Because of the injustice against the Tamil people by this (singala only act) they wanted to protest against the imposition of the law. The Members of the Tamil Federal Party said that they would sit in silence on the Galle Face Green(place in front of parliament), a silent protest which they were entitled to make. Chelvanayakam, the leader of the Federal Party, led a party of 300 Tamil volunteers and staged a sit down Satyagraha (peaceful protest) of the kind popularized by “Mahatma Gandhi” in the days of the Indian freedom struggle. Its notable, itwas happened after 8 years from the independence of Srilanka.
On that day Sinhala Only Bill was being debated in Parliament, the police were all around but allowed the Satyagrahis to be beaten up... Some Tamil Satyagrahis were thrown into Beira Lake near the Parliament House. From that moment every Tamil seen on roads of Colombo (capital of srilanka) was attacked by the singala hooligans. Tamil office employees going home from work in public transport were caught and man-handled. Tamils had to stay indoors for personal safety for days on end. Sinhalese hooligans took charge of the situation and went on a rampage of arson and looting of Tamil shops and homes. The violence were seting off by the government and actively supported by the Sinhalese organisations and Bhikkus (Buddhist priests) to frighten Tamils into accepting the 'Sinhala Only' Act.
The violence and rioting spread to Gal Oya and Amparai where, under an irrigation and re-settlement scheme, thousands of Sinhalese had been resettled in clusters around thinly distributed Tamil villages in the Eastern province. In the race riots in 1956, 150 people died. They included many Tamil women and children. That was the primary struggle which marked the beginning of the Tamil struggle for self-rule
On that day Sinhala Only Bill was being debated in Parliament, the police were all around but allowed the Satyagrahis to be beaten up... Some Tamil Satyagrahis were thrown into Beira Lake near the Parliament House. From that moment every Tamil seen on roads of Colombo (capital of srilanka) was attacked by the singala hooligans. Tamil office employees going home from work in public transport were caught and man-handled. Tamils had to stay indoors for personal safety for days on end. Sinhalese hooligans took charge of the situation and went on a rampage of arson and looting of Tamil shops and homes. The violence were seting off by the government and actively supported by the Sinhalese organisations and Bhikkus (Buddhist priests) to frighten Tamils into accepting the 'Sinhala Only' Act.
The violence and rioting spread to Gal Oya and Amparai where, under an irrigation and re-settlement scheme, thousands of Sinhalese had been resettled in clusters around thinly distributed Tamil villages in the Eastern province. In the race riots in 1956, 150 people died. They included many Tamil women and children. That was the primary struggle which marked the beginning of the Tamil struggle for self-rule