Some
politicians of our youth
By Nihal D Amerasekera
In politics stupidity is not a
handicap. - Napoleon Bonaparte
Since my early childhood I have
had very little interest in politics but have been eminently aware of the
impact they’ve had on my life and well-being. The high-profile politicians
during the British Colonial times had many confrontations with the existing
regime and even spent time in jail. Although politics is not for everyone it is
a profession someone has got to do. For politicians nowadays it is more than a
job it is like winning the lottery.
Four of my subjects for the
portraits are committed socialists. It is hard not to have a social
consciousness growing up in a developing country with so much poverty around. All
of them were Influenced by Karl Marx and Lenin while completing their education
abroad. The LSSP certainly influenced the trade unions and brought politics to
the people. The LSSP remained on the fringes and sadly the party fractured and
disintegrated in the early 1950’s and lost its power and appeal. Thanks to Karl
Marx and the many die-hard socialists who disseminated the philosophy, many of
the main stream parties worldwide acquired and added socialist policies to
their election pledges for the benefit of the poor.
All the politicians below are
known for their integrity, honesty and probity.
I do respect the Latin aphorism “De
mortuis nil nisi bonum” (Of the dead say nothing but good).
Robert Gunawardena (1904-71)
Don Benjamin Rupasinghe
Gunawardena was later known as Robert Gunawardena. He was a founder member of
the LSSP and was a Marxist in the true sense of the word. He was a long serving
MP for Kotte. He was jailed by the British for his activities against the
British Colonial regime. Robert led the 1953 hartal and also the Suriyamal
movement. They used Suriya flowers in place of the British Poppy to remember
those Ceylonese who gave their lives in the war. He was a member of the Colombo
Municipal Council. When he lost his seat in the election in 1965 Dudley Senanayake
made him the Ambassador to China.
S.J.V Chelvanayagam
(1898-1977)
Before his journey into politics
he was a greatly respected teacher in my old school, Wesley College. He
qualified as a lawyer and became a Kings Counsel.
Elected to parliament in 1947 he
was a political leader of the Ceylon Tamil community for over two decades. He
is well known for his pacts with the government and his support for federalism.
He is remembered for his integrity and the use of non-violent methods to
achieve his goals.
Dudley Senanayake (1911-73)
Dudley Senanayake was the head
prefect and captained cricket at St Thomas’ Mt Lavinia.
He then went on to Corpus Christi
College, Cambridge to read for Natural Science Tripos and after graduation
gained admission to the Middle Temple as a barrister. He was the second Prime
Minister of independent Ceylon. Dudley is credited and remembered for initiating
the Mahaweli Development Programme and the Gal-Oya project. He is known for his
simplicity and tolerance and regarded as a true statesman.
Colvin R De Silva (1907-89)
He was called to the bar as a
barrister from Lincoln's Inn in London and later became an advocate in the
Supreme Court of Ceylon. He appeared in many prominent and high-profile
criminal trials of the day. Colvin was a founder member of the LSSP and became its
president in 1935. He was elected to represent the Wellawatte -Galkissa seat in
parliament in 1947 and later to the Agalawatte seat. He continued his legal
practice until his death.
About that famous saying “The sun
never sets on the British Empire”: Colvin said "That's because God does
not trust the British in the dark."
Philip Gunawardena (1901-72)
He was the father of socialism in
Ceylon and was called the Lion of Boralugoda, which was his home town. He was a
member of the State Council and later of the Parliament of Ceylon. Robert
Gunawardena was his brother. Philip had his University education in the USA. It
seems it was there he was “radicalised” and became a die-hard socialist during
the declining labour movement of the great depression. Philip Gunawardena was
an eloquent speaker. He too was deeply involved in the Suriya Mal Campaign. Philip
Gunawardena was so outspoken that the Colonial Government banned the LSSP and
he was imprisoned together with other LSSP leaders in 1940. In 1951 he formed
the MEP and in 1956 became the Minister of Agriculture in the SWRD Bandaranaike
government. In 1964 he became the Minister of Industries and Fisheries in the
Sirimavo Bandaranaike government. He lost the election in 1970 and died in
1972.
