A female O/level student of Thakshila Maha Vidyalaya (TMV) had started an affair with a boy from the same school. According to TMV Principal Dharma Dassanayake, the girl had called off this affair after one-and-a-half years and befriended a boy from Bandaranaike Maha Vidyalaya (BMV).

Two weeks ago, on September 17, a group of TMV boys (led by the old boyfriend) had waylaid the new boyfriend at Belummahara junction and hammered him black and blue. Investigations later showed that some three-wheeler drivers had also been involved in the assault. The injured boy sustained a split lip and had to receive stitches.

The retaliation on TMV came the next day morning. A group of Bandaranaike boys set upon the old boyfriend at junction near TMV and assaulted him. By the time he was rescued, he had cracked a bone in his arm. Police intervened and three boys were remanded. However, both schools are in agreement that the matter was settled after the parties were called to the police station and respective apologies tendered.

But things went wrong again on Sunday when students of both schools met at classes. According to BMV prefects, girls and boys from Thakshila had jeered at BMV boys, levelling insults at their manhood.

"Call yourselves men?" they had taunted. "Got hammered, didn’t you?" They used choicer language to annoy the BMV boys, including some well-chosen bad words. Although the latter did nothing that day, they were seething inside.

"They were wondering how students from a small, insignificant school like Thakshila had spoken in that manner to boys from Bandaranaike," said Chanaka Karunaratne, BMV deputy head prefect. "It had never happened before."

"It was not the love affair which caused this brawl," said Ganesh Dissanayake, head cop. "It was that challenge on Sunday."

BMV Principal Ranjith Jayasundera said that an investigation was ongoing. When concluded, serious punishment will be meted out to students. The nature of penalty hasn’t been determined yet, but the wrongdoers have been identified.

Meanwhile, Thakshila head cop Saumiya Solangaarachi accepted that there had been certain faults on their side, too. But she feels that the attack on their school was, by far, the greater wrong. BMV must apologise, she said.

Authorities are also looking into why there is an increase in school unrest. The general opinion is lack of discipline but there is also an element of ‘ego’ involved. In this particular case, several parties identified Bandaranaike as a school with an inflated sense of self-importance. They had been annoyed that an "insignificant" school like Thakshila had dared challenge them.

"If one steps out, they all step out," said a teacher who wished to remain unidentified. "They’re like that."

BMV rejected the charge. "Who says so?" asked Chanaka. "Anyway, that’s there in all boys schools."