{"id":4425,"date":"2024-09-05T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-05T11:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/atita.org\/?p=4425"},"modified":"2024-09-05T09:27:35","modified_gmt":"2024-09-05T03:57:35","slug":"lunuwila-mills-police-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/articles\/lunuwila-mills-police-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"Lunuwila Mills Police Shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"

Published: September 5, 2024<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

September 5, 1956<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Shot on strike<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On August 27, 1956, seven hundred employees of the Ceylon Coconut Industries at Lunuwila Mills, along with clerks, struck work in response to an unfulfilled series of demands.<\/span>1<\/sup><\/a><\/span> On the afternoon of September 5, a deputation of the strikers was to meet with the EFC and the labour commissioner regarding the demands.<\/span>2<\/sup><\/a><\/span> However, they received unfortunate news shortly before the meeting.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The strike turned fatal that very afternoon as police shot dead a worker, A. P. John Pinto, and injured twenty others, including a 10-year-old child. Police claimed that the strikers had attacked police officers, injuring several, and this compelled them to open fire. Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike requested that the minister of labour, T. B. Ilangaratne, ask the deputy commissioner of labour to immediately see to it that some of the strikers\u2019 demands were met.<\/span>3<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandaranaike expressed his regret over the incident, though he did not want to delve too deeply into the matter as it was sub judice<\/em>. He assured that he was willing to appoint even a commission of inquiry if necessary. His basic position was that police should remain neutral during a strike and fire only to keep the peace. He also promised the House of Representatives that compensation for Pinto\u2019s family would be considered.<\/span>4<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

LSSP leader N. M. Perera bemoaned the killing of the striker by police, recounting that Bandaranaike had earlier promised that police would not disturb strikers after another fatal police shooting of a striker in May. Perera claimed that trouble arose when police arbitrarily arrested the strike\u2019s leader, K. G. Dassanayake. He also claimed that the police involved in the shooting were sent from Colombo, and one of them had a Sten gun. Similarly, Panadura MP Leslie Goonewardene recounted that the ten-day strike was peaceful, but police were brought from Colombo specifically to provoke the strikers. Kiriella MP Kusumasiri Gunawardena further alleged that though both police and Dassanayake had been taken to hospital, only the former received treatment for the first four hours.<\/span>5<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The shooting became of great importance to Nattandiya MP Hugh Fernando, who was lachrymose upon hearing of Pinto\u2019s killing.<\/span>6<\/sup><\/a><\/span> During the magisterial inquiry into the police shooting, Fernando argued that the strikers had been peaceful, even cooperative, throughout the prior days. He alleged that the police had shot the crowd to prevent the impending settlement with the EFC.<\/span>7<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, the strike continued after the shooting and remained peaceful. <\/span>8<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI am Dassanayake\u201d<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Pinto\u2019s son, Sylvester, was present at the strike with his father and later testified at the inquiry. He stated that the strikers had peacefully gathered at noon on the day of the shooting. Inspector Chandradasa and another officer asked for Dassanayake, and Dassanayake introduced himself. Chandradasa asked him to take the strikers away from the mill, but he refused. The inspector threatened to baton-charge the crowd, and upon restraining Dassanayake, the police began to baton-charge the strikers. The strikers had initially retreated, but then they advanced towards the police, demanding Dassanayake\u2019s release. However, at that point, the police opened fire with Sten guns about twenty times. The crowd scattered at this point, though Sylvester did not know his father\u2019s whereabouts. It was only when he saw his mother and sisters weeping beside his father\u2019s body did he realize his father was shot. As they tended to the sprawled man, the police thew gas shells. He denied that the strikers had any projectiles to throw.<\/span>9<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Another striker also testified that the police had only used tear gas after they opened fire.<\/span>10<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Yet another striker stated that on the fateful afternoon, three hundred strikers were on the mill premises. At lunchtime, an inspector asked the strikers whether they would leave. The strikers refused, and the inspector summoned about sixty other police who were armed. He attempted to arrest Dassanayake, and the crowd tried to get the strike leader released. Police then baton-charged and shot at them, after which they were forced to flee.<\/span>11<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the mill gate<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