N.M Perera (1904-79)
After his University degree in
Ceylon he joined the London School of Economics in 1927. He was taught by
Harold Laski who was a political theorist and a high profile member of the
British Labour Party. Joining the Suriya Mal Campaign he worked and supported
the poor and oppressed people of the Kegalle district. He was a founder member
of the LSSP. He too was imprisoned by the British at the break of WW2. In 1947
he was elected to the Ruwanwella seat and became an MP. He was well known for
his support of the Trade Union Movement organising strikes for better pay and
conditions for workers. In 1964 and in 1970 he served as the Minister of
Finance. Being an ardent cricket fan, in
1977-78 he was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Cricket in Sri Lanka. He
died from the complications of gall bladder surgery at the National Hospital.
There is an interesting quote on the BBC today:
ReplyDeleteIn politics: "Never interrupt your enemy when he's making a mistake."
This again is supposed to be from Napoleon but it seems this was written many centuries before by a Chinese military strategist, Sun Tzu in The Art of War.
Well done again Nihal. Skillfully executed drawings with short but relevant notes. You quoted Napoleon and it would be good to see more.
ReplyDeleteWhen people criticise our elected Politicians, I always thought that it is not correct just to blame the Politicians. Management guru Sukant Ratnakar puts it this way- "Political leaders are reflection of our society". Put it in a different way, disreputable Politicians gaining power is a reflection of a disreputable Society (In a Democratic system of course)
But I am digressing. I have a lot of respect for your selection - a lost breed.
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThank you. Glad you like the portraits. Some are easier to draw than others.
Thomas Jefferson said "The government you elect is the government you deserve".
In a democracy we get the politicians we deserve. At least we have the ability to change the next time around.
Nihal
ReplyDeleteCongtratulations to you for this excellent display of Portraits. One could identify the individual so well. What talent ! Well done.
I found the notes regarding the Polititians very interesting.
Thank you very much for sharing these with us. Chira
Chira
DeleteMany thanks for your positive comments. We all need some encouragement to contribute to the blog to keep it alive. Your presence in this forum has indeed been a great help. We look forward to seeing your lovely drawings to brighten up our lives.
ReplyDeleteHi Nihal
Thank you very much for your article – full of content and very interesting.
That was an excellent portrait of NM who was supposed to be very good looking as a young man.
My mother’s brother, Vernon Gunesekera, a founder member of the LSSP along with Doric de Souza played a key role in planning the great escape of NM, Colvin, Phillip and Edmund from the Bogambara prison in the early 1940s. Doric obtained the impression of the main prison door on a piece of soap and had a duplicate made. Edmund Samarkkody kept the spare key in his cell.
This was their stratagem:
• On the “appointed date” Doric would be waiting with two cars outside the jail.
• Vernon would take one of the jailers known to him out for dinner and drinks.
• Another jailer would open the cell door and walk out with the prisoners who would get into the cars and escape to Colombo.
The plan was executed perfectly!
Subsequently Vernon ended up in prison and was saved from facing the firing squad by his Uncle who was the Civil Defence Commissioner under British Rule at that time.
Vernon used to have a regular column, “Below the Bench”, in the Ceylon Daily News in the early 1960s. Anura Rajapaske, from our immediate junior batch, is married to Trikanthi, Vernon’s daughter.
Bora
DeleteThank you for commenting.
What a story about the great escape from Bogambara. Interestingly the LSSP was formed by wealthy people who cared deeply for the suffering masses. In my younger days I was fascinated by socialism and the people who underwent great hardship trying to get support for the movement. I read much about the LSSP and its great history and recognise the names of Doric de Souza, Vernon G, Edmund Samarakkody etc. There were many university staff involved in the Socialist movement including Carlo Fonseka and a senior lecturer in Physics. I know of some students who were expelled from the university for their socialist activities.
