{"id":113908,"date":"2021-04-29T16:41:20","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:41:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=113908"},"modified":"2021-04-29T16:41:20","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T23:41:20","slug":"the-general-election-of-1956-part-12","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2021\/04\/29\/the-general-election-of-1956-part-12\/","title":{"rendered":"THE GENERAL ELECTION OF 1956 Part 12"},"content":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

SWRD Bandaranaike was\nassassinated in 1959. This was followed by two attempts to remove his successor,\nSirimavo.  First, the failed coup of 1962\nand second, the JVP insurgency of 1971. The 1971\nrebellion was the first armed uprising against the state. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mano\nRatwatte, son of Mackie Ratwatte, Private Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo,\nrecalls that in January 1966, at a political rally the   Air Force guard had threatened to open fire\non Prime Minister Sirimavo and Dr. Baduiddin Mohammed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1971 JVP\ninsurgency has been described as a romantic, innocent revolution,  an unplanned\nspontaneous attack. It was nothing of the sort. It was pre-planned and well\norganized.  Its purpose was to bring down\nthe SLFP government of Sirimavo Bandaranaike. JVP was planning a putsch, to\nremove the government by force. Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike would be\ntaken into custody from her Rosmead Place residence, and very likely, killed. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The timing of\nthis April 1971 insurgency is significant. A highly popular government had been\nelected   a year before in May 1970 and like\nin May 1956, the SLFP won splendidly. The SLFP coalition won 118 seats as\nagainst 17 by the UNP, 13 by the Federal Party and two by the Tamil Congress.\nThe SLFP (UF) manifesto featured extensive nationalization, a pro-Soviet\nforeign policy, expanded social programmes, and replacement of the Soulbury\nConstitution with a Republican Constitution that \u2018would restore Buddhism to its\nrightful place.\u2019 <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This election\nwas not to the liking of the west. Therefore, for the third time, the west\ntried to    bring the Government down. It\nhad to be done soon, before the government got going. That was why the\ninsurgency took place   so quickly. The\npublic, thinking that this was a home grown insurgency, could not understand\nwhy it had taken place at all. The public were surprised.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP had\nmade detailed preparations.  JVP recruits\nhad been taught various ways to survive in the jungle. They had been told what to\neat apart from fruits and berries and tender leaves creatures such as lizards\nand snakes and insects, particularly termites and earthworms. They were advised to chew betel to offset\nthirst. They were given tetanus injections.    I had my blue uniform made and waited for\nmy tetanus shot, ready to revolt, said former JVPer, Indrawansa de Silva. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP had  bases and retreat plans. At Anuradhapura the\nJVP had established a base camp as well as six sub camps in the surrounding\njungle where weapons, explosives and food had been stored. JVP operations in\nthe Rajangana and Tambuttegama areas were controlled from this base camp.  Those who evaded capture in Kegalle area\nwithdrew into jungle sanctuaries in the Kegalle, Elpitiya, Deniyaya and\nKataragama areas added Jayantha.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was not easy\nto dislodge the JVP from these retreats. The army had set up a  forward base in Horowupotana in November 1972  and carried \ncombing out operations from there until April 1973. The Kegalle\noperation closed only in December 1974. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP was\nnot interested in  improving the country.\nThat is clear. In 1956, Lakshman Rajapaksa, MP for Hambantota and Deputy\nMinister for Commerce and Trade set up a cotton processing factory at Mirijjawila\nnear Hambantota to encourage cotton cultivators in Hambantota and Monaragala.\nDuring this period cotton was a popular crop in Hambantota and Monaragala. Cotton\nwas cultivated under rain-fed conditions. This factory functioned\nsatisfactorily. It was set on fire by the JVP in 1971 and never revived. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The 1971\ninsurrection was a violent destructive movement. The JVPers were trained to\nkill. I  arrested many insurgents\nincluding Hewabatage Premapala, Narammala Leader Bola Samare\u2019, and Bullet\nMahinda\u201d alias Mahinda Jayawardana .They were all armed with pistols and other\nweapons, recalled Nihal de Alwis . <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 We believed in violence from the outset said\nformer JVPer, Indrawansa de Silva. Our writings, classes, publications, posters\nand public speeches were very open about our belief in violence. We didn\u2019t\nshy away from saying how brutal we could be. Jayantha Somasunderam, another\nformer JVPer said that JVP it was recruiting combatants into a clandestine\nmilitary organization. Its communism was only a front. Around 9,000, had\nmilitary training. JVP had also recruited very young lads of 14 and 12 as\nhelpers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

