1946 a strike of Government workers, including those in the railway, extended to the harbour, the gas company, and became a general strike. The authorities at first refused to negotiate, but finally the Acting Governor agreed to meet a deputation of the Government Workers’ Trade Union Federation. The adviser to the deputation, N. M. Perera was arrested by the police, but the workers refused to come to a settlement in his absence. In the end Perera was released and a settlement was reached. However, some of the promises made by the Acting Governor were not honoured, and a second general strike broke out in May–June 1947. The Ceylon Defence Force was recalled from leave in order to aid the police in crushing this upsurge. V. Kandasamy of the Government Clerical Service Union was shot dead at Dematagoda, on the way to Kolonnawa after a strike meeting at Hyde Park, Colombo, when the police repeatedly fired on the crowd. The suppression was successful in breaking the strike. However, it was set in stone for the British authorities that their position in the country was untenable. The Bombay Mutiny and other signs of unrest in the armed forces of India had already caused the British to start their retreat from that country. General Election 1947 D.S. Senanayake formed the United National Party (UNP) in 1946 , when a new constitution was agreed on. At the elections of 1947, the UNP won a minority of the seats in Parliament, but cobbled together a coalition with the Sinhala Maha Sabha of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike and the Tamil Congress of G. G. Ponnambalam. It was to this government that the British prepared to hand over power. See also National Heroes of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan independence activist Independence Commemoration Hall (Sri Lanka) References Further reading Arsecularatne, SN, Sinhalese immigrants in Malaysia & Singapore, 1860-1990: History through recollections, KVG de Silva & Sons, Colombo, 1991 Brohier, RL, The Golden Age of Military Adventure in Ceylon: an account of the Uva Rebellion 1817-1818. Colombo: 1933 Crusz, Noel, The Cocos Islands Mutiny, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle, WA, 2001 Muthiah, Wesley and Wanasinghe, Sydney, Britain, World War 2 and the Sama Samajists, Young Socialist Publication, Colombo, 1996 Colvin R. de Silva, Hartal! accessed 4 November 2005. Did Japan contribute to Sri Lanka and India to gain independence? Sri Lanka won freedom from the British in 1948