How times have changed.
Bora
DeleteI remember the column in the papers called "below the bench" of which I was an avid reader for its content written with wit and humour. Another was written by a chap who called himself Adonis. Those memories were so long ago much of it has got erased.
My knowledge of political theory is non existent.
But I do wish Sri Lankans will remember the stalwarts of the LSSP who in their wisdom brought socialism to Ceylon . Although they did not become the governing party at any time they have left a lasting legacy of bestowing power to the workers and the rural folk. They helped enormously in the fight for independence from British rule. On reflection the one's whose portraits adorn this page and others mentioned in the comments were honourable men who were conscientious and principled. There were several famous lady politicians of the LSSP who were known for their sincere motives working for the benefit of the people they represented.
Nihal
ReplyDeleteI fully agree the politicians you described were honourable men.Even though I am not a fan of the communist party ,Dr S.A.Wickremasinghe and Peter.Keuneman were honourable men too.
As I have said before I have had no interest in politics except an interest, in passing, of the history of the people involved in the struggle for independence.
ReplyDeleteI am certain some of our batch will be aware of the existence of a Socialist Society in the Medical faculty during our time. I do not know if Carlo Fonseka had any input into this group. I am reliably informed that they supported some of the rallies organised by the LSSP.
Another interesting person who joined the LSSP and played a huge part in the struggle for independence was Mark Anthony Bracegirdle, a British national. There is much written about him and his expulsion from Ceylon in our country’s history, struggle for independence and in the historical archives of the LSSP. When I arrived in the UK I was friends with a Sri Lankan who was a supporter of the Socialist movement. He was a lecturer in law in a Polytechnic. Once he had a party and invited Bracegirdle and I was introduced to him. As expected he was a charismatic figure but much subdued due to his age. He spoke warmly of his time in Ceylon and the many loyal friends he has made.
Socialism and Communism never caught on in Sri Lanka but the message of social consciousness disseminated in to mainstream politics. In that sense the struggle many of those who started the LSSP had was not in vain.
A new form of socialism thrives in Russia, China and perhaps North Korea. Socialism has always had plenty of secrecy and intrigue.
Karl Marx is buried in the Highgate Cemetary 20 minutes drive from me. I have indeed seen the tombstone which is a mini mausoleum. He was a German Philosopher and a political theorist. Bridging that huge gulf between the theory and the practice has been a problem.
I am happy with my lot in a democratic country.
Hi!,Nihal
DeleteThanks for your interesting article about genuinely honest bunch of politicians of the era bygone.
I was interested in Ceylon politics from my early childhood. In fact I used to collect the photographs of the said politicians from the daily papers and pasted them in exercise books. Later on I switched on to collecting stamps. I remembered that UNP had 42 seats, LSSP some think like 26 seats, CP 5 seats(those victories were not on party politics but a personal victory for Dr Wicramasinghe) and the rest were from TC,DCW,CWC(Estate Tamil representatives) and an insignificant number of Independents.(Wilmot A Perera and IMRA Iriyagolle, H Sri Nissanka were among that lot. There was a plan
by the left orientated group to make either H Sri Nissanka or Wilmot Perera the Prime minister, but LSSP opposed it. Fact between UNP and the TC enabled to form a stable Government under DS,with 3 ministerial posts for the TC(GG Ponnambalam,C Sundaralingam and C Sittampalam)
Gunawardhana bothers were firebrand Politicians and always advocated a blood revolution.When Samasamaja Party decided to elect NM as their leader over Philip G:what Philip did was to form VLSSP(V stands for viplawakaree),NM and his gang formed the (NLSSP-N stands for nawalanka) Philip was unseated in 1948 by a Court case and he was barred from Politics for 7 years.Robert G stayed with NM and the crowd and never joined his brother until later stage when Philip for the MEP, having severed his relationship with MEP under the leadership of SWRD.
