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The author of this book, Т. Dшraisingaпп апd his wife Sathiabаппа Dшгаisiлganп

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POLITICS AND LIFE MOUR TIMES
Selected Articles Published for Over A Century
by Desabandu T. Duraisingam, J.P., U.M. Solicitor Attorney-at-Law
42694
THAMBTMUTTUI DUIRAISINGAM 116, Huiftsdorp Street, Colombo - 12 Sri Lanka.
Volumell

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POLITICS AND LFE IN OUR TIMES
Copyright by T. Duraisingam All Rights Reserved
Volume
Published in October 2000
2000
Cover design & general direction by: Desabandu Reggie Candappa
Printed in the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka at Unie Arts (Pvt) Limited, No. 48B. Bloemendhal Road, Colombo - 13

CONTENTS
Fortchapters upto 13 see Volume 1
Page WOLUME III CHAPTER 13 (Contd.)
Political Leaders (Contd.) 144. The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1097
Speech by Fidel Castro Ruz 145. Moncada Attack and the Cuban Revolution 1117
Resolution at Public Meeting on 6.8, 1996 at Colombo on Cuba 146. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe - Left Pioneer in the Legislature 1118
by Basil Perera 147. Rule by the Sword - An Era of Political Violence 1123
On President Premadasa by "Asia Week" 148. Philip Gunawardene - Colossus in the political Arena 1134
by Vernon Boteju 149. The Need For New Thinking 1139
by President R. Premadasa 150. Chandrika Kumaratunga on Bomb Attacks 1146 151. Pieter Keuneman - Humane in Life and Death 1149
"Daily News", Editorial 152. Peace, Discipline and Prosperity of President Premadasa
by Ranil Wickremesinghe 1151 153. Sir Waithialingam Duraiswamy - He Alerted Jaffna to
Public issues 1155 by Prof. S. Pathmanathan 154. Ilangaratne - his Contribution Towards
our Political and Social Changes 1159 by T. Duraisingam 155. Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1168
by Desabandu T. Duraisingam
CHAPTER 14
Sri Lankan Laws 156. Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1181 157. Sri Lanka's Constitution of 1972 1204
by An Attorney-at-Law 158. Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam and
Other Similar Organisations Law, No. 16 of 1978 1209 Certified May 23, 1978 159. The Language Provisions of the New Constitution
Certified on 31st August, 1979 1220 by N. Satyendra

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iv
160. The Prevention of Terrorism Act CINTA's Appeal 1229 161. Change in Election Law and the CRM 1238
by Desmond Fernando 162. Civil Rights Movement's Reply to Dr. Susantha Goonatilake 1242
by Desmond Fernando 163. A Step Towards Settling the Conflict 1248
by K. P. Silva 164. Desmond Fernando Apologises 1259 165. When Nadesan Argued the cause of Media Freedom 1262
By Mudliyar 166. The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of
Sri Lanka - Extrects (1979) 1269 167. No Discrimination on Ground of Political Opinion to hold
Processions 284 . - Supreme Court Judgement 168. The Independence of the Judiciary 1288
by Desmond Fernando, PC. 169. Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill (1958) 1294 170. Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in
Parliament 1298 171. Lawyers Condemn Garlanding of Convict 1315
by Kumar Wetasinghe 172. Soulbury's Constitution - Section 29 1316 173. Tribute to Nadesan in Reference 1318
- In the Supreme Court 174. High Court Judges Condemn Garlanding of Convicted Editor 1323
by V. Varathasuntharam 175. Desmond Fernando's Address to the Bar ASSOCiation
Of India 1325 176. President's Council salutes "Sunday Times" Editor 1332
- Desmond Fernando'S Statement
CHAPTER 15
Working Class Strikes 177. The First Strike in Ceylon 1333
by V. Sarvaloganayagam 178. Reflections on 1980 Strikes Against Glaring inequality 1338
by The Rt. Rev. Lakshman Wickremasinghe 179. "Aththa"Fights Daily 1346
by H. G. S. Ratnaweera 180. Some Reminiscences on Comrade A. Vaidialingam 1350
by T. B. Subasinghe 181. My Brother, Pieter 1355
by Arthur Keuneman 182. The Workers' Charter and Investment 1361
by Raja Collure

183. Remembering Hedi Keuneman
by Sri Lankan Academic 184. Vivienne Goonewardene, The Stormy Petrel
by Pulsara Liyanage 185. Leslie and Vivie
by Pulsara Liyanage 186. Nataraja Mahadeva by Boswell 187. What is Communism 2
by Dr. Colvin R. De Silva 188. Pieter-Unrivalled Political Stature Behinda Smiling Face
by T. B. langaratne M.P. 189. The Internationale by Eugene Pottier 190. M. G. - Pioneer of Militant Trade Unions in Sri Lanka
by Pieter Keuneman 191. The Day We Formed the Communist Party
by Pieter Keuneman 192. Western Radical who Fought for Her Husband
by Roshan Peiris 193. Birthday Tribute to Doreen Wickremasinghe
by Mervyn Casie Chetty 194. The LSSP's Link with Trotsky
by Ajith Samaranayake 195. Raja Collure on Comrade Duraisingam 196. From the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to Socialist
Self-Government Anatoly Butenko, Ph. D. 197. Left Unity inevitable
by Prabath Sahabandu
CHAPTER 6
National Languages 198. Sinhala as the Official Language of Ceylon
Speech by J. R. Jayewardena, 1944 199. The I. A.T. R. Conference Desecration of Tamil Memorials
by James T. Rutnam 200. Monk's Final Solution, Army of Occupation
by James T. Rutnam 201, A Need for GOOdwill
by James T. Rutnam 202. National Unity and Discrimination
by A. C. Nadaraja 203, Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils
of Sri Lanka by K. Sivathamby
1364
1369
1379
1387
1390
1397
402
1406
1413
1418
1422
1423
1427
1428
1439
1445
1451
1456
1460
1466
1473

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204. Raja Ariaratnam - A Pioneer in Modern Tamil Journalism 1501
by T. Duraisingam 205. Regional Co-operation in Education, Culture and Technology
- The SAARC Experience 1503 by Dr. Premadasa Udagama
CHAPTER 7
The Connunal Problenn 206. The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon 1509
by S. Ponniah 207. Civil and Political Rights of Eylom Thamils 1521
by C. Suntharalingam 208, J. R., U. N. P. and the Tamils 1528
by R. Kahawita 209. "Federal Government is the Only Solution... 1531
by James T. Rutnam 210. Tamil-Speaking Peoples' Problems 1540
by R. Kahawita 211. Religious Leaders Appeal for Communal Amity 1545 212. A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1551
by Prof. C. G. Weeramantry 213. We Share in the Moral Guilt, The violence of July 1983 1576
by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Lakshman Wickremasinghe 214. Communalism GOne Mad 1590
by N. Sanmugathasan 215. Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1594
by Jehan Perera 216. If There is a Will, there is a Way 1623
by Motilal Nehru, P. C. 217. N-E War an Obstacle to Nation's Progress 1628
by Alavi Mowlana 218. D. E. W. Gunasekara said Communist Party was Always
with the People 1631 by Ranga Kalansooriya 219. Broken Pledges and Militarism 1634
by V. Navaratnam 220. All Nations Should Unite to Combat Terrorism 1641
by Lakshman Kadingamar 221. Devolution Process Painfully Slow - TULF President
M. Sivasithamparam 1644 Interview by Lakshman Gunasekara 222. Devolution of Power will Solve Ethnic Problem 1652
by D. E. W. Gunasekera 223. Interview with CNN of President Kumaratunga 1654 224. The Crisis of Socialism and the Ethnic Problem 1659
by Alexander Bovin

225. Nadesan, O. C. - A Tribute by Manel Fonseka 226. The Continuing Tragedy, Misconduct of Armed Forces
by Suriya Wickremasinghe 227. Human Rights of Women, The Vienna Declaration (1993) 228. Racism and Apartheid in the Pillory
by Jana Spiskova, Geneva 229. LTTE'S Pyrrhic Victory
by Prabath Sahabandu 230. The L. S. S. P. on the Only Possible Approach to a
Solution of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis by Bernard Soysa
CHAPTER 18
Religion 231. Distinguished Centenarian, Sinniah Thambimuttu
by S. Sivasubramaniam (1899-1985) 232. Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century
by K. Arumainayagam 233. Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century
by K.Arumainayagam 234. Hindu Religious Life, 1847 - 1880
by K. Arumainayagam 235. Hindu Educational Movement in the North, 1840 - 1880
by K. Arumainayagam 236. A Quranic Injunction - Zakat or islam's Poor Rate
by Dr. M. C. M. Kaleel 237. Coomaraswamy Directed His Great Gifts to Draw
Humanity Together by Wilfred M. Gunasekara 238. Ayodhya: a View from Moscow
by S. Strokan ap 239. Princess Diana with Mother Teresa 240. Message of Greetings to the World Hindu Conference
by A. C. Nadaraja 241. The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple
by Nirmala Ramachandran 242. Sri Aurobindo and his Cosmic Vision
by V. Murugesu 243. Natyam in Natya-Sastra
by Kalasoori VasugyJegatheeSWaran 244. Woman in Art, The Primordial Source of Artistic inspiration
by V. M. B. 245. Kawindra, the God of Poets - Rabindranath Tagore
by Evgeny Chelyshev
Vii
1666
1668
1674 1675
1680
1684
1693
1698
1710
1724
1735
1746
1749
1754
1756 1757
1760
1766
1771
1776
1783

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246. Synopsis of the Saiva Siddhanta
by Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy 247. Realization of Godthrough Yoga Marca
by M. Nagarathinam, J. P., U. M. 248. The Marvel of Angkor Wat in Kampuchea
by Vladimir Godyna 249. Vedic Gayatri Mantra - A Judgment on Secularism
by Shyam Sunder 250. Sri Aurobindo and Indian Independence
by C. Shanmuganayagam 251. Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma
Uttarpara Speech by Sri Aurobindo 252. Bharatha Natyam and Vazhuvoor Ramiah Pillai
by Natya Kalashikamani Subhashini Pathmanathan 253. The 'Harappa" Culture Antecedents, Eflorescence and
Metamorphosis by K. V. Soundararajan 254. A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka by Desabandu Reggie Candappa
CHAPTER 19
Anti-imperialist Movement 255. The Gal Oya Project Failure
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe 256. Dangers involved in Mahaweli Acceleration
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe 257. Nilwala Ganga - Disaster Ahead
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe 258. The Janasaviya Program - Let's Face the Facts
by Dr. Mervyn D. de Silva M.P. 259. Environmental Protection and Common Security in the
Mediterranean Region by Dr. Judit Balazs
CHAPTER 20
The Soviet Union 260. The October Revolution
by John Reed 261. The House in Rosmead Place by Yevgany Menkes 262. Twentieth Anniversary of Lanka Soviet Diplomatic Relations
by V Baidakov 263. The Style is The Man - About V. l. Lenin
by K. P. S. Menon 264. Doing Away With A 'Scaffold For Humanity
by A. Lazarev, Novosti Analyst
1786
1801
1805
1809
1811
1814
1825
1828
1838
1851
1856
1860
1863
1868
1877
1881
1884
1890
1894

ix
Perestroika is Revealing a New Lenin 1898
265.
Speech by Mikhail Gorbachev 266, is a Nuclear-Free World POSSible? 1907
by Yevgeni Tarabrin 267. Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1913
by Prof. Dr. J. David Singer 268. Lenin's Unique Role in Human History 1928
by Dudley Senanayake 269. The Difference between Soviet and American Foreign
Policies 1930 Soong Ching Ling (Madame Sun Yat-sen) 270. Communists Urge Russians to Strike and Join Party 1937
Moscow, Sunday (Reuter) (22.06. 1997) 271. Lankan Undergraduate Amazed at Leningrad's Courage
and Phoenix like Rise from Ashes 1939 by V. Kulik-Remezova 272. Lenin's Ideas Will live for IEVer 1942
by Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranalike 273. Lenin - Greatest Man of the Twentieth Century 1944
by Rev. Kaluvamodera Siri Niwasa
CHAPTER 21
Anti-Imperialist Movement 274. The Glory that was Lanka 1947 by Kunasekaram Nesaiah at the Jaffna Youth Congress 275. The Jaffna Boycott of the Legislative Council 1955
by Youth Congress, Jaffna, 1939 276. Class Struggle, Revolution, Socialism and Communism 1958
by Chairman Mao Zedong 277. Sun Yat-Sen and The Revolution of - 1911 1963
- Extract from "The Revolution of 1911" 278. President Ho Chi Minh - The Spirit of Vietnam 1971
by Anamika 279, Western Manoeuvres in Africa 1976
by Julius Nyerere 280. SARC - it's Birth and Development 1985
by Manohar Trakru 281. Regional Co-operation in Education, Culture and
Technology - The SAARC Experience 1990 by Dr. Premadasa Udagama 282, President Chandrika Kumaratunga calls for informalTalks
Among SAARC States to Ease Tension 1995 by Jayatilleke de Silva from Male 283, Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2001
by A. Aziz, Vice President of AAPSO

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284. NGOs Support for Palestinian Peace initiative Vital 2018
by Yasser Arafat, Chairman, P.L.O. 285. End Economic Dependence of Developing Countries 2022
by Julius K. Nyerere 286. Cambodia: The Exquisite Irony of a Secret U.S.War 2031
by Jeremy J. Stone (U. S. A.) 287. Afghanistan in The Days Before 2033
Leonid Mironov, Soviet Union of Journalists' Prize Winner Vladimir Spolnikov, Cand. Sc. (Hist) 288. End Apartheid for a Better World 2055
by Nelson Mandela 289. The Great Escape 2060
by Joe Segera 290. NM: Unacknowledged pioneer of many a struggle 2064
by Professor Emeritus Osmund Jayaratne 291. Independence, Courtesy India 2068
by P. K. Balachandran 292. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, Former M. S. C. Gaol for Sedition 2070 293. A Memoire on Theja Gunawardena - A Balm to a
Worried Mind 2O72 by Chamaine Nissanka 294. The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung
and the idea of JUCHE 2O78 295. Conversion: International Aspects 2090
by Prof. Dr. Lev Voronkov, Director, International Institute for Peace, Vienna, Austria.
CHAPTER 22
Some Articles on Spiritual Matters
296. Time is God 21 O7
by Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba V 297. The New Testament - St. Matthew 2120 298. The Three Supreme Mantras 2128
by T. Duraisingam 299. Shariah: Islamic Code of Law and Morality 232
by Dmitry Yeremeyev, Dr. Sc. (Hist) 300. The Ethics Of The Buddha 2141
by J. R. Jayawardene 301. Hinduism and its impact on Buddhism 249
by T. Duraisingam 302. Swami Vivekananda's First-ever Speech in the East
After his successful addresses in Chicago 2156 303. Acknowledgement 2167 304. Sri Lankan 11th Parliamentary General Elections held on
10th October, 2000 2168

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People
SPEECH BY FIDEL CASTRO RUZ
IFirst Secretary of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Cuba and Chairman of the State Council and the Government of the Republic, at a session of the National Assembly of People's Power held on January 1, 1979 to mark the 20th anniversary of the victory of the Cuban Revolution.)
Distinguished guests, Comrades, deputies of the National Assembly of People's Power, Compatriots,
It was perhaps by chance that the arduous struggle waged by the people culminated in the triumph of the revolution in our country on January 1 and that for Cuba, the first day of that New Year, signified, together with the turning of the last leaf of the old calendar, the demise of One World and the birth of another.
It was not a matter of one year, but of one century, or perhaps of one millennium, succeeding another. And not because we are as old as Greece or Rome, but because the shameful exploitative class Society that was doomed to vanish that day was older than either Greece or Rome. It was not without profound justification that Marx said that the coming of socialism would signify the end of mankind's prehistory.
Perhaps we ourselves did not fully realize what a gigantic step forward in the history of our country and the American continent was taken on that January 1 of 1959, which was destined to become a signal event also in the development of the world revolutionary movement.
Forty-one years and two months after the glorious October Revolution, there began the first socialist revolution in the Western Hemisphere. Four and a half centuries after the discovery of America, the society that had taken shape through conquest, extermination of

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1098 Politics and Life in Our Times
the local population, colonization, slavery, capitalism, neo-colonialism and imperialism was to experience its first truly far-reaching and irreversible change. And this change took place on the very doorstep of the most powerful imperialist country in the world.
AS we evaluate today the significance of this fact we cannot but recall with emotion and gratitude the self-sacrifice and modesty of the fighters who made possible the accomplishment of this task in the history of Cuba and the Americas.
January 1, 1959, was essentially the culmination of the heroic struggle begun in Yara nearly a hundred years before. To our generation fell the honour of playing an outstanding role in the victorious completion of this long struggle. It is for the historians to make a thorough study of the political and social phenomena by virtue of which our people came to be the trailblazers who launched on the path of socialism before any Other people of our much-suffering America. This cannot be explained solely by chance factors or by cold schematic interpretation of the inexorable laws governing the development of human society.
REVOLUTION IS POSSIBLE ONLY WITH A THOUGHTFUL
COURAGEOUS STRUGGLE
The Cuban people, with their history, their arduous lone struggle for their liberation last century, their splendid, heroic, militant traditions, and their indomitable will to fight, have to their credit an accomplishment that cannot be overestimated. No revolution is possible without clarity of ideas and goals, even if the objective conditions for it exist. More, without vigorous, persistent, resolute and thoughtful struggle, Seasoned, moreover, with an enormous dose of courage, no revolution is possible.
Indeed, it is impossible to visualize conditions less propitious for conceiving of the far-reaching and irreversible social changes that were to take place barely seven years later than those that were created by the military coup of March 10, 1952. Totally corrupt and incompetent government had shattered all the people's hopes. Unprecedented official repression, tyranny, and violence were let loose on the country. Imperialist domination was tightened in all spheres as never before. It

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1099
was the heyday of MacCarthyism, and the cold war poisoned the international political climate. No other country, with the exception of Puerto Rico, was so completely dominated by the United States as Cuba. The landowners and the bourgeoisie, who placed all their faith in imperial power and well-armed and well-trained repressive forces, never gave serious thought to the possibility of a Socialist revolution in Our country. But the neo-colonialist regime rested not only on armed force; the entire practically impenetrable system of information, dissemination of knowledge, education, reactionary theories and notions and anticommunist prejudice was the ideological foundation of the society of that time.
Leadership of the workers' organizations was seized by the yellow labour leaders and hired agents of the reaction with the complicity and support of the government. The communist movement, which embraced what was undoubtedly the minority of the people, was persecuted as ruthlessly as the ideas it advocated.
One cannot forget the terrible days that followed the coup of March 10. It was not easy to find one's way through the dense impenetrable political jungle. The ideas of Marxism-Leninism were not seen by all as the radiant sun that today shines for the entire nation; at that time they were slender shafts of light breaking through the dense thickets, serving as indispensable guides in the search for a revolutionary Way out of the situation existing at the time. If ever there were circumstances that subjected a political theory to a severe test, such circumstances arose in Cuba in 1952.
March 10 was for our national consciousness a shattering blow that deeply wounded the moral spirit of the people who, though they did not yet possess revolutionary political experience, wholeheartedly detested abuse of power, injustice, crime, diktat, and the use of force. They were a people with a conscience in a country where corruption, vice and politicking had failed to kill the seeds of heroism and love of liberty and country planted during our battles for independence at Yara, Jilmaguayu, Bragua, Baire, Dos Rios and Punta Erava and nurtured by Jose Marti's constant and ever-inspiring appeals to human dignity.

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Marxist-Leninist revolutionaries cannot but recognize the significance and impact of these moral factors in our national character. We were, We are and we always will be a rebellious and indomitable people, We Were, We are and always will be a people ready for struggle and battle; We were, Weare and always will be a patriotic people, Today, Weare, besides, an internationalist people, and should always remain so,
Could the tyranny established on March 10 last forever? Could iTperialist domination over our country last forever? Could corruption and crime last forever? Could the ruthless exploitation of our workers and peasants last forever? Could wice and injustice last forever? Could oppression and ignorance last forever? Could the trampling of human dignity in our country last forever? No! A thousand times no!
PEOPLE THAT SHAPE THEIR LEADERS
The strength of the tyranny lay in the force of arms, terror, and ignorance. The strength of the revolution lay in the justice of our ideas and in the people, in their courage, in their traditions, in the exploited Workers and peasants, the high-minded students, the ordinary youth. Mo matter that they were unarmed.
Lacking money, connections and ways and means of acquiring arms, we simply had to proceed from the fact that the needed weapons, Well-oiled and ready for use, were stored away in the barracks of the enemy.
The people needed leaders. These leaders were to be found in the midst of the people. At each stage of our revolutionary struggle the people always produced their leaders, it is not the leaders that shape peoples, but the peoples that shape their leaders,
None of those who stood at the head of the victorious Rebel Army on January 1, 1959, had studied at military acade Ties and their names had never appeared in the press. With wery few exceptions none Of those Wh0 latar beCare members of the Political Bureau and the Central Committee of the Party or the government were known at that time.

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cubar People 1101
THERE ARE THREE MAN POLITICAL PARTIES IN CANADA. THE PROGRESSIWE CONSERVATIVES, THE LIBER ALS AND THE CO-OPERATIVE COMMONWEALTH FEDERATEON. CANADA EXPORTS NEWSPRINT PAPER, WOOD-PULP, WOOD, FISH AND FISHERY PRODUCTS, ALUMNIUM, COPPER, NICKEL, AND GRAIN. IT IS THE WORLD'S GREATEST PRODUCER OF NICKEL, PLATINUMAND ASBESTOS, RANKS SECOND IN ALUMNIUM, GOLD AND ZINC, AND FOURTH IN COPPER AND LEAD. OIL WELLSARE BEING DEWELOPED. CANADA RECEIVES OVERS300,000,000 ANNUALLY IN THE FORM OF NEW CAPITAL FROM ABROAD FOR DIRECT INVESTMENT OF WHICH ABOUT NINETY PERCENTCOMES FROM THE U.S. A.
lSLLLLSS LLLLLLOLL GGLLLuL SLuaG LLTLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLt LL LCLLLLLL
Cuban President Fidel Castro receiving the Canadian Prime Minister Jean Grerian at the Jose Marti Airport in Cuba, on 26th April 1998, The Canadian Prime Minister is on a friendly visi lo Cuba,
Canada is a federal union of 10 provinces within the British Commonwealth, Both English and French are official languages. The U.S.A., exerts a powerful Oconomic and cultural influence, but Canada remains strongly attached to her Commonwealth link and whole-heartedly supported Britain in both World Wars, contributing large forces. Canada is a member of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and an active supporter of the United Nations. The judicial End lagal systems reserrible those of the Unite{d KingdDrT1.

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1102 Politics and Life in Our Times
The bourgeois press, the bourgeois parties and imperialism had boosted other names, other figures, other leaders. Today millions of our young people and children have never heard of them, and many of our adults have already forgotten them.
But it was necessary to fight. Without struggle, I repeat, there can be no revolution. Without the consistent, stubborn struggle waged by the peoples and their revolutionary vanguard no social change is possible. Marxism-Leninism gave us our theory, the struggle gave us our victory.
At times the difficulties may become incredibly great and one may taste the bitterness of defeat. The forms of struggle frequently change. But there is only one road - the road of struggle, struggle, and again struggle.
it may be definitely said that the conquest of revolutionary power in Cuba was accomplished exclusively by our people. At that stage we Could not obtain any help from without and the supply of the arms with which we waged the war was the sole privilege of the Batista army, from which we captured weapons in battle after battle.
The days preceding January 1, 1959, are unforgettable. Bitter struggle swept the entire country. While the underground in the towns, displaying incomparable valour, fought to the death, the Rebel Army Consisting of three thousand seasoned soldiers (that was approximately the number of fighting men it had in December 1958) waged incessant battles and inflicted defeat after defeat upon an enemy 80,000 strong. The whole nation was behind the revolutionary army.
Historic and unforgettable was the day we are now Commemorating, the day Our Working people, in defiance of the camarilla of official trade union leaders, unanimously responded to the call of the Rebel Army and took a decisive part in the struggle by declaring a general strike that paralyzed the country from end to end, helped to foil the manoeuvres of imperialism which had counted on a coup, and to establish control over the remaining enemy forces and disarm them in less than 72 hours. The entire people participated in the final battle. This was a splendid and instructive revolutionary action that altered the Course of Our Country's history once and for all.

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1103
TWENTIETHANNIVERSARY OF THE REVOLUTION
Approximately at this very hour twenty years ago the march that began at Moncada on July 26, 1953, was completed in the very same city of Santiago de Cuba. At the feet of the people lay the ruins of the tyranny established on March 10, 1952.
in the report to the First Congress of the Party we analyzed the Course of the revolutionary process up to 1975. And when we observed a few months ago the 25th anniversary of storming of Moncada, we dwelt upon important international political issues. There is no need to return to the subject today.
But what are the powerful emotions and deep reflections evoked by the celebration of the twentieth anniversary of the victory of the revolution? Primarily a feeling of justified pride. Together we have overcome incredible obstacles, together we have achieved signal victories in all spheres. Together we have built our Marxist-Leninst Party and its heroic militant youth organization, which represent a select vanguard of fighters whose ranks are being augmented by the best sons of our people. Together We have built up our active mass organizations, those great human reservoirs distinguished for their strength, organization and consciousness. Together we have built our socialist state, its organs of people's government, its splendid institutions, and are working persistently to build its economic base. Together we have organized and supported that effective and indestructible bastion in the struggle against the enemy, our Ministry of the Interior. Together we continue to develop and strenghten by our labours and our blood the glorious Rebel Army, to which belongs the credit for the victory of January 1, and from whose invincible ranks arose the gallant and invincible Revolutionary Armed Forces of today, the impenetrable shield of the people, militant model of internationalism, the legitimate pride of the revolution, to which We pay well-earned tribute today, on this anniversary of our most glorious feat of arms. Together we have achieved tremendous successes in the material, spiritual and social spheres. Together we have elevated our Country to a place of prestige and honour in the world. Together we have worked for history.

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1104 Politics and Life in Our Times
Not only have we upheld the integrity of our home-land; with unshakable staunchness we have upheld the integrity of our ideas.
Until January 1, imperialism was our indirect adversary. The direct adversary was Batista. After January, imperialism became the direct adversary. Prior to January we fought to become the masters of our own destiny. After January, we fought to uphold this right and to carry out the socialist revolution.
Before January, ours was only a patriotic battle; after January, it was also an internationalist battle.
Before January, we were part of a national revolution; since January, we have been part of the world revolution. Before January, the main protagonist was the vanguard; beginning with January, the people became the main protagonist.
The present stage calls for not less but more heroism than the previous stage. If formerly heroism wasmanifested mainly by individuals, today it has become a mass phenomenon. Formerly it was exclusively heroism on the field of battle; today it is displayed in both battle and labour.
To develop the country and build socialism is far more difficult than to win a revolutionary war. The latter is a matter of a few years, the former of long decades. But the triumphs of peace and labour are far finer than military victories won at the cost of bloodshed. Military glory, merited though it may be, can be forgotten since for the revolutionary it is merely a painful instrument in the fight for freedom. Glory in labour is eternal. If men were just, they would raise more monuments to labour than to feats of arms. But labour has its own everlasting monument in progress and human creativity, and its own unknown heroes: the selfsacrificing masses. True, to fight, to win and to die for a just CauSe is also a form that the finest efforts of revolutionaries must Sometimes take, an expression of supreme selflessness and high-mindedness, and therefore also an eternal monument to progress.
Who can deny us the tremendous joy we all derive from each new School, kindergarten, out-patients clinic, hospital, farm, factory, dam, irrigation system, highway, port, residential block, sports stadium, cinema theatre and library built in our country? Who can deny us the pride we take in the enrolment at our elementary, secondary, pre-university and

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1105
technical schools and universities, in the highest standards of culture and education in our hemisphere, in the lowest child mortality rate, in the most effective indices of health protection, in our triumphs in sports, in our society free of discrimination, unemployment, poverty, gambling, prostitution and drug addiction, in our Working people who are raising their compulsory educational standard to the sixth-grade level, in our plans for the constant advancement of our cultural level, in the development of both professional and amateur art? Who can deny us our rejoicing at each victory in the economic sphere, at the rapid rate of development of our national economy and at the creation of conditions for a more secure future, even though the present generation still has to work hard and lead a relatively austere life?
AS the Sole and absolute masters of Our economic Wealth and natural resources, we are today in a position to organize, plan and direct our economic and social development in full freedom, which is something no other country in our hemisphere is able to do.
But how hard is the struggle we have had to wage and how much effort we have had to exert to win and uphold this right to work, create and enjoy the benefits of freedom, socialism, equality, progress and social justice in our country
Why has imperial wrath descended upon us? Yankee imperialism unduestionably regarded itself as the absolute master of our hemisphere and denied all Latin American and Caribbean peoples the right to choose any economic, political and social system other than the underdeveloped neo-colonialized capitalism it prescribed forus Latin Americans, with its rotten and hypocritical pseudo democracy, or feudal oligarchies of the type of Somoza, Duvalier and Stroessner, or the variety of fascism applied to Chile, Uruguay and some other unfortunate peoples of our hemisphere.
UNITED STATES DENESCUBAMEDICINE TO ALLEVATE HUMAN
PAN OR SAVE HUMAN LIVES
Owing to the savage hostility and aggressive policy vis-a-vis the Cuban revolution, our country has been unable to obtain in the United States even the simplest medicine to alleviate human pain or save human lives for nearly twenty years now, or to sell a single ounce of

Page 14
1106 Politics ard Lifg ir 7 Cur Tings
sugar on the U. S. market. History will brand with eternal shame those who embarked on and are continuing this criminal policy of strangulation and economic genocide against our people.
But have they achieved their ends? Neither the economic blockade, which included reprisals against third Countries that traded With Cuba or sent their ships to our ports, nor the smuggling in of thousands of Weapons and explosive devices, subversion, Counterrevolutionary gangs, pirate attacks, landings of mercenaries, threats of direct aggression, and plans for the physical destruction of the leaders of the revolution could prevent Cuba from becoming the most advanced country in the continent that it is today by virtue of its unprecedented social development, Many other peoples of the World and international organizations recognize with admiration and respect the achievements of Our revolution.
Against this background, what social progress has our hemisphere registered in these twenty years? Illiteracy, unemployment, child mortality, unsanitary living conditions, slums, prostitution, drug addiction, pauperism, the numbers of homeless children Crime, economic enslavement, plunder of natural wealth and the brain drain hawe all increased in absolute terms ir the rest Of Latin America ,
Seventy thousand patriots killed or missing under reactionary repressive governments was the result of the intervention Tounted by the United States" 25 years ago in Guatemala to owerthrow thea progressive Arbenz government.
Tens of thousands of people killed during the repressions in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Haiti, Chile, Uruguay, Paraguay, Braziland other Countries - such is the grim balance sheet of the regimes set up and supported by the United States. Tens of thousands of lives lost as a result of hunger, curable diseases, poverty, unsanitary conditions and social indifference - such is the balance sheet of the imperialist stranglehold on our hemisphere over the 20 years since the Cuban revolution.
How long can such crimes continue? How long will they be tolerated by the peoples?
ls it not truly wonderful to be able to say today that two decades have passed since we freed ourselves from the hell of this stranglehold?

The Rewolusionary Epic of the Club 7 Papag O7
WE WOICE OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO THE GREAT COUNTRY OF LENIN, ITS REVOLUTION, ITs HIGH MINDED AND HEROIC PEOPLE, ITS INTERNATIONALIST POLICY, APOLICY WHOSE CORRECTNESSHAS NOT ONCE BEEN DISPROWED IN ALL THE 61 YEARS OFITS GLORIOUS HISTORY. TWENTY YEARS OF FRIENDSHIP AND SOLIDARITY ARE THE LLLLLLLLLLLL LL LLLLLLLLL LLLL L LLLLLLLLL LL L0LLLLLLL LLLL LLLLLLLLS
* ■
| ne Srriory - the headquarters of the October Revolution with th9 Tournart so V. I. Lenin. Tha armad uprising in November 1977was directed successfully from here, by Lenin and his comrades,
A policy based on principles is worth far more than millions of idle Words. It is practical deeds that go down in history. We have always said that under no circumstances will we furlour banners, Whan We Were still in Mexico, We declared In 1956 that we would either win our freedom or perish, And we kept our Word Lator Wo proclaimed the slogan "Fatherland or death!" and again lived up to it.
- Folg Castro RLIZ.

Page 15
1108 PossosS ar ffe fr ) " Tir ES
IN THIS JAPANESESTEAMSHIP COMING FROM HARBIN, THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, EMBARKEDATSINGAPORE, IN 1931, AND AFTER TRAW ELLING FOR FIWE DAYS, DISEMBARKED AT COLOMBO, CEYLON.
THE DAYSPRECEDINGJANUARY 1, 1959, ARE UNFORGETABLE, BITTER STRUGGLE SWEPT THE ENTRE COUNTRY OF CUBA. WHILE THE UNDERGROUND IN THE TOWNS, DISPLAYING INCOMPARABLE WALOUR, FOUGHT TO THE DEATH, THE REBEL ARMY CONSISTING OF THREE THOUSAND SEASONED SOLDIERS THAT WAS APPROXIMATELY THE NUMBER OF FIGHTING MEN IT HAD IN DECEMBER 1958) WAGED INCESSANT BATTLES AND INFLICTED DEFEAT AFTER DEFEAT UPON AN ENEMY 80,000 STRONG. THE WHOLE NATION WAS BEHIND THE REVOLUTIONARY ARMY.
*蒿 L.-R. A Goan going to Portugesa Goa in India, a Frenchman to France the authora Marxist-Leninist, to Ceylon, Russian expatriates, mother and daughter TTT LLLLLL LL 0LL LLLLLL LTLuCCS SLLL LLLLLLLOLCLL LC LCC LCC LLLL LL uuuLLLL of the ship. Harbin is a riverport of Manchuriangar Mongolia. It is also a treally por and has ari iritari lational Saftleritar),
January 1, 1959, Was essentially the culmination of the heroic struggle begun in Yara nearly a hundred years before, To our generation fell the honour of playing an Outstanding role in the victorious completion on this long struggle. It is for the historians to make a thorough study of the political and social phenomena by virtue of which our people came to be the trailblazers who launched on the path of Socialism before any other people of our much-suffering America. This Cannot be explained soldly by chance factors or by cold schematic interpretation of the inexorable laws governing the development of human society,
 

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 109
Who can now erase Cuba from the map, and its example and its lessons from history?
is not the day near when other peoples too will throw off this yoke?
Are we not capable of continuing our resistance without faltering for another twenty years, and as many times twenty as Tlay be necessary?
Needless to say, neither in our hemisphere, nor in Africa, nor yet in any other part of the world do we intend to yield.
The United States persistently continues its criminal blockade, using it as an instrument of pressure and blackmail on Cuba, But Cuba is not a country that can be pressured, intimidated, bribed or bought ower. Cuba is not China and not Egypt.
DESP|TE CAPTULATOR S AND TRAITORS, NEW REWO
-LUTIONARY BASTIONS SPRING UPDALY
We live in a World in which opportunisin and even gross betrayal arerile. But it is also a world in which despite the capitulators and traitors, new revolutionary bastions spring up daily, Witness Wietnam. Laos, Angola, Mozambique, Ethiopia and Afghanistan,
Can the bloody Sotoza regime survive on Tountains of Corpses? Can Pinochet hold out long against the growing resistance of the Chilean people when the discovery of dead bodies with hands tied behind their backs With barbed wire and bullet holes in their skulls no longer allows him to conceal or cartouflage the mysterious disappearance of people and his other fearful crimes?
Can the Shah of Iran cling to power in the face of the resolute. heroic mass struggle of the entire people?
Despite the present policy of China and the enormity of its treachery, the world, which has been undergoing far-reaching change already for several decades, will continue to change. In reply to each setback, each retreal, each instance of desertion, more and Thore revolutionary wictories in the name of progress and socialism are being won. Inperialism is no longer and newer will be able to halt the inexorable advance of the stage of history which the glorious October Revolution Lushered if1,

Page 16
1110 Politics and Life in Our Times
Cuba is not opposed to economic and even normal diplomatic relations with the United States. We sincerely believe that with the necessity of peace and Co-existence of different Social regimes, which Leninpointed to already in the first days of the revolution, is today greater than ever for the survival of humanity. This is a basic principle of socialism, but it does not give imperialism the right to intervene and suppress the revolutionary movement in any country of the World.
The United States must unconditionally lift the economic blockade of Cuba, for this blockade is a violation of the norms of civilization, a manifestation of a policy of arbitrary diktat, discrimination, hostility and aggression.
The United States must renounce its savage strategy of using the blockade as an instrument of negotiation with Cuba, for We shall never accept it.
The very fact that while the U. S. has trade relations with the overwhelming majority of the socialist countries it has left the blockade against Our Country in force is evidence of its gross political amorality, incontrovertible proof of the total hypocrisy of its meaningless rhetoric about human rights and of its disregard for the right of the peoples of the Western Hemisphere to self-determination.
Who told the United States that we, the peoples of Latin America, are not entitled to choose the road of socialism? Who assigned it the role of policeman and supreme arbiter of our destinies? Why should we choose as our model the capitalist society which exploits other people's labour, discriminates against the Blacks, annihilates Indians, holds the Chicanos, Puerto Ricans and other Latin Americans in contempt, forces Women into prostitution and sexually exploits children, that society of violence, vice, and Crime? Who Can force us to live forever under this egoistic and brutal system doomed by history itself?
There are neither superior races, nor superior nations. No domination has ever been eternal. No empire has yet been able to escape decline and collapse. Rome in its time was more powerful, but less vicious, less vainglorious and more sober minded.
Cuba is aware that it is peforming its sacred duty to the fraternal peoples of our continent. Our victory was essentially the victory of all the Latin American peoples. And this will go down in history.

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1111
For the first time the people of a Latin American country dealta rebuff to Yankee arrogance and omnipotence. For the first time a barrier was raised to U.S. imperialism in one part of our America. For the first time a smashing rebuff was given to its expansionism, political intrigues, subversive activity, economic measures and armed actions. For the first time a government exists in this part of the world contrary to the will of the U.S. And so disdain developed into hatred, hatred into aggression, aggression into defeat, and defeat into respect. Since that happened we, the Latin American and Caribbean peoples, no longer appear to be so inferior in U.S. eyes because they see in each of us a potential Cuba. Thus the freedom and respect won by Cuba brought all the peoples of America more freedom and greater respect, even if these have not yet signified social changes for them.
However, the smartest of the imperial strategists are counting on being able to domesticate even a revolutionary government. They are prompted in this by the example of China-precisely China, whose children only a few years ago were taught to bayonet straw dummies bearing the names of Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon.
The imperialists pinned their hopes on the fact that chauvinism still is a powerful force, that even under socialism there still exists national egoism capable of destroying the spirit of internationalism, that their financial and technological potential was a weapon which progressive governments experiencing economic difficulties could not withstand.
PEOPLE, INCLUDING THE CHINESE PEOPLE, WILL NEVER
TOLERATE SUCHSNSTER ADVENTURES AND MADNESS
Chauvinism, opportunism and imperialism are closely united against Marxism-Leninism, socialism and internationalism. This is not the first time in the history of the revolutionary movement that this has happened. Today the ruling Camarilla in China is an ardent supporter of the economic blockade against Cuba and is pressing for the preservation of the U.S. naval base in Guantanamo. Thus, the paper tiger is now devouring the petty-bourgeois ideas of the "great helmsman". Today it is no longer the United States, but China that is subjecting Vietnam to

Page 17
112 Politics and Life in Our Times
direct aggression. But if the government of China sold out the revolution in exchange for Taiwan, Western Credits and technology, Cuba will never abandon a single one of its principles either for the Guantanamo base or for all the gold of the imperialist countries taken together.
I do not know whether U. S. imperialism is a papertiger or not, but our ideas are by no means paper ideas.
China, whose people I admire for their austerity, revolutionary spirit, industry and self-sacrifice is a great country. When it had a population of 700 million, Cuba had barely 7 million. But China was separated from the "tiger" by the vast Pacific Ocean, whereas between us and the U.S., there is only the narrow Florida Strait. At the time of the October Crisis we could have been wiped out in a single night. We have no nuclear weapons, our country has neither a territory running into the millions of square kilometers nortens of millions of soldiers. Yet We stood firm, we were not broken, We did not Surrender or sell out.
For 20 years now we have been occupying a frontline position located closest of all to the most powerful and aggressive imperialist metropolis. And we are defending with honour and dignity not only this position. Our sons have fought and shed their blood in areas so remote as Angola and Ethiopia in order to help other peoples to defeat imperialism, neo-colonialism, racism and fascism.
Imperialism has suffered defeat not only in the Bay of Pigs in Cuba. It had its Bay of Pigs also in Angola and another in Ethiopia. Three Bays of Pigs in twenty years.
Whether the tiger is a paper one or not, our honour, our dignity, Our principles are not of paper
The West is now out to repeat with China, Hitler Germany's sinister adventure against the Soviet Union. But do they realize what sort of a fire they would be playing with this time? We are confident that the peoples, including the Chinese people, will never tolerate such madness.
We shall forge ahead not as a revolution celebrating its twentieth anniversary, but as a revolution beginning again today. The characteristic features of our revolution have always been unwavering firmness, fidelity to principles, a profoundly humane spirit. Our revolution never destroyed a single one of its sons, for it had neither a personality cult, nor gods

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1113
thirsting for blood. The closest unity and a spirit of respect and Comradeship always prevailed among all revolutionaries. The Leninist principles of organization and norms of leadership are today our most cherished treasure. We look forward to the future the richerfor 20 years' experience and with the enthusiasm of the first day of the revolution. Loyalty to the international revolutionary movement is and always will be the cornerstone of our foreign policy.
It is a pleasure to talk about our successes and Our victories. We are filled with pride at the dignity with which we are observing this day, but we would be the most ungrateful of peoples and victims of the worst form of human vanity, of the loathsome and despicable chauvinism which we so criticize, if we thought that it was thanks only to our own forces that we proved able to perform this revolutionary exploit and forgot how much we owe to the international solidarity we have enjoyed in the twenty years of direct confrontation with U.S. imperialism since our victory.
WE VOICE OUR DEEPEST GRATITUDE TO THE GREAT COUNTRY
OF LENN
On this day We must voice our deepest gratitude to the great country of Lenin, its revolution, its high-minded and heroic people, its internationalist policy, a policy whose correctness has not once been disproved in all the 61 years of its glorious history. Twenty years of friendship and solidarity are the foundation on which our relations with the Soviet Union rest.
A policy based on principles is worth far more than millions of idle words. It is practical deeds that go down in history. We have always Said that under no circumstances will We furlour banners. When We were still in Mexico we declared in 1956 that We WOuld either Win Our freedom or perish. And we kept our word Later we proclaimed the slogan "Fatherland or Death!" and again lived up to it. We would rather have perished together with the Fatherland than lived without it, and if we emerged the victors, if our people have the revolution, the Fatherland and life despite the confrontation with so brutal and powerful an enemy forced upon us throughout these twenty years, we owe this not only to

Page 18
1114 Politics Bard Life Ir7 COLT TirToo5
A BASIC PRINCIPLE OF SOVIET SOCIALIST FOREIGN POLICY IS THE PRESERVATION OF PEACE, THE PEACEFUL COEXISTENCE OF STATES WITH DIFFERENT SOCIAL SYSTEMS, OR WHAT LENIN TERMED IN AN INTERVIEWTOFOREIGNCORRESPONDENTS"PEACEFULCOHABITATION" WITH OTHERNATIONS. A STABLE PEACE CREATES FAWOURABLE CONDITIONS ON THE INTERNATIONAL SCENE FOR THE BUILDING OF A NEWSOCIETY IN THE SOCIALIST COUNTRIES AND FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE ENTRE REVOLUTIONARY PROCESS. THE STRUGGLE AGAINST UNJUST WARS, THE EFFORT TO AVERTNEW WORLD WARS WHICH WOULD BRING PEOPLE FEARFUL SACRIFICE AND DESTRUCTION, ACCORDS WITH THE WITAL INTERESTS OF THE MAJORITY OF MANKIND,
Wladimir Ilyich Ulyanov - Lenin ፰፰,ûቆ. ፲፱Yû – ፰†. ዕ† †Š፰4
In the first few Tonths after the October Revolution, Lenin wrote: "We established and consolidated a Soviet Republic, a new type of state, which is infinitely superior to, and more democratic than, the best of the bourgeois-parliamentary republics, We established the dictatorship of the proletariat supported by the poor peasantry, and began a broadly conceived system of socialist reforms. We awakened the faith of the millions upon millions of workers of all countries in their own strength and kindled the fires of enthusiasm in the IT".
 
 
 

The Revolutionary Epic of the Cuban People 1115
our own heroic and resolute struggle, but to a great extent also to the waliant people who extended to us a hand of friendship at the critical and decisive moments for Our revolution,
Others may bite the hand that extends generous assistance. But Cuba, its sons, are today and will always be grateful to the Soviet Union for what it has done for our people!
One need not redden to be honest, but it is necessay to be honestly Red.
Similar feelings of elementary gratitude we owe our brothers from the other Countries of the socialist community, sincere Communists the World over, the Working class, the progressive forces of Latin America, Asia, Africa and Europe.
We hawe with us here at this celebration many representatives of friendly states and progressive organizations from all parts of the world. We express our deep gratitude to them all,
On this, the 20th anniversary we salute in particular the heroic peoples of Vietnam and Laos, the Palestinians, the Arab peoples subjected to aggression, the patriots of Namibia, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Wester Sahara, Our Latin American brothers who in many Countries are fighting against aggression and fascism, all fighters for peace and human progress,
THE SPIRITUAL LEGACY WE BEQUEATH TO OUR COMING
GENERATIONS
We shall be un shakably true to our principles and 0 Lur revolutionary duty. This is the most precious spiritual legacy which we bequeath to our country's coming generations.
As We Tark this 20th anniversary, we would experience a feeling of still greater gratification had we been able to make still better use of each year, each month, each day, each minute, had all our actions without exception been the most sagacious the Wisest. Not always Were the actions and initiatives of each one of Lus the Thost correct. But We were newer lacking in ardent desire to Work to the maximum and to the best effect for our people and for the revolution so dear to our hearts. The people, the revolution and the life of each of us are indivisible!

Page 19
1116 Politics and Life in Our Times
Man has demonstrated his ability to advance and to perform extraordinary exploits. The revolution, with its charge of humanity, equality, brotherhood, morality and beauty, is the greatest of human exploits. It compels all of us to grow, to surpass ourselves. Life unduestionably is a tremendous privilege, but it acquires true meaning Only when it is dedicated to so noble and just a cause. Looking back at the path traversed, we are conscious of the great honour that has fallen to the lot of our generation - the honour ci living in this epoch and dedicating our energy to this splendid cause. And as if launching out on our chosen path anew, let us look ahead from the positions of the experience already accumulated so as to make better headway and accomplish more.
The road ahead is longer than the road we have covered. The joy and optimism of today should not lead us into the error of underestimating the struggles awaiting us. Our difficulties will still be enormous, but we shall overcome them. A revolutionary is in a sense a long distance runner in the Olympiad of history, where one generation Succeeds another. Like athletes bearing aloft the Olympic flame, let us exert the maximum effort on the lap ahead so as to triumphantly, with a feeling of honour and hope, pass on the torch to our successors, who Will be better than us and who today are being steeled in the ranks of our heroic and enthusiastic Communist youth organization, of our intelligent and promising student youth, of our splendid Young Pioneers, the radiant hope of our Fatherland.
The revolutionary Fatherland will never die, because we built it and have defended it with our lives, because we have lived up to and will Continue to live up to our heroic clarion call:
Fatherland Or Cdeath !
We shal win
Courtesy: "New Times", Moscow, May, 1979

Moncada Attack and the Cuban Revolution
The following resolution on Cuba, was passed with acclamation at a public meeting in solidarity with Cuba, held on 6th August, 1996 at Colombo, to commemorate the 43rd anniversary of the "Moncada Attack". The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, actively participated in the proceedings of this meeting.)
The people of Sri Lanka, through the Public Meeting held in the city of Colombo on 6th August, 1996 to mark the historic Moncada Attack, extend their warmest fraternal felicitations to the heroic people of Cuba and their Government, headed by Fidel Castro and also express their unreserved solidarity in their determined struggle for the defence of their country, revolution and socialism.
On this occasion of commemorating the greatevent of Moncada Attack, the people of Sri Lanka condemn with all vehemence the HelmsBurton Act passed by the US Congress which constitutes the Cruelest violation of human rights of the eleven million Cuban people and of international law. This public meeting views, with serious concern, the Helms-Burton Act as calculated to isolate and destabilize Cuba and also to provoke a confrontation between Cuba and US.
This meeting also expresses its highest appreciation of the continued support demonstrated by the international community of the United Nations, barring two countries, and in particular of the principled position taken by the governments of the entire European, and Latin American Continents and Canada in favour of Cuba.
This meeting notes with satisfaction the remarkable successes secured by the Cuban people, in their efforts to overcome the setbacks and reverses in the economy caused by the collapse of the Soviet Union, and to gain a speedy recovery in economic growth within a brief period of time.

Page 20
Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe Left Pioneer in the Legislature
by Basil Perera
in 1931, when Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe was elected as Member for Morawaka in the first State Council of Ceylon, and thus became a well-known national figure, Mrs. Sirimavo Bankaranaike was just fifteen, a student at St. Bridgets. Pieter Keuneman a boy of 13 studying for his Junior Cambridge at Royal College, and Stanley Tillekeratne a mere toddler of two 'mewling and puking in his nurse's arms'. Well over half the members of the present Cabinet had not then reached the voting age of 21. Five Were under 10. One had not even been born
Dr. Wickremasinghe was, of course, the first socialist to be elected to the State Council, ending the political monopoly till then exercised by bourgeois and feudal families in the old Legislative Councils. For the first time in Lanka's history, the voice of the lowly and the downtrodden was heard in the highest legislature of the land. It was the harbinger of thingsto come.
Two socialists were elected to the second State Council five years later, in 1936. And when the next General Election was held 11 years later in 1947, no less than 20 members of the three Left parties then in existence - the Lanka Samasamaja Party, Bolshevik-Leninist Party and the Communist Party - were elected to the first Parliament of Ceylon. And so the movement gathered momentum till the resounding victory of 1970 when, for the first time, members of both the LSSP and CP obtained seats in the Cabinet.
For his role as a one-man Opposition in the first State Council, Dr. Wickremasinghe earned many nicknames. He was called the 'Voice of Russia', the 'agent of Moscow' and the "Morawaka atamessa'. This was not wholly inappropriate considering how Dr. Wickremasinghe stung into the thick skin of the agents of foreign imperialism. It was also perhaps in reference to this nickname that Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, as

Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe - Left Pioneer in the Legislature 1119
President of the LSSP, said at the first public meeting organised by that Party at Lorenz College, Maradana, in December 1935 that "Dr. Wickremasinghe, as a socialist, was the first to discover the spear that alone could pierce the hard hide of their (Sir Baron Jayatilaka and Mr. D. S. Senanayake) inglorious self-satisfaction".
The finest comment on Dr. Wickremasinghe's performance in the first Council, however, was that given by the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. Speaking in Council on 15 January, 1935, he said of the doctor from the South:
"To listen to my honourable friend, the Honourable Member for Morawaka, one might think that he has got abee in his bonnet or perhaps many bees in his bonnet. But he must not be taken at his bare word. Those of us who have probed somewhat deeper into him know that he has a heart of gold. I personally appreciate very highly the work that he has done in this present epidemic, a very detailed and full list of which he has given us. I say, Sir, that we appreciate that very much. But he has a King Charles' head, that is on every occasion he brings out, and very rightly so-there is nothing like repetition in these matters - the socalled social aspect of the problem. Whether it happens to be restriction of immigration or malaria or the budget or whatever it may be, he trots out this social problem.
"There was a worthy gentleman in Rome who kept on repeating in every speech he made: 'Carthage must be destroyed Carthage must be destroyed ! Carthago delenda est. And finally that very desirable thing was done and Carthage was destroyed. And have no doubt that if the Honourable Member for Morawaka sufficiently repeats himself, some of the very desirable things which he has in mind Will be done".
That is exactly what has happened during the last 40 years. Many of the things that we take for granted today-like minimum wages, Workmen's compensation, maternity benefits, abolition of child labour, prohibition of immigration, etc. are some of the measures first fought for by Dr. Wickremasinghe in the first State Council. The Carthage of the pukka-Sahibs was indeed destroyed.

Page 21
12O Politics armi Life in Li'r TirrileS
"THERE WASAWORTHY GENTLEMANINROME WHOKEPTONREPEATING INEVERY SPEECH HE MADE: "CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED ! CARTHAGE MUST BE DESTROYED I CARTHAGO DELENDA EST. AND FINALLY THAT VERY DESIRABLE THING WASDONE AND CARTHAGE WAS DESTROYED. AND I HAWE NO DOUBT THAT IF THE HONOURABLE MEMBER FORMORAWAKA SUFFICIENTLY REPEATSHIMSELF SOME OF THE VERY DESIRABLE THINGS WHICH HE HAS IN MIND WILL BE DONE".
— S. MW. P. L.), Bardar Trafike.
H
f3.9 - 29. E. E.
Many of the things that we take for granted today - like minimum wages, Workmen's compensation, maternity benefits, abolition of child labour, prohibition of immigration, etc. are some of the measures first fought for by Dr. Wickremasinghe in the first State Council, The Carthage of the pukka-sahibs was indeed destroyed,
 

Dr, S. A. Wickremasinghe - Left Prioreer ir tħe Legislatura 1121
For his unremitting exposure of the Jayatilaka-Senanayake policy of collaboration with British imperialisIT and their defence of the capitalist-feudal social system, Dr. Wickremasinghe earned not only nicknames but also the Undying enmity of all wested interests. They went all out and defeated him in the 1936 General Election, This enmity lasted even till 1947 when on Mr. D. S. Senanayake's insistence, a special provision was inserted in the new Soulbury Constitution (Section 13(3) f) to debar Dr. Wickremasinghe from the first Parliament of Ceylon.
Dr. Wickremasinghe was, however, returned to the second State Council with a massive majority of over 23,000 votes at a by-election held early in 1947. He served there only for a few months. This was the time that the UNP was getting ready to usher in the Soulbury Constitution with a great deal of fanfare. Dr. Wickremasinghe threw a spanner into their works by tabling a motion in Council detlanding the withdrawal of all British armed forces front the Island and the election of a Constituent Assembly to draft our own constitution and determine our relations with Great Britain,
He was not to enter the highest legislature again until 1956, Since then, of Course, he has represented Akuressa in every Parliament for the last 20 years and been one of its best-lowed leaders and recognised speakers. He speaks authoritatively on Tatters like agriculture and irrigation, soil erosion and reaforestation and other problems affecting the peasantry and the economic development programmes of the Country.
As a speaker, Dr. Wickremasinghe lacks the fire and thunder of other Left leaders who have Tiade the rafters of Parliament ring - such as Philip and Robert Gunawardena, Colvin R. de Silva and Pieter Keuneman, In addition, Dr. Wickremasinghe is so knowledgeable in the subject on which he speaks that he often fails to organise his facts and develop his arguments properly, with the result that his speeches tend to be long and devious. Nevertheless, his speeches are listened to With respect and attention by both sides of the House because of the Wealth of information they contain, and his proposed solutions for various problems of the country, even if derided today, are often implemented
(T) TrOW,

Page 22
1122 Politics and Life in Our Times
Also the good doctor knows the art of dragging in his hobbyhorses into the most unlikely debate. Just see how he brought in the question of the Mahaweli diversion scheme into the debate on the takeOver of assisted Schools First, he lashed out at the Federalists for opposing that progressive Bill. Next, he said that the Federalists were reactionaries who have opposed every progressive measure. Then he went on to say that among the progressive measures which they had opposed was the scheme planned by Soviet experts to divert the Mahaweli ganga right up to the Giant's Tank in the North. And then he even started to give some figures about the diversion scheme when he was ruled out of order by Mr. Speaker.
in spite of his numerous other duties as leader of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka which take him to the furthest corners of the Island, Dr. Wickremasinghe takes his function as a parliamentarian seriously. He is seldom absent from its sittings except when ill-health or his absence abroad makes it inevitable. And when present, he does not, as many others do, read some book or magazine to while away the time, but follows proceedings intently with a view to trip his opponents. Once during a debate on an Amending Bill to the Paddy Lands Act brought in by the Government of Mrs. Bandaranaike in 1964, the UNP leader Mr. J. R. Jayewardene demagogically demanded that all paddy lands be vested in the cultivators. Quick as a flash, Dr. Wickremasinghe intervened to ask if the UNP would apply the same principle and agree to a policy of handing over the foreign-owned tea and rubber estates to be run as collective farms by the workers. Mr. Jayewardene was so taken aback that it took him some time to dodge the question and say. "Tea and rubber estates are another question. That is irrelevant here".
The arrh politician got away with that. But Dr. Wickremasinghe had stripped him of his mask splendidly.
Courtesy. Souvenir in Commemoration of Dr. S. A. WickremaSinghes 75th Birth Anniversary, Colombo, 13th April, 1976.

Rule by the Sword
An Era of Political Violence
On the day he died, 68-year-old President Ranasinghe Premadasa woke up at 4 a.m., as he had through most of his 40-year political career. He did his yoga, and at 5.15 he read the newspapers. At 7.30 he called his public relations officer and asked him to collect the "facts and figures" that reflected his record since he became president in 1988. He would use it to address the ruling United National Party's annual rally on the Galle Face Green, on Colombo's ocean front. "I want to tell the people how guided the nation", he said.
At 11.30 Premadasa, meticulous as ever, went to inspect the procession of party faithful he would lead to the green from Colombo's Sugadadasa Sports Stadium. Life-size posters of the president lined the route of the march. Security was light, despite an army announcement that a Tamil Tiger hit squad had slipped into the capital. At Armour Street the president jumped out of his Range Rover to ask his supporters to line up to begin the procession. As he stood in agreen UNP baseball cap waving his arms, a young man walked towards him pushing a bike, Premadasa's long-time valet Mohideen recognised him as "Babu", a Tamil who worked in Mohideen's grocery store near the president's home. The valet grabbed the handlebars and stopped him five meters short of the president.
The explosion could be heard two kilometers away at the house where Premadasa was born, grew up and still lived. The bomb, wired around the assassin's Waist, Was about the size of a Cassette recorder. it was powerful enough to instantly kill the president and sixteen others - most of his security contingent. Of the 38 people wounded, seven more would die. Premadasa was identified only by his wristwatch. "My clothes were splattered with blood and bits of flesh", a UNP supporter told the coroner, who was by now familiar with the effects of terrorist bombs.

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1124 Politics and Life ir Curr Times
In less than two weeks, assassins had struck down both the country's president and the only other man who could challenge him, opposition leader Lalith Athulathmudali. On April 23a one gunman had pumped six shots into the former defence minister's back as he addressed a campaign rally for May 17 provincial council polls. Shortly after Premadasa was killed, Prime Minister Dingiri Banda Wijetunge was sworn in as acting president.
Under the 1978 Constitution drawn up by Premadasa's predecessor J. R. Jayewardene, the legislature must elect a president from Parliament within a month. As of May 5, the 71 year old mildmannered Wijetunga was the only candidate. That the opposition chose not to Contest showed the Parliament's resolve to restore calm. Another incentive to head off a violent power struggle within the ruling party,
Police were quick to blame the Tamil Tiger separatists for both assassinations. But many people suspected the president's men killed Athulathmudali, and those same people were ready to believe Athulathmudali's followers murdered the president in revenge, "We hawo seen these wery strong leaders acting like dictators and doing anything they want to their opponents", says School teacher Asoka Perera. "Wijetunge will be different and will bring some decency back",
Dospite the political instability, an eerie calm settled over the island, An era was closing, Premadasa had presided over one of the most violent periods in the country's 2,500-year history. In hit was the key to understanding everything that was good and evil about contemporary Sri Lanka. Anyone who looked could find equal measures of both in the man. But in the end, it was the dark side that won out. "The whole nation was angry", says a longtime political analyst, "We needed someone to focus our anger and hatred on Premadasa had to die".
Poet, author and visionary, Prer Tadasa believed in all things mystical. A vain man, his black hair dye would often drip down his face in the hot sun, A Liampion of the free market, he thought he could Irwin riveryone with a home, an education and a chance to rise, as he did, above the caste system that dominates Sri Lanka. Paranoid and ruthless, he would stop at nothing to achieve his dream, "He wanted to see an economically strong Sri Lanka", says his old friend Minister of Justice Shahul Hameed, "where the common man was given a share of the Cake".

Fulle by the Sword 1125
EARLY IN HIS CAREER PREMADASA, WAS BEFRIENDED BY SEVERAL POWERFUL BUSINESSMEN. ONE WAS S.RAJENDRAM, THE TAMIL FOUNDER OF THE MAHARAIA ORGANISATION TODAY ONE OF THE COUNTRY'S RICHEST GROUPS. ANOTHER WAS SINHALESE LAND DOEWELOPER A. K. DHARMADASA. BOTH PROSPERED UNDER THE UNP'S ECONOMIC LIBERALISATION PROGRAM. MORE RECENTLY DHARMADASA AND MAHARAJA'S SON KILL BECAME KNOWN IN BUSINESS CIRCLES AS "THE FORCES". THEY HAD ACCESS TO PREMADASA'S CLOSE CONFIDANT, SECRETARY OF FINANCE R. PASKARALINGAM, A TAMIL WHO WAS CONSIDERED THE SECOND MOST POWERFUL MAN IN THE COUNTRY.
LSSLS LLLLMOMC LLLOOLOS LCLLLuLLuOCM LLMLO uL LL MOOOLO L M LLeLLLtLS Presiden! Ranasinghg ProTadasa and Harria PrgTadasa.
Until late in his career he triad to suppress any mention of his Puda caste - designated for willage laundrymen - which is near the bottom of some 60 Sinhalese castes, When he first became president, journalists were warned that anyone who lated his caste would be "out of the country in 24 hours". He liked to compare himself to the great Dutugemunu, the ancient Sinhalese ruler who killed the Tamil king Elara. But only at his house in Kehelwatte, one of CÓlombo's oldes and pooregst maighbourhoods, Could ha big himsglf. "His heart was there", says a long time friend. "These were his people",

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1126 Politics and Life in Our Times
For many, the dream turned to a nightmare. When his death was announced, hundreds across the country lit firecrackers in celebration. Still, some wept. Thousands of mourners filed past his casket at his house on Sucharita Road. It was fitting that his body was taken there first rather than to the elegant Presidential House, where his higher caste wife, Hema, lived without him.
Until late in his career he tried to suppress any mention of his Puda caste - designated for village laundrymen - which is near the bottom of some 60 Sinhalese castes. When he first became president, journalists were warned that anyone who named his caste Would be "out of the country in 24 hours". He liked to compare himself to the great Dutugemunu, the ancient Sinhalese ruler who killed the Tamil king Elara. But only at his house in Kehelwatte, one of Colombo's oldest and poorest neighbourhoods, could he be himself. "His heart was there", says a long time friend. "These were his people".
In Premadasa's youth the neighbourhood was a mix of Muslim and Tamil traders and a few Sinhalese working people. Though still poor today, it is well lit and flush with government housing. School attendance is high and crime is low. Premadasa expanded his father's Small house and lived there alone with his servants and Valet. His door was always open to visitors, the house a monument to himself even while he was alive. In one room were glass cases of memorabilia recording his triumphs. In a corner was a life-size model of his father andmother standing next to a rickshaw driver, with a likeness of young Premadasa in the seat. The people of Kehelwatte never deserted him, and it was they who were first in line to file past his casket displayed in a renovated rickshaw shed Outside the house.
Within the sleazy lanes of sheds and shacks of his youth, double-cross was an art and scams a way of life. He learned both, and with brilliant organising skills tried to use them for good. He learned to speak Tamil fluently, Sri Lanka's only leader to ever do so. At 15 he started the Sucharita Movement, a self-help program to educate the slum's children. His father, a rickshaw ownerturned businessman, Saved enough to sendim to an uptown Fujian Catholic school, St. Joseph's College.

Rule by the Sword 1127
After he graduated he caught the eye of strongman labour leader A. E. Goonesinghe. He was one of the first politicians to use hit squads. Under his tutelage, Premadasa joined the Ceylon Labour Party and won a seat as municipal Councillor. The Morris Minor sedan given to him at the time by his supporters still sits lovingly restored in a glass case at his house. In 1956 he joined the United National Party and helped President J. R. Jayawardene reorganise the party after it was trounced in the 1950s. Together they used communalism to win back support. Premadasa, no racist but a gifted orator, later regretted his fiery anti-Tamil speeches.
Early in his career Premadasa was befriended by several powerful businessmen. One was S.Rajendram, the Tamil founder of the Maharaja Organisation, today one of the country's richest groups. Another was Sinhalese land developer A. K. Dharmadasa. Both prospered under the UNP's economic liberalisation program. More recently Dharmadasa and Maharaja's son Killi became known in business circles as "the forces". They had access to Premadasa's close confidant, Secretary of Finance R. Paskaralingam, a Tamil who was Considered the second most powerful man in the country.
It was Paskaralingam who engineered Premadasa's economic liberalisation program. He converted the president into a devoted freemarket reformer. Their plan was to turn the country into South Asia's "Singapore". They chose to follow the well-tested East Asian model of export-led expansion with high growth rates and high inflation.
Although Jayewardene had begun to break the ruling class's hold on capital, Premadasa took it further than anyone thought possible. He flung open the stock market to foreign investors, slashed taxes and sold off 42 state corporations. The market turnover soared from $50,000 a day in late 1989 to roughly half a million this year, and GDP growth leapt to almost 5%.
For Premadasa, it was a chance to redistribute wealth through trickle-down economics. A sure way for a businessman to please the president was to contribute to his "Janasaviya" welfare program, which gave the poor cheap access to credit and start-up funds for business. But in the economic free-for-all, capital went in every direction-including to his political opponents - and Premadasa began to back off. "The Wrong people started to get rich", says a Colombo banker.