One immediate\ntask of the JVP was to take Sirimavo prisoner. One Piyatilake was responsible\nfor operations in Colombo, said Jayantha Somasunderam.  Piyatilake had     detailed Raja Nimal an Advanced Level\nstudent to storm the Rosmead Place residence of Prime Minister Sirima\nBandaranaike on the night of the 5th along with 50 student cadres, to capture\nthe Prime Minister and transport her to a place where she would be held.\nHowever the expected vehicle and Piyatilake failed to arrive at the prearranged\nrendezvous in Borella and the attack did not take place. Sirimavo, in the\nmeanwhile had been moved to Temple Trees.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

My parents\nhome had been marked for attack, recalled Mano Ratwatte, son of Mackie\nRatwatte. The markings were faint, a crude X\u201d made with red brick. This was\nrepeated at the homes of some other relatives of the Prime Minister, as well.\nWe were oblivious, never noticing the ominous markings. I have no\ndoubt if the JVP had succeeded they would have executed Mrs. Bandaranaike  and several of her family as well, said Mano. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The JVP\nendeavored to recruit sympathizers in the armed forces, with Wijeweera\nestablishing contact, as early as 1965, with Tilekaratne, a rating in the Royal\nCeylon Navy. Later Uyangoda held classes for naval personnel, made contact with\nAir Force personnel in Wanathamulla and Katunayake, and delivered lectures to\nthem. They also provided classes for soldiers stationed at Diyatalawa. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 There is similarity between the JVP insurgency\nand the 1962 coup. The 1962 coup saw the Panagoda cantonment  as  the\nenemy. So did the JVP. At the Urubokka Conference,  it was observed that rockets would be\neffective against the Army\u2019s Panagoda Cantonment, at Homagama, said Jayantha.\nThe army cantonment at Panagoda would be attacked.  Navy personnel at Ragama and air force\npersonnel at Katunayake were to be immobilized by introducing a purgative to\ntheir food.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Prior to\nApril 5, there was information down south that police stations were to be\nattacked at night. This was openly conveyed via threatening postcards. The Army\ncamp at Embilipitiya and the Ridiyagama Army agricultural camp being\ndismantled, too, had received such postcards and the latter requested\nprotection the very first day I arrived at Weerawila. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Special\nBranch of the police had filed reports, before the 1970 general election,  showing in minute detail plans by  the JVP for a Blitzkrieg operation to take\nover the government. The government of Mrs. Bandaranaike did not take the\nintelligence reports seriously, said  former police officer, Tassie Seneviratne. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When it\nbecame clear that the attack would be at night a wireless message was sent to Temple\nTrees requesting for flares to assist in night fighting operations, recalled\nCaptain Musafer,  who had been assigned\nto Wellawaya and Weerawila. There was no response.  An officer later\nconveyed to me that I was the subject of ridicule by some, who said that I had\ngot the jitters. He said it was no laughing matter when news of the Wellawaya\nattack at night was received. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

If not for\nthe premature attack in Wellawaya which alerted the police and military, the\nsituation would have been very grave. The JVP would have been able to arm\nitself with modern weapons taken from the police stations  they captured.\u201d said  Jayantha Somasunderam. The security forces\nwould have been far less prepared and the rebellion may well have succeeded. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