When NM was the Mayor of CMC, the tram service was introduced and it was a carbon free transport service. NM was defeated in Borella seat at CMC election by Dr.WD de Silva a veteran politician with a leftist ideology. I am sure Mr R Premadasa was the Deputy Mayor during NM's time.
I was a member of the socialist Society in the Medical Faculty and took part in a May day rally in 1963 or 64,during the time I was living in a house in Campbell place, not far away from Wesley College. I was a sympathiser of the Socialist movement, but never in favour of bloody revolutions. as a villager, I had seen the great disparity between the well-to-do town folks and the poor villagers. The academics in the Socialist movement were Prf.Bibile,Dr UT Vitharana and,one Jinasena(lecturer in Pharmacology)I am certain that Carlo was abroad doing his PhD.
I have gone to Colvin's residence in Kollupitiya in order to invite his to give a talk to our Socialist Society and he declined the offer. When I was a doctor, I met NM in Ratnapura when he visited to see Dr Arasaratnam, who was in General Practice. NM offered me a lift from Ratnapura to Colombo and had a little chat on the way. He had a chauffer. but no body guards.
I heard that Mr.Keuneman donated a large quantity of books to Jaffna Library, that was set on fire during the war against Tamil tigers. I am sure that was a foolish thing and the act was beyond control by the hierarchy of Armed Forces.
I lost faith in Sri Lankan politic from the time Mrs B took over running of the SLFP. In fact I never voted during my stay in Anuradhapura.
Nihal, overthrowing government by revolutions are out-dated and democracy leads to a" Fools' Government". I am sure Karl Marx mentioned this some where in his speeches. Cuba seems to a have a Marxist Government.
Sumathy
DeleteThank you
It is so lovely to hear of your interest in politics and the LSSP. Your being part of the Socialist society in the faculty shows your affection for the movement. The journey with NM from Ratnapura to Colombo must have been interesting. I have a vague recollection of the VLSSP and the disintegration of the LSSP. Being in the opposition without any chance of real power made the LSSP hierarchy despondent resulting in - infighting.
Sumathy
DeleteI spent 2 weeks in Cuba a few years ago. There was dilapidation and disintegration everywhere. A one party state with Raul Castro in power living in luxury in a secluded mansion. It is not my vision of utopia. Everyone seems poor. Cubans are lovely generous and kind people who deserve freedom and a government of their own choice. Cuba is a beautiful country. Its sandy beaches and the palm trees reminded me of beautiful Sri Lanka.
Nihal,I really enjoyed reading your pen sketches of our much respected left-wing politicians. I wish to make a few comments.
ReplyDeleteI think Robert Gunawardene was married to Prof S R Kottegoda's sister. When we were Final Year medical students, Robert G had a confrontation with Oliver Medonza in the ward and almost exchanged blows! I still remember Medonza's prophetic words. "I will be working in this hospital until I retire but you may be nowhere after the next election"(Robert lost).
SJV Chelvanayagam had three sons at Royal College; the eldest, Vaseeharan was a brilliant student and I think he got distinctions in all the subjects at the SSC examination. The other two were Ravindran and Chandrahasan; the latter left for Madras and was involved in politics.
Dudley Senanayake had played for STC in 1927,1928 and 1929, but did not captain the team. In 1927, HE Wijetunge (Janaka's father) had captained RC. JRJ had played for RC in 1925 together with HEW. Dudley's younger brother Robert had captained STC in 1930.
Colvin successfully defended Sathasivam in the murder case; he lost the next election because the Wellawatte Tamils did not vote for him, because they thought that Sathasivam had murdered his wife. Colvin's brother Walwin was a Senior Civil Servant and was the Vice-Chancellor of the University of Colombo. He chaired the selection panel when I was interviewed for the Lecturer's post.(When I was leaving after the interview he asked me, "who plays more billiards ,Sunil or you?"!).