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1128 Politics and Life in Our Times
As the rich got richer, the poor Premadasa had tried to help kept getting poorer. With two insurrections - the Tamils in the north and the Sinhalese Marxist JVPs in the south - and massive public spending, inflation ran at 20% throughout his presidency. The rural people watched contractors come from the city to make millions on construction projects. The gap between the rich and the poor, one of the World's largest before Premadasa became president, grew wider. "He tried to reach the invisible people in the country", says Hameed. "But there wasn't enough time. There can be a debate whether the medium he applied was the best".
When Premadasa became president in December 1988 he inherited a nightmare. Some 50,000 Indian troops occupied the northern third of the country, allowed in by Jayawardene in July 1987 to enforce the Indo-Lankan accord. In the south, a growing number of government hit squads roamed the streets. There JVP extremists had begun to rearm themselves and stage daylight raids on military camps. They had launched a full-scale revolution in April 1970, and were on their way to a second one. They gained massive support when their prediction came true that the "fifth column" of India would İnVade the island.
As a presidential candidate, Premadasa had pledged he would demand that the Indians leave the day he was elected. He did, but Rajiv Gandhi refused, and the JVP gained more support among the rural poor. Premadasa offered the JVP peace and backed it up by granting amnesty to 1,800 suspects. He also lifted the harsh Emergency Laws. That only helped the extremists, and by July 1989 they had killed some 3,000 civilians and hundreds of UNP supporters. Their campaign of terror, backed by nation wide strikes, brought the country to a standstill. Premadasa reimposed the emergency laws. Security forces Could shoot suspected JVP members and sympathisers on sight, and dispose of their bodies without an inquest. In the first week of July alone, police tortured and killed some 5,000 people and left their corpses in towns throughout the south. UNP politicians used the emergency rule to take out political opponents, while Premadasa turned a blind eye. Some say he gave the orders.

Rule by the Sword 1129
One such case was the murder of journalist Richard de Zoysa. Police suspected de Zoysa had friends among the JVP students at Colombo University, the movement's urban base. On the night of Feb. 18, 1990, Ronnie Gunasinghe, a senior superintendent for police and a confidant of Premadasa, was having drinks with Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne. At one point, says a senior police officer, Wijeratine called Premadasa and told him of a plan to pick up the journalist. The next day de Zoysa's tortured body was found floating off a beach south of Colombo. Wijeratne was killed in a car bomb explosion in March 1991. Gunasinghe died with Premadasa in the explosion last week.
By February 1990 the carnage was over and Premadasa had won the war in the south. But Indian troops were still entrenched in the north, bogged down in a fight with Tamil Tigers. Premadasa, however, had secured a ceasefire with the Tigers. According to presidential adviser Dayan Jayatilaka, Premadasa ordered the Sri Lankan Air Force to evacuate to safety the wife and daughter of the Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran from their jungle hideout. He then ordered the military to deliver heavy arms to the Tigers to use against the Indians and rival Tamil groups.
In thirteen months of talks in Colombo, Premadasa offered the guerillas more than any other Sinhalese leader had. The Tigers used the time to regroup, while the Sri Lankan army was confined to barracks. In June 1990, four months after the Indian troops withdrew, the Tigers accused the president of 'saying one thing and doing another." War broke out again, and Premadasa was blamed. "Every time one of my men gets his leg blown off", said an army captain in 1990, "I think of our president".
Premadasa's biggest political blow came from one of his cabinet ministers. In August 1991 Higher Education Minister Athulathmudali convinced some 47 ruling party MPs to sign an impeachment petition against the president. Athulathmudali had garnered more votes than anyone else in the 1989 general elections, and many had thought he would be selected prime minister. The group accused the President of numerous abuses of power, including wire-tapping, harassment of opponents and arming the guerillas. "The president was in shock", says a loyal minister.

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1130 Politics ard Life ir 7 ČOur FTGAS
PREMADASA'S BIGGEST POLITICAL BLOW CAME FROM ONE OF HIS CABINET MINISTERS, IN AUGUST 1991 HIGHER EDUCATION MINISTER ATHULATHMUDAL CONWINCED SOME 47 RULING PARTY MPs TO SIGN AN EMPEACHMENT PETITION AGAINST THE PRESIDENT. ATHULATHMUDALI HADGARNERED MORE WOTES THAN ANYONEELSE IN THE 1989 GENERAL ELECTIONS, AND MANY HAD THOUGHT HE WOULD BE SELECTED PRIME MINISTER THE GROUP ACCUSED THE PRESIDENT OF NUMEROUS ABUSES OF POWER, INCLUDING WIRETAPPING, HARASSMENT OF OPPONENTS AND ARMING THE GUERILLAS. "THE PRESIDENT WAS IN SHOCK", SAYS ALOYAL MINISTER.
Last Willian ALI/a Irriudal 2). , 93 - 23.4, 1993
Premadasa broke the back of the impeachment, allegedly by bribing MPs, Afterwards his paranoia increased, Athulathmudali and another minister, Gamini Dissanayake, were forced out of the ruling party and formed the Democratic United National Front. Within Tonths it had more than 500,000. The Tibers, They held rally after rally, denouncing the President to crowds of 50,000 or Tore. They were expected to win handsomely in the seven provincial council elections of May 17, 1993.
 

Rule by the Sword 1131
Premadasa broke the back of the impeachment, allegedly by bribing MPs. Afterwards his paranoia increased. Athulathmudali and another minister, Gamini Dissanayake, were forced out of the ruling party and formed the Democratic United National Front. Within months it had more than 500,000 members. They held rally after rally, denouncing the president to crowds of 50,000 or more. They were expected to win handsomely in the seven provincial council elections of May 17.
The councils, a part of the Indo-Lanka accord, were designed to give autonomous government to the Tamils. But the North-East Council was abolished after the war with the Tigers broke out again, leaving only those in the south. If Athulath Tudali had won the post of chief minister in the Western Provincial Council, he could have had more power in Colombo than the president.
The political rivalry between Premadasa and Athulathmudal led to a media war between the state owned TW, radio, and newspapers and the opposition-owned press, UNP thugs openly attacked journalists who covered opposition rallies. In August 1992 they stabbed a cartoonist who had lampooned the president. Again, Premadasa was blamed for the violence. Opposition leaders also accused him of ordering the death of Gen. Denzil Kobbekaduwa, who died in a bomb explosion in Jaffna last year along with most of the northern cominand. Kobbekaduwa had sided with the opposition. When Athulathmudali was shot, Inany pointed to the president's men.
Who killed Premadasa? Jayatilaka and the police say the Tigers did it. "He generated hope to the Tamil community," says the presidential adviser, "The Tigers had to kill him." They are clearly the prinThe suspects. But according to Justice Minister Hameed, "it is still not clear who was responsible beyond a shadow of a doubt". By the end, there were a lot of people who hated him enough to kill him,
In his last speech just days before he died, Premadasa pleaded for Tercy. "You can assassinate nie, " he said, "but don't assassinate my character. I am not a murderer, They accuse me, but they have no proof." People made their own judge Tents, Said one embittered oppositionist regarding Premadasa's murder: "We are Buddhists. We believe that you have to suffer the Consequences of your crimes, either In this life or another one". Unfortunately, in Premadasa's case the whole nation would hawe to pay the price,

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1132 Poffic3 ard Life In Our TFF778S
BY THIRTEENMONTHSOFTALKS IN COLOMBO, PREMADASA OFFERED THE GUERLLAS MORE THAN ANY OTHER SINHALESE LEADER HAD. THE TIGERS USED THE TIME TO REGROUP, WHILE THE SRI LANKAN ARMY WAS CONFINED TOBARRACKS. IN JUNE 1990, FOUR MONTHS AFTER THE INDIAN TROOPS WITHDREW, THE TIGERS ACCUSED THE PRESIDENT OF "SAYING ONE THING AND DOING ANOTHER". WAR BROKE OUT AGAIN, AND PREMADASA WAS BLAMED. "EVERYTIME ONE OF MY MEN GETS HIS LEGBLOWN OFF", SAID AN ARMY CAPTAIN IN 1990, "I THINK OF OUR PRESIDENT".
The members of the Tamil Tigers fighting force are mainly composed of youngsters. Hare you see a group of Tamil Tigers in action, with their red flag aloft and their guns at the ready.
In his last speech just days before he died, Premadasa pleaded for mercy. "You can assassinate me", he said, "but don't assassinate my character, I am not a murderer. They accuse me, but they have no proof", People made their own judgements. Said one embittered oppositionist regarding Premadasa's murder: "We are Buddhists. We believe that you have to suffer the consequences of your crimes, either in this life or another one". Unfortunately, il Premadasa's case the whole nation would hawe o pay the prica.
 

Pulle by ffe, Swyord 1133
History
Trail of EBOOd
Violence has been a part of Sri Lanka's national life for more than three decades. Some of the Worst excesses until OW:
Sept. 25, 1959: Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike is assassinated by a Buddhist monk.
April 1971: The government of Sirimavo Bandaranalike Crushes an insurrection by the Marxist JVP. An estimated 10,000 are killed.
July 1983: Sorne 3,000 Tamils are killed in a nationwide backlash against the ambush of a military patrol. In the following decade, 25,000 die in the separatist war in the north and east.
April 21, 1987: A bomb explodes in a Colombo bus station, killing 112. Tamil separatists are accused of planting it.
Aug. 18, 1987: A Sinhalese extremist lobs two grenades into a meeting of President Junius Jayewardene and 140 ruling party MPs, killing one junior minister.
July 1987: Indian troops arrive in Jaffna to enforce the IndoLankan accord. The Tamil Tigers fight back. Indian troops depart in 1990, but the separatist war continues today,
July 1989: Premadasa orders a military crackdown on the JVP. An estimated 30,000 people are killed in one year.
March 2, 1991: Powerful Deputy Defence Minister Ranjan Wijeratne is killed by a car bomb,
Aug. 8, 1992: Northern commander Gen. Denzil Kobbelkaduwa is killed by a bomb in his jeep in Jaffna.
Courtesy:ASIA WEEK, HONGKONG, MAY 12, 1993.

Page 28
Philip Gunawardene - Colossus in the political Arena
by Vernon Boteju
Radio talk by Attorney-at-Law, Vernon Boteju, being a tribute to the memory of Philip Gunawardene, on the occasion of the 24th death Anniversary which fell on 27th March, 1996.)
Mr. Philip Gunawardene strode across the political arena of this country like a colossus for over four decades, and it is a well nigh impossible task to compress into this short discourse all his achievements and contributions to the social and political life of his motherland, Sri Lanka, which he served as an honest and upright politician, inveterate Trade Union Leader, Honourable Member of Parliament and an industrious Cabinet Minister on two OCCasions. The words of the Roman poet Horace would aptly apply to him - integer vital scelerisque purus - "The man of uprightlife untainted by guilt". In fact Philip did receive such testimonials from no less an authority than the District Court of Colombo when he was honourably acquitted on a charge of criminal defamation against a senior D. I. G. Police and the learned judge in the course of his judgement observed, interalia, that the accused was an "innocent without guile".
SOURCE
Philip's interest in politics was aroused when he was a lad of 14 years. The year was 1915 when history records the riots that occurred in Ceylon and the British Colonial Regime suspecting that it was an uprising, enforced Martial Law and arrested and imprisoned several prominent Sinhala citizens. Philip's father Boralugoda Ralahamy had been sentenced to death, but later reprieved. It was at this point of time

Philip Gunawardene - Colossus in the political Arena 1135
that patriotic feelings were kindled in young Philip's breast. The lines of the poem "Breathes there a man with soulso dead who never to himself has said this is my own my native land", spurred him to have a dream to free his motherland from the shackles of British Imperialist rule. In realising his dream, Philip certainly faced many iniquities and made tremendous Sacrifice.
EDUCATION
Philip had his early education at Prince of Wales College, Moratuwa and Ananda College, Colombo under Mr. P. de S. Kularatne. Even as a student he involved himself in the political struggle by becoming a member of the "Young Lanka League" founded in 1920 by Victor Corea and A. E. Gunasinha. Leaving school he had a short spell at the University College, Colombo, and then left to America to continue his University career, whereas most young men at this time were going to Britain.
in America, Philip spent two years at the Illinois University and a further two years at the University of Wisconsin, studying Political Science, Law and Philosophy. It was at the final stage of his studies at the Wisconsin University that Philip had the occasion to listento a political talk by famous American Socialist Professor Scot Nearing and the seeds of Socialist Political Philosophy was first implanted in Philip's mind. At this point of time it was not only Philip who was influenced but also his Colleague Jayaprakash Narain of India.
INVOLVING
After finishing his university education Philip visited New York, where he spent three years actively involving himself in the Socialist Movement and the Anti-Colonial Struggle. By this time Philip's brilliant Oratory and powerful speeches not only drew and captivated the masses of New York but also all those who flocked there from big cities in South America. Philip worked together with two Indian Socialist Professors, Seyed Hussain and J. C. Kumarappa and established firm ties of friendship with Professor Jose Vaz Gonsalez, a famous Revolutionary of Mexico.

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1136 Politics and Life i7 COLLI r Tirres
Philip having equipped himself with learning and the practical training in mass Tovements, decided to return to his country to give effect to his dream to emancipate his motherland from foreign domination. On his way back he wisited Britain. He was warmly received by the British Socialist Groups. He became a close associate of famous English socialist leaders, Harry Pollit and Paling Dutt and built ties of friendship With a famous lndian, Shaffaerjee Saklatwala who represented the Battersea constituency for Tiany years. Philip's return to Ceylon was delayed as the British authorities had by then refused to issue him a wisa to enter Ceylon,
Philip acted as a representative of the Socialists in many big cities of Europe. He also became a pioneer member of the India League founded by Krishna Menon in London. He was looked up to as a Marxist intellectual by other Indian and Asian Socialist Groups.
By this time Philip had decided that Stalinism was not the path for national liberation. He realised that the National Liberation MowerTent must be united with socialist forces for success. By 1930, he openly advocated Trotskyist against Stalinism. But Philip was never weighed doWII by doctrine or dogma. He always had the progress of the people ald the Nation in Thind.
y 1932 the political situation in Ceylon had changed after the
introduction of the Donoughmore Constitution and Philip was granted permission to return to Ceylon. But before doing so he undertook another hazardous mission to carry a secret message to the Trotskyists in Spain. As he had no entry permit, he crossed the Pyranees Mountains on foot from France to Spain at the risk of death or imprisonment. The only aid he had was the help of a map and his knowledge of the French and Spanish languages. Immediately on his return to Ceylon he involved himself actively in the formation of a Youth Forum and Trade Unions, His endeavour was to exCel A. E. Gunasinha who at that time controlled the Trade Union Movement,
ATTACK
In 1933 Philip and Lesle Gunawardene who were attending a political Teeting at St, Peter's College, Colombo, were the wictims of a wicious attack by a pre-arranged group of thugs belonging to the A. E. Gunas inha faction. It was on this occasion that Philip's Courage and determination was publicly displayed. Philip's life was saved in the nick

Philipu Giura warda rive - Colossus irr file political Arena 3y
W. K. KRISHNAMENON IS ONE OF THE GREATEST INTELLECT JALS AND DPLOMAT OF THIS CENTURY HE WAS THE FOUNDER OF THE INDIA LEAGUE IN LONDON. HE WAS THE POLITICAL ADVISCR FOR A LONG PERIOD OF TIME TOJAWAHARLALNEHRU. HE WAS, FORSOMETIME, THE FOREIGN MINISTER FOR INDIA IN NEHRU'S GOVERNMENT. W. K. KRISHNAMENON HAILS FROM KERALA, INDIA. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK IS A JAFFNA, TAMIL AND IN OUR LAW BOOKS, THE JAFFNA CCaLL L LLLLL YLLLLLL LLLLLLaLLLLLKLaLL LLLL KYKL LLLKLLL LLLLLLLL00 LL LLLLLLLLS LL MAYBE ONE OF THE REASONSWHYWE, KRISHNAMENON ANDI, WERE SO ATTACHED TO EACH OTHER.
y costa Č. 5, TE - 5. 7). TF4
LLLL LL LLLLLLataLLLGCCCHL aLLLL LL LLL LLLLLLLLS LLLSSS LLCLLLLL LLLGLC LLatLL on the 31st day of his death, by various international personalities, Glowing tribulos were paid to him regarding his intellectual acumen and his straighlforwardness. I the author of this book, T. Duraisingam, Was Called upon to speak on behalf of Sri Lanka, and my speech paying tributes to Krishna Menon, was published in the Indian newspapers and elsewhere,

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1138 Politics and Life in Our Times
of time by the arrival of the Police. At this point of time Philip stood before the microphone with bleeding head injuries and made a powerful speech and turning to Mr. A. E. Gunasinha who was present said that these same thugs will do the same thing to you soon. Thereafter Philip was greeted with warm cheers from the crowd present.
In 1936 Philip entered the State Council as the member for Avissawela - defeating Mr. Forester Obeysekera who was then the Chairman of the Council. Many of the motions introduced by Philip and Dr. N. M. Perera later became the background for Socialist legislation. During the 2nd World War Philip together with Dr. N. M. Perera and several others were imprisoned in Colombo and later taken to Bogambara Prison. While suffering imprisonment at Bogambara, Philip together with the other political prisoners escaped with the assistance of sympathetic jailors and his brother Robert who was out and Philip's young wife Kusuma accompanied him to India. Later Philip was arrested together with the others and prosecuted in court. And Philip, Dr. N. M. Perera and others were sentenced to imprisonment.
In 1947 during the general strike in connection with the strike at the bus depot at Ratmalana, Philip was prosecuted in court once again for committing an offence and sentenced to 6 months imprisonment, and Philip was deprived of his civic rights for 7 years.
JOINED
In 1956 Philip joined forces with Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in the formation of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 28th March, 1996.

The Need For New Thinking
by President R. Premadasa
What we need is not so much answers to our old questions; we must start to question our old answers.
My objective is not the defeat of anyone. My objective is to ensure victory for everyone. Inflicting defeat is easy; ensuring victory is not so easy. We have been weakened by dissension and disunity. We have been weakened by tension and turmoil. We have been weakened by intrigue and disharmony. We have been weakened by disorder and indiscipline....... My mission is to lift our people out of this abyss of weakness and defeatism. I dedicate myself to lead my people to unity and amity. dedicate myself to lead my people to calmness and sanity. | dedicate myself to lead my people to peace and harmony. I dedicate myself to lead my people to order and discipline. This is the only victory worth winning - the conquest of disunity, the conquest of deprivation and the conquest of despair.
Today, we live in Societies where passions are easily inflamed. The results of emotion destroying logic are all around us. Violence, inhumanity and brutality are visible consequences of emotionalism. In this Sea of passion we need to raise the standard of reason. We need to respond to the call of balance and impartiality.
We have been fighting a war against want. We have been fighting a war against illiteracy, illness, hunger and want. That war cannot be fought with arms. That war can be won only through self sacrifice and Self-reliance.
Today, we are on the threshold of a new era. It is abundantly evident that the old ways of administration do not work. It is even more evident that the old ways of thinking about society do not work. The choice is clear. Either we continue the old ways and collapse or we restructure through a new approach and survive. That is why our Government has begun a policy of restructuring; that is why we seek

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1140 Politics and Life in Our Times
and implement new pathways. The revolution we have begun will take time to complete. We want non-violent change. We must transform attitudes and institutions. Above all we will do this with the participation of every segment of our people. A great deal of reform is necessary. Policy, not private preferences, must govern decisions. Principles, not personal Considerations, must guide those entrusted with executive office at every level.
To my mind, one of the principal tasks for those of us in government is to create the kind of environment that kindles a sense of adventure in society. In this way, we will be able to make life more meaningful. In this way we will be able to provide an exciting counterforce to the attractive negativisms which beguile so many people in modern times. If we are able to achieve this spirit of creative ferment, the energies of individuals will be drawn into constructive participation in Society.
But while we all deplore the violence, there is no point in being moralistic and judgemental of one side or of the other. Rather, it is for us, the living, to understand the causes, the underlying causes, and work towards their removal. It is not for us to point fingers or to score cheap debating points.
Rather, it is for us to see that we pull together to eliminate for all time, the roots - the political, the social, the economic, the cultural and indeed the spiritual roots - that brought forth the terror. Let them not forget that the dead and the living have been alike - often the helpless victims of forces far beyond their capacity to control.
The present problems of the world and particularly of our regions are Complex and complicated. We have to realize that religious rituals and ceremonies alone cannot save humanity. We have to concern ourselves with larger issues of politics and economics.
The World is constantly changing. Man is also in a constant state of change. In an ever changing world, we too have to adapt ourselves. We must understand the current situation and change. New problems require new solutions. Old solutions will not suit new problems. We must seize this opportunity. We must reconstruct. We must renew what is meaningful and forward looking. We must discard what has retarded progress.

The Need For New Thinking 1141
It is not a society divided on grounds of race, Caste, class or party that we want to create. Our attempt is to create a society, where in the midst of all these differences which would add beauty like manysplendoured flowers, we would be able to remain united, help each other and Co-exist.
How can we develop the maturity and the capacity to Control reactions to events? They come from a realistic sense of proportion about one's own importance. If we learn to take our tasks more seriously and ourselves less seriously, we will be able to fashion a more understanding and less dangerous reaction to our problems.
Participation is encouraged when people feel that government is humane, close and caring. Full democracy requires decentralised administration. Responsive government must reach the people where they are. It must answer their needs on the spot. This is one way in which we can involve young men and women in public life. We must engage their energies and enthusiasm in positive patriotic activities.
Every new concept is bound to encounter problems. That does not devalue the Concept. We have to balance the problems against the overall gain. The overall gain is that it helps to bridge the gulf between the administration and the people. It involves the administration in the people, and the people in the administration. It breaks down alienation. think it is a major step towards extending, enriching and protecting democracy.
From time to time crises occur in the world. These crises give birth to new eras in the world. In the process of grappling with crises, We make adjustments and changes both in our organizations and institutions and also in our attitudes. In Sri Lanka today, we are facing a grave Crisis. Now we must think of making adjustments and changes which will enable us to face the challenges posed by it. We will not be able to retain certain of our systems any further. Simply because we have had them all along with us, we will not be able to retain them with uS indefinitely. We must adjust ourselves in the way necessary to survive the crises. Crises in fact can open the door to a new era. That is the nature of the onward march of the world. We have to adjust ourselves to the new era.

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1142 Politics ard Life ir Our TirffĖS
We Tlust also ponder why it has been foLund dificult to Create a morally upright Society through the system we have been using for over 30 years.... We have been forced to condone wrongs done by our own party people. We shut our eyes to crimes committed because the miscreant is a Member of our Group or Party. We sometimes have to Support the unsuitable man because he is the man of the Party. So disregarding the public good, we have to take his side and support him because he belongs to our own party, is this the correct system? Can We expect to bring purity to public life through a policy like this?
The people who were earlier at the hel in of affairs of this country neglected very important courses of action that they should have taken in the interests of the people. Now when we have started implementing those courses of action and programs, it would certainly be a service by the people of this country to point out honestly any shortcomings in thgľT),
I am quite prepared to concede that like other governments in the past, the governments of which was a member contributed in no small way to the crisis of our society.... History did not begin in 1977. The roots of the crisis go much further back. Responsibility has to be Shared OWGr a fTLIch Wider frort.
There are some, who, without examining the problems of youth today, hasten to criticise and denounce them. I think that it is wrong to do so. The problems of youth today cannot be solved by Criticism and denunciation. It can only be done by understanding and action, We must not be diverted from the roots of the problem by looking at its side effects or by-products. Criticising and denouncing these will not enable us to solve the problem,
We need a massive program The to make the age gap and the wage gap diminish. We must takeaway the Venom of hatred and replace it with satisfaction for youthful energy.
We need to restore the use of English to its rightful place as a means of access to knowledge and commerce. But not as the exclusive privilege of a small coterie of our society, The answer to this probler T is actually to widen the access to English, and provide the greatest possible opportunities for acquiring competence in it.

7 hg Negd For New Thinking 1143
PRESIDENT PREMADASA LIKE MANY OTHER GREAT LEADERS, WAS A MAN AHEAD OF HIS TIMES. HE BROUGHT AMESSAGE OF PEACE, LOVE AND BROTHERHOOD TO A COUNTRY THAT IS TORN APART BY HATRED AND WIOLENCE. BUTHE WASNOTALWAYSA MAN OF PEACE LOVE AND BROTHERHOOD. HE HAD A JEKYLL AND HYDE LIFE. ONE SIDE OF HIS LIFE WAS WERY GOOD. THE OTHER SIDE WAS WERY BAD. HSACTIONS BASED ON THESE CHARACTERISTICSMADE HIMSWING FROM ONE EXTREME TO THE OTHER.
23, 1924 - 7.5, 93
Ceylon's economy is geared to the export trade. Two thirds of the cultivated land is devoted to the production of cash crops such as rubber and tea; in Consequence nearly three quarters of the rice needed to feed the island's rapidly increasing population has to be imported. If the world price of rubber or tea should fall, Ceylon must import less rice, This dangerous dependence on the price paid in the World market for Ceylon leas, which for in the bulk of the exports, has led to a reduction in the rubbar acreage in favour of rice. growing, and extensive land reclarnation and deforestation. The Ministry of Industries, created in 1947, has encouraged minor developments in the cement Industry and leather manufacture,

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1144 Politics and Life in Our Times
English is an instrument of modernization. Properly used it can be an instrument of liberation. We want English for its instrumental value, not as a means of keeping our minds in subjection.
The group of youth between the ages of 18 and 35 is a very potent force. We must harness their talents and capabilities. It is our bounden duty to give these youths who are the products of the free education system, economic strength.
Countries should adapt themselves to the changing needs so as to meet the new challenges they face.
One of the most important needs of Sri Lanka today is discipline. As individuals we are people of excellence. There is no task that some Sri Lankans, at home or abroad, cannot do and do well. Yet we often lack the capacity to work together, to co-operate, to collaborate. If we are to build our motherland, if we want a society which can give everyone a fair deal, we must learn and practice collective discipline.
In the world and in our country, we live at a time of great transition. Old structures and systems are changing. Old attitudes and old approaches are inadequate to meet new challenges. Unless we respond to these challenges, we will not be able to compete in a highly competitive world. Unless we respond, we will not be able to deliver the satisfactions of life to our people.
From these recent experiences, our society must also learn some important lessons. To avoid more tragedies in the future, we need to meet the genuine aspirations of youth. We must ensure that young people participate in the decision making of our Country. We must assure them a decent standard of living. We must assure them opportunities for self fulfilment.
Our task is to reach down to the underprivileged and reach across to our neighbours.
It is not enough to enforce change. Change must be a change of heart if it is to endure.

The Need For New Thinking 1145
Our country today is facing a national crisis. It is a crisis which has shaken the very foundations of democracy and human rights and is threatening to destroy them. No sacrifice would be too big for the democratic parties to make for the resolution of this crisis in order to save the democratic way of life which we all cherish. It is with an open mind and an unprejudiced approach that we must find Solutions. Let us first understand the causes underlying this Crisis. It is necessary that we should consult and seek the views of all concerned. It is difficult to find a solution while holding on tenaciously to our prejudices and pre-conceived notions. It is always more fruitful to diagnose the root causes of the disease and treat it effectively rather than to do a patchwork job on identification of symptoms.
(The references to the given passages have been omitted here.)
Courtesy: "The Premadasa Philosophy", Publication of the Premadasa Centre, Colombo, June 23rd, 1994.

Page 34
Chandrika Kumaratunga on Bomb Attacks
(President of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (SLMP), Ms. Chandrika Kumaratunga, issued the following statement on September 5, 1986, in regard to the repeated bomb attacks on public rallies organized by the S. L. M. P. and by the LSSP-CPSL-SLMPAlliance.
"There was a bomb attack on the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party rally at Ratmalana on the 4th evening. Three bombs were hurled at the stage around 8.40 p.m., when Mr. Vijaya Kumaratunga was addressing the rally. Two bombs exploded a few feet away from the stage grievously injuring members of the audience. Over hundred people were transported by the Party to the Colombo South hospital and received medical treat Tient there.
"This is the 3rd bomb attack on our Party in the past four weeks. We strongly condemn these dastardly acts of Cowardice. Our Party has been declaring against the use of all forms of terrorism as a political implement from its inception. We have consistently maintained the position that the ethnic conflict ravaging our country can and must only be solved through a negotiated political settlement, that a just and fair peace must be sought for all whilst protecting the rights of the majority community.
"This has led us to take up the call of the majority of the people for Peace, a Peace that would enable them to live humanly again. A Peace that would enable them to turn their efforts once again to the arduous struggle for liberation from the poverty and misery caused by the present regime,
"The success of the campaign of "Peace for Liberation" carried out by the S. L. M. P. together with the L. S. S. P., C. P. S. L. and other progressive parties and organisations has driver the selfseeking Warmongaring elements connected to the government and outside the governmerfta a desperate bsdat violence and murder,

Clariidrika Kr77a "a funga Or? Borm7b Afa Çks 1147
HE WHO POSSESSES THESE SIX THINGS, AN ARMY, A PEOPLE, WEALTH, MINISTERS, FRIENDS, AND A FORTRESS, ISA LION AMONG KINGS. VIGILANCE, LEARNING AND BRAVERY. THESE THREE THINGS, SHOULD NEWER BE ABSENT FROM THE RULER OF A COUNTRY. HEIS THE LIGHT OF KINGS WHO HAS THESE FOUR THINGS: BENEFICIENCE,
BENEWOLENCE, RECTITUDE, AND CARE FOR HIS PEOPLE.
- Thig Siaredd Taf Fiji. Wedia "Tir URLlifa",
LLLGk aLLLLL LLLLLLLOMMLLLCMOO LOuuLLTT uLC LC LaCC 0SLLL TTL0LMLLS 0000S LLLL T LLL LLLLLL LLLLHSS aCOO LLLLLLL LLLC LLLLLLLLtOtGH MLLLTL made on 18th Decembar, 1999, by a suspected LTTE suicida bornber. The President had a speedy recovery aftar undergoing surgery by exper surgeons. Shrapnel Was renoved frors under har right Byg, following the blast. T dressings of the words are Saar in the picture.
The Sri Lankan President is the first-ever Woman President in the World and sha is now the first-ever WOThan President who is re-elected, Without a break,
for the SeCd le T as Präsidėst.
President of the SriLanka Mahajana Party (SLMP), Ms, Chandrika Kumaralunga, issued the following slatorTent on September 5, 1986 in regard to the repeated bornb attacks on public rallies organized by the S. L. M. P. and by the LSSPCPSL-SLMP Alliance. "There was a bomb attack on the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party rally at Ratmalana on the 4th ovening. Three bombs were hurled at the stage around 8.40 p.m., when Mr. Wijaya Kumaratunga was addressing the rally. Two bombs exploded a fow foctaway from the stage, grievously injuring members of the audience. Overhundredaople were transported by the Party to the Colombo South hospital and received medical treatriant there.

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1148 Politics and Life in Our Times
"We wish to mention here that as a responsible Party, we are capable of ensuring the security of our leaders and our people. But the investigations into the incidents have to be carried out by the State.
"We express our deepest gratitude to our supporters who attended both the Panadura and Mt.Lavinia rallies for their courage in remaining with us to a man even after the attacks and for all other Support and strength they gave us. We especially thank the Surgeons, doctors, nursing staff of the Colombo South hospital, who were on duty and those who were in quarters and came in of their accord to give of their utmost to the wounded, right through the night on that day.
"This gives us courage and strength in the knowledge that the vast majority of the people are with us in our struggle for "Peace, for Liberation". All the bombs and arsenals of the blood-thirsty racialist war-mongers, that are hurled in the sacred name of "Sinhala-Buddhism", cannot forestall the onward march of the people for liberation from the shackles of Imperialist, Capitalist oppression.
"We are certain of the infallibility of the weapons we possess to face the challenge of the cowardly violence of our enemies; those are the weapons of courage and conviction in the justice of the people's Cause. We of the S. L. M. P. rededicate Ourselves to this Cause, no matter the insults, the bombs and the bullets".
Courtesy: "Forward", Colombo, September 15th, 1986.

Pieter Keuneman Humane in Life and Death
Actions speak louder than words. Opinions usually differ on the achievements of the Left movement in the politics of this country. Unanimity has been hardly forthcoming on development paradigms and governing tactics advocated by the Left, particularly in the wake of the dissolution of the Soviet Union and its far-reaching consequences. However, very few would quarrel with the view that the Left parties of this country have, by and large, been true to the ideal of communal harmony, one of their cardinal platforms in domestic politics.
Pieter Keuneman was an extraordinary Left leader in life. A dyed-in-the-wool communist, his idea of humanity soared over petty, man-made, caste, creed and race barriers. His Communist Party was a far-flung secular, humanistic organisation that had within its wing the communities of all the geographical regions of Sri Lanka. This was Pieter in life. He remains the same in death.
Yesterday, in a simple ceremony some 10,000 of Pieter's books were handed over to Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera, to be in turn deposited in the reconstructed Jaffna Public Library. This was Pieter's last wish - that the people of the North inherit his books, the well-springs of his erudition and intellectual acumen.
The action speaks volumes for both the humanity and the noncommunal nature of the late Communist Party chief's politics. The gesture also re-establishes and reinforces the Communist Party's reputation as a secular, non-communal political organisation.
We do not intend this editorial to be a ritual incantation of the good which was perceived to have been present in a national leader. The late Pieter Keuneman's noble act in these times, when the introduction of the gentle philosophy of Buddhism to this country is being Commemorated, stands out in marked Contrast to the actions of those who believe that they are serving this country best.

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1150 Politics and Life in Our Times
The task of keeping this country intact and whole, couldn't be achieved by beating war drums or by fiercely espousing the cause of group or sectional interests. Such actions would achieve the very opposite of what is being aimed at. Thus we now have Commissions of dubious intent which are purportedly inquiring into "injustices" which the majority community has suffered not just over the decades, but Over the Centuries.
This spirit of "I" and "Mine' only is at cross purposes with the message the late Pieter Keuneman's action sends forth - bury your ego, the source of all selfishness, and think of all communities as your brothers and SisterS.
This is a question of political culture. Apparently, among some of us, a primitive tribal culture is thriving and dourly refusing to be eliminated.
Courtesy: Editoral, "Daily News", Colombo, June 20, 1997.

Peace, Discipline and Prosperity of President Premadasa
by Ranil Wickremesinghe Prime Minister of Sri Lanka
History will record the towering place that President Ranasinghe Premadasa shall surely occupy in our nation's history. That is assured. We are all too close to the event to attempt to evaluate the greatness of the contribution that he made to our country's emergence as a modern nation, taking its rightful place in the world community of nations.
Let us look at the endeavours he made for Peace in this country. He was elected to office at the end of 1988, at a time of terror this country had never before experienced. He spent the next 5 months in trying to bring about peace through consultation, compromise and consensus with the J. V. P. Regrettably, his efforts were of no availand the JVP continued with their plans for the violent overthrow of the entire democratic system. It was thereafter, in fact the leaders of the Opposition too had urged him to act, that President Premadasa imposed the emergency again and ordered the security forces to bring the situation back to normalcy. But first, as was his natural inclination, he followed the path of compassion and sought a settlement through discussion and reason.
His approach and attitude in dealing with the LTTE were also similar. For over 14 months in 1989 and 1990, he talked with the LTTE to evolve a peaceful settlement. Finally, in June 1990, with the murder of hundreds of Policemen who had surrendered, he ordered oursecurity forces to disarm the Tamil militants. That effort which involved a valiant fight back by our Armed Services, has brought us to the brink of peace. Had he lived, he would surely have achieved it in the North and East as well in the spirit of compromise and consenses, and in keeping with the ideal of justice and equality for all the peoples who lived in that part of Our Country.

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115.2 Politics ar 7 Lfs ir 1 (Qu'r Tiroles
His second goal for us all was Discipline. His sense of discipline was combined with a drive to achieve excellence and indeed perfection, in everything he sought to do, or got others to do in the service of the Country. He could not tolerate inefficiency, sub-optimal work or lethargy. To those people, he was a terror, someone who was autocratic and unreasonable. He would therefore castigate public servants who did mot exert their full weight in the public service.
Thirdly, there was the goal of Prosperity for all, for which he strove throughout his tenure to achieve. The pervasiveness of powerty in a Country which was naturally blessed with abundant resources was to him a perpetual riddle. Over 40% of the people were below the poverty line. President Premadasa devoted himself to transforming this situation. What led him on was his inherent belief that the poor were rich. They were assets to be empowered, not liabilities to be discarded. This, believe, was his signal contribution to the economic development of the Country. How to combine growth which we had achieved around 5% annually, with the realization of equity for the Tlass of the people, He did so with a series of innovative programmes, such as Janasawiya, Willage Re-awakening, Housing, and most recently, the Garnent factory programme, These program Ties distinctly contributed to growth. They contributed to wastincreases in incomes and foreign eXchange earlings, and above all, they contributed in an indefinable Way to enhance in the minds of rural people, an awareness of their own importance and self-respect.
Finally, permit me Mr. Speaker, to say a word about President Premadasa's contribution on the international scene, Here too, his approach was based firmly on justice and equality. He believed that Shri Lanka had a significant contribution to make in the world community, and especially in the region. He showed by his attitude on such matters as the de-induction of the IPKF, the closure of the Israeli Interests Section and even, Tight say, the Gladstone affair, that Shri Lanka's sovereignty Could not be easily assailed by anyone or any country, however big or powerful it may be,

Peace, Discipline and Prosperity of President Premadasa 1153
BELOW SSEEN A MEETING OF THE PRESENT LEADERSHIP OF THE UNITED NATIONAL PARTY (UNP). THE UNP WAS AN ALLIANCE OF SEWERAL POLITICAL PARTIES AND OF INDIVIDUALS, INCLUDING THAT OF THE SINHALA MAHA SAEHA OFS, W. R. D. BANDARANAIKE, UNDER THE LEADERSHIP OF J. R. JAYEWARDENE, ONE OF THE OBJECTS OF THE CEYLON NATIONAL CONGRESS WAS CHANGED TO FULL INDEPENDENCE FORCEYLON. SOME OF THE LEADING MEMBERS OF THE CEYLON COMMUNIST PARTY, INCLUDING THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, THEN JOINED THE CEYLON NATIONAL CONGRESS.D.S.SENANAYAKE OBJECTED TO THE ADMISSION OF THE COMMUNISTS AND LEFT THE CEYLON NATIONAL CONGRESS AND FORMED THE UNITED NATIONAL PARTY.
LL LSLK YYS LLLSZSSYYYAeeY
An]Ura Bardara rake ar Td Karu Jayasurya.
The Donough Tore Commission did not come to Ceylon as the result of any insistent demand by the people or even of our leaders but as the result of a request made by the then Governor, Sir Hugh Clifford, who was dissatisfied with the Working of the Legislative Council, The Soulbury Commission was sent out against the wishes of a large majority of the State Council, and as it was boycotted by a large section of the people including the Tinisters (except the present Prime Minister who had secret discussions with the Commissioners), the Soulbury Constitution also really did not represent the people's wishes. Mr. Senanayake and a few of his advisers such as Sir Oliver Goorietilleke and Sir Ivor Jennings took this opportunity to get the Soulbury Constitution amended to bring our status to that of a Dominion,
- S. W. R. D. Badarala.k.a.

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1154 Politics and Life in Our Times
In the last years of his tenure as President, President Premadasa came into his own in the regional scene. President Premadasa gave SAARC a momentum it had never known before and this is widely acknowledged. Core issues of the greatest importance which had not been addressed, such as poverty alleviation, the liberalisation of trade between South Asian Countries and the mobilization of external resources for the region's needs, were addressed with a Speed and effectiveness never before experienced.
Mr. Speaker, what he did in the last 4 1/2 years is sufficient for him to be remembered for all time among the greats of this country's long history. He ensured the dispersal of political and economic power thereby making democracy more meaningful for the masses. The impression he made on our proud history will remain indelible and enduring.
In the minds of most of his countrymen whose lives he touched in so many ways and transformed, he will remain immortal.
Courtesy: "Economic Review", May-June 1993, "Daily News", Colombo, June 9th, 1993.

Sir Waithialingam Duraiswamy He Alerted Jaffna to Public SSues
by Prof. S. Pathmanathan
One stalwart who dominated the public life of this country in the few decades before independence was Sir Waithialingam Duraiswamy whose 123rd birth anniversary is observed today.
He had the rare capacity to combine ability with wisdom and on that account he was able to secure and retain the highest positions in public service. In his private and public life he moved around with sobriety and an inimitable dignity which left deep impressions in the minds of all those who came into contact with him. Enemies he had none. Waithialingam, a son of Aiyampillai Duraiswamy who was an engineer, and Kathirasipillai, from Velani in the island of Kayts, had his early education at Jaffna College, Vaddukoddai, and at Central College, Jaffna, where he excelled in studies and sports. Later he was admitted to Presidency College, University of Calcutta, where he came under the guidance of two reputed stalwarts, Sir Jagdish Chandra Bose and P. C. Ray. In 1897 Duraiswamy graduated with double Honours in Science and Mathematics, and thereafter returned home. Afterwards Duraiswamy entered Law College, Colombo, qualified as an advocate and was admitted to the Bar on June 6, 1902. After a brief period of apprenticeship under H. F. C. Pereira, he returned to Jaffna in 1903 and developed his professional career as a lawyer. He was appointed to the coveted post of Crown Advocate in Jaffna and thereby became the leader of the Jaffna bar.
In those days the profession of Politics, in this country, was the almost exclusive domain of lawyers. For them the avenues were wide open, the temptations were irresistible and the aspirations were legitimate, at least as far as it could be discerned from public responses. Duraiswamy, who had earned a name in the peninsula in his capacity as the leader of the Jaffna bar, worked to form the Jaffna Association (1906) of which he became the first secretary.

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156 Politics and Life ir Cour Tirres
SIRWAITHALNGAMOURASWAMY WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED FOR THE SERVICES HERENDERED TO THE CAUSE OF HINDUEDUCATION, AND THE LLKLLLLLLLLLL LLL LLLL L LLLLLLLGGLLLLLLL LL LLLLLLLLLL LL LLLLLLLLLLL LL LLLL LLLLLLL LLLL L LLLLLLLKLLLLL KLL LLLLKLLLLLLL L LLLLLLLK LLL
LLLLLLLL0LLLL LLLL LLLLLL LLLLLL LLLLLLLGLE LLLL LLLL KLLS SLLLL LGL DONOUGHMORE REFORMSDIDMOTCONCEDEFULL RESPONSIBLEGOVERNMEN THE YOUTHCONGRESS OF JAFFNA ORGANISEDA BOYCOTT OF THE ELECTIONS HELD IN 1931. DURASWAMY, WHO WAS AN ARDENT ADWOCATE OF CONSTITUTIONAL PROGRESS, SUPPORTED THE MOVEMENT AND NOMEMBER WAS LLLLLLL GH GLL LLLLLLLL LLLL LL LLLLLLL LLLLGLLLLLLLLLL LLL L00LLLLS LLLLLL AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, WASANORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE STUDENTS"CONGRESS, JAFFNA, RENAMED THEJAFFNAYOUTHCONGRESS, AND WASELECTED TOTS EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE IN THE FIRST PART OF THIS BOOK SGIVENTHE STORY OF THE YOUTHCONGRESS IN AN ARTICLE BY THISAUTHOR, ENTTTLED "THE STORY OF THEAFFINA YOUTHCONGRESS"
Sir Wathiasingam Duraiswamy S.E, SW - 2.5
Handy Perinbanayagam, the founder of the Jaffna Youth Congress, wrote only a draft for the proposed book by him on the Jaffna Youth Congress. He attached a note to the draft, The nota is as follows: "This picture (referring to the lext of his draft) seemed to portray a land tegming with good will and blessedness, Language which is the bone of Contention today, Waspeacefully satiled by both Sinhalase and TarTils. Before long, however, bloodshed, premeditated murder and Tigration were the order of the day, Persons like Suntharalingam, who stood for racial unity, are today champions of a separate Tamil Nadu. Balasundaram, a founder of the Youth Congress, who had twice chaired Congress sessions, also lost the belief and the wision that had inspired him. At the inaugural sessions of the All Ceylon Youth Congress in Plaza theatre, Colombo, the late M. S. Elayathambyproclaimed that he for one would prefer Sinhalese rule to Tamil rulg!"All this was the vision of an idealist yesterday. What of tomorrow? It is peaceful Sri Lanka, no longer dreaming of fantasies, but seeing Sri Lanka's present travail, (peace) is what some citizens yeaT for.
 
 
 

Sir Waith lafingam, Duraf swamy - Heg Algnfed Jaffna (o Public issues 1157
Like similar organisations which had sprung in some other parts of Ceylon, the Jaffna Association was a political forum for debating social issues and focusing public attention on them. Duraiswamy may be credited with having initiated, in the Jaffna peninsula, the process of mobilising public opinion, a role that was soon taken over by the Youth Congress, the mowing spirit behind which was Handy Perinpanayagarn. When the elective principle was first introduced on a provincial basis
under the Manning Reforms, Duraiswamy successfully contested the
Northern Province seat and entered the Legislative Council. In 1922 he successfully piloted a motion in the council for total prohibition. In 1923, along with others, he made representations for the reform of the constitution which resulted in a reconstitution of the Legislative Council in 1924. In 1926 he moved a resolution in the Council for full responsible government.
As the Donoughmore Reforms did not concede full responsible government, the Youth Congress of Jaffna organised a boycott of the elections held in 1931. Duraiswamy, who was an ardent advocate of Constitutional progress supported the movement and no mer Tiber was elected to the Council from the entire Norther Province in 1931. The movement failed as there was no siTilar response in the rest of the Country.
In 1936, Duraiswamy was returned uncontested to the second State Council from the Walikamam West Constituency. He attained the peak of success in his political career when he was elected a Speaker of the State Council defeating two other contenders. Several decades later Dr. N. M. Perera disclosed that he and Philip Gunawardene, both of whom constituted the sole opposition in the Council, had played a key role in securing the election of Duraiswamy. Speaker Duraiswamy conducted the proceedings of the State Council with exemplary dignity and impartiality, Commenting on his role as Speaker one of his junior colleagues, who later became the President of the Republic says:
"He performed the very difficult task of Taintaining the dignity and prestige of the State Council. He built up precedents and traditions which are followed even today. He conducted the proceedings of the House with impartiality and fairness. He will be always remembered as the exemplary Speaker of the pre-independence era".

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1158 Politics and Life in Our Times
That Duraiswamy had lent support for pushing through the proposals on free education was publicly acknowledged by C. W. W. Kannangara. He represented Ceylon at the Coronation of King George VI and was knighted by that monarch in 1937. In 1947 Sir Waithialingam Duraiswamy lost the election to the Kayts seat and thereafter retired from active politics. He took an active interest in promoting the cause of education throughout his long career. He was one of the founders of the Hindu Board of Education and succeeded Ponnambalam Ramanathan as the president of the board which was responsible for setting up a large number of rural schools, boarding schools and orphanages to serve the needs of Hindu children over the entire Northern Province. He was also the president of the Saiva Paripalana Sabhai, "the society for the Preservation of Saivism, which published two Hindu newspapers, the "Hindu Organ" and the "inthu Sathanam".
In 1907-1908 Duraiswamy had served as the acting president of the Board of Jaffna Hindu College and was the manager of the College for 12 years (1941-1953).
In 1951 he became the president of the Board of Directors of the College and its affiliated institutions and continued in that capacity till 1955. When he served as a member of the University Commission in the late 1930s Sir Waithialingam had strongly supported the proposal for establishing the university at the Peradeniya site. It may also be recalled that he was the chairman of the reception Committee that invited and hosted Mahatma Gandhi, C. Rajagopalachary and other Indian leaders during their visit to Jaffna.
Sir Waithialingam will always be remembered for the services he rendered to the cause of Hindu education, and the development of noble traditions in conducting the proceedings of the legislature. He was above all a good and nobleman with a broad outlook and dignified manners worthy of emulation.
(The writer, S. Pathmanathan, is Professor of History, University of Peradeniya and Vice-Chairman of the University Grants Commission).
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, June 9th, 1997.

Ilangaratne - his Contribution Towards our Political and Social Changes
by T. Duraisingam
After the general stike of 1947, langaratne took up to parliamentary politics and to writing books and was Successful in both. From about 1948, for almost a Continuous period of thirty years he was in parliament, holding ministerial posts most of the time. langaratne was a man of many parts and has come out successful in all of them. He was a playwright, actor, author, journalist and a media man.)
The People's Alliance Government is only several month's old, and it has already brought about many beneficial changes in the life of our people. The newly found freedom of the press, has enabled our newspapers and magazines to publish openly, articles on various aspects of Sri Lankan life, including articles on the history of our country that deal with the events of distant and more recent past. We must look back into the past, in order to discern our future more clearly. In history we may find answers to crucial questions of today. "History", as the great Spanish writer and reformer Cervantes wrote, "is not only a treasure house of our deeds and a witness of the past, but also an example, a lesson for the present as well as a warning for the future".
In these times of great changes, the name of T. B. langaratne stands out as that of one of the persons who took a prominent part in the moulding of the progressive movement in our Country, and who had left an indelible mark in the past, present and future life of our people.
Tikiri Bandara langaratnewas born on 27th February, 1913at Hataraliyadda, in the Kandy District. His father was Ayurveda Dr. Appuhamy langaratne Nilame and his mother was Mudiyanselage Loku Menike. He matriculated in 1934 and also passed the General Clerical Service Examination in the same year. Soon thereafter, he joined the Government Clerical Service and was attached to the Department of Inland Revenue. He married Tamara Kumari Aludeniya in 1944.

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1160 PS är fi fr ) Tilgs
GCSU PRESIDENT
langaratne took to active trade union activities and was elected President of the Kandy branch of the Government Clerical Service Union (GCSU). After some time in 1947, he was elected President of the GCSU, He played a leading role in the agitation for political and civic rights for government servants. At that time Sri Lanka, then called Ceylon, was under British rule. The government viewed with disfavour these activities of langaratne and that of the trade union that he led.
During the Second World War (1939-45), the trade unions pursued a skilful policy in which illegal strikes, legal forms of pressure and the Defence Regulations themselves were combined to gain advances for the Workers. Concentrating on a factory where it was Very strong, a Union would wrest concessions from the employer. It Would then use the provisions of the Avoidance of Strikes and Lockouts Ordinance, to win the same concessions for the rest of the industry.
With the end of the Second World War, and With the Cessation of hostilities and military expenditure, the problem of unemployment became a serious one. The employers started their offensive and Withdrew benefits that Were earlier forced out of them. With the repeal of the Defence Regulations, the findings of the Special Tribunals Were no longer legally binding. Retrenchment of workers began and even Workers kept in employment were not given full-time eployment. The years 1945-1946 saw the worsening of the economic crisis that Set in with the end of the War. The total real earnings of the workers dropped as a result of the lack of overtine work and rise in the cost of living, thus making living conditions intolerable for them.
UNREST
The unrest against intolerable conditions of living, was not confined to Workers under private employment. The government employees were also affected and they joined in the general movement for better conditions. They were, in addition, suffering from lack of trade union and political rights. The private sector trade unions

langaratna - his Contribution Towards our Political and Social Changes 16
T. B. LANGARATNE WASA MAN OF MANY PARTS AND HAS COME OUT SUCCESSFUL IN ALL OF THEM, HE WAS A PLAYWRIGHT, ACTOR, AUTHOR, JOURNAL STAND A MEDIA MAN. THE GREEKSHAD SINGERS AND FECITERS WHOSE PERFORMANCES WERE AN IMPORTANT SOCIAL LINK, AND THESE HANDED DOWN FROM THE BARBARICBEGINNINGS OF THEIR PEOPLE TWO GREATEPCS, THE LIAD, TELLING. HOW A LEAGUE OF GREEK TRIBES BESIEGED AND TOOK AND SACKED THE TOWN OF TROY INASA MINOR, AND THE ODYSSEY BEING ALONGADVENTURESTORY OF THE RETURN OF THE SAGE CAPTAIN, ODYSSEUS, FROM TROY TO HIS OWN ISLAND, ITHACA. THESE EPICS WERE WRITTEN DOWN SOMEWHERE IN THE EIGHTH OF SEWENTH CENTURYB, C, WHEN THE GREEKSHADACQUIRED THE USE OF ANALPHABET FROM THEIR MORE CIVILIZED NEIGHBOURS.
:
L.-R. T. B. langaratre and Tamara
During the reigns of Ptolemy and Ptolemyll there was such a blaze of knowledge and discovery at Alexandria, as the World was not to see again until the sixteenth Century A.D, Ptolemy not only sought in the most modern spirit to organize the finding of fresh knowledge. He tried also to set up an encyclopaedic storehouse of wisdom in the Library of Alexandria. It was not simply a storehouse, It was also a book-copying and book-selling Organization. A great army of Copyists was set to work perpetually multiplying copies of books. Here then We hawe lhe definite first opening-up of the intellectual process in which we live today; here We have the systerTatic gathering and distribution of knowledge, The foundation of this Museum and Library marks one of the great epochs in the history of mankind. It is the true beginning of Modern History,
- H. G. MVGIIS,

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1162 Politics and Life in Our Times
demanded full trade union rights for all government employees. It drew the attention of the Ceylon Government to the fact that, at that time, the British Labour Government had withdrawn all the restrictions imposed on the trade union of government employees. It urged the Ceylon Government, to accord full union rights to all its employees by hand Or brain.
The government employees were thus suffering from a dual grievance. The first major strike of these sections was the strike of government daily paid employees in November 1946. The strike was a huge success and the government climbed down and granted a number of demands. But, it refused to grant government employees full trade union and political rights.
The ranks of the daily paid government employees, were swelled by the drawing together into the movement of the monthly paid employees, who had been badly hit during the war as a result of the rise in prices and had received no wage increase. They also suffered from lack of full trade union and political rights. Thus the discontent and unrest against impossible conditions and the lack of ordinary civil rights among all Sections of employees, whether under private employment or government, gathered momentum and led in the next year to the historic general strike of May-June 1947.
THE STRIKE
The strike started with a dispute at Rowlands garage over the period of payment of wages, which led to a strike in that establishment. About the same time, the workers at Holland ColomboTrading Co. Ltd. came out on strike, demanding six days' work in the week. The Government refused to intervene to settle the disputes; though later this did not prevent it from intervening on the side of the employers to break the Strike.
Seeing the preparedness of the workers to fight back the offensive of the employers, the unions decided to meet the counter offensive of the employers by putting forward the demands of workers for higher wages. The All Ceylon Tea and Rubber Workers' Union, the United Engineering Workers' Union and other affiliated unions of the Ceylon Trade Union

langaratne - his Contribution Towards our Political and Social Changes 1163
Federation (CTUF), put forward demands for a 25% increase in wages, six days' work in the week and trade union and political rights for government employees; and on the rejection of these demands by the employers, the workers came out on strike. These workers were later joined by the workers of the Ceylon Federation of Labour.
INTERDICTION
At this juncture, on 28th May 1947, langaratne presided over a combined meeting of government and private sector workers. He was interdicted with 17 other colleagues by the Colonial Secretary of the then government, for breach of Public Service Regulations. Following these interdictions, the GCSU staged a strike joining with the other strikers, and which developed into a general strike. For the first time in their history, the government clerks had joined in a strike with others. The daily paid employees followed suit. The majority of the members of the Ceylon Mercantile Union (CMU), which was at that time led by A. E. Goonesinha, also wanted to join the strike. But it was prevented by Goonesinha, and this was one of the reasons that led to the breaking away of the CMU from his influence.
BIGGEST
This general strike was the biggest strike ever organised in Ceylon up till that time ...At its peak it involved over 50,000 workers drawn from the above mentioned unions. Leaders like M. G. Mendis, Pieter Keuneman, Dr. N. M. Perera, T. B. Ilangaratne and others played a notable part in leading this strike and fighting back the repression of the Colonial Government.
The Government on its part, was bent on crushing the strike. The entire capitalist press misrepresented and slandered the strikers, the unions and their leaders. The Ceylon Defence Force was called out and the British Royal Marines paraded the streets of Colombo. On June 5, the police fired on an unarmed demonstration - killing V. Kandasamy of the GCSU; who thus joined the list of martyrs of the working class movement. In addition, the Government rushed through the State Council several repressive laws, like the Public Security

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1164. POMICS BПЈ Life in Our TITES
Ordinance and the Police (Amendrinent) Ordinance, which gawe wide powers to the Police and the Governor, According to the Police (Amendment) Ordinance, the use of slogans and megaphones in demonstrations can be banned by the police. The use of loudspeakers at public meetings can be prohibited. Prior permission had to be obtained for taking out demonstrations and for the use of loudspeakers,
SETEBACK
The insufficiently organised workers and the middle class employees could not withstand the organised night of the governTient and the er Tiployers. The strike was called off in the third week of June, although none of the strikers' demands were met. Having broken the strike, the government and the employers wanted to crush the trade union TowerTent. They let loose a reign of repression and terror. Wages Were cut, Seniority allowances were scrapped, militant Workers Were discharged Wholesale. The movement suffered a serious setback, from which it took several years to recover,
CONSECUENCES
However, the Consequences of this general strike brought about a turning point in the political and social life of the people of Sri Lanka, It was also a turning point in the life of T. B. langaratne. The militancy and the unity in action of the workers by hand and brain, both in the public and private Sectors shown in the strike, was one of the decisive factors in bringing the end of Ceylon's colonial status in 1948, The British perferred to handower"Independece" to their own class friends among the Ceylonese before real Independence was wrested from them by the people. So long as their class friends were at the helm of the state, the British companies were assured of their investments and their profits. This is how D.S.Senanayake and his friends were able to obtain so Called "Freedom" for Ceylon, without any struggle on their part. Real freedom Was obtained in 1956, with the advent of the Bandaranaike government, and by the steps it took to cut the remaining shackles that British Imperialism had - as was the case in respect of the Trincomalee Harbour and other places in Ceylon.

Ilangara trg - his Contributior? Towards aur Posificas and SCcial Charges 165
MR. BANDARANAIKESAID THAT IT WASNECESSARY, IN THE FIRST PLACE, TO REALISE THE IMPORTANCE OF THE PRESENT TIME. A FALSE PROPOSAL MADE NOW WOULD BE VERY DIFFICULTTORE TRIEVE IN THE FUTURE. THEY ALL WANTED SELF-GOVERNMENT, THE GUESTION REMAINED WHAT WAS THE MEASURE OF SELF-GOVERNMENT THEY WERE AIMING AT. HE THEN REFERRED TO THE COURSE OF POLITICAL AGITATION FOR A LARGER MEASURE OF REFORMS. IT DD NOT START TILL 1915, WHENTHERIOTS TOOKPLACE. HE THENREFERRED TO THE GREAT PART PLAYED BY SIR P RAMANATHAN, THEN THE EDUCATED CEYLONESE MEMBER, SIRP. ARUNACHAL AMSTARTED THE NATIONAL CONGRESS. T WASHE WHO FATHERED THE MOVEMENT FORAGITATION FOR REFORM. WHEN THE CONGRESS WAS STARTED, THE ARTICLESTO WHICH ALL THE MEMBERS SUBSCRIBED THEMSELVES TO WAS THAT THER AM AND GOAL SHOULD BE SELF-GOVERNMENT WITHIN THE EMPRE. BEYOND THE SECURING OF A FEW MORE SEATS IN THE
Inauguration of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) Act. Photograph : Pring Minister S. W. F. D. Bandaranaike (seated) signing sha papers inaugurating tha E. P. F. Act. Standing on the left Nataraja Mahadeva,
Duputy Cormissioner of Labour, artid on tre right The Hon. Minister of Labour, T. B. Ilangarating,
The Progressive Nationalist Party founded in October 1925 by S, W. R. D. Bandaranaike and others advocated for Ceylon a federal constitution in preference to a unitary one. A federal state is one in which a number of coOrdinale states unite for certain common purposes. To quote Professor Dicey, "a federal state is a political contrivance intended to reconcile national unity and power with the mainlance of state rights". In a federal systern of government thora is a division of powers between one general and serveral regional governments, each of which, in its own sphere, is co-ordinate with the others End oach government must act directly on its people.

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1166 Politics and Life in Our Times
POLITICS
After the general strike of 1947, Ilangaratne took up to parliamentary politics and to writing books and was successful in both. From about 1948, for almost a continuous period of thirty years he was in parliament, holding ministerial posts most of the time. Ilangaratne was a man of many parts and has come out successful in all of them. He was a playwright, actor, author, journalist and a media man.
Though actively participated in the general strike of 1947 and came to know T. B. Ilangaratne, my close association with him was in the 1960s, after he joined the Peace movement. I joined the Sri Lanka Peace Council from almost its inception in the 1950s. I was enrolled as a member and continue to be a member of the World Peace Council since 1963. For many years the office of the Sri Lanka Peace Council was at my residence at Huiftsdorp, and the monthly meetings were held there. Ilangaratne was elected, in 1968, the President of the Sri Lanka Peace Council and Continued to be elected and re-elected President for many years. It is in this period that I came to know him intimately, and found in him a humane, friendly and obliging person.
Even to give a brief account of his important activities in the Social and political fields, during his long and fruitful life, it is not possible in an article of this nature. I shall limit myself to mentioning a few of the Salient ones. After langaratne became a member of Parliament, contesting the Kandy seat in 1948-1949, he and H. Sri Nissanka, an Outstanding lawyer of that time, and several other progressives met together and formed the Mahanuwara Samajawadi Peramuna (Kandy Socialist Front). In 1951, S. W. R. D. Badaranaike crossed over to the opposition from the UNP government, and set about forming a new political party. He invited several prominent people to join him. Among those whom he invited were langaratne and Sri Nissanka. A programme was agreed upon and the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) was formed, incorporating the Mahanuwara Samajawadi Peramuna and the Sinhala Maha Sabha of Bandaranaike. A manifesto for the SLFP was prepared and printed in 1951. Ilangaratne was elected Joint Secretary of the SLFP
For lack of space, I shall list a few of the matters and laws that Were brought about by him, when he was minister in the many ministerships that he held.

langaratne - his Contribution Towards our Political and Social Changes 1167
1.
Declaration of May Day a public holiday.
Establishment of Employees' Provident Fund.
Maternity leave benefits to shop and office employees.
Establishment of Ceylon Petroleum Corporation in 1962.
Signing of trade agreements with Great Britain, U.A.R., Iraq, Rumania, Russia, China, Czechoslovakia, Poland and India.
Accompained Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike to India, in October 1964, for signing the Sirima-Sastri Pact.
In 1969, represented Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike at the 2nd International Conference in Support of the Arab Peoples, held in Cairo.
8. Acted as Head of Government in 1974.
Having lived a rich, complete and long life, he left, on 21st May 1991, his wife Tamara Kumari, two sons Udaya and Rohana and two daughters Sandhya and Upesha.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 28th February, 1995

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Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership
by DeSabardu 7. Duraisingam
History teaches us that there had been periods of hardship, Oppression and tyranny, followed by periods of plenty, happiness and good government. The very hardship and oppression had made the tribe, race ornation to throw up its hero or heroine to lead them to fight back the oppression and to obtain freedom. To illustrate this, mention here about Boadicea, the British queen of the tribe of the Inceni, during the Roman occupation of Britain. Being under Roman rule Prasutagus, her husband, left his property jointly to his daughters and Nero, the Roman emperor, at about A.D. 50. Soon thereafter, at the King's death, the Romans seized his properties, scourged Boadicea and ravished the daughters. At this, Boadicea roused the Britons to rebellion, burned Car Tulodunum (Colchester) and defeated the Romans. Thomas Thorneycroft's sculpture on the Tharines Embankment, London, COITIITernorates Boadiceas rebeliorl.
Another famous heroine is Joan of Arc of France. Born at Domremy on January 6th, 1412, she was the daughter of a peasant, Intensely devout, she heard Voices telling her to save France, then under the dominion of the English. In February 1429, she procured an introduction to the uncrowned King Charles Wil. By him she was given a troop of soldiers to lead to the relief of Orleans, then besieged by the English. Her faith infused new courage into her countrymen and the seige was raised. Otherwictories were won and in July, 1429, Charles was crowned at Rheims. An immense literature has grown up around "the maid", as Joan is often called, and George Bernard Shaw has written a play entitled: "Saint Joan of Arc". In 1920she was canonised by the Church,
An Indian heroine's narlie is associated with the revolt of the Indian army at Meerut in May, 1857. The revolt had been secretly and well Organized, but a premature outburst rather upset the plans of the leaders. it was much Thore than a military mutiny and it spread rapidly and assumed the character of a popular rebellion and a war of Indian

Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1189
GEORGE BERNARD SHAWWASAN RISH DRAMATIST WHO WAS BORN INDUBLIN ONJULY 26, 1856. HE WORKED FORATIME WITHA DUBLIN LANDAGENT AND CAME IN 1876 TO LONDON, WHERE HESTRUGGLED WITH LTTLE SUCCESS AS A JOURNALST FOR NIN E YEARS. MEANWHILE HEACTED ASA PROPAGANDIST FORSOCIALISM, HAWING JOINED, IN 1884, THE FABIAN SOCIETY FOR WHOM HE WROTE TRACTS, AND HE BECAME KNOWNASA BRILLIANT DEBATER, BUT NOTASAN AUTHOR, THOUGHHE HADALREADY WRITTENSEVERALPLAYS, SHAW NOW BEGAN TO PUBLISHHIS PLAY'S, WITH THEIR FAMOUSPREFACES ON SOCIAL RELIGIOUSAND BIOLOGICAL TOPICS, HE WROTE MANY PLAYS THEREAFTER AND BECAME AFAMOU 圈懿憩
Georga Berrard Shaw 25,07. 1856 – (72,11195)
The plays, which are brilliant in dialogue, have qualities of wit, epigram and hyperbole which have come to be known as "Shawian". They expose social Wrongs and discuss philosophical and religious problems. The greatest partphleteer and propagandist of his age, Shaw is a critical and stimulating rather thana Constructive thinker. He was awarded a Nobel Prize for literature in 1926,

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1170 Politics and Life in Our Times
independence. The revolt strained British rule to the utmost, and it was ultimately suppressed with Indian help, when many played the part of quislings. The revolt threw up some fine guerrilla leaders and among whom one stands out above others and is revered still in popular memory, Lakshmi Bai, Rani of Jhansi, a girl of twenty years of age, who died fighting. "Best and bravest" of the rebel leaders, she was called by the English general who opposed her.
I have given here how in different climes and different circumstances, Women have come forward, at the risk of their lives, to Save their country and their people. Sri Lanka has had very hard and difficult times for the past several decades and it is only President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and the People's Alliance Government who can now take us to better times. In the past life changed slowly - but today all aspects of life are changing fast, in Seven league strides. Hence those who are at the head of the government should be those who are learned in matters relating to government, in political science. Our President has studied political Science in Souborne University in France and she has gathered around her a galaxy of devoted men learned in the art of government.
GENERAL SITUATION
We are now in a relatively difficult international economic environment. The East-Asian Crises and the economic problems in Japan and Russia have infused a large degree of uncertainty to the world commodity and financial markets. There is a world-wide decline in equity prices and slow down in world trade. Several of major economies in Asia, Latin America and Europe are in the downwing phase of their business cycles; competition from Asia is intensifying, interest rates have been raised and external financing Constraints are beginning to bite. Although Sri Lankan economy has shown a strong resilience and is relatively insulated due to prudent economic policies, in the background of the continued uncertainty in the world economic outlook, the Government must continue to strengthen the economic fundamentals further, in order to sustain economic stability and make progress towards sustained economic growth.

Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1171
EMPLOYMENT OPPORTUNITIES
The Government has accorded highest priority to create employment opportunities and provide reasonable living conditions to our growing population. During the last 4 years, it has created over 700,000 jobs in both private and public sectors and through overseas employment and self employment programmes. A considerable level of investments was undertaken in the development of 4 new export zones and 28 regional industrial estates. Fiscal incentives have been offered to attract industries into these zones. In response to these incentives 250 new industrial establishments are under Construction. Out of 1,206 approved projects, 500 industrial ventures are expected to reach project implementation stage early next year. The employment potential of these new industries is in the range of 80,000 - 100,000. A number of large infrastructure projects that will come into effect next year, particularly in the areas of highways, ports and telecommunication will Create a construction boom providing employment for a vastnumber of people. It is expected that these sectors would create about 10,000 jobs.
The Government has formulated several programmes of employment for unemployed graduates. The "Tharuna Aruna Programme" implemented with private sector assistance has proved very successful. Out of 5,000 applicants, already 1,600 have been placed on private sector employment. Some of them have graduated to managerial positions drawing monthly salaries over Rs.10,000/=. This programme is expected to expand further next year, providing increased opportunities to unemployed graduates at private establishments. The Government will also increase training in various fields through skills development programmes and establishment of an IT technology training centre next year, with a view to creating further employment opportunities. A further 5,000 jobs will be created in this sector. 75,000 jobs are also expected through overseas employment. The Government Will also absorb qualified youths into technical positions in various development agencies, which require a large number of educated youths. The Government will thus create 150,000 to 225,000 employment opportunities during the next 2 years in both private and public sector organisations. A Presidential Task Force is expected to be set up to achieve this target through a co-ordinated approach.

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172 Politics adrid Life ir1 COLF Tirtines
ECONOMIC PERFORMANCE
In 1998, the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in real terms is expected to grow by 5.0 percent. The GDP in 1997 grew by 6.4 percenton account of the growth of all major sectors,
During the first half of 1998, the real GDP grew by 5.1 percent on account of the growth of all major sectors.
The agriculture sector including forestry and fishing is expected to grow by 2.3 percent in 1998. The major contribution to the growth in agriculture is from the paddy sub-sector, which recorded a growth of 15.6 percent in production for 1998 over 1997. In plantation agriculture, tea production for 1998 is estimated to be 285 million kgs. Surpassing last year's peak production of 277 million kgs. The fisheries subsector is also expected to expand by 5.0 percent in 1998 owing to the increase in fishing Crafts and the recovery in agricultural shrimp farming,
The construction sectoris estimated to grow by 7.5 percent in 1998. The higher growth rate compared to 5.4 percent in 1997, is mainly due to the increase in investments in economic infrastructure development and rehabilitation projects in telecommunication works and the Tanufacturing industry, and the rise in construction of housing and commercial buildings.
SAMURDH - IMPROVES OUALITY OF LIFE
The Government introduced the Sanurdhi movement to improve the quality of life of the rural poor. Through this movement the rural areas are being developed by mobilising rural youth to become entrepreneurs to create employment and to inculcate sawing habits. Samurdhibanks take banking facilities to the door-steps of the village and avoid complicated procedures in their dealings. These are some of the main objectives of the Samurdhi TowerTent,
EDUCATIONAL REFORM
The Sri Lankan school system has grown in an unplanned manner and rationalisation is long overdue, The National Education Commission (NEC) was appointed to propose education reforms to re-organise and restructure the Sri Lankan school system. NEC's proposals for restructuring are based on an island-wide school mapping exercise which will result in converting:-

Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1173
INDIA IS AN INDEPENDENT REPUBLIC WITH IN THE BRITISH COMMON WEALTH WITH THE SEAT OF GOVERNMENTAT NEW DELHI, BY THE TERMS OF THE INDIA INDEPENDENCE ACT, 1947, INDIA COMPRISES THE FORMER PROVINCES OF BRITISHINDIA. WHICH HAD HINDU MAJORITIES, AND THOSE AMONG THE 507 STATES WHICH CHOSE TO JOIN INDIA RATHER THAN PAKSTAN. UNDER THE CONSTITUTION OF THE REPUBLIC OF INDIA, WHICH CAME INTO FORCE ON 26 JANUARY 1950, INDIA SA UNION OF STATES, EACH WITH ITS OWN GOVERNOR AND LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLY. THE CONGRESS PARTY DOMINATED INDIAN POLITICS FORMANY DECADES.
థ్రో Thg farmily of Indira Gardhi
L.-R. Rajiv Gandhi, Sonja Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, and Indira Gandhi. They are seen here with the children.
India is almost entirely agricultural, though today big industrics are also flourishing in and around towns, Sevenly percent of the population depend on the land for their livelihood. There are two systems of land holding; the ryotwari system, by which each peasant becomes a freeholder and, this is gradually superseding the zamindar system of tenant-farning and absentee landlords, Although socially desirable, the ryotwari system is uneconomic since the peasant farmer employs primitive methods and is too poor to buy equipment and fertilizers; it results in an inadeguate food supply for the family, irrigation projects on the upper Ganges and in the East Punjab have reduced flooding and hawe increased rice and Taize yields.

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1174. Politics and Life in Our Times
(1) Type 3 schools into junior schools (grades 1-9). Those which do not meet a real need or are not sufficiently viable to be continued will be closed down or amalgamated with other schools, while grade 1 - 5 Schools in remote locations will be retained as feeder Schools.
(2) Type 2 schools also into junior schools, while retaining a few as grade 1 - 11 schools if special reasons warrant their continuance for the present.
(3) IAB and IC schools which currently have classes from grades 6 to 13 into junior Schools (grades 1-9) or senior schools (grades 10-13).
(4) IAB or IC schools which currently have classes from grades 1 to 13 into (a) junior schools or (b) senior schools or (c) two such schools functioning in the same location under two separate managements, which will require a division of the current physical infrastructure and facilities between the two.
The NEC believes that the above restructuring will give the following benefits:
(a) it will help to provide the compulsary span of schooling (grades 1-9) in the same school, thus minimising school dropouts, (b) it will help to develop a school Culture more appropriate to
the different age levels of pupils; (c) senior schools will be able to provide specialised courses
and better facilities for senior secondary education. The changes and progress made in the country and in the life of the people have been so many and so varied, during the past four years of the People's Alliance Government, that it is possible in an article to describe briefly on only a few of them.
WAR ON VICE
The Government has launched a crusade to stem the rising tide of crime, child abuse, alcoholism and drug abuse. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga said recently: "We have declared War on vice. We Want to rid these evils from Our midst and ensure a brighter future for the country, People's assistance is vital for this effort.

Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1175
The present wave of crime is a dangerous trend and some youth regarded violence as a means of solving every problem. This was apparent after the fear psychosis in 1988-89 during which violence reached a Zenith and the gun culture engulfed society.
"Southern youth took up arms against the Government in 1971 and 1988-89. Northern youth, too, have followed suit. In crushing the 1988-89 insurgency, around 50,000 youth lost their lives on tyre pyres and at the hands of goon Squads. Suppression was not the solution. The violence died down, but vestiges of that violent mentality remain.
"A firm foundation has been laid to guide the country onto the correct path and reform society. The Government was always ready to listen to constructive criticism and rectify any shortcomings as part of a new political Culture".
SAARC REBORN WITH LANKAN PRESIDENT
consider that the opinion of a person from a SAARC country and who is not a Sri Lankan would be valuable to us. Hence I am quoting from an interview given recently to the "Daily News" by the out going High Commissioner for Bangladesh, Masum Ahmed Chowdhury on the eve of his departure. He said that SAARC was reborn under the dynamic leadership of President Chandrika Bandaranaike at the recent Colombo Summit.
He expressed confidence that a new phase of SAARC will be ushered with the guidance of President Kumaratunga with her mature and wise leadership. "The summit held in Sri Lanka was a confidence building process for all seven SAARC nations and the Bangladesh Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina Wajed, left Colombo in an optimistic mood", he said.
He said that the Colombo Declaration which was passed unanimously, was a reflection of the commitment of the SAARC members to take the organisation forward to the next millennium.

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1176 Politics and Life in Our Times
MAGNIFICENT PERFORMANCEAT UN
I am quoting from the political commentators report to the "Daily News", of our President's participation in the UN General Assembly: President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga is today acknowledged by the World community as a leading international figure. This was amply proved by her performance at the 53rd session of the UN General Assembly and the respect shown her by world leaders such as Bill Clinton, Tony Blair, Atal Behari Vajpayee and Nelson Mandela. When President Kumaratunga addressed the United Nation's General Assembly to a packed audience, she was not only charming and graceful, but also succinct, clear and highly knowledgeable, particularly on matters such as international terrorism, economics and Social Welfare. A fond mother she proved to the audience that she is a caring Woman.
They listened in rapt attention to President Kumaratunga when she announced that her government had introduced legislation to protect children and foster their progress. She also for the first time in the UN forum proposed such acute and tragic problems such as growing alcoholism and drug addiction and the necessity to have enhanced domestic and international programs to combat these social menaces which are afflicting mankind more than ever before. Speaking with absolute clarity and confidence which had her audience of world leaders spellbound. President Kumaratunga projected these new problems which had the wide support of the entire General Assembly, but shocked many a staid politician and diplomat.
Undoubtly the President's speech caused a wave of sympathy for the child - those who are sold as slaves by their poor parents, for a poor pittance, those who have no education, those who do not have a Square meal, those who are sexually abused and above all those little children who are forced by terrorist organisations such as the ruthless band of brigands led by Prabakaran to fight in the front lines and die to meet the selfish ends of tinpot dictators who live in grandeur, while thousands of their followers are thrown to the wolves to protect these ịnhurnanS.

Four Years of Steady and Resourceful Leadership 1177
After her speech which was greeted with rounds and rounds of applause, President Kumaratunga was seen in long conversation with President Clinton, President Nelson Mandela, Prime Minister Tony Blair and Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee. Participating in these discussions was Sri Lanka's erudite Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar. After the discussions, both President Kumaratunga and Foreign Minister Kadirgamar said that the talks were very fruitful and that these leaders were strongly supportive of Sri Lanka.
Today it is an acknowledged fact that while she is the most targeted woman in the world by the LTTE, which today is the most ruthless international terrorist organisation, she is also the bravest of us all. As she addressed not only the UN but many conferences in New York, it was obvious that there was a woman of great courage who fears not for her life, but was totally committed to eradicate terrorism from the face of the earth and also returning Srilanka, once known as the Pearl of the East and Serendib, back to her pristine glory.
As the leader of South Asia, the entire region was proud of her performance and they are convinced that for the first time in the history of the South Asian Association for Regional; Corporation (SAARC), the grouping of the most popular region in the world, yet the most poverty stricken, would forge into international recognition, peace and prosperity. It would be recalled that soon after the nuclear tests by India and Pakistan, President Kumaratunga who chaired the SAARC Summit, was instrumental in initiating friendly and fruitful discussions between the Indian Prime Minister and his Pakistani counterpart, Nawaz Sheriff.
Latest reports received by us from Canada state that Minister of Justice, Constitutional Affairs, Ethnic Affairs and National integration, Prof. G. L. Peiris has received a firm assurance from the Government of Canada, in its resolve to do everything in its power to suppress global terrorism, which is the gravest menace facing mankind today.
STATEMENT ON THE ETHNIC PROBLEM
I wish to conclude my article with extracts from the answers given by our President in the Rupavahini interview last month: "The last Government was very confused and they had no policy at all to solve the Tamil people's problems. In the meantime because of the absolute

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11.78 Politics arid Life Ir T CDL u Wir7733
stupidity and idiotic manner the last Government conducted this problem, the matters of state regarding Tamil People's problemWe had a war when we came in 1994 which was 11 or 12 years old. The armed forces which were in a very bad way, dialogue between the Government and the LTTE had completely broken down, between the Government and the Tamil people had completely Ebrokem do Wm,
"The Sinhala people, the Muslim people and other people living in this Country, especially the Sinhala and Tamil people, there were a lot of problems. The dialogue had broken down at the peoples level, problets were wery serious and also thirdly Sri Lanka had earned a Very bad, terrible image abroad because of the non-solution and the lack of any effort on the part of the GovernTient to solve the problems of minorities in this country.
"So we inherited this problem. I remember we promised the people that we will bring in peace wery soon. That we did not like to do war. Therefore invited the LTTE within one week of coming into power, | Wrote to Mr. Prabhakaran, I think within 10 days after we came into power in August '94, inviting him for discussion. He accepted. For 8 long Tonths we went on negotiating, discussing; told Mr. Prabhakaran and we gave everything they asked for which was for the benefit of the people. Of course, we were not going to give them arms and money. We are mot SC foolis as the UNP GWEITrent to the LTTE. BECLUSE We wanted the LTTE also to come into a denocratic political party and give up their violence, so We were not going to help the T1 or anybody to become violent and I kept writing to Mr. Prabhakaran. He and exchanged 43 or 44 letters.
"Apparently this is the only time Mr. Prabhakarn wrote to any Sinhalese person and I told him we have the political proposals what is called the Devolution Package. I would prefer to call it Peace Package - that we had the Peace Package in hand. In December '94 told him have the letters and asked hit for the dates. Whe We could start discussing the proposals to see what their views were in order to stop fighting. We already had a ceasefire. But he kept dodging the issue and he refused to discuss.

For Years of Steady and Fasourceful Leadership 1179
THE UNITEDNATIONSORGANIZATION IS THE SUCCESSORTO THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS, SET UP BY FIFTY MATIONS AT THE SAN FRANCISCO CONFERENCE IN 1945. ITS PRINCIPAL ORGANS ARE: THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY; THESECURITY COUNCIL; THE ECONOMIC AND SOCIALCOUNCIL THE TRUSTEESHIPCOUNCILTHE INTERNATIONALCOURT OF JUSTICE AND THE SECRETARA. THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY COMPRISES ALL MEMBERS OF THE UNITED NATIONS (NOWOWER 150MEMBERSTATES). ISDECISIONS ARE MADE BY A TWO-THIRDS MAJORTY TWORKSHOWEVER, MAINLY THROUGHCOMMITTEES, SOME OF WHICH (E. G. POLITICALAND SECURITY, ECONOMIC ANDFINANCIAL) ARE PERMANENT AND SOMEAD HOC.
Ceylon was accepted as a member of the Lnited Nations Organization on 74.12, 1955, Hare is seen second front right R. S. S. Gunawardene, the GCCGLLLLGLO TC TLCTCGCS LLLLL LLL LLLLCCCCLLLLLLL LLL T LLLaL LLLLLaLLS
The Security Council Consists of 11 member states each with one representative and One Wote. There are five permanent members (China, France, U.K., l, S.A. and U.S.S.R.) and six non-permanent members elected by the Gameral Assembly for two-year terms. Procedural matters may be decided by the assent of any savan members, but on all other proposals unanimity of the permanent Timbers is required. The chief duty of the Security Council is to maintain or restora international peace; it may organize military forces, supplied by the memberstates, eitherfor police action (as in Egypt 1956) or for armed intervention (as in the Congolese Republic 1961). The U.N. Secretariat is headed by the Secretary-General (Boutros Boutros-Ghali-1995) whose position has become one of considerable influence, dug in no small part to the outstanding qualities Of the first two Secretaries-General, Trygve Lic and Dag Hammarskjold,

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"I told him that we have set aside some billions of rupees, to start developing the North and the East and can I send Sri Lankan Government officials to the North to begin giving them electricity and to repair their roads, to repair their irrigation schemes, to repair the schools and hospitals and begin operating them again. He said don't come. We were ready to go by the end of Feb. 1995, and told him the dates. He said don't, he always used to saying yes, he was lying all the time. When they had asked for some facility, until he gets it "yes, yes, we will consider it" and when we give it, when I say having given the facilities, OK noW can We come?
"And it went on like this and of Course 8 months later, in April 1995 they began the war by sinking two naval boats. That is past history that everybody knows. I need not repeat it, but so the LTTE forced us into military campaign which tried very hard to avoid while the UNP was laughing at us, while the Sinhala extremists were laughing at us saying that we were foolish. We tried our level best not to start this destructive war again which destroys our Tamil children as well as our young boys. But Prabhakaran did not allow that and he wanted war again,
"So obviously as a strong and self respecting Government, if there is a force that is fighting our Government, which is trying to divide the country into two, which is trying for a separate State, we cannot lie down and say die. Obviously We have had to reply to them militarily. But right through the military campaign we have done our maximum and we shall continue to do so to avoid as much as possible inconvenience to the normal Tamil persons - to the normal Tamil citizens. I remember in August 1995 after the military campaign, we were forced into a war by the LTTE, I made a statement to the nation in which clearly said that this is not a war against the Tamil people, that it is only a battic for peace and it is only a war against the terror of the LTTE and clearly stated also that we see that the LTTE is different from the Tamil people".
Colombo, 11th November, 1998. For an abridged version of the above, see "Ceylon Daily News" of November 16, 1998.

CHAPTER 14
Sri Lankan Laws
Sir P. Ramanathan's Views On Adult Franchise
(The following is the speech made by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan in the Legislative Council on November 8, 1928.)
desire, Sir, to have a quiet talk with my colleagues in this Council and also with those beyond, mean the electors of Ceylon, to view these questions dispassionately and without emotion in order that a proper Solution may be arrived at. I am afraid a number of Wrong opinions and wrong principles have been thrust into this question, which have made the subject very complicated. We must remember that in the solution of this question we do not want the opinions of people so long as we have a mind to think. We know as a matter of fact that the mind thinks all kinds of things whether right or wrong, and that it is the thoughts of the mind that are said to be the opinions of a man.
What is the good of having the opinions of men unless those opinions are well founded and in fact sanctioned by experience and authoritatively supported by the best and truest of men in our midst. We have to think laboriously according to the dictates of sound reason, unpolluted by likes and dislikes, because likes and dislikes have the power of drawing reason away from the rightpath and bringing it to conclusions which are not at all acceptable to saner men. We expect reason to be Wellpoised and well balanced and our judgment also to be well balanced and free from likes and dislikes, if we are to arrive at right conclusions.
Upon simple affairs that are founded upon the perception of the senses, it is possible for men to come directly to a conclusion which may in most cases be accepted; but even then as regards the perception of the senses, we see, for instance, that the setting Sun is going apparently into the waters. This is the report of the senses - the sun has gone down. But is it so? If we reason properly

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according to the laws of causation, that is to say according to the a WS of Cause and effect, We will see that reason declares that the sun did not go down but that the earth has been revolving, and what appears to be a fact so far as the eyes are concerned is all Wrong according to the true issue. So, the operation of reason cannot be guaranteed to be successful even in matters relating to the perception of the senses. Then, what is the guarantee upon which we can accept the dictates of reason?
So far as We Hindus and Buddhists are concerned, we have such a thing as sanathana dharma which means the eternal laws of reason. The Romans knew it and the Greeks knew it. Their lips constantly spoke of the eternal principles of justice and the eternal principles of righteousness, as distinguished from casual reasons and provisional principles,
Now, Sir, a very big community forming together more than half the population of the world are used to the belief that if we are to go right, We must train our reason to the study of those eternal principles of justice and righteousness, and then try to form opinions according to our worldly experience. The man who wentures upon an opinion on provisional matters, matters that begin, grOW, decay, and die, must-according to the wisest nations in the World - familiarize himself with the principles of truth and righteousness.
The modern term is "scientific principles" but unfortunately the "scientific principles" armount to this, that if the dictates of science are not in confornity with the perception of the senses, then it is said that the dictates of science cannot be accepted. Then, they have created scientists - I do not mean all Scientists - who believe in spiritual life, and scientists who believe in purely worldly life. There is a fluctuation between them and Tost scientists say that if a conclusion is obviously contradicted by the perceptions of the senses, we have to be very careful.

Sir F. FairTarjahan's Wiaws or Adul Friarchise 1 183
EMMELINE PANKHURST BRITISH SUFFRAGIST, BORN JULY 14, 1858. SHE WAS THE DAUGHTER OF ROBERT GOULDEN OF MANCHESTER, AND MARRIED, 1879, R. M. PANKHURST, BARRISTER AND ADWOCATE OF WOMAN's SUFFRAGE (D. 1898). SHE HELPED TO FOUND THE WOMAN'S FRANCHSE LEAGUE (1889). IN 1903 SHE WAS INSTRUMENTAL, WITH HERDAUGHTER, CHRISTABEL, INFOUNDING THE WOMEN'S SOCAL AND POLITICAL UNION ARRESTED IN 19 DBFOR BREACHES OF THE PEACE, SHE WAS IMPRISONED, BUT WAS RELEASED ON GROUNDS OF HEALTH,
V. N. .
*韃 '$(' TT II , , , , , Il'ichill Hill eile.
Sir Porrari 7 balar77 Ra Tarnafhan) †ß.ûፉ †857 – ኃ8 11. 193û
Emmeline Pankhurst was again imprisoned in 1912. She went on hunger strike, and was released. In 1913 she was sentenced to 3 years' penal servitude, but again refused food and was released. During the Great War she lent her organisation to the cause of recruiting and munitions, Wilh the extension of the suffrage to WorTen in 1918, she joined the Conservative Party. She died June 14, 1928.

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So you see, Sir, in Europe there are a number of principles which must be taken to be wrong because they do not stand the test of experience. We, therefore, the Hindus and Buddhists, accept the teachings of our sages as regards the veritable existence of the eternal principles of justice and righteousness. From that point of view we are prepared to judge our worldly affairs; and it is easy for us to come to an actual knowledge of the actual rules of action for purposes of Worldly life. I say that in the consideration of the matters that are now engaging our attention, we are in the presence of a body of principles which the European nations believe to be quite right and beyond doubt.
Our difficulty is this, that every one of the principles that they enunciate is really and truly wrong, and can be admitted only provisionally for a limited period of time. We say that because we actually see that in Europe, the opinions or principles accepted as true in one generation or half a generation become untrue in the next period that follows. And the opinions and principles in the second period which were said to have given us accurate views of life, are found to change in the third period; and so it has gone on from the earliest times - always changing. We do not labour under that difficulty. We say there are eternal principles of justice and righteousness in worldly affairs which, if they are to be judged properly, must be judged according to those eternal principles. We must beware of the passing principles which a certain portion of the world have agreed to accept. We need not quarrel with them so long as they are not forced upon us. Therefore, we can even co-operate with them on the basis of their own principles.
We are not going to pass judgment Sir, on political principles or any other principles obtaining in Europe or any other country. We have to be tolerant. Let them guide themselves according to their greatmen. It is no concern of ours to pass judgment or to be critical in these affairs. But if a body of men, by reason of fortuitous circumstances, come over to our land and say "Look here, this is what we know to be satisfactory for our purpose, and we wish you to adopt these principles", we say "No. Sir, there are other views and if you will only listen to us, perhaps, you may get rid of the difficulties you have and co-operate with us upon Our Own lines".

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1185
Unfortunately, Sir, this frame of mind, thistolerant peaceful frame of mind, is not to be found easily.
was asked to appear before the Commissioners in the New Town Hall of Colombo, and there were four of them sitting. I was asked some questions and amongst them was this: "What do you say about universal suffrage?"
"Well" said "universal suffrage prevails throughout Europe - believe On this side of the Atlantic and On the South-eastern side of another Ocean - and it is spread about as much as saltwater is spread about all throughout the world in the oceans. Because it is spread about, are we going to say that Ocean water is good for drinking, and not freshwater? No. The extensiveness or the prevalence of something does not prove its truth or suitability to us". "You use these principles yourselves" said "but do not ask us to use them".
Another question that was put to me was: "What about women's suffrage?"
replied "We must leave our women alone. You have no conception why they were brought into being according to the great design of God. They occupy a situation which is most sacred and most necessary for the welfare of life. All their attention, all their life, all their circumspection, must be devoted to the home without which no society can be, without which no city life can be, without which no Empire can be. The moment you distract the attention of such persons - the bearers of the home, the bearers of society, the bearers of even cities and Empires - and allow them to take part in things foreignto the sacredness of home, you desecrate the women and we have practical experience of it, being the oldest nations on the face of the earth. You have seen the ruin of the greatest Empires, the Hebrew civilization, the Caribbean civilization, the Assyrian civilization, the Egyptian civilization, and every kind of civilization. And we say that most of those ruins took place owing to this mixing up of ideals, to the pursuit of sensuousness and pleasure for its own sake. We say we do not live for pleasure; and we say we live for duty towards man and towards God. God is the great being on whom all our attention is focused from early morning till we go to bed". Our responsibility, I meant to tell the Commissioners is first

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and foremost to God. But the European nations whether they are B. A.'s, M. A.'s, M. B's. or LL.Ds avoid talking about that one subject because they have become scientific and they say: "We know nothing about it. We are agnostics. We do not want to express an opinion, neither can We teach it". But We, Sir, do teach it; we do live that life; we draw inspiration from that life and we say, therefore, that according to our teaching and according to the experience we have had in life in respect of the joys and sorrows of humanity, we find that the design of God must be carefully observed and not be spoilt in any way. Do not allow our women to go to any other field than their own, except Occasionally.
My honourable friend on my left (Mr. C. E. Victor Corea) said that he had heard Or read somewhere that a mother came to a nurse with a child and wondered whose child that beautiful childwas. It appears the nurse said "Why madam, this is your own baby".
I have been to different parts of the world, and I found both in England and in America a new system of living rooted in the idea, that women may go about wherever they like and do all that men may do.
I went first to America and found the homes disrupted, and for several reasons. One of the reasons was a curious one, that they could not find servants well-behaved enough to serve their mistresses in the homes. The servants that used to do their work did the work badly; and when the mistress called them to account for it they said "Madam you know my work better than do. Settle my pay and I walk out'. A household of husband, wife and many children has to be run with the help of servants, although servants do not care to help in that particular, but must have all kinds of so-called privileges. The home is ruined.
But in addition to this servant difficulty there were many other difficulties. It is needless for me to say what the father andmother did. They said "This has become a serious problem to us. We go to a hotel or engage a flat and live in it". When I asked them, "What about the children" the reply was "We leave out the children - send them to boarding houses and we see them occasionally". So, Sir, those little bright souls who are the assets of a country have been bodily transferred

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1187
from the training, tradition, and love of parents to hard hands, to people who have been hired for the occasion and who, therefore, being hired and being poor cannot bring into play those austere influences which only a mother can bring to play. The parents live in flats, far away from their children, the husband going one way and the wife going another way.
In the European countries, marriage has become a thing of convenience. They meet by chance, marry by accident, and divorce themselves in the course of a few months, and there is complete disruption of home life.
The question was put to me by one of the Commissioners, the Labourite Commissioner: "Have you any objection to women's suffrage?" said "I have, because We are concerned about the purity of the home, about the usefulness of the home to the Empire itself, and we know how to keep the peace". "I cannot admit". I told him, "that because it suits your Country it would suit ours". The Commissioners, Sir, were rather put out about it. They could not understand it. They live all their lives in places which have only little windows to see through. They are narrow-visioned men. They may be Members of Parliament but their narrowness of vision cannot be overcome except by spiritual principles and by spiritual practice.
Christianity has been a living religion from the time it appeared. Jesus has said that these spiritual principles had existed before the foundation of the world before God projected his universe. All these sacred principles were necessary for the uplift of man and they were all there in the mind of the Deity. That is how these principles, these great principles, have come to us, We treasure them, and there are people who are ready to train us. We are all in the hands of these guides and we feel really pained when new fancies are brought to us and even forced upon us, when sorrow is introduced into every home in India with her 300,000,000 people and in Ceylon with her 5,000,000 people.
A LIVING RELIGION
We Will not utter a Word. We Will bear Our burdens With resignation, and the time may come when these very men who are sent out by His Majesty to rule over distant parts of the Empire will carry the goodnews from our country to theirs and tell the people there that there

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118.8 Polics and Life in Our TirTIGs
is another and a higher view of life, a view more consistent with the ancient doctrines of Jesus and also of all the Sages who went before Jesus. We are wery Tuch concerned about these new doctrines which are forced upon us,
I say that uniwersal suffrage will mot do for us. As regards suffrage to adult males, we must not forget the history of humanity, or fall to take notice of what statesmen in European countries are doing in their lands for the removal of ignorance, We hawe, Sir, in Ceylon and in India the best educationists. Here is one right opposite to me. (The Hon. L. Macrae). We must convert the bad ones into goodones, efface passions and develop love, and my honourable friend is there to guard over our destinies in the case of English education. I am glad to say that he is the President of the Oriental Society of Ceylon, We prize him because he is not a Than with these new fancies, because he is not a man who has had no concern with education and who does not remember the saying of Mathew Arnold about the state of things in Europe - "We are said to be educationists. We seem to think that We know all about everything, but the fact is we know nothing because neither Europe nor America has found any clue to the great phenomenon that is before us in the universe, varied, contradictory, contrary, wayward, We know nothing about it and We have found no clue to it".
HOUSE OF COMMONS
These politicians in that great House of Commons, the history of which we know - these modern men - have forgotten these things. They seem to think that because the rabble sent them into the House they knew the profundities of human nature, they knew all about the truth that has been spoken of as the Tysteries of the Kingdom of God, the great mystefits which are reserved only for people who seek then, Who knock and who will find then. To those who do not seek thern, who do not knock, who are self-satisfied, who think that they are the greatest persons in the world, the mysteries of the Kingdo I of God are a closed book. But these mysteries will be revealed in due time to all those persons who seek them,

Sir P. REIT)anathan's Wigws on Adur Franchise 189
YE HAVE HEARD THAT THATH BEENSAID, ANEYE FOR ANEYE, ANDA TOOTHFORATOOTH: BUTSAY UNTO YOU, THAT YERESISTNOTEVIL; BUT WHOSOEVER SHALLSMITE THEE ON THY RIGHT CHEEK, TURN TO HIM THE OTHER ALSO. GIVE TOHIM THAT ASKETH THEE, AND FROM HIM THAT WOULD BORROW OF THEETURN NOT THOUAWAY. YEHAWE HEARD THAT THATH BEENSAID, THOUSHALT LOVE THYNEIGHBOUR, AND HATE THINE ENEMY. BUTISAY UNTO YOU, LOVE YOUR ENEMIES, BLESS THEM THAT CURSE YOU, DO GOOD TO THEM THAT HATE YOU, AND PRAY FOR THEMWHICHDESPTEFULLYUSE YOU, AND PERSECUTE YOU; FOR FYE LOVE THEM WHICH LOVE YOU, WHAT REWARD HAVE YE DO NOT EVEN THE PUBLICANS THE SAME 7
Jasus Chrisť Diving Son of the Living God
At the same time came the disciples unto Jesus, saying, who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven? And Jesus called a little child unto him, and set him in the midst of thern, And said Werily say unto you, Except ye be converted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven. Whosoever therefore shall hurtible itself as this little child, the said is greatest in the kingdom of heaven, And whoso shall receive one such little child in my rarThe receiweth me.
- Th79 Wgw TGStarfler), St. Masthe W.

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That kind of knowledge, real knowledge, does not exist in Europe except in the cloisters and in the straightlaces. It is very rarely that you come across that beautiful, upright soul with whom conversation is a thing of joy to the ordinary man and who has a platform of his own, who silently works in the midst of difficulties and produces very good results in the matter of the conversion of the Wicked ones into good ones.
LIKE BARBARIANS
The commissioners speak about male adult Suffrage. But do they not remember that if there were no schools, no colleges and no universities, in England and in other parts of Europe, the people in those parts of the world would be nothing but utter, hopeless barbarians like the Goths and the Vandals who swept over the plains of Rome and made short work of that Empire, who broke down the statues and everything that was nice and holy, and left the country steeped in the bitterest of sorrows? Have they not heard of these things? Why do they preach these rotten doctrines to us and force them down our throats? I say there is revolution after revolution coming and, who knows, earthquakes and eruptions of the sea coming. But the good ones will be saved. It is all lost on Some of the Commissioners. Of Course, do admire Some of them.
What would London be without its millions of students and scholars. During the earliest times when there was nothing but religion stirring in the hearts of everybody, people loved religion and put themselves under the control of the priests, and they were taught and told "Now take care. There is your responsibility, responsibility to God who rewards and punishes. He is the only being whose judgment and awards and punishments are correct. "Live that life'.
What would be the state of England if there were no elementary schools, secondary schools, colleges, and universities? Will the brilliant lights here, who are sitting opposite to us, ever have had the chance of coming to us but for those schools and colleges?

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1.191
SELF. GOVERNMENT
Dr. Shields believe forgets this lesson in human experience. Education is absolutely necessary if we are to make our wicked people govern their passions and their low animal desires. If we are to do that, education is absolutely necessary. If a man can govern his low passions and desires, then he can govern himself. And thus we come to the idea of self-Government in the proper sense of the term. SelfGovernment is for the individual- individual Self-Government in order that he may govern his own low passions and desires, and become an asset of his country in due time. Men who have no conception of SelfGovernment in this individual sense are it appears, going to be given a share in political Self-Government. The thing is absolutely ridiculous!
The design of God is this: We are ourselves the child in the chamber. The mother or the father takes care of it. They say, "This is very dear to us, and we shall educate it". They sit near the child, attend to all its wants and teach it from day to day. The child sees the light, points to it with its finger, and looks at the parents. The parents say: "That is a light". (Pointing towards the Hon. Mr. E. W. Perera)"What is that?" asks the child and the parents answer "That is a cat" (Pointing towards the Hon. Mr. Stockdale) "What is that?" asks the child, the parents say that that is some other animal. The child is taught the first names by the earliest teachers, its parents.
MOTHER AND FATHER
Then the mother and father know that the Child has learned a lot of names. Later, when the child is told something, he begins to question the why of that statement. That is the awakening of the reason. So, the father and the mother have to tell the child the why and the wherefore of things. Therefore the father and the mother cannot be spared from that work. They must be there to teach the child. The father has to go away to his work, and the children are left in the care of the mother whose most sacred duty is to watch every turn and movement of her child's mind, anticipate the child's difficulties and give the child proper information every now and then. She delights in doing that: it is more to her than ordinary food.

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1192 Politics and Life in Our Times
The Special Commissioners ask us to give the franchise to persons who cannot govern themselves. There are not many murders committed in Great Britain except under the influence of drink. Proportionately, I believe the people there are not so criminal as the people in many other countries. But in Ceylon do we not know how manythieves have lifted bundles of banknotes and run away - bags of rupees? And do we not know how many men dog the footsteps of cashiers going to their offices with bundles of currency notes and how often they rob the cashiers? Do we not know how many men going alone in this supposedly peaceful city are belaboured with clubs, as they go about in rickshaws, and their things removed? Universal suffrage to these persons? Where is safety for us? What are the Commissioners talking about? Universal suffrage has been given to men and women in England and other places. But we are not they.
REGRET
The other day, I came across an account in a paper in which the present Prime Minister, Mr. Baldwin, is reported to have expressed regret at universal suffrage being given in England. (I tried to hunt up that paper but unfortunately I was not successful). That is their experience. Universal suffrage is talking on the platforms of England owing to the pressure and vehemence of a class of men who want this universal suffrage. Why? To go to Heaven? No, Sir to go to undesirable places. In the World there are such things as prisons, there are such things as misfortunates of all kinds.
Owing to these wrong principles and wrong notions, our perspective is not at all clear. What is the cause of all this? It is may say, first and foremost the report of the Special Commissioners and the suggestions made to the Commissioners by various persons about the needs of Ceylon. Then Sir, must say that distorted communications have been made privately to the Commissioners about the doings of some of the Members of the Legislative Council and the Supposed impasse conditions which have been produced in the Legislative Council.

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 193
must next refer as a fourth cause to the misunderstanding of His Excellency Sir Hugh Clifford with regard to the responsibility and power of the Governor. We had a clear notion of the responsibility and power of the Governor. At one time the responsibility of the Governor was this. He had to govern the country with the approbation of the Secretary of State and he was made responsible, and in order to maintain his responsibility, that is his answerability to the King and the Secretary of State, he was given sufficient power.
RESPONSEBILITY
Well, Sir Hugh Clifford knew this doctrine of responsibility and power as it was when he first came to Ceylon somewhere in 1907 and it pleased him. He is a man of great ability and he liked to have his own way. He went away and afterwards, like a meteor, he comes to this place, and finds that doctrine of responsibility which prevailed when he was first here had been swept away and another form of responsibility and power given in its place. The doctrine of responsibility and power just as everything else, changes and disappears in this world of ours, it was bound to change with the progress of years.
Sir Hugh Clifford found that His Majesty's Order-in-Council of 1923 was altered by the addition of an abundant number of Unofficial Members who are responsible to their electorate, but not responsible ίΟ the Governor of Ceylon. From our point of view there is a higher responsibility not set down on paper, but written deep in our hearts - responsibility to God and to mankind. We say we have to think, speak, and act bringing every thought, every word, and every action to the touchstone of responsibility to God and to mankind. There is nothing like this in any part of the Donoughmore report. The responsibility to the King is on the part of the Governor.
The King's ideal of responsibility is this. I appoint you as Governor and you have the Executive Council to advise you and there is the Legislative Council to criticise and to help you in the good acts of the Government. That is the theory of responsibility so far as His Majesty's Order-in-Council of 1923 is concerned. But Sir Hugh could

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| 1 g4 Poc5 Earl Le (Lr TES
not understand it. His difficulty to understand it was seen in his eyes, in his limbs, in his tongue and in his movements. He was sWeating and fuming. He asked, what is the meaning of this responsibility? The Unofficial Members of the Legislative Council have the power of the purse and they only Consult the Governor. It was difficult for Sir Hugh Clifford to understand. Fortunately, I have the privilege of speaking to Governors and Colonial Secretaries and other high officers of State. told His Excellency Sir Hugh, the doctrine of responsibility has changed. if you refuse to give a vote which the united Council wants, you will find yourself in a difficulty.
TRAINING OF MIND
YouTust train your mind to yield to Unofficial Members. If you do not, they will clamour for a ministry and the power of the purse will be handed from you to the Prime Minister who will be the Lord Treasurer. "This is what you are Courting" said "the transfer of the power of the purse to the Cabinet Ministers." Well Sir, what said was not quite appreciated. came to the Council and found my colleagues fighting against this obstacle founded upon an antiquated theory of responsibility by which the Governor was obsessed. In Council explained the situation tomy official friends too and my conversations with them has had some effect because found that the Colonial Secretary and some of the other officials were prepared to yield as much as possible. I think that is on record.
Things were in this position when His Excellency the Governor Clifford wrote a Despatch to the Secretary of State, I do not know what His Excellency said except what may be gathered from the report of the Donoughmore Commission. There is one fact staring us in the face, namely, the report of the Donoughmore Commission Would not be taken by the Government and placed on the table of this Council. Well, in Consequence of that Despatch of Sir Hugh Clifford we found the Secretary of State announcing that according to a promise made by the Duke of Devonshire that he was going to appoint a Commission. Sir, We newer asked for a Commission, We were all for settling our difficulties

Sir P. Rarrarathar's Wig WS or Adult Friarchise 195
IN THE 1940s "WARSITY NEWS" AND "STUDENT NEWS" WERE HOT FAWOURITES AMONG THE UNDERGRADUATES AND UNDERGRADUETTES OF THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, ARTICLES ON STUDENTS PROBLEMS, SOCIALISM, THE SOWET UNION AND COMMUNISM WERE AMONG THE SUBJECTS ON WHICH ARTICLES WERE PUBLISHED IN THESE NEWSPAPERS. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T DURASINGAM, WAS IN CHARGE OF THE EDITING, PRINTING AND PUBLISHING OF THESE PAPERS. CARTOONS DRAWN BY THE STUDENTS ON STUDENT ACT WITIES AND THE COLLEGE ADMINISTRATION WERE ALSC) PUBLISHED HERE. T.MAYBE USEFUL FOR THE READER TO HAVE THE POLITICAL MATTERS PUBLISHED IN THESE PAPERS ASA WHOLE HENCEA BRIEFACCOUNT OF THESE ARE GIVEN BELOW,
臀
The ong storey building of the Caylor University College
The CorTìmunisl theory Is lhat property (other than personal Chattals) should be held in common and that all labour should be applied for the joint benefit of the whole community. Plato's Republic may be said to have a strong communist element. More specifically, Marxism as interpreted by Lenin and other theoreticians, Marx himself at first used the word interchangably with Rober Owen's 'Socialism' but later he distinguished socialism as a necessary stage on the way to communism, the ultinate classless society. Rousseau and Babeuf In the late 18th century had attacked private-property systems (Capitalism). The Communist Manifesto of Marx and Engels (1848) put forward wiwidly and expressed new ideas which led to the formation of the International Working Men's Association (the First International) and dominated the 19th Century syndicalist-socialist-communist movements, arousing WaherTent protracted Controversies e. g., with Kautsky, Bernstein, etc. Modern ComTunism dates from the 1903 London conference of the Russian Social Democratic Party, when the Bolsheviki (i.e. majority), advocating immediate violent revolution, split from the gradualist Mensheviki (i, e, minority). With the 1917 victory of the Bolsheviks In the Russiam rewolution the ascendarcy of their ideas was astablished; the Third International (Communist International, Cornintern) - 1920 - called for action by the workers of the world to bring about a revolution,

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1196 Politics and Life in Our Times
in the best way we could. Even the deputations that the Congress and several other associations sent to England never asked for universal Suffrage or a Complete alteration of the Executive Council much less the effacement and the abolition of the Executive Council. Nor was that asked in the interviews granted to them by the Secretary of State.
NOMINATED MEMBERS
think you knew that yourself, Sir. The Government who were willing to do their best for the people, then asked some of the leaders of the people to put their heads together and give them a scheme which they Could Consider. Then the Members did their best to evolve a scheme but we could not do it, Sir. So, all that was proposed was to add four nominated members to the Executive Council who with the existing Members, would be safety enough for the Government of Ceylon. But a little time afterwards somehow these four Commissioners came. They asked everybody to state what was in their minds and they announced that they came with open minds.
Their report came to us with all the authority apparently of the Government of Great Britain, but it was not so. We know that because it was a report ordered to be made by the Commissioners in order that it might be submitted to the Secretary of State to be considered by him. Of course he would not consider it unless it was sent to the Governor and laid on the table of the Legislative Council. Well, the report was ordered to be simultaneously published in England and in this Island. We read in it the glittering warble of universal suffrage and Cabinet Ministers with Rs. 27,000 a year each. Interviews were sought by the papers with some of those men who think, and they said they were not prepared to express an opinion just then but would do SO in due time.
PUBLICOPINION
Meanwhile public opinion was gaining ground. The fair report was found to be unsuitable and unworkable, and it was resolved in the Legislative Council that the Executive Committee System, with some of its attendant features, should all be turned down. It is like the entrails

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1197
of a man pulled out and thrown away. The entrails are gone and the man must simply go down having no legs to stand and no head to think; there is nothing else, and the only thing that remains to be done is Crernation.
That is the position of affairs which naturally developed according to the good sense of all our leaders. The leaders certainly found Some trouble at One time.
The advice which the Commissioners give about universal franchise cannot be accepted and for very good reasons.
All this is now being viewed with a great deal of amusement by all the communities, whether they be Sinhalese, Tamils or Muhammadans. They say "Now we have seen light, and we hope this light will continue to shine and work for our good".
The Donoughmore Commissioners say that there must be universal suffrage both for men and women, and that the Indian coolies necessarily ought to get it, too. There is a condensed statement in the report of the Immigration Commissioner as regards the Indian electorate. The term "Indian' means a person of British India or of the territories of any native Prince or chief who is a resident of Ceylon but is not domiciled therein. It is the opinion of some people here that the Indian coolies should not be given this universal suffrage. As a matter of fact, the Commissioners say that the Indian Cooly should have resided in Ceylon for five years before he can exercise the vote or should have been in Ceylon for six months.
CONDITIONAL
I say, Sir, that condition is not a fair one, that is, to deny some suffrage to the Indian coolies. I am altogether against universal suffrage, but the Indian coolies as much as any other community in Ceylon should have some Suffrage.
Noland belongs to any King. Every piece of land in our World is God's land. One nation comes in and passes out in course of time, and another nation comes in and holds the land for a time, and so on. Like the waves of the oceans, there are inundations going on. Nations come in and go out. A nation may hold a land for a thousand years or

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1 198 Politics and Life in Our Times
even for two thousand years but it holds the land temporarily only. That nation may say "This is our land. Be careful, and do not come here". Hindus and Buddhists say that that is the language of the fool. Every land belongs to God. He introduces his nations, wipes them out, and other nations come in. And let no man do what is not just and what is not righteous.
SNHALA NATION
Take, for instance, the Sinhalese nation with which we are related so intimately. They did not know of this land some 2,500 years ago. They were living in Sinhapura in Northern India in a country which was then called Kalinga. The prince rebelled against his father and he and seven hundred of his companions were put into a boat and were told "Do not come to this land." They did not know where they were going, but anyhow they skirted the Indian coast and would not go far into the deep. They landed occasionally to refresh themselves, and went from place to place. At last they came near Ceylon and steady winds began to play. If the north-east wind blows near Nagapatnam it is sure to drive any ship into the western side of Ceylon, and tradition says the prince and his followers landed near Puttalam, crossed over to Anuradhapura and adopted this country as their land. Another tradition says that the prince and his followers landed in Trincomalee and then went across to Anuradhapura. Anyhow, the prince and his followers did not know that they were coming to Ceylon. They were wafted to Ceylon by the breezes or the hand of God. They came and assumed possession of this land and they have flourished.
In that state of things, is it right for persons who have come into God's territory, owned at present by the great British Empire whose policy is a policy of freedom, and who will be glad to admit all kinds of people, provided they are quiet and subservient to law, to come and settle down earn a living, and go away in peace unless he be a declared enemythere is no place for the enemy; that is the rule of eternal life and the rule of the British Government-is it fair for some people to say to these poor Indian coolies who like them, came from India "Off you go from this country?" say it is not right to do so, not right according to the political law of Great Britain, and not right according to sanathana dharma.

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 11.99
Now that the truth is known, what becomes of the doctrine of "Off you go?" Those people must say to the Indian cooly: "We shall not drive you off".
MISTAKES
There are people, Sir, amongst the Buddhists, who would not kill a scorpion or a cobra. If they see one they drive it off. How can such people tell the Indian coolies "This is not the place for you. You had better clear out?" That is an offence against the Buddha, and is against the law of love and righteousness. I hope, Sir, we shall not hear any more of this objection. We have all made mistakes. As told you the Commissioners have made mistakes, and when some of them heard that there was a great hullabaloo here and that the entrails of their pet scheme had been thrown out, they laughed and said "That is very good. That is very good". Look at the spirit of those men. They thought that a particular system was the correct one to recommend, but when they found that that was not the correct one, they accepted the position.
The question is: Can this recommendation be accepted in Ceylon? Is this suitable to us? Is it workable here? That is the question, and if we are men of just minds, of well-balanced reason, of well-balanced judgment, we shall unhesitatingly say "This is the right thing to do", and accept this recommendation. I expect people to come to this question.
I was speaking about the undesirability of giving universal suffrage to persons who cannot govern themselves and who are given to committing wicked crimes. Now, come to the question of giving the suffrage to common labourers who have no education of any kind, and who may be led away by men who like to make a living out of them. During the last few months, or rather during the last year or two, we have had labour associations and We have also seen that there are some persons who, for their own purposes of selfaggrandizement utilize the labourers and their legitimate earnings. We have seen also during the last few months, strikes regularly hatched

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12O2 Politics and Life in Our Times
declaration of American independence, as well as the initiation of the strange doctrine that every man must have equal rights. It is impossible for all men to be equal in the proper sense of the term So long as we have masters and servants. The Servants must stand and serve their masters. They cannot, whilst serving or after serving sit by their masters' side because they happen to have the suffrage. That would not do.
Notwithstanding these theoretical principles, there are no equal rights. There are some persons who get blessings of all kinds and some who get quite the reverse. There are the different, varied conditions of life. I can understand every subject in a kingdom or a republic being entitled to be free from the bondage of tyrannical rule. That is quite clear. Then American independence having been declared the principle was copied in France where there was, as we know the French revolution which resulted in the Overthrow of the monarchy. There also arose another trouble in France. When went to that country thirty or forty years ago found scribbled on the walls where scribbling could take place "Liberty, Fraternity, and Equality." But nevertheless saw there was no equality or fraternity. That was a great misconception.
Men are born unequally, they have to live on unequal terms, and they have to die in unequal terms. But as regards oppression on the part of the rulers there must be some limitation, and therefore, it is wisely ordained that people must have some freedom. If we remember those notions it is impossible for us to accept this doctrine proposed in the report of the Donoughmore Commission. They seem to have written without knowing or without reference to the actual conditions of life prevailing in this country. Wrong opinions and wrong principles have been thrust into our country and there is wild confusion in the minds of the people. I am really sorry to find this trend of circumstances; and it may be that we shall presently have in Ceylon all those troubles which are implicating the whole of Europe.

Sir P. Ramanathan's Views on Adult Franchise 1203
ROTTEN NOTIONS
Rotten notions and revolutionary ideas prevailing in Europe and elsewhere are to be foisted on us because men who pose as leaders of political thought say that those notions and ideas are the best for this country. They say that these are safe principles; but they know they are the most unsafe principles. These men who pose as leaders are keen on insisting upon others to practise these principles. I do not think the Legislative Council, consisting of the leading men in this country should accept those wrong principles and wrong opinions prevailing in other countries. I think, Sir, I have spoken enough, and as told you, I want to have a quiet talk with my colleagues in this Council and those outside; and if these statements of mine are thought over, we shall be able to resist the troubles that are likely to come to us in the future and destroy the pleasant relationships that have continued for a long, longtime.
Courtesy: "The Ceylon Daily News", Colombo, January 10, 1981 .

Page 63
Sri Lanka's Constitution of 1972
by An Attorney-at-Law fron the Wanni
"The Constitution of Sri Lanka became the Fundamental Law of Sri Lanka deriving its power and authority solely from the people". This is the preamble to the Constitution adopted and enacted on the 22nd May, 1972. Chapter 1 of the Constitution deals with the People, the State and the Constitution and proceeds to enact that in the Republic of Sri Lanka, Sovereignty is in the People and is inalienable. It is very important that this fact be made known, given publicity and instilled into the minds of all, particularly in this Election Year, when self-appointed political advisers have recently started canards that the President could be called upon to rule the Country under Martial Law, that there will be no elections after 22nd May, 1977 and the present government can continue in power under the Emergency Rule indefinitely.
The Constitution clearly lays down that the Sovereignty of the People is exercised through the National State Assembly of elected representatives of the People and that the National State Assembly is the supreme instrument of State Power of the Republic. Further the National State Assembly exercised this power under three clearly defined categories:- (a) the legislative power of the people, (b) the executive power of the People including the defence of Sri Lanka through the President and the Cabinet of Ministers, and (c) the judicial power of the People through Courts and other
institutions created by law. Thus it is patently clear that it is the People who are supreme and that the executive powers of the President and the Cabinet of Ministers flow from the authority vested in the National State Assembly. The President has been named the Head of the Republic, the Head of the Executive and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces. The President's functions have been clearly defined under the Constitution and he can act and function only in terms of and under the powers granted to him by the Constitution.

Sri Lanka's Constitution of 1972 1205
The question of Martial Law and Presidential Rule are concepts of a Colonial Era where the Head of the State was a representative of the British Monarch and our people were regarded as vassals of a foreign power. It is this lingering colonial concept in the minds of some people that has given rise to speculation of that type in total disregard of our Constitution.
On a study of the Constitution there is a seeming anomaly in regard to the First National State Assembly which came into existence on the 22nd May, 1972 almost negativing the provisions of Section 4:
(1) as none of the members of this Assembly, at the time, were elected to this First National Assembly under this Constitution, (2) as there are six persons including some Cabinet Ministers who have not been elected even to the House of Representatives which existed as at 22nd May, 1972, (3) and therefore the provisions of Section 4 of the Constitution
which clearly postulates: "The Sovereignty of the People is exercised through a National State Assembly of elected representatives of the people" do not strictly apply to those of the present members who Were not elected under this Constitution, notwithstanding the provisions of Section 42 (1) which delcares that persons who were Members of the Constituent Assembly immediately prior to the commencement of the Constitution shall be members of the First National State Assembly. It could be argued that the majority of these Members are not legally elected members to the National State Assembly under the Constitution which clothes them with authority to exercise sovereignty of the people. This is a matter for students of Constitutional Law.
Be that as it may, it has been clearly laid down that the transitional existence of this non-elected First National State Assembly shall ipso facto stand dissolved on the expiry of 5 years on the 22nd May, 1977 by reason of Section 42(5) of the Constitution. For those persons who assert that it is a question for the Prime Minister to decide whether the First National State Assembly should be dissolved or not on the due

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12O6 Politics and Life ii 1 Dur Ti Tas
HAD THE PLEASURE OF WISITING THE COLOMO HINDU COLLEGE TODAY FOR THE FIRST TIME TO PARTICIPATE IN THE FOUNDER'S DAY MEETNG AND TO DECLARE OPEN THE "SIWAKAMI HALL". WAS GREATLYMPRESSED WITH THE ENTHUS ASM SHOWN BY THE STAFF AND STUDENTS TO CELEBRATE IN A FITTING MANNER THE SILVER JULEE OF THE FOUNDING OF THE SCHOOL I HOPE THAT THE WAROUSEVENTS THEY HAD ORGANISED IN THIS CONNECTION WOULD PROVE TO BE VERY SUCCESSFUL.
Thig first-gwer Prasident of Independert Sri Larka, His Exceller7Cyfle Fresidenf LLMMk TeuMCLLCS TL LL LGGGGGLLLLS LLLLL LHuHk uLLLL uLLGGL LLL SLLLLLLL Hall" of the Cosa ibo Hindu Collegg, Ratri Jalala, or 12th February 1976. On the sefss segri K. Jggarsafharl, Principal GffhL Colleges.
was happy to learn of the progress made by the school during the 25 years of its existence. With the unstinted loyalty of the teachers and the co-operation of the Parent-Teachers Association, a T1 Confident that the school Will Take even greater progress in the years to follow, I wish the Colombo Hindu College every success both in the academic field and in all its extra-curricular activities,
– Willar77 Gopalava, Prsid OS Larka.
LSY SLLS0LLLKSS S LLOLYS LLS aYS aLY
 

Sri Lanka's Corsiftion of 92 12O7
date, the provisions of Section 40 (1) in regard to the duration of the National State Assembly consisting of persons elected thereto under this Constitution will give the answer. This section lays down that the National State Assembly elected under this Constitution shall continue for 6 years from the date of the first meeting and no longer and "the expiry of the period of six years shall operate as a dissolution of the National Stafe Assembly". Section 42(6) lays down that the provisions of the Constitution relating to the National State Assembly elected under the Constitution sha/I apply to the First National State Asset by and therefore the expiry of 5 years shall operate as a dissolution. The Prime minister who is a creature of the Constitution can only take a decision to have the National State Assembly dissolved if she desires to have a dissolution before the due dates and not otherwise. Once dissolution takes place the duty is cast on the President to see that General Elections are held within 4 months and therefore there is no room for speculation about the holding of a General Election,
The glib talk of wishful thinkers that the life of the First National State Assembly could be changed by a two third Thajority vote armendment of the Constitution, appears ridiculous when one appreciates that this First National State Assembly is not composed of members elected under the Constitution. The question may well be asked what right have the six members nominated to the defunct House of Representatives to decide upon or vote for the continuation of their continuance in an Assembly to which they were never elected, Even the legality of the members of the First National State Assembly deciding upon or voting for their continuation, when they were newer elected as representatives to the National State Assembly is a matter of serious doubt and no responsible member could indulge in such an exerCiSe.
Now that it is quite clear that according to the Fundamental Law of Sri Lanka the People are supreme and that elections have to take place within 4 months of the 22nd May, 1977, the next question that has been raised is whether elections could be held during a State of Emergency. During the course of the past six years we have had

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1208 Politics and Life in Our Times
several by-elections while there existed a State of Emergency. We are in an almost permanent State of Emergency from early 1971 up-to-date and a State of Emergency has become a normal pattern of Government even by a once popular government. However, it is interesting to note that the Constitution clearly provides in Section 40(2) that a General Election has to take place even during a State of Emergency. This sub-section reads as follows:
"Ifat any time after the dissolution of the National State Assembly an emergency is declared under Section 134(2) the Proclamation declaring the emergency shall operate as a summoning of the National State Assembly to meet on the tenth day after such Proclamation. The National State Assembly so summoned shall be kept in session until the termination of the emergency or the Conclusion of the General Election whichever OCCurs earlier and shall thereupon stand dissolved".
Therefore, no one need have any doubts that there shall be a General Election in 1977 whatever type of unrest may exist in the country necessitating the continuance of the State of Emergency.
It is a credit to our Constitution makers that they have made the Fundamental Law of Sri Lanka so clear and provided for every eventuality, in order to preserve our democratic right to exercise our vote to have a Government of our choice. If the People are enlightened in regard to this aspect of our law, the fears, doubts and Speculations that are being engineered and instilled into their minds will disappear. The People being aware of their inalienable rights will look forward to the future with hope, uphold the Constitution, assert themselves and make positive and meaningful preparations for the inevitable forthcoming General Election. The people of this country have now attained a high degree of political maturity and cannot be misled by false propaganda, intimidation or specious arguments adduced from time to time.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, February 5, 1977.

Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations
Law, No. 16 of 1978
Certified May 23, 1978
A LAW TO PROSCRIBE THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAMAND TO PROVIDE FOR THE PROSCRIBING OF ANY OTHER ORGANSATION WHCH ADVOCATES THE USE OF VIOLENCE TO ACHIEVE ITS OBJECT, THE EXISTENCE OF WHICH IS PREJUDICIAL TO THE SECURITY OF THE STATE, TO PROVIDE FOR THE EFFECTIVE PREVENTION OF UNLAWFUL ACTIVES BY ANY SUCH ORGANIZATION, AND TO PROVIDE FORMATTERS CONNECTED THEREWITHOR INCIDENTAL THERETO.
PREAMBLE
WHEREAS an organisation styling itself as the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam has advocated the use of violence for the purpose of prejudicing national unity and integrity and thereby endangering national security, public safety and public order:
AND WHEREAS Certain acts of violence have been Committed in certain parts of the island which are claimed to have been committed in pursuance of the objects of the said organisation:
AND WHEREAS the said acts have endangered national security, public safety and public order:
AND WHEREAS it has become necessary to proscribe the said organisation and to provide for the proscribing of other organisations advocating the use of violence and whose activities are prejudicial to national unity and integrity, national security, public safety and public Order:
BE IT therefore enacted by the National State Assembly of the Republic of Sri Lanka as follows:

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1210 Polscs ard Lsg 7 ČLu'r TrT7S
THREE WEEKSAGO, THE PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA, PASSED THROUGH EXPERIENCES WHICH THEY HAWE RARELY HADIN THIS COUNTRY SINCE INDEPENDENCE. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE LOST THEIR LIVES, THOUSANDS LOST THEIR JOBS, HOUSES WERE BURNT, FACTORIES DESTROYED. THESE EVENTS APPLIED EQUALLY TO ALL CITIZENS OF SRI LANKA, SINHALESE, TAMILS AND MUSLIMS. FORTUNATELY IT WAS CONFINED ONLY TOCERTAIN AREASOFSRI LANKA, INCLUDINGCOLOMBO, EXPRESS MY DEEPESTSYMPATHY TO THOSE WHO HAVESUFFERED AND WESHALL TRYOUR BEST TOSEE WHATHELPWE CANAFFORD THEM.
R
Prosladať J. R. Jayawardene f7,979 - O. 995
There has been a growing tension between the Sinhalase and the Tamil people in the last thirty-five loforty years. Ineed not now go into the history of these conflicts, But when we came forward for election in 1977, the United National Party in its manifesto, outlined how it intended to solve some of these problems. Since then, We have introduced legistation imposing certain conditions which we promised We WOLuld do. We have implemented them, may be not as fully as we wished to, bul We are in the process of doing so. We hawe therefore, taken whalewer steps We could legitimately do, to implement the provisions of our manifesto.
- J. R. Jayawardare's Address so the Walior cr7 August 22, 1983.
 
 

Proscribing of Lillaration Tigers of Talli Eelart arid Other Sir Jilar Crganisations Law 1211
SHORT TITLE
1. This Law may be cited as the Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations Law, No. 16 of 1978.
PROSCRIBING OF THE LIBERATION TIGERS OF TAMIL EELAM AND POWER OF PRESIDENT TO PROSCRIBE OTHER LIKE ORGANISATIONS
2. (1) The organisation styled as the Liberation Tigers of TamilEelam
is hereby proscribed. (2) If the President is of opinion that any other organisation advocates the use of violence and is either directly or indirectly concerned in or engaged in any unlawful activity, he may, by Order published in the Gazette, declare that such organisation is proscribed. (3) Where any organisation is or has been proscribed by or under this Law, the provisions of this law shall apply to every other organisation engaged in activities substantially similar to those carried on or formerly carried on by the proscribed organisation in like manner as though it was also a proscribed organisation.
PROVISIONS APPLICABLE TO ORDERS MADE UNDER SECTION2(2)
3. (1) Every Order made under the provisions of subsection (2) of section 2 shall core into force upon the date of such publication in the Gazette and shall be final and conclusive and shall not be called in question in any court by way of writ Dr OtherwiSB, (2) Every such Ordershall as soon as possible after publication in the Gazette be brought before the National State Assembly for approval and any such Order which is not approved by two thirds at least of the whole number of members of the National State Assembly (including those not present), Woting in favour within a period of thirty days of the publication of such order in the Gazette shall cease to operate upon the expiry of the period of thirty days unless such Order is earlier revoked or disapprowed by the National State Assembly,

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1212
(3)
(4)
(5)
Politics and Life in Our Times
Where such Order has not been approved by the National State Assembly, no subsequent Order in respect of the same organisation made before the expiry of one hundred and eighty days from the date of the first order, shall come into operation until such order is approved in like manner by the National State Assembly. Every Order approved by the National State Assembly shall remain in force for a period of one year from the date of such Order if not earlier revoked by the President or by the National State Assembly. Notice of the approval, disapproval or revocation of an Order under this section shall as soon as may be convenient be published in the Gazette.
OFFENCES
4. Where any organisation is or has been proscribed by or under this
Law, any person who -
(a)
(b)
(C)
(d)
(e)
Wears any uniform, dress, symbol or other emblem which signifies or indicates any association with or membership of or adherence to such organisation; or Summons a meeting of such organisation or participates or engages in any activity of or connected with or related to such organisation; or supports such organisation by inviting or enrolling members, contributing or collecting funds or furnishing information or securing other assistance to such organisation; or harbours, conceals or in any othermanner assists any member of such organisation with intent thereby to prevent, hinder or interfere with the apprehension, trial or punishment of such member; or makes, prints, distributes or publishes or is in any way concerned in the making, printing, distribution or publication of any written or printed matter which is or purports to be published by or on behalf of such organisation or by any member thereof; or

Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations Law 1213
(f) communicates or attempts to communicate to any other person in any manner any order, decision, declaration or exhortation made or purported to have been made by such organisation or by any member thereof or any information relating thereto, shall be guilty of an offence.
CONTROL OF PUBLICATIONS 5. (1) Where any organisation is or has been proscribed by or under
this Law -
(a) no person shall, without the approval in writing of the Competent authority, print or publish in any newspaper any matter relating to - (i) any activity or proposed activity of such organisation or
any act committed by or purported to have been committed
by such organisation; (ii) the investigation of any act or offence committed by or
purported to have been committed by such organisation; (b) no person shall, without the approval in writing of the competent authority; distribute or be concerned in the distribution of any newspaper printed or published in Sri Lanka or outside Sri Lanka containing any matter referred to in sub paragraph (i) or sub paragraph (ii) of paragraph (a).
(2) Any person who commits any act in contravention of any of the provisions of sub section (1) shall be guilty of an Offence. (3) (a) Where any person is convicted of an offence under this
section, the court may, in addition to any punishment which it may lawfully impose for the offence, order that no person shall print, publish or distribute or in any way be concerned in the printing, publication or distribution of any such newspaper for such period as is specified in such order and that the printing press in which such newspaper was printed shall, for such period as is specified in such order, not be used for any purpose whatsoever or for any such purpose as is specified in the Order.

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1214 Politics and Life in Our Times
(b) Where any proceedings have been instituted against any person for the commission of any offence under this section, it shall be competent for the court to make an interim order that the printing press in which it is alleged that such newspaper was printed shall not be used for any purpose whatsoever or for any such purpose as is specified in the Order until the conclusion of the trial.
OFFENCES BY BODIES OF PERSONS
6. Where an offence under this law is committed by a body of persons,
then
(a) if that body of persons is a body corporate, every director and
officer of that body corporate;
(b) if that body of persons is a firm, every partner of that firm; and
(c) if that body of persons is a body unincorporate other than a firm, every officer of that body responsible for its management and control, shall be deemed to be guilty of such offence: Provided that no such person shall be deemed to be guilty of such offence if he proves that such offence was committed without his knowledge or that he exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such offence.
FORFEITURE OF MONEYS, SECURITIES OR CREDITS AND MOVABLE AND MMOVABLE PROPERTY OF A PROSCRIBED ORGANISATION
7. (1) Where any organisation is or has been proscribed by or under this law and the Minister is satisfied, after such inquiry as he may think fit, that any person has custody of any moneys, securities or credits which are being used or are intended to be used for the purposes of such organisation, the Minister may, by order in writing, declare that such moneys, securities or credits as are in the custody of such person or any moneys, securities or credits which may come into his custody after the making of such order and any other movable and immovable property belonging to such organisation, shall be forfeited to the state.

Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations Law 1215
(2) The decision of the Minister under subsection (1) shall be final and conclusive and shall not be called in question in any Court by Way of Writ or otherwise.
PROVISIONS IN ANY WRITTEN LAW RELATING TO THE GRANT OF BAL NOT TO APPLY TO PERSONS ACCUSED OF ANY OFFENCE UNDER THIS LAW
8. Notwithstanding the provisions of any other written law -
(a) where any person suspected or accused of any offence under this Law appears or is produced before any court, such Court shall order the detention of such person until the conclusion of the trial;
(b) every person convicted by any court of any offence under this law shall, notwithstanding that he has lodged a petition of appeal against his conviction or the sentence imposed on him, be kept on remand until the determination of the appeal;
(c) any order made under the provisions of subsection (3) of Section 5 shall, notwithstanding any appeal made against such order, continue inforce until the determination of such appeal; Provided, however, that the Supreme Court may in exceptional circumstances release on bail any such person referred to in paragraph (a) or paragraph (b) subject to such conditions as the Supreme Court may deem fit, or vary or suspend any order referred to in paragraph (c).
PROVISIONS OF THE ADMINISTRATION OF JUSTICE LAW, No. 44 OF 1973, RELATING TO CERTAIN PUNISHMENTS NOT TO APPLY TO PERSONS CONVICTED OR GUILTY OF CERTAIN OFFENCES 9. Notwithstanding anything in the Administration of Justice Law, No.
44 Of 1973 - (a) the provisions of section 239 of the Law shall not apply in the
case of any person who is convicted; (b) the provisions of section 250 of that Law shall not apply in the Case of any person who pleads or is found guilty by or before any Court of any offence under this Law.

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1216 PolitiÇ5 and Life in Cur Tim675
OFFENCESTO BE TRABLE BY DISTRICT COURT
10. Any person accused of any offence under this Lawshall be tried by a District Court and shall be liable, on Conviction, to a sentence of imprisonment for a period not exceeding seven years.
DIRECTION BY MINISTER TC) DETAIN PERSONS WHO HAWE COMMITTED OFFENCES UNDER THIS LAW OR ANY OTHER LAW
11. (1) Where the Minister has reason to believe or suspect that any person has committed or been concerned in the Commission of any offence under any Law and that such offence was committed in pursuance of or in furtherance of or in relation to the aims or objects or the apparent or ostensible airTis or objects of any organization proscribed by or under this Law or any organization to which the provisions contained in subsection (3) of section 2 of this Law would apply and whether or not such offence was committed before or after the date on which such organisation is proscribed, the Minister may order that such person be detained for a period not exceeding three months in the first instance in such place and subject to such conditions as may be deter Tined by the Minister, and any such order may be extended from time to time for a period not exceeding three
months at a title; Provided, however, that the aggregate period of such detention shall not exceed a period of one year. (2)(a) At any time after an order has been made in respect of any person under subsection (1), the Minister may direct that the operation of such order be suspended subject to such conditions as he may impose, and such restrictions as may be specified in the direction, in respect of his mowerTent or his association or communication with other persons: Provided, however, that any such direction shall not be in force for a period longer than the period specified in the order
Thade under subsection (1).

LLLLLTT LLTLkLkMLMLLL GLLLGL LLL TL LOLOM MLtttL LLLLLL TeLkLkL LLLlLLLLLLL 1217
MARIE SKLODOWSKI MARRIED PIERRE CURIE, A FRENCH SCIENTEST, BORNIN PARISON MAY 15, 1859. HE BECAME PROFESSOR OF PHYSICS AT THE SOURBONNE. MADAM MARIE CURE ASSISTED HIM IN HIS RESEARCHES. THEY DISCO WERED POLONIUM AND RADIUM IN 1898. FOR THIS THEY WERE AWARDED ANOBEL PRIZE IN 1903. PERRE CURE WAS ACCIDENTALLY KILLED IN PARIS ON APRIL 19, 1906,
Prof. Madar 7 Marie CLure
57” -
Madam Marie Curie Succeeded her husband as Professor at the Sorboring, In 1911 she received a Nobel Prize for chemistry, and in 1919 she became Professor of Radiology at Warsaw, Poland, where a radium hospital was built in her honour. The production of radioactive isotopes is of great valug to the doctor (e,g, the treatment of Cancer) the agriculturalist (e.g. the sterilization of pests and the development of sturdier strains of crops by genetic Tutations), the engineer (e.g. material location and control, examinations of welded joints, etc.), the archaeologist, and even the criminologist.

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1218 Politics and Life in Our Times
(b) The Minister may revoke any such direction if he is satisfied that the person in respect of whom the direction was made has failed to observe any condition imposed or that the operation of the order can no longer remain suspended without detriment to public safety. (3) Any person in respect of whom an order or direction has been made under the preceding subsections shall be informed of the offence or offences in Connection with which Such Order or direction has been made and such person or any other person on his behalf may make representations to the Advisory Board against such order or direction.
ADVISORY BOARD
12. (1) There shall, for the purposes of this Law, be an Advisory Board, consisting of not less than three persons appointed by the President. (2) The Minister may make rules in relation to the hearing and disposal of any representations that may be made by any person at the meeting of the Advisory Board held to consider such representations as aforesaid, and shall be presided Over by a Chairman nominated by the Minister and it shall be the duty of the Chairman to advise the Minister in respect of such representations.
ORDER UNDER SECTION | NOT TO BE QUESTIONED IN ANY
COURT
13. An order under section I shall not be called in question in any
court by way of writor otherwise.
PROTECTION OF OFFICERS
14. No suit, prosecution or other proceedings, civil or criminal, shall be against the Government or any officer or person for any actor thing in good faith done in pursuance or Supposed pursuance of any order made or direction given under this Law.

Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and Other Similar Organisations Law 1219
DURATION OF THIS LAW 15. The provisions of this Law shall be in operation for a period of one
year from the date of its commencement.
INTERPRETATION 16. In this Law unless the context otherwise requires -
"competent authority" means any person appointed by the Minister by name or by office to be a competent authority for the purposes of this Law;
"newspaper" includes any journal, magazine, pamphlet or other publication;
"organization" includes any movement, society, party, association or body or group of persons;
"printing press" includes any machinery, apparatus or plant capable of being used for printing, lithography, photography or other mode of representing or reproducing words in a visible form, or any type or other article belonging to such machinery, apparatus or plant; and
"unlawful activity" means any action, taken by any means whatsoever, whether within Sri Lanka or outside Sri Lanka by or on behalf of any organization, which is prejudicial to the internal security of Sri Lanka and includes any organised action likely to or intended to disrupt or endanger the sovereignty, unity or territorial integrity of Sri Lanka.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, June 17, 1978.

Page 71
The Language Provisions of the NeW Constitution
Certified on 31st August, 1979
by N. Satyendra
A people who desire peace and development must Cultivate justice and the provisions relating to language in the new Constitution may rightly be regarded as a measure of the commitment of the people of Sri Lanka to achieve a fair balance in the area of language rights as well as a reflection of their felt need to secure justice as between the two major communities that inhabit this country and who have come to regard this land as their home.
The Language provisions of the new Constitution represent a watershed in the development and growth of the Sri Lankan state and therefore merit something more than passing consideration from each One of its citizens.
NATIONAL LANGUAGE
Many years ago in 1958, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Minister of Justice in the Bandaranaike Government, when introducing the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act in the Senate, remarked that the "question of the official language itself has been occasionally misunderstood by people" and went on to point out, quite rightly, that "by official language is meant the language of record for public purposes". In a State, where more than seventy percent of its people belong to the Sinhala community and speak the Sinhala language, it is perhaps, a matter of convenience that, as a general rule, the language of records for public purposes should be Sinhala and this the new Constitution recongnises and section 18 provides that the official language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
But for the first time in the political history of this country the new Constitution recognises the existence of the Tamil community as a distinct nationality with a separate language and Section 19 provides that the national languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.

The Language Provisions of the New Constitution 1221
This is a step which previous governments have been unable or unwilling to take and the status afforded to Tamil as a national language in the new Constitution is by itself a significant step forward in the attempt to bring about a unity of purpose amongst members of the Sinhala and Tamil communities in this country and thereby foster the growth of a truly national awareness and consciousness.
A Constitution is concerned with constituting, and constitutional provisions are but the ground rules which constitute a State. It is wholly appropriate therefore that the Sri Lankan state should be constituted on the basis of the recognition of the Tamil community as a distinct nationality with its Own Language and Culture and the acceptance of Tamil as a national language.
It may however be legitimately asked whether the status afforded to Tamil as a national language by section 19 of the new Constitution is merely an empty gesture devoid of tangible content.
ls section 19 merely an attempt to placate sentiment? What are the practical consequences of Tamil being made a national language of Sri Lanka and to what extent do the new language provisions satisfy the rightful aspirations of a national minority?
Answers to questions such as these must be found by an examination of not only section 19 but also of the immediately succeeding sections of the Constitution which relate to the use of the Tamil language in the legislative process, in education, in administration and in the Courts and such an examination may most usefully be made in the context of an understanding of the legitimate rights of a national minority in the area of Language.
BASIC RIGHTS
What are these rights and from where do they spring? The State exists to protect and serve all its people, irrespective of race, religion or language and it is on this basis that the people, in turn, give their allegiance to the State. It is this allegiance which cements the Constitution of the State. If a State seeks the continued loyalty of its citizens it must treat them equally and this means that in a multinational state, a national minority Cannot be required to change its Language and speak in the language of

Page 72
222 Politics ard Life in Cur. TT19s
EDIRIWEERA SARATCH ANDRA, FOR OVER HALF A CENTURY, HELD A LEADING ROLE AND WAS ARENOUNED PERSONALITY IN THE FIELD OF DRAMA, HE WASA HUMANE INTELLECTUAL WHO HAD WRITTEN POPULAR NOWELS IN ENGLISH AND SINHALESE AND HELD A RECOGNIZED POSITION IN ENGLISH AND SINHALESE LTERATURE. THE DIRECTIONS GIVEN BY HIM TO HIS SINHALESE FOLK DRAMAS HAWE BEEN INCLUDED AMONG FIRST GRADE LITERARY WORKS,
Ediriwg6ra Sara ÉChan7dra 03,06.7 974 – 15.08.7996
In 1958, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party Minister of Justice in the Bandaranaike Government, when introducing the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act in the Senate, remarked that the "question of the official language itself has been occasionally misunderstood by people" and went on to point out, quite rightly, that "by official language is meant the language of record for public purposes". In a State, where more than seventy percent of its people belong to the Sinhala community and speak the Sinhalalanguage, it is perhaps, amatter of convenience that, as a general rule, the language of records for public purposes should be Sinhala and this the new Constitution recongnises and section 18 provides that the official language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala,
 

The Language Provisions of the New Constitution 223
the majority, as a condition precedent to the State rendering service or giving protection. No State can survive if there is continued discrimination against any section of its people on the ground that such section belong to any one COIT munity or speak any one Language. Where such discrimination becomes a way of life, it will not be possible for people belonging to different nationalities and languages to live peacefully together Within the confines of a single political state,
This is common sense and not surprisingly it is also a lesson of history. The recurrent claims of the French in Canada and of the Scots and the Welsh for devolution in Great Britain show the need to recognise that matters of language and Culture are deep seated in the human Consciousness and can neither be ignored nor suppressed.
It is said that in a democracy people govern ther Tselves, and this means that in a political state which consists of more than one nationality effective dem O-Cray Willi mot be possible, unless the members of each nationality are able to participate in the Legislative process in their Own Language, transact business with the State in their own Language, present their claims and disputes for adjudication in their OWr language and if they choose to do so educate their children in their own language, if these then are the basic civil rights in the area of language to what extent do the provisions in the new Constitution secure and guarantee such rights?
LEGISLATION
Section 20 of the new Constitution provides that a Member of Parliament or a Member of a Local Authority shall be entitled to function in Parliament or in the Local Authority in either of the national languages and section 23 requires that all laws and subordinate legislation shall be enacted in both national Languages. This represents a distinct departure from the past when the right of a Member of Parliament to participate in proceedings in Tamil was a matter that was governed by the Standing Orders of the National State Assembly and were subject to alteration by the legislature by a simple majority. In 1960, for instance, there was much controversy in the House of Representatives in respect of the question whether Order Papers should be printed in the Tamil Language.

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224 Politics and Life in Our Times
The provisions of the new Constitution secure for the first time in Sri Lanka a constitutional guarantee in respect of the Fundamental right of a Member of a national minority to function in his own language in the National Legislature as well as in any Local Authority, wherever such Authority may be established.
These provisions give a new constitutional status to Tamil and protect and guarantee its use in the legislative process and taken in the context of the decision of the government to publish electoral registers in both national languages, they may be understood as reflecting an intent to draw the Tamil community into the main stream of legislative and political activity in this country.
EDUCATION
Section 21 (1) of the new Constitution enacts that a person shall be entitled to be educated through the medium of either of the national languages. This section confers a constitutional right on a member of the Tamil community to be educated in the medium of the Tamil Language. In the past the entitlement of a Tamil pupil to be instructed through the medium of the Tamil Language was subject to such regulations under the Education Ordinance relating to the medium of instruction as may be in force from time to time.
The right of a member of a national minority to be educated in his Own Language was not protected by the 1972 Constitution. Section 21(2) of the new Constitution goes further and provides that where one national language is a medium of instruction for any course in any University the other national language shall also be made a medium of instruction for Such Course. Taken in the Context of the decision of the Government to abolish standardisation, sections 21(1) and 21(2) of the new Constitution may rightly be construed as an attempt to bridge the differences that have arisen between the Sinhala and Tamil Communities in the area of education,

The Language Provisions of the New Constitution 1225
ADMINISTRATION
Section 22 of the new Constitution enacts that the official language shall be the language of administration through out Sri Lanka but this is subject to the provision that the Tamil Language shall also be used as the language of administration in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The 1972 Constitution failed to give a constitutional guarantee in respect of the use of the Tamil language in the Northern and Eastern Provinces and restricted the right to use the Tamil language even in these areas to such matters as may be prescribed from time to time by regulations under the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act. Section 8 of the 1972 Constitution further expressly enacted that any such regulation "shall not in any manner be interpreted as being a provision of the Constitution", and even the validity of the regulations framed under the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act were made suspect in consequence of allegations that these regulations were ultra vires the Act. The new Constitution therefore gives, for the first time, Constitutional recognition of the special status of the Tamil language in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, and guarantees its use as a Language of administration in these two areas.
But this is not all. Section 22 also confers a constitutional right on any person, wherever he may reside in Sri Lanka, to communicate with, receive communications from and transact business with any official in either of the national Languages. This section further provides that all notifications and official documents, including circulars and forms shall be published in both national Languages.
These landmark provisions seek to secure the basic right of a memberofanational minority to deal with the State without any disadvantage in Consequences of his lack of knowledge of the official language. They recognise the fundamental right of a member of the Tamil community to transact business with the State in his own Language - a right which the Tamil community has sought in vain from the previous government!
On the question of admission to the public service, section 22 of the new Constitution enacts that an applicant shall be entitled to be examined through the medium of either of the national languages. This is subject to the condition that the entrant may be required to acquire a sufficient knowledge of the official language within a specific period"where Such knowledge is reasonably necessary for the discharge of his duties".

Page 74
1226 Polis, İğdırdı ve iri doğur Tiri795
This section represents an attempt to achieve a pragmatic solution to the problem of public servants acquiring proficiency in the official language, in the context of the circumstance that Tore than sevenly percent of the people served by such public servants belong to the Sinhala community and much will depend, no doubt, or effective in pserientation.
COURTS
Section 24 of the gw Constitution an acts that the Official Language shall be the Language of the Courts throughout Sri Lanka but this is subject to the proviso that the Language of the Courts in the Northern and Eastern Provinces shall also be Tamil. Here again for the first title constitutional recognition is given to the special status of the Tamil Language in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
But even in other parts of the country where Tamil is not the language of the courts, section 24 enables any party or any Attorneyat-Law to initiate proceedings and submit to court pleadings and other documents and participate in court proceedings in either of the national languages. Again any party or any Attorney-at-Law who is not conversant with the Language used in any Court shall be entitled to interpretation into the appropriate national language to enable him to understand and participate in proceedings before such Court.
The new Constitution thus guarantees and protects the right of a nerfiber of a national minority to present or defend a claim and participate în court proceedings in his own language.
Finally, section 25 of the new Constitution casts a duty upon the State to provide adequate facilities for the use of the national languages as specified in the Constitution.
NOT PAPERWORK
This brief examination of the language provisions of the new Constitution shows not only that Tamil has been given a new constitutional status as a national language, but also that the use of the Tamil language in the areas of legislation, education, administration and justice, has been secured by constitutional guarantees. These constitutional guarantees protect, in so far as constitutional provisions can protect any right or liberty, the basic and fundamental language rights of the Tamils of Sri Lanka as a national minority,

The Language Provisions of the New Constitution 227
THE STATE EXISTS TO PROTECT AND SERVE ALL TSPEOPLE, IRRESPECTIVE OFRACE, RELIGIONOR LANGUAGEANDITIS ON THIS BASIS THAT THE PEOPLE, INTURN, GIVE THEIR ALLEGIANCE TO THE STATE IT IS THIS ALLEGIANCE WHICH CEMENTS THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE, IFA STATE SEEKS THE CONTINUED LOYALTY OF ITS CITIZENST MUST TREAT THEM ECUALLY AND THIS MEANS THAT INA MULTINATIONAL STATE, A NATIONALMINORITY CANNOT BEREQUIRED TO CHANGE IT'S LANGUAGE AND SPEAKIN THE LANGUAGE OF THE MAJORITY, ASA CONDITION PRECEDENT TO THE STATE RENDERING SERVICE OR G|WINGPROTECTION, NC STATE CAN SURVIVE IF THERE IS CONTINUED DISCRIMINATION AGAINSTANYSECTION OFITS PEOPLE ON THE GROUND THAT SUCHSECTION BELONG TO ANY ONE COMMUNITY OR SPEAK ANY ONE LANGUAGE WHERE SUCH DISCRIMINATION BECOMES AWAY OF LIFE, IT WILL NOT BE POSSIBLE FOR PEOPLE BELONGING TO DIFFERENT NATIONALITIES AND LANGUAGESTO LIVE PEACEFULLY TOGETHER WITHIN THE CONFINES OF A SINGLE POLITICAL STATE
W. Salygindra
N. Saliyeandra, a pasť Principal of the Colomba Hindu Cosgē, Patri77 allaria, LCLL CCCOuLuLLL LMLL OHL CLLHLLLLLLL L O CLL SLMLLLtC OLHHLLLLSLL LLLL S GMM LkLS LCL CS KGL L CLCCCCuLSLLL LLLLL LaL CLCLGGGMML LLtTuLeLH CCOLeCkkML non grata, because of his suspected association With fhg Liberation Tigars of TarTil Ealarm (LTTE), and ha gft |India.
It further appears that the Indian governs Tent served deportation orders on Anton Balasingham, M. Satyendra and S. C. Chandrahasan, a TarTil activist close to TELO, Balasingham was the LTTE spokesman, Satyendra, who had acted as the TELO spokesman at Thimpull, had left India by then, The TarTil Nadu police pounced on Balasingham and Chandrahasan and carted thern away to the immigration office, where they were told to leave India within 48 hours. The next day, they were put on different planes. Balasinghai, who held a British passport, was put on an Air India Flight to London, while Chandrahasan, who had a multiple wisa for the United Stalas, was forced into a flight bound for New York,

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1228 Politics and Life in Our Times
It is sometimes said that constitutions are but pieces of paper and that where liberty and freedom dies in the hearts of men, no Constitution, no court and no law can be of any avail. Admittedly, the effective implementation of fundamental rights and guarantees depends more on administrative action than on laws; more on tradition, politics and education than on Constitutional enactments. But Constitutions also crystalise that which is in the hearts of men and are a reflection of the desires and intent of a people at any given time in their history.
Whilst it may be true that only the political culture of a country can preserve basic Freedoms, it is equally true that constitutions and the placing of fundamental rights and guarantees in them, have Something to do with guiding that culture. It would seem unwise and imprudent for any citizen of this country to dismiss the language provisions in the new Constitution as a mere exercise in paper work. Perhaps we should askourselves that if indeed this were a mere exercise in paper work, why it was that no such paper was forthcoming during the past several decades.
The language provisions in the new Constitution are not concessions granted as a matter of generosity or wrested from the weak by a show of force. It may be more fruitful and constructive to act on the basis that these language provisions are the resultant of the desire of many sections of the people of this country that the time has come when we should pool our resources and work together in an attempt to findsome answers to the pressing problems of economic development that faces Sri Lanka today.
The language provisions reflect above all, a strength and a willingness to enact that which is right and there may be a need for an answer in strength from all sections of the people of this country to join together in the task of securing the effective implementation of that Which has been enacted.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, October 14, 1978.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act CINTA's Appeal
[We publish below a copy of a letter written by CINTA to President Jayewardene and which has been released to the press. The matters raised in the letter are matters of great concern to the Tamil people in this lsland especially those living in the North.)
1st September 1982 Your Excellency,
1. The Board of Management of the Ceylon institute of National and Tamil Affairs (CINTA), at a meeting held on Sunday the 15th August, 1982, resolved to convey to Your Excellency the following resolution which was adopted unanimously:
"The Board of Management vehemently condemns the acts of violence and terrorism committed by a few extremist elements in the North as well as otherparts of Sri Lanka, and at the same time condemns with equal vehemence the reign of terror unleashed on the people of the North through the armed forces and the implementation of the Prevention of Terrorism Law and requests the authorities to repeal forth with that Law and also annul all actions and proceedings so far taken under this Law".
2. We did not imagine when Your Excellency commenced your term of office as Prime Minister in July 1977 that within a few years we Would feel the need to address such a resolution to you. We had hoped that with the overwhelming UNP electoral victory of July 1977 under your leadership, the country would embark on a policy of rapid economic development for which communal peace and the active co-operation of all sections of the people were vital factors. We felt confident that under your leadership and guidance the approach to the "Problems of the Tamil-speaking people" you had set out so courageously in the UNP election manifesto of 1977 would bear fruits.

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1230 Politics and Life ir1 COLLAr TiTTags
3. Unfortunately almost from the very first month forces that had been building up for some years, erupted in the tragedy of August September 1977. Race relations have been deteriorating steadily and ethnic conflict reaching proportions which have compelled your Excellency's government to declare emergencies and impose curfews repeatedly with increasing frequency from 1977 to 1982. Meanwhile the hopes of some lasting solution to the problers of the Tani speaking people began to fade, Tamils particularly in the North found themselves struggling with a feeling of insecurity of life and property which they had not experienced for centuries even under foreign rule.
4. The Board of Management fully appreciates that it is the primary duty of any government to maintain law and order in the country, especially in the face of the repeated acts of violence against the guardians of the law and armed forces of the State. The Board however regrets that Your Excellency's government has resorted to drastic legislation which involves repression of the people of the North as a means and as the principal means of suppressing terrorist, thus discarding political options.
5. When your Excellency imposed a state of emergency in the Northern province for a period of six months in 1979 and commanded the armed forces to stamp out terrorism, the people of the North hoped that you would also simultaneously set in motion a political process by which the roots of terrorism would be removed, and the grievances of the people would be redressed,
6. The people are now disappointed that the Government is attempting to stamp out terrorism by Counter terrorism. Since 1977 there has been a reign of terror in the North unleashed by the armed forces, Instead of curbing violence it has on the contrary escalated the incidence of violence, as was seen from the increasing number of cases of killings of armed personnel. We need hardly state that the terrorism of the armed forces has been counter productive. The conclusion is all too obvious that terrorism cannot be combated by counter-terrorism or by State terroris in but only by a political solution. The reason is that the grievances of the people are far too deep-seated to be smothered by bators and bullets,

Thg Pg Wg fia, Cas TerrorisFF AC YNA's Appoa! 1231
LLLLLLzL LLLLL LLLLL LLLLLLLKLLL LLLLLLLLLaLLLLL LLL LLLL LL COLOMBOCN17THDECEMBER 1905 TOMR. ANDMRS. A. WATILINGAM OF MANIPAY, JAFFNA, IN SRI LANKA. HE RECEIVED HIS EDUCATION AT ROYAL COLLEGE, COLOMBO, AND PASSED HIS LONDON INTERMEDIATE IN ARTS, JOINED THE CEYLON LAW COLLEGE AND PASSED OUTAS ANADWOCATE IN 1932 AND BEGAN HIS PRACTICE IN COLOMBO HE MARRIEDVALAMBA SELLIAH ON 25THJANUARY 1935. IN 1941 HE WAS APPOINTED MAGISTRATE MALLA KAMAND THEREAFTER HE HAS SERVED IN SEVERAL PARTS OF CEYLONAS MAGISTRATE, ADDITIONAL DISTRICT JUDGE AND DISTRICT JUDGEAT KEGALLE, GALLE, RATNAPURA, COLOMBO AND KANDY, HE WAS APPOINTED COMMISSIONER OF ASSIZE IN 1962 AND BECAME PUNIE JUDGE OF THE SUPREME COURT OF CEYLON IN AUGUST 1964. HE TOURED THE WARIOUS ASSIZES AROUND THE COUNTRY : TRINCOMALEE, GALLE, KURUNEGALA ANDJAFFNA, HE RETIRED ON
6TH DECEMBER 1967.
蔷 Desamanya Justica WairingaT MaricavaSagar
W. 2, 1905 - 2. 12, 1993
Manicawasagar was elected President of the Ceylon Institute of National and Tamil Affairs (CINTA), which im Tany ways brought the problems the TaThills were facing to the notice of the government on standardization, administration, etc. He was actively involved in Hindu Affairs being the President of the Hindu Educational Society, He was the first Chancellor of the Jaffna University and was Chairman of the Commercial Bank of Ceylon for several years. He was given the Desamanya Award by the Government in 1987. He passed away on 2Ft. OECD 1993,

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1232 Politics and Life in Our Times
7. Your Excellency is aware that during the last half century and more the Tamil people were the most peaceful, industrious and the least criminal ethnic group in Sri Lanka. This is a matter of history. But it is significant that in spite of the bitterness caused by discriminatory legislative policies and administrative measures, especially since 1956 the Tamil speaking people have neither participated in nor exploited to their own advantage the difficulties the government had to face when dealing with unlawful attempts to change the government, by assassinating the Prime Minister or to overthrow the government by coups d'etat or by open insurrection. On such occasions the Tamil-speaking people were the most law abiding and the Tamil areas of the North and East the most peaceful and least troublesome.
8. In fact, in its Election Manifesto of 1970 the Federal Party which by now had assumed political leadership of the Tamil people Stated in no uncertain terms: "It is our firm Conviction that division of the country in any form would be beneficial neither to the Country nor to the Tamil speaking people. Hence We appeal to the Tamil speaking people not to lend their support to any political movement that advocates the bifurcation of our country".
9. Yet, within a few years of this declaration the Federal Party, now a component of the newly formed TULF, did exactly this. The reasons are to be found clearly stated in the 1977 election manifesto Of the UNP
10. The Tamil people, after a quarter century of patient and peaceful agitation for their lost rights and dwindling opportunities opted for a separate political existence while an increasing number of Tamil youths are being driven to violence by frustration coupled with humiliating repression by the police and armed forces of the state.
11. The fact that this Act repealed "the Proscribing of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and other Similar Organisations Law, No.16 of 1978" is an indication for whom the Act was really meant. The provisions of this Act have been discussed both within and without the country and many of these have been found to be objectionable on Various grounds.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act CINTA's Appeal 1233
12. Though this Act, like the one it replaced, was in response to growing political violence in the Northern Tamil area "the Act contains a number of disturbing provisions from the Human Rights points of view". Many of the provisions of the Sri Lankan Act are "contrary to the accepted principles of the Rule of Law", while a substantial number of the provisions "are clearly contrary to internationally accepted minimum standards for criminal procedure". 13. Retroactive in nature and Without a definition of the term "terrorism" that it seeks to prevent, the Act makes obnoxious provisions for arrest on suspicion, detention, incommunicado and without trial for 18 months in places of detention decided by the detaining authority. It provides no recourse for suspects detained to any remedy against torture and even death while in detention. Special provisions made admissible, as evidence in Court, Confessions extorted from suspects and co-suspects while in detention.
14. Already serious allegations of torture have been made before our Courts at hearing of petitions for writs of Habeas Corpus in the cases of a number of persons detained under this Act. This is nothing surprising. Such Acts lead to such situations as stated by the International Commission of Jurists that "physical assaults against detainees in order to elicit confessions are common occurrences in many countries during prolonged detention incommunicado under executive Order".
15. The recent case of the University student Wimalarajah underlines the fact that the Prevention of Terrorism Act is Counter productive and also shows how the Act is being implemented among the Tamils. It does not appear to be applied to members of any other ethnic group in Sri Lanka. Student Wimalarajah was arrested and kept in detention for more than a year without being brought to trial or any charge made against him. The student world in the North finally moved into action with a series of protest meetings by University students. The government responded with the release of Wimalarajah and several other persons similarly detained. All this and the bitterness that it engendered could have been avoided if the

Page 78
1234 Politics and Life in Our Times
normal human rights and Rule of Law standards had been observed, instead of resorting to repressive legislation like this Act. In fact, speakers during the protest campaign over the continued detention of University student Wimalarajah have openly criticised the on-going "dialogue" between the government and the TULF on Tamil problems as meaningless when Tamils are being treated as of no consequence under the provisions of the Prevention of Terrorism Act.
16. In a number of its objectionable features the Sri Lankan Act has been compared with the widely criticised 1967 Terrorism Act of South Africa. What might not be shocking for a racist state like South Africa with its openly proclaimed system of Apartheid, can never be considered acceptable for a people just celebrating 50 years of Universal Adult Franchise and under a government that prides itself on being democratic and following Dharmista principles.
17. But the real damage that this Act causes is that its operation is not confined to the persons who are arrested or detained. The very continuance in force and the working of this Act plays havoc with an entire community, namely the Tamil speaking people, particularly of the North. It subjects them to deep seated fears and a growing sense of insecurity, which has lasted from the first post independence Race Riot of 1958 and has been sharpened by repeated racial assaults on the minorities since the tragedy of 1977. 18. An alarming feature of the whole law and order situation in the North is the manner in which the armed forces seem to be operating. Almost daily now (mid-1982) there are incidents in which members of the public are suddenly subjected to search at Some junction or other place. At the end of the search and rough handling Some of the people searched are thrashed indiscriminately and then sent off. This experience of the Tamils can never contribute to nation building in Sri Lanka.
19. Your Excellency's Dharmista Government, we are confident, will not want to prolong such an Act where the unlimited powers granted could not only be easily abused but also cause much misery to a traditionally peace loving community.

The Prevention of Terrorism Act CINTA's Appeal 1235
20. In fact, as the facts will show, this Prevention of Terrorism Act has failed to prevent terrorism but has only helped to escalate violence in the North. For the first time ever on July 28, 1981, just 2 years after this Act, a terrorist gang attacked the Police Station at Anaicottai causing the death of 2 policemen while escaping with the fire arms. Such an incident was unknown in the North or elsewhere in Sri Lanka since the Sinhalese youth insurgency of 1971.
21. The extent to Which this Prevention of Terrorism Act has been effective is also reflected in a report of the International Commission of Jurists of 1981 on Ethnic Conflict and Violence in Sri Lanka under the heading 'Effectiveness of Terrorism Act'. "The provisions of the Sri Lankan Terrorism Act are not only objectionable from a human rights point of view but it is doubtful that the Act is effective in controlling terrorism. The limitations on human rights therefore, do not seem acceptable as a necessary means of maintaining public security. Since 1979, when the Act was adopted, terrorism has not declined but rather increased in the Northern Tanil area. Increased police and army surveillance of the population have not curtailed the violence but seemingly stimulated it. This experience is similar to that of some other countries which have attempted to control terrorism by armed force rather than dealing with the fundamental factors contributing to the recourse to violence".
22. Your Excellency condemned the Criminal Justice Commission Act when it was repealed in 1977 and stated that it violated fundamental human rights and that you will not allow a similar situation to occur in this country again (Hansard of 21. 10.77, column 1986). The prevention of Terrorism Act of 1979 is much greater infringement of fundamental human rights and it must surely shock Your Excellency's good conscience.
23. AS Professor C. R. de Silva has stated in his article on History and Tamil Eelam, while the ideal of unity has been strong throughout the history of Sri Lanka, "this ideal of unity can be preserved only upon a foundation of justice" and "however, unless justice and fair play are ensured the idea of unity might soon be belied by the reality of disunion".

Page 79
1236 Politics artd Life in Cur Times
A. C. NADARAA, WASA FOUNDER MEMBER AND WICE PRESIDENT OF THE SRI LANKA FREEDOMPARTY (SLFP). WHICH WAS FOUNDED BY S. W. R. D. BANDARANAIKE AND OTHERS IN 1951. TS MANIFESTO PRINTED IN 1951 HAD THE FOLLOWING.. "NATIONAL LANGUAGES : ITIS MOST ESSENTIAL THAT SINHALESE AND TAMIL BE ADOPTED AS OFFICIAL LANGUAGES IMMEDIATELY, SO THAT THE PEOPLE OF THIS COUNTRY MAY CEASE TO BE ALIENS IN THEIR OWN LAND. THE ADMINISTRATION OF GOVERNMENT MUST BE CARRIED ON IN SINHALESE ANO TAMIL".
Here are seen of the lost A. C. Nadaraja, a Tamber of the Ceylon Institute of National and Tamil Affairs (CINTA) and on the right T. Duraisingam, the author of this book and a sympathizer of CNTA.
The Two languages, Sinhalese and Tamil, were the official languages till about the middle of 1955. About the early part of 1955 Sir John Kotelawala, the then Premier, made a tour of the North and he was given a grand reception. At the last public meeting held at Kokuvil the principal of the Kokuvil Hindu College, Handy S. Perinpanayagam, suggested to the Premier that Sinhalese and Tamil should be given a place in the constitution as official languages. The Premier agregd to it, as the Government Policy was that both were official languages. Thereafter two senior politicians in the South started criticising Sir John for what he had agreed to at Kokuvil at every public meeting at which they spoke, Mr. Bandaranaike appointed a sub-committee on this matter, which reported that the Sinhalese language be declared the official language of the country with recognition accorded to the Tamil Language in the Legislature, Administration and Education and that proper legal provision be made for this purpose.
 

The Prévertior of Terrorism Acľ Č/WTA's Appeaľ 1237
24. Unity cannot be imposed from above or disunion avoided by resort to mere repressive legislation like the Prevention of Terrorism Act. Such legislation can never be a sound basis for nation building.
We earnestly appeal to Your Excellency to:
(1) repeal this law as early as possible and enable the Tamil people to live free from fear of arrest, torture and sudden death in this land of democracy under a Dharmista Government and
(2) take positive and meaningful steps to effectively Weld all communities together into one nation,
J. K. Rathahid W. Maniçawasagar, Hor. Secretary, CINTA, Presiderit, CINTA, 3, Council Lae, 781, Ward Place, Dahiwala. [[]l{IIIll][] ".
Septemter 1, 1982,
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 25, 1982.

Page 80
Change in Election Law and the CRM
by Desmond Fernando
The Civil Rights Movement (CRM) is greatlyperturbed by the recent amendment to the law relating to Parliamentary Elections Act, No. 36 of 1984.
BACKGROUND
The Act seeks to deal with the serious security problem which marked the Jaffna DDC elections and the referendum held in 1982. Prior to that for over 50 years, ever since 1931, the country had seen fair and free elections. Prior to the Referendum, security failures which affected the result of the elections were isolated, few, and Could and indeed were remedied in the courts by way of an election petition; it could not be said before the Referendum that the victory of any political party at a general election could be called in question.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
CRM itself drew attention to the serious systematic malpractices, particularly intimidation at polling stations, which affected the result of the Referendum in statements issued at the time.
APPROPRIATE REMEDY
The appropriate remedy, for intimidation of presiding officers and disturbances at polling stations Would have been to appoint a Commission of inquiry and to have used the machinery of the law and punished offenders in the courts.
IMPACT OF NEW LEGISLATION
The government has, by the new amending Act, given statutory recognition to disturbances at polling stations: it has laid down the legal limits and scope of intimidation at polling stations. The executive has clearly abdicated its responsibility to maintain law and order at polling stations.

Change in Election Law and the CRM 1239
HASTYLEGISLATION
The Amending Act was rushed through Parliament and copies of the Bill were circulated to opposition M.P.s only at the commencement of the debate: its wording is tortuous, vague, obscure, and ambiguous. There was no time whatsoever for public consideration and debate, since the Bill was never made available to the public.
SOME PROVISIONS OF NEW ACT
Among its provisions are the following: (a) The result can be declared without a total count of the votes cast which will result in the disenfranchisement of voters, namely those whose votes are in the ballot boxes which may never arrive at the Counting Centre.
(b) An "information" which need not be in writing - made by a Presiding Officer under Section 47A (1) that it is not possible to commence or continue a poll due to "the occurrence of events of such a nature" will have far reaching consequences. The information is made to the Commissioner through the Returning Officer who is merely a post box. The information is conclusive of the existence of "events of such a nature" which is described as a "disturbance" in the marginal note. There is no provision for the holding of an inquiry either before or after the information. In fact, there need be no actual disturbance at all before such an "information" is sent; it may merely be a telephone call made by a Presiding Officer who is threatened by a politician with a revolver. The consequences are far reaching: Under section 48 the counting can commence without the ballot boxes from the particular disturbed "polling station" having been received. The Returning Officer may then go on to declare a candidate duly elected without counting the votes from "disturbed polling stations".
(c) A safety device which has many infirmities and is bad in principle is provided for in Section 47A (2). This section provides that the Commissioner may declare the voting at a particular polling station void. Such a power should be vested in the Courts and not in a member

Page 81
1240 Possics ard Lsg "r") () ir Tir 7Gs
IN 1965 THERE WASA DSPUTE AS TO WHCH OF TWO GROUPS OF MEMBERS OF THE AFRO-ASIAN SOLIDARITY ASSOCATION OF SRI LANKA SHOULD BEACCEPTED AS THE SRI LANKA BRANCH OF THE AFRO-ASIAN PEOPLES SOLIDARITY ORGANISATION, WITH ITS HEADQUARTERS IN CAIRO. THE AUTHOR OF THIS Book, T. DURASINGAMAND DESMOND FERNANDO WERE SELECTED BY ONE GROUP TO MAKE REPRESENTATIONS ON ITS BEHALF AT THE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE PARENT ORGANISATION, WHICH WAS HELD IN WINNEBA, GHANA, IN WEST AFRICA. THE REPRESENTATIONS WERE MADE BEFORE A SPECIAL COMMITTEE OF THE PARENT ORGANISATION HEADED BY A MOROCCAN REPRESENTATIVE, AFTER HEARING REPRESENTATIONS BY BOTH GROUPS AT THE INQUIRY, THE SPECIAL COMMITTEE GAWE ITS DECSION IN FAWOUR OF THE GROUP REPRESENTED BY T. DURASINGAMAND ASSISTED BY DESMOND FERNANDO.
Desnorld Ferrardo F. C. Wearing his M. A. Oxford robes,
DOSTOnd Ferrando Was borri ir Sri Laka on 31.1 Ö. 1934. He is the SČrl of P. O. Fernando of the Ceylon Civil Service, who served as District Judge, Commissioner of Elections and as Deputy High Commissioner in London. Desmond was a graduate and M.A. of Oxford University. After his University education he passed out as Barrister, returned to Sri Lanka, became an Advocala and commenced practising as a lawyer. He had married Advocate Suriya Wickramasingha, daughter of Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe MP, shortly before he left for Ghana. In Winneba, the author and Fernando spent Tuch of the time successfully lobbying several delegates, including the highly influential Oliver Tambo, the President of the African National Congress (ANC). Wo and Oliver becar the friends and we were to become active in the ANC cause thereafter.
 

Change in Election Law and the CRM 1241
of the executive. The other unfortunate Consequence is that this section provides for elections in instalments. Only the votes from the undisturbed polling station will be counted on election day. Since the Counting Agents and generally candidates will be present, the entire electorate will know who has come first at this count. The Commissioner Will then subsequently have a fresh poll at the disturbed polling stations. By the date of the fresh count, the entire electorate will know, who has come first at the first count, and a swing in this candidate's favour is likely to develop,
SUMMARY OF CONSEQUENCES
It will be possible for a candidate who is so inclined to Create "disturbances"at polling stations situated in areas where his opponent is strong, and get the votes of the other polling stations counted. After he has cone first in that Count and is the wirtual Winner, the rest of the electorate will probably swing in his favour. The new amendment also per Tits a result to be declared even-if ballot boxes are missing.
CONCLUSION
It is indeed a pity that the Ceylon (Parliamentary Elections) Order in Council of 1946, that great charter of democracy under which eight general elections and several by-elections were held, and which permitted the people to democratically change their governments six times - the greatest right that the people of this country hitherto enjoyed - should now be sullied by an arTendment of this nature.
Desmond Ferrado Secretary, Civil Rights Movement. CRM, 16.1 Do Carolis Road, | COLOT bO 5.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 22, 1984.

Page 82
Civil Rights Movement's Reply to Dr. Susantha Goonatilake
by Desmond Fernando
In a recent lecture, published in The Island on 27 and 28 September, Dr. Susantha Goonatilake levels a series of charges at several NGOs whom he claims to be part of an "ethnic studies industry". He includes the Civil Rights Movement (CRM) in his generalised attack. We feel that we should put the record straight on some matters concerning CRM. Had Dr. Goonetilake taken the trouble to study our history and activities from our published material, and consulted us on other matters, he might have avoided making many mistakes.
"SPAWNED AT THE WHIMAND FANCY OF A FEW INDIVIDUALS" AND "EXPORT-ORIENTED"
CRM started in 1971 in response to an extremely grave situation in the country, when the basic rights of many citizens were suspended, thousands of youth were in jail without charge and many poor families were deprived of their breadwinners. Among its founders were Buddhist and Christian clergy, University lecturers, teachers, trade-unionists, lawyers, doctors, artists, writers and film-makers. Prof. E. R. Sarachchandra was its first Chairman.
CRM took up a number of matters arising out of the continuing use of emergency powers, regularly bringing them to the Government's attention and requesting remedial action. They included the right of public meeting, the lifting of censorship, the right to distribute and affix posters and leaflets, trade union rights, the rights of persons in custody, habeas corpus, the disposal of dead bodies, the admissibility of statements to the police, the need for effective machinery for dealing with complaints against the police and army, and the new laws. It should be clear from this that we were neither motivated by "whim and fancy", nor "export-oriented", but were responding to a Critical domestic situation.

Civil Rights Movement's Reply to Dr. Susantha Goonatilake 1243
Since that time CRM has continued to take up a wide range of issues and cases involving the civil and political rights of people from all communities and walks of life in Sri Lanka - among them trade union rights, franchise, civic rights of political leaders, parliamentary privilege, political thuggery, the right to a fair trial, the rights of persons in Custody, citizenship, the independence of the judiciary, etc. It has functioned for 16 years atmost entirely on the voluntary work of its members. Any interested person, or systematic researcher, can gain some idea of the scope and character of our activities from our book The People's Rights (1978) and from our subsequent published statements.
CRM has a very specific scope. It is concerned primarily with the exercise of governmental power and the relationship between this and the right of the subject. Where abuse or misuse of such power takes place, or is likely to take place, its function begins. Its Concern is with those human rights commonly referred to as civil and political rights. As we pointed out in 1978:
"We realised from the start that we did not have the organisational capacity to become a mass movement and we made no pretensions about this. But this does not near that Our interests are narroW Or sectarian. We conceived of ourselves as a group which examines laws and the workings of government in the light of basic principles of human rights, which principles are common to a wide spectrum of political groups and parties. Our function, then, is to make representations to the government, to initiate debate, to focus attention, and to alert the public through publicity and by placing the result of our research before the mass organisations of the people - political parties, trade unions, religious bodies and SO On - to take note of or ignore as they will". .
- The People's Rights: 1.
"PRIVATE INDUSTRY."
This implies, at the very least, that either people are being paid for their work or that the organisation is making money out of its Work, and also, perhaps, that the results of that work are privately Consumed. However, CRM policy-making, writing, research, documentation, legal counselling and representation, case work, correspondence with victims

Page 83
1244 Politics and Life in Our Times
S.NADESAN, Q.C., AN EMINENT LAWYER, APPLIED HISINTELLECT AND PASSION FOR JUSTICE TO AN AMAZINGLY WIDE RANGE OF HUMAN RIGHTS ISSUES THROUGHOUTHIS LIFE, BEGINNINGHISLEGAL CAREER IN THE 1930s, HE WASNOTED FOR HIS INCISIVE LOGIC, RELENTLESS PURSUIT OFFACTS AND SKILFUL AND DOGGED ADWOCACY, HE WAS ELECTED TO THE SENATE IN 1947 AS AN INDEPENDENT AND WASA FOUNDER MEMBER OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT IN 1971. HE WAS PRESIDENT OF THE BAR COUNCIL FROM 1970 TO 1972. IN A LONG CAREER OF 55YEARSAT THE BAR, NADESAN WAS ASSOCATED WITHA NUMBER OF FAMOUS AND IMPORTANT CASES, SUCH AS THE ABDUL AZIZ, TRADE UNION TRESPASS CASE, THE CHALLENGE TO THE PRESS COUNCIL BILL OF 1972, THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS APPLICATIONS AGAINST THE BANNING OF THEATH THA AND SA TILVF'DA Y FEWWEWNEWS PAPERS, AND THE CHALLENGING OF THE CONTENTION THAT THE SUPREME COURT JUDGES WERE DEEMED TO HAVE WACATED OFFICE, AMONGST HIS MOST RECENT AND SUCCESSFUL CASES WERE THE 'PAWIDI HANDA FLJNDAMENTAL RIGHTS CASE, THE KALAWANA CONSTITUTIONALISSUE, AND THE DEFENCE OF THE KALMUNAICITIZENS COMMITTEE PRESIDENT, PAUL NALLANAYAGAM
థ్రో
S. Nadesar C. C. (2, :) - 2? - ?, 7 PÉS
LLCOLLLL H LLLL LLLLLLL L 00LSSS YLLL aboYiriO7 Jf th]g Sga fg Irn 7972.
Although a fierce and aggressive fighter, he was a Tan of greal gentleness and warmth. He was well-known for the simplicity of his life-style, his famous fruit and wegetable diet and the long, reflective walks which he took across the length and breadth of Colombo - often dressed in a pair of baggy shorts and carrying his papers in a shopping bag,
 
 
 
 

Civil Rights Movement's Reply to Dr. Susantha Goonastlake 1245
and officials, submissions and appearances before officials, confirmittees, courts, etc., are all done on an unpaid voluntary basis, by people who are otherwise employed. This includes experienced and highly qualified lawyers, of whom the late S. Nadesan Q. C. was only one example. Dr, Goonatilake should not be unaware of CRM's challenge to the Press Council Bill in 1972, to the Kalawala Constitutional Amendent in 1980, to the Fourth Amendment (re the Presidential Election) in 1982, the Pavids Handa fundamental rights case on behalf of Rev. Daramitipola Ratanasara in 1982, the defence in the Nallanayagam case in 1986, and warious other causes which CRM lawyers have undertaken without any form of payment at all. It should also be clear from the very nature of our work that it is neither for private consumption nor for private profit, but for public benefit.
"EXCLUSIVELY FOREIGN-FUNDED"
The foregoing paragraphs, show that this observation is clearly misdirected. For its first eight years, CRM functioned entirely on locally-generated donations, subscriptions and membership fees, and brought out its first major publication. During this period CRM accepted foreign funds only for its Distress Relief Fund which was administered separately under its Chairman the Rt. Rew, Leo Nanayakkara, and which helped destitute families where the breadwinners were in prolonged detention. This operation was wound up in 1977 and CRM has not engaged in relief work since,
In more recent years, sorte foreign funding has been sought for specific projects such as translations, publications and distribution. However, CRM Continues to function without all office of its own. More important, its members continue to provide their time on a completely voluntary basis. The entire intellectual "product" of CRM is unpaid. If evaluated in noney terms it would well exceed any foreign assistance received. It is significant to examine what the position would be if we had no foreign-funded projects. CRM's intellectual output and services would be exactly the same. What would be less would be what Dr. Goonetilake Complains we don't do enough of, namely dissemination of our work widely in Sinhala, Tamil and English,

Page 84
1246 Politics and Life in Our Times
"THE RESULT IS THAT THE UNIVERSITIES ARE STARVED OF RESEARCH FUNDS"
We would certainly deplore the lack of funds for University research but we cannot believe that this is a consequence of any resources that might be given to voluntary organisations like ours. Nor do we think that stifling research by voluntary organisations or NGOs and limiting their freedom of expression and operation, would improve the research situation in the Universities in any way. Indeed CRM has assisted University staff members when their freedom of expression was threatened. The existence of "watchdog" NGOs outside the University framework is important in the defence of academic freedom itself.
HURIDOCS
Dr. Goonetilake's casual approach to his research material can be seen in his reference to HURDOCS. His lack of concern for getting his facts right here, should prompt one to treat his other statements with circumspection.
He speaks of "the Human Rights Documentation Centre (HURDOC) at Prio in Oslo". There is an initial confusion here. HURDOCS (the final S is important) does not stand for Human Rights Documentation Centre. There does exist a Human Rights Documentation Centre, which is part of the Council of Europe; it is located in Strasbourg. HURDOCS stands for HUMAN RIGHTS INFORMATION AND DOCUMENTATION SYSTEM. Dr. Goonatilake then states that HURDOCS "documents alleged human rights violations", and implies that it is a "service" solely concerned with Sri Lanka. However, HURDOCS does not document violations or even collect documents, and is certainly not restricted to Sri Lanka; it is a system of guidelines, standards and formats available to any organisation in the human rights field that wants to make use of it. Dr. Goonatilake's "cursory examination" of the subject seem to have led him to confuse HURDOCS with SLP, the Sri Lanka Human Rights Database Project, which is housed in the Peace Research institute, Oslo (PRIO), and which does deal exclusively with Sri Lanka.

Civil Rights Movement's Reply to Dr. Susantha Goonatilake 1247
IN CONCLUSION
Though Dr. Goonatilake claims to have "presented the output of a network ... of the ethnic Studies and action industry", he doesn't actually do that in his paper. He does not examine a single document produced by these NGOs. If he is interested in making a serious assessment of an organisation such as ours, he should study its history, activity and publications before claiming any sort of expertise. CRM does not do research on the ethnic question; that is outside its scope. It is concerned with the civil liberties aspect of the ethnic question. This is however, only one of a wide range of CRM concerns. The fact that it has come to feature prominently in our recent activity is only a reflection of the importance it has acquired in national life at the present moment.
Courtesy: "Lanka Guardian", Colombo, November 15, 1987.

Page 85
A Step Towards Settling the Conflict
by K. P. Silva General Secretary, Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL)
Sri Lanka is presently passing through a very crucial period in its history. At stake are its independence and national sovereignty, territorial integrity and national unity. The present situation in the Country is also a reflection of the degree of resistance that has been put up by chauvinist, reactionary and imperialist forces, acting in unison, against the implementation of the Indo-Sri Lanka Peace Accord signed on 29th July, 1987 in Colombo.
The Indo-Sri Lanka Accord is of great significance both to Sri Lanka and the South Asia region. Nationally its implementation would help the solution, although partially, of the nationalities duestion by providing a high degree of regional autonomy to the Tamil people of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Regional significance of the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord lies in the fact that it represents a tremendous blow to the US policy in the region and, in particular, to the attempt by US imperialism to involve Sri Lanka in destabilising India which pursues an independent and peaceful foreign policy. It thus strengthens the security of the neighbouring states and that of the region as a Whole.
This Accord, which entered into force in the teeth of opposition both from chauvinist and reactionary forces within the country and imperialism from without, represents a successful attempt by two neighbouring countries in our region to resolve their mutual problems by their own initiative and strength without falling back on Outside powers for advice and assistance. It sets a healthy precedent which may be followed by other countries in similar Circumstances to their mutual benefit.

A Step Towards Settling the Conflict 1249
How did it happen that the government of Sri Lanka made a volte face or a complete turnabout? In other words why did it abandon the so-called military option and enter into this accord which seeks to solve the nationalities question basically by political means, and that with the assistance of India, which was considered its enemy until a few days before?
There were several factors which contributed to this change. Firstly, the government's policy of solving the nationalities question by military means resulted in the aggravation of the Crisis in the economy which had already been compounded by its 'open-door policy. By the end of 1986 military expenditure amounted to over 25 per cent of the national revenue. External debt swallowed up to 32 percent of the total external receipts. The Finance Minister conceded that only two-thirds of the national economy was functioning and warned of the dire Consequences if peace was not established. Certain important sectors of the economy like tourism remained paralysed. Government expenditure had been cut drastically. No fresh capital investment was undertaken. The rate of growth was in decline. There was heavy pressure on the government from the 'Aid Sri Lanka Club' of developed Capitalist Countries, aiming to find a speedy solution to the nationalities question. Foreign investors whom the government regards as an important element in expanding the economy shied away.
The movement for a political solution of the problem meanwhile gathered momentum. This position which was originally advocated only by the CPSL and its allies began to have the support of the more realistic Sections among the petty bourgeoisie, sections of the bourgeoisie, particularly those Ones whose business ventures were adversely affected by the "war", and the people at large. As the burden of the Crisis was being transferred more and more onto the working people, and the government tried to meet the mounting opposition against it by restricting the democratic rights and processes further, anti-government forces began to rally against its rule. In June 1987 five political parties, including the CPSL and the SLFP led by Mrs. Bandaranaike, declared their intent to fight jointly the government to safeguard democracy. The developments caused alarm in the ranks of the government.

Page 86
1250 Politics and Life ir 7 (Qu'r Tir77SS
MOHAMMEDALIJINNAHHADHIS EARLY SCHOOLING AT KARACHCH. LATER, HE JOINED THE LINCOLN'S INN IN ENGLAND TO BECOME THE LLLLLLLL LLLLL LLLLLLLLL LL L LLLLLLH SLLLaG G KS LLLLLL aLLLLSSLLLLSLLLLLSLLLLLLLL LLLLKLLLLL LLLL LLLL LLLLLLL L LLL LLLLLLLL OF THE MUSLIMS IN 1936, THEY WEREA MASS OF DEMORALIZED MEN AND WOMEN, POLITICALLY DISORGANIZED AND WITHOUTA CLEARCUT POLITICAL PROGRAMME. DURING THE NEXT THREE YEARS LLLLLL LSLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLL LLLL LLLLL LLLLL LLLKLLLLL LLLL LLLLLLL TO BROADEN HIS MASS SUPPORT, BRING ING THE MUSLIMS ON ONE PLATFORM, BREATHING NEW LIFE INTO THE MORIBUND LEAGUE, DEMOCRATIZING ITS STRUCTURE AND ORGANIZATIONAL NETWORK G|WING T A COHERENT, ALL INDIA POLICY AND PROGRAMME AND
*
MaharrıfİTadAMİMİT Tah 25, 28 - E
Despite the Wehement opposition of the Congress and the antipathy of the British to his demand, Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah organized his movement so adrČitly that the Pakistari-MowgTient gath|grgd TomentLIIT within a few years, became the central issue in all subsequent constitutional ဦႌန္: and was overwhelmingly voted for by Muslims in the 1945-46 General Elections. Pakistan was finally established on 14 August 1947 and Quaid-e-Azam Mohammed Ali Jinnah, ther 70, became its first Governor-General.
 
 

A Step Towards Settling the Conflict 1251
The most important factor however was that the government was realising by experience that its military solution was not working. In June it launched a Tajor military offensive code-named 'Operation Liberation' intended to take over the Jaffna peninsula from the armed separatist groups, principally the LTTE (Tamil Tigers). Although part of the Jaffna peninsula was brought under military control it failed to achieve its principal objective. It also became quite evident that the military takeover of Jaffna would result in the killing of several thousand civilians as well as a substantial number of soldiers. It was when the government was again planning to carry forth its once ill-fated "Operation Liberation' that the Indian government in no uncertain terms indicated that it would be compelled to interwene in the "War" im such an ewentuality. By this ti The the Commanders of the Sri Lankar forçes had also a dwised the government that the insurgents had come into possession of more sophisticated weapons and were soon likely to obtain antiaircraft guns as well as heat-seeking Stinger missiles which would make the military campaign even more hazardous,
The CuTulative effect of all these factors and a bowe all the failure of the military solution compelled the government to opt for a political solution with the assistance of India. The faltering negotiations for a political solution which had been dragging on for almost four years were activated once more and by the end of July 1987 the governments of India and Sri Lanka had arrived at an agreement. The Indo-Sri Lanka Accord is its expression,
The India COCer il the So Ltion of the rati Orla liti e S question in Sri Lanka is quite understandable, The Sri Lankan government while pursuing its military option to the problem was becoming more and more involved in the US politico-strategic plans in the region which were primarily aimed against India. Hence the nationalities question in Sri Lanka had an external aspect which affected the security and stability of India,
The Jayawardene government had made a tremendous effort to accede to the solicitations of US imperialism for the use of Sri Lanka territory for its strategic plans, US imperialism wanted to obtain either directly or indirectly the use of the large natural harbour

Page 87
1252 Politics and Life in Our Tirnes
in Trincomalee for their military build-up in the region. The Jayawardene government almost leased the farm of petroleum tanks in Trincomalee to a dummy company floated in Singapore before it backed down under internal opposition and Indian pressure. It had entered into an agreement to set up a Voice of America (VOA) Station in Sri Lanka, the largest outside the USA itself which would also be equipped for military communications. Already the US armed forces enjoyed the right of Rest and Recreation in the island. US naval vessels were freely moving in and out of the Sri Lankan harbours. Military and political Cooperation with Pakistan was in the ascendancy. Anti-Indian sentiment was promoted through official manipulation. Relations with Israel were developing fast with military cooperation in the lead. Whilst talking of a negotiated settlement the Sri Lankan government was in practice pursuing its military option. Lately moves were made to obtain direct US military assistance. All these aroused the deep concern of India in regard to its Security and pushed her to play an active role in seeking a political solution to the nationalities question in Sri Lanka. These apart, the Indian government had to contend with certain local forces who were pressing the Central government to act on behalf of the Tamil population in Sri Lanka. Both the government and the opposition in Tamil Nadu with its 55 million Tamils were bringing heavy pressure on the Central government to take such action. Any laxity on the part of the Indian government could result in the activation of the presently dormant Tamil, separatist elements in India.
Thus indian efforts at mediation in the on-going ethnic war in Sri Lanka and its successful attempt to assist Sri Lanka in finding a political solution to the matters at issue were the natural outcome of the concern for her own security and stability.
A few Words about the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord itself. The main provisions of the Accord could be divided into two groups: (a) Those provisions which mainly relate to internal affairs. (b) Those provisions which relate mainly to external affairs.

A Step Towards Settling the Conflict 1253
Let us examine the matters that are mainly of an internal nature. Firstly, the government of Sri Lanka has officially admitted, forthe first time, thatSri Lankaisa multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religiousandpluralsociety where the Sinhalese, the Tamils, the Muslims, Burghers, and other ethnic groups are entitled to equal rights and protection by the state.
The Sri Lankan communists always subscribed to this concept. They had, on numerous Occasions, called upon this government as well as previous governments that they should approach the nationalities question on the basis of this fundamental principle. The government party (The United National Party) as well as the main opposition party (the Sri Lanka Freedom Party led by Mrs. Bandaranaike) always held that the state should ensure the domination of the country by Sinhalese Buddhists. This naturally led to the practice of discrimination against other ethnic groups, particularly the Tamils. The Accord rectifies this position by recognising the plural character of the Sri Lankan Society, especially its multi-ethnicity.
Secondly, through the creation of a Provincial Council for the Northern and Eastern provinces a high degree of autonomy, comparable with that enjoyed by the constituent states of the Union of India is granted to the Tamil people who have inhabited these areas for an historically long period. The single Provincial Council that will be established for the Northern and Eastern Provinces may however be converted into two Provincial Councils if the majority of the people in the Eastern province decide so at a Referendum held in accordance with the Accord. This provision has been incorporated in the agreement because of the specific character of the Eastern Province. Unlike the Northern Province whose population is over 95 percent Tamil, the Eastern Province is one where Tamil Speaking Muslims, who regard themselves as a separate ethnic group, together with the Sinhalese marginally outnumber the Tamils. Hence the merger of the two provinces subject to the right of delinking of the two depending on the results of a referendum to be held in the Eastern Province.
Thirdly, the Accord provides for the recognition of the Tamil language (together with English) as an official language of Sri Lanka in addition to Sinhalese, which is the official language at present. The recognition of Tamil as an official language removes once and for all the lingual discrimination to which the Tamil people had been subjected for a long period.

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1254 Politics and Life in Our Times
The implementation of these provisions of the Accord relating to internal affairs of Sri Lanka will not only strengthen national unity but also eliminate the threat of the division of the country into two States.
Imperialism is not generally against the internal arrangements that are provided by the Accord. It is working hand in glove with the chauvinistic and other reactionary forces within the Country because of its opposition to the provisions of the Accord that relate mainly to Sri Lanka's external relations. As mentioned earlier, these undermine the US imperialism's geo-strategic and geo-political plans in the region. In this regard the Accord represents a marked shift in the policy of the Sri Lankan government. In other words Sri Lanka has shifted from its earlier stance of hostility and confrontation towards India to a position of friendship and cooperation. India guarantees the Sovereignty, the unity and territorial integrity and the security of Sri Lanka and undertakes not to permit the use of Indian territory for hostile actions against Sri Lanka. In return Sri Lanka guarantees that neither its territory nor its ports will be allowed to be used by a third party in a manner prejudicial to the security interests of India.
Sri Lanka jointly with India will set up an undertaking to exploit the oil-tank farm in the Trincomalee Harbour which had been built by the British during the Second World War for storing vast quantities of fuel to supply its naval fleets.
These obligations undertaken by the government of Sri Lanka frustrate the attempts of US imperialism to use Sri Lankan territory for its strategic plans in the region.
Furthermore, by the Accord Sri Lanka has undertaken to renegotiate the agreement permitting the construction of the VOA Station in Sri Lanka, so as to restrict its use to normal civil broadcasts only and to prohibit it being used for military communications.
Sri Lanka has also agreed to terminate the services of foreign military personnel operating in the country. This operatively means the sending away of the members of the Mossad and the Pakistani Servicemen who had been advising the government in military training and in carrying out acts of state terrorism.

A Step Towards Settling the Conflict 1255
As evident from the foregoing facts it is not surprising that those provisions of the agreement that relate mainly to Sri Lanka's external relations have earned the Wrath of US imperialism. US imperialism is working overtime in connivance with its agents and surrogates within the country like the LTTE (the Tamil Tigers) and the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) to somehow prevent the implementation of the Accord. Acting covertly, imperialism has launched a massive offensive to undermine the Accord and prevent its implementation. It draws its strength from the chauvinist tendencies current among both the Sinhalese and the Tamil communities. Both the Tamil Tigers (the LTTE) and the JVP are beautifully orchestrated by imperialism to serve its ends. Despite their allegiance to Tamil and Sinhalese extremism respectively the level of coordination between them against the Accord remains incredibly high. These are neofascistic organisations which use socialist slogans and thrive on the exploitation of the lowest instincts of ethnic and racial hatred among the Tamils and the Sinhalese respectively. While the LTTE is resisting the implementation of the Accord by confronting the Indian army in the North, the JVP is presently in the process of expanding its terrorist activity and armed attacks against the supporters of the Accord in the South. It has declared its intention to assassinate Members of Parliament who vote infavour of the adoption of legislation to give effect to the Accord.
The bourgeoisie is divided. Whereas the entrepreneurs who are affected by the continuing ethnic strife and resultant instability Support the ACCOrd, the more pro-imperialist as well as nationalist sections among the Sinhalese bourgeoisie oppose it. These forces presently support the SLFP in its campaign against the Accord. The Tamilbourgeoisie as well as the Tamil working people overwhelmingly support the Accord. The expression of their support for the Accord is impeded by the LTTE which intimidates the population with reprisals. There is now greater understanding and acceptance of the provisions of the Accord among the Sinhalese working people.
The CPSL supports the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord despite its opposition to the United National Party government, because it provides a very satisfactory basis for the solution of Sri Lanka's nationalities question, albeit temporarily. It embodies the principal demands the CPSL has advanced over the years for the solution of the problem as well as those that relate to regional security. Now, the task facing the communists

Page 89
1256 Politics ard Lffo FT (PLTT frl785
PROF. ALBERTEINSTEIN, GERMAN SCIENTIST, WAS BORN AT ULM ON MARCH 14, 1879, ANDEDUCATEDAT MUNICH ANDZURICH. AFTER BEING ENGINEER TO THE PATENT OFFICE IN BERNE, HE WAS APPOINTED PROFESSORATZURICHUNIVERSITY IN 1909. IN 1915 HE BROUGHT HIS FAMOUS THEORY OFRELATIVITY BEFORE THE ACADEMY OF SCIENCES NBERLIN IN 1921 HE WAS AWARDED THENOBEL PRIZE FORPHYSICS AND ALSO RECEIVED HONOURS FROM WARIOUS OTHER COUNTRIES. IN 1931 HELECTURED ON HIS THEORIES ATOXFORD UNIVERSITY,
Pro Ag Erster fl. 3.879 - 8.4, 1955
Relativity is the Mathematical theory of the universe first put forward by Einstein in 1905. In it he postulated first, that absolute notion has no observable effect upon physical phenomena, or in other words, that all physical phenomena are so constituted that it is not possible to observe by their means absolute motion, and second, that the rate of travel of light is the same in all directions at a given lace, and its value is constant for all places in the universe, no matter what Tay e the relative TowerTents of the earth or other system of reference involved The experimental research of Michelson, and the speculations of Fitzgerald and Lorentzpaved the way for Einstein's investigations. In the theory of relativity the ideas of force and the action of one body upon another are rejected and inertia and gravitation are shown to be equivalents of one another,
 

A Step Towards Seaffring the Conflict 1257
is so ensure its implementation, which would result in the restoration of national unity and the elimination of the threat to its territorial integrity. It helps to strengthen Sri Lanka's independence and national sovereignty. From a class point of view the Accord removes a great obstacle to the further development of the struggle for social change, for the defence of democracy and the defence of the vital interests of the people. It Takes favourable conditions for the working people of all communities to fight unitedly to achieve these objectives.
At present the Indian art Ted forces which have come to Sri Lanka on the invitation of the Sri Lanka government to help the implementation of the Accord are engaged in operations to disarm the LTTE. There is no doubt that the Indian army would eventually defeat and subjugate the LTTE. This however is not going to solve the problem in its entirety. The LTTE is likely to operate underground and resort to hit-and-run tactics, acts of sabotage and terrorism. The JVP, too, will persist in the adoption of similar tactics. Hence peace may be established but violence in some form or other may continue.
The government is likely to exploit the terrorist activities carried on by the JWP to impose restrictions on democratic rights and processes. The armed forces may be deployed throughout the Country resulting in the militarisation of civilian administration. The fight for derinocracy will emerge as the principal issue. This will require the unity of all forces committed to the defence of democracy,
Presently President Jayawardene is acting with determination to give legal effect to the main provisions of the Accord by adopting the relevant legislation in Parliament. Unless some unforeseen developments take place the establishment of the Provincial Councils in accordance with the Accord will promote the settlement of the ethnic problem. Alas, this does not exhaust the list of problems facing the people of Sri Lanka. Four years of civil War has resulted in the further impowerishment of the Working people. According to the government's own estimates, more than half of the population live below the powerly-line. Constantly rising inflation has sharply decimated the value of real wages. Despite the restriction of trade union rights, there hawe been several important struggles by those living on wages for 50 per cent wage increases. Recently doctors and university lecturers seccessfully resorted to trade

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1258 Politics and Life in Our Times
union action. At the same time there is a growing resistance among working people against the goverment's policy of privatisation of state Ventures under a deal with the IMF/World Bank.
State assistance to the poor has become so insufficient that thousands are living on the verge of hunger. The Communist Party has launched a campaign demanding the increase in the value of foodstamps as well as in the number of those qualified to obtain such state aSSistance.
in rural areas peasants have difficulty in purchasing fertilisers and other agro-chemicals due to the exorbitant prices prevailing at present. The peasant organisation led by the Communist Party of Sri Lanka started a campaign, among other things, demanding the supply of agro-chemicals to the peasants at a subsidised rate.
There are many more issues on which the mass struggle is developing. The government is well aware of the discontent among the people and the growing resistance to its policies. The continuing crisis around the nationalities question will make the government even more unyielding. The objective conditions however will promote the development of the mass struggle of the people.
Whilst promoting the broadest level of united action in defence of democracy, the CPSL considers that it should at the same time build up the unity of the left forces in Sri Lanka. In the autumn of 1987 the CPSL and the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party (the People's Party) joined together in forming a United Front on the basis of a Programme of a perspective nature. It is conceived that this Programme and the United Front established thereunder could serve as a basis for rallying together other left forces in the country. The CPSL has also established contacts with two left-leaning Tamil militant groups, which support the Indo-Sri Lanka ACCOrd, namely the People's Liberation Organisation of Tamil Eelam (PLOT) and the Eelam People's Revolutionary Liberation Front (EPRLF). We are always mindful that the key to the attainment of our strategic goals is in the consolidation of unity among the left forces in Sri Lanka.
Courtesy: "World Marxist Review", January, 1988, Prague, Czechoslovakia.

