The 1958 anti-Tamil pogrom and riots in Ceylon, also known as the 58 riots, refer to the first island-wide ethnic riots and pogrom to target the minority Tamils in the Dominion of Ceylon after it became an independent dominion from Britain in 1948. The riots lasted from 22 May until 29 May 1958 although sporadic disturbances happened after the declaration of emergency on 27 May 1958. The estimates of the murders range, based on recovered bodies, from 158 to 1,500. Although most of the victims were Tamils, Sinhalese and their property were also affected by retaliatory attacks by Tamil mobs throughout the Batticaloa and Jaffna districts. As the first full-scale race riot in the country in over forty years, the events of 1958 shattered the trust the communities had in one another and led to further polarisation.
Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956)
In 1956, Solomon Bandaranaike led a coalition of leftist parties to a landslide victory in the 1956 general election on a Sinhala nationalist platform and was appointed the third Prime Minister of Ceylon. The new government passed the Official Language Act (No. 33 of 1956) commonly known as the Sinhala Only Act, making Sinhala the sole official language of the country, fulfilling a major election pledge. This was done despite the fact that nearly a quarter of the population used Tamil as their primary language. The act immediately triggered discontent among the Tamils, who perceived their language, culture, and economic position as being subject to an increasing threat.
In protest, Tamil Federal Party politicians launched a satyagraha (Nonviolent resistance) campaign. This led to an environment of increased communal tensions and to the death of over 150 Tamils in the Gal Oya riots in the east of the country. Eventually Bandaranaike entered into negotiations with them and the Federal party and agreed to the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact of 1957, which would have made Tamil the administrative language in the Tamil-speaking north and east regions. But he was forced to cancel the pact under pressure from Sinhala nationalists and some Buddhist monks, particularly the United National Party, which organised a 'March on Kandy', led by J. R. Jayawardene.
The Sinhala Only policy led to motor vehicles bearing the Sinhala sri character on their license plates. In response, the Federal Party initiated the anti-Sri campaign which involved smearing tar upon the sri characters. This led to a wave of reprisal tarrings of Tamil offices, shops, houses, and even people in the south by Sinhalese gangs as part of a pro-Sri campaign. The anti-Sri campaign also became popular among Indian Tamil youths in the hill country. Minister of Justice M. W. H. de Silva, citing police reports, recounted that in Bogawantalawa on April 2, Indian Tamil campaigners had stoned a bus. The bus driver took the bus to the police station, and the rioters followed. They continued their assault on the bus, and some attacked the police station. The police opened fire, killing two men. The now enraged crowd started attacking Sinhalese property and people. The violence led to Sinhalese reprisals. On the same day, the pro-Sri campaign began in Kahawatte. Two Sinhalese men were stabbed and killed by two Tamil traders there, and Tamil boutiques were burnt in revenge. The next day, a Sinhalese man was stoned to death in the Hatton area. Prime Minister Bandaranaike requested Savumiamoorthy Thondaman, leader of the Ceylon Workers' Congress, to calm down the rioters. Thondaman went to the area and did so successfully.
Political influence over the police
According to journalist Tarzie Vittachi, since the change of government following the 1956 general election, the ruling coalition politicians began exerting strong influence over the local police which lowered the morale of the police and increased the confidence of the nationalist elements in the supporter base of the ruling coalition. Politicians would enter police stations and demand the release of suspects held for questioning or production before a magistrate. Although the prime minister made a public appeal to the police to give time for the members of his government to get used to their new roles as many were new and immature politicians, the ones who made the most trouble were seasoned politicians.
Vavuniya MP C. Suntharalingam recounted that around the same time, 300 Sinhalese laborers of the Land Development and Irrigation Department armed themselves with blades and proceeded to the Tamil village Cheddikulam in trucks. Before they could reach Cheddikulam, an armed group of four Tamils had fired at the gang, and the gang retreated.
Meanwhile, 400 Tamil laborers were laid off when the Royal Navy Dockyard in Trincomalee was closed and transferred to the Government of Ceylon following the request by Prime Minister Bandaranaike in 1956. The government proposed to resettle them in the Polonnaruwa district. This angered the Sinhalese population there. Sinhalese labourers began forming gangs and threatening vigilante attacks on any Tamil migrants to the region.
Following this, M. W. H. de Silva stated that a Sinhalese man was murdered by Tamils in Trincomalee for communal reasons on April 14, leading to tension and a few incidents at Trincomalee, but no prolonged trouble or violence. Soon after, Buddhist organizations began calling for the boycotting of Tamils in Sinhalese areas. Then, in Welimada, the electorate of the ultranationalist K. M. P. Rajaratne, a rally on April 24 resulted in several attacks on Tamil property.
According to G. G. Ponnambalam, member for Jaffna, in the weeks leading up to the riots from April 3 to May 10, Sinhalese groups had published and distributed leaflets which warned Tamils in Colombo to stop the campaign by the Federal Party, otherwise they should be prepared to leave their occupations and go back to Jaffna; and called upon Sinhalese to cut all ties with Tamils and to boycott their businesses. Leslie Goonewardene, MP for Panadura, accused the members of the executive committee of Bandaranaike's SLFP of having attended anti-Tamil boycott meetings where people were also called upon to drive out the Tamils, and blamed the government's pandering to its Sinhalese racialist base for enabling the riots to break out.
Professor Neil DeVotta argued that anti-Tamil climate generated by the Sinhala Only Act was broadly culpable for the riots. The Sinhalese rioters who attacked Tamils felt justified in their actions due to the popular belief about the island as a Sinhalese Buddhist land and the justification of violence by activist Buddhist monks to uphold that status, with Tamils being depicted as posing a threat to it. Sinhalese mobs had been led to believe by Sinhalese politicians that the government would not punish them for anti-Tamil crimes. The Sinhalese colonists had felt their upward mobility threatened by the Federal Party's attempts to stop the colonization schemes. In the south, Sinhalese businessmen had sought to exploit the riots to eliminate Tamil business competition. The UNP had also influenced some rioters with its propaganda that called upon the Sinhalese to kill Tamils.
M. W. H. de Silva further stated that a Sinhalese trader was shot dead by Tamils at Chenkaladi on May 15, causing tension to rise. On May 20, Tamils at Giritale had complained of threats levelled against them. On May 21, C. Rajadurai, MP for Batticaloa, received information that preparations were being undertaken by Sinhalese conspirators to attack the Tamils travelling by train through Polonnaruwa to the Federal Party convention in Vavuniya (due to be held on the 23rd, 24th and 25 May). He alerted the Assistant Superintendent of Police of Batticaloa by letter. The leading conspirators were later confirmed by C. P. de Silva to have been spreading false rumours about the Tamils, and to have also been involved in the previous 1956 anti-Tamil pogrom.
Further information on the preparations being made to attack the Tamils had become apparent to the Federal Party leadership. A large armed crowd of Sinhala labourers (around 500) from the Land Development and Irrigation departments had gathered at Polonnaruwa ready to attack the Tamils. The Police did nothing to stop them and just looked on.