Phillip G's eldest son Indika was with me in school. He was the first student to wear the national dress and attend school.
N M Perera's sister's son is Tissa Vitharana, Professor of Microbiology, politician and cricketer, having opened batting for Ananda College and the University.
Nihal,the Senior Lecturer in Physics was Osmund Jayaratne who was a MMC, when NM was the Mayor of Colombo. He lived down Arethusa Lane, Wellawatte and used to ride a Vespa scooter.
Sumathi, the academic you are referring to is Prof Jayasena, Professor of Pharmacology, Peradeniya, after Senaka Bibile. His wife Lali Jayasena was a Professor of Paediatrics in Peradeniya. Her brother was Dr. GU de Silva who was a Physician in Galle during the 1980s, before he emigrated to Sydney. Of course, Senaka Bibile was a well-known leftist. Prof SR Kottegoda and Senaka Bibile were married to two sisters.
Sanath
DeleteThank you for your kind comments and delving into your amazing memory to recall some of the interesting anecdotes. You are absolutely correct about Osmund Jayaratne whose name just escaped my mind. Senaka Bibile too was a Trotskyist and a LSSP member with strong left connection.
Nihal, late Philip G was a minister in Dudley Senanayaka's Govt and not Mrs B's Gov. Samasamaja party blamed him as a traitor of the working class movement. It was the LSSP and CP that joined Mrs B'to form a Govt, during our days, in SriLanka.NM,Colvin Lesley G and Kaeneman were in the Cabinet. I feel that Cholomondey Gunawardhana too was a Minister(MP,Kalutara).
ReplyDeleteSumathy
ReplyDeleteI'm sure you are correct as the info I got is from the internet and they dont get it right sometimes.
Nihal, great portraits! I have not read the mini bios and the comments, but will do so later. Frankly, I get depressed when I read about politicians! They may start out as idealists, but usually end up corrupt and rich.
ReplyDeleteI would like to recommend a book about an honest politician (an oxymoron these days!). It is about Angela Merkel, who retired a few months ago. It is "The Chancellor" by Kati Marton. She did not fatten her coffers as some of her contemporaries did. She may have made mistakes, but everything she did was for the good of the country. After she retired she continued to live in her rent controlled apartment! I wish there were more people like her in charge.
Srianee
DeleteThank you for your comment. I have read brief tributes to Angela Merkel. She is from the old "East Germany" and has her heart in the right place. Overall she did a marvellous job for Germany. Tough but considerate. Welcomed refugees against much opposition. Hers is a hard act to follow. I am not a fan of the open borders which she advocated and the United States of Europe which was her vision.
She is a true statesman/statesperson.
Srianne, Angela Merkel was an honest politician who retired with dignity. Will SriLankan politicians will ever learn lessons.
ReplyDeleteMost interesting and wide range discussion on politics. I find that many of us in our formative days, found Socialism and Communism very attractive. I certainly did and I would like to suggest that this was driven by the "innocence" we were born with. Equality fair play, the fruits of one's own labour, the naive view that Politicians always served the people selflessly were all dominant. Gradually we begin to realise that the World does not function like that That is one aspect. The other is the inevitable change in us as we mature. I can still recall how moved I was with the communist slogan "each according to need" - the concept that whether you are a doctor or a street cleaner, you had the right to live a decent life free of want. The assumption underlying which we never quite grasped that the doctor and the street cleaner had the same opportunities but as the doctor was more intelligent, he was able to become one whereas the street cleaner was where he is only because he lacked the intelligence of the doctor. Both serve Society and both deserve the same remuneration. The Doctor should not feel he deserves more than the manual labourer. I don't need to tell you how divorced from reality this thinking is. Suffice it to say, arising from that , I firmly and sincerely believe that no citizen should be deprived of a good education and access to health care because he/she is financially deprived. I would like to add basic transport and housing too but the first two are not negotiable. That is why I still have a strong Left leaning and despise the corporate profit culture. Sadly, maturity has also shown me that some basic bad human instincts operate widely in Society including in people who put themselves forward as Leaders who want to be true servants.
