In
1956
when
the
race
riots
took
place
in
Sri
Lanka,
I
was
right
in
the
middle
of
it
and
escaped
death
many
times.
What
caused
the
race
riots?
Several
factors.Research
Microbiologist
Country
Of
Origin:
India/Sri
Lanka
Home
Town:
Vancouver
Home
Province:
British
Columbia
In
1956
when
the
race
riots
took
place
in
Sri
Lanka,
I
was
right
in
the
middle
of
it
and
escaped
death
many
times.
What
caused
the
race
riots?
Several
factors.
First, the government of Sri Lanka introduced Singhalese as the official language of the country. Second, land in a Tamil area was distributed to Singhalese people. Hon. D.S. Senanayake, the Prime Minister of Ceylon, constructed a dam across the Gal Oya River, which runs through the Tamil-dominated Eastern Province, and created a reservoir to irrigate about 150,000 acres to grow paddy. He distributed the irrigable land to Singhalese peasants, 5 acres of dry land and 2 acres of wet land, along with a house, a pair of draught bulls, a milk cow, and poultry for egg production.
In
a
few
years,
the
Singhalese
colonists
became
rich
farmers
while
the
Tamils
remained
landless
poor.
The
Tamils
felt
that
their
land
was
being
given
away
to
the
Singhalese
by
a
Singhalese
government
controlled
by
a
Singhalese
Prime
Minister.
This
created
ill
feeling
between
the
Singhalese
and
the
Tamils.
Because
of
their
majority
and
the
official
Singhalese
language,
the
Singhalese
felt
like
rulers
of
the
land
and
treated
the
Tamils
poorly.
The
situation
flared
up
into
race
riots
in
1956.
As
veterinarian
in
charge
of
livestock
improvement
for
the
colonists,
I
was
located
in
the
centre
of
the
agricultural
section.
When
the
riot
broke
out,
I
was
in
an
isolated
area.
Though
my
mother-tongue
was
Malayalam
(neither
Tamil
nor
Singhalese),
my
Singhalese
friends
suggested
that
I
would
be
safer
if
I
moved
in
with
them
at
Uhana.
Therefore,
I
and
my
family
moved
in
with
them.
From
the
house,
I
could
observe
people
in
the
marketplace
about
200
yards
below
on
the
flat
land.
I
could
see
that
whenever
the
Singhalese
had
an
excuse
to
beat
up
a
lone
Tamil
labourer,
they
did
so
to
keep
the
Tamils
under
control.
Three
days
after
I
moved
into
the
house
of
my
friend
Thomas
at
Uhana,
the
Singhalese
rioters
gathered
together
and
went
in
search
of
Tamils
living
with
Singhalese
friends.
News
reached
us
that
the
rioters
were
coming
to
our
bungalow
to
see
if
we
were
Tamils.
Thomas
advised
me
to
hide
in
the
forest
if
they
came.
He
said
that
my
wife
and
children
would
be
safe
because
the
mob
was
attacking
only
men.
At
nightfall,
when
we
saw
a
crowd
of
about
500
coming
towards
our
bungalow,
I
left
by
the
back
door
and
ran
into
the
forest
adjoining
the
courtyard.
In
the
dark,
I
fell
into
a
gully
and
was
not
able
to
get
up.
When
the
leader
of
the
mob
saw
my
wife,
he
recognized
her
and
told
the
mob
that
she
was
the
wife
of
Dr.
Simon
who
had
saved
his
son
from
drowning
two
months
previously.
His
presence
saved
us
and
he
was
very
apologetic.
After
the
mob
left,
Thomas
came
in
search
of
me
and
helped
me
to
go
back
into
the
house.
We
realized
that
it
was
not
safe
to
stay
there
–
the
next
time
there
would
probably
not
be
a
man
among
the
rioters
who
knew
us.
So,
we
decided
to
get
away
to
Batticaloa,
a
Tamil
town
about
40
miles
away.
This
was
a
dangerous
move
because
the
mob
was
everywhere
searching
for
Tamils
escaping
to
Tamil
areas.
A
mob
could
stop
my
rover
at
any
time
and
kill
us.
The
next
day,
I
drove
through
the
crowd
slowly,
determined
not
to
stop
even
if
I
had
to
run
someone
over.
The
crowd
gave
room
and
we
went
to
Samanthurai,
a
Muslim
village.
There
were
three
Singhalese
men
in
that
village
afraid
for
their
lives.
They
begged
me
to
take
them
to
Uhana.
I
knew
the
danger
if
I
went
back.
But
I
had
to
save
these
people.
So
I
drove
them
to
within
a
mile
of
Uhana.
On
my
way
back
to
Samanthurai,
I
saw
dust
rising
from
the
road
and
realized
that
a
vehicle
was
coming.