Desmond Fernando Apologises
Mr. Desmond Fernando PC has in a letter to the Chief Justice expressed his regret 'inter alia'in regard to his garlanding the Editor of the 'Sunday Times', Mr. Sinha Ratnatunga in the High Court premises just after he was convicted by the High Court for Criminal defamation of President Chandrika Bandarana ike Kumaratunga.
The letter to Chief Justice Mr. G. P. S. de Silva states: "Dear Chief Justice, "I am Writing to you as head of the judiciary. 'Recently a news item appeared in, "The Island" of 4.7. 97 stating that the Committee of the High Court Judges Association were of the view that a statement made by me regarding the amendment of the Penal Code to delete the Offence of Criminal Defamation and the garlanding of an editor convicted of Criminal Defamation, reflected adversely on the judiciary.
"I had no intention whatever of causing any affront to the judiciary and if my conduct has given such an impression, I express my regret as a member of the Bar who has always stood for the Independence of the Judiciary and will continue to do so". Yours sincerely, (Sgd.) Desmond Fernando
A copy of the letter to the Chief Justice had been sent to the President of the Bar ASSOciation of Sri Lanka.
The Executive Committee of the BASL took up the matter regarding the "garlanding" etc. and issued the following statement. "The Executive Committee was summoned on Friday the 4th July, '97 to discuss the act of garlanding by Mr. Desmond Fernando P. C. of Mr. Sinha Ratnatunga, shortly after he was Convicted. The main Concern of the Executive Committee was the maintenance of the independence, integrity and dignity of the

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1260 Politics ard Life fr (Lur TirTTES
GUGLIELMOMARCON WASANITALIAN INVENTOR, BORN AT BOLOGNA ON 25TH APRIL 1874. HE TOOKOUT THE FIRST WIRELESSTELEGRAPH PATENT ON 2ND JUNE, 1896. IN 1899, WIRELESS TELEGRAPH WAS FIRST USED FOR SAVING LIFEATSEA, IN 1901 MARCON SUCCEEDED IN TRANSMITTING AND RECEIWINGSIGNALS, BETWEENNEW FOUNDLAND AND CORNWALL AND SINCE THENHAS TAKENALEADINGPART IN THE SCIENTIFIC AND COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT OF WIRELESS
Senator Guglielmo Marconi 1874 - 1937
Radio or Wireless is the transmission of signals without wire, based on the discovery by Marxwell of electromagnetic waves and of means to generate them by Hertz. In 1895 Marconi demonstrated a system of wireless communication. Further developments depended upon the invention of the vacuum tube by Fleming, a means of detecting radio Wawes by an electronic device, which made possible the transmission of sound and this led to radio telephony and broadcasting. Marconi was awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics in 1909, Inade a Senator in 1915 and a Marquers in 1929. He served with the Italian forces during the Great War,
 

செ5ாrd Frand Apologis85 1261
Judiciary. This meeting was adjourned for Monday, the 7th July, '97 at 6.45 p.m. due to the fact that sufficient notice could not be given to all members of the Executive Committee.
At about 3 p.m. on the 7th July 1997, Mr. Desmond Fernando P. C. forwarded to the President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka a copy of a letter addressed by him to his Lordship the Chief Justice.
Prior to that Mr. Desmond Fernando P. C. Wrote to the Secretary of the BASL stating that at no time did he comment on the judgement, prosecution or defence in the case against Mr. Ratnatunge.
"Since Mr. Desmond Fernando P.C. has expressly stated that he had no intention of causing any affront to the Judiciary and has expressed his regret if this conduct gave such an impression the Executive Connittee is of the view that no further COTrent is necessary except to state that incidents of this nature should not occur in the future. "The Executive Committee of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka. (BASL) reaffirms the commitment of the BASL, at all times, to safeguard the independence, integrity and dignity of the Judiciary".
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, July 9th, 1997.

Page 92
When Nadesan Argued the cause of Media Freedom
By Mudiyar
New Media Minister Mangala Samaraweera on June 26 told journalists the Cabinet had decided to repeal the Parliamentary Privileges Special Provisions Act, 1978 which conferred on Parliament the power to try and punish journalists.
We applaud the Minister for taking a step in the right direction. The Act No. 5 of 1978 was an amendment to the Parliamentary Powers & Privileges Law. It conferred on Parliament the power to punish any offence specified in Part A of the Act. This amendment was allegedly brought in to muzzle the media by the UNP Government. The pernicious law which had the approval of Parliament with the UNP steamroller majority, has it that a person could be punished for a term not exceeding two years and a fine of Rs. 5,000 and punishment imposed by the Assembly was tantamount to a punishment imposed by the Supreme Court. When this Act was passed and even when a journalist was punished no one in the Bar Association protested. The Bar should have immediately protested at the vesting of this amount of judicial power in the legislature.
What happened subsequently was something that showed clearly how the members of the National State Assembly would act as prosecutors and judges in convicting an Editor of the Ceylon Observer. On January 30, 1978 the Observer carried a photograph of a motor boat on some Waterway showing a man at its wheel and a young Woman seated in it at some distance away from him, and the caption read "the president of one of the leading industrial complexes in Korea showing the Sri Lankan Foreign Minister around the showroom of the industrial complex". Obviously this was a mix up of captions, and the Government in office saw various insinuations, innuendoes in the caption, and thought there was someone behind the whole episode maliciously bringing the reputation of the Minister down in the eyes of

When Nadasar Argued the cause of Media Freedom 1263
S. NADESAN, C. C. WAS A COLOSSUS IN A WANISHING BREED OF LAWYERS WHO EXCEL NEWERY SPHERE OF THE PROFESSION. NADESAN WAS EQUALLY AT EASE, AND EQUALLY A MASTER OF HIS FIELD, WHETHER APPLYING HIS EXTRAORDINARY TALENE TO A CRIMINAL TRIAL, A TAX CASE, A CONSTITUTIONAL ISSUE, A TRADE UNIONDISPUTE, A COMPLEX COMMERCIALARBITRATION, ORA CASE NWOLVING INTERNATIONAL HUMAN RIGHTS STANDARDS. THIS VERSATILITY MARKED HIS CAREER FROM ITS BEGINNING RIGHT UP TO HIS LAST DAYS. MR. NA DESAN WAS HMSELF CHARGED AND ACQUITTED, IN 1980, WITH BREACH OF PARLIAMENTARY PRIVILEGE, FOR A SERIES OF ARTICLES HE HAD WRITTEN ON THIS SUBJECT IN 1978. IRONICALLY, HE HAD BEEN A MEMBER OF THE JOINT SELECT COMMITTEE OF PARLIAMENT WHICH HAD DRAFTED THE ORIGINAL PARLAMENTARY PRIVILEGES ACT IN 1953.
! s! s_
S, Waddasar, (), Č, 7.2. 797 - 2.72.96
Among Nadesar's most valuable writings are his diss report as armer Tiber of the National Flag Committee (1950); his still extremely relevant article on Regional Autonomy, originally published in the Sunday Observer in 1957, and In his post-Senatorial days, his book on the principles of Constitution making and the 1972 Constitution, and report on the 1980 Strike and its Aftermath Written for the Civil Rights Movement. A number of Nadesan's cases in the courts are extremely important social documents, as they place in the ublic domain important evidence and issues which are otherwise inaccessible. is life is a chronicle of the age, as Tluch as the Walues for which he stood were Such that hic has been ca||gd "ihē Consciecçg of O Lur Limes".

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1264 Politics and Life in Our Tinnes
the public. The Leader of the House moved a resolution and said it was intended and calculated to bring Foreign Minister A. C. S. Hameed into disrepute and thereby constituted the publication of a defamatory statement concerning a Member of the National State Assembly. It is interesting to note that Section 8 refers to the publication of any defamatory statement concerning any member in respect of his conduct as a Member.
Hauled before parliament were Observer Editor Harold Pieris and its Associate Editor Philip Cooray. The Observer was a stateControlled newspaper. In 1970 when Sirimavo Bandaranaike became the Prime Minister what the Government did was to West the ANC's equity in the Public Trustee, and all papers came under Government control. From 1977, like all other Government papers the Observer did everything possible to support the Government which had been elected to power with a two thirds majority.
The resolution that was tabled in the National State ASSernbly ordered the two editors to be present at the National State Assembly. They were given less than two hours to show cause. One of the opposition members of the NSA raised the question of the insufficient time. He said no time to study this matter had been given to their group and added that even in regard to a trivial offence, whoever had been asked to show cause should be given sufficient time to study the allegations.
But this plea of the lone member of the opposition did not find favour with the rest of the Committee and nothing came of it and the Committee proceeded to perform its judical functions.
On the lack of time given to the editors to showcause eminent lawyer S. Nadesan states, "A basic principle of natural justice demands that a person accused of an offence should be given adequate opportunity to examine and study the charge, Consult Competent lawyers, if need be, and full advice as to the legal position before he shows cause. This principle of natural justice was not observed in this case. In less than two hours it will not be possible to get competent legal advice in a complicated matter involving the law of defamation and the provisions of the Privileges Act".

When Nadesan Argued the cause of Media Freedom 1265
The Leader of the House moved a resolution that the whole House form itself into a Committee to investigate and report back on the complaint. The editors were present. Harold Pieris has been off duty on that particular day and only 947 copies of the paper containing the incorrect caption and the balance was printed with the correct caption. At the end of the debate Gamini Dissanayake disagreed with the contention that there was no malicious intent which was the view of J. R. Jayawardene, the Prime Minister. It was not inadvertence but the deliberate act of an employee, an assistant, foreman in the paper's Work Department.
Mr. Jayewardene the then Prime Minister with a five sixth majority behind him gave curious reasons for fining the editors, the reasons why we have decided to impose a fine that (1) we want to give a donation to the deaf and blind school, secondly we wish to show that this Bill is now law with teeth in it and in the future any body who comes before this House will not escape with a fine; thirdly the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Limited of which tama shareholder is not an indigent organisation. It has enough money to pay the fines of both these editors, if they were to pay the fines would certainly agree that we should not fine them, but as a share-holder not as Prime Minister will see that the organisation pays the fine. The Editors were fined thousand rupees each.
The manner in which Some members of the National State
Assembly questioned the two editors who explained to the members that it was purely a mistake. That there was absolutely no malicious intent to defame a Minister of the Government was not accepted. They questioned them, ridiculed them and transformed the National State Assembly into a Kangaroo Court. They were the inquirers, investigators, prosecutors and the judges. Except few members of the opposition, including Ms. Bandaranaike, other Members rejoiced at the feeling of being able to question the witnesses and pass judgment on them.

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1266 Passics SITd Lisg sr. ÖLJr TsrnD5
When this entire episode took place there was one lawyer who was willing to take on the entire National State Assembly with its overwhelming power and the Government machinery which reduced the opposition to eight seats. He wrote a series of articles in the Sun newspaper. He was no lackey of the Government, he was not a COuncil Thermber Of the Bar ASSociation, he did 10t receive Certificaties about his independence from the Ministers of that Government, but he had the interest of all people who lowed freedom. He believed in the first a Tendent to the Constitution of the United States of America to the last letter - which reads as "Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof; or abridging the freedom of speech, or of the Press; or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and to petition the Government for redress of grievances".
He was S. Nadesan, Q.C., an indefatigable fighter for human rights and the freedom of the media and freedom of expression. His articles to the Sun questioned the manner in which the National State Assembly transformed itself into a Court House where the Legislature was given the power of the Judiciary.
He said in his article: "In this situation, the first question that arises is whether this picture along with the caption, even if it identifies the Foreign Minister as the Thail in the motor boat, is calculated to lower Mr. Hameed in the estimation of right thinking members of society, to cut him off from society or to expose him to hatred, ridicule or contempt, Merely because a statement is false, it does not become defamatory. To be defamatory, an imputation must tend to lower a person in the estimation of right thinking members of society generally. If a publication is capable of more than one Tleaning, one of which is defamatory and the other innocent, it is the innocent meaning that should be attached even in civil cases. It is a basic principle of criminal law that if there is a doubt as to whether the publication is defamatory or not, the benefit must be given to the person charged with the offence".

When Nadesan Argued the cause of Madra Freedorff 1267
T. B. JAYAH WAS AN EDUCATIONIST, WHO DEVELOPED THE ZAHIRA COLLEGE, COLOMBO, SRI LANKA. HE WAS A POLITICAN AND WASA MEMBER OF THE LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL. HE WASA MEMBER OF THE ALL CEYLON YOUTHCONGRESS. THE FIRST SESSIONS OF THE ALL CEYLON YOUTH CONGRESS WERE HELD AT PLAZA THEATRE, WELLAWATTE, COLOMBO, WITH WALENTINES, PERERA IN THE CHAIR. PANDIT JAWAHARLAL NEHRU, MRS. KAMALA NEHRU, MRS, INDRA GANDHI (THEN MISSNEHRU) ANDMRS. KAMALADEVICHAT TOPADHYAYA ATTENDED THESE SESSIONS AS DISTINGUISHED GUEST.S. ARESOLUTION CALLING FOR A BOYCOTT OF THE GENERAL ELECTION OF JUNE 1931, AS A PROTEST AGAINST THE DONOUGHMORE CONSTITUTION, WASPASSED UNANIMOUSLY AT THE CONGRESS.
蠶
T. B. Jayah (11.01, 189[) - 31.05, 1950
The All Ceylon Youth Congress, which was the representative body of radical and progressive opinion at that time, opposed the constitution and wanted the elections to be boycotted, as the constitution did not go far enough, and because it did not grant freedom to Ceylon. The youth leaguers carried on an active campaign for the boycott of the elections; Francis de Zoysa K.C., E.W. Perera and others of the All Ceylon Liberal League, expressed full support for the boycott, The boycott was only successful in the North. In the South, a good number of youth leaguers including T. B. Jayah, did not contest the 1931 elections. Though the boycott was a failure, it took the country forward towards freedom and independence.

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1268 Politics and Life in Our lines
Mr. Nadesan then went on to discuss the Section under which these editors were charged and fined, "the publication of any defamatory statement concerning any member in respect of his conduct as a member". What is meant by the words" in respect of his conduct as a Member?" Quoting Viscount Radcliffe, Mr. Nadesan, stated "for, given the proper anxiety of the House to confine its own or its Members' privilege to the minimum infringement of the liberties of the others, it is important to see that these privileges do not cover activities that are not squarely within the Member's true functions". if on the other hand if one makes a defamatory statement regarding a Member of Parliament, that he was found in a brothel or that he had cheated a Co-operative Society or misappropriated some funds, however false and reprehensible these statements may be, they are not publications made in respect of his conduct as a Member, and no question of Parliamentary Privilege arises. In these the individual Member has to seek his remedy in the Courts".
After the publication of this article Mr. Nadesan had to undergo the ordeal where the Government decided that Mr. Nadesan had Committed a breach of privilege and that the articles that appeared in the "Sun" newspaper were prima faciedefamatory and referred to the Attorney General for report. Thereafter this matter was referred to the Supreme Court, and Mr. Nadesan was charged before the Supreme Court for breach of privilege. Mr. Nadesan fought for the independence of the media and was appalled by the fact that parliament decided to charge the editors for breach of privilege. Mr. Nadesan wrote these articles to the "Sun" newspaper because he believed that the freedom of the Press and the legitimate criticism were essential to prevent misconduct and abuse of power. After Mr. Nadesan, the other person who has fought for the independence of the media from the legal fraternity is Desmond Fernando, President of the international Bar ASSociation.
Courtesy: "The Sunday Times", Colombo, July 6th, 1997.

EXTRACTS FROM
Article
() ..
.
2 .
The Constitution of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (CERTIFIED ON 31st AUGUST, 1979)
CONTENS
CHAPTER
THE PEOPLE, THE STATE AND SovEREIGNY
The State
Unitary State Sovereignty of the people Exercise of Sovereignty Territory of the Republic The National Flag
the National Anthern The National Day
CHAPTER
BUDDHSM
Buddhist
CHAPTER
FuNDAMENTALRICHTS
Freedon of thought, conscience and religion
Freed0ľn from tortuire
Right to equality
ge

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1270 Politics and Life in Our Times
Article Page
13 ... Freedom from arbitrary arrest, detention and punishment, and
prohibition of retroactive penal legislation 6 14 ... Freedom of Speech, assembly, association, occupation,
movement, &c. » « 8 15 ... Restrictions on fundamental rights 8 16. ... Existing written law and unwritten law to continue in force. .. 10 17. ... Remedy for the infringement of fundamental rights by executive
action a 10
CHAPTER IV LANGUAGE
18 . Official Language 11 19 ... National Languages 11 20 ... Use of National Languages in Parliament and local authorities .. 11 21 ... Medium of instruction 1. 22 ... Language of administration 11 23 ... Language of legislation 12 24 ... Language of the courts - R 13 25 ... Provision for adequate facilities for use of languages provided
for in this Chapter 14
132 ... Sittings of the Supreme Court .. 85 133 . Appointment of ad hoc Judges. - 85 134 ... Right to be heard by the Supreme Court. 86 135 ... Registry of the Supreme Court and office of Registrar 86 136 ... Rules of the Supreme Court .. w 86
THE COURT OF APPEAL
137 . The Court of Appeal . . . 88 138 ... Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeal w 88 139 ... Powers in appeal so 88 140 ... Power to issue writs, other than writs of habeas corpus - 88
141 ... Power to issue writs of habeas corpus .. 89

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka
Article
142 ... Power to bring up and remove prisoners
143 ... Power to grant injunctions 144 ... Parliamentary election petitions 145 ... inspection of records
146 ... Sittings of the Court of Appeal .. a - 147 ... Registry of the Court of Appeal and office of Registrar
CHAPTER XVI FINANCE
148 ... Control of Parliament over public finance. 149 ... Consolidated Fund
50 ... Withdrawal of sums from Consolidarted Fund
151 ... Contingencies Fund - · · 152 ... Special provisions as to Bills affecting public revenue 153 ... Auditor-General
54 Duties and functions of Auditor-General ..
CHAPTER XVIII
PUBLIC SECURITY
155 ... Public security
CHAPTER XIX
THE PARLAMENTARY COMMSSIONER FoRADMINISTRATION
156 ... Parliamentary Commissioner for Administration
CHAPTER XX GENERAL
157 . International Treaties and Agreements
158 ... Deligation
159 ... Deputy Speaker to act for Speaker
1271
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1272 Politics and Lifeg ir Our Tirriges
CHAPTER XXI
TRANSiTIONAL PROVISIONS
Article Pago
150 - First President "|Ո: 161 – First Parlial Theft 102 162. Application of certain provisions -- 104 163 ... Judges of Supreme Court and High Court to cease to hold office 1114 164 ... Continuation in office of Judges, public officers and others .. 14 165 . Oath or affi Tation to be taken or Thada by public officers and others 105 166 ... Powers, privileges, immunities and rights of the Republic .. 106 167 . Rights, duties and obligations of the Republic - - 106 168. Past operation of laws, previous acts, offences and pending actions, &c. 106 169. Provisions relating to judiciary 107
CHAPTER XXI
INTER PRETATION
170 . Interpretation 113
CHAPTER XXIII REPEAL
171 ... Repeal -- 115
CHAPTER XXIV
PROMUL.GATION OF THE CONSTITUTION
172 ... Promulgation of the Constitution לון
SCHEDULES
Fir:SG Schledu 19
Second Schedule -- - 12
Third Schedule -- 123
Fourth Schedule -- 25
Fif Schedule - - -- 127
Sixth Schedule -- - 29

C LLLLL C CL LTCLGLGLLmmLLlLe sLeeeLtttLLLCCLLL LLL aLTL 1273
PROF A. J.WILSONISAWELLKNOWNSCHOLARFROMSRI LANKA. WHO SPRESENTLYRESIDING INCANADA. HES THE SON-IN-LAWOFMR.S., W. CHELWANAYAGAM, THEN LEADER OF THE FEDERALPARTY OFCEYLON. LLLLLL LL LLLLL LL LLL LLLLL LGLLGLGLG LLL LLLLLaLLLL LLLL GGGLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLS LLLL 0L0L CONSTITUTION WASWITH ITS EXECUTIVE PRESIDENCY,THE BRANCHILD LL LLLL LL LL LLLS LLS LLLLLLGLLS LLL LLLLLLaL LLLLLLLGL LLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLL GIVENTEETH BY THE PRESIDENT'S CONSTITUTIONALEXPERTS, AMONG WHOMWERE H. W. JAYAWARDENA, LALTHALTHULATHMUDALI, MARK LLLLLLLL0L LLLLL LLS LLS LLLLLLLLS LLL LL LLLLL S LLLLL L LLLLLLL LL CEYLON, ATA LATESTAGE HE COULD ONLY DOT THE is AND CROSS THE TS TO MPROVE THE INSTANCES WHERE THERE WERE SELFSTULTIFYING CLAUSES
Prof. A. J. Wilso Internationally well known Constitutional Expart.
Prof. Wilson's considered view is that the present political package fails to satisfy the aspirations of the Tamil people. Besides it is not known how a package will be mangled owing to machinations of extremists among the Sinhalese political elite. The pac in its original form, when first presented in August 1995, was a document which could be discussed by honest men. It Was revised twice thereafter to the detriment of some of the very safeguards for the Tamils of North and East. Can a volatile public opinion be relied on, which will keep changing with the exercise of pressure on the government? The only Way out is for a confederation of two internally sovereign states with cast iron safeguards againsassible encroachment by the neighbouring state.

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1274 Politics and Life in Our Times
THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
SWAST
The PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA having, by their Mandate freely expressed and granted on the sixth day of the waxing moon in the month of Adhi Nikini in the year two thousand five hundred and twentyone of the Buddhist Era (being Thursday the twenty-first day of the month of July in the year one thousand nine hundred and seventyseven), entrusted to and empowered their Representatives elected on that day to draft, adopt and operate a new Republican Constitution in order to achieve the goals of a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC, and having solemnly resolved by the grant of such Mandate and the confidence reposed in their said Representatives who were elected by an overwhelming majority, to constitute SRI LANKA into a DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTREPUBLIC, whilstratifying the immutable republican principles of REPRESENTATIVE DEMOCRACY, and assuring to all peoples FREEDOM, EQUALITY, JUSTICE, FUNDAMENTALHUMAN RIGHTS and the INDEPENDENCE OF THE JUDICIARY as the intangible heritage that guarantees the dignity and well-being of succeeding generations of the People of SRI LANKA and of all the people of the World, who come to share with those generations the effort of working for the creation and preservation of a JUST AND FREE SOCIETY:
WE, THE FREELY ELECTED REPRESENTATIVES OF THE PEOPLE OF SRI LANKA, in pursuance of such Mandate, humbly acknowledging Ourobligations to our People and gratefully remembering their heroic and unremitting struggle to regain and preserve their rights and privileges so that the Dignity and Freedom of the Individual may be assured, Just, Social, Economic and Cultural Order attained, the Unity of the Country restored, and Concord established with other Nations, do hereby adopt and enact

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1275
this
CONSTITUTION
as the
SUPREME LAVAV
of the DEMOCRATIC SOCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
CHAPTER
THE PEOPLE, THE STATE AND SOVEREIGNTY
1. Sri Lanka (Ceylon) is a Free, Sovereign, The State. Independent and Democratic Socialist Republic and shall be known as the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
2. The Republic of Sri Lanka is a Unitary State. Unitary State.
3. In the Republic of Sri Lanka sovereignty is in Sovereignty of the People and is inalienable. Sovereignty includes the People. the powers of government, fundamental rights and the franchise.
4. The Sovereignty of the People shall be Exercise of exercised and enjoyed in the following manner:- Sovereignty.
(a) the legislative power of the People shall be exercised by Parliament, consisting of elected representatives of the People and by the People at a Referendum;
(b) the executive power of the People, including the defence of Sri Lanka, shall be exercised by the President of the Republic elected by the People;

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1276
Tётіїory of tha Repubѓс.
The National
The National Anhörn.
Tho Malona Day.
(c)
(d)
(e)
Politics ard Life ir? Our TF79S
the judicial power of the People shall be exercised by Parliament through courts, tribunals and institutions created and established, or recognized, by the Constitution, or created and established by law, except in regard to matters relating to the privileges, immunities and powers of Parliament and of its Members, wherein the judicial power of the People may be exercised directly by Parliament according to law,
the fundamental rights which are by the Constitution declared and recognized shall be respected, secured and advanced by all the organs of government, and shall not be abridged, restricted or denied, save in the Tanner and to the extent hereinafter provided; and
the franchise shall be exercisable at the election of the President of the Republic and of the Members of Partiarinent, and at every Referendum by every citizen who has attained the age of eighteen years, and who, being qualified to be an elector as hereinafter provided, has his name entered in the register of electors.
5. The territory of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall
consist of the twenty-four administrative districts, the names of which are set out in the First Schedule, and its territorial WaterS.
6. The National Flag of the Republic of Sri Lanka shall be the Lion Flag depicted in the Second Schedule.
7. The National Anthem of the Republic of Sri Lanka
shall be "Sri Lanka Matha", the words and music of which are set out in the Third Schedule.
8. The National Day of the Republic of Sri Lankashall
be the fourth day of February.

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 277
SDDHAT THAGAUTAMA, WAS THE SON OF AN ARISTOCRATIC FAMILY WHICH RULEDA, SMALL DISTRICT ON THE HIMALAYAN SLOPES, HE WAS MARREDAT NINETEEN TO A BEAUTIFUL COUSIN. HE HUNTED AND PLAYED AND WENT ABOUT IN HIS SUNNY WORLD OF GARDENS AND GROVES AND IRRIGATED RICEFIELDS, AND IT WASAMIDST THIS LIFE THAT AGREAT DISCONTENT FELLUPON HIM. THE SENSE OF DISEASE AND MORTALITY, THE INSECURITY AND THE UNSATISFACTORINESS OF ALL HAPPINESS, DESCENDEDUPONTHE MIND OF GAUTAMA.
Sixth Century B, C, When thig Third SEE With a great and intricale problem, it makes its advances
step by slep, with but little realization of the gains it has made, until suddenly, with an effect of abrupt illumination, it realizes its victory. So it happened to Gautama. In the King's Deer Park at Sarnath near Benares, Gautama and his five disciples built themselves huts and set up a sort of school to which came many who were seeking after wisdom. This Indian teacher concentrated upon self and sought to destroy it. There were three principal forms that the craving for life took and they were all evil, The first was the desire of the appetites, gregd and all forms of sensuousness, the second was the desire for a personal and egotistic immortality, the third was the Crawing for personal success, Worldliness, awarice and the like. All these for Tis of desire had to be overcorne to escape from the distress and chagrins of life. When they were overcoma, when self had wanished altogether, then serently of soul, Nirvana, the highest good was attained. Buddhism spread - until it had won China, and Siam and
Burma and Japan, Countries in which it is predominant to this day.
— d. G. MAGIS.

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1278
Buddhism.
Official Languagө.
National Languages.
Use of National Languages in
Parliament and local authorities.
Mediurn of instruction,
Politics and Life in Our Times
CHAPTER
BUDDHSM
9. The Republic of Sri Lanka shall give to Buddhism the foremost place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster the Buddha Sasana, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Articles 10 and 14 (1) (e)
CHAPTER IV LANGUAGE
18. The Official Language of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala.
19. The National Languages of Sri Lanka shall be Sinhala and Tamil.
20. A Member of Parliament or a member of a local authority shall be entitled to perform his duties and discharge his functions in Parliament or in such local authority in either of the National Languages.
21. (1) Aperson shall be entitled to be educated through the medium of either of the National Languages:
Provided that the provisions of this paragraph shall not apply to an institution of higher education where the medium of instruction is a language other than a National Language.

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1279
(2) Where one National Language is a medium of instruction for Or in aný course, department or faculty of any University directly or indirectly financed by the State, the other National Language shall also be made a medium of instruction for or in such course, department or faculty for students who prior to their admission to such University, were educated through the medium of such other National Language:
Provided that compliance with the preceding provisions of this paragraph shall not be obligatory if such other National Language is the medium of instruction for or in any like Course, department or faculty either at any other campus or branch of such University or of any other like University.
(3) In this Article "University" includes any institution of higher education.
22. (1) The Official Language shall be the Language of language of administration throughout Sri Lanka: administration.
Provided that the Tamil Language shall also be used as the language of administration for the maintenance of public records and the transaction of all business by public institutions in the Northern and Eastern Provinces.
Thirteenth Amendment to the Constitution Certified on 14th November, 1987)
L. D. O. 61/87.
AN ACT TO AMEND THE CONSTITUTION OF THE DEMOCRATIC SoCIALIST REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA
BE it enacted by the Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka as follows:-
1. This Act may be cited as the Thirteenth Short title Amendment to the Constitution and shall come into and date of operation on such date as the President may, appoint, '" by Order published in the Gazette.

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1280
Amendment of Article 18 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka.
Amendment of Article 138 Of the Constitution.
Insertion of Chapter XVIIA in the Constitution.
Politics and Life in Our Times
2. Article 1 8 of the Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (hereinafter referred to as the "Constitution") is hereby amended as follows:-
(a) by the renumbering of that Article as
parargraph (1) of that Article;
(b) by the addition immediately after paragraph (1) of that Article of the following paragraphs:-
"(2) Tamil shall also be an official language.
(3) English shall be the link language. (4) Parliament shall by law provide for the implementation of the provisions of this Chapter.".
3. Article 138 of the Constitution is hereby amended in paragraph (1) of that Article as follows:-
(a) by the substitution, for the words "committed by any Court of First Instance", of the words "committed by the High Court, in the exercise of its appellate or original jurisdiction or by any Court of First instance"; and
(b) by the substitution, for the words "of which such Court of First Instance", of the words "of which such High Court, Court of First Instance".
4. The following Chapter and Articles are hereby inserted immediately after Article 154, and shall have effect as Chapter XVIIA and Articles 154A to 154T, of the Constitution:-

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1281
"CHAPTER XVIA"
154A. (1) Subject to the provisions of the Establishment Constitution, a Provincial Council shall be established ಜ್ಷda for every Province specified in the Eighth Schedule With effect from Such date or dates as the President may appoint by Order published in the Gazette. Different dates may be appointed in respect of different
Provinces.
(2) Every Provincial Council established under paragraph (1) shall be consitituted upon the election of the members of Such Council in accordance with the law relating to Provincial Council elections.
(3) Notwithstanding anything in the preceding provisions of this Article, Parliament may by, or under, any law provide for two or three adjoining Provinces to form One administrative unit with one elected Provincial Council, One Governor, one Chief Minister and One Board of Ministers and for the manner of determining whether such Provinces should continue to be administered as One administrative unit or Whether each Such Province Should constitute a separate administrative unit with its own Provincial Council, and a separate Governor, Chief Minister and Board of Ministers.
154B. (1) There shall be a Governor for each Province for which a Provincial Council has been established in aCCOrdance with Article 154A.
(2) The Governor shall be appointed by the President by warrant under his hand, and shall hold office, in accordance with Article 4 (b), during the pleasure of the President.

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1282 Politics and Life in Our Times
(3) The Governor may, by writing addressed to the President, resign his office.
(4) (a) The Provincial Council may, subject to sub-paragraph (b), present an address to the President advising the removal of the Governor on the ground that the Governor
(i) has internitionally violated the provisions of the
Constitution;
(ii) is guilty of misconduct or corruption involving the abuse
of the powers of his office; or
(iii) is guilty of bribery or an offence involving moral
turpitude,
if a resolution for the presentation of such address is passed by not less than two-thirds of the whole number of members of the Council (including those not present).
(b) No resolution for the presentation of an address to the President advising the removal of the Governor on the grounds referred to in subparagraph (a) shall be entertained by the Chairman of the Provincial Council or discussed at the Council, unless notice of such resolution is signed by not less than one-half of the whole number of members present.
(5) Subject to the preceding provisions of this Article, the Governor shall hold office for a period of five years from the date he assumes Office.
(6) Every person appointed as Governorshall assume office upon taking or subscribing, the oath or making or subscribing the affirmation, set out in the Fourth Schedule, before the President.

The Constitution of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka 1283
(7) Upon such assumption of office a Governor shall cease to hold any other office created or recognized by the Constitution, and if he is a Member of Parliament, shall vacate his seat in Parliament. The Governor shall not hold any other office or place of profit.
(8) (a) The Governor may, from time to time, summon the Provincial Council to meet at such time and place as he thinks fit, but two months shall not intervene between the last sitting in One Session and the date appointed for the first sitting in the next session.
(b) The Governor may, from time to time, prorogue the Provincial Council.
(c) The Governor may dissolve the Provincial Council.
(d) The Governorshall exercise his powers under this paragraph in accordance with the advice of the Chief Minister, so long as the Board
of Ministers commands, in the opinion of the Governor, the support of the majority of the Provincial Council.
End of the Extracts from the Constitution of Sri Lanka.

Page 103
No Discrimination on Ground of Political Opinion to hold Processions
The Supreme Court has recently in one of the fundamental rights applications before it ruled that a fundamental right should not be discriminated on the ground of political opinion. The Apex Court has further noted that government interest must be unrelated to the Suppression of free expression. In the landmark judgement delivered by justice Dr. A. R. B. Amerasinghe, with Justice A. S. Wijetunga and Dr. Asoka Gunawardena agreeing, the Supreme Court pointed out -
"The constitutional power of the government to impose restrictions on the exercise and operation of the rights declared and recognized by Article 14 of the Constitution is conferred by Article 15 (7) of the Constitution. Article 15(7) limits the manner and the circumstances in which restrictions may be imposed: A restriction must (1) be prescribed by law (including regulations made under the law for the time being relating to public security) and (2) such restrictions must be "in the interests of national security, public order and the protection of public health or morality, or for the purpose of securing due recognition and respect for the rights and freedoms of others, or meeting the just requirements of the general welfare of a democratic society. Article 15 (7) makes it clear that the right to Speech to other methods of expression is not absolute, but relative, and must be exercised in subordination to laws that may impose restrictions permitted by Article 15 (7) of the Constitution for the sake of achieving certain ends. The privilege of a citizen to use the streets, parks and public places for communication of views on public questions may be regulated by the government in certain circumstances.

No Discrimination on Ground of Political Opinion to hold Processions 1285
"When the matter of public safety is complicated by other exceptional facts, such as acts of terrorism, government interest in intervention must necessarily be increased in a Commensurable manner, hold that ex facie, the prohibition on the NSSP procession did further important or substantial interest of government suppression of free expression: The right of free speech and expression cannot be abridged ordenied in the guise of regulation for the pretended purpose of furthering legitimate government interests: Cf. Hague v C.I.O., (supra). In Shuttles Worthy v. City of Birmingham, 394 U.S. 147. 895. Ct. 935, 22L.Ed. 2d 162 (1969), a statute gave the City Corhmission absolute power to refuse aparade permit whenever they thought 'the public welfare, peace, safety, health, decency, good order, morals or convenience require that it be refused'. The United States Supreme Court emphasized the need to strictly and narrowly construe the powers conferred on public authorities to restrict the use of public places, such as streets and parks, which have been customarily used for purposes of assembly, communicating thoughts between citizens, and discussing public questions...
"In the circumstances, I am of the view that the prohibition of the holding of a procession by the NSSP by the invocation of the powers conferred by section 77 (3) of the Police Ordinance, thereby preventing the petitioner from marching with members of his political party on May Day was a transgression of his fundamental rights of freedom of speech and expression declared and recognized by Article 14(1) of the Constitution. The prohibition was not for the purpose of maintaining public order but for the suppression of free expression by the members of the NSSP, including the petitioner. Section 77 (3) of the Police Ordinance and the Emergency Regulations dated the 30th of April, 1996 were used by the Police to deny the petitioner the right of peaceful assembly declared and recognized by Article 14(1)(b) of the Constitution and the opportunities for communication traditionally associated in Sri Lanka with resort to the streets by political parties On May Day, thereby denying him the right to freedom of speech and expression declared and recognized by Article 14 (1) (a) of the Constitution. By permitting members of other political parties to march while denying or seriously abridging the petitioner's right to march, the respondents failed to act

Page 104
1286 Postics ard Life ir ČOLU FT1695
CHARLESROBERT DARWIN, AN ENGLISH NATURALIST, WAS THE SON OF DR, ROBERTW. DARWIN, F.R.S.AND WAS BORN ATSHREWSBURY, ENGLAND, ON FEBRUARY 12, 1809. HE WAS EDUCATED AT SHEREWSBURY AND THEREAFTERATEDINBURGH AND CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITES. FROM 1831 TO 1836HESERVEDASNATURALISTON BOARD THE BEAG ENTSSURWEY OF THE ATLANTIC AND PACIFICOCEANS, AND THE KNOWLEDGE GAINED ONTHESEWOYAGESLAD THE FOUNDATIONS OF HISLATER RESEARCHES. IN 1839 HE MARREDEMMAWEDGWOOD AND THE NEXT 20 YEARS WERE SPENTIN SCIENTIFICRESEARCHES, CHIEFLY ATDOWN IN KENT,
22.59 - 9.4, 882
Charles Darwin's theory of man's descent from the lower animals is now widely accepted (with some modification) as is natural selection. The concept of the mutability of species was suggested from about the 16th Century onwards by such philosophers as Bacon and Descartes. By the 19th Century the sciences of embryology, taxonomy, and comparative anatomy had provided most of the arguments in support of atheory of evolution. These arguments were synthesized by Charles Darwin and Alfred Russel Wallace, and the case was presented in 1859, when Darwin published the Origin of Species. The fact of evolution was later confirmed by developments in and by increasing knowledge of the mechanism of inheritance, It is now accepted by all competent to assess the evidence. Opinions still differ, however, about the way in which it occurs,
 

No Discrimination on Ground of Political Opinion to hold Processions 1287
evenhandedly in applying the provisions of section 77 (3) of the Police Ordinance and the Emergency Regulations and thereby violated the petitioner's fundamental right to equality before the law and equal protection of the law declared by Article 12(1) of the Constitution, and the petitioner's fundamental right declared and recognized by Article 12 (2) not to be discriminated against on the ground of political opinion.
"The burden of proving that a restriction was in the interests of national security or public order lies on the respondents: per Sharwananda, CJ, in Joseph Perera w The Attorney-General 1992) 1 SLR 199 at 214-218. Mr. Abaykoon submitted that the respondents had failed to discharge the burden of showing that the total ban on all processions of every kind, including funeral and religious processions, throughout the country was required for the purposes of national security or public order. I am in agreement with the principle that incidental restrictions of free speech and expression must be no greater than are necessary for the furtherance of government interest as prescribed by Article 15 (7) of the Constitution, However, in view of the conclusions have come to on the application of the Emergency Regulations on the assumption that it was valid, it is not necessary for me to consider whether the regulation should hawe been more narrowly drawn and was invalid on account of being over-broad,
"For the reasons set out in my judgment, I declare that the State violated the fundamental rights of the petitioner declared by Articles 12(1), 12(2), 14(1)(a) and 1 (b) of the Constitution.
"The State shall pay the petitioner a sum of Rs. 15,000 costs".
Courtesy: "BASL News", Colombo, July 1997.

Page 105
The Independence of the Judiciary
Keynote Address by Desmond Fernando, P.C. President of the International Bar Association.
The independence of The Judiciary has for centuries been regarded as vital to the proper functioning of a civilised society.
INTRODUCTION
In countries like Britain where an independent judiciary existed from the time of The Act of Settlement of 1701 an independent judiciary has been regarded as an end in itself.
The Basic Principles on the independence of The Judiciary endorsed by the General Assembly of the United Nations in November and December 1985 articulate with greater specifity the right set out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) to "a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal established by law".
The preamble to the declaration appears to indicate that an independent judiciary is a necessary condition for the implementation of the rights of equality before the law, of the presumption of innocence set out in the UDHR and the right to be tried without undue delay set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the international Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. Thus for the purpose of achievement of these rights the independence of the judiciary is seen as a means towards an end.
Article 1 of the 1985 Declaration of the Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary states that "the independence of the judiciary shall be guaranteed by the state and enshrined in the constitution or the law of the country. It is the duty of all governmental and other institutions to respect and observe the independence of the judiciary"

The Independence of the Judiciary 1289
I shall refer very briefly to only 3 important matters relating to the independence of the judiciary. Firstly with regard to appointment, secondly with regard to security of tenure and thirdly with regard to removal.
APPOINTMENT
Article 10 of the Basic Principles state that the persons selected for judicial office shall be individuals of integrity and ability with appropriate training or qualifications in law. Any method of Judical selection shall safeguard against judicial appointment for improper motives. The Article further states that there should be no disCrimination On grounds of race, Colour, Sex, political opinion, religion, property, birth Or Status.
APPOINTMENT OF SUPEROR COURT JUDGES IN ENGLAND
it is interesting to look at how such appointment is made in England. In England, Judges of the House of Lords and Court of Appeal are appointed by the Queen on the advice of the Prime Minister. In practice, the Prime Minister invariably acts on the advice of the Lord Chancellor. Other judicial appointments are made by the Lord Chancellor.
in practice a career structure has developed whereby appointments to the Court of Appeal and subsequently to the House of Lords are made exclusively from the High Court.
The present Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay of Clashfern stated "One of the most important responsibilities of a Lord Chancellor in our democracy is for judicial appointments. It is my duty to ensure that neither political bias nor personal favouritism nor animosity play any part in the appointment of judges and they are selected regardless of sex, ethnic origin or religion on the basis of their fitness to carry out the solemn responsibility of judicial office. I look for those with integrity, professional ability, experience, standing, sound temperament and good health. To achieve this, consult widely and regularly with the judges, Law Lords, and other members of the legal profession. (Commonwealth Law Bulletin, Vol.18, No. 4, page 1257).

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190 Politics ard Lifg l CMLJr Tires
APPOINTMENT OF SUPERIOR COURT JUDGES IN SRI LANKA
In Sri Lanka, Article 107 states that the Chief Justice, the President of the Court of Appeal and every other judge of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal shall be appointed by the President of the Republic by warrant under his hand. By convention the President of the Court of Appeal and judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal are appointed in consultation with the Chief Justice. Whether this convention has hardened into the law is not known at the time of writing (15, 12.96) but will be known tomorrow,
As far as the appointment of Chief Justice is concerned, the President consults no one and except for the present Chief Justice the two previous appointments were controversial- Mr. Neville Samarakoon QC was appointed Chief Justicestraight from the Bar. He was however one of the country's leading lawyers and highly respected. The second appointment was of Justice Parinda Ranasinghe. The most senior Judge, Justice Wanasundera was not appointed, The supersession was Condemned by the Bar Association. It was made after a controversial judgement by Justice Wanasundera on the constitutionality of the 13th Amendment to the Constitution.
This has unfortunately also happened in India. In 1973 Mrs. Gandhi's government appointed Justice A. N. Roy as Chief Justice over Justices Shelat, Hedge and Grower. In 1977. Justice Beg was appointed Over Justice Khamma.
IMPORTANCE OF APPOINTMENT
In this context the importance of impartiality must be emphasised. As we all know the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka decides not only adjudicates between citizen and citizen, but also between citizen and the state. These include politically sensitive issues. The Suprema Court's jurisdiction includes pronouncing upon validity of proposed legislation, the sole interpretation of the constitution, the validity of the election of the President, and in appeal from the Court of Appeal, on the Walidity of election of MPs, it has a decisive role to play in impeachment proceedings involving the President. It also has fundamental rights jurisdiction.

The Indepartdance of the Judiclary 1291
THE PAST MILLENNIUM BEGANNALSPICIOUSLY FORSRI LANKAWITH ITS CONQUEST BY THE CHOLIAN EMPIRE WHICH LASTED FOR TWO DECADES. THIS WAS THE FIRST TIMESRI LANKAWAS OVERRUNBY A FOREIGN POWER IN THE 1500 YEARS OF TS HISTORY UNTIL THEN. BUT AS IT HAPPENED, THIS USHERED IN A NEW ERA. WHEN THE CIVILIZATION OF POLONNARUWA BLOSSOMED, BROUGHT PRESTIGE TO THE COUNTRY AND PRODUCED SOME OFITS GREATEST RULERS,
■■
Rock Carving of Parakramabahu
12th Century A. D.
The Lion King who embodied Sri Lankar rule at its highest.
The above narration is a classic instance of the Toynbean theory of the Toul and rally, when defeat became a challenge to a Society which enabled it to emerge with greater power and prestige, its liberation from Cholian rule was the result of a freedom struggle waged by Wijayabahu I who founded the Polonnaruwa kingdom and combined military skill with statesmanship, However, he paved the way for one who is regarded as the weritable paladin of Sri Lanka's rulers, Parakramabahu the Great. He revived the erstwhile glories of the Anuradhapura kingdom in his irrigation master piece the "Sea of Parakrama" and monumental religious architecture as exemplified by the Kiri Wahera which compares with the Ruwanweliseya. His patronage of Buddhism inspirad missionary activity in South East Asia,
- Dr. WerThor MGrldis, Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 1st January 2000,

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1292 Politics and Life in Our Times
Thus the importance of machinery by specific provision in our constitution to select suitable persons as judges of the Supreme Court is manifest.
SECURITY OF TENURE
Judges hold office during good behaviour and security of tenure is thus a prerequisite - they serve until they reach a retiring age fixed by the Constitution. Lord Mackay states that by Convention, judges are not criticised by the executive or in Parliament and thus they are free to act independently.
Judges should only be removed for proved judicial misconduct. The machinery whereby such a finding is arrived at is important.
REMOVAL IN ENGLAND
in England judges can be removed only by a joint address of both Houses of Parliament. This has been used only once (in 1830 Sir John Barrington was removed after he was convicted for misappropriating Court funds).
Article 107 of the Constitution of Sri Lanka provides that a judge shall be removable for proved misbehaviour by the President after a resolution passed by a majority in Parliament.
However, although Article 107 (3) states that Parliament shall by law or standing order provide for the investigation and proof of such alleged misbehaviour, no proper machinery whereby a judge Can be tried by an impartial tribunal has been created.
The one case that has come up so far is that of Chief Justice Samarakoon. He was tried by a Select Committee of parliament set up by standing order. This proved to be most unsatisfactory. The alleged misconduct was that he had made a speech critical of the then President whose party had a majority in Parliament. The Select Committee of MPs divided on party lines. The majority belonging to

The Independence of the Judiciary 1293
the ruling United National Party found that although his conduct did not constitute judicial misconduct, it was improper. The minority found that "they could find nothing in the speech or its contents even remotely possible of being interpreted as proved misbehaviour" (Part Series 71 of the first Parliament of Sri Lanka).
Since the constitution expressly asserts the independence of the judiciary, the minority of the Select Committee consisting of the late Sarath Muttetuwegama, Anura Bandaranaike and Dinesh Gunewardena recommended that the constitutionality of this procedure be referred by the President to the Supreme Court for an advisory opinion but unfortunately this was not done.
This one example has shown how unsatisfactory a Select Committee is for the removal of Judges. Clearly the Tribunal should consist of judges. Consideration should be given as to whether the judge should be tried by other judges of the Supreme Court who are colleagues of the judge or by judges from other Common Law Countries such as the Commonwealth which have similar Criteria relating to judicial misconduct.
Courtesy: "BASL News", Colombo, December 1996.

Page 108
Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill
IHere is given the full text of the Tamil Language ( Special Provisions) Bill which was passed on August 5th, 1958, in all its stages in the House of Representatives, with the speeches made by the Prime Minister, Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr. Philip Gunawardena, and the Prime Minister's reply to criticisms against the Bill during the debate.)
MEDIUM OF INSTRUCTION
A Tamil pupil in a Government school or an Assisted school shall be entitled to be instructed through the medium of the Tamil language in accordance with such regulations under the Education Ordinance, No. 31 of 1939, relating to the medium of instruction as are in force or may hereafter be brought into force.
When the Sinhala language is made a medium of instruction in the University of Ceylon, the Tamil language shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Ceylon University Ordinance, No. 20 of 1942, and of the Statutes, Acts and Regulations made thereunder, be made a medium of instruction in such University for students who, prior to their admission to such University, have been educated through the medium of the Tamil language.
PUBLIC SERVICE
A person educated through the medium of the Tamil language shall be entitled to be examined through such medium at any examination for the admission of persons to the Public Service, subject to the condition that he shall, according as regulations made under this Act in that behalf may require, -

Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill 1295
(a) have a sufficient knowledge of the official language of
Ceylon, or
(b) acquire such knowledge within a specified time after
admission to the Public Service:
Provided that, when the Government is Satisfied that there are sufficient facilities for the teaching of the Sinhalalanguage in schools in which the Tamil language is a medium of instruction and that the annulment of clause (b) of the preceding provisions of this section will not cause undue hardship, provision may be made by regulation made under this Act that Such clause Shall cease to be in force.
CORRESPONDENCE
Correspondence between persons, other than officials in their official capacity, educated through the medium of the Tamil language and any official in his official capacity or between any local authority in the Northern or Eastern Province and any official in his official capacity may, as prescribed, be in the Tamil language.
PRESCRIBED ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES
in the Northern and Eastern Provinces the Tamil language may be used for prescribed administrative purposes, in addition to the purposes for which that language may be used in accordance with the other provisions of this Act, without prejudice to the use of the official language of Ceylon in respect of those prescribed administrative purposes.
REGULATIONS
(1) The Minister may make regulations to give effect to the Principles and provisions of this Act.
(2) No regulation made under sub-section (I) shall have effect until it is approved by the Senate and the House of Representatives and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette.

Page 109
1296 POWfics #rTd Lif9 j7 Qur TIV7185
THE TAMILS CALL THE INCUMBENT DEITY OF KATHIRGAMAM AS MURUGANOR "THETENDERCHILD". MURUGANAPPEARSTO HAIVE, BEEN THE PRIMITIVE GOD OF THE TAMILS WHO WAS BROUGHTDOWN TO THE SOUTH FROM THEIRSUPPOSED EARLY SETTLEMENTS IN NORTH INDIA. WHEREWERTAMIL INFLUENCE PREVAILEDHE WAS HELD IN PRE-EMINENT HONOUR AND DIGNITY TAMILS REGARD MURUGANAS THE GUARDIAN OF THEIRRACE, LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE. HES REPUTED TO HAVE ARRIVED IN SRI LANKA, INAREMOTEAGE WHENIT WASPART OF A WAST CONTINENT - LEMURA - CONSIDERED BY THE ZOOLOGISTS AS STRETCHING FROMMADAGASCARTONEAR AUSTRALIA.
ஜ் క్ష్ The original shrine of Kataragar Tarn Temple as it the sfuldents of the Ceylan University College arid Terribars of thig Hiradu Students Mowermer) With Professor C, Sundarasingarm as the Patron. In latar LT MT TOGCCuLL LCtLCLGLGLCCLCLLLLLCCLGGGLGMLL LY0LLLLLLLS LLL LL LLLLLL LL TLS CTTOOTTOCMtCS CLS LLSLL LLLLLHHkO OCLLLLLLLLLLLLLS LLLLLL and Notary Public and Dr. S. Nadarajah, Superintendent of Tuberculosis Institute, Colombo, on the extreme right W. Satchithanantham, Bartister and Commissioner of National Sawings Movement, by his sida A. C. Nadaraya advocafe, founder member and Wics President of the S. L. F. P. and by his side S. Mahadevan, Crown Council. This photograph was taken by the author of
this book, T. Duraisingam,
Long before Buddhism found its way into Sri Lanka, Kathirgamam was a place of Worship held in highesteem. Kathirga Tart is said to have been one of the sixteen places of sanctity visited by Gautama Buddha where the Enlightened One Sat in meditation IarThely, Mahiyangana, Nagadeepa, Kelemiya, Sri Pada, Divaguha near Adam's Peak and some others, The Kataragara God (Kataragama Deiyo) has a shrine in every Buddhist place of worship and plays a prominent part in its ceremonials and processions. In the great annual perahera of Kandy Kataragama Deiyo had always a leading place.
- Hon. Justice C. W. Wigleswarar, Courtesy; Special Souvenir of All Ceylon Hindu Congress, ColorTbo, 72.C5. 7995,
 
 

Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill 1297
This Act shall hawe effect subject to such measures as may hawe been or may be adopted under the proviso to section 2 of the Official Language Act, No. 33 of 1956, during the period ending on the thirty-first day of December, 1960,
INTER PRETATION
In this Act unless the context otherwise requires -
"Assisted school" and "Government school" shall| hawe the Same meaning as in the Education Ordinance, No. 31 of 1939; "local authority" means any Municipal Council, Urban Council, Town
Council or Willage Committee; "official" neans the Governor-General, or any Minister, Parliamentary
Secretary or officer of the Public Service; and "prescribed" means prescribed by regulation made under this Act.
MAN'S DEAREST POSSESSION
is life, And since it is granted to him to live but once, he must so live as to feel no torturing regrets for years without purpose; so live as not to be seared by the share of a cowardly and trivial past; so live that dying he can say: "All my life and all my strength were given to the finest cause in the World - the fight for the liberation of mankind",
— Lerir)

Page 110
Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament
The Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill was passed on August 5th, 1958 in all its stages in the House of Representatives. The second reading of the Bill was moved by the Prime Minister, Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, who said that the language issue was a difficult one for which some solution had to be found. He declared that the problem could not be solved according to the wishes of the extremists of one side or the other. It is a problem for which some middle way had to be found Where the Sinhalese interests are reasonably and fairly safeguarded and also where justice is done to a section of our fellow citizens.)
The Prime Minister said: On an important Bill like this it is my duty to explain even briefly the position in English for the benefit of those who may not be familiar with the Sinhalese language.
The history of this matter is well known to the House; nor need repeat it in detail. The issue we all know. It is a difficult issue for which some solution has to be found. It cannot be solved according to the wishes of the extremists of one side or the other. It is not a problem that will ever be solved by extremism- either Sinhalese extremism or Tamil extremism. It is a problem for which we have to find some middle way where the Sinhalese interests are reasonably and fairly safeguarded and also where justice is done to a section of our fellow citizens.
The first important issue that arises and which we have to settle for ourselves is this. What really is it that we want to achieve by some solution or settlement of the language question? What is it that we are trying to achieve? There may be some Sinhalese who feel that this really is a country only for the Sinhalese, that only Sinhalese have a right to live here; and any others who live here must beforcibly converted to become Sinhalese in some way or to be subordinate to the Sinhalese. I have not the least doubt that there are Some Sinhalese who feel that, but who have not the courage to say that openly. I think they should not be taken Seriously.

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament 1299
On the other hand, there are Tamil extremists who want a Tamil kingdom embracing Tamils in South India, East Africa, Malaya and so on. There is the Tamil Nad, or whatever you call it, the Tamil flag flying over this far-flung empire. That is equally wrong. We are all fellow citizens of one country. We have differences, in countries like ours of race, of religion, of language and Customs. But above all those we have one common factor - our common humanity which must be emphasized today throughout the World, internationally and nationally, above our differences; we have that common factor, which is more important, emphasized today throughout the world, - the common factor that we are all human beings faced with Common problems.
Well, now, in Such a situation what are the lines on which these problems can be solved? It must surely be that while you do the just thing by the Sinhalese, even providing the Sinhalese language as a link between the various Communities, just as English was earlier, at the same time recognizing the valuable needs of our other fellow citizensmay be their religion, their language, and so on - all sections of the people must live as friends and as brothers and none as slaves or inferiors. Surely, that is how we must look at this problem! Looking at the problem in that way, what did our Government Party do before the last General Elections on the language issue? We felt that it was just and fair that Sinhalese should be the one and only official language of the country. Seventy percent of the citizens of Ceylon are Sinhalese. So that, to have Sinhalese as the only official language was not unjust or unfair. While making Sinhalese the only official language, we recognized the fact that a fairly large section of our fellow citizens use the Tamil language, the Tamil literature, and so on, and that due recognition should be given to the Tamil language. Surely the solution of the problem must lie on some such lines; otherwise, people will say there is no solution to this question.
challenge any of those parties which have solutions of their own, which, they think, are better than ours, who have turned and gone out of this Chamber without having the courage to express their views on this Bill, to give us those solutions. To them say it was their duty to express their views if they had any. But they are hiding behind our coattails. They are waiting for us to solve this issue, bearing the brunt of the blows from right and left and everywhere. Once we have solved this

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1300 Politics ard Life fr? Or Tings
AMONG THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE F. A. GOVERNMENT DURING TS5 YEARS OF OFFICE, A HIGHLIGHT HAS BEEN ITS RECORD OF FOREIGN POLICY. THESE ARE PRIMARILY ITS SUCCESS IN AT TRACTING THE SUPPORT OF THE DEVELOPED WORLD AND STAND AGAINST LTTE TERRORISM WHICH HAS EARNED INTERNATIONAL SUPPORT AT THE UN AND ALERTED THE WORLD COMMUNITY TO THE MENACE OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM. THESEARE THE PERSONAL ACHIEVEMENTS OF THE PRESIDENTHERSELF WHO HAS BEEN A TOUR DEFORCE INHER LEADERSHIP AND STATESMANLIKE PROJECTION OF THE ECONOMIC PERSPECTIVES OF THE COUNTRY IN MEETINGS WITH WORLD LEADERS,
త్రొక్ష్"
The President of Sri Larka, Charldrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, addressing a press conference at the United Nations Organisation. Byfor sido or heeft is Foreig Ministar Lakshman Kadırgamar,
in the first Millennium the Island was the centre of commerce in the region and Buddhist evangelism, in the second it was the cockpit of the Colonial struggle and with resumed independence it has been in the forefront of diplomacy in the region and even in the world. The Colombo Powers, the Non-Aligned Movement, the global economic perspectives, its role in SAARC are some landmarks. Thus the President was upholding historic traditions but enhancing them with her gifted personal touch. To say that she inherited this from her tWO parents who were recognized masters in diplomacy would seem to detract from her own stature but they were certainly her inspiration,
- Dr. Wernor L. B. Mends, Courtesy: Daily News", ColorTito, November fifth, 1999,
 

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bardaranaike's Speech in Parlarner 1301
issue they will say, there is nothing more to do, let us get on to some other issue. That is all wish to say about those parties; whether it is the Party that masquerades as the U. N. P., which is neither united nor national, or the L.S.S.P. for What reasons do not know, or the Communist Party who hawe begun to talk of democracy, Mr. Chelwanayakam and all of them are our guests, well looked after. 1 offered my car to them to come to this House today though was notable to release them because there is a feeling in the North that they want to start some Satyagraha or civil disobedience movement. That is why We Were unable to release them at this stage, We had to make other arrangements in keeping with their self-respect and went to the extent of offering my car to them to attend this meeting. It is a luxurious car that was bought during the previous regime. It is theirbusiness if they did not wish to come. That is no reason why we should hold up this Debate.
It is all nonsense to say that because there Was a state of emergency We should not proceed with this discussion. In that case, we should not proceed with our Budget proceedings, which is far more important than this Debate. All kinds of new reasons have been given, But everybody has considered and discussed the language issue threadbare during the last two years in this country, They know exactly where they stand. Why don't they come here and speak. Why then is this Sudden realization of thairs that it is underTOCratic to di SCLUSS a matter like this on the Floor of this House While there is a state of emergency? The state of emergency does not render that undemocratic, The only impression that the state of əmergency has om the present situation is that it would probably make it more difficult for those Who, over this issue at this time, mlight hawe been thinking of, mot democracy, but entirely under nocratic methods such as wholesale looting, the burning of boutiques and shops, and so on; and even lying flat either on their backs or their faces, whichever posture they find comfortable, in the middle of our thoroughfares. Those who wish to do that may find it rather embarrassing during a time of emergency,
Apart from that, I do not see that it holds water to say that because of a state of emergency they are unable to take part in this Debate. We are not going to be bluffed by arguments of this nature. There is a duty of this Government over this issue and it is performing its duty. It will not be democratic to try methods of directaction or pressure

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1302 Politics and Life in Our Times
on the Government overan issue like this; We must try it out and, if the people are dissatisfied or if they think we have done wrong, if they can findsomebody else who, they think, will do better, they have the fullest right at the next general elections to tell the people about it and get elected into office. I accept that issue and face the challenge. Soon they will know whether the public will come round and give them support.
it would have been against the principles of democracy if postponed this Bill unduly, if I postponed too long. It should have been introduced simultaneously with the Official Language Bill. I did not do it at that time. regret that we did not even delay the Official Language Bill and introduce the two Bills simultaneously. There is no violation of a democratic principle to which any objection may be raised. Everybody knows all about this issue. Any Hon. Member can come here and discuss the Bill to his heart's content and express any views he wishes.
The Communist Party says that it will not participate in the Debate, but appeals to all progressive elements to support the Bill. That was the statement it made in the press. It appeals to all progressive elements to support this Bill, while it refrains from taking any part in the Debate. The obvious inference is that this party does not class itself among the progressives. However, it is not forme to cast aspersions. The members of this party act as it suits them, or as they think it is most expedient for them to act. Beyond that do not wish to say anything. They are the very people who will live to bless us for settling, at great difficulty to Ourselves, the language issue when they have to face the polls next time.
Now, about the Bill itself. There are One or two fundamental principles that we have to bearin mind. First of all, what is it that We are after? Are we seeking to establish a Sinhalese imperialism, to forcibly make everybody Sinhalese or make everybody speak Sinhalese, or to establish a Tamil hegemony covering a large part of the World? Let us make quite clearwhat we want. If What We want is to live here, protecting and safeguarding what is valuable to the Sinhalese people While giving fair and just recognition to the valuable things of others, so that we can live together as a friendly lot of citizens of this country, working in friendship for the progress of the country as a whole, then the line that we have adopted has been entirely justified. If what we want is any of the other things, then I can understand-criticism. If we want to adopt the extremists' point of view, then also I can understand criticism.

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament 1303
Many people do not understand what is meant by the term "official language". That is interpreted in various ways. The official language conception is a Western conception. In our country, we had no official language as such. Even in many Western Countries, they have no legal official language today; it has grown up by practice. When you have a language declared by law as an official language, what does it mean? It only means that you recognize that language for necessary official acts. That is the meaning of the term "official language". For instance, if I send a letter to aforeign Country, it should really go in the official language, with a suitable translation. In due course, official records and things like that should be kept in the official language. Documents that a court would recognize would have to be in the official language, though there maybe, for purposes of convenience, atranslation. That is what an official language means. An official language does not mean a language that is thrust down the throats of everybody for every purpose. Most of these troubles arise out of a misconception of the term "official language".
The second point I wish to mention is this. What does this Bill itself do? Every one of its clauses is subject to the proviso that it does not conflict with the position of the Sinhalese language as the official language of the country. In fact, it is in the preamble of the Bill. The principles stated in the clauses of the Bill become operative under the regulations framed for the purpose. We have not yet framed the Regulations.
Now, what are the terms of the Bill? Clause 2 says: "A Tamil pupil in a Government school oran Assisted school shall be entitled to be instructed through the medium of the Tamil language in accordance with such regulations under the Education Ordinance, No.31 of 1939, relating to the medium of instruction as are inforce or may hereafter be brought into force". Anybody now drafting or redrafting those regulations under the Bill in keeping with this clause will have two things to bear in view - not to create a situation of conflict with the position of the Sinhalese language as the official language, while at the same time extending this amenity to the Tamil child. That is how we will shape the Regulations under every one of these clauses.
Similarly with regard to the University, please remember this. Under any conception of fundamental rights, held by international law earlier in the World, or later as promulgated in the Statement of Human

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1304 Politics and Life in Our Times
Rights by the United Nations Organization, one of the most important ingredients of fundamental human rights is the preservation of language. For instance, if you give a Tamil child the option of studying in the lower classes through the medium of Tamil, have you the right to say that, when he enters the University, he should turn over to the medium of Sinhalese? Surely, we must provide him an education in the University also in the Tamil medium. do not see anything wrong in that. We have to do that in spite of all the difficulties Mr. Mettananda points out.
The other alternative is worse. If you convert the Peradeniya University into a purely Sinhalese University, you will not be able to resist the demand of the Tamil for a separate Tamil University on the same footing as the Peradeniya University, situated may be in Jaffna or some place like that. That position will not be better, nor can that request be reasonably resisted,
Then I come to the Public Service. There, again, we follow the principle that a person educated in the Tamil language can sit for the examination for admission to the Public Service in the medium of the language in which he has learnt. He cannot answer the papers in Sinhalese. But you will ask me, then, what is the position of the Sinhalese language as the official language? That person will be only given a probationary appointment and will be required, under the Regulations, to acquire, within a specified period, the necessaryknowledge of the official language. Otherwise, he ceases to be a member of the Public Service. If he knows Sinhalese beforehand, all that process can be cut out by setting one or two papers in Sinhalese in the examination for admission itself. At a point of time in the future when Sinhalese, trust will be taught as well as learnt as a second language in Tamil schools, you can do away with this provision of subsequently obtaining a knowledge of Sinhalese by setting one or two papers in Sinhalese in the entrance examination itself. It will take some years to do that, but I am sure, that position will normally and naturally be reached. I do not see anything Wrong in that.