ReplyDeleteComing to the people Nihal has chosen, they were on the whole decent people and a lot of them sadly, compromised their principles later. Some may defend by saying that without compromise, you will forever stay in the shadows shouting at people without being able to do anything constructive. That is a debatable point.
Anout Angela Merkel, she is an exceptional person. I would love to understand what drove her to be the person she was. What inner mission or concept of duty or opportunity to serve humanity drove her. Was she affected by her religion? Did she believe in an afer-life? Was she impelled to do things her way because she felt she was chosen? Or was she just an ordinary human being with very special qualities because that's the she is and not because of "purpose" or "destiny"?
Mahen
ReplyDeleteThank you for your thoughts. Hear is something more to think about.
Many believe in the wisdom of the aphorism “before the age of forty if you are not a socialist, you don’t have a heart. After the age of 40 if you are not a capitalist you don’t have a brain”. Not quite true but I can see some truth in it.
Even after several thousand years of human existence, despite the religions, philosophies and differing political dogma we have not learnt to share our wealth equally. The inequalities we see and the stark disparities we see between the rich and the poor are surely a scandal and a shame on the human race.
Of course we have in our minds what the perfect world and society should look like. With our greed, selfishness and avarice we don’t like to give up what we have to achieve that goal. Although a rather jagged path, Karl Marx in his 3 volume Das Kapital has outlined how this could be achieved politically. Even the great Soviets who embraced its tenets could not achieve what Marx has wanted to accomplish. It is so true power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.
So we are left with what we have now.
The rich remains rich for generations by handing over their wealth to their progeny. What if what is left of a person’s wealth after death is handed back to the government to improve healthcare etc for the benefit of everyone. Then all the mansions and estates owned by rich will finally go back to the government. Every person can only acquire wealth through his/her hard work or good fortune. I’m certain many have thought on these lines before.
There were two Marxist lead JVP insurrections in Sri Lanka in 1971 and then 1987-89. It was alleged North Korea was involved too. I was in SL in 1971 when it was also called the Che Guevara movement. The government collected people who had connections to these groups and imprisoned them. As a Blood Bank MO I recall the time I went to Hambantota to collect blood from one of these prisons. The donation was purely voluntary. I remember speaking with some of the young insurgents. They were die-hard Marxists or have been brainwashed beyond recognition. They indeed wanted power at any cost.
ReplyDeleteAs a young man i was interested in the life of Che Guevara and had books about him and his philosophy. Many of my friends asked me to burn them to avoid trouble. Foolishly this I did and lost my books.
I went to the Che Guevara Museum in Cuba and saw the great monument for Che in La Paz, Bolivia over looking the city. On my travels in South America I saw the extent of their affection for left wing politics. Although this had existed for a century the quality of life and support for the poor is less evident than in Europe or North America.
Human failings of greed and selfishness takes over whatever form of government is in power. At least with democracy we have the freedom to protest about what we dislike and change the government at elections when we want another set of bufoons to rule us.
Nihal, you will remember that I was the DMO, Deniyaya, when the JVP insurrection started on 4th April 1971.I went through lots of hardships and feared about my life when they were evacuating the injured who were in my hospital. They had planned to kidnap me to Sinharaja forest, the hiding place when Army arrived to liberate, Deniyaya, on the 24th April. I had narrow escape with my DMA and his wife Luckily, my wife was at her home town at the time. She was pregnant and would not have undertaken the walk from Deniyaya to Iththakannda, about 20 miles.JVP had extreme revolutionary policies and they willing to kill all their opponents. I kept them at arms length during the seige. In spite of all that there was petition sent SHS office alleging that I was involved with JVP activities. No enquiry was held. I guessed that was done by am Attendent who had a personal dislike for my not doing private practice. He used my DMA to see patients privately and got a cut from the earnings.
