COLOBO, July 28: Rioters turned Central Colombo into a smoking battleground today in angry protests against plans to sign an historic peace pact in Sri Lanka’s capital tomorrow.
Officials said 18 people were shot dead and 117 injured as hundreds of members of the Island’s Sinhalese majority, some wielding iron bars and clubs, cut a swathe of fiery destruction through the city Centre.
Reuters reporter Marilyn Odchimar said trouble began when police tear gassed 5,000 people, led by Buddhist monks and the opposition freedom party of former Prime Minister Sirima Bandaranaike, on a sit-down protest against the controversial, Indian backed peace plan.
Police opened fire with rifles after some of the crowd responded by stoning them and starting on a destructive rampage.
At least three buildings including 4 government ministry and a building housing state owned newspaper offices were set ablaze and scores of buses, trucks and cars were gutted by fire.
With police apparently unable to control the violence, the rioters ran amok for four hours, smashing and looting shops until helmeted soldiers and sailors were sent to guard flashpoints.
“Wearer angry because they are going to divide our country”, said a Sinhalese youth outside the blazing ministry for Women’s’ Affairs and Hospitals. The Ministry’s roof was burned off.
“Death to the traitor J.RJ.” demonstrators scrawled on buses, in a reference to Sri Lankan President Junius Jayewardene, before setting the vehicles on fire.
The peace plan will give the Island’s Tamils minority semiautonomous control of Sri Lanka’s northern and Eastern provinces, which are to be provisionally united under a single administration.
Article extracted from this publication >> July 31, 1987
