1958 Riots in Ceylon

1958 riots in Ceylon also known as 58 riots was first island wide ethnic riots that targeted the minority Sri Lankan Tamils in Ceylon after it became an independent country from Britain in 1948. The riots lasted from 22 May until 27 May 1958 although sporadic disturbances happened even after the declaration of emergency on 1 June 1958. The event is generally termed as an ethnic riot, but in some geographic locations in its scale of its destruction, it was a pogrom. The estimates of the murders range based on recovered body count from 70 to 300. Although most of the victims were Sri Lankan Tamils, some majority Sinhalese civilians and their property was also affected both by attacking Sinhalese mobs who attacked those Sinhalese who provided sanctuary to Tamils as well as in retaliatory attacks by Tamil mobs in Batticaloa and Jaffna. As the first full-scale race riot in modern Sri Lanka in over forty years, the events of 1958 shattered the trust the communities had in one another and led to further polarisation.