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament 1305
Of course, Mr. Mettananda has a good deal to say about disproportionate appointments to the Public Service. He maintained that the Tamils in the Public Service are far too many in proportion to their total number and that this Bill will only weigh the balance in their favour. it will do nothing of the kind. The other suggestion which Mr. Mettananda makes in this connection, of having in the Public Service numbers in proportion to the total population, is not an issue that I am dealing with under a language Bill. If indeed, the other communities like to have it, I am perfectly sure that, from the Sinhalese point of view, we will not object to proportionate representation in the Public Service according to population. As a matter of fact, there are some Tamils who are urging it. I will mention one name openly, that of Senator S.Nadesan, who is such an able representative of everyone in this country - of the Federalists, of the U.N.P., of the S.L.F.P.
With regard to correspondence any regulations framed under this will have to conform to these two principles. It must be seen that there is no conflict with the position of Sinhalese as the official language, while at the same time extending a certain amenity to those Who know Tamil.
Let uS Consider how such Regulations may be framed. I am now speaking without prejudice. I am speaking in order to give an example with a view to allaying the fears of some of these people. Up to December 1960 under the Official Language Act the status quo can be preserved. No difficulties will arise till then because we have the power to do it. After December 31, 1960, how will we deal with it? That is a question which has often been asked. Any Tamil gentleman must have the right to correspond in the Tamil language but the position of Sinhalese as the official language must be preserved. He can be sent a reply in the official language, Sinhalese, but for the convenience of the Tamil gentleman who may not know Sinhalese a copy of a Tamiltranslation or the substance of the reply will be attached to such letter. But as Sinhalese is also taught in the Tamil schools we might later be able to drop the Tamil copy. What on earth is wrong with that? I cannot understand whether anything is wrong with that.

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1306 Politics and Life in Our Times
We are told terrible things. We are told that one Tamilman in a Sinhalese village will write in Tamil and if he is sent a reply in Sinhalese he will be caused grave hardship. Then again according to Mr.Mettananda 5,000 to 10,000 extra Tamil clerks will have to be employed to do the translations. This is all moonshine of the worst type. In these matters the proof of the pudding is in the eating. We are having the Courage to deal with the language issue according to the policy of our Government. Let us see how it turns out. If we have done wrong the people of the country have the remedy in their own hands. If the people feel We have done right, in one year's time there will be no language issue spoken of in this country. I can tell you that. There will be no language issue for people to exploitor on which lives are to be sacrificed. It Would have Ceased to be any real live issue. That is what some people are afraid of. That is the position with regard to correspondence.
Then Come to the fifth Section which relates to the Northern and Eastern Provinces. In these provinces we are going to permit certain administrative work to be done as prescribed. But we have to look into it. What are the administrative purposes that will be served and how will such work be carried on in Tamil? The question is asked: Why do you specify the Northern and Eastern Provinces? Are you not thinking of one community? It is not that at all. It is because there are avery large number of Tamil citizens. Then the question is asked: What is the position of Sinhalese and nonTamils in those areas? Anybody who wants to transact any business in Sinhalese has the fullest powerto do it not only in the Northern and Eastern Provinces but also in any part of the country. That concession is there and it Can be made use of What On earth is all this fuSS about?
The other Sections are merely formal ones which do not want to refer to in detail.
It has not been a pleasant or easy task for this Government to handle this language issue during the last two years. We have attempted to do it according to Our expressed principles prior to the last elections in a way which we sincerely believe is a really satisfactory solution of this problem giving to the Sinhalese language its due place, giving due recognition to the other important language in the country, Tamil, in the way that we proposed to do. In doing so we have been Criticized from all

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament 1307
sides. From the Tamil side, from the Sinhalese side, from this side and from that side. Every kind of oprobrious epithet has been flung at me. Sinhalese anonymous letters have come to me that I have been a traitor to the Sinhalese people. From the Tamil point of view I have simply ruined the Tamil race. All types of things have been said. They are all wanting to bump me off. I have no objection for the purpose quite sincerely of what consider to be right if anybody wants to bump me off. But the Government as well as I am satisfied that we are doing the right thing. We are ready to let the people of this country decide when the time comes whether we have done right or wrong. I leave the final and ultimate decision in the hands of my people and my country without any fear or any doubt. In the meanwhile, the task of governing this country which the people of this country have entrusted to us will be carried out without fear but with sincerity to the best of our ability undeterred by threats of all kinds, leaving it democratically for the people to decide in due course whether in fact we have been right or not.
Food Minister Philip Gunewardena's Speech
(The Minister of Agriculture and Food, Mr. Philip Gunawardena, speaking first in Sinhalese and then in English said that it would not be correct to vote on the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill without speaking on it. He said that the Bill would go a long way towards settling the differences between the Sinhalese and the Tamils and bringing peace to the country.)
Here is the text of the Minister's statement:
I am very happy that I am able to offer a few remarks on this Bill to make provision for the use of the Tamil language and to provide for the matters Connected herewith and incidental thereto. I remember the time when the language question engaged the attention of the people of this island in a very acute form. I remember the time when Sir John Kotelawala, as Prime Minister gave utterance to a foolish remark in Jaffna which precipitated the language struggle. Sir John Kotelawala is not a man who ever thinks or is capable of thinking. Somebody, I suppose, who was round him must have whispered into his ear: "This is a great occasion. A large number of ladies are present. You had better come out with some

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1308 Plts ārīd Lifg Čr95
nice thing". And he promised parity for the Tamil language - parity with Sinhalese. Of course even before he returned to the South, political leaders of a different philosophy-leaders of the Communist Party and the Nawa Lanka Sama Samaj Party, Mr. Pieter Keuneman and Dr. N.M. Perera-thought that, in order to win the support of the Tamil voters, it was necessary to move a resolution in Parliament for the purpose of giving parity to Tamil on the same basis as Sinhalese. The motion was moved, but it did not find much support. A number of meetings were held by these Gentlemen which roused the Sinhalese people and made it impossible for either the Communist Party or the Nawa Lanka Sama Samaj Party to hold a public meeting for a very long time in any part of the country, except perhaps in the Tari areas.
On the 10th September, a very largely attended public meeting was held presided over by Rev. Baddegama Wimalawansa. At that meeting a resolution was adopted, which demanded that Sinhalese be made the only State Language and that Tamil be made a regional language in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. At this meeting speeches were made by Thy Hon. Friend the Member for Gampaha and by Mr. Rajaratna who was the Member for Wellmada some time ago. There were others. I rememberthe Hon. Memberfor Mawanella was present. He supported this resolution in a wery lucid speech.
That was the situation about the end of 1955. I tried my best to convince my old friends of the Nawa Lanka Sama Samaj Party and the Communist Party not to take an active part in the struggle for parity. In trying to convince my old friend, Dr. N.M. Perera, I told him that if it were not possible to support the stand that we have taken, he should at least keep quiet and remain silent. He laughed at the idea. I told him then that, if he could not join a front that is going to defeat the United National Party at the forthcoming general elections, it was necessary to form a united front which is capable of overthrowing the United National Party. The Hon. Prime Minister formed that front-the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna - and we fought the elections on a number of other issues in addition to the language issue which undoubtedly took a very prominent part in the electoral campaign.

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Spagch in Parliarrent 1309
PHILIPGUNEWARDENA IN APPEARANCE, SWERY MUCH LIKE HIS SON INDIKAGUNEWARDENA, WHOSE PHOTOGRAPHISGIVEN BELOW. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T.DURASINGAM, WAS LITERATURESECRETARY OF THE LANKA SAMA SAMAJA PARTY BEFORE THE COMMUNISTS LEFT THIS PARTY IN 1940. DURASINGAM WAS ENTRUSTED BY THE PARTY WITH DIRECTING KUSUMA, WHO WAS THEN ENGAGED TO PHILIP TO READ SPECIFIC SOCIALIST LITERATURE WHICH SHE DID.
Hor, Indika Gurewardera Minister of Urban Develop art, Housing and Construction,
At election meetings in 1956, we did nothesitate to say in clear and unmistakable terms that we were going to make Sinhalese the only State Language and give a reasonable status to the Tamil Language. We made that position wery clear. We told the voters in various electorates that it was not possible, nor was it necessary or desirable, to kill all the Tamils in this country; that we cannot possibly drive thern away or durTip them in the Indian Ocean; that some of them had lived in this country for thousands of years, and that it was necessary to give them a certain status, to allow them to develop their culture and language. It was made clear that, while making Sinhalese the State language, We Were prepared and that We Would in turn give a reasonable status to the Tamil language,
- Philip Gunawardena,

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1310 Politics and Life in Our Times
At election meetings we did not hesitate to say in clear and unmistakable terms that we were going to make Sinhalese the only State Language and give a reasonable status to the Tamil Language. We made that position very clear. We told the voters in various electorates that it was not possible, nor was it necessary ordesirable, to kill all the Tamils in this country, that we cannot possibly drive them away or dump them in the Indian Ocean; that some ofthem had lived in this countryforthousands of years, and that it was necessary to give them a certain status, to allow them to develop their culture and language. It was made clear that, while making Sinhalese the State language, We were prepared and that we would in turn give a reasonable status to the Tamil language.
Immediately after the elections, when the Language Bill was introduced, we tried our best-the Hon. Prime Minister and a good many Members tried their best - to include in the original Bill this particular section. But Professors thought they could stage hunger strikes under the portico of this House! And as a result of a persistent campaign carried on by people who wear yellow robes but who do not live the philosophy of the Buddha, we had to delay the introduction of that second part, and it is that delay that has caused unnecessary suffering to the people of this lsland. We are sorry that that delay has taken place, but We are very glad that We are able to honour our pledge. That is the reason, why we are supporting this Bill.
do not Want to take more time, Let me, before Conclude thank the Muslim Members in this House, the Moor Members in this House for supporting the Bill whole-heartedly,
remember the time in 1915 when, during the riots, some boutiques, houses, estates belonging to some of Our Muslim friends were destroyed, remember also the reign of terror of the Punjabis and Marathis who were brought here during the Martial Law days. The father of the Hon.Second Member for Colombo Central (Sir Razik Fareed) was in the old Legislative Council, I remember the time; remember also the father of the Hon. Member for Kalkudah (Mr. Macan Markar), who tried to bring peace between the Sinhalese and the Moors in Galle and other places. That was in 1915. But today we have resolved all conflicts between the Sinhalese and the Muslims; we have no problems; We are getting on Well.

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's Speech in Parliament 1311
is it too much to expect and hope that the problems between the Tamils and the Sinhalese, the unfortunate disturbances that took place in April and May, will never repeat themselves? I hope that this Bill will go a long way towards settling those differences and bringing peace and friendship between the Tamils and the Sinhalese.
Prime Minister'S Reply
The Prime Minister in winding up the debate on the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Bill said that the Government had made a sincere effort under all kinds of difficulties from Various sides to SeCure a solution that would reasonably satisfy all sections of the people.
He said: This Debate is really not intended to be an occasion for acrimony. It is really and fundamentally an occasion for assuaging feelings. explained that in introducing a Bill of this nature defining the position of the Sinhalese language, while intending to give a place to the Tamil language, you obviously are bound also to produce legislation defining the position which you propose to accord to the Tamil language. if you do not do that, the whole position is utterly vague; it is at the mercy of anybody from day to day; may change my mind tomorrow, or the day after, and make an order, or some other Prime Minister, who perhaps favours parity, may, by administrative order, give very much more than is now contemplated under specific legislation.
I am grateful to my Friend the Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Food for referring to the proceedings at a certain meeting which had lost sight of where the husband of the present Member for Wellmada as well as the Hon. Member for Gampaha were present and spoke supporting a resolution to the effect that while making Sinhalese the official language of the country, the status of a regional language should be given to Tamil in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. That was not very long ago. It was in September, 1955, it was only some months before the General Elections in 1956. This proves the attitudinizing which some of them adopt from time to time over such a fundamental question as this, on which the fates of millions rest; to them this is a matter, to some extent, of caprice, opportunism or expediency from moment to

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1312 Pāri ir "r
moment. Is that so now? Does it not completely prove that these are not carefully thought out ideas? They are just attitudes adopted from time to time, purely because they think it will serve their purpose for the moment, without considering the effect on the whole Country.
I will now go further and say that, a few weeks before the S.L.F.P. addressed its mind to this question and came to a decision, Mr. K. M. P. Raja ratna and Mr. F. R. Jayasuri ya called on the Rev. Talpawila Seelawansa - I mention the names because it is important- and told him that what they should do was to really support parity for Sinhalese and Tamil. But, a Week or two later, they turned round and said, "No, now we must stand for Sinhala only, and not for both Sinhala and Tamil." I am Thentioning that as a fact, and I am also giving the names of the person to whom that decision was conveyed, You can now realize for yourself the value of this type of attitude on this question, which changed from week to week and month to month.
I am wery sorry that the hon.fair Member for Wellmada (Mrs.Rajaratna) was so moved at this stage as to shed tears - when We are giving much less to the Tamil language than her own husband contemplated at the tire he discussed this matter with the Rev. Talpawila Seelawansa and also went to that meeting of September, 1955, to which the Hon. Minister of Agriculture and Food referred, That is indeed a matter about which feel wery sad,
I do claim once again that we have made a real effort and a sincere effort, urideral kinds of difficulties from various sides, in order to secure a solution to this very difficult problem, to reasonably satisfy all sections of the population that are in Wolved with a view to Securing that unity and friendliness which alone would enable us to solve our ofher problems, grave aconomic problems, that face us Which otherwise could not be solved a fall,
The Sinhalese people need hawe no fear that the Sinhalese language will disappear under this Bill or that the Sinhalese people are being destroyed or that some grave Wrong will happen to them. The Tamil people, at least the majority of the Tamil people, who believe are quite moderate and reasonable, will have a place given to their language, which

LLLLLL LLLLO aS LLS LLS LLS LCCLLLCGLGOLLLSLLL CCCCCCL LMMCHGaH 1313
S. W. R. D. BANDARANAIKE STATED: DOCLAIM ONCE AGAIN THAT WE HAVE MADE AREAL EFFORTANDASINCERE EFFORT, UNDER ALLKINDS OFDIFFICULTIES FROMWARIOUS SIDES, INORDER TOSECUREASOLUTION TO THIS WERY DIFFICULT PROBLEM, TO REASONABLY SATISFY ALL SECTIONS OF THE POPULATION THAT ARE INVOLVED WITH A WIEW TO SECURING THAT UNITY AND FRIENDLINESS WHICHALONEWOULDENABLE US TO SOLWE OUR OTHER PROBLEMS, GRAWE ECONOMIC PROBLEMS, THATFACEUS WHICHOTHERWISE COULD NOT BE SOLVEDAT ALL
S. W. D), Bardararlake
B.O. 1899 - 2E.9, 959
The Sinhales people negd hawe no fear that the Sinhalese language will disappear under this Bill or that the Sinhalese people are being destroyed or that some grave wrong will happen to them. The Tamil people, at least the majority of the Tamil people, who believe are quite moderate and reasonable, will have a place given to their language, which will be satisfactory for all purposes that they could have in mind. In this matter, I am not dealing with the Federal Party. I art not catering for them by this Bill. My Hon. Friend the Member for Ganpaha in accordance with his general genius for inaccurate statements said that by this Bill I am giving effect to the Pact, my pact with Mr. Chelanayagam. Mr. Chelwanayagam and the Federal Party members are completely rejecting this Bill as quite unsatisfactory. I am appealing over their heads to the Tamil people just as I am appealing over the heads of the Hon. Mer Tiber for Gampaha and the Hon, Member for Walimada to the wast majority of the Sinhalese people in bringing forward this Bill.

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1314 Politics and Life in Our Times
will be satisfactory for all purposes that they could have in mind. In this matter, I am not dealing with the Federal Party. I am not catering for them by this Bill. My Hon. Friend the Member for Gampaha in accordance with his general genius for inaccurate statements said that by this Billiam giving effect to the Pact, my Pact with Mr. Chelvanayakam. Mr. Chelvanayakam and the Federal Party Members are completely rejecting this Bill as quite unsatisfactory. I am appealing overtheir heads to the Tamil people just as I am appealing over the heads of the Hon. Member for Gampaha and the Hon. Member for Welimada to the vast majority of the Sinhalese people in bringing forward this Bill. We will see and time will disclose whether my analysis is corrector not. I am satisfied that extremism in this country consists of the activities of a small minority, whether they are Sinhalese or Tamil, but that the vast majority of the people are reasonable and moderate and only wish to live together with mutual respect for each other as well as self-respect, so that we can march forward together and achieve that progress and that position for us all which we have been hoping to obtain under this freedom which we have, freedom for the Sinhalese-yes, remembertoo, -that it is freedom for the Tamils, for the Muslims, for the Malays, for the Burghers, who are all fellow citizens, - yes, and if it is not freedom in that way for all, I too, repeat the words of another leader, a Prime Minister very much greater than myself, Shri Jawaharlal Nehru, who stated recently, after being many years in jail and having suffered formany years to obtain freedom, that if freedom meant internal communal strife or injustice or suppression of minorities "To hell with Swaraj". Those are the words would recommend to the Hon. Member for Gampaha - the Sinhalese communist standing upfor Communist principles in the guise of the narrowest and most fanatical nationalist - a curious combination which only such a mentality as his Would be capable of.
Of all the important measures from time to time introduced in this House, I feel prouder of this particular measure than of any other as one disclosing courage, statesmanship and vision and one which I have not the least doubt will in the years to come accrue many benefits to us all.
Courtesy: Booklet on "Use of the Tamil Language Bill in Parliament", Colombo, August, 1958.

Lawyers Condemn Garlanding of Convict
by Kumar Wettasinghe
The Colombo High Court Lawyers' Association has unanimously condemned the act of garlanding a convict within the court premises no sooner he was convicted by the High Court of Colombo as an attempt to undermine the judiciary. The Association has, in these circumstances, appealed to all Concerned to uphold the Supreme traditions of the legal profession and avoid such a dismal situation in the future.
The following is the text of the resolution issued by the Committee of the Colombo High Court Lawyers' Association.
"This Association unanimously passed a resolution to vehemently condemn the act of garlanding a convict within the High Court premises, no sooner he was convicted by the High Court of Colombo on O2. O7. 1997.
"We regard this act as an attempt to undermine the judiciary. in the circumstances, we appeal to all concerned to uphold the Supreme traditions of the legal profession and avoid such a dismal situation in the future".
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, July 5th, 1997.

Page 119
Soulbury's Constitution
SECTION 29
Legislative Powers and Procedure
Power of 29. (1) Subject to the provisions of this Order, Parliament
is Parliament shall have power to make laws for the
peace, order and good government of the Island.
(2) No such law shall(a) prohibit or restrict the free exercise of any
religion; or (b) make persons of any community or religion liable to disabilities or restrictions to Which persons of other communities or religions are not made liable; Or (c) confer on persons of any community or religion any privilege or advantage which is not conferred on persons of other communities or religions; or (d) alter the constitution of any religious body except with the consent of the government authority of that body;
Provided that, in any case where a religious body is incorporated by law, no such alteration shall be made except at the request of the governing authority of that body.
(3) Any law made in contravention of subsection (2) of this section shall, to the extent of such Contravention, be Void.

Soulbury's Constitution 1317
(4) In the exercise of its powers under this section, Parliament may amend or repeal any of the provisions of this Order, or of any other Order of His Majesty in Council in its application to the Island. Provided that no Bill for the amendment or repeal of any of the provisions of this Ordershall be presented for the Royal Assent unless it has endorsed On it a Certificate under the hand of the Speaker that the number of votes cast in favourthereof in the House of Representatives amounted to not less than two-thirds of the whole number of members of the House (including those not present).
Every certificate of the Speaker under this subsection shall be conclusive for all purposes and shall not be questioned in any Court of law.
June 18, 1947.
THE PARTY
is the Intelligence Honour and Conscience
Of Our Times.
- V. l. Ulyanov (Lenin)

Page 120
Tribute to Nadesan in Reference
"Demise a tragedy", "Champion of democracy", "He WaSan allrounder"
The Chief Justice Mr. S. Sharvananda yesterday described the late Mr. S. Nadesan, Q.C. as a front rank lawyer, a Crusader for human rights and an aggressive champion of social justice.
He was replying to tributes paid by the Attorney General Mr. Shiva Pasupatiand the president of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka Mr. Nimal Senanayake, P. C., at the reference held in the Supreme Court to Mr. Nadesan who died on December 21.
ASSOciated on the Bench with the Chief Justice Were Justices Wanasundera, Colin Thome, Ranasinghe, Atukorale, Tambiah, L. H. de Alwis, Seneviratne and H. A. G. de Silva.
Mr. Ranjan Perera, Registrar of the Supreme Court officiated.
The Attorney General said: "Hardly a day has passed since Mr. Nadesan's death some weeks ago, without an appreciation in some newspaperor other, from among the very large circle of friends, admirers and a grateful public.
GRACEDTHE BAR
"He graced the bar for 55 years and lived upto his 83rd year, when most others would have outlived their usefulness to Society. However, when Mr. Nadesan died, it was oneveryone's lips that his demise was a tragedy. A lawyer who for decades had fought and continued to fight right up to the time of his death, for many a cause is no more.
"He stood up for certain principles, regardless of consequences. He had one of the most incisive and logical minds and for counsel of his eminence there was no distinction between civil, Criminal or constitutional matters. He handled all of them with equal facility and left his indelible impression in all branches of the law.

Tribute to Nadesan in Reference 1319
"Lord Macmillan said that the duty of the advocate is fivefold. "In the discharge of his office the advocate has a duty to his client, a duty to his opponent, a duty to the Court, a duty to himself and a duty to the State.... to maintain a perfect poise amidst these various and sometimes conflicting claims is no easy feat'. However, Mr. Nadesan performed this feat with ease. He would graciously concede matters of facts or law, even if they were unfavourable to his case.
"Future generations will remember him not merely for his triumphs at the Bar but for the dynamic and valiant efforts he made throughout his long and eventful career, to preserve through the judicial process, the cherished values of any democratic Society".
Mr. Nimal Senanayake, P.C., President of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka said: "This nation has lost a champion of democracy. In a country whose Constitution proclaims that it is a Democratic Republic many have to protest that they cherish democratic ideals. They do so as mere slogans to be forgotten as quickly as they are uttered. But Mr. Nadesan in his sagacity knew that those cherished ideals were indispensable for the progress of a nation; that there could be no progress without a sense of national dignity; and national dignity comes only when each and every citizen knows that each and every other citizen is assured of fairplay.
FAIRPLAY
"it is this pre-occupation with fairplay which made Mr. Nadesan such a relentless fighter against arbitration and corruption. Yet Mr. Nadesan was not dogmatic in any matter. He could always be persuaded to change his point of view.
"A classic instance was when Mr. Nadesan as a Senator supported the infliction of the death penalty. Later he acknowledged the total irrationality of the death penalty and became a member of the Committee for the abolition of the death penalty".

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32O Politics arra Life ir Our Tirres
JUSTICE SUPPAH SHARWANANDAWAS BORN AT KAYTS, NORTHERN PROVINCE, SRI LANKA, ON 22ND FEBRUARY, 1923. HIS FATHER IS N. SUPPAH, VLLAGE HEADMAN 0F KARAMPAN, KAYTS, SHARWANANDA. HAD HIS EARLY EDUCATION AT ST. ANTHONY'S SCHOOLKAYTS AND THEREAFTER AT JAFFNAHINDU COLLEGE. HE MATRICULATED IN 1939 AND AFTER PASSING THE EXTERNAL EXAMINATION OF THE LONDON UNIVERSITY IN INTERMEDIATE IN ARTS, HE JOINED THE COLOMBO LAW COLLEGE, AFTER COMPLETING HS THREE LAW EXAMINATIONS, HE APPRENTICED UNDER. S. J. W. CHELWANAYAGAM, C. C. AND BECAME ANADWOCATE IN 1946.
Dashаптапуа Suppiah Sharvanada
Justice Sharwananda was appointed straight from the Bar to the Supre The Court of Ceylon in 1974 and was appointed Chief Justice in 1984 and functioned as such until his retirement in 1988. Thereafter, he served as Governor of the Western Province until 1994.
At the reference held in the Supreme Court to late Mr. Nade son, Justice Sharwananda said that "he was an all-rounder, quite at home whether it be in the Privy Council, Supreme Court, Election Court, the Income Tax Board of Review or Industrial Arbitration or Parliamentary Committee. I am told that his performance before the parliarTentary committee where he appeared for the last chief Justice was simply brilliant. The secret of Mr. Nadasan's success as a lawyer was his keen sense of relevancy, his grasp of fundamental principles of law and his uncanny perception of the weak points in his opponent's case and reasoning. No perjurer could get off his hands without being exposed. He never bullied witnesses but would laugh with an adverse witness and laugh out the opposite party's case",
 

TL fo Nqg57 freferer CE 1321
The chief Justice said: "When just before the Christmas vacation Mr. Nadesan got an appeal specially fixed for hearing on the 21st of ths month, meither HE mor others in Court had any Teason to suspect that he would not be able to keep the date, Though he was well past the biblical span of life and was reaching 83 years of age next month, he was still wibrating with good health physically fit and intellectually alert. Nobody looking at him Would have said that death was waiting next door to pounce on him. Mr. Nadesan passed away from Our midst on the 21st of last month,
"His services were much in demand in the several Courts and tribunals in the Island. It could be said of several eminent lawyers that they specialized and made their mark in the civil or criminal side or in the original or appellate Court or in some commercial subject or other. "But it can be said of only Mr. Nadesan, that he was an allrounder, quite at home whether it be in the Privy Council, Supreme Court, Election Court, the Income Tax Board of Review or Industrial Arbitration or Parliamentary Committee, I am told that his performance before the Parliamentary Committee where he appeared for the last Chief Justice was simply brilliant".
In 1943, during the height of the second World War when Ceylon was Crown Colony, Mr. Nadesan appeared in the ColorTibo Assize Court for Mr. Aziz, who faced a charge of sedition and Secured an acquittal inspite of a hostile Bench. Mr. Aziz and witnesses of the trial are still full of praise for Mr. Nadesan's forensic talent.
SUCCESS
"The Secret of Mr. Nadeam's success as a la Wyer was his keer sense of relevancy, his grasp of fundamental principles of law and his uncanny perception of the weak points in his opponent's case. He had a flair for detecting the flaws in his opponent's Case and reasoning. No perjurer could get off his hands without being exposed. He never bullied witnesses but would laugh with an adverse witness and laugh out the opposite party's case.

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1322 Politics and Life in Our Times
"Mr. Nadesan ably expounded the cause of the freedom of the Press when he challenged the Press Council Bill before the Constitutional Court in 1974 Or 1975.
"The 1978 Constitution gave the opportunity to Mr. Nadesan to expatiate on Fundamental Rights, when such rights were made justiciable before the Supreme Court. He was a passionate advocate of Fundamental Rights. His exposition of Fundamental Rights gave a new dimension to the concept of Fundamental Rights. He was dedicated to the championship of Human Rights. His role as a human right activist is too well known to be dwelt upon here. So is his role as a Senator. His sober, enlightened, and critical contribution to the Senate debates vindicated the high regard in which he was held by all the political parties of the day.
"Mr. Nadesan believed not only in a sound mind but also in a Sound body. If I may strike a personal note, his advice to me always was not to neglect my health, but to keep physically fit. He believed in nature cure and made a special study of it and freely made available the benefit of his knowledge to any supplicant.
"He was a versatile person. One can dwell at length on his multi-faceted personality. He was not without his professional and political detractors; who has not? But there is no denying the fact that he was a dynamic personality who made a lasting impact in the sphere of law and politics. He was a front rank lawyer who was a Crusader for human rights and an aggressive champion of social justice.
"He was a class by himself. He can never be imitated. He has left avoid in the legal world. He will be gratefully remembered by many a person coming from various strata of our society. The Civil Rights Movement has lost One of its founder members and an ardent human rights activist and the country has lost a pre-eminent lawyer with a social Conscience".
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, January 19th, 1987.

High Court Judges Condemn Garlanding of Convicted Editor
by V. Varathasuntharam
The Committee of the Association of High Court Judges yesterday expressed grave concern over the garlanding of Convicted editor of the "Sunday Times", Sinha Ratnatunga on Tuesday while he was being finger printed in the Court premises.
The statement issued by the Association stated that "it was unanimously decided to condemn such conduct by no less a person than a President's Counsel, President of the International Bar Association, former President of Sri Lanka Bar ASSOCiation and by One who was himself a witness in the relevant Case.
"It states that this Conduct reminds it of an era in which there had been demonstrations against judgements, when the fines imposed by Court had been paid by the State, when Officers convicted by Courts of law were promoted.
"This Association also equally CondemnStrends, prevalent today to criticise judgements through the media and demonstrations in streets. "There is no doubt that media freedom is an eSSential feature of a democratic society yet the independence of the judiciary too is a sacred aspect of democracy.
"It is unfortunate that prominent lawyers have not observed healthy norms.
"This Association is of the view that Court makes Orders according to the prevalent law. If there is a view that there are shortcomings in the existing law, then the advocates of such views have healthy avenues to amend or repeal them.
"If a party is aggrieved of a certain order by Court, there are procedures laid down by law to seek relief.

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1324 Politics and Life in Our Times
"Instead, if one Conducts in the manner referred above, then Such Conduct cannot be Condoned.
"This Association is also of the view that justice can be ensured in a society only by ensuring the independence of the judiciary.
"This Association would like to point out any erosion into the independence of the judiciary and that any conduct that brings the judiciary to ridicule could result in weakening a democratic Society and endangering all freedoms.
"it must be borne in mind that individuals Can Seek relief Or remedy through the process of law only by preserving the decorum and independence of the judiciary", the statement concluded.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, July 4th, 1997.

Desmond Fernando's Address to the Bar Association of India
Mr. Fali Nariman, President of the Bar Association of India (IBA), Hon. Chief Justice and Judges of the Supreme Court of India, Hon. Attorney-General, Hon. Solicitor-General, Mr. Lalit Bhasin, Secretary-General of the Bar Association of India, Mr. Justice Michael Kirby, President of the ICJ, Mr. Shankardas, past president of the IBA, distinguished Colleagues. It is a great privilege and honour for me to be the guest of honour of the Bar Association of India.
My theme today is this: The role of a Bar Association in the furtherance of Human Rights.
There is no better place than India to consider this topic. For India is a great innovator. The Supreme Court of India assisted by the legal profession has pushed forward the frontiers of freedom to a greater extent than any other country. Judicial Activism and Public Interest Litigation have made human rights a reality for the people of India. In case after case the Supreme Court of India has Curbed arbitrary power and added to the rights of the people. Not only the rights set out in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; but also the rights set out in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural rights.
Chief Justice Bhagwati has enunciated the concept of "Juristic Activism" - which is concerned with the creation of new concepts irrespective of the purpose which they serve. In the Keshavan and Bharati Case, the Supreme Court interpreted article 368 of the Indian constitution which confers power on Parliament to amend the Constitution. The Supreme Court refused to accept a narrow textual interpretation and held that the power to amend the constitution was not an unlimited power but was restricted by the basic structure doctrine and it was not competent for parliament to amend the constitution so as to affect any of its basic features such as republicanism and secularism. This judicial activism on the part of the Supreme Court of

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1326 Politics and Life in Our Times
India was intended to protect the citizen against any drastic Ordraconian amendments which may be made by the ruling party by the use of its brute majority in parliament. Likewise in the State of Rajasthan case, the Supreme Court held that it was entitled to examine the question as to whether the President has rightly dissolved the state legislature and superseded the state government because the Court considered that it was bound to enquire whether the conditions for the exercises of its power were satisfied. The Supreme Court observed in that case that no exercises of Constitutional or legal power is beyond the scrutiny of the Court. Article 21 of the Indian Constitution which enshrines the right to life and personal liberty was by judicial construction held to encompass the right to bail, the right to a speedy trial, the right to live with basic human dignity and the right to a healthy environment. In the words of Chief justice Bhagwati, "The result was that the Supreme Court became identified by the justices as well as by the people as the last resort for the oppressed and bewildered and by providing easy access to justice and by ensuring basic human rights to them, the Supreme Court acquired a new credibility with the people". (Commonwealth Law Bulletin, Vol. 18, No. 4, page 1267).
Judicial activism is not confined to India. What better example is there of Judicial activism than the concept of negligence enunciated in Donoghue V. Stevenson, Lord Denning has said, "My root belief is that the proper role of a Judge is to do justice between the parties before him. If there is any rule of law which impairs the doing of justice, then it is the province of the Judge to do all he legitimately can to avoid that rule- or even to change it - so as to do justice in the instant case before him (Lord Denning The Family Story 1981, pg. 174). These achievements by the Judiciary would not have been possible without the co-operation of the Legal Profession.
What then is the role of Bar ASSOCiations. The U. N. Basic Principles on the role of lawyers adopted by the U.N. General Assembly in December 1990 formulates the structure and role of Bar ASSOCiations. It also emphasises those rights which are the special duty of lawyers to protect and promote.

Desmond Fernando's Address to the Bar ASSOCiation of India 1327
THE U. N. BASIC PRINCIPLES ON THE ROLE OF LAWYERS
It is significant that the preamble commences by placing the role of lawyers and professional legal associations in their correct perspective, "whereas in the Charter of the United Nations, the peoples of the world affirm interalia their determination to establish Conditions under which justice can be maintained and proclaim as one of their purposes the achievement of international co-operation in promoting and encouraging respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms without distinction as to race, sex, language Or religion.
The recitals then go on to formulate those rights which it is the special mandate of lawyers to protect and promote.
The final recital deals with professional associations of lawyers. It states:
"Whereas professional associations of lawyers have a vital role to play in upholding professional standards and ethics, protecting their members from persecution and improper restrictions and infringements, providing legal services to all in need of them and cooperating with Governmental and other institutions in furthering the ends of justice and public interest".
The operative part is divided into six sections -
1. Access to lawyers and legal services.
Qualifications and training. Guarantees for the functioning of lawyers. Freedom of expression and association. Professional associations of lawyers. Disciplinary proceedings.
HUMAN RIGHTS MANDATE OF LAWYERS
Before considering the role of Bar Associations under these headings, it is a good starting point to examine those rights to which lawyers as a profession should give priority to. These are contained in the preamble. They are -

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1328 Politics and Life in Our Times
Equality before the law. 2. The presumption of innocence. 3. The right to a fair and public hearing before an independent
and impartial tribunal. 4. All the guarantees necessary for the defence of one charged with a penal offence. (These rights are contained in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights). The right to be tried without undue delay. 6. The right of persons charged with crime for which capital punishment can be imposed are entitled to adequate legal assistance (These rights 5 & 6 are contained in the Intemational Covenant on Civil and Political Rights). 7. The right of a detained person to have the assistance of and to communicate and consult with legal Counse. (This right is contained in "The body of principles for the protection of all persons under any form of detention or imprisonment"). The duties of Bar Associations, as set out in the operative part are as follows: -
1
5.
A. ACCESS TO LAWYERS AND LEGAL SERVICES
(i) Article 3 requires Bar Associations to co-operate with Governments in the organisation and provision of legal services, facilities and other resources to the poor and the disadvantaged persons.
(ii) Article 4 requires Bar Associations to promote programmes to inform the public about their rights and duties under the law.
B. GRUALIFICATIONS AND TRAINING
(i) Article 9 requires that Bar Associations shall ensure that legal education includes awareness of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms recognized by National and international Law.
(ii) Article 10 requires Bar Associations to ensure that there is no discrimination against entry to the legal profession on the grounds of race, Colour, sex, ethnic origin, religion, political or other opinion, national or Social Origin, property, birth, economic or other status.

Desmond Fernando's Address to the Bar Association of India 1329
(iii) Article 11 relates to the duty of a Bar Association regarding groups, associations and regions whose needs for legal services are not met. It requires Bar Associations to take special measures for candidates from these groups to enter the legal profession.
RIGHTS OF THE PROFESSION
Article 24 lays down a very important right. It is the right to form professional associations. The article also makes it mandatory for the association to be governed by an elected executive without outside interference.
SIGNIFICANCE OF THE U.N. DECLARATION
These then are the bench marks by which we may assess the performance of a Bar Association in the field of Human Rights and its independence.
HUMAN RIGHTS INSTITUTE OF THE BA
The Human Rights institute has been the IBA's contribution towards achieving international co-operation in protecting and promoting Human Rights. The international Bar Association (IBA) has as one of its objectives the protection and promotion of Human Rights. This has been done from its inception in 1947, it was given greater impetus by the creation of the Human Rights institute. On 5th December, 1995 the IBA set up its Human Rights institute. The Institute's Honorary President is President Nelson Mandela. Two eminent Indian Lawyers serve on its council, Mr. Fali Nariman and Mr. Soli Sorabji.
The institute has a structure and organisation which will ensure effectiveness.
It also has the resources. The IBA has called On its 181 organisational members to contribute a dollar perhead for every lawyer it represents. The co-operation so far has been good. The 181 organisational members represent 2 1/2 million lawyers.

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1330 Politics ad Les T r I TES
THOMAS ALWA EDSON WAS AN AMERICAN ELECTRICAN AND INVENTOR. HE WAS BORN AT MILAN, OHIO, U.S. A. ON FEBRUARY 11TH, 1847, OF MIXEDDUTCHAND SCOTTISH DESCENT INEARLY LIFE HE WAS A TELEGRAPH OPERATOR, FROM 1871-1876 HE WAS SUPERINTENDENT OF THE LAW GOLDINDICATOR CO.
Torras Aya EiSor ff... f. - 8. O. 93
Thomas Alva Edison's in wentive genius soon showed itself in the Series of experiments he made with regard to the improvement of electrical transmission, His inventions include an automatic telegraph syster, the quadruplex and septuplex telegraph, the microtactimeter and Tany others, covering Over a thousand patents, He improved the phonography and kinetograph, and introduced the aerophone and Toga phone for amplifying Sounds, Incandescent lamps' electric lighting and electric railways, OWe much to him, Ha diad On October 18, 1931,
 
 
 

Desrnord Fernardo's Address to the Bar Association of Ida 1331
The Institute's priorities are:
(1) The Independence of the Judiciary, (2) The Independence of the Legal Profession. (3) The right to a fair trial. The Institute also has Human Rights Liasion officers who liaise with each of our 181 organisational members, report to us and assist them in the task of protecting and promoting Human Rights. The Institute also has a trial observer Corps.
Recently we sent a mission to Kenya headed by Sir William Goodhart. The Institute hopes shortly to send a mission to Nigeria.
We have good relations and work closely with the ICJ.
CONCLUSION
Lawyers and Bar Associations have a special role to play in the protection and promotion of Human Rights. The need is great. And so is the urgency.
Justice Michael Kirby, the distinguished President of the ICJ made an oft quoted remark sor The sixteen years ago When he was Chairman of the Law Reform Commission of Australia. Commenting on the 52 years it had taken lawyers to join scientists in ANZAAS (The Australia New Zealand Association for the Advancement of Science) he said "Lawyers generally prefer not to rush things".
I am sure that he will be the first person to agree with me that our airn as Lawyers and Bar Associations in the field of Human Rights should be "Vetus rush things".
Courtesy "BASL News", Colorbo, February, 1997.

Page 127
President's Council Salutes "Sunday Times" Editor
Desmond Fernando, President's Counsel in a statement issued salutes Sinha Ratnatunga, Editor of the "Sunday Times" for the grace with which he went through the ordeal of a prosecution for Criminal Defamation, an offence for which no prosecution is instituted under any civilized system of law.
"This statement is an expression of values with which people may or may not agree. Thus in England under the Common Law there is an offence of Criminal Defamation. No prosecution has been instituted for several decades. Similarly in the Commonwealth and U.S.A.
"if you believe in freedom and freedom of expression you will agree with me. Otherwise you will not. A person has every right to resort to the civil law remedy of defamation and claim damages in a civil court if he has been defamed.
"Today freedom and particularly freedom of expression is in perill in this country.
"The editors of "Ravaya', 'The Leader' and of The Island' are being charged in the Criminal Courts. Facing a criminal charge can be a severe strain on an editor. This sustained attack on freedom of expression will result in editors being too scared to publish.
"Only a fearless press, TV and broadcasting can ensure purity in public life. An attempt was made to muzzle the media with the unconstitutional Broadcasting Authority Bill. This failed.
"This is the concern of every citizen. Eternal vigilance is the price of Liberty".
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, July 4th, 1997.

CHAPTER 15
Working Class Strikes
The First Strike in Ceylon
by V. Sarvaloganayagam Assistant Commissioner of abour
THE FIRST TRADE UNION IN CEYLON WAS FORMED ON THE 17TH OF SEPTEMBER, 1893 - LITTLE OVER 75 YEARS AGO. IT WAS FORMED BY THE PRINTERS OF COLOMBO AND WAS KNOWNAS THE CEYLON PRINTERS SOCIETY.
The Society was formed at a meeting held in Colombo at the Racquet Court. The resolution to form the Society was moved by one S. B. Thambo (one does not know whether P. B. Tampoe is any relation of his) and seconded by one Lovendahan. It was carried unanimously, "The Times of Ceylon" of 18.9.1893 described this meeting as a fairly good gathering of employees - there was an attendance of about 450 employees and the meeting was well conducted.
The meeting was presided over by Mr. Charles Perera who was a practising Proctor. According to the news report, Mr. Perera regretted that one of the employees themselves was not elected as the Chairman of the meeting.
Even the office bearers elected at this meeting were not members of the printers trade.
Mr. Lisbo Pinto was elected President while Mr. A. E. Bultjens was elected Secretary and Mr. J. B. Fernando Treasurer. Thus it would be seen that the 'outside element' had entered the trade union field even in a trade where the membership was educated and intelligent.
The immediate provocation for this meeting at Racquet Court on the 17th of September, 1893, was a strike at Caves, Colombo.
A FURORE
This strike is generally presumed to be the first strike in Ceylon by any organised group of workers, and of any considerable length.

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1334 Politics and Life in Our Times
The strike began on the 12th of September, 1893. It was triggered off by the failure of the management to make payment of the monthly wages of the employees in time.The strike caused a flutter and a furore in the city.
Commenting on the strike the "Ceylon Independent" of September 15th, 1893, under the caption "One result of Trade Union proposals - A strike of printers" said: "Some excitement was caused in the Fort yesterday when it became known that the printers employed at Messrs. Cave and Company numbering about 50 had gone out on strike. It appeared that for a number of years, Messrs. Cave and Company paid their men on the 10th of the month.
"The 10th of this month happened to fall on a Sunday and the payment was deferred till the 11th, but owing to the money arriving late the men were asked to wait tillyesterday. When yesterday morning arrived, however, the men refused to attend work unless an arrangement was come to, by which the men could receive their wages on the 5th day of the month. This demand the masters very naturally refused to comply with. We say very naturally because the Custom of paying on the 10th is a very old one and they saw no reason to alter it and the result was that the men refused to resume work. In the Times office too a similar demand was made".
The "Times" commenting on the strike said "strange to say the strike took place amongst a class of Ceylonese workmen who are perhaps better paid than any of the workmen in the Island - men employed in the printing offices". A.
Although the strike at Caves was the immediate provocation for the formation of the Trade Union, it really owed its origins to the effort of Dr. Lisbo Pinto and Mr. A. E. Bultjens. The "Independent Catholic" of July 1893 carried an article presumably written by Dr. Pinto urging the necessity of organising Trade Unions in Ceylon.
This article defined a Trade Union as a society formed by workmen engaged in any particular trade to protect the interests of the workmen, by obtaining for them such advantages as immunity from unjust treatment, higher wages, shorter working hours, better conditions of work, etc.

The First Strike in Ceylon 1335
It also suggested ways and means of elevating the social and moral standards of the worker. Having dwelt on the general characteristics of Trade Unions, the article then raised the question "Are Trade Unions necessary in this country?" It answers the question in the affirmative and proceeds to list facts that justify the need for Trade Unions in the country.
Some of the facts revealed by the article are very glaring indeed. it said that on a very heavy rainy day when travelling was almost impossible - a muttu was killed by lightning on the Galle Face. That morning - the fines for lateness in a newspaper office in the city amounted to Rs. 15. It is doubtful whether even today the total fines on any given day in any large firm in Colombo would be as large as this
There was also reference to an employee who earned a monthly wage of Rs. 12 being fined Re. 1 for being late on a rainy day. It also Stated that the total fines recovered in this office amounted to RS. 170 in One month.
The article said that all this injustice was perpetrated by a single firm enjoying a reputation for equality. If things were so bad in a firm like this the newspaper argued" how worse could things be in Other establishments"
The article also raised the question of wages. It said wages in Colombo were generally low, but the Workers were powerless, as individuals, to bargain with the employers.
It stressed the necessity for Trade Unions in this background of labour relations in this country, and appealed to the workmen to assert themselves.
It exhorted them to "express your sentiments respectfully but fearlessly and persist in this course until you obtain reasonable relief. Let the public and your Superiors understand your position thoroughly". It also appealed to the employers as good Christians and liberal spirited gentlemen not to take advantage of the helplessness of the workers and advised them to be fair by the employees.
The writer of the article in the "Independent Catholic" not content with arguing the case for the necessity of Trade Unions, proceeded to stress its urgency. He said it would not do for each trade to wait for the other to make the first move - someone has to

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1336 Polics arid Life in Our Trias
THERE HAWE BEEN MANY WARS IN HISTORY WHICH NOTWITHSTANDING ALL THE HORRORS, CRUELTIES, MISERIES AND TORTURES, INEVITABLY CONNECTED WITH EVERY WAR, HADA PROGRESSIVECHARACTER, I, E THEY SERVE THE DEVELOPMENT OF MANKIND, ADING IN THE DESTRUCTION OF EXTREMELY REACTIONARY INSTITUTIONS (AS, FOR INSTANCE, ABSOLUTISM AND SERFDOM). FOR INSTANCE, IF MOROCCO WERE TO DECLARE WAR AGAINST FRANCE TOMORROW, OR INDIA AGAINST ENGLAND, OR PERSIA OR CHINA AGAINST RUSSIA THESE WOULDBE JUST", "DEFENSIVE WARS, NOMATTER WHICHONE WAS THE FIRST TO ATTACK EVERY SOCIALIST WOULD THEN WISH THE WICTORY OF THE OPPRESSED, DEPENDENT, NON-SOWEREIGN STATES, AGAINST THE OPPRESSING SLAWE-HOLDING, PILLAGING "GREAT' NATIONS.
Alexi Maximowitch Gorky and Wladimir Ilyich Lenin
4.3, 1868 - 1936 (). E - 3, S24
Imaging that a slaveholder possessing 100 slaves wages war against a slaveholder possessing 200 slaves for a Thore 'equitable" redistribution of slaves. It is evident that to apply to such a case the term "defensive war or defence of the Father-land' would be a historicallie, in practice it would mean that the crafty slaveholders were plainly deceiving the unenlightened masses, the lower strala of the city population.
- "Socialism and War' by W. F. Lenin,
 

The First Strike in Ceylon 1337
take the lead. "We Would suggest the printers - they are a fairly Strong b0[]y, are on the whole more enlighlamad tham the fellow Workmen of other trades and they have their grievances. It is therefore their duty to become the leaders of Trade Unionism in Ceylon".
SHARP REPLY
"Their employers are stout and self-professed advocates of the people and defenders of the oppressed, and we express the hope that the printers would therefore be successful in forming a Trade Union".
The last paragraph was a dig at the "Ceylon Independent" to which reference has already been made. A leading Ceylonese Newspaper at that time and which was in the forefront of the fight for the 'rights of people' of this country.
The dig Went home and the "Ceylon Independent" came out With a sharp reply. In its issue of 21st August, 1893, it protested that the printing office referred to in the "Independent Catholic" was theirs and they regretted the insinuation by the "Independent Catholic", |twemt om to say that Trade Unionism was unsuited for Ceylon.
The editorial of the "Ceylon Independent" said "the present strikes in England and the Continent should be a sufficient warning to the Writer in the "Independent Catholic". The antagonism of the "Ceylon Independent" to the strike and Trade Unions has to be viewed in this background.
The movement initiated by the "Independent Catholic" fostered by Mr, Bultjens soon gathered nomen turn and the printers of Colombo responded readily to the exhortations of the "Independent Catholic" and the general desire to form a Trade Union was manifest amongst them, The first strike in Ceylon Was a failure in its immediate demand but it was a success in that it gave birth to the first Trade Union of this Country, I Was its nost significant achievgēni.
Courtes y "Daily News", Colombo, December 77, 1969,

Page 130
Reflections. On 1980 Strikes Against Glaring inequality
by The Rt. Rev. Lakshman Wickremasinghe Bishop of Kurunegala
Even though the emergency has been lifted, the situation has not returned to normal. The Government says that about 40,000 workers have vacated their jobs; others claim that the more realistic figure is around 100,000 workers who have been locked out. If the workers' families are included, at least 300,000 to 400,000 persons are affected by the lock-out imposed on them. The tussle between the Government and the Trade Unions remains. Even those Trade Unions which did not join the strike will be watching to see whether their power will be further undermined by furtheractions on the part of the Government. Some of the Strikers cannot be easily replaced by new recruits as they have specialised training, such as those in the railway workshop, in the Government Press, and in certain clerical grades.
if the tussle drags on, both intransigence by the Government and militancy by the frustrated strikers and Trade Unions will together lead to increasing confrontation. Some perhaps may like this, because they will find opportunity to disrupt the administration of the present Government for their own purposes; others may like this, because they would like to see repressive measures developed to decimate the present power of the Trade Union movement. But those who acknowledge the right of a duly elected Government to govern, and also the right of Trade Unions not to be made vulnerable to domination by the Government and employers in the private sector, will desire something better. It will be a solution that will be in keeping both with the CommonSense and also the democratic traditions that have hitherto guided national politics in situations of crisis. Only then will the words "vibrant democracy' and 'righteous society' have a ring of truth when they are applied to Sri Lanka, at just this moment.

Reflections on 1980 Strikes Against Glaring inequality 1339
The Governmentalleges that the strike was designed to disrupt its administration and create disorder. No doubt there may have been some strikers and some trade unionists who had this intention. But a sample survey of the views of the strikers will indicate that all involved did not have that intention. It is also alleged that the rank and file of the strikers were either misled or intimidated into joining the strike. In any strike a percentage are influenced in this way; and when a strike is not successful, those seeking to regain their employment usually allege this. However, the way the strikers began to stay away from work in many places suggests that there were other reasons for the strike. It is further alleged that the strike was designed to upset the policies comprising the development programme of the Government. It may be helpful to examine whether this allegation is true or whether the strike arose out of the consequence of this development programme.
One of the major reasons which impelled the present strike was the increasing cost of living. Spiralling inflation has placed unbearable burdens on the urban middle class and working class with fixed incomes. Government has provided no recent relief in terms of an extra cost of living allowance to meet recent increases in the prices of essential domestic items. Whatever subsidies are provided either affect those families with a monthly income of less than Rs. 300/- or those who have no member gainfully employed. The urban middle class and working class employee with a fixed income does not benefit from this type of relief. In addition, prices of essential domestic items and travel are no longer subsidized, but are fixed by the operation of the free market and borne by the consumer. Such people have to use public transport for travel, and cannot fallback as does the rural worker, upon such things as coconuts, firewood, rice and jak for free consumption; and they are used to a certain standard of living. Making ends meet for themselves and their children becomes an increasingly impossible burden, leading either to indebtedness or use of Savings. And with so many attractive consumer items available owing to the Government's trade policies, they are tempted to buy them even though the prices are prohibitive. They also know that prices have been inflated not only due to increasing costs of imported items beyond our control;

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1340 Politics and Life in Our Times
THE RT, REV. LAKSHMAN WICKRAMASINGHE, BISHOP OF KURUNEGALA, IN A STATEMENT TO THE PRESS AGAINST THE GARING NEGQUALITES OF THE LIVING CONDITIONS OF THE PEOPLE IN SRI LANKA, SAID THAT ONE OF THE MAJOR REASONS WHICH IMPELLED THE PRESENT STRIKE WAS THE INCREASING COST OF LIVING, SPRALLING INFLATON HAS PLACED UNEBEARABLE BURDENS ON THE URBAN MOOLE CLASS AND WORKENG CLASS WITH FIXED NCOMES, GOVERNMENT HAS PROVIDED NO RECENT RELIEF IN TERMS OF AN EXTRA COST OF LIVING ALLOWANCE TO MEET RECENT INCREASES IN THE PRICES OF ESSENTIAL DOMESTC TEMS.
The Rt. Rev. Lakshman Wickramasinghe Bishop of Kurunegala 25. O3. 1927 - 23.10, 1983
Making ends meet for themselves and their children becomes an increasingly impossible burden, leading either to indebtedness or use of savings. And with so many attractive consumer items available owing to the Government's trade policies, they are tempted to buy them even though the prices are prohibitive. They also know that prices have been inflated not only due to increasing costs of imported items beyond our control; they are also inflated because certain sectors of the population receive increased incomes owing to the development and trade policies of the Government. Since these have a higher purchasing power and the required items are of limited availability, higher prices are fixed by the operation of the free market as manipulated by traders, middlemen and market operators.
 

Reflections on 1980 Strikes Against Glaring inequality 1341
they are also inflated because certain sectors of the population receive increased incomes owing to the development and trade policies of the Government. Since these have a higher purchasing power and the required items are of limited availability, higher prices are fixed by the operation of the free market as manipulated by traders, middlemen and market operators.
The strike is a protest against such unbearable costs of living without relief, by those adversely affected and who can register their protest without having to wait for an election. The Government must grant a wage increase soon to these classes of workers and others in a similar plight. There are many others in sympathy with this protest, and include those who either support or are not against the Government. Also adequate methods must be found to correlate wages to prices in all sectors of the economy, in a rational manner, Tariff and taxation policies can be also adjusted by the Government to provide money for its anticipated wage bills.
Another reason for the present strike by these classes of workers was the increasing inequality of income distribution (and wage scales) among different sectors of the population. (In the rural sector, the small farmer is as adversely affected, but is not sufficiently organised for registering grievances. He must wait for an election). The preliminary Consumer Finance Survey by the Central Bank indicates in its Report the following statistics. The share of the total income of the poorest 10% of the population fell from 1.8% in 1973 to 1.5% in 1978; of the poorest 40% of the population fell from 15.1% in 1973 to 12.3% in 1978; and the share of the richest 10% rose from 30% in 1973 to 39% in 1978. It is not likely that the statistics for 1979 will reveal any reversal of this trend.
Figures apart, it is what people see for themselves daily that registers. They can see a Super class with very high incomes from among the foreign businessmen and experts coming here in increasing numbers, local business tycoons, tourist hoteliers, import traders and mudalalis, contractors and tenderers especially in the construction and quarrying industries, gem dealers, mining operators, and highest paid

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1342 Politics and Life in Our Times
doctors and lawyers. The increasing gap between the standard of living of these people and their own is obvious to them. (They see also a significant imbalance between the wage scale of those working in banks, tourism, certain private sector industries and as MPs and Ministers on the one hand, and their own wage scales on the other). The recent mini-strike by University dons was a protest against imbalanced wage scales from an adversely affected professional group.
To the strikers, the Government does not seem to have taken any significant action to control this glaring disparity in standards of living. Leaving aside the Mahaveli Development project which will bring only long-term benefits, there has been no concerted attempt by the Government to divert the excess income of this super class into investment which will develop subsidiary Crops.
The planned development of products like sugar and cotton have received little attention; SO also have the agro-based industries based on coconuts, rubber and other raw materials locally available been overlooked. Such diverted investment with careful planning will generate labour intensive employment, will produce tariff-protected domestic items, which if of good quality can be exported also, and will re-locate money from luxury consumption.
Also, Such investment is essential to foster Self-reliance and prevent dumping of imported goods. The Government must therefore divert excess income from the Super class for this purpose. But incentives of this nature to divert and utilise such excess income are not enough. As extremely high import duties can control wealth Squandered on luxury goods from abroad, (and also pay for some of the increasing wage bills facing the Government), so likewise some form of suitable tax must be imposed on excessively accumulated wealth, while taking preventive measures against such wealth being drained abroad. The income disbursement of the Super class must be brought under some kind of public restraint, to lessen a glaring disparity between standards of living, and to finance income-relief to those requiring it.

Reflections on 1980 Strikes Against Glaring inequality 1343
The strike is a protest against this uncontrolled disparity, and a demand for some effective remedy. In any society which claims to be righteous, its basis should be a real lessening of glaring inequality, according to the teaching of all religions. It means some redistribution of income from the hoarders and sauanderers to the needy and struggling. The Government must not attempt to destroy the inherited structure of welfare capitalism which tends to reduce glaring inequality, in its concerted attempt to generate both wealth and employment. Human values must also be recognised as important, and not only the operation of a free market which the operators manipulate for their benefit.
The final reason for the strike by the workers involved, was the increasing policy of suppression of the rights of the trade unions. The Essential Public Services Act provides the Government with powers to Control and break strikes under the normal law, which hitherto have been used mainly under a national emergency. The range of services that can be declared essential, and the harsh nature of the punishments enforceable are aimed at placing the trade unions at the mercy of the Government (and the employers). The consistent use of political thuggery in recent times with the connivance of the governing party, to break forms of trade union protest like picketing which are permissible in a democracy, has roused deep resentment within the trade unions. It is one thing to bring discipline into the trade unions; it is another thing to deny them their rights. The recent attempt to freeze party funds in banks, and the misuse of the Government controlled press and radio to spread slanted reports during the recent strike are disquieting signs.
There seems to be a partiality in the Government's maltreatment of worker's organisations, when considering its treatment of employers' organisations. There is no similar attemptat political control of indisciplined businessmen and employers who misuse their powers to defraud workers of their legitimate wages, allowances and other benefits. Multi-nationals and foreign business enterprises are even given guarantees in the Constitution to safeguard their rights and powers.

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1344 Politics and Life in Our Times
In a righteous society, impartiality before the law and between associative groups within the nation, is the duty of the ruler. The Government does not even seem to recognise the normal forms of protest permitted to trade unions in any vibrant democracy. The strike was a protest against this kind of bias and partiality against the trade unions.
No fair-minded person will condone the violence that erupted from the workers' demonstration in Colombo, after the attempted satyagraha was prevented in the precincts of the Fort Station by the Police. Perhaps, some evidence might be shown to indicate that some of the demonstrators had premeditated it. But the evidence of those present was that this outburst was due to the frustration and resentment at the persistent violence directed against trade union demonstrations by both politically motivated thugs and some members of the security forces, with the connivance of the governing party. The actions of the present Government in this respect are not justified by pointing to similar actions on the part of the previous Government, whether ULF or SLFP. Two wrongs do not make a right.
Over-reaction on the part of the government will not be able to break the core of the trade union movement in Sri Lanka. This is not Singapore. A policy which seeks to isolate the workers from their leaders, and which uses the 'carrot' and 'stick" technique to draw back the locked-out workers to seek re-employment, may have a temporary success. Confrontation will not cease; it will merely be postponed. For any lasting solution to emerge from this present tussle, dialogue and negotiation are also essential; not merely trial of strength. The public will have its prejudices and preferences, but will expect those entrusted with governing to be fair, while playing politics. Remedies must be found in relation to unbearable costs of living, glaring inequality of income distribution, and the alienation of an important section of the working force of the nation.
In seeking to solve the tussle between the Sinhalese and Tamils regarding language rights and the nature and scope of district development councils, the President did not yield to extremists, on either side. He continued a dialogue with the Tamil leaders, and

Reflections on 1980 Strikes Against Glaring Inequality 1345
was flexible, imaginative but firm when negotiating with them. All the problems were not solved, but the basis for a more lasting solution was achieved. He must likewise be willing to follow a similar policy when dealing with the trade unions and their leaders whether they be those involved in the present strike or not. He is after all the President of the nation, and not the Minister of Labour.
A few trade union leaders may be disruptive by ideology or
design. The majority will be willing to negotiate a settlement which will be both realistic and mindful of mutual rights. The Government has the right to govern and to seek to achieve its basic goals within the period for which it was elected, while also recognising the role of particular groups such as trade unions, within the nation. The trade unions have rights to safeguard, legitimate power to exercise and duties to fulfi.
A realistic compromise based on just dealing and mutual respect is not beyond the wit of the protoganists in the tussle. It will strengthen the foundations of both a vibrant democracy and a righteous society.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 6, 1980.
THE PARTY
gave the Communist the magic strength to fight for a bright future for mankind, for its happiness and freedom. He belongs to the category of people who have great strength and might. He found Archimede's point of Support and changed the world; he accomplished the revolution, which was unparalleled in history. His privilege and advantage lay in his right and duty to fight for the revolution and to die for truth.
Wherever there are troubles and difficulties, the Communist stands in the front line leading the people to feats of arms and labour.
— Nodar Dumbadze,

Page 134
"Aththa"Fights Daily
by H. G. S. Ratnaweera EO.--Jeff "A"
The "World Marxist Review" interviewed the Editor-in-Chief of "Aththa" in 1985 and which is given below:
G. "Athlha" (Truth), the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL) daily, LL 00 CCCL LTS LCCTT LLLLLL LLLL LLCL LLL C C CLLLLL LLCLLCLCLL LCH the role it plays in the nation's politics? A. The CPS Četra Crimittee decisi to lauc Affa vas taken in Nowe Iber 1964 and its first issue appeared in Dece Tiber. At that time, supported by the masses, the coalition government of Sirima wo Bandaranaike's Freedom Party (SLFP) and the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) tried to Take a breach in the imperialist and capitalist monopoly of Sri Lanka's daily newspapers by taking over the most reactionary and major newspaper Company, But the Company, Supported by the right-wing United National Party (UNP) had through bribery and undue influences, succeeded in suborning several members of parliament from the SLFP and defeated both the proposed law and the government itself.
Our newborn newspaper had to wage a far from equal struggle against capitalist monopolies which had at their disposal the latest technologies, a well-developed system of circulation and powerful Support from advertisers and experienced professional journalists, Nevertheless, We prevailed. The newspaper's militancy and incisiveness made up for the shortage of funds. It exposed the corruption of the reactionary rulers, consistently upheld the interests of working people and expressed their aspirations. A former Prime Minister of the main reactionary party, the UNP, once admitted that Athlha was the first newspaper he read every morning to learn what the people thought and irtelded to do.

"Athlha" Fights Daily 1 347
DR. GUNA PALA PYASENA MALALASEKERA, PROFESSOR OF THE PERADENI YA UNIWERSITY OF SRI LANKA, BUDDHIST LEADER OF WORLD FAME, SCHOLAR, LINGUIST AND DIPLOMAT WAS BORN ONNOVEMBER 9TH, 1899, AT PANADURAIN SRI LANKA. HE WAS THE SON OF SINHALA WEDAMAHATHAYA (AYURWEDIC PHYSICIAN) PEIRIS, WHO WAS AN ORIENTAL SCHOLAR OF NOMEAN REPUTE AND HADHS DISPENSARY IN PANADURATOWN, PEIRIS NAMED HIS SONGEORGE YOUNG GEORGE LEARNT UNDER CYRILJANSZATST, JOHN'S COLLEGE, PANADURA. IN ADDITION TO ENGLISH, HE LEARNT FRENCH, LATIN AND GREEK. GEORGES FATHERTAUGHT HIM THE RUDIMENTS OF SINHALESE WHICH INLATER YEARSPAWED HIM THE WAY TO RISE TO THE EMINENT POSITION OF PROFESSOR AND DEAN OF THE FACULTY OF ORIENTAL LANGUAGES LLLLLL L LLLLLLLLL LLLL LLLLLLLLS LLL LLaLLLLL LLLL LL LLLLaaLLLLLLL
LLLLLLLL LL LLLLLLLLL LLS GL LaLLLLL LLLL L LLLLLLL LLLLLL PORTUGUESE NAME OF PEIRS AND TO CHANGE HSDRESS TO THE SKLLLK LLLLLLLYLLLLELLLLLLLLS LL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLL L0L LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL OF GUNAPALA PIYASENA. IN 1931 OR SO, WHEN THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM WAS AN UNDERGRADUATE OF THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, DR. G. P. MALALASEKERAWAS THE LECTURERIN SINHALESE, HEORGANIZED STUDY CLASSESINELEMENTARYSINHALESE, WHICH WASATTENDED BY ANUMBER OFSINHALESEAND NON-SINHALESE, AMONG WHOM WAS THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK THISENCOURAGED THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOKFORFURTHERSTUDIES INSINHALESE
臀
*****2:قلق
Prof. G, F. Massassiker 8, 7.99 - 23, , 93
Buddhism is the philosophico-religious systern based on the teachings of Guatama Buddha 563-483 B.C. with the fundamentalterial that salvation froT the suffering inherent in existence and the Continual round of rebirth can be attained through
enlighteriment reached by following the Eightfold Path (right views, Tolive, speech, action, way of life, effort, Tindfulness and Concentration) which leads to Niwara.

