Mr.
Senanayake
rushed
to
us
and
told
us
that
we
may
have
to
help
him
because
Tigers
were
in
Pettah.
We
told
him
that
it
was
impossible
as
we
knew
better.
Mrs.
Senanayake’s
clock
shop
was
completely
burnt
down
because
the
adjoining
shops
were
Tamil
shops
in
Fort,
including
Rajeswari
Hotel.
She
did
not
show
any
hatred
because
of
that.
She
helped
not
only
us
but
also
a
lot
of
other
Tamil
families
that
she
knew.
As
far
as
“Vastha
Anti”
is
concerned,
she
told
us
that
one
of
the
Sinhalese
drivers
of
M.R.
Fernando
came
and
told
her
in
the
middle
of
the
night
that
a
group
of
people
asked
them
whether
there
were
any
Tamil
houses.
He
told
them
there
were
none.
But
he
came
to
warn
her
and
promised
to
protect
her
and
the
“boys”
next
door.
“Vastha
Anti’s”
treatment
of
ordinary
Sinhalese
people
with
respect
saved
our
lives
on
that
night.
Mr
and
Mrs.
Senanayake
kept
us
under
their
watchful
eyes
till
we
went
back
to
Jaffna,
safely.
It
is
because
of
the
people
like
them,
I
personally
can’t
hate
ordinary
Sinhalese
people.
They
are
just
like
us.
They
have
the
same
problem
as
Tamils.
Just
because
Buddhism
and
Sinhala
language
are
given
“foremost
place”
in
Sri
Lanka,
their
problems
won’t
go
away
and
haven’t
gone
away.
I
am
sure
that
thousands
of
Tamils
feel
the
same.
The
1983
riots
shocked
the
ordinary
Sinhalese
people
like
Mr
&
Mrs.
Senanayake,
as
well.
Mr.
Sangaratne,
my
senior
at
Browns,
was
very
smart
and
had
quick
thinking,
too.
He
had
the
love
for
the
fellow
human
being
even
though
he
didn't
like
the
group
of
Tamils
who
dominated
the
job
market
at
Browns.
The
madman
who
organised
the
1983
riots
wanted
the
people
like
Mr
&
Mrs.
Senanayake,
the
driver
of
M.R.
Fernando
and
Mr.
Sangaratne
to
be
swept
away
in
due
course
as
well
as
"teaching
a
lesson"
to
Tamils.
He
may
have
succeeded
in
that
as
well.
This
is
not
because
ordinary
Sinhalese
people
have
changed
their
attitude
towards
fellow
human
beings
but
because
this
madman
has
managed
to
produce
a
new
breed
of
Sinhala
chauvinistic
ruling
class
like
him.
Tamils
are
left
with
fighting
this
ruling
class
who,
not
only
could
manipulate
the
ordinary
Sinhalese
people
and
the
international
community
against
the
Tamils,
but
also
some
of
the
Tamils
against
the
Tamils,
too.
This
is
the
irony
of
the
Tamils.
This
is
the
strong
force
that
Tamils
have
to
fight.
Rajkumar
Sivapatham
Harrow
UK.