[1] On 10 January the organisers decided to hold a public meeting to distribute awards to those who had participated in the cultural program.

At the time Professor Naina Mohamed, a distinguished Tamil scholar from India, was speaking and the crowd was heavily packed, such that the police could proceed no further.

A policeman was seen throwing a tear-gas bomb which did not explode, and then firing at the electric wire, resulting in a burning coil falling on him.

"We are gravely concerned that they lacked the judgment which we expected of policemen in a civilian police force whose duties call for tactful handling even in the most difficult situation.”[4] Appapillai Amirthalingam stated[3] "the refusal of the government to appoint a Presidential Commission to inquire into the seven deaths and the conduct of the Police which led to those deaths, was a prime cause of the demand for a separate state.

"This incident was the precursor to the revenge killing of the SLFP mayor of Jaffna, Alfred Duraiappah by the LTTE which began the era of Tamil militancy amongst the youth leading up to the Sri Lankan Civil War.