JVP came\nperilously close to overthrowing the lackadaisical government, but by the end\nof April were completely suppressed by military means.  It seemed \u2018touch and go\u2019 for a while, but my\nfather said that the Prime Minister never panicked, recalled Mano.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Sri Lanka\narmed forces were not equipped to fight such an insurgency.  The tiny Armored Corps, equipped with a few\nDaimler armored cars, (the largest of which had a 2-pounder gun) was used to\nsecure Kegalle and Mawanella, A few vintage Ferret Scout cars armed with WW2\nera Bren guns, were deployed at Temple Trees. Later one of the Saladin\nsix-wheeled armored cars, with a bigger 76mm gun was also deployed facing Galle\nRoad, recalled Mano Ratwatte then  11\nyears old. In 1966 the navy was mostly\narmed with obsolete WW1 vintage Lee Enfield Rifles, or the small Sterling \u2018Sten\u2019\nsubmachine guns, he added.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\ngovernment was able to  crush the\ninsurgency because of the  military aid\nprovided by  foreign countries. China,\nAustralia, Pakistan, Yugoslavia, Britain, \nIndia gave helicopters, arms, ammunition, grenades. Russia gave jet\nfighters, helicopters and a MIG fighter. The Soviet aircraft were accompanied\nby 200 trainers and ground crew. USA sent spare parts for the helicopters.  These donations all differed from each other\nand this caused problems  when the\nmilitary tried to use them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The western\npress rushed to Sri Lanka when the insurgency started. They  presented the JVP as heroes and the state as\nthe offender. The international media reported that summary executions had\ntaken place.  The Police who had killed\nthem let them float downstream to terrorize the population.\u201d The New York Times<\/strong> in its 15th April\nedition said that many were found to have been shot in the back.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officer was\nquoted alongside him in the International\nHerald Tribune<\/strong> of 20th April as saying Once we are convinced prisoners are\ninsurgents we take them to a cemetery and dispose of them.\u201d And the Washington Post<\/strong> on 9th May quoted a\nmajor who said that we have never had the opportunity to fight a real war in\nthis country. All these years we have been firing at dummies, now we are being\nput to use.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward\nGunawardena who was in charge in Kurunegala \nhad nine captured insurgent brought t him. All those under arrest were\nboys in their teens dressed in blue shorts and shirts. They had all been badly\nbeaten up. On questioning they confessed that they were retreating from the\nWarakapola area and their destination was the Ritigala jungles in Anuradhapura.\nThey had  received these instructions\nfrom their high command. At this time, as if from nowhere appeared two young\nforeign journalists, a man and a woman. One was from the Washington Post<\/strong> and the other, the young woman from the Christian Science Monitor<\/strong>. Apart from\ntaking photographs they had asked various questions .Christian Science Monitory\nis not a religious paper,  it is a highly\nrespected American  weekly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is now\nheld that Wijeweera had been recruited by the USA when he was studying in\nRussia. The link with China was a cover. When the authorities searched\nWijeweera\u2019s home they found copies of a magazine titled Red China\u201d Red China is the term used by USA for\ncommunist China. There is a doubt whether such a magazine ever existed, if so\nit was an obscure one. See https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Wikipedia:Articles_for_Deletion\/Red_China_Magazine<\/em><\/a><\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one today\nbelieves that the JVP was  a home grown movement.\nEarly in the 1971 JVP insurgency,   it\nwas rumored that  JVP was receiving\ncovert aid from a foreign source. Godahewa \nstated firmly that JVP had received funds in 1971.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What would\nSri Lanka have been if the JVP had captured power in 1971? I am not sure about\nthe JVP establishing a proletariat dictatorship, but I am quite sure about\nWijeweera establishing a dictatorship. And because of that, like many of my\nfellow revolutionaries, I am glad that we did not succeed in 1971, said\nIndrawansa de Silva.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Had\nwe succeeded it is more than likely that Sri Lanka would have ended up worse\nthan Cambodia under Pol Pot<\/strong>. I am not being just speculative here. The JVP has shown time\nafter time its violent and authoritarian tendencies whenever and wherever it\ngot even a small taste of power. Just take some early signs. If someone with an\nopposing view tried to sell a newspaper or distribute a pamphlet at our rallies\nthey were promptly beaten up and kicked out. We did not hesitate to use power\nof the fist when met with opposition even within the organisation. Honest and\nsincere questioning of ideas and theories we espoused in our classes and camps\nwas seen as a threat to the movement and branded as reactionary,\ncounter-revolutionary, or petit bourgeois tendencies concluded Indrawansa.  ( Continued)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KAMALIKA PIERIS SWRD Bandaranaike was assassinated in 1959. This was followed by two attempts to remove his successor, Sirimavo.  First, the failed coup of 1962 and second, the JVP insurgency of 1971. The 1971 rebellion was the first armed uprising against the state. Mano Ratwatte, son of Mackie Ratwatte, Private Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kamalika-pieris"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113908\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}