St. Margaret’s Bazaar Police Shooting

July 13, 1957
Published: July 13, 2024
Last updates: July 15, 2024

CWC office

On the night of July 13, 1957, two Malaiyaha estate labourers, Ponniah and Kondavil of Alnwick estate, were shot dead by police at St. Margaret’s Bazaar in Udapussellawa. The Ceylon Daily News reported that, prior to the shooting, hundreds of estate labourers had gone on a rampage with stones, and police had taken weapons into custody. Two boutiques, a bus, and a petrol station were damaged.1 The MP for Nuwara Eliya, A. Dissanayake, had brought up the shooting in parliament two days after. Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike called it a “regrettable incident” and promised that the government would launch an investigation.2

The police shooting was subject to a magisterial inquiry. S. Nadesan, the lawyer for an injured estate worker, stated that a man named John Silva had rented out a house near the bazaar to a police constable. The constable had failed to pay rent, and Silva evicted him. Silva then rented out the house to the CWC, which used it as an office. On the opening day of the office, July 12, there had been protests against it by Sinhalese, and it was stoned. That night, the office was looted, and witnesses claimed that police officers were among those who burgled it. The ASP was notified immediately by Selliah, a CWC member, and the officer promised to take appropriate action.3

The next morning, Selliah submitted a report about the extent of the damage to the office and requested police protection, warning that there was tension in the area. That night, a Tamil boutique was looted, and the boutique workers had informed the owner and estate workers. As the estate workers went to the town to view the damage, the police opened fire at them.4

Ruckus in the market

An assistant superintendent of a nearby estate testified that he heard a ruckus on the early night of July 13 and saw a crowd marching to the bazaar. Four hours later, he was informed about trouble in the town. He went to the police station some time after, at which point he was informed that police had shot dead two labourers.5

However, on the initial day of the inquiry, none of the witnesses claimed that they had actually seen the shooting. A Sinhalese trader, also a village council member, in the bazaar claimed that he was inside his boutique that night when he heard shouting in Tamil. The boutique was stoned, and he saw a large crowd approaching. He then closed his doors, though there had been banging. Later, he heard the gunshots, and when he emerged from his boutique, he saw two dead men and smashed windows of the petrol station. A Muslim trader too had severe damage done to his shop, but he could not determine if the shouting was in Sinhala or Tamil. The Sinhalese trader had also said that he had asked Silva’s wife if the CWC office could be rented out to the Sinhalese traders, and denied being aware that the room had actually been rented out to the CWC. However, the magistrate did not believe him fully.6

The morning after the shooting, Welimada MP and notorious Sinhalese ultranationalist K. M. P. Rajaratna had visited the Sinhalese shops in the bazaar and appeared delighted.7

Police and estate workers

The Nuwara Eliya ASP, Aelian Fernando, acknowledged, in court, the receipt of the complaints by Selliah that police near the bazaar were partial to a Sinhalese trader. Fernando stated that there were eighteen Sinhalese boutiques and many more Tamil ones. He arrived at the bazaar after the shooting and found it littered with clubs and swords, and there were two fires near the petrol shed, which was damaged. The Tamil boutique was also damaged. When he went to the police station, Sergeant Staples, the OIC at St. Margaret’s Police Station, told him that he and his party had opened fire.8

The day before he arrived at St. Margaret’s, he contacted Staples several times about the situation in the bazaar, and the sergeant told him that all was well. But on the night of July 13, Staples alerted him to a disturbance in the bazaar by labourers from nearby estates and asked for backup. It was at this point that Fernando said that he would depart immediately.9

Police held a meeting with estate workers near Udapussellawa in September, the first meeting in the area after the shooting. The actual shooting only received two minutes of silence and a CWC announcement that it would consider compensating the families of the deceased, but a cordial discussion between the two parties ensued. It was decided that, during times of troubles on estates, police would go to the estate to inquire into the case and avoid bringing any workers to the police station. The approach received endorsement from CWC president S. Thondaman, who asked the labourers to give it a chance.10

In October, the magistrate found the police shooting to be justified. He contextualized the disturbances in tensions between Sinhalese and Tamil traders in St. Margaret’s Bazaar. He drew attention to a Sinhalese trader named L. P. Baby Singho, a man of belligerence, influential in the Sinhalese trading community, and revered by Tamil workers as a samiar. Singho, like his fellow Sinhalese traders, had strongly opposed the CWC office opening. While some had accused Singho and other Sinhalese traders of having looted the Tamil boutique on July 13, there was no hard evidence to implicate them. The magistrate condemned Staples for not realizing the gravity of tensions in the bazaar, going so far as to inform the ASP of Nuwara Eliya that, despite rumours of an advance by the labourers onto the bazaar, there were no signs of any advancement. He claimed that the labourers’ rampage was vengeance for the attack on the Tamil boutique, and given that there was indeed a rampage, the police shooting was justified. “One act of lawlessness is no justification for committing another act of lawlessness,” he concluded.11

අවසන් සටහන්

  1. “Police Bullets Kill Two Men in Bazaar Riot,” Ceylon Daily News, July 15, 1957. Hereafter, Ceylon Daily News will be abbreviated as “CDN.”
  2. Ceylon, House of Representatives, Parliamentary Debates, vol. 28, col. 1080, 1087.
  3. “Counsel Says Police Fired on Crowd,” CDN, July 20, 1957.
  4. Ibid.
  5. Ibid.
  6. Ibid.
  7. Pōlīcāriṉ Tuppākkikku Tamiḻarkaḷ Pali Ceṉ Mārkareṭ Bajāril [Tamils Killed in Police Shooting at St. Margaret’s Bazaar], Sutantiran, July 21, 1957.
  8. “Order in Shooting Case is Reserved,” Ceylon Daily News, September 16, 1957.
  9. Ibid.
  10. “Thondaman: Give it a Trial,” CDN, September 17, 1957.
  11. “Police Firing on Crowd ‘Justified’,” CDN, October 19, 1957.