Peradeniya University in Sri Lanka, scene of worst Sri Lankan police brutality against students on Novemner 12, 1976.
by Nalaka Rupasinghe
Courtesy: str8talkchronicle
(November 19, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) Police brutality in Sri Lanka has a long history. On the 12th November 1976, Peradeniya University (formerly known as University of Ceylon) suffered a bloodbath owing to the brutal police attack on the innocent students who were demanding to keep the university open and removal of the university President Professor PW Vithanage who ruled the university as a tyrant. Prof Vithanage was appointed by the late Prime-minister Sirima Bandaranaike (1970-1977) against the university procedures and he reflected her dictatorship. As today under President Mahindra Rajapaksa’s regime, the continuous closure of universities was the reply to the fair demands of students. On November 11, 1976, the vast majority of the students voted against leaving the university if the authorities closed it again. This is a true account of a student at the time who witnessed the bloodbath and the police brutality that followed:
On 11th November 1976, we, Peradeniya university students, gathered to the art theatre, in thousands although it was not designed to accommodate such a large gathering. Nearly half of us were around the theatre and on the parapets. The university support workers’ trade union was on strike. Their demands included the students’ main demands: Removal of the campus president Prof P.W. Vithanage (Professor of Geology) and withdrawal of a proposed parliamentary bill which was aimed to abolish many democratic rights and the privileges of the universities. This time they debated if the university were closed again due to the workers ‘union strike what actions were to be taken. At the entrance of the university senate building is the motto of Duke of Edinburgh ‘More open than usual.’ (The Duke, Prince Philip had declared open the prestigious university. Sir William Ivor Jennings was the first vice-chancellor. )
The students decided to support the workers demands. By this time both workers and students felt frustrated by the tyranny of the Campus president Prof. Vithanage, the dark shadow of Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike’s dictatorship. As today, under President Mahida Rajapaksa’s regime, continuous and countless closer of universities were the reply to the fair demands of the students. Therefore on the 11th November 1976 the vast majority of the students voted to support the trade union action and remain in the university at least two days to protest against such closer to get public support for their demands.
The possibilities and the strategies were discussed in detail including the consequence of possible closer such as stopping food supply to the Halls of residence, heavy police presence, provocative actions of police, and vulnerability of girls to police abuse if they stayed in halls of residence without permission. On a previous occasion some policemen had tried to enter a girls’ residence hall-Ramanathan during the night. It was agreed not to provoke the police, and the Bikkus(student monks) should be in the frontline to prevent a possible police assault. Some students suggested or assumed if the police attacked monks this would be a devastating blow to the government as it/they have to face the forth coming election (Buddhists monks are the most respected and powerful political pressure group in Sri Lankan culture). Anura Ekanayake, a student leader suggested ‘Aanduwa mathivaranayakata yanna inna mevelave hamuduruvange oluplana eka lesine’ one said ‘Ane ahinsaka hamuduruvange olu tika – Oh God! Innocent monks’ heads?’ Laughter echoed in the theatre for minutes’
After the meeting, as we coming out from the art theatre we were told that authorities had announced the closer of the university and ordered the students to vacate the campus within 24 hours. So, we marched towards the senate building and surrounded it to demand to re-opening of the university and argue for students’ and workers ‘ rights. The authorities including the campus president Prof. Vithanage and the administrative staff were inside. Police riot squads with rifles and machine guns were already there to prevent the students entering.
As agreed the monks were in the frontline and sat on the stairways of the entrance. The motto, carved in the shiny stone ‘More open than usual!’ could be seen in the background. The day, November the 11th, was dark, gloomy and miserable. Dark clouds were lingering above the high hills of Hanthana. Students were shouting slogans:
Vithanage Bangaveva
Gal Vithane apata epa. Gal mandaya apataepa
‘ Api yanne koi pare, Marx, Lenin giya pare
Ung yannne Koi Pare, Hitlerla giyapare
Pinochetla Giyapare.
Apiyanne Koi Pare, Marx, Lennin giyapare.