On the other hand, police alleged that the crowd had gotten violent. Sergeant Hamid testified that he, along with over a dozen other baton-armed officers, had gone in a jeep and heavy truck to the Lunuwila mill. As they approached the mill, about three hundred strikers were present. A police party went to escort the clerks from their quarters to the mill, but the crowd had prevented them from doing so. Hamid was part of an armed party that was called to contain the now advancing crowd which had also began hurling projectiles at them. Several police officers were injured at this point.<\/span>12<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Continuing, he recounted that after Dassanayake was arrested, the crowd continued to throw things at the police, and the police ordered a tear gas firing. He then heard two gunshots from the crowd. The crowd began to shout that they would not disperse even if shot at, and the police warned them to disperse lest they be fired at. Unrelenting, the crowd continued their advance, after which the police fired. However, the crowd did not stop, and the police fired once again. At this point, the crowd fled, and after this he saw Pinto\u2019s dead body.<\/span>13<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chandradasa, in his evidence, stated that police were summoned to the mill when clerks had reported intimidation by strikers. At first the strikers let him pass through to get to the mill. He telephoned the ASP, reporting that strikers were threatening police with the clerks. As he neared the gate, he saw the crowd, about four hundred-strong, making its way towards him, calling to break the mill gate and set fire. He readied the police and asked Dassanayake and another striker named R. M. Ratnayake to desist. However, Ratnayake assaulted him, so he arrested Dassanayake. After this, the crowd began hurling projectiles. Baton charges proved ineffective, so he ordered tear gas shells, and when those failed, he ordered guns to be used. He reported that he was injured and denied that Sten guns were fired at all. <\/span>14<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The government analyst testified that the bullet was not from a Sten gun, though he did not know if any of the guns had been cleaned after the firing.<\/span>15<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Dassanayake\u2019s testimony was also challenged when an attendant of the Chilaw hospital reported that he was not injured and was conscious upon arrival. In the attendant’s recounting, Fernando then entered the hospital and asked to talk to the striker.<\/span>16<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In contrast to Chandradasa\u2019s testimony, Fernando stated that Ratnayake was the secretary of the worker\u2019s union and, while at first a striker, was with him in Colombo, preparing for the meeting when the shooting occurred.<\/span>17<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Union action<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In response to the shooting, nine unions passed a resolution calling for the dismissal of police involved in the shooting. They lamented that, despite the government branding itself as a \u201cpeople\u2019s government,\u201d police had behaved oppressively at strikes, resulting in fatalities. The unions also called for compensation to workers injured by police at strikes and for the dependents of those killed by police.<\/span>18<\/sup><\/a><\/span> A conference was held on September 12, following the shooting, and another nine unions, including the Lunuwila Ceylon Coconut Industries Workers Union, also agreed to create a common front under the leadership of the government.<\/span>19<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bandaranaike also suggested that he would appoint a commission of inquiry that would determine when it would be appropriate for police to intervene in strikes. Chilaw MP J. C. W. Munasinha urged him to appoint a commission for the Lunuwila shooting. Furthermore, several ministers recommended repealing the Anti-Stay-in Strikes Act, but Bandaranaike wanted to have the committee review before repeal.<\/span>20<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Post-incident perspectives<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

A meeting with the EFC was held the day after the shooting. At the meeting, it was said that though an agreement with the strikers had already been reached where the latter would return to work on September 3, they had not done so. Furthermore, \u201cprofessional picketers and hooligans from Colombo, including certain members of the Communist Party, had incited the workmen to an insurrection.\u201d<\/span>21<\/sup><\/a><\/span> Nearly two months after the shooting, Leslie Goonewardene blamed Food Minister Philip Gunawardena for the Lunuwila strike.<\/span>22<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On November 21, the Chilaw magistrate ruled that the police shooting was justified. He acknowledged both the police and strikers\u2019 version of events, but the strikers had failed to acknowledge the presence of bottles and brickbats at the scene, nor the injuries on police or Dassanayake, and some had not even acknowledged the presence of the crowd by the mill gate. The magistrate felt that the police version of events was more credible, and concluded that “the police have done no more than what was absolutely necessary in the circumstances.”<\/span>23<\/sup><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0d8b\u0db4\u0dd4\u0da7\u0dcf \u0daf\u0dd0\u0d9a\u0dca\u0dc0\u0dd3\u0db8\u0dca<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Amerasinghe, E. F. G. The Employers\u2019 Federation of Ceylon, 1929-1994. Colombo: Employers\u2019 Federation of Ceylon, 1994.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u0d85\u0dc0\u0dc3\u0db1\u0dca \u0dc3\u0da7\u0dc4\u0db1\u0dca<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

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September 5, 1956: A strike at Lunuwila Mills turns violent and a striker is shot dead by police.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4425","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":false,"thumbnail":false,"medium":false,"medium_large":false,"large":false,"1536x1536":false,"2048x2048":false,"trp-custom-language-flag":false},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"atita","author_link":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/author\/atita\/"},"uagb_comment_info":8,"uagb_excerpt":"September 5, 1956: A strike at Lunuwila Mills turns violent and a striker is shot dead by police.","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4425"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4472,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4425\/revisions\/4472"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4425"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4425"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/atita.org\/si\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4425"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}