ReplyDeleteSumathy
ReplyDeleteI do remember your spell at Deniyaya during the insurgency. That indeed must have been a frightening experience. The added problems caused by those false accusation must have enhanced your desire to leave the country.
I continued to travel the country collecting blood for the CBB in Colombo. Everywhere I went i was met by the Police and the Armed Forces who treated me with kindness and courtesy. They made sure I had suitable accommodation in Rest Houses. The roads were deserted except for Army Jeeps and Trucks. The country was on a war footing and it was a surreal experience.
I remember the name of Rohana Wijeweera and wonder what happened to the hierarchy who instigated this uprising.
Dear Friends, as a result of poor governance and corruption, many educated people would vote for the JVP at the next election. I sincerely wish that they issue a public apology for the atrocities committed in 1971 and in 1987-1989. Many years ago the Navy brought Mrs. Wijeweera and her five? children to my Saturday morning clinic at the LRH. The youngest had been born posthumously. They were kept in a Naval Camp at Welisara, may be for their own protection.I have taught and met Dr. Chandra Fernando (Mrs. W's brother), a few times.
ReplyDeleteSanath, I was told that Wijeweera's brother in law, said Dr Fernando was a resident in Bloem and he married the widow of DrIriyagolle, two years junior.
DeleteSanath
ReplyDeleteThank you for those anecdotes. As I left SL I lost my connection to the politics of the country and do not know how the JVP returned to the mainstream politics after the chaos and the violence of those years in the 70's and 80's. The least they should do as you rightly say is to apologise for the turmoil, deaths and destruction.
People have short memories when it comes to elections. Some politicians and parties are made of teflon and nothing sticks to them.
Sumathi, you are correct; Iriyagolla who was two years junior to us was married to a Malay girl, who married Chandra Fernando later. When Iriyagolla Senior was the Minister of Education, He made University of Peradeniya, the University of Ceylon and Colombo just a Campus of Peradeniya. As a result all the prizes and medals were moved to Peradeniya. The Colombo medical students went on strike and Professor Rajasuriya supported them. Iriyagolla Jr. was doing the appointment with Raj at that time and I happened to be an interne House Officer.
ReplyDeleteSanath, thanks for the information. Iriyagolla, senior was a product of Royal and was a Civil Servant and passed Law degree Iriyagolla Jr entered from Amanda. I met him for the first time in Tower Hall theatre when he came to watch a film, after obtaining the results of Medical Entrance. We had a chat and became friends.Their father, IMRA too was a very honest politician. Started as an Independent, pro right wing, joined UNP and was a Minister of Education. I have read THE novels that were written in Sinhalese.
ReplyDeleteSanath, I meant the elder son of IMRA who was A Civil Servant who studied in Royal.Iriyagolle SR was the Minister of Education In Dudley 's Cabinet. You know all about SriLanka, politics.Deva?Iriyagolla succumbed to chronic alcoholism and died in young age.
ReplyDeleteSumathy and Sanath
ReplyDeleteI remember Deva Iriyagolla and the Malay girl who later became his wife enjoying a chat with a cup of tea in the faculty canteen. What I remember most of all of Deva is his fine rendition of a song by Mohideen Beig "Tikiri menike ambula genalla". This was at one of the evening sing-songs and booze up in the Mens Common Room. He sang it so beautifully. I heard he died as DMO Padaviya from Alcoholism. A sad end to a young life.
What I remember of IMRA Iriyagolla is his presence as the Vocal Minister of Education. I recall reading his translation of Victor Hugo's epic 'Les Miserables'. I have never read such a depressing account of life and times and was indeed far too much for my teenage years to take in. I just wonder how I prevented myself from slashing my wrists.
Delete