(Open the university! Give us food! Give our demands! We follow footsteps of Marx, Lenin! Defeat Vitahanage’s tyranny! Defeat Hitler’s and Pinochet’s – style Sirima Bandaranayeke regime -referring to General Augusto Pinochet ‘sand Adolf Hitler’s rule-)
Night fell, torrential rain fell time to time. Students cracked jokes to forget the dark and cold night. Many were tired after continuous shouting slogans. We sang songs such as ‘Gana Andure Ralapathare jeevaya paraduatathaba’… ‘Hela jathika Abimane.
Students played music with rubbish bins.
‘Belekkaya’(Current deputy election commissioner Mahinda Desapriya) entertained the crowd with ‘Bana’-Buddhist sermon and chants’
‘Nahi Verena Verani ….Sammanthida Kudachanan
Averenatha sammanthi Esa Dammo Snantha no’
‘Sadu Sadu’ others said together as if they were listening to ‘Bana’. The policemen enjoyed the jokes. We boiled tea to keep warm and offered to the policemen too. Riot squads arrived time to time from various police districts such as Mathale and Kegalle in the night. Midnight passed and day dawned. By morning there were around 700 police men in the university. Their presence was terrifying with rifles, machine guns helmets and police dogs. The students who were surrounding the building whole night were asked to go to hostels when other students arrived to support them. So we went to the halls to have a change and girls from Sangamittha and Ramanathan Halls marched towards the senate. There were around 2000 students. The only ‘weapon’ they had was handkerchiefs soaked in water to reduce pain on eyes in case police used teargas to disperse the crowd. The students determined not to provoke the police or give them excuses to use heavy handed mechanism.
While we having change or rest we heard students screaming. Again I ran with the other students from Hilda Obesekara Hall towards the senate. Students were throwing stones at the police after they brutally attacked the innocent students, looted jewelleries of girls including wrist watches and money wallets, even umbrellas. A friend of mine revealed his ordeal during the attack. ‘An impatient policeman was trying to force open the belt of my wrist watch, beating with a botton on my left arm. I said, ‘Ralahami oralosuwa galavaganna atha kadanna epa-‘Police officer, don’t break my arm remove the watch and take it.’ But another hard hit broke my hand. Many girls and monks were beaten on their heads with batons and rifles. Some policemen had sexually assaulted the girls and torn apart their clothes to expose their breasts and secret organs. Some girls had been thrown from the lobby/balcony to the ground. Their limbs were broken and suffered spinal code injury. When the other students saw the bleeding and screaming of the girls, boys and monks they started throwing stones and sticks towards police. Police fired live bullets and tear gas cells on the angry crowd. Kandy Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Von Heart was commanding the police. (Mathale Head quarter inspector Ronnie Gunasinghe, a notorious police criminal, accepted responsibility for the shooting). We thought police were firing tear gas but when a student, Veerasooriya of Uhumiya, fell on the ‘Jennings’s circle’ with heavy bleeding in the abdomen others realised police actually firing live ammunitions. They started running. Blood! Blood! Blood! Everywhere blood! On the heads, on the faces, on the robes, in girls’ long hair and the grass. After they dispersed the crowd Campus President Professor Vithanage and others were taken to Kandy with heavy police protection. On their way they had also fired live bullets to halls of residence. While the students fleeing from the university they had been bullied by police at gunpoint. Two wards in the Kandy University hospital were dedicated to the injured university students. More than hundred students were badly injured. One died in the shooting and other was in a critical condition but survived.
The brutal police attack on students spread across the country like wildfire. Trade unions, school pupils (nearly 4 million), political parties came to stress to show their anger against brutal attack on innocent students and to protest against Prime minister Sirima Bandaranayake’s editorship. National Trade unions including plantation workers went on islandwide strikes over a million workers joined the strike. The left wing parties, the Sri Lanka Communist Party and Lanka Samasamaja Party were in the Sirima’s collision government. But Sama Samaja Party split from the government in the final stages.
In the aftermath of the brutal attack the govt collapsed. The bill presented to the parliament to suppress the universities was withdrawn; Prof. Vitanage was removed from the post. A commission was appointed to investigate the police attack and the shooting. The chairman of the commission, former Supreme Court Judge Vimalarathne ruled that the heavy handed action and the shooting was not necessary to disperse the crowds. But no one was punished. The brother of Veerasooriya was a police constable at the time. The government promoted him to a Sub-inspector position to silence the family. Finally the widespread anger resulted to collapse the Sirima Bandaranayake’s despotic regime.
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