Miscellaneous - This Day That Age   

dated June 7, 1956: Stir over language issue

A tense atmosphere prevailed in and around the House of Representatives and in many parts of Colombo on June 5 as the leaders of the Federal Party and their sympathisers began offering peaceful satyagraha by squatting on the lawn outside the House facing the sea. The satyagraha was called off in the evening. Mr. S.J.V. Chelvanayagam, leader of the Federal Party, announcing the withdrawal of the satyagraha, said it had achieved its purpose. He and the other Tamil leaders said it was a cent per cent success. The satyagrahis included Mr. Chelvanayagam, Mr. G.G. Ponnambalam, leader of the Tamil Congress, and Mr. C. Suntheralingam of the Tamil Resistance Front, all Members of Parliament. Crowds gathered in the open space outside the barricades and shouted slogans demanding that Sinhalese alone should be the official language of the island. At one stage, thousands of people rushed towards the House and attempted to break the police cordon. Police used hosepipes and batons to disperse the crowd. Despite the presence of a strong police party to give protection to the satyagrahis, unruly elements freely indulged in stone-throwing and caused injuries to some satyagrahis, including four Tamil MPs. Mr. A. Amirthalingam, one of the MPs injured, appeared in the House with a heavy bandage on the head.

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