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1348 Politics and Life in Our Times
Sri Lanka's reactionary forces fear and hate our newspaper, By invoking emergency regulations, several capitalist governments banned it and closed it down. It has been attacked by right-wing proimperialist organisations. The paper and its editors have been taken to court many times. But none of this has ever succeeded in silencing us or deflecting us from our path.
Q. How do you assess Aththa's contribution to the struggle of the left and democratic movement in Sri Lanka, its Current role and mission? A. First, having ended the bourgeois monopoly of daily newspapers
and having proved that the working class and its party are capable of launching and maintaining its own daily publication, Aththa offers an inspiring example to othersections of the left and democratic movement. Second, it acted as the standard-bearer of all the main mass struggles of the recent period, including general strikes, anti-imperialist and anti-war demonstrations and innumerable campaigns in the mass and electoral fields.
Third, it has emerged as the principal source of information for Working people and all progressive forces about the struggle of the World's popular masses for peace, national liberation and social progress, about the activities of the international communist and working class movement, and about the accomplishments of the socialist community. Fourth, Aththa consistently exposes the lies and slander spewed by the newspapers, radio and television controlled by imperialism and local reactionaries. V
Fifth, our newspaper is tirelessly contributing its share to the Support of the struggle for the unity of the working class and all democratic forces, for the unity and equality of the different ethnic groups of our multinational country. Aththa opposes racist prejudice and obscurantism to which the reactionaries resort in their effortS to Confuse the masses and divert them from joint action in defence of their legitimate rights.

"Aththa" Fights Daily 1349
Finally, the Communist press organ has set a fresh trend in Sri Lanka journalism. Unlike manybourgeois publications with their pseudoscholarly and grandiloquent style, Aththa speaks in the simple, direct and pithy language of workers. In many Schools, teachers use it as the model of modern Sinhala newspaper style. Q. What hampers you in your work? A. First of all, the obstacles raised by the reactionary forces. They not only use the state apparatus for this purpose but also operate Mafia style. They intimidate news dealers into not carrying Aththa, threaten Companies which would like to place advertisements with us, impede our paper's distribution on public transport, etc.
But nothing can deter Aththa and its staff from discharging the tasks set by the Party. The support we receive from our readers and from the CPSL gives us strength and helps us to overcome many difficulties.
Courtesy: "World Marxist Review", February, 1985. Prague, Czechoslovakia.
BASIC TENDENCES OF CAPALSM
The growth of poverty, unemployment, exploitation, oppression and humiliation is the result of the basic tendencies of capitalism.
Insecurity of existence, unemployment, the yoke of exploitation and humiliation of every kind are becoming the lot of ever wider sections of the working population.
- Lenin

Page 136
Some Reminiscences On Comrade A. Vaidialingam
by T. B. Subasinghe
The passing away of Comrade Vaidialingam removed a very senior and outstanding political personality from the Jaffna Peninsula. Vaidi's popularity and respect of the people was not confined to the limited area north of the Elephant Pass.
He was well-known among the Tamil people as well as the Sinhala as a self-sacrificing Revolutionary for over fifty years.
I knew Vaidialingam at the Union Hostel in Guildford Crescent when we were young students of the then University College affiliated to the London University. We were in two different branches of study. He was in the Department of Mathematics and I with the small Department of Economics.
Those were the days when we did not draw a distinction between Tamil, Sinhala, Muslim or Burgher. In the Union Hostel we had Tamils, Sinhalese and Muslims having rooms and eating the same kind of food. Professor Suntheralingam, the warden, who was one of the most liberal of men I had met in that period, who had one object in mind. That was to inculcate the idea that Ceylon belonged to all its inhabitants, no matter what their ethnicity was. As residents of the Union Hostel we were a happy family.
There were a large number of Tamil students in the Hostel. Vaidi was one and P. Kandiah was another. The late William Silva and
were fellow hosteliers with them.
Vaidi was preparing for his Degree in Mathematics. All knew him as a brilliant Student and was one of the best of Professor Suntheralingam's proteges. William Silva and who were some-what interested in politics attended Marxist study classes conducted by Dr. Colvin R. de Silva.

Some Reminiscences on Comrade A. Vaidialingam 1351
Vaidi obtained a First Class Honours Degree in B.Sc. in Mathematics. He won the coveted Government scholarship for Mathematics and proceeded to Cambridge University to do a PostGraduate Degree. P. Kandiah also won a scholarship for Oriental Studies and proceeded to the same University. Pieter Keuneman was also sent there by his father Justice Keunemanto study in one of the Arts Faculties and also to study Law. They formed a trio in Cambridge with number of students also joining their circle.
William Silva and proceeded to London and got involved with the Anti-Imperialist Movement in the Capital, which consisted of diverse groupings with hair splitting theories, but fundamentally anti-Imperialist. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe and Doreen Wickremasinghe also came to stay in London for a couple of years after he was defeated in Morawake in 1936 General Elections.
Vaidi the Mathematician had been converted to Marxism, together with P. Kandiah and Pieter Keuneman by the time we met in Cambridge on a visit. This was not surprising for progressive politics had penetrated into the universities.
Mid 1930s and the late 1930s was a period when Fascism was taking the offensive in Europe. The Fascists tried their trial of strength not only in Ethiopia (i.e. Mussolini) but also in Spain against democratically elected progressive government of Spain. Hitler and Mussolini were Working hand in glove and was joined later by Japan.
The Fascists political, ideological and even military offensive had its reaction in Britain, France and some other countries among the communists, and also among left-wing Social Democrats and even progressive Liberals. The Conservative ruling classes were acting in Collusion with Hitler. Hitler was encouraged to drive East to the USSR.
In Britain the Communist Party Harry Politt, Vaidialingam, Palme Dutt, etc., and the left-wing of the Labour Party led by men like Harold Laski, Stafford Cripps, Aenurin Bevan, John Strachey and many others became protogonists of the Theory of the Popular Front. Georgi Drimitrov's theory of Popular Fronts against Fascism captured the imaginations of many a young radical Progressive inside and outside universities.

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1352 Politics and Life in Our Times
The Left movement was also backed by the formation of the Left Book Club founded by the well-known publisher Victor Gollancz.
There is nothing surprising about a serious student like Waidialingam becoming a committed Marxist and joining the Communist movement in this atmosphere,
Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe arranged for some of us from London to wisit Cambridge and Teet Waidi, Kandiah and Pieter. We spent a whole day there and conducted a political discussion.
The Cambridge corades had relations with late W. K. Krishna Menor in London as much as we were in Constant touch with hit.
Quite irrespective of our ideological tendencies at the time, the solidarity of all of us with the Indian Independence Towerment was solid. Hence our close association with Krishna Menon in London when he was the chief spokes Than for the Indian National Congress and of Jawaharlal Nehru in particular. Waidi, Kandiah and Pieter maintained this relationship with Krishna as far as know. I was in constant touch with him until his death, We were regular colleagues at the United Nations. He often inquired after his Ceylonese friends.
I do not need to go into the story of Waidi's Work in Ceylon. He obtained a high qualification in Mathematics. I am not sure whether it was the coveted qualification of Wrangler.
He had made up his mind to be a full-time revolutionary. He worked with the Lanka Sana Samaja Party on his return. The inevitable ideological split in that period had to come. He broke away, joined the United Socialist Party and later the Ceylon CorImunist Party when the name was changed.
His activity is well known during this period in Colombo. Later he noved to Jaffna. He was satisfied by ending up as a School Principal but his main concern was building-up the Communist Party which he did together with Kandiah and many others.
He was Comrade to the party-Tenbers, But to his admirers on the periphery he was Master. In a sense he was a Master - a teater to) 3.

Sorre Fairliniscarags of Conrade A. Wadialinga 7 1353
T. B. SUBASINGHE IN HIS REMINISCENCES OF A. WAIDIALING AMSAD : KNEW WAIDIALINGAMAT THE UNIONHOSTELINGUILDFORDCRESCENT WHEN WE WERE YOUNG STUDENTS OF THE THEN UNIVERSITY COLLEGEAFFLATED TO THE LONDON UNIVERSITY, WEWERE IN TWO DIFFERENT BRANCHES OF STUDY. HE WAS IN THE DEPARTMENT OF MATHEMATICSAND WAS IN THESMALLDEPARTMENT OFECONOMICS. WAIDWASPREPARING FOR HIS DEGREE INMATHEMATICS. ALL KNEW HMAS A BRILLIANT STUDENT AND WAS ONE OF THE BEST OF PROFESSOR SUNTHERALINGAM'S PROTEGES. WILLIAM SILWA AND WHO WERE SOME-WHAT INTERESTED IN POLITICS ATTENDED MARXIST STUDY CLASSES CONDUCTED BY DR. COLVIN R. DE SILWA,
Amballa warnar Waidia Imgar77
2.E.E. f. - ...E, SS
Waidialingam began his association with communism in the mid 1930s while he was yet a studant at the Emmanuel College of Cambridge University where he excelled as a Mathematic Student. During his stay in Brillain he was active in the student movement as well as the anti-fascist and antiimperialist Towerinents, it was at this stage that he joined and Worked with the Communist Party of Great Britain together with Pieler Keungman and P. Kadiah, his contemporaries. In London, he also carine into contact with Dr. S.A. Wickremasingha who was then leader of the LSSP. On his return to Sri Lanka in 1939 Waidialingann Worked with the Lanka, Sama Samaja Party for a short time. He was active in the ideological debates in the party at that time, Shifting to Jaffna in the early 1950s, Waidialingam joined the teaching profession and laught at Jaffna Hindu College. As a leacher, he played a leading role in the Teachers' Trade Union activities and was for sometime the President of the Joint Commit tag of Teachers' Trade Unions in the Island.

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1354 Politics and Life in Our Times
Although he and Kandiah belonged to the Communist Party and to the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in the 1950s, there was no wali between us. We remained good friends and every time visited Jaffna, Vaidi was one person whom I always met. I think history has proved that the ideological wall that had been built-up in the past is no longer realistic.
was the Minister of Industries and Scientific Affairs in the United Front Government of the 70s. I required men of integrity and knowledge on the Boards of Directors of our industrial Corporations. With his consent appointed Vaidi to the Board of Paranthan Chemical Corporation. We had throughout plans to produce many sodium liquid chemicals in Paranthan and later in Ambalantota with salt produced in Elephant Pass and Ambalantota as the base. In fact he introduced many innovations in Paranthan.
think he had a fine rapport with the workers. Vaidi was not only a fighter to destroy what was unjust and repressive. He was also a builder given the opportunity to reconstruct society.
Regarding the ethnic problem, would conclude by saying that the fraternal feelings which he manifested as an undergraduate at the Union Hostel, he held fast to them until the end, despite mortal threats.
Colombo, 1988.

My Brother, Pieter
by Arthur Keuneman, ACF Life Member
Since my brother Pieter Keuneman's death, there have been many articles in the Sri Lankan newspaperspraising him for his honesty and dedication as a politician. He was also acclaimed as an outstanding member of the Burgher community, the only Burgher who was elected to Parliament by popular franchise. This repeated election and reelection took place inspite of his not having the vote-catching advantage of being a Sinhalese Buddhist, and also inspite of the opposition of the Catholic church whose priests preached from the pulpit that it was a sin to vote for a Communist. However, in the three-vote constituency of Colombo Central which he represented, three members to be elected, he got one vote from almost every elector.
What made him tick? Most of the articles about him are Written from the outside looking into his political life. The family stories in this article are written from the inside looking out and I hope it helps the reader to understand a man who practised what he preached, yet also believed that in certain cases the end justified the means.
On my return from England in 1946, with a wife and a baby son, the ship was diverted from Colombo to Trincomalee because the Unions, including the one with which Pieter was involved, threatened to call a harbour strike if the ship berthed in Colombo. Because of the diversion we were three days late and worried as to how we would get down to Colombo, when the first person we saw as we docked was Pieter. We had not met for six years, but there he was, waving and Smiling, and soon making arrangements to get us off the ship as quickly as possible. We found out later that this was, as far as know, the only time that Pieter was "hoist by his own petard". My father said to him "You threatened the strike which caused the ship to go to Trinco, now

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1356 Politics and Life in Our Times
you better get up there and bring them back to Colombo". Pieter had spent a miserable three days in Trincomalee, each day booking train tickets to Colombo then unbooking them when the ship did not arrive. Towards the end the Station Master got so exasperated that he said "I wish you'd make up your mind". Pieter often told this story against himself and took his discomfiture in good part.
When he arrived in Ceylon, and for sometime thereafter, Pieter rented an old broken-down house in Rodney Place, Borella. His wife, Hedi, had returned to England and he was looking after himself. By this time he had given away his money to the Communist Party and to others, including the inheritance he received on our mother's death, and existed on the payment given to him by the Communist Party as a full-time Worker. A visit to him was a traumatic experience, for the house was always full of people. Three or four homeless couples slept on mats in the main bedroom and the other rooms had similar occupants. The back corridor and the kitchen were apparently reserved as bachelor quarters and Pieter slept on amat in the kitchen. We consistently urged him to stay with us but he refused saying that he was needed there. He kept falling ill and one day his close friend, Dr.S. A. Wickremasinghe, came to see us. He said that Pieter had double pneumonia and was refusing to go to hospital. He feared that Pieter would die, and so we returned immediately to Borella, put him in the car (he was too weak to resist) and brought him home. I am pleased to say that with careful nursing plus the devoted medical attention of Dr. S. A. Wicks he eventually recovered, and from then on he stayed with us for a long time.
Living in the same house with Pieter was always a difficult experience. People wishing to see him called at all hours of the day or night, and many times we found strangers wandering about the house looking for him. The telephone rang incessantly, particularly at night, for he seemed to be looked upon as the settler of disputes. His presence was requested, often demanded, as the only person who could fixthings. Sometimes these were domestic disputes, sometimes quarrels with neighbours, but very often arrests by Police. The Police seemed to choose tWO to three a. m. as the time to enter a home and make an arrest, and

My Brother, Pieter 1357
that was the popular time for the telephone calls. He never refused to go if transport could be sent, and he often told us that he was able to prevent arrests due to unauthorised entry by Police. Pieter had no privacy and his health Suffered.
The story of the entry into Ceylon of Pieter's wife, Maud, can be told now only because the named participants, except for my wife Janet and myself, are dead. The story is a mixture of fact and hearsay as related to me by very reliable Sources.
Pieter had told us previously that while in London for an International Conference of Communist Parties, he had met a girl called Maud Rogerson whom he wished very much to marry. They had corresponded for some time and she had finally agreed to marry him when she had finished her job and was able to get a passage. Dad, Janet and I were delighted for him, but he was a bit vague as to when she was likely to come and as to the job she did. One evening he turned up at home, asking for a favour. He had just heard, he said that Maud was arriving the day after tomorrow and that unfortunately he had a conference in Matara that day which he could not avoid. He could not be back until the next day or two, so would we please meet Maud and bring her to Dad's house where she would stay until they could get married. She was arriving on a Polish vessel, the name of which have now forgotten.
The next day I called on the Agents to verify the time of arrival of the ship. The official at the agency looked most puzzled and said, "This ship does not usually come to Colombo and I don't know why it is coming". On the day of arrival Pieter left very early in the morning for Matara, and Janet and I went downto the harbour. As a Crown Counsel, I had dealings with a number of the Police personnel and I knew the inspector in charge of the Police launch. In chatting to him told him that We were picking up a lady who had arrived on the Polish ship and he very kindly offered us a lift, saying he would drop us off at that ship, do his rounds of the other ships, then return to take us all ashore. When We met Maud She seemed rather tense but soon relaxed and then after some time the Police launch returned and brought us all ashore. A few days later Pieter and Maud were married.

Page 140
1358 Pfi:s ar sé ") of Tir? :S
ARTHUR KE UNEMAN SAID) : LI WING IN THE SAME HOUSE WITH PIETER WAS ALWAYS A DIFFICULT EXPERIENCE, PEOPLE WISHING TO SEE HIM CALLED AT ALL HOURS OF THE DAY OR NIGHT AND MANY TIMES WE FOUND STRANGERS WANDERING ABOUT THE HOUSE LOOKING FOR HIM, THE TELEPHONE RANG INCESSANTLY, PARTICULARLY AT NIGHT, FOR HE SEEMED TO BE LOOKED UPON AS THE SETTLER OF DISPUTES. HIS PRESENCE WAS REQUESTED, OF TEN DEMANDED, AS THE ONLY PERSON WHO COULD FX THENGS. SOMETIMES THESE WERE DO MESTIC DISPUTES, SOM ETIMES CUARRELS WITH NEIGHBOURS, BUT VERY OF TEN ARRESTS BY POLICE.
Maud Rogerson a 7d Pieter Keur"7gr ar
Maud card from a wealthy medical family in England and when her father died she inherited a large sum of money, She was determined that the money should be spent on a more comfortable home, and that it would contain an area where they could have privacy when required. Pieler's only request was that he have an office room large enough to hold his library and that there be an area where his constituents and others could remain in COTfort white waiting to see hit, Fortunately an old family friend from Our childhood - Geoffrey Bawa - offered to help and so his present home arose. The old Hic use was der Tolished but the block was So Small that there was only ČrhÉ way to build - upwards - and so the house was all aid this 1.
 
 
 

My Brother, Pieter 1359
These were the facts - now for the story behind the story, What we were not aware of was that Maud was a high-ranking member of the British Communist Party until she gave it up to marry Pieter. The Police Special Branch in Colombo had been informed that this high-ranking communist was planning to cone to Colombo (probably by the London office when she was granted the necessary entry papers), and the Prime Minister, Mr. D. S. Senanayake, did not want another communist settling in Ceylon. On Police advice a watch was kept on the port and passengers lists were scrutinised, so that if she arrived she would be apprehended and refused entry,
Entry plans were being made by the other side as well, Maud went over to the European continent and entered the Communist controlled sector, While there, she boarded a small Polish cargo Wessel bound, I believe, for China. The ship was not scheduled to touch at Colombo but when in the Indian Ocean, the Captain was instructed to divert the ship to Colombo for a few hours and drop his passenger, I now feel that someone high up in Communist circles was helping Maud, some one who had the power to order the diverting of the Polish ship.
When the Special Branch found out that Maud was in Ceylon, she was already married. I am informed that the Prime Minister was furious about the incident and tore a strip of the Special Branch. He sought legal advice as to whether Maud could still be deported, but was advised that as she had entered Colombo legally and was now married to a Ceylon citizen, she had a legal right to stay. "D. S.", being the great man that he was accepted the legal position and refused to bend the law to his advantage, Maud stayed,
| newer asked Pieter whether he had used Janet and myself for his own purpose (I felt that I may not like the answer) and he newer volunteered an explanation, but Maud did once say that when she was in Colombo harbour and saw the Police launch heading straight for her ship, nearly had a heart attack

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1360 Politics and Life in Our Times
Maud was a more pragmatic person than Pieter and realised that if he was to function to his full capacity he had to remain fit and well. She was devoted to him and his welfare, determined to bring order into his working life. She protected him from unnecessary calls on his time and he began to look a different person, fitter and in better health. They rented a tiny and very old house in Kollupitiya and eventually, when the owner wished to sell it, purchased it with Maud's money. Until we left for Australia in 1959, we spent many a happy evening at that home.
Maud came from a wealthy medical family in England and when her father died she inherited a large sum of money. She was determined that the money should be spent on a more comfortable home, and that it would contain an area where they Could have privacy when required. Pieter's only request was that he have an office room large enough to hold his library and that there be an area where his Constituents and others could remain in comfort while waiting to see him. Fortunately an old family friend from our childhood - Geoffrey Bawa - offered to help and so his present home arose. The old house was demolished but the block was so Small that there was only one way to build - upwards - and so the house was tall and thin.
Maud looked after Pieter until the day she died, and on her death he was bereft and rudderless. His letters to uS Verged On morbidity.
Fortunately, he met his present wife, Ouida, and once expressed to me his surprise that she had agreed to marry him. I do not wish to embarrass her, but I am grateful for the way she looked after him. She had become his letter-writer when his eyesight was failing and he died with Ouida at his side.
Courtesy: "Australia News", Melbourne, 20th February, 1997.

The Workers' Charter and Investment
by Raja Collure General Secretary, C. P. S. L.
General Secretary to the Sri Lanka Communist Party (CPSL), Raja Collure, in a press release issued yesterday, rejects the idea that the implementation of the Workers' Charter would adversely affect industrial and business activity and discourage local and foreign investment in the country.
On the contrary, he argues the Workers' Charter, coupled with the further augmentation of the apparatus for conciliation and resolution of disputes, will help ensure the maintenance of industrial harmony.
Mr. Raja Collure's statement in full is as follows:
The Communist Party of Sri Lanka calls on the government to take necessary measures to implement the Workers' Charter.
It is widely known that the Communist Party of Sri Lanka and the trade unions under its leadership were in the forefront of the campaign for a comprehensive charter embodying the basic rights of workers and members of trade unions for several decades. They have continued to do so under the present government and are presently pressing for its implementation. In fact the drawing up and the implementation of a Workers' Charter is an important item contained in the election manifesto upon which the PA government came to power.
We reject the argument that the implementation of the Workers' Charter would adversely affect industrial and business activity and discourage local and foreign investment in the country. On the contrary the implementation of the Workers' Charter coupled with the further augmentation of apparatus for conciliation and

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1362 Politics arid Life ir Curt Tires
IT IS WIDELY KNOWN THAT THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SRI LANKA AND THE TRADE UNIONS UNDER ITS LEADERSHIP WERE IN THE FOREFRONT OF THE CAMPAIGN FOR A COMPREHENSIVE CHARTER EMBODYING THE BASIC RIGHTS OF WORKERS AND MEMBERS OF TRADE UNIONS FOR SEWERAL DECADES. THEY HAWE CONTINUED TO DO SOUNDER THE PRESENT GOVERNMENT AND ARE PRESENTLY PRESSING FORITSIMPLEMENTATION. NFACT THE DRAWING-UP AND THE IMPLEMENTATION OF A WORKER'S CHARTER IS ANIMPORTANT ITEMCONTAINED IN THEELECTIONMANIFESTO UPON WHICH THE PA
AM
LLLL LL LLLLGL LL LMuuLL LLLGLS GLTLLLLLLL LL LLL LLLLL CLCMS LGGGLC LLLLCLLS Secretary of the Communist Party of India and former Minister of Home Affairs of India, on "The Infamational Cortin Tunist Movement Today"at the Sugeeshvara Hall, Colombo 08, on August 14th, 1998,
L.-R.: Tharmbirmutlu Draisingam, Faja Coure and sindrajit Gupta,
Karl Marx discovered the laws of the rise, development and doom of Capitalist, and thereby scientifically prowed that the violent overthrow of Çapitalism ärid its replacerTent by communis II were inevitable. In 1847 the secret Society known as the Communist League was formed under Marx's direction. This was the first attempt to organize an international Communist Party, Marx organized support and assistance for the Paris Commune of 1871, for he realised its world historical importance as the prototype of the proletarian state.
 

TL Workers“ CargréJrld Irive-ISTIérf 1363
resolution of industrial disputes, in our wiew, will help ensure the maintenance of industrial harmony. The PA government's successes in promoting industrial harmony during the last two years testifies to this potential. In this respect it is also important that the government maintains Contin LJOUS Cons Litations With the trade uniors,
Some of those who we he mentiy campaign against the implementation of the Workers' Charter are not motivated with the objective of establishing harmonious and stable relations in the industrial sphere. They belong to those sections of the business community who are noted for unfair labour practices including the non-payment of wages set by the Wages Board, avoidance of payment of Provident Fund and Employees Trust Fund benefits to Workers, evasion of payment of taxes and Customs duties and resort to illicit means of enriching themselves. It will be tragic if the government accedes to the behests of such forces, who are also bent on the destabilization of the government in order to attain their OWr ends,
The path to industrial harmony and stability lay in the imple Tentation of the Workers' Charter together with the adoption
of other measures refe Tred to earlier.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, August 6th, 1996,
Prof. Wiswa Warnapala, an aLuthority in Political Science, in reviewing the Sinhala edition of the author's book "Lenin and Asia" states : "Duraisinga II, who has kept a consistent and abiding imlerest in the causa of socialismti, front the prime of his youth to this day, has done a great service to the Sinhala reading public by producing this useful piece of work which, in the eyes of all interested in socialist in Sri Lanka, is certain to help both students of politics and history and the new generation of Left politicians, many of whom practise the art of politics with less theoretical understanding than their precursors",

Page 143
Remembering Hedi Keuneman
by Sri Lankan Academic
January 6th, 1991 is the seventy-fifth birth anniversary of Hedi Stadlon — known better in Sri Lanka as Hedi Keuneman (first wife of Pieter Keuneman) who lived in the island from 1940 to 1945, and was one of the best-known activists of the left movement of that period.
Many remember her well and to others, she is now a legendary figure, whose dynamism, militancy and dedication are still talked about. Like a comet, she blazed across the skies and disappeared, but has re-emerged again into our view after 45 years.
Born Hedi Simon, in Vienna in 1916, to an assimilated Jewish family, her father was Dr. Hans Simon, an economist and lawyer and her mother was Else Reis, a well educated Viennese. The family was part of the sophisticated, intellectual and cultural milieu of Vienna, Simon's great uncle being Johann Strauss, the famous composer of light music.
PHILOSOPHY
Hedi, an only child, went to a famous event garde girls' school (gymnasium) in Vienna whose principal, Dr. Eugienia Schwarz Weld, Was known for her advanced views. Some of the teachers who influenced her were socialists. On leaving school, she studied philosophy for two years (1934 - 1935) at the University of Vienna under Professor Schlick. But because of the anti-Semitism of the period and the fascist threat, the family moved to Switzerland and Hedi's father, who had contacts in Britain, sent her to Newnham College, Cambridge. She lived there from 1936-1939, and she did a Moral Sciences tripos, Part I, obtaining the only first that year; for Part II she took the Psychology tripos.

Remembering Hedi Keuneman 1365
Cambridge in the 1920s and 1930s was intellectually and politically an exciting place. The university had produced dissidents and famous gurus, Bertrand Russell, Wittgens Tein and G. M. Moore in Philosophy; E. M. Foster and F. R. Leavis in English; J. D. Bernal, J. B. S.Haldane in science; and Maurice Dobb and Keynes in economics. The years of the economic depression of the early 1930s, the rise of fascism in Germany, the Spanish Civil War and Mussolini's aggression in Abyssinia, politicised the students, the Marxists, in particular were active; they captured the labour and socialist societies in Cambridge University as well as the Majlis- which grouped the Indian students and became a strong anti-imperialist organisation. For Hedi there was an added reason for her political commitment - namely the virulent antisemitism of that period. As she writes "the racial discrimination suffered by the Jews in Austria made me feel specially sympathetic to the victims of colonial rule and strengthened my determination to identify with the fight for the freedom and independence of colonial peoples".
COMMUNIST PARTY
Many students in Cambridge became members and supporters of the British Communist Party. There were numerous issues in local British politics which mobilised the students; one was the rising numbers of unemployed, the hunger marches and the agitation against the iniquities and class differences of Britain. Students in Cambridge were also inspired by young communists like John Conford and others of the International Brigade who died in Spain, fighting against Franco's regime.
Communism to them was the answer to Fascism. The other issue that mobilised the left students was that of anti-imperialism, and during the 1930s, there was a coming together of Asian nationalists and the British communists - many of the students from India and Sri Lanka also becoming active in the British Communist Party.
Hedi's communist friends in Cambridge were a fellow refugee from Vienna, Eric Hobsbawn (the Historian), several Indians including Mohan Kumaramangalam (later a Minister in Indira Gandhi's Cabinet) and a group of Sri Lankan students - P. Kandiah, Vaidialingam and

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1366 Po/iticS a/7ď Lfľa fľ7 ()|Jr. To Tlg5
BORN HED SIMON, IN VIENNA IN 1916, TO AN ASSIMILATED JEWISH FAMILY, HERFATHER WASDR. HANS SIMON, AN ECONOMIST AND LAWYER AND HERMOTHER WAS ELSE REIS, AWELL EDUCATED WIENNESE. THE FAMILY WAS PART OF THE SOPHISTICATED, INTELLECTUAL AND CULTURAL MILIEU OF VIENNA, SIMON'S GREAT UNCLE BEING JOHANN STRAUSS, THE FAMOUS COMPOSER OF LIGHT MUSIC.
dadi KGPLrErmlar) Painting by Stanley Abeysingha
Hedi Kaunarrar (first wife of Pieter Keuner ar) lived in Caylor from 1940 - 1945. The author of this book, T. Duraisingarn and Hedr Keulemar were active mornbers of the Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union. We helped with the publication of its journal, the Lanka-Soviet Journal and other publica fiors. Hedi, an only child, went to a famous event garde girls' School (gymnasium) in Vienna whose principal, Dr. Eugienia Schwarz Weld, was known for her advanced wiews, Sortle of the teachers who influenced her wore socialists. On leaving school, she studied philosophy for two years (1934 - 1935) at the University of Wienna under Professor Schlick. But because of the anti-Semitism of the period and the fascist threat, the family moved to Switzerland and Hedi's father, who had contacts in Britain, sent her to Newnham College, Cambridge. She lived there from 1936-1939, and she did a Moral Sciences tripos, Part I, obtaining the only first that year; for Part II sho took the Psychology tripOS.
€3u Fiw:*
 

Femembering Hedi Keunermar 1367
Pieter Keuneman. Many of those students including Hedi, used to travel at Weekends to London to Work with Krishna Menon's India League. Here she met many Indian nationalists including Indira Gandhi.
Hedi married Pieter Ke Luneman in Ascoma, Switzerland in September 1939 and after he had completed his law examinations in London. On arrival in Sri Lanka in 1940she plunged intopolitical activity She Wore the Sari, lived very simply, often walking bare foot, identified closely with the lives of the working people,
Hedi was active in many aspects of party work-in supporting the strikes in Colombo of that period, in campaigning for the Communist party and actively helping to run the Friends of the Soviet Union. She recalls that "many of those interested in our work were middle class and English educated, students, teachers, clerks and I was therefore able to address meetings in English. Work in the reading room and library of the Friends of the Soviet Union, helping with the publication of journals and leaflets and travelled outside Colombo to other centres in order to widen membership. I loved doing this since it gave me an opportunity to stay at the homes of supporters and make many friends".
During her first two years in Sri Lanka, Hedi also lectured in Logic at the University in Colombo and also taught at the Modern School started by Doreen Wickremesinghe. In 1942 the Communist Party's policy was to support the war effort and to co-operate with the government in civil defence and food control measures. Hedi was trained in air raid precaution work.
CAMPUS
The Communist Party also supported the creation of Cooperative Societies and Communists were encouraged to stand for election in each localities. Hedi was elected as President of the Rendapola Co-operative Society. She writes" remember this as perhaps the most satisfying Work did because it made a genuine contribution to help the local population to get a fair supply of foodstuffs with their coupons. Our chief enemy were the blackmarketeers and remember

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arriving at our Co-op, very early, long before opening time every morning, in order to prevent illegitimate black market dealings through the sale of food destined for the local people. Later I also did a supervisory job, touring a number of Colombo stores. This work offered me the chance of practical, day to day contact with the women who shopped there, and to gain their confidence in spite of the colour of my skin. When rice became very scarcel also tried to persuade women to adopt to other foods by carrying "such food around on a trolley and offering it to the women to taste". Hedi was so active in promoting the alternative cereal bajiri, that she was popularly known in Colombo as "bajirinona'.
At the end of the Second World War, Hedi - aged 30 returned to Europe to see her mother and then decided to stay on. Although she had played such an active role in left politics, she was lost to history.
Luckily she has been re-discovered living in Hampstead, London, with her second husband, the Austrian pianist and musicologist Peter Stadlen.
We hope she can be persuaded to write about the years she spent in Sri Lanka - for her story is not merely that of an individual but forms a part of the political history of Sri Lanka.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 6th January, 1991.
in "Capital" Marx made a strictly scientific analysis of the foundations of capitalism as a historically determined mode of production, revealed the economic law of motion of bourgeois society in its rise, development and decline, and gave scientific proof of the inevitable doom of capitalism and the triumph of Communism.

Vivienne GOOneWardene The Stormy Petrel
by Pulsara Liyanage
(September 18th marks the 80th birthday of Vivienne Goonewardene (1916-1996), Sri Lanka's best known woman leftist. Her biography is being written by Pulsara Liyanage, Senior Lecturer in Western Classics at the University of Kelaniya and a former political prisoner. We feature here the first chapter.)
Are rebels born Or made? In the Case of Vivienne Goonewardene, environment and circumstances only helped to bring out those qualities that were innate in her: an intolerence of what she perceived as wrong or unjust.
Vivie's first playmate was Roslyn. Close to her in age, Roslyn was the daughter of the domestic help of the Goonetilleka household. One day the two toddlers, both dressed in white, set out for a walk in the vast garden which surrounded the house. A grazing COW, recently calved, mistaking two little girls for her calf, attempted to nuzzle them. Seeing this and fearing possible harm to the children, Roslyn's mother ran to their rescue. She had to fight the beast to free the children. In the struggle with the cow, Roslyn's mother died. Roslyn made her home with the Goonetillekes. At the age of five (or there abouts) Vivie heard her mother reprimand Roslyn, who retorted that if she was punished she'd jump into the well. Vivie promptly wrote to Roslyn's father asking him to take his daughter home immediately because her life was in danger. Accompanied by relatives, Roslyn's father arrived at the Goonetilleke's in Gampaha in haste. Vivie recalls this as the only occasion her father caned her. Roslyn remained with the Goonetillekes' till she married.

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This spirited little girl was the eldest of the five children born to Dr. Don Allenson Goone tilleke and his wife Emily Angeline Goonewardene. Dr. Goonatilleke named his first born, Wiolet Vivienne, after the French nurse who helped to bring the little girl into the world, With these initials she became "Vivie" to all, for all time.
1916 was a good year to be born in. The first decade of the 20th century in Ceylon was a period of political, social and economic turmoil. Still a colony of the British Empire, these years witnessed the awakening of the people to assert themselves in diverse forms - as religious groups, nationalists, ethnic communities and even to for a labour movement. Wiwie's maternal grandfather, Don Jacolyne Rupesinghe Goonewardene, better known as Boralugoda Ralahamy, was involved in the Buddhist revival of the period and was one of those incarcerated in the context of the amit-Muslim riots of 1915. Into this family Vivie was born on the 18th of September of the following year, Her first home was in TissarTaharama (a remote but historical village in the dry zone) since Dr. Goonetilleke was stationed there at that time. Even now, in her 80th year, Vivie proudly proclaims that she was conceived in Tissamaharama, though born in Colombo. As a physician in the service of the Crown, (as public service was then known), Dr. Goonetilleke was transferable and served in diverse parts of the island. Therefore, in order to give their children a sound education, the parents decided to place them in boarding school, Vivienne, and later her sister Tulin, Were boarded at Musaeus College, ColorTibo, where they also had their education up to the Cambridge Matriculation Examination. Except for the brief period when the father was stationed at Gampaha, school wacations and holidays were spent at the maternal grandparents' at Boralugoda. Dr. Goonatilleke had instructed the school to permit their grandmother or their uncle Robert Gunawardene to remove thern from the boarding school. (Vivienne was later to put this arrangement to very good usel). The close association with the grandmother was important and influential in the lives of both Vivienne and Tulin. Their grandmother, known as Gunasekara Hamine of Siyane Korale was a much lowed and respected Woman of Boralugoda. Of the landed gentry and of great wealth, she

LGGGGLGGGGGL LLLLLLaLLLLLLL S LLLLLL aLLLLGLLLLL LLLLLL 1371
THE FIRST POLITICALACTION OF WIWENNE GOONEWARDENEWAS THE SELLING OF THE SURYA FLOWER INSTEAD OF THE POPPY ON THE 11TH OF NOVEMBER, 1934. THE PROCEEDS FROM THE SALE OF THE PCPPYFLOWER ON REMEMBRANCE DAY LOCALLY WAS TO BE FOR THE WELFAREOFTHECEYLONESEWAR WETERANS. INSTEAD OFTHIS THE BRITISH RULERSSENTMOST OF THE MONEY BACK TO ENGLAND, LEAVING A MEAGRE PROPORTION TO THE LOCAL WETER ANS. DISSATISFIED WITH THIS ARRANGEMENT THE EX-SERVICEMEN'S ASSOCATION ALONG WITH THE MARXST DOMINATED YOUTH LEAGUES DECIDED ON THE INDGENOUS SURIYA, FLOWER TO RIWAL THE IMPERIALISTS'POPPY ON REMEMBRANCE DAY, INSTEAD OF THE POPPY WAS SOLD THE SURIYAFLOWER AND THE FUNDS OF THE SALE USED FOR LOCAL SOCIAL PURPOSES. YOUNGLEFTISTS INCLUDING THE BRITISH-BORNDOREEN WICKREMASINGHE SPEARHEADED THE SURYAMAL CAMPAIGN WHICH HERALDED THE ENTRY OF THE MARXISTS INTONATIONAL POLITICS. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, ISA FOUNDER OF THE MARXIST MOVEMENT AND OF THE FREEDOMMOVEMENT OFSRI LANKA. HE WAS ALSOA FOUNDER OF THE SURYAMAL MOVEMENT AND WORKED WITH WWENNE INHER POLITICAL ACTIVITIES FORMANY DECADES.
Wowfie") 79 Gooneywardegra E.O9, 796 - 04.9, 1996 Sri Lärkas basť krpyw 7 Worl77an Mefisť
The main support for their perialist powers in their colonies and in the nortinally independent Countrigos Were the landawners and the compradors, The later thrived as middlemen in the trade between the land owners and the foreign entrepreneurs. The fact that much of the land was concentrated in the hands of big land owners made it easy to exploit the peasants with little or no land of their own by Teans of crippling rents typical of the feudal era. The landowners robbed the peasants of most of their produce and showed no desire to introduce capitalist farming Tethods,

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however did not confine herself to the walauwwa, but personally saw to the welfare of the village and the well-being of the villagers. With the lack of hospitals and midwives, Gunasekara Hamine filled the lacuna and assisted at the birth of every single child in the area and provided post-natal care and advice to the mothers. Vivie acknowledges this example of her grandmother's-along with the orientation of their school - with imbibing in Tulin and herself a strong sense of service to the people. While Vivie devoted her life to Left politics, Tulin joined the cooperative movement. A strong believer in the movement, the latter remains a committed and active, and perhaps also one of its longest serving, members.
At Gampaha the physicians' residence was quite close to the hospital. In fact the hospital's mortuary was just up the road. Memories of childhood recall visits to the hospital, the sick, the relatives of the departed and the pain of others. Between Boralugoda and Gampaha a little child's conscience is awakened to an awareness of the living conditions and the suffering of ordinary people, the poor, the less fortunate; those who were different from her immediate family and its environment. Her father's dedication to his calling and his selfless service to the sick, impressed her. She respected him and loved him for that.
THE CRUALITY OF COURAGE
Holidays at Boralugoda were a treat for the children; one filled with pleasant memories of adventure, daring and fun. Their playground was over 100 acres of land and the possibilities springing from the imaginations of children were endless. A bath meant a long walk over a paddy field and across a river to a pond. Their guide and chaperone was the best a child could hope for; none other than Aunt Caroline - Caro for short - who was less than ten years Vivie's elder and her favourite aunt. How so?"She was very naughty" replies Vivie with a smile and a twinkle in her eyes. On the way to the bath Aunt Caro taught them to swim. This was in the river and her teaching aids Were dried Coconuts. The nuts were tied to their chests and the children were asked to float and swim and Caro would slowly remove the nuts. Down would go the children. Caro was always there to rescue

Vivienne Goonewardene - The Stormy Petrel 1373
them and they had to try again with the coconuts. Small wonder, with such a persevering teacher, her star pupil is a good Swimmer - good enough to save her puppy from drowning in the sea. A knowledge to swim was not the only attribute bequeathed to Vivie by Aunt Caroline. if there is any credence to the folk belief that running under the belly of an elephant makes you courageous, Aunt Caro should take a bow for that single quality Vivie is most famous for-her courage. Believing in the folktale, or at least Wanting her chargesto, the young chaperOne would induce the little children to run under the bellies of the elephants who had been brought for their daily baths. This too she would insist the children do many times. Every time mother came to know of this escapade Caro would receive a caning for her efforts in teaching the young to be courageous. Not that the grandmother did not fancy courage in her grandchildren, but that she feared the excitement of the tickled elephant, and its very probable after-effects on a little child i. e. mortality. The presence of the mahout was the only defence of all those involved in the sport. Caning notwithstanding, the lessons would be repeated.
ls this what she attributed her courage to? A quiet smile replies the query and names the owner of the elephants, none other than her grandfather and his family, for instilling that particular quality in a young, impressionable and receptive child. "Grandfather was a sort of a chief or headman in the village and as such he was also the chief arbiter of disputes in the village. He never gave way to cheating and lying and dishonesty".
After the many sports along the way the children would go to the pond for their bath. There the chaperone would perform her duty and see to it that the instructions were strictly adhered to - the children were not permitted to get into the pond; they had to stay out of the pond and perform their bath. This done, Aunt Caro would take the clean and well-exercised children safely home.
To the casual listener at the daily forums at Vivie's dining table, it was perplexing to hear of the many pranks she got up to at School and also be informed that she was appointed the head girl of that very same school, Musaeus College, in 1933. When asked in private exactly why she was appointed to that post in School, she looks startled, truly

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surprised if not a little annoyed at what must seem to her a stupid question. But then she Smiles broadly and replies, "because I was a very good student. I was good in my studies, in drama, in Sport." Going through the material carefully one also finds out that many of the more talked about acts of defiance she got up to Were precisely as the headgirl of the school One must hasten to add that she had very Commendable and logical reasons to explain each of these acts. Irrespective of the worthiness of the deed, she always took her inevitable punishment, even though it proved to be a non deterrent.
THE FIRST POLITICAL ACTION
One such was the selling of the Suriya flower instead of the poppy on the 11th of November, 1934. The proceeds from the sale of the poppy flower on Remembrance Day locally was to be for the welfare of the Ceylonese war veterans. Instead of this the British rulers sent most of the money back to England, leaving a meagre proportion to the local veterans. Dissatisfied with this arrangement the Ex-Servicemen's Association along with the Marxist dominated Youth Leagues decided on the indigenous suriya flower to rival the imperialists' poppy. On Remembrance Day, instead of the poppy, was sold the Suriya flower and the funds of the sale used for local purposes. Young Leftists including the British-born Doreen Wickremasinghe spearheaded the Suriyamal Campaign which heralded the entry of the Marxists into national politics.
On Rememberance Day young Vivienne Goonetilleke sold the Suriya flower in her school to students and teachers. She recalls that it was a 100% success with students and only about half of that with the older generation, the teachers. Vivie however did not stopher campaign with the sale of the suriya flower. She went further. She also induced the students to place their boxes of instruments atop the blackboards and at 11.00 a.m. to topple these to obliterate the sound of the gun salute. The students responded. The sound of falling boxes of instruments with the blackboards making a deafening sound throughout the school was music in Vivie's ears. The culprit was found out to be none other than the headgirl of the school, who was duly punished at assembly.

Vivienne Goonewardene - The Stormy Petrel 1375
This, at the age of 18 was her first act against imperialism. Starting with this she remains a staunch anti-imperialist, be the imperialists the British or the Americans and the affected state Sri Lanka or Cuba. Now at the age of 79 she continues to speakout against imperialism and solidarize with affected nations and peoples.
Getting involved in this manner in the Suriyamal campaign was also Vivie's first Conscious political action: a culmination of sorts of several years of radicalization of the conscience in an environment enriched with political discussion, the activity of uncle Philip and Robert, and her own voracious reading. The two uncles played their part too in providing their young and intelligent niece with political literature. One of the memorable books given to her by uncle Philip was Lenin: On Women. Simplified books on Marxism were to follow.
This was also the year in which the island was hit by the most virulent epidemic of malaria. The burgeoning Left Movement plunged into work in the worst affected areas: nursing the sick, feeding them, etc. The Ex-Servicemen's Association donated the funds they had collected in the suriyamal campaign to these youth who were helping the sick. Young Vivienne was involved in a different way. The residence of Dr. Goonatilleke was converted into a virtual hospital. The long 'L' shaped verandah was completely given over to the sick. While the father medicated, mother and daughter nursed the sick. "We kept ice packs on their heads to get the fever down and covered their bodies with thick blankets. A lot of the sick, father kept in our home were little children". The salient feature of this whole experience to Vivie was that the most affected were also the poorest even from among the poor.
CRISIS AT HOME
Amidst all of this, the youthful student had arrived at a crisis in her own life. She who had hitherto combatted, albeit verbally, the conservatism of the older generation, now faced the whole weight of it in her father's refusal to consider his daughter proceeding in higher studies. That she was intelligent and clever he already knew, but the burden of conventional norms also bore heavily upon him. Young women of good family and wealth, with a secondary education, had then to be given in marriage to a young man of similar background and good education. Higher education was certainly a dis-qualification for a

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woman if the above were to be her aspirations. Very much a man of his times, Dr. Goonetilleke believed this. Wivienne had already passed the London Matriculation Examination at the age of 16 and while still residing at the boarding school at Musaeus College and encouraged by Marjorie Davidson, her teacher and the daughter of the Director of Education, had sat for the University's Scholarship Examination. Dr. Goonetilleke was ignorant of most of this activity. Uncle Robert's authority to remove the children from school had been used by uncle and niece to attend classes and to sit for the examination, Vivienne had even been awarded an exhibition at the scholarship examination. With a scholarship to study for English Honours at the University College, Colombo, she faced the father's Conservatism. Her father's friends Perimpamayagam, W. Coomarasamy and J. N. Arunugal, Carne to her rescue. They reasoned with him, not on grounds of modernity but on social justice; she has won a scholarship to pursue English Honours and as such if she does not go, that placement is lost even to another student, which was a Waste, they said. They Went on to tell him that he will come under criticism by the people for a rich man's daughter wasting a placement at the university since now it could not be awarded to another. This argument Worked and enabled the young Woman to embark upon a University education.
At University too she was boarded at the Women's hostel on Queens Road, Having lowed the theatre and especially acting and having hitherto been confined to school productions, Vivie revelled in the possibilities now open to her at University. She met Prof. Ludowyck and expressed her wish to join the Dram Soc (as the Drama Society was known). The Professor said "most certainly' but the father said, "definitely not". No, it was.
Even without the DrainSoc Vivienne's life at Univesity prowed to be quite dramatic, For instance there were Sydney Soysa and "Jingle'Dissanayake, colleagues at University, both of whom Wooed her and both of whom she rejected. Sydney Soysa was helped by his pet leopard cub. One day as she sat reading by the Window in her room a creature gave a low growl behind her shoulder. She looked

Wigg Goole Wardara - The Sonny Pafra 1377
HERBERT GEORGE WELLS, ENGLISH WRITER, WAS BORN AT BROMLEY, KENT, ON SEPTEMBER 21, 1866. AFTER GRADUATING FROM THE ROYAL COLLEGE OF SCIENCE IN 1888, HE TAUGHT UNTILIN 1893, HE BECAMEA JOURNALIST, PUBLISHINGHIS FIRST NOWEL THE TIME MACHINE IN 1895. ASA, NOWELIST HE IS OPEN TO THE CRITICISM THAT HE FAILS TO SHED THE ROBE OF THE REFORMER FOR THAT OF THE UNTRAMME LED ARTIST. NEWERTHELESS HE HAS EXERCISED A PROFOUND INFLUENCE ON HIS GENERATIONAS AN ABLE EXPONENT OF THE APPLICATION OF SCENTIFIC METHOD ON A UNIWERSAL SCALE.
Herbert George Wells Earl of 2.9. BBE
The works of H. G. Wells falls roughly into three classes. The first describes the romance of the lower Tiddle class. Of his novels, Kipps (1905) is acclaimed his masterpiece. Among the other novels of this type by Wells Were Love and Mr. Lewisham (1900), The History of Mr. Polly (1910), Tonio Burgay (1909), Mr. Briting Sees It Through (1916) and The World of Williar Clissold (1926), The second class are is scientific rortances which include The WSElle Mar (1897), The Food of the Gods (1904) and The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The third class are his general works, among whom are First and Las Things (1908), New World for Old (1908), The Open Conspiracy (1928) and The Outline of History (1920).

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out in alarm and there was the young man who gave a bow and introduced himself, "Sydney Soysa, if you please". Romance and studies were not all there was to University life. There was politics too. In 1936 the Duke of Gloucester visited Ceylon. Professor Marrs Was keen that the students meet him. The students, however demonstrated against the Duke's proposed visit. This was an eventful period in politics too. The LSSP had been formed in 1935. They led anti-fascist demonstrations against Franco, in Colombo, and Vivie joined these demonstrations along with other University students. All of this, the romance and the politics, was too much for the father. With only the first years' examination being completed, the young scholar was brought home with a firm negative concerning her University education. This time the father kept his foot down. Her lecturers at University pleaded with the father to let his daughter attend the University since they considered it a shame to disrupt the education of such an intelligent young student. Among these delegations from University to plead her cause was also a Buddhist Bikkhu, her lecturer in Pali. All these appeals fell on deaf ears.
Yet, undaunted, Vivienne decided on an External degree. Uncle Robert again came to her rescue to solve the problem of registration and examination fees. Since she could not attend lectures or classes of any sort, she had to abandon her love for an English Honours course. Instead she registered for a General Degree in Arts. Her perennial love of reading masked any hint of preparation for a University examination from her father. He never suspected the frequent visits of Harry Jayawardene to be anything but what he was told they were all aboutto discuss the many books Vivie so fervently read. In reality Harry Jayawardėne was helping Vivie with her Economics paper. About the Same time and unknown to the father, she also attended political rallies and meetings organized by the LSSP, where Philip spoke. As always, Uncle Robert was her accomplice in this too.
Courtesy: "Lanka Guardian", Colombo, 15th September, 1996.

Leslie and Vivie
by Pulsara Liyanage
This is chapter 2 of the book by Pulsara Liyanage on Vivie and concludes the preview of the biography-in-progress.)
He was charming and reserved. He was tall and good-looking. Having travelled to France and England, studied law in the latter Country and been admitted to Lincoln's Inn as a barrister, he had returned home to be a member of the newly formed LSSP. Clad in 'national dress' he was passionately committed to regaining independence for Ceylon. All of these apart, what appealed most to Vivie about Leslie Goonewardene was his sincerity and frankness. They met at a Poster Exhibition on the Spanish Civil War held at the building which now houses the '80 Club'. Vivie had gone with Aunt Caro, and Leslie with his friend Philip Goonewardene. After the initial introductions, they were to meet each other often at the many political meetings of the LSSP.
Leslie's father, Dr. Andrew Simon Goonewardene, visited the same exhibition, accompanied by one of his daughters. Seeing Vivie, he had a premonition which he voiced to his daughter. "That is the sort of girl whom Leslie will marry one day", he said. He wanted to know who the young woman was. Her credentials would also have pleased him very much, for he learnt that she was not only the niece of Robert and Philip Gunawardene but also the daughter of his batch-mate at Medical College, Allanson Goonatilleka. After the first meeting Leslie fell into the habit of dropping in at Diddeniya occasionally with Philip.
Leslie was well liked and well-received by the Goonetilleka family. He was greatly admired by the patriarch, not because he came from a well-established family of great wealth, but because despite all of that, he was so simple and so devoid of arrogance. To him, as it was for his daughter, this simplicity in Leslie symbolized honesty and frankness. Often, Dr. Goonetilleke advised his own sons Danny and Rajah to "be like Leslie".

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The year Vivie and Leslie met, 1937, was also a significant year for the LSSP. The party was clearly emerging as the most popular party in Ceylon. What came to be known as the "Bracegirdle incident" was an important contribution to the ascendance of the LSSP innational politics. The party's battle-ground had shifted to the High Court which ruled against the deportation of Bracegirdle. The LSSP was jubilant. To celebrate this victory and to broaden its political implications the party Organized a public meeting at Galle Face which turned into a popular protest against the actions of imperial rulers. Vivie attended this meeting with Aunt Caro. At the end of the successful meeting Uncle Philip invited his niece and Sister to dinner. With him was Leslie. The venue was the same as the Poster Exhibition. During dinner Leslie passed a note to Vivie declaring his love for her. Given the occasion and the nationalist fervour of the young Sama Samajist, it was written in Sinhala. Vivie replied with a smile.
Leslie Continued with his Occasional visit to the Goonetillekes at Diddeniya. Much more frequent was the exchange of letters between the two young people. Vivie got to know Leslie to be a very restrained man: "he was not very exuberant in expressing his emotions even to those whom he loved and cared for very much". She respected and admired him for his sense of loyalty to his beliefs and principles as well as to those near and dear to him. Vivienne had to rely on the good offices of Amarasekara, her father's dispenser, to post her letters addressed to Leslie. Amarasekara was told that these Were Vivie's articles to the party paper of which Leslie was the editor. Happly Simon posted them and eagerly purchased a copy of the paper each Week to read Haamu's article. They never appeared in print. Suspicion began to grow on Simon. Knowing well his employer's thinking on the subject, fearing for his own prospects given his complicity in the matter, he decided to "tell all" to Vivie's father. Having done this, he also informed Danny, Vivie's brother of what he had just done, so Vivie would also be warned. When the father came home from work that day, the daughter was well prepared. He had only one word to describe the hitherto 'exceptional young man', which he did, having summoned the family around the table: "Bastard" he said. "He is not to step into this house again". "Why?" the daughter wanted to know. "What has he done?

Leslie and Vivie 1381
You wanted your sons to grow up like him. Why this sudden change?" "He has been Writing letters to you, and wants to marry you without my permission". "What is wrong with that?" Leslie belonged to the "wrong" caste. Not all of his good qualities, looks, education, wealth or even the factor of friendship could override the social convention of caste when it came to an offspring's marriage, in the thinking of an otherwise erudite man. Vivie, through previous experience, had arrived at the same knowledge and conclusions as had her mother concerning her father: arguing with him was of no use; he would never accept your point of view and the exercise hardly ever was constructive. Therefore instead of arguing, Vivie, as was now her wont, was determined to overcome this new opposition to her desire.
Knowing well the conventionalism of her father, did she not expect this outcome? She did; but not this vehemence of the patriarch. She had formerly annoyed her father, even causing much embarrassment to the man, taunting him for his castism. One such occasion was when the father was dining with a rich friend whose caste was considered "low". Vivie, discovering the man who attended to the household laundry, the dhobi, in the house seated on a low stool, invited the man to sit in a high chair, saying out loud for the benefit of the father and his guest, that the master was dining attable with a man of the dhobi's caste and so there was no problem if the dhobi himself sat in a high chair in the Doctor's house, explaining to the poor bewilderedman that all of this social 'convention' was ultimately a matter of wealth. While the dhobi frantically declined the proffered chair, the father knew the barb was directed at him. Now she knew this thesis to be faulty, at least as far as her father's consciousness was concerned.
Henceforth there were a new set of rules concerning the young woman. She was not to leave the house on any pretext. She was a virtual prisoner in her own home. The father refused to talk to his daughter. The daughter had nothing to say to the father. If she was seated attable, the father would not eat attable. She took to having her meals in her room; thus avoiding eating with the family and avoiding her father. Irreqular meals, unhappiness, etc., caused a drastic loss of weight in Vivie. From 105-107 lbs., which she always was, she became a mere 72 lbs. in weight.

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38.2 Frics are fries
HENRY FORD, AMERICANMANUFACTURER, WAS BORN AT GREENFIELD, MICHIGAN, U. S. A. ON30"JULY, 1863. HE IN HIS EARLY LIFE BECAME INTERESTED INMECHANICS ANDGAINEDEXPERIENCE IN ENGINEERING WORKSATDETROIT ANDELSEWHERE, EXPERIMENTING MEANWHILEIN MOTORCAR MANUFACTURE IN 1903 HE STARTED THE BUSINESS THAT GREWINTO THE FORD MOTOR CO., AND THUS BECAME THE LARGEST MAKER OF MOTORCARS IN THE WORLD, FORDIS ALSOA WRITER AND IS THE AUTHOR OF MY LIFE AND WORK, 1922, TO-DAY AND TO-MORROW, 1926 AND MY PHILOSOPHY OF INDUSTRY, 1929.
Eff y 3), Y S3. Largest Maker of Motor Cars in the World.
Leslie Goonawardene was charming and reserved. He wastall and good-looking, Having travelled to France and England, studied law in the latter country and LLLCL aLLLLL LLL LLLaLLLL LL LLCL LL LLLLLLLLS LL LLL LLLLLL HLLL L LL K member of the newly formed LSSP. Clad in 'national dress' he was passionately committed to regaining independence for Ceylon. All of these apart, what appealed most to Wiwie about Leslie Goonewardena was his sincerity and frankness, They met at a Poster Exhibition on the Spanish Civil War, held at the building which now houses the '80 Club". The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, had got down from the Spanish Republican Government posters Which were exhibited at this Poster Exhibition with other posters got down by another member of the LSSP, Wiwie had gone with Aunt Caro, and Leslie with his friend Philip Goonewardena. After the initial introductions, they were to
Tigat gach other ofte at the many politica| magtings of thi LSSP.
 

LOSIIe ar7d WWg 1383
THE BOOKMAN COMETH
Amidst all of the restraints and restrictions, the young lowers had discovered a new go-between in the guise of the "Bookman'. 'Bookmen' of yore performed the services of a mobile lending library, For a nominal surT you could borrow any number of books, to be returned on his next wisit. If you wished to own any of their books you could even purchase them. The particular "bookman" who frequented the Doctor's residence at Diddeniya would even recommend a particular book to Vivienne, the eagerly awaited piece of writing, namely a letter from Leslie, being concealed within its pages. Wiwie would promptly include that book among others to "read and return". When returning the books read, the kind "bookman"Would place that particular book separately - for it contained Wiwie's epistle to Leslie. So the correspondence was T1aintained.
Meanwhile Vivie's father occasionally received anonymous letters. These letters charged that he had shawed the daughter's hair or that she was very sick and he was neglecting her, etc. Upon receiving such a letter the father would take Vivie for an 'outing' in the car for the world to see that she was alive and well and head unshawen. These 'outings' were always those long trips to Colombo when he came to the 'City Dispensary" at Pettah to purchase his supply of medicines, These journeys were always known beforehand and infort Tiation passed on, courtesy the "Bookman'. Unknown to the father, Jack Kotalawala would park his car, with Leslie in it, behind Dr, Goonetilleke's. Leaving the daughter in the car the father would go into the pharmacy to Take his purchase, The daughter would rush to the window of the car behind for a glimpse of and a hurried chat With her lover, More than once Jack urged Wive to go back with them instead of returning horne with the father, for, after all, she was over 21, and a minor no longer. She always refused.
The reason she newer left with them was her mother. Wivienne lowed and cared for her nother who was suffering from asthma. It was she who sprayed her mother's throat twice a day, which brought the patient a nodicum of relief. The situation the young lowers found

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themselves confronting was an impossible one. Leslie was determined to change that. He wrote to the patriarch requesting him to let Vivienne go to uncle Philip's house where he could go and collect her. If within two weeks of the receipt of that letter the request was still denied, he, Leslie, would file a habeas Corpus in court. The request was ignored and within a fortnight a case had been filed in the Court of the District Judge. Leslie went to court with his lawyer, J. R. Jayawardene. Dr. Goonetilleke produced his daughter in court. The District Judge was British. He lent a patient ear to the controversy. Vivie herself spoke on her own behalf. The fact that she did so and did it very well impressed the Judge. As his main objection to his daughter marrying Leslie, Dr. Goonetilleke pointed out to the Judge that Leslie was a member of a "treacherous Party". He meant the LSSP which was calling for independence for Ceylon from the British. She herself was already a member of that same party, countered Vivie proudly. The Judge having observed that Leslie and Vivie seemed to be quite 'well-matched for each other' ordered the father to let his daughter, who was no longer a minor, act according to her wishes. The father and daughter parted company in the Court House. Vivie went with Harold Peiris who was a sympathizer of the LSSP and with whose family she made her home for a while. Her father Went home alone.
Vivie's sister Tulin recalls eagerly awaiting the outcome of the case in their home. She was seated in the verandah expecting the return of those who left in the morning. Only the father returned. He went past Tulin's chair, gently slapping her on the cheek, to his accustomed planter's chair and there burst into tears. Father and daughter were not to meet again or talk to each other for almost eight years.
From Harold Peiris, "Vivie went to Reggie Senanayaka's - also a member of the LSSP. In January 1939 the young lovers got married. The marriage itself comprised of its registration at the Kachcherie. The day of the marriage, Leslie's father hosted the couple to dinner at Panadura. Vivie liked her in-laws very much; especially her father-in-law, who gifted her with a copy of the Bible.

Leslie and Vivie 1385
The affection between Vivie and Leslie's family was mutual and the depth of it is quite apparent today, even to the casual visitor who happens to drop by amidst the visiting relatives.
The newlyweds made their first home in De Fonseka Place, Bambalapitiya. Apart from politics they shared a love for reading, singing and dancing. Leslie had taught Vivie French songs and they would sing together accompanied by Vivie on the piano. Vivie's love for dogs and her passion for the theatre, however, she could not share with Leslie. While Leslie did not dislike dogs, he was not too fond of them either - even though they always had dogs with them. For drama and the theatre Leslie hardly had the time owing to political activity. Politics were to take up all of his time and all of hers too. Even this initial period of being together was very brief.
In the following year Vivienne was to have their first child and Leslie was already in hiding as the LSSP had been made illegal and its leadership was on the wanted list. The party had also split in Dec./Jan. of 1939/40. Several of the leaders were in Custody or in self-exile in India. It was a period of great tension. In one of Leslie's hiding places was a couple as caretakers, who also looked after him and took care of him. Leslie's identity was not known to them. The woman was intrigued by the nocturnal habit of the gentleman, for she had observed that he always stayed indoors and never even stepped outside during the day. His Occasional visitor and his travel was always at night. One day Curiosity got the better of her and on one of Vivie's clandestine visits to Leslie, she was asked why the gentleman had such odd habits. Without hesitation Vivie replied "he has committed murder". That afforded safe passage for sometime until yet another place Could be found for him.
Days prior to her confinement Vivie desperately wanted simply to get a glimpse of Leslie whose movements were now even further restricted because the search for them by the state was intensified. With the police dogging her footsteps for just such

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an eventuality, the "meeting" was arranged at a most public place - the Mt.Lavinia beach. The "meeting" was to be a passing glance at each other, nothing more. On the appointed evening Vivie saw Leslie, face coloured for disguise. Leslie knew Vivie Would be upset at the whole turn of events for themselves as they approached the birth of their first child. "Keep your chin up" whispered Leslie as he passed his beloved Vivienne. She never forgot his advice. Thereafter as she braved each and every hurdle in her path, she also remembered to keep her chin up.
For the British Police the birth of Leslie's first child was an event at which they were certain of being able to nab him. For LSSPers like Reggie Senanayake, it was another opportunity to fool the British. For Vivie, notwithstanding recent mother-hood, it was a game. So all tall and "fair' men - friends, party members, supporters, were asked to visit Vivie on the very day the baby was born, clad in, "National dress'. The police was waiting for just such a man to visit her that day. Instead of one, they saw several who fit the description of the man they came to arrest! Fun and triumphant humour over the British was a good antidote for the pain and loneliness of the young mother with her baby.
Countesy: "Lanka Guardian", Colombo, 1st October, 1996.
"In our nuclear age dialogue and negotiations are equally needed by all, just as all need peace, security and confidence in the future. There is now no other sane method of solving disputed problems, no matter how acute and complex they are, except by negotiations. No single opportunity must be missed. Time does not Wait"
— L. I. Brezhnev

Nataraja Mahadeva
by Boswell
Nataraja Mahadeva died at the early age of 47, on 13th September, 1965. 31 years on, he is still remembered, with affection. Few people have succeeded in packing in a short life, So much achievement. He was a versatile genius. Born on 17th June, 1918, he was educated at the Jaffna Central College where he had a dazzlingly brilliant academic career. Year after year at college he carried away all the prizes.
At the University College he was awarded the Pettah Library English prize, at the London University Intermediate in Arts. He obtained a pass in the first division in the B. A. examination.
At the University he contributed articles, to the "Varsity News" under the pen name Falstaff. Few people could write English as well as he. His racy style and mordant wit earned for him a wide reputation. He also contributed cartoons to the paper, and even the Madras Hindu commented on the excellence of the cartoons. Mahadeva joined the public service as an Assistant Commissioner of Labour, and soon after he was placed in charge of the Employment Division, which was set up to deal with the postwar resettlement of labour, and unemployment Schemes.
In 1948 he was placed in charge of the Kandy and Hatton Divisions. And his reports on the Labour problems of those areas are still regarded as a model. In 1951, he was placed in charge of the enforcement Divisions and industrial relations. He was an authorised officer and arbitrator under the Industrial (disputes) Acts. And his awards were never challenged. As head of the enforcement Division he was responsible for the administration, and enforcement of Labour Legislation, and the wages Boards. During this period, he was responsible for the enactment of the major part of the labour legislation. The shop and employees regulations, the Wages Board Amendment

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NATARAJA MAHA DEWA DIED AT THE EARLY AGE OF 47, ON 13TH SEPTEMBER, 1965. 31 YEARS ON (1996), HE IS STILL REMEMBERED, WITH AFFECTION FEW PEOPLE HAVE SUCCEEDED INPACKING INA SHORT LIFE, SOMUCH ACHIEVEMENT. HE WASA WERSATILE GENIUS. BOR NON 17th JUNE 1918, HE WASEDUCATED AT THE JAFFNA CENTRAL COLLEGE, WHERE HE HADADAZZLINGLY BRILLIANT ACADEMICCAREER, YEAR AFTER YEAR AT COLLEGE HE CARRIED AWAY ALL THE PRIZES. AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HE WAS AWARDED THE PETTAHLIBRARY ENGLISH PRIZE, AT THE LONDON UNIVERSITY INTERMEDIATE IN ARTS. HE OBTAINEDA PASSIN THE FIRST DIVISION IN THE B. A. EXAMINATION. WHEN HE WAS AT THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, HE GOT INTERESTED IN THE SOVIET UNION, LENIN AND COMMUNISMAND
■ Wataraja Mahadewa T7. (JB. 1978 – 13.09, 1955
In his book, Lenin and Asia, ThambiTuttu Duraising art, a veteran of the revolutionary movement in Sri Lanka, considers Lenin's views on aspects of the national liberation movement in Asia and assesses his role in the awakening of that wast continent. Lenin is not only a historical personality; he is more alive than ever for a huge and ever growing number of people throughout the world. And no personality or teaching illumine the road for the emancipation of the Asian peoples - once considered to be "outside history - so wividly as Lenin and Leninism do. Duraisingart can only be praised for his lucid explanation of these issues. I sincerely hope that comrade Duraisingam's book, the fruit of long years of selfless labour, Will find a wide audience.
- D, E. W. Gurjasekara Chaim77an, Čornarmurisť Party of Sri Lan7ka (C. P. S. L. )
 

Wafaraja Mafladewa 389
acts, Employees Holidays Act, The Maternity Benefits Amendments Act, and Maternity Benefits Regulations, and the Employment of Women, young persons, and children acts were some of the most important ones. He functioned as secretary to the parliamentary advisory committee on labour legislation.
Mahadeva's abiding contribution was the establishment of the Employees Provident Fund scheme and the enactment of Employees Provident Fund and the setting up of the administrative organisations for the working of the scheme.
Mahadeva was not a lawyer, but his draft of the various legislative enactments were seldom altered or corrected by the legal draftsman,
In 1958, he was appointed as the Deputy Commissioner of Labour and served on the National Wages Policy Commission. In 1961 he retired from government service under the language policy and joined the Employers Federation, as its secretary. He was the first Sri Lankan national to hold the post.
Mahadeva brought to any job he undertook a dedication that is Seldon emcountered in the public Service.
Mahadeva was a first class Labour Administrator. But he was also a good sculptor, a superb Writer in Tamil and English, and Cartoonist. He wrote the script in Tamil for a documentary on Matottam, a feature on the far nous Thiruketheswarar TTemple. This was broadcast on S.L. B. C. shortly after his death.
Yet, with all these tremendous achievements to his credit, Mahadeva remained a humble and modest man. Whether in the public Service or in the Tercantile sector, he newer sought the lime light or to enhance his own position.
The spontaneous tributes paid to his Temory and the vast attendance at his funeral is a measure of the respect he commanded. Perhaps the greatest tribute which Mahadeva would have liked was paid by the Labour Officers, who worked under him, whosent a massive Wreath, with the simple inscription, "To a gentleman",
Colorfbo, 10th October, 1996.

