cause, returned to the territory in 1958 and began organising opposition to the Federation. Having lived outside the territory for more than 25 years and having great difficulty remembering his native African language, he required the assistance of interpreters to communicate with the population, whom he stirred into a frenzy with his speeches. After the Governor and the Federal Government refused to give Africans a majority in the Legislative Council, he embarked on a speaking tour of the territory. In January 1959, he stated in a speech that he "put Salisbury [the capital] on fire ... I got Salisbury rocking, rocking, and got it awake out of its political sleep ...", after which his followers stoned passing cars and police officers. The federal government met with the territorial governments to plan for a response should the violence get out of hand. Welensky did not rule out deploying federal troops if the situation deteriorated. Speaking to the defence chiefs in Salisbury, he said that "during the next three months we can expect some fairly serious trouble in Nyasaland ... It is my concern to ensure that this government is in a position to exercise its responsibilities if trouble comes". A NAC meeting was held outside Blantyre on 25 January. It was alleged that the meeting discussed in detail a plan for the overthrow of the territorial government and the massacre of the territory's whites and any blacks who collaborated with them (although a subsequent Royal Commission found there was insufficient evidence to make such a claim). Welensky obtained the meeting's proceedings in early February and decided to act, calling a meeting of the federal and territorial governments. Federal troops were deployed to Nyasaland on 21 February, the Governor of Nyasaland proclaimed a state of emergency on 3 March and the nationalist leaders were arrested and flown to jails in Southern Rhodesia. In the subsequent fortnight, riots broke out and troops used force to end the violence. Almost 50 people died in the unrest. The main militant African nationalist parties in each territory were banned by the federal and territorial governments, but all reorganised under new names only months later. The Southern Rhodesian ANC became the National Democratic Party (later ZAPU), the Northern Rhodesian ANC became the Zambian African National Congress, and the Nyasaland ANC became the Malawi Congress Party. The media's use of the term 'police state' to describe the response