Minister Cyril Mathew Leading the Violence

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Sri Lanka is a Sinhala history and nothing else.

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If the Sinhala are the majority race, why can’t they be the majority?

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Much of the foreign press had apparently no difficulty in identifying Mathew as the main instigator of the violence. The London Economist had this to say:

The Tamil-baiter the Tamils fear most is an influential cabinet minister, Mr Cyril Mathew. He has been accused of having engineered the Sinhalese counter-terror through his followers in the party’s trade union. He denies this vigorously, but goes on to prosecute his anti-Tamil case with files of underlined clippings and his own speeches, glossily bound under such titles as ‘Diabolical Conspiracy’. His arguments about the folly of placating the Tamils and the need to crush terrorism before talking are echoed by many of his fellow ministers. (6 August 1983) It is worth noting that most of the petrol that was used to burn shops, homes and vehicles was kept ready in white cans at the Ceylon Petroleum Corporation, which comes under the jurisdiction of Industries Minister, Cyril Mathew.

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According to India Today’s sources, Mathew, who also heads the UNP’s own powerful labour union, Jathika Sevaka Sanghamaya, ‘was directly responsible for pin-pointing Tamil-owned shops and factories to be destroyed.’ (31 August 1983). … He has, in parliament, on the debate to amend the constitution so as to ban parties which advocate separatism (i.e., the TULF), defended the violence. ’The Sinhalese were frustrated for years, they were discriminated [against]. If the Sinhala is the majority race, why can’t they be the majority?’