The Radio Message That Ignited The Island
By Rajan Hoole –July 9, 2016
Dr. Rajan Hoole
One of the highlights of the Commission sittings in the Jaffna Public Library was Leslie Bartlett’s cross-examination of Inspector Gurusamy regarding the false radio message. According to witnesses, Gurusamy had virtually to admit that the message was sent on orders from his superiors. The premises were packed, and at the end of the day, Bartlett, the hero of the occasion, was mobbed. Poor Gurusamy was shot dead by militants the following year on 1st July 1979.
Although Leslie Bartlett’s cross-examination of Inspector Gurusamy was among the crucial highlights of the commission sittings, it has now, after 23 years, proved extremely difficult to find out what really happened. The lawyers concerned, are today dead, or cannot remember, or would not speak. Copies of the proceedings available with Tamils were mostly burnt during the July 1983 violence. The ICES library has a copy that is incomplete. The copy in the National Archives, we found, is embargoed until the year 2010. Fortunately, at that time, this cross- examination appeared in the journal The Sansoni Commission Evidence that was published by S.C. Chandrahasan. The editor, we reliably learn, was S. Sivanayagam, who went on to edit theSaturday Review. We are grateful to Mr. Kurumpasiddy R. Kanagaratnam of the International Tamils’ Archives, Kandy, for providing us copies of the relevant sections. How easily can the history of a people get buried in 23 years!
Ana Seneviratne | Photo via https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ana_Seneviratne
What follows is the picture that emerges from the cross-examination. It is coherent in all respects and agrees with the known facts: On the morning of 17th August 1977, Inspector Gurusamy and PC Kumarasamy were on duty in the Operations Room. HQI Godfrey Gunasekera walked in just before 11.00 AM and ordered Kumarasamy to take down a message, which was: “…4 CTB buses set on fire. Naga Vihare, Jaffna, is being attacked. Crowd collected at Railway station, Jaffna, to attack incoming passengers. Situation serious.” Kumarasamy was asked by Gunasekera to transmit it to the IGP. Gurusamy asked Kumarasamy to hurry up. Kumarasamy took the message to the Radio Room and Radio Operator Jacob transmitted it at 11.00 AM.
The Radio Communication Centre in Colombo radioed back immediately asking for clarification. Gurusamy was summoned to the Radio Room. He dictated a message. The time when it was recorded is given as 11.05 AM. The message was: “Further to my message of just now, please cancel this message. Further message will follow.” Both these messages were purported to be from SP, Jaffna.
At 11.20 AM, SP, Jaffna received a radio message from the IGP apparently in response to the first message. The message stated, “Navy would guard Naga Deepa [Buddhist] Temple. Please make arrangements to place guards to guard Naga Vihare.” There was no further message form the IGP.
