Diary Note by Anagarika Dharmapala

Born in 1864, David Hewavitarana, or Anagarika Dharmapala, was a significant figure in the Sri Lankan freedom struggle as well as the Temperance Movement. In 1891, he went to Calcutta to propagate Buddhism and set up the Maha Bodhi Society. 

In 1915, the Sinhala Baudhaya newspaper was banned under martial law. When he went to India, he was unable to return to Sri Lanka and had to stay under the surveillance of the Calcutta police for six years. Governor William Manning stated that he would by no means be allowed to return to Sri Lanka for as long as he controlled Sri Lanka. While he was under house arrest, in the note he left in his diary on 20 November 1915, he referred to the ‘cold-blooded murder’ of his brother Edmund Hewavitarana, who was arrested during the riots of 1915, after being informed by telegram of his death. 

LK-NA/497/23, Diary Anagarika Dharmapala, 1915