Hooliganism In Colombo Imperial and Foreign FROM OUR CORRESPONDENT COLOMBO. JUNE 5 Violence has been occurring in Colombo all day. It started this morn- ing at Galle Face, the long stretch of green between the House of Represen- tatives and the sea where about 200 Tamils performed satyagraha by merely sitting on the grass. The House of Representatives was barri- caded with steel girders and a ring of policemen guarded the precincts and en- trances from 6 a.m. The galleries and pre- cincts of the House were closed to the public when it met at 2 p.m. The chief business was the presentation of the Bill to make Sinhalese sole official language of Ceylon. At about 9 a.m. the satyagraphis at Galle Face were attacked by Sinhalese who had gathered round them. One man's ear was bitten and others were attacked with sticks, bamboos, and stones. I he satyagrahis did not retaliate. Two Sin- halese members of Parliament who were Passing tried but failed to persuade ine crowd to disperse. Three Tauna members of Parliament were among those who were assaulted. Two had head injuries from stones and the third is in hospital with an injured leg. At one stage the crowd pushed five Tamils into a lake beside the House of Representatives and another into the sea. One man was saved from drowning in the lake by three Sinhalese. POLICE MOBBED The crowd at Galle Face grew con- tinually. Attempts by the police to disperse it repeatedly failed. When police entered the crowd brandishing batons they wete assaulted and jeered at, an,d the officers who made arrests were mobbed. Shortly after noon the mob surged towards the House of Representatives and challenged left-wing members (who have advocated parity of status for Sinhalese and Tamil) to come outside. Mr. Bandaranaike the Prime Minister, then appeared on the steps and appealed to the crowd to dis- perse. Few heeded his appeal. At 2 p.m. Tamil shopkeepers were putting up their shutters and groups of people were parading the city shouting slogans. The violence continued. The 200 satyagrahis were stoned and assaulted with sticks, and other Tamils were assaulted in different parts of the city. Buses and cars were stoned, and hooligans boarded buses in certain spots and beat Tamil passengers. Police charged the unruly crowds with batons several times, and a number of persons were taken into custody. Military units in armoured cars and trucks and on motor-cycles staged a flag march through the city after nightfall. Questions were asked in Parliament at the end of the day. A statement by the Ministry of Defence and External Affairs to-night said: " There were a few sporadic incidents of assault and the like, but they were readily handled. It is hardly necessary to emphasize that hooliganism will not be tolerated, and that acts of hooliganism indulged in by rniscreants trying to take advantage of the situation will be most rigorously dealt with." The 200 Tamils who offered satyagraha did so as a protest against the Bill to make Sinhalese the sole official language, but not all those who took the opposing side were partisans in the language issue. They were mostly hooligans, who saw an oppor- tunity to vent their racial spleen Parliamnent adjourned at 6.30 p.m., but the big crowd outside was still there at 8 p.m. In the later part of the evening the streets were quieter HOOLIGANISM IN COLOMBO ATTACKS ON TAMIL SATYAGRAHIS