I
stopped
my
rover
at
a
wide
point
so
that
I
would
be
able
to
escape
if
the
oncoming
vehicle
tried
to
block
me.
The
lorry
driver
saw
the
dust
my
vehicle
created
and
stopped
in
a
narrow
area
to
block
me.
We
both
waited.
The
lorry
driver
finally
started
his
vehicle
and
came
forward
to
investigate.
When
it
neared,
I,
with
an
authoritative
motion
of
my
hand,
ordered
the
driver
to
come
forward
and
move
to
make
room
for
me
to
go.
He
obeyed
and
I
drove
off.
It
was
a
lorry
with
about
30
people
with
guns
and
clubs
searching
for
Tamils
escaping
from
Gal
Oya.
The
folks
in
the
lorry
could
not
get
a
good
look
at
me
to
determine
whether
I
was
Singhalese
or
Tamil
and
so
they
turned
around
and
tried
to
follow
me.
My
rover
was
more
powerful
and
I
escaped
a
second
dangerous
encounter.
We
stayed
in
Batticaloa
for
about
a
month
until
the
situation
settled
down
in
Gal
Oya
valley.
But
these
events
prompted
me
to
leave
Sri
Lanka
and
I
saw
an
advertisement
about
Canada
looking
for
immigrants.
The
scenery,
wild
life
and
beauty
of
Canada
was
indescribable
and
I
fell
in
love
with
the
country.
I
decided
to
apply
for
postgraduate
studies
at
UBC.
Dr.
Evans
Hardy
of
Saskatoon,
was
the
United
Nation's
Agricultural
Advisor
to
the
Government
of
Ceylon
(Sri
Lanka
)
at
that
time.
We
both
were
working
to
help
the
colonists
and
became
friends.
He
gave
a
letter
of
introduction
to
Dr.
Stanley
Wood,
a
professor
at
UBC.
The
letter
shocked
me
out
of
my
wits
for
he
had
concluded
his
letter
with
the
remark,
"Simon
will
be
an
asset
to
Canada."
I
forwarded
a
copy
of
his
letter
to
Dr.
K.F.
Wells,
Director
General
of
Agriculture
and
Veterinary
Science
in
Canada.
I
did
not
know
at
the
time
that
Dr.
Evans
and
Dr.
Wells
were
friends.
Luckily,
the
department
was
in
need
of
veterinarians
for
meat
inspection,
and
Wells
asked
me
to
send
an
application
to
the
Civil
Service
Commission
for
selection.
I
was
selected.
Wells
asked
me
to
join
the
department
immediately.
I
came
and
joined
the
department
in
Vancouver
and
was
quite
happy.
I
forgot
that
I
had
come
to
study
at
UBC.
On
the
first
day
of
classes
in
1956,
I
remembered
that
I
had
to
register.
I
met
Dr.
C.E.
Dolman,
head
of
the
department
of
Bacteriology,
and
started
at
UBC.
Now
I
was
a
full-time
employee
at
the
Department
of
Agriculture
and
a
full-time
student
at
UBC.
My
fellow
workers
at
the
plant
were
very
helpful
to
me
by
exchanging
hours
of
work
to
help
me
schedule
classes.
When
I
started
my
research
on
Sphaerophorus
necrophorus,
I
requested
a
transfer
from
meat
inspection
to
the
pathology
lab
at
the
UBC
campus
and
I
was
granted
permission.
This
helped
a
great
deal.
Sometimes
I
had
six
cultures
to
examine
and
measure
their
growth.
I
would
go
home
for
a
few
hours
to
sleep
between
1
am
and
6
am.
Sometimes
the
night
watchman
would
come
to
the
lab
for
midnight
rounds
and
would
see
all
the
lights
burning;
thinking
that
someone
had
forgotten
to
switch
them
off,
he
would
switch
them
off
and
then
I
would
shout
from
the
other
end
of
the
lab
to
switch
them
back
on.
Sometimes
when
he
came
back
the
next
morning
at
the
end
of
his
shift,
I
would
be
there.
He
thought
I
was
there
all
night.
Thus,
by
hard
work,
in
two
years
I
completed
my
course
which
Dr.
Dolman
thought
would
take
me
four
years.
I
worked
day
and
night
enthusiastically
and
with
determination.
I
had
to
catch
up
in
microbiology
what
I
had
lost
between
1936
and
1957.
Microbiology
had
changed
a
lot
during
that
period
in
the
names
of
organisms,
methods
of
isolation
and
identification.
In
addition
to
microbiology,
I
took
many
extracurricular
courses,
including
organic
chemistry,
gas
chromatography,
histology,
light
microscopy
and
electron
microscopy,
as
well
as
financial
management,
plumbing,
carpentry,
and
TV
repair.
I
also
obtained
a
private
pilot's
licence
and
enjoyed
flying
my
Cessna
150.