ABSTRACT
In 1961, the military was called in to keep order when the Federal Party launched the satyagraha in the North and the East. In the 1950s and 1960s, the army was also stationed in the North to thwart illegal Indian migrants from entering Sri Lanka. The professional fighters were foreign mercenaries who functioned more as palace guards and an elite body than as an army. The increasing Sinhalisation and the growing communal tensions also served to redefine the military's role. The agitation was seen as a sign of things to come, an extraordinarily prescient view. Diass proposal for the ring of camps was not implemented, but a task force was set up to curb illegal immigration, bringing a greater military presence to the North. The British, when they mastered the entire island, did not look favourably upon the Sinhalese or even the Tamil as potential recruits for their military establishment on the island.