Page 156
What is Communism 2
by Dr. Colvin R. De Silva B. A., Ph. D., Barrister-at-law,
At a time when the terms "Communism" and "Bolshevism" are being freely bandied about to divert attention from the misdeeds of a bankrupt leadership by drawing a literally "red" herring across the trail of genuine criticism, must thank the Editor of the Ceylon Daily News for affording me the opportunity of placing the Communist or Socialist point of view before the public. At the same time - Communism being a complete and unified philosophy of social life, - I trust that it will be fully realised that an adequate exposition, with all its attendant qualifications, of so vast a subject is impossible in the short space of a single article.
MEANS OF PRODUCTION
Historical analysis proves that society is not a stable entity but a developing or evolving organism subject to the process of growth and decay. A particular set of relationships characterizes any particular society and distinguishes it from those that precede or succeed it. Thus the characteristic relationships of primitive society are different from those of feudalism and they in turn from those of capitalism.
Sir Henry Maine defines the change from feudal society to Capitalist Society as the progress from status to contract as the basis of social relations. This is the legal aspect. But as Law is only the definition of already established social relations it is more important to grasp the economic change that underlies this process.

What is Communism ? 1391
The basic factor is the ownership of the means of production. The maintenance of life is based on production. Consequently the question of the ownership of the means of production is of vital importance to society. The characteristic feature of feudal production is the ownership of the means of production by the producer and the appropriation by him of the product.
With the growth of scientific knowledge and the development of machine technique, individual possession of the tools of production by the producer became increasingly impossible. The producer has been divorced from the ownership of the means of production. Socialised modes of production came into being, but, as before, the owner of the means of production continued to appropriate the resultant product.
Thus we arrive at that characteristic feature of Capitalist economy - individual ownership and appropriation of the product of a socialised productive process. This contradiction itself affords the clue to the direction of social change in modern society.
BASIC OBJECTIVE
From a social point of view the resolution of this contradiction is the basic objective of Communism.
The defence of capitalism has always been based not on its moral desirability but on its achievement in expanding production. The moment that justification is absent its entire position is undermined.
That production has expanded under capitalism is true. But it is today equally true that the capitalist structure has itself come to be the most serious drawback to the expansion of production. What is more, it is amply demonstrable that the inherent contradictions of capitalism have themselves developed pari-passu to such a point as to make it impossible even to maintain the level of production already attained. The League of Nations' Economic Survey has shown that world production has slipped back in 1933 from the 1929 level to the 1913 level while population has increased during the same period.

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1392 Politics and Life fr) ČOur TTTeRS
MOTIVE OF CAPITALISTIC PRODUCTION
The reason for this is to be found in the fundar ental motive on which capitalism is based. The motive of capitalist production is private profit and not public use. From this derives the notorious paradox of poverty amidst plenty. Thus We have, on one hand, such modern phenomena as the destruction of Canadian wheat while Chinese across the Pacific are dying of starvation; of Cotton being ploughed in by order of government in U.S.A.; of fish being thrown back into the sea and millions of oranges being dumped in the deep in England while the uner Tiployed cried for food; of live-stock and coffee being incinerated in U.S.A. and Brazil, etc. etc.... These are examples at longst innumerable which could be quoted, of things which have been actually produced being destroyed in a hungerstricken and unemployment-ridden world,
On the other hand We hawe the deliberale restriction Of production in the interests of private profit, Thus we have the Wellknown World-restriction Schemes like the rubber, tin and tea restriction Schemes. There are many such others, official and unofficial, on a Smaller scale, Simultaneously 30 Tillion are known to be unemployed in the industrialized capitalist countries alone, for the rest of the world no statistics are available. For instance American production today is only at 40 per cent capacity while there are over 10 million unemployed in the country,
Thus capitalist society has outlived its usefulness. The Capitalist shell which was useful at one stage of expansion of production has now become a fetter.
UNEMPLOYMENT
A second evil deriving from private ownership of the means of production is unemployment. This is but another way of saying that large numbers of the true productive agents, i.e., the workers, are denied access to the means of production, or, if you wish it, of taking part in the productive process. The reason can be shortly

What is Corru list 393
LENIN AND HIS LEADING COMRADES, INCLUDING STALIN, STUDYING AT THE HEADQUARTERS OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION, SMOLNY, THE MAPFOR MILITARY ACTION IN NOVEMBER 1917, JUST BEFORE THE ATTACK ON THE WINTER PALACE, WHICHLEAD TO THE WICTORY OF THE GREAT OCTOBER REVOLUTION IN RUSSIA.
H
Getting ready to attack the Winter Palace, she headquarters of the areny.
The characteristic feature of capitalist economy - individual ownership and appropriation of the product of a socialised productive process affords the clue to the direction of social change in modern society. From a social point of view the resolution of this contradiction is the basic objective of Communist. The defence of capitalism has always been based not on its moral desirability but on its achievement in expanding production. The Toment that justification is absent its entire position is undermined. That production has expanded under capitalism is true. But it is today equally true that the capitalist structure has itself come to be the most serious drawback to the expansion of production. What is more, it is arTipoly demonstrabla that the inherent Contradictions of Capitalism hawe themselves developod pari-passu to such a point as to make it impossible even to maintain the level of production already attained. The League of Nations Economic Survey has shown that world production has slipped back in 1933 from the 1929 level to the 1913 level while population has increased during the sama period,

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1394 Politics and Life in Our Times
stated. In capitalism, labour power has become a commodity bought and sold in the open market. Therefore, the owners of the means of production would only employ workers if profit would result to themselves. A maximum of output with a minimum of labour becomes the objective. Thus, labour-saving devices are made the agents of private profit and public misery, i.e., unemployment.
Further, the search for profit creates a drive towards Imperialism and War. Large scale capitalist production requires assured markets. Capitalist groups working behind the veil of Nationalism compete for the monopoly of markets the world over. Thus arises the search for colonies which undermodern capitalist conditions afford the only assured markets. Within these imperial boundaries the controlling capitalist organizations establish monopolies by way of tariff preferences, quotas and Such like restrictions.
MPERIALISMA WAR-PROCESS
This is the process known as imperialism which itself is, clearly a war-process howsoever it may be disguised. This in turn contains the Seeds of a wider tragedy. Expanding Imperialisms, ever in search of wider monopolistic markets, inevitably clash. Thus the local tragedies of colonial wars merge into the world tragedy of modern Imperialist war.
So much for capitalism. It is clear on the above analysis that the main contradiction of capitalist society is itself the cause of the manifold evils that afflict the world today. If this contradiction can be resolved, the resultant evils, so clearly traceable to it, would disappear. This is what Communism Sets out to achieve.
The problem is solved if the product of socialized industry is Socially appropriated. The essential means to this is social ownership of the means of production, distribution and exchange. Thus the problem of unemployment is solved because the producer has free access to the means of production; the problem of overproduction ceases to exist because production will be conditioned only by actual human need and not by the desire for profit; the expansion of production will directly

What is Communism ? 1395
redound to the benefit of all instead of to the profit of a few and the misery of the many. The achievements of science will from now on contribute to the real happiness of mankind by affording that comfort, leisure and freedom to develop its culture which to date has been the preserve of a few. Imperialism and imperialist war will disappear with the causes that gave them birth. Mankind will advance to a higher stage of development instead of receding again into that confused and primitive tribalism from which it once emerged. Mankind will move from pre-history to history.
THE CLASS-WAR
Above all, that class-war which is the Curse of modern capitalist society will then inevitably disappear. The economic basis of capitalist society, which has already been illustrated, has very definite social repercussions. Capitalist society has been of necessity divided into two classes which ultimately cut across all divisions of caste, colour and Creed. Those are the classes termed, on a strict analysis, the bourgeoisie or capitalists and the proletariat or working class, i.e., the owners of the means of production and the possessors of labour power. These classes have essentially antagonistic interests, for the wages of the one come from the profits of the other or, rather vice versa. And this will last till the abolition of capitalism. It is this conflict which so demonstrably exists and which the capitalist system has created, that Communists are accused of forging anew on the anvils of Moscow. It is not the least monstrous paradox of today that those who seek the abolition of the evil are supposed themselves to create the evil.
NEW SET OF PRINCIPLES
It is clear that the achievement of Communism thus in itself constitutes a revolution inasmuch as it implies the substitution of a Society based on one set of principles by a Society based on a different set of principles. It is setting an inverted pyramid on its base or setting human idealism, which has hitherto stood on its head, on its feet.

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How this revolution is to be accomplished is a pure question of method. At a time when Constitutions are being changed overnight, Communists or Socialists cannot confine themselves to any particular method. They can only say two things. On the one hand methods must be determined by circumstances. On the other, history teaches us that no class has abdicated from power voluntarily. Force has been the midwife of every old society pregnant with the new. All that can be said is that historically the ruling class in every decaying society has clung to its waning power till forcibly flung off by the remorseless pressure of historically engendered forces.
Communism is thus both a method of thought which dictates a mode of action and a practical ideal towards which that action is directed. By its study of the historical process and its application of the lessons derived therefrom, it seeks to help society in its own movement towards that goal of social and economic equality, which is the essential basis for the progress of mankind.
Courtesy: "Ceylon Daily News", Colombo, 1934.
Karl Marx conducted an enormous amount of Scientific work. He was a great scholar who stood at the summit of the progressive science of his day. He knew the principal European languages, including Russian, and studied the natural sciences and mathematics. At the same time he developed intense revolutionary activity. He was the leading spirit of the First international, author of its most important documents, and a member of its General Council. He organized support and assistance for the Paris Commune, for he realized its world historical importance as the prototype of the proletarian state, of the dictatorship of the proletariat. He wrote works of the highest order. In London he wrote his major scientific work Capital, the first volume of which appeared in 1867. The second and third volumes were prepared for the press and published by Engels after Marx's death. Capital is a work of genius in which all the fundamental tenets of the Marxian theory are expounded.

Pieter - Unrivalled Political Stature Behind a Smiling Face
by T. B. Ilangaratne M.P. Minister of Foreign & Internal Trade Vice-President, Sri Lanka Freedom Party.
Pieter Gerald Bartholomeus Keuneman, could have risen to the highest rungs of the legal profession and to the loftiest stratum of the judicial sanctum as his father the late Mr. Justice A. E. Keuneman did. He graduated from Cambridge and entered Gray's inn for this. He could also have been a luminary in the journalistic world and might have even changed the chequered history of the Ceylon Press had he continued at Lake House, where he first took up an appointment on his return from London after completing his studies. Instead of either, he chose to become a full time political worker for the Communist Party and has consequently, become one of the brightest stars in Sri Lanka's political firmament, a skilled speaker and an artful debator and an able Minister of State, still retaining very effectively the common touch and above all, his inborn sincerity and simplicity.
it is this quality in particular-the ability to win the confidence and popularity of the working masses through his human qualitiesthat distinguishes him from the average politician.
Like Freeman of the Colonial era, Pieter is the only member of his community to be returned to Parliament by popular vote even in modern Ceylon. At a time when caste, creed, race and wealth were Serious considerations at elections, for Pieter to have Overcome them and emerged victorious time after time with impressive majorities, speaks for the unrivalled political stature which Pieter

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1398 Polics and Life in Our Times
alone possesses. It also undoubtedly speaks volumes for the unassumed qualities behind his smiling face which has endeared him not only to the cosmopolitan Voters of Colombo Central but also to the workers and peasants throughout the length and breadth of Sri Lanka.
Today Sri Lanka is fighting to achieve socialist goals. The first seeds of socialism were sown in this country by persons like Pieter who earlier pioneered the socialist movement in the 1930s. From there on Pieter has not hesitated in his efforts to see this achieved. He is one who has striven hard to bring the progressive and left forces closer to one another, He was greatly responsible for the formation of the United Front and played an active role in bringing the socialist oriented elements together. And today he strains every nerve in meeting challenges of different sorts in maintaining intact that unity which was achieved for the greater good of the downtrodden masses of Sri Lanka,
As a Cabinet Minister in Mrs. Siri Thawo Bandranaike's United Front government he has been justly provided the opportunity of guiding policy and helping the country to attain the objectives the government is dedicated to.
As Minister of Housing and Construction, Pieter is endeavouring to place the country on a firT footing in its efforts to solve the housing problem. He has established a firm policy which the country never had before, and given direction where there Was none.
He introduced a very revolutionary Rent Act and although a radical Communist, from whom many expected "terrible treatment", he has played it fair by both landlords and tenants, of course keeping in view the greater interest of the country. He is presently engaged also in forging out certain other important measures which certainly will make at least a deep dent on the gigantic problem of Housing.

Peter-UrIrvalled Politica Staturg Behinda STTiling Face 1399
PETERKEUNEMANAS MINISTER OF HOUSING AND CONSTRUCTION WAS ACTIVELY INTERESTED IN THE WELFARE OF THE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES IN COLOMBO CENTRAL AND ELSEWHERE AND IN CONSTRUCTING NEW BUILDINGS FOR THESE SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES WHERE NECESSARY. HERE HE is SEEN (FOURTH FROM LEFT) PARTICIPATING IN A COMPLIMENTARY DINNER TO T. DURASINGAM, AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK.
Complimentary Dinner to 7. Duraisingam; an either side of Pieter Keungman are seated T. Duraisingan and Mrs. S. Duraisingar,
Members of the Parents-Teachers Council, Colombo, felicitaling their president, T. Duraisingam, at a complimentary dinner in November 1971, on his appointment as Justice of the Peace and Unofficial Magistrate,

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14OO Politics a 7d Liffe fr7 ČLJI Tir 75S
It is the quality of fairness, apparent now Thore than ever before merely because he did not have a similar opportunity earlier that has Thade even his political rivals, including some of his Contenders for the Colombo Central Electorate, respect Pieter as a man and hardcore bureaucrats extend their fullest co-operation to
make his tenure in Ministerial Office a success.
Throughout, in certain Sections, there has been a traditional fear that Communists are too radical for peace lowing Ceylon. At the last elections Pieter assuaged such fears by declaring on public platforms, "This is an artificial fear, I have newer in my life burnt a church nor do leat babies for my breakfast". With his characteristic humour he attempted to dispel a major doubt. Now as a living example he is prowing his point.
Pieter is outspoken. He means what he says. He is dedicated to his convictions. He possesses honesty of purpose. He is a patriot and above all a states Than of whom Sri Lanka could be proud.
Co, Liriosy: Sa u wera ir ir7 Corrrearrioraior of
Pieter Ke Lurier Tary's 25 years in Parfia77 7égr]f, ColorTTbo,
3rd October, 1972.
Pieter Keunerman commenced his political life when he was an undergraduate at Cambridge University. He joined the Communist Party of Great Britain in 1937, when he was just 20 years old. At that time We, the Communists in Sri Lanka, received with enthusiasm and pride the ngWS of his activities in Britain, where hic took a leading part in the anti-Colonial and anti-imperialist movement. We eagerly awailed the day When he would arrive in Sri Lanka and join usin our political work. While in Cambridge, he decided to join the Woluntcar International Brigade and help the Spanish Republican Government in the Spanish Civil War, 1936-9.
- T. Duraisinga

Pictor — LarrivaWed Polifica Stater BaFir 7d a SrTiOirg FaCÈ? 14(I}1
VLADIMIRILYICHLENIN WAS BORN ON APRIL 10T, 1870. HE WAS THE SON OF A SCHOOLMASTER, AND WAS EDUCATED ATSIMBRSK, HIS BIRTHPLACE, AND THEN AT THE UNIVERSITY OF KAZAN. AS ASTUDENT HE WAS ALEADER IN THE DEMONSTRATIONS AGAINST AUTHORITY PREWALENT AT THAT TIME. HE WENT TO ST. PETERSBURG TO STUDY LAW AND WAS EXILED TO SIBERA. HERE HE MET N. K. KRUPSKAYA, WHO WAS HERSELF EXILED TO SIBERIA FOR HER REVOLUTIONARY
LLCCO LLL L0LLLLL CuLLCL aHCaa LLLk LLLLL CL CGCCCGLLaL LGLCLLGGMLTLLLLL ήταrη ειαroad.
Capitalism inevitably leaves as an inheritance to Socialism, on the one hand, old professional and craft differences created amongst the Workers in the Course of centuries; and, on the other hand, trade unions which only wery slowly and in the Course of years can and will develop into broader industrial rather than craf organizations (embracing whole industries and not merely crafts, trades and professions). These industrial unions will, in their turn, lead to the abolition of the division of labour between people, to the education, training and preparation of workers who will be able to do everything. Communism is Thowing in this direction; it must move and will now arrive at that goal but only after a great many years.
- "Last Wing Communism" by Lerir).

Page 162
The internationale
by Eugene Pottier
"The Internationale" was originally in French. This song is sung by all socialists and communists as their party anthem. It has been translated into hundreds of languages, including Sinhala and Tamil. The "international" was written by Eugene Pottier, (1816-1887), a wood worker from Lille, in 1871, after the Paris Commune was ruthlessly Suppressed. He was a member of the Paris Commune.
Earlier, there were two English versions. One was popular in England and the other in America. But now there are several English versions. The author of this book studied these various English versions, including the versions used in Australia and in India, before finally deciding on the text given in this book. This version is based mainly on the one popular in England, but in the case of a few Words, We have used alternative words, which we think are better.
The musical notes are given in the adjoining pages.
Arise, ye starvelings, from your slumbers! Arise, ye prisoners of want For reason in revolt now thunders, And at last ends the age of cant. Now away with all your superstitions, Servile masses arise, Arise! We'll change forthwith the old conditions, And spurn the dust to win, the prize.

The Internationale 1403
CHORUS:
Then comrades, Come rally, And the last fight let us face, The "internationale"
Unites the human race.
We peasants, artisans and others; Enrolled among the sons of toil, Let's claim the earth henceforth for brothers, Drive the indolent from the Soil. On our flesh too long has fed the raven; We've too long been the vulture's prey. But now, farewell the spirit Craven, The dawn brings in a brighter day.
REPEAT CHORUS:
No saviour from on high delivers; No trust have we in prince or peer, Our own right hand the chains must shiver; Chains of hatred, of greed and fear. Ere the thieves will out with their booty And to all give a happier lot, Each at his forge must do his duty And Strike the iron While it's hot.
REPEAT CHORUS:

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Politics and Life in Our Times
1404
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o su - įds aụn træsa-auty o anu sțų op hsnu, aoung sự, – uno pio aus ruso-quðj ooitou:
ang -- :Kaud ^w \ qong -- o not sław -- i asso
s, aunn-t na eum uaaq otros 1øys-deų « »aț3 liw - m ; asu : • • s»-sseur
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oom »A,əMoira - awu on puy * A * yooq »syv-o
‘supųn - rys -
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Page 164
M. G. - Pioneer of Militant Trade Unions in Sri Lanka
by Pieter Keuneman Chairman, Communist Party of Sri Lanka.
It is difficult to believe that nearly 46 years have passed Since || first met M. G. MendiS.
This took place a few days after had returned to Sri Lanka from my studies abroad. As there was no Communist Party in Sri Lanka at the time I left, I had joined the British Communist Party as a student and worked for four years in the communist movement in Britain and elsewhere. I had met Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe in Britain and he had asked me to return home as soon as possible so as to help to form a Communist Party in Sri Lanka.
My first meeting with M. G. took place at a traumatic moment of the Left movement in Sri Lanka. The L. S. S. P. leadership of the day had, by the end of 1939, split the united party by succumbing to Trotskyism and expelling those who had resisted this turn to anticommunism and anti-Sovietism, thus jeopardising the fine antiimperialist and internationalist traditions that the original L. S. S. P. had Set in the 1930s. V
At this meeting, which took place in a slum house in Dean's Road, Colombo, M. G. briefed me on what had happened in the L. S. S. P. and why. He told me that he and the others who had been expelled from the L. S. S. P. had formed the Workers' Club, described its work, and told me about the negotiations between the Workers' Club and a small party among the immigrant workers from Kerala called the Ceylon Socialist Party to coalesce in what later became the United Socialist Party, the precursor of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He also invited me to join this party and become a full-time worker of it.

M. G. - Pioneer of Militant Trade Unions in Sri Lanka 14O7
explained that, while I would gladly join and work in the new party, could only take up full-time party work some months afterwards, when a contract had entered into with Lake House ended.
START
This was the start of a political association that has lasted for nearly five decades and still continues.
lf M. G.'s immense contribution to political developments during this period, , which saw inter alia the rise, consolidation and development of the Left movement in our country and, in particular, of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, is not better known, it is, in my opinion, partly due to his own inherent and quite needless modesty.
Those of us who worked closely with him know how much his tireless organizational work and political leadership contributed to events of this period which are now legendary but for which others gained the Credit that M. G. did not claim.
M. G. is best known as a trade unionist. Indeed he is, in a very real sense, the pioneer of the militant trade union movement of Sri Lanka.
Beginning his association with the working class when he Worked with the late A. E. Goonesinha even before the Left movement in our country actually began, M. G. broke with Goonesinha when the latter's policies of class collaboration, racism and self-aggrandisement became evident.
Guided by his socialist convictions, M. G. set out to organise the workers on different lines, fighting not merely for their economic interests but also seeking to associate the working class he organised with the anti-imperialist, radical and socialism-oriented movement of the day, at home and abroad,
STRUGGLES
Looking back on the development of the workers' movement in Sri Lanka from the early 1930s to the present day, one is struck by the fact that there is hardly a major struggle of the organised workers in which M. G. did not play a leading part.

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1408 Politics and Life in Our Trias
Very often and especially in the period before, during and after World War II, he was the initiator of such struggles.
In the course of these struggles, M. G. built the Ceylon Federation of Trade Unions (CFTU) into the major trade union centre În the private sector, responsible for winning most of the basic rights that the Working class enjoys to-day.
| still recall most wividly how, after the Japanese bombing of Colombo during the Second World War and the subsequent panic and economic dislocation that followed, Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, the Civil Defence Commissioner, advised the War Cabinet and Admiral Layton, the C-in-C, that the only way to restore normality and get production going again was to come to a deal with M. G. Mendis and the CFTU.
Our party which supported the War against fascism instructed M. G. to do all he could to restore production, especially of rubber and other goods which were shipped to the Soviet Union. M. G. rose to the occasion and in the subsequent negotiations with the Employers Federation and the Civil Defence Commissioner, got them to agree to many of the basic demands of the Workers, which they still enjoy to-day, and mobilised the apparatus of the party and the CFTU to restore production.
I recall, equally wividly, after fascism was defeated, M. G. marching at the head of a demonstration of thousands of workers to present their demands to Parliament and, when they were rejected by the government, calling the first post-war general strike in Colombo, which paralysed economic life for several days.
As for the Close Corrections bet Weer M. G. and the Colombo workers, I can recall no better example than when, during a tramcar strike, hundreds of women workers who lay across the tram-lines to prevent from running, followed this up by marching to the Pettah Police Station, where M. G. was held in custody, overpowering the Police and freeing M. G,

1409
LLS LLS S LLLLtCLOC LL LYLOM GuuLLL LLLLLLL H LLLLLL
75TH BIRTH ANNIWERSARY CELEBRATIONS OF MERENNA ĠAWLIA$ MENDIS )|---ss.:
— !→|-- |- Pieser Keuriernan, M. G. Mendis and others lighting the ceremonias dis sarrıp on tha accasion of the 75th Birth anniversary of M. G. Mērīđịs on 3rd October 1985. L.-F.: T. Duraisingam, Pieter Keuneman, M. G. Mendis and H. G. S. Ratnawɛɛra. On the right are K. F. Silva, Bernard Soyza, Vivienrie Goonewardene, and among others Yogendra Duraiswamy.

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1410 Politics and Life in Our Times
MILITANT
As a trade unionist, M. G. was and is essentially a militant fighter for this class.
He has never bothered overmuch about the whole apparatus of labour laws and industrial tribunals. To him the justice of their cause and the unity and power that they can muster in fighting for this cause are the strongest argument that the workers have.
remember the late Sir Oliver Goonetileke, when talking with me later about his experiences of dealing with M.G. both during and after the Second World War, saying: What can you do with a man like Mendis? He isn't interested in the statistics and arguments of the employers, their lawyers or of the Labour Department. He is only concerned with what the workers want and is ready to fight for them in every way he can".
Unity of the trade union movement, both nationally and internationally, has been always one of M. G.'s main objectives. He has always stood firmly against attempts to divide the workers by forming trade union on racial or religious lines, by separating Workers by hand from workers by brain, or dividing workers who are citizens of Sri Lanka from those who were, until recently, "stateless".
This is one of the reasons why he has been for decades, first, the General Secretary and, later, the President of the Ceylon Federation of Trade Unions.
A profound internationalist, M. G. pioneered the close links between the CFTU and World Federation of Trade Unions (WFTU), and persuaded so many other trade union centers of Sri Lanka to follow Suit. He has been a member of the WFTU's General Council and Executive Committee for many years.
POLITICAL
But M. G. is not merely an outstanding trade unionist and the pioneer of militant trade unionism in Sri Lanka. He is also a veteran political leader of the Left, and especially of the Marxist-Leninist movement in Sri Lanka.

M. G. - Pioneer of Militant Trade Unions in Sri Lanka 1411
He was active in the Youth Leagues, the Suriya Mal, and other movements that led to the formation of the original L. S. S. P. in 1935. For a period he was a Joint Secretary of the party.
After his expulsion from the LSSP by the then Trotskyite leadership, he teamed up with Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe and others to form the Workers' Club, which was the nucleus on which a true Marxist-Leninist movement was constructed.
M. G. Was One of the main initiators and a founder of the United Socialist Party (U. S. P.), the precursor of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. He was elected secretary of a three-man Committee that was entrusted by the inaugural meeting of the U.S. P. to run the affairs of the new party until the first formal conference Some months later.
This conference adopted the U. S. P. constitution which had been asked to prepare, as well as a statement of the party's main aims. It ended the some what amorphous functioning that prevailed earlier, when every one had to do everything. They elected a Central Committee and began departmentalisation of work. I had by then become a full-time worker. M. G. was put in charge of the main work of the party among the working class. A. Vaidialingam and myself were in charge of political work, and others were appointed in charge of work among students, the Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union, and other organisations. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, who Concentrated then on building up the party's political and electoral base in Ruhuna, remained on overall charge.
M. G. was also a founder member of the Communist Party in 1943 and has been a member of its Central Committee and Political Bureau ever since. He has made significant contributions to the elaboration of our party's policies and tactics, and led many of its campaigns and practical work. He was also in the forefront of the party's struggle against disruptive trends in the working class movement such as Trotskyism, Maoism, and various forms of ultra|left|Sm.

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1412 Politics and Life in Our Times
A fuller account of M. G.'s political contributions appears in a new biography, published in connection with his 75th birthday, by Lionel Sarath, this includes his work not only as a leader of our party, but as an M. P. and M. M. C. as well.
Few comrades have sacrificed as much for our party and Our movement as M. G. has done. He often worked under conditions of dire poverty in the early stages of our movement, sleeping in a tiny room on a camp bed often with only a single meal a day, and possessing only a single national dress which he nevertheless always managed to keep immaculate.
It used to be a familiar sight for those of us who worked with him in those days, to see M. G. with half his newly washed dhoti wrapped round him and the other half trailing out to dry, sitting on his camp bed at night, and discussing the work for the next day. In the course of his revolutionary work, he was sent to jail and has spent several months in under-ground activity hiding from the Police.
At 75, M. G. is older, grayer and his health is far from the best. But his revolutionary ardour and faith in communism is undiminished.
Our entire party joins the working class and other progressive forces, here and abroad, in wishing him all the best on his 75th birthday and many more years of service to our great
CaLSe.
Speaking personally, as one who has been closely associated with M. G. for nearly half a century, I would like to say that it has been a matter of honour and pride to have been, and to continue to be, his comrade and friend. Speaking for Our party, we are all proud to have as one of our leaders a comrade with such a revolutionary history.
Courtesy: "Forward", Colombo, 1st October, 1986.

The Day We Formed the Communist Party
by Pieter Keuneman
Looking back, July 3rd, 1943, the day when a few dozen of us met 40 years ago to dissolve the United Socialist Party (USP) and form the Ceylon Communist Party (now Communist Party of Sri Lanka) in its place, was a significant one in the history of Sri Lanka, and especially of its working class.
For on that day a nucleus was created for the socialist Sri Lanka that Will inevitably come.
The USP that we had formed over two years earlier in a small house at Peliyagoda played a brief but important role. It brought together two groups in the burgeoning socialist movement of our country at that time.
One was the leading activists of the anti-imperialist and socialist movement that had begun to develop in the 1930s and whom the LSSP leaders had expelled for upholding proletarian internationalism and opposing the anti-Sovietism and anticommunism that these leaders had imposed on that party from above in 1939. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, the pioneer of our country's socialist movement, M. G. Mendis and K. Ramanathan, who had been secretaries of the LSSP, the late U. Saranankara Thero (later winner of the Lenin Peace Prize) and W. Ariyaratne, as well as T. Duraisingam and others, were prominent figures in this trend.
The other group was students like the late P. Kandiah, A. Vaidialingam and myself who had returned from abroad after working with the communist movement there.

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414 Politics and Life in Our Times
NOT YET MATURE
The reason why we decided to form the USP rather than a Communist Party at this juncture was our belief that objective and subjective conditions had not yet matured sufficiently to inaugurate a party that conformed to Lenin's teachings about "a party of a new type" which would be guided by Marxism-Leninism and proletarian internationalism.
We still had little contact with the working class, lacked mass experience, and had not yet acquired the political and ideological unity that a deep understanding and commitment to Marxism-Leninism brings.
The situation we faced when we formed the USP was not easy. World War II had broken out. Colonial rule and Planter Raj had been re-inforced by the military despotism of Admiral Layton. Patriotic and working class activity was curbed, the import of socialist literature forbidden, and democratic rights put in cold storage. The State Council and political life were dominated by bourgeois leaders like. D. B. Jayatilleke and D. S. Senanayake whose ruling policy was to achieve Dominion Status through collaboration with British imperialism. The anti-imperialist movement that had made headway in the second half of the 1930s was divided and paralysed as a result of the split that the LSSP leaders had caused.
We therefore decided that through the USP we would not only Continue what had been positive (but was now abandoned) in the Work of the united LSSP between 1935 and 1940, but also lay firm foundations for a real Communist Party.
FIRST TASK
The first task was to build a strong base in the working class.
We gave priority attention to re-building the shattered trade unions, organising workers' study circles, and leading limited working class struggles around specific demands.

The Day We Formed the Communist Party 1415
The Workers' Club in Hultsdorf became the main centre of these activities, in which a leading part was played by M. G. Mendis. The "returned students' - Kandiah, Vaidialingam and myself - conducted the study circles. Working class comrades like the late W. Ariyaratne, Lionel Kulatunge, and David Hettiarachchi, as well as many others, joined in both aspects of this work. Gradually the workers of Colombo Harbour, the Municipal Council, the tea and rubber factories, the engineering plants and other workplaces came over to the party and the trade unions we led.
This initial work among the workers was not easy either. Apart from continuous harassment by the colonial authorities, the bourgeois national leaders and the Police, our meetings were attacked with stones and bottles by thugs of the reformist "Labour leader" A. E. Goonesinha. We often had to run for our lives until, later on, the workers joined us to repulse these hooligans. I still recall many meetings we held amidst showers of stones and bottles, especially an early May Day meeting at Galle Face where Goonesinha's thugs armed with knives jumped on the platform to attack us. Ironically, the leader of this attack later joined our party.
While steadily building the workers' organisations, we also sought to popularise Socialist policies and ideas among them and to give correct perspectives to the anti-imperialist movement which was starting to raise its head again.
This was a period of great confusion and debate over the character of the war, the nature of fascism, the role of the Soviet Union, the new tasks of the national liberation movement, and So on.
We produced and sold weekly newspapers in Sinhala, Tamil and Malayalam (there was still a considerable number of immigrant Workers from Kerala), and a paper in English ("Student News") for the students. Often we had to compose and print the papers ourselves as regular printers.

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1416 Politics and Life in Our Times
The republication of Marxist-Leninst classics, many of which had to be Smuggled into the country, was undertaken by T. Duraisingam and others, operating through a cover firm called "Mohan & Bhatt". As books on the October Revolution and the Soviet Union, then the only socialist state, were unobtainable, I had to write a special book, "The Soviet Way", which was printed in all three languages and widely sold.
CONTACTS
At that time, Our Contacts with the international Communist movement were limited to the fraternal parties in Great Britain and India. We had no direct contacts with the CPSU, which were only established in 1956, or with other fraternal parties.
But from the beginning we sought to bring up our young party and educate our workers in the spirit of proletarian internationalism, of solidarity With World socialism and with the anti-fascist, anti-imperialist and anti-capitalist struggles of all peoples and in all countries.
The Friends of the Soviet Union, then situated in an upstairs flat in Second Division, Maradana Road, played a big part in this work, as did the monthly journal it published.
None of these activities pleased the colonial authorities or the bourgeois national leaders of the day. In 1941, the USP was banned. Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, U. Saranankara Thero, D. P. Yasodis and other Comrades, who had been arrested earlier, were sent to jail. The Workers' Club and our printing press were frequently raided by the Police and our publications and stocks of newsprint confiscated. Hunted by the Police, M. G. Mendis was forced to go underground. The underground centre he set up in Hatton became the spring board for our entry into the plantations. Vaidialingam and operated shifting party centres in various parts of Colombo, some illegal and others semi-legal. The late D. R. Wijewardene would have had a fit if he had known that one of his flats in Borella was for a long time a clandestine centre.

The Day We Formed the Communist Party 1417
Between 1941 and 1943, we had to learn how to combine legal and illegal Work. Legally, we kept bobbing up under different names and aliases - "Ceylon Communists", "Anti-Jap Propaganda Centre", etc, which were routinely banned, until the Home Minister publicly said that he could not keep up with these changes. We sought to extendour mass Contacts through the newly formed Co-operative societies and other legal institutions. At the same time, we continued our underground Work.
During the period, a group of communists among the immigrant Kerala workers, who had worked under the name of the "Ceylon Socialist Party" and were led by P. Sankar, merged with our party.
This "baptism of fire" helped to school and mould us. By 1943, We felt that we were ready to pass on to a new stage in our work - the formation, for the first time in Sri Lanka, of a "party of a new type" on the Lenin model.
By this time, Dr. Wickremasinghe and others had been released from jail. Mendis was back in Colombo, and by dint of perseverance we had established firm links with the workers and our right to exist semilegally, if not yet legally.
So on 3rd July, 1943, although still officially illegal, we met at No. 85, Cotta Road, Colombo 8. At this historic inaugural meeting, we formally dissolved the USP, set up the Communist Party, adopted skeleton aims and party rules which we elaborated later at our First Congress, and elected a Central Committee and office-bearers.
was done the high honour of being elected General Secretary.
Many of those who met that day are dead. A few are no longer in our ranks. But those of us who are still alive and in the party we helped to create - Comrades M. G. Mendis, A. Vaidialingam, D. P. Yasodis, T. Duraisingam and myself - will always remember the day we formed our party as one of the proudest days of our lives.
Courtesy: "Forward", Colombo, July 1983.

Page 170
Western Radical Who Fought for Her Husband
by Roshan Peiris
She is eighty-five years old, but remarkably Spry and attractive for her age. On her birthday last month, wearing a bright red and White kaftan, she greeted the numerous well-wishers with her smile which has captivated me for over three decades.
"Doreen Wickremasinghe - a Western Radical" as Dr. Kumari Jayawardena has titled her book on Doreen, is something more than the enthusiastic pioneering woman who came to Sri Lanka sixty-two long years ago.
She is a courageous woman who fought for her husband - Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe in many of his political battles. He was a Communist, and in the late forties and fifties communism was synonymous with being an enemy of the state.
Undaunted, she shouldered the political burdens of the husband, contested the 1952 general elections from the Akuressa electorate and made history in Asia as the first foreign woman, to be elected to an Asian Legislature.
Doreen through the years have found, despite a busy life, has always time to advise, console and listen to problems of her friends.
She is a deeply caring person. One can leave Doreen after talking to her, a person less burdened, and happy.
Dr. Kumari.Jayawardena in her eminently readable and well documented book aptly classes Doreen among the "dissident Western women who lived in India and Sri Lanka, in the colonial and post-colonial periods and supported movements for national liberation, social reform, educational changes and women's rights".

Western Radical who Fought for Her Husband 1419
SHOCKED
Doreen a principal of a Buddhist school, Sujatha Vidyalaya in Matara at 23, was shocked to find that there was only a British type Curriculum, So alien to young, rural minds.
Sri Lanka's colourful history, heritage and traditions were completely overlooked and the young principal to her disgust found that the only pictures hanging on the walls were those of various members of the British royal family. She defiantly and decidedly changed all this, and also set about diligently instilling a political consciousness and political worth among the women, with whom she moved. She wanted them to take pride in their own country. She was the first woman who provoked much enthusiasm in the fashion writers of the national newspapers by wearing a locally woven cotton saree, an "indikola' bag tucked under her arm and wearing slippers as she entered Parliament in 1952.
ANNE BESANT
Her mother's family, the Wearers', were closely connected With Socialists in Britain and Doreen also came under the influence of the much respected radical Annie Besant.
She also worked with the India League in London, with the irascible but astute negotiator and subsequent diplomat from Kerala, Mr. Krishna Menon.
recall that in his many visits here, despite an exacting Schedule, he took time off to meet Doreen, her husband and two children.
So it is natural that she was among those who started the Eksath Kanta Peramuna - socialist women's organisation, the Suriya Mal Campaign as opposed to 'Poppy Day' and was ahead with modern teaching methods and equipment among the Buddhist girls' schools.
She was also the first to use the now popular Montessori system at her School. She also edited a book "Poems of East and West" in 1937. Many remember this book which infused in people who read it a love for poetry.

Page 171
Po//íc:S a ľď Life in Our TFTlas
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Western Radical who Fought for Her Husband 1421
GENTLE
Doreen Wickremasinghe married to that stormy petrel of Left politics, Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe - a gentleman in his personal life, has a T sure, stimulating memories to keep her company.
Suriya and Suren, her two children, have made their names in their chosen disciplines of Law and Architecture.
For my part, in the evening of her life, salute her for being not only a reformer and path-finder, but a kindly counselor and a concerned and caring friend. May she have many more years of unalloyed happiness.
Courtesy; "The Times", Colombo, March 8th, 1992.
THE DALECTICAL METHOD
Lenin attached immense significance to the dialectical method, and called it the soul of Marxism. He convincingly demonstrated that the substance of dialectics lies in the law of the unity and struggle of opposites, which provides the key to understanding the development of matter, in the process of which the old is replaced by the new. For this reason Lenin always underscored the critical trend in and revolutionary character of the Marxist dialectical method, which calls for advancement, for the replacement of the old by the new. Dialectical materialism irrellutably prowgs the transiert nature of capitalist soclety, which has outlived itself and no longer conforms to mankind's needs, and shows that it will be inevitably replaced by a new and advance social system.

Page 172
Birthday Tribute to Doreen Wickremasinghe
by Mervyn Casie Chetty
A Lifetime spent in service in The cause of youth has been, The satisfaction that you can Survey the Southern scene.
You used your British expertise In education here, Improved the minds and talents of The rural youth to clear
The hurdles of class-privilege, O humble birth and pass The message of the creed that served To liberate the mass.
With selfless dedication you Stood firm behind the Scene To help your worthy husbandwin Red triumphs o'er green,
May you enjoy long life and health And peace of mind, serene, Your COntribution to World PeaCe ls known to all, Doreen.
Courtesy: "The Times", Colombo, March 8th, 1992.

The LSSP's Link with Trotsky
by Ajith Samaranayake
The death of Selina Perera is the death of a legend. She was not only the woman whom N. M. Perera married but was also an enigma as far as the Left movement in Sri Lanka was concerned. During the far of years when the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was proscribed she fled to India with the other LSSP leaders but unlike them she never returned choosing India as her second and one suspects spiritual home. Last Week she died in Calcutta and was Cremated there. The LSSP is planning to get down her ashes to Sri Lanka.
Selina Margaret Peiris was one of the first women to embrace the faith propagated by the Samasamajists and exemplified an early generation of militant women leftists, the precursors of the angry young women who have today made a fad of political radicalism. She also illustrated another tendency quite common in the left movement at the time. She came from a fairly opulent land-owning family in Badulla and after obtaining a degree from the University of London took to Buddhist education. She was Principal of the Buddhist Girls' School, Mount Lavinia, when she started taking an active interest in the Suriyamal Movement which was the precursor of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party.
It is, of course, axiomatic today to say that those who formed the LSSP were young men from the English-speaking middle-class, who had received a western education, but what many people do not know or do not remember, is that there were also young women from the same kind of background who stood with the men on that side of the barricades. Most of them were well educated young women from cloistered back grounds and a social milieu which did not encourage their participation in social life. Names like Vivienne Gunawardene, Kusuma Gunawardene and of course, Selina Peiris come readily to mind.

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1 44 Positics à 7d Life In Qur TFrités
In the case of Selina it was a progression from Buddhist education and therefore presumably nationalism to the political left. In our day we can hardly Lunderstand the enormity of the sacrifice a woman would have had to make to throw herself into the left movement of that time, it was a virtual rejection of the image of womanhood which the traditional society of the time upheld.
This divide Selina Perera crossed easily. She took part in the Campaign to alleviate the sufferings of the malaria-stricken peasantry of the country which established the humanistic credentials of the young people who were later to form the LSSP. It was after this that she Tharried N. M. Perera, the handsome and dashing LSSP leader who had been the first male star of a Sinhala film, though the machinations of antiNational film producers are said to have consigned that film to oblivion, Young Selina has been described by party acquaintances of the time as "one of the most able and Tilitant Women in the party".
During this time she proceeded to England for higher studies and shortly before the out-break of the Second World War decided to return home. She had Tada all arrangements to travel via Mexico where Leon Trotsky, the ideological guru of the LSSP was then living having fled Stalin's persecution. But she could not enter Mexico because of a passport problem, but Trotsky later wrote to her and these letters were the first by Trotsky to the LSSP in Sri Lanka. When one considers that it had been in Sri Lanka that Trotskyism has found its most viable home, Selina Perera's role in establishing the LSSP's links with Trotsky is poignantly memorable in retrospect,
When LSSP leaders N. M. Perera, Colvin R. de Silva, Philip Gunawardene and Edmund Samarakkody were arrested she led a demonstration at Price Park. She was prosecuted in the Magistrate's Court. Her counsel was S. Nadesan, later a Queen's Counsel, She was releasad.
After this she was in the forefront of the Workers' struggles launched by the LSSP. The high point of this was the cigarette workers' struggle which encompassed the Ceylon Tobacco Company as well as Rothmans which was then in operation. She is said to have slapped an Inspector who arrested her with the typical words "How dare you lay your
hards Om nie".

The LSSP's Link with Trotsky 1425
SELINA MARGARET PEIRIS WAS ONE OF THE FIRST WOMEN TO EMBRACE THE FAITH PROPAGATED BY THE SAMASAMAUISTS AND EXEMPLIFIEDANEARLY GENERATION OF MILITANT WOMENLEFTISTS, THE PRECURSORS OF THE ANGRY YOUNGWOMEN WHO HAVE TODAY MADE A FAD OF POLITICAL RADICALISM. SHE ALSOLLUSTRATED ANOTHER TENDENCY QUITE COMMON IN THE LEFT MOVEMENT AT THE TIME SHE CAME FROMA FARLY OPULENT LAND-OWNINGFAMILY IN BADULLA AND AFTER OBTAININGADEGREE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF LONDON TOOK TO BUDDHIST EDUCATION. SHE WASPRINCIPAL OF THE BUDDHIST GIRLS" SCHOOL, MOUNT LAWINIA, WHEN SHE STARTEDTAKENGANACTIVE INTEREST IN THE SURYAMAL MOVEMENT WHICH WAS THE PRECURSOR OF THE LANKA SAMA SAMAJA PARTY.
TSe/ir 7a Margare! Perera 79 - 1988
LLLLS LEL S LLLCC CGH LLL LLL LLL LGGLLLLLLL LLLL 0000SL LL LaLL aLLLLL LLLLC0LGLOLOO har Tafdgr7 7āTÉg of PG iris,
Lenin is described as a genius in his leadership of the Bolshevik Party, and as the leader and teacher of the Working class. He was a leader of a new type -simple and Todest connected with the masses by a thousand threads. At the same tirto he was the greatest genius of all times and of all nations, master of all the treasures of human knowledge and human culture, wielding to perfection the all-conquering weapon of the proletariat-revolutionary Marxist.

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1426 Politics and Life in Our Times
With the war came her fateful severance of ties with Sri Lanka. She went to India and never returned after the war. In India she joined the Socialist Party of Jayaprakash Narayan who at that time was considered the great white hope and the most charismatic leader after Jawaharlal Nehru. Later when Narayan succumbed to the quite alien lures of the Bhoodan movement, she continued with the Socialist Party which was then under the leadership of Ram Manohar Lohia. Till the end of her days she was in socialist politics. She was finally a member of the Communist Party of India (Marxist) whose best known leader is, of course, the Chief Minister of Bengal Jyoti Basu.
it is well known that her marriage to N. M. Perera did not work. The pressures of politics pulled them apart. When N. M. Perera died she was expected to come for the funeral but instead she sent a wreath of blood red roses which they kept on N. M's feet just before closing the coffin. remember a brother of the late LSSP leader telling me in Parliament as his body lay there in state "Selina was too radical for N.M.". But just a few months before she died she had got in touch with the LSSP to say that she was donating some property she had in Maharagama to the party. In Calcutta she had supported herself by teaching English. LSSP sources say that some time before her death, she had had a narrow shave when living alone in her Calcutta flat she had gone into a coma. However she had been discovered in time. She was nearing the end of her seventies when she died at the beginning of last week. Her sister who was married to Roy de Mel, who himself was one of the first Secretaries of the LSSP, is still living.
To a new generation of the Left in Sri Lanka, Selina Perera will be merely a far off legend. But one cannot but feel that in her early commitment to socialism which involved challenging many of the values within which she had been reared and her steadfast adherence to her political Creed while living in self-enforced exile, even in wintry times she had exemplified not merely a political movement but also a new definition of Womanhood.
Courtesy: "Sunday Island", Colombo, June 15th, 1986.

Raja Collure on Comrade Duraisingam
Speech of Comrade Raja Collure introducing the Report of the Central Control Commission of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka.)
Comrade T. Duraisingam who is now 87 years old, attended this Congress yesterday (14 November) evening in order to present the Report of the Central Control Commission, in person. As the presidium of the Congress with the approval of the delegates attending the Congress decided to postpone the item relating to the presentation of the Report of the Central Control Commission for today, he was unable to accomplish his wish. He is not present here today because he has some difficulty.
Comrade Duraisingam has served the Communist Party of Sri Lanka in different capacities and in different fronts holding key offices. He has served as the Chairman of the Central Control Commission since the 7th Congress of the party, that is for a period of over 37 years. During his period as Chairman of the Central Control Commission, he not only carried out his functions to the satisfaction of the Congresses of the party but also has strived to do his utmost to make it a useful institution of the party.
During his terms as Chairman of the Central Control Commission he made a deep study of the work of Control Commissions of other parties and proposed certain changes that should he effected to improve its role and functions. I think the party should give due consideration to his suggestions and amend the Constitution of the party where necessary.
propose that this Congress should express its appreciation of the services rendered by Comrade Duraisingam as Chairman of the Central Control Commission and thank him for his work. (Prolonged applause). Now I read out a translation of the Report of the Central Control Commission in Sinhalese.
Colombo, 15th November, 1998.

Page 175
From the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to Socialist Self-Government
Anatoly Butenko, Ph. D.
The rapid evolution of the life of society is constantly facing scientists, politicians, government and public leaders with ever new problems relating to the ways of perfecting Soviet Society and the forms this process will take. In considering these problems, attention is mostly focussed on the need to accelerate economic development. The economy is of course the foundation of social progress, but for all that the old adage that man does not live by bread alone must be borne in mind. Auspicious political conditions, democratism of Social life, are not only the guarantee of the successful accomplishment of Socio-economic tasks but also the prerequisite of individual self-fulfilment.
The draft of the new text of the CPSU Programme points out that the strategic objective of the Soviet Communist Party is "the perfecting of Soviet democracy, ever fuller practice of Socialist selfgovernment by the people". Developing this fundamental thesis, the Programme sees the necessary precondition of self-government not only in upholding the interests of the working people but also in their direct participation in the administration of the affairs of society.
THE POWER, INTERESTS AND WILL OF THE WORKING PEOPLE
Long before the rise of socialism as a practical reality, Marx, Engels and Lenin gave thought to how the new society would be administered, through what organization forms the will of the working people would be expressed, and what guarantees there would be of their needs and requirements being met.
Although Marx and Engels did not leave Writings dealing specifically with problems of administration under socialism, they examined these questions in summing up the experience of the Paris Commune and in their critique of the anarchist views of Mikhail Bakunin.

From the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to Socialist Self-Government 1429
(Bakunin came out against what he called "Marx's programme of state communism" and declared war on "domination, government tutelage and authority" of any kind. Attacking the idea of the proletariat wielding state power, he maintained that so long as the state existed there would be domination and, hence, also "slavery". Since the entire people could not stand at the helm of state, he contended, what would emerge would be a system of government "of the vast majority of the popular masses by a privileged minority".
Criticizing Bakunin's distortion of the substance of scientific communism, Marx underscored not only the temporary charater of the political dominance of the proletariat but also the fact that it would be directed exclusively against the enemies of the Working people. As regards the relations between the "governors" and the "governed," both Marx and Engels, contrary to what Bakunin said, were fully aware of the complexity of the problem and visualized its solution along lines altogether different from those conceived by the ideologue of anarchism. In many of their writings Marx and Engels draw a distinct dividing line between political power that professes to speak for the people but is actually alien to them and oppresses them and political power that truly serves the working masses. More, they stressed that not every governmental power that serves the interests of the people can be said to be vested in the people. Marx and Engels held that the paramount condition of the existence of the new society would be "true government by the people"; indeed, this is their cardinal contribution to the elaboration of the problem. Drawing on the experience of the Paris Commune, Marx wrote, for instance, that in a society based on collectivism government of the people by the people-in other words, popular self-governmentis bound to assert itself.
The writings of the founders of scientific communism thus treat of the principles of self-government, the substance of which consists in the solution of social problems becoming the direct concern of the working people no longer subordinated to any power but the power of their own association, as Lenin later formulated it.

Page 176
1 4:{I} Polifos ard Lisa ir ČOLJr "Tr7.gs
On the eve of the October Revolution Lenin repeatedly stressed that the future society would be a society governed not only in the interests of the working people, but by the working people themselves. To define precisely whose interests are being upheld and whose will is being given effect to by governmental power at different stages of social development, Lenin drew a distinction between "government for the working people," and "government by the working people". The development of the socialist revolution in Russia, and later in other countries, the actual process of socialist transformation, has fully confirTed the farsightedness and profundity of the Leninist approach.
Clearly, the basic precondition of successful building of socialism is the winning of power by the working class, the working people. But even after taking over power they are not in a position to direct social progress themselves, an masse, so to say. For this reason, and also because the political consciousness of the masses is not yet sufficiently high, the system of administration in the initial period takes the form of government for the working people, Later, however, Lenin held, under the leadership of a staunch, united, revolutionary wanguard all will learn "to administer and actually independently administer social production, independently keep accounts and exercise control over the parasites, the sons of the wealthy, the swindlers and other "guardians of capitalist traditions". Experience has shown that social development tends to assume ever more complex forms. This underscores the importance of Lenin's warning that "the art of administration does not descend from heaven, it is not inspired by the Holy Ghost". There are both objective and subjective factors that impede the rapid involvement of all the working people in the administration of the affairs of Society, In the period of transition from capitalism to socialism, when the mass of the working people was illiterate and uninvolved in political life, Soviet power was government in the interests of these working people, governmental authority open to working people. At this initial stage it could not yet be government by these Working people,

From the Dictatorship of the Prolaläriaf to Socialist Self-Governmạnf 1431
THE ARCHBSHOPSA HIGH OFFICIAL IN THE CHRISTIAN CHURCH. THE TITLE FIRST APPEARED IN THE 6TH CENTURY AND SINCE THEN THE ARCHBISHOP HAS BEEN THE HEAD OF A GROUP OF BISHOPS, THE DISTRICT UNDER HIS CONTROL BEINGKNOWNASA PROVINCE IN THE CHURCH OF ENGLAND THERE ARE TWO ARCHBISHOPS, CANTERBURY AND YORK, EACH WITH HIS PROVINCE. THE FORMERRANKS IMMEDIATELY AFTER THE PRINCES OF THE BLOOD ROYAL AND HAS THE RIGHT OF CROWNING THE SOWEREIGN. THE LATTERRANKS AFTER THE LORD CHANCELLORANDHAS THE RIGHT OF CROWNING THE QUEEN CONSORT
The Archbishop of Canterbury
The Holy Roman Empire came to a sort of climax in the reign of the Emperor Charles W. He was one of the most extraordinary Tonarchs that Europe has ever seen. For a time he had the air of being the greatest monarch since Charlemagne. He was a fair young man with a not very intelligent face, a thick upper lip and a long clumsy chin. He found himself in a world of young and vigorous personalities. It was an age of brilliant young Tonarchs, Francis I had succeeded to the French throne in 1515 at the age of twenty-one. Henry WIll had become King of England in 1509 at eighteen, it was the age of Eaber in India (1526-30) and Suleiman the Magnificent in Turkey (1520), both exceptionally capable monarchs, and the Pope Leo X (1513) was also a wery distinguished Pope. The Pope and Francis I attempted to prevent the election of Charles as Erperor because they dreaded the concentration of so much power in the hands of one man,
- H. G. Wells.

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1432 Politics and Life irħi Our TirT Tegs
Hence the emphasis Lenin placed on steadily wider involvement of the workers (in step with the rise in their cultural level) in the administration of the affairs of state. Under socialism, he said, it Would be considered "a crime for thern not to take part in the work of management". The result of the low cultural level of the working people is, he pointed out in this connection, "that the Soviets, which by virtue of their programme are organs of government by the working people, are in fact organs of government for the working people by the advanced section of the proletariat, but not by the working people as a whole", The programme objective of making the Soviets organs of government not only for the Working people but by the working people can be attained only with the victory of socialism, Leninpointed out.
TOWARDS BROADER SOCIALIST SELF-GOVERNMENT
In as much as, for many reasons - the illiteracy of part of the Working people, the political inertia of the masses, etc. - the political power established in the process of the socialist revolution (the dictatorship of the proletariat) can in the initial period only be government for, not by the Working people. Marx, Engels and Lenin considered transition to self-government by the working people to be the task of the proletariat from the moment of taking over power. "The substance of this idea they saw in ensuring the real, practical participation of ever greater numbers of Working people in government - in the elaboration, discussion, adoption and implementation of socioeconomic decisions", Mikhail Gorbachew has stressed.
In other words, while distinguishing between but not counterposing government for the working people (dictatorship of the proletariat) in the transition period and government by the working people (socialist popular self-government) under socialism, it must be borne in mind that in the case of government by the working people the decisive part of governmental functions is increasingly performed by the people directly, on their own initiative, not by proxy.

From the Dictatorship of the Proletariaf to Socialist Self-Government 1433
INAS MUCH AS, FORMANY REASONS - THE ILLITERACY OF PART OF THE WORKING PEOPLE, THE POLITICAL INERTIA OF THE MASSES, ETC. - THE POLITICAL POWERESTABLISHED IN THE PROCESS OF THE SOCIALIST REVOLUTION THE DICTATORSHIP OF THE PROLETARIAT) CAN IN THE INITIAL PERIOD ONLY BE GOVERNMENT FOR, NOT BY THE WORKING PEOPLE. MARX, ENGELS AND LENIN CONSIDERED TRANSiTION TOSELF-GOVERNMENT BY THE WORKING PEOPLE TO BE THE TASK OF THE PROLETARAT FROM THE MOMENT OFTAKING OWER POWER. "THE SUBSTANCE OF THIS IDEATHEY SAW IN ENSURING THE REAL PRACTICAL PARTICIPATION OF EVER GREATER NUMBERS OF WORKING PEOPLE IN GOVERNMENT - IN THE ELABORATION, DISCUSSION, ADOPTION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF SOCIO-ECONOMIC DECISIONS", MIKHAILGORBACHEW HAS STRESSED.
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Sosif PSG Makas Gray
Lenin, however, constantly reiterated that Marxism was not a dogma, but a guide to action; that the Marxist theory must be developed further in all directions. He said that "the theory of Marx must be further Worked oul independently, because this theory provides only the general guiding postulates, which apply in particular to England differently from the Way they apply to France, differently to France from the way they apply to Germany, and differently to Gerally from the way they apply to Russia". It would be Wrong to persist with the old Marxist solutions, he taught, when a changed situation demands new solutions. One must be able to erTiploy the Marxist method of investigation in analyzing new historical conditions and a new situation.

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1434 Politics and Life in Our Times
That government by the working people is in practical terms impossible is one of the most widespread and tenacious preconceived notions. Invoking the ever increasing complexity of administrative functions, the votaries of the bureaucratic dogmas of yesterday contend that the idea of the people governing themselves is a utopia that can never materialize.
It is in place to recall that when Russia was still a backward Country Lenin wrote: "At all costs we must break the old, absurd, Savage, despicable and disgusting prejudice that only the so-called 'upper classes,' only the rich, and those who have gone through the Schools of the rich, are capable of administering the state and directing the organizational development of socialist society." Emphasizing that this notion stemmed from confusing, deliberately or not, the expertise needed in decision-making at government level with the choice of what decisions to take - something which does not call for such expertise on the part of the masses - Lenin consistently stood for popular selfgovernment.
Regarding government of the people, by the people as a cardinal principle of socialism and seeing in its realization in practice the highroad to socialist democracy, the founders of scientific communism held that it could be given effect to in the new society through decentralization, self-government and the exercise of Constant control by the masses over the activity of office holders.
The key to defining the ways of achieving self-government by the people is the fundamental Marxist concept of the communist society as a union of the aSSOciations of producers comprising it. However, the Marxist-Leninist view on this question has in many respects been obscured by the accretions of long years of government for the working people. As for the opportunist concepts of "self-governing socialism" which ignore the role of the state, these have totally distorted the fundamental idea. Looking at the question in the light of socialist practice to date, I would say that the further development of socialist democracy, ever fuller socialist self-government by the people, will proceed along the following lines.

From the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to Socialist Self-Government 1435
First: The direct participation of all in the administration of society is possible primarily within the framework of production (or territorial) collectives - meetings of the personnel of industrial enterprises, Collective farms and institutions, village meetings, and the like. Because of this, Marx proceeded from the assumption that most everyday public problems would be decided by the community, the "association of producers", within which there is no delegating of authority. Inasmuch as the decisions are carried out by the working people themselves here, there are no "governors" and no "governed". "if a man has self-control, then according to this principle, he has no self-control, for he is only himself and nobody else", Marx observed. Sharing this view, Lenin predicted: "Under socialism much of 'primitive' democracy will inevitably be revived, since, for the first time in the history of civilized society, the mass of the population will rise to taking an independent part, not only in voting and elections, but also in the everyday administration of the state."
The experience of the countries where socialism has become the practical reality has shown that there are a great many functions the working people can fully perform themselves, such as election of factory directors or collective farm chairmen, planning, deciding on the size of the work force needed, setting wage rates, distribution of profits, bonuses, housing, kindergarten and holiday home aCCommodations, and SO On.
Second: Since direct participation in resolving the problems of everyday life is most practicable at grass-roots level, excessive Centralization of administration is incompatible with government by the working people. Hence it is necessary to transfer administrative functions from the Central bodies to the Work Collectives. Whenever this does not conflict with the interests of production and social progreSS.
This is precisely what underlies the legislative enactments widening the powers of work collectives and local government bodies that have been passed in the Soviet Union and other socialist Countries (naturally in conformity with their specific conditions).

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1436 Politics and Life in Our Times
Third: The administrative functions of the working people cannot be confined to their particular factory, collective farm, institution, or rural locality. Hence collectives of working people and their mass Organizations (e.g., trade unions and youth Oganizations) enjoy the right of political initiative on a countrywide scale in a number of socialist countries. All these are elements of social progress which, as Lenin said, "will Create such conditions for the majority of the popualtion as will enable everybody, without exception, to perform'state functions". Fourth : Government by the people remains a system of representative government. For it is essential to centralize the will of the millions and there are vital problems of a general nature that cannot be resolved simultaneously by all members of society. Marx wrote:"The few but important functions which still would remain for a central government were not to be suppressed, as has been intentionally misstated, but were to be discharged by Communal, and therefore strictly responsible agents".
With the steady widening of the scope of socialist popular selfgovernment, this aspect of the political system also undergoes change. Officeholders are called upon not only to keep the people informed on all vital issues of state policy, not only to resolve such problems with the aid of the representatives of the Working people, but also to take into account and, what is most important of all, to give expression to the opinion of the working people themselves, to act under their constant control.
Clearly, the realization of the principle of government by the working people in the context of perfecting socialism signifies the continued broadening of socialist democracy all the way to full socialist popular self-government, to administration of all public affairs not only in the interests of the people, but by the people themselves. Precisely this is envisaged in the draft of the new text of the CPSU Programme, which speaks not only of government in the interests of the working people but also of its logical, step by step evolution into the direct Concern of the Working people themselves.
In other words, socialist self-government is a form of government under which the functions of power delegated by the Working people to their representatives will gradually pass into the hands of the working people themselves. This process will logically

From the Dictatorship of the Proletariat to Socialist Self-Government 1437
lead to the gradual disappearance of a special State machinery separate from Society in general. In these circumstances representative democracy will increasingly give way to direct democracy. But this of course can happen only where and when the participation of all working people in the making and carrying out of decisions, in other words, in the administration of the affairs of society, has been basically ensured.
Our Society has not yet arrived at that stage, though many tendencies in this direction are already making themselves tangibly felt. It is at this time of perfecting socialism, when society is still divided into classes, and politics and political power remain, that socialist popular self-government must be ensured. It differs from communist self-government in that it still is political in character. But already at the present stage a democratic system of government is taking shape which operates not only for the working people but increasingly by them.
It should be stressed that the CPSU regards the concept of socialist self-government by the people mainly as a guidepost in the further development of the Soviet political system and democracy. We must be on guard against losing sight of the full meaning of the concept, of the criteria of the difference between government for the working people and government by them. The criteria are clear-cut enough. An objective answer to the question whether a governmental power exercised in the name of the people is really government for the working people can be found by ascertaining whether it upholds the interests of the Working people, how it distributes the national income, and what part of that income goes to satisfy the needs - both immediate and long-range of the working people, with priority given to their vital interests. How these interests are reflected in state policy is something for the Working people themselves to judge.
When it comes to establishing whether a given governmental authority is endowed with elements of popular self-government, the only objective criterion is who holds the reins of power, to what extent the working people exercise power functions themselves, not byproxy, and in what areas of public life and to what extent they take the final decisions (at enterprise level, on local scale, or on the

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438 Politics and Life in Our Times
national plane). Equally indicative of the extent to which government for the working people has developed into government by the working people, in other words, has evolved into popular self-government, is the number of working people involved in taking final decisions on vital issues as well as the scale on which governmental functions are performed directly by them. From this it follows that the way to communist popular self-government lies through the further development of all these aspects, through full socialist selfgovernment by the people.
The Soviets of People's Deputies are the political foundation of the Soviet Union, the main link in socialist self-government by the people. They have more than 2.3 million elected deputies and 30 million volunteer helpers.
Courtesy: "New Times", Moscow, August, 1986.
Marxism - the revolutionary teachings of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels which incorporate the progressive ideas of the past - has become wide-spread throughout the world. Marx and Engels approached human society as an object of Scientific investigation. They elaborated the theory of scientific socialism, which proves that anew, socialist system will inevitably replace capitalism. The building of a new society based on the principles of freedom, equality, fraternity, peace and labour must be headed by the working class with the Support of the peasants and all progressive sections of society. This theory, creatively developed by Vladimir Lenin and successfully applied in Russia, was the one that led to the establishment of the World's first state of workers and peasants.
Several countries in Asia have adopted the Marxist doctrine and are building a socialist society. In most of the rest of the countries the ideas of Marxism-Leninism have been gaining ground in one way or another.

Left Unity inevitable
by Prabath Sahabandu
December 1993 marks a Water-shed in the left movement of Sri Lanka. It was 58 years ago in 1935, in the month of December that the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, the first leftist party was formed in Sri Lanka by a group of intellectuals who had returned from Great Britain and the US after finishing their studies there. The political organisation they founded was the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP), which had in its fold political legends like Dr. N. M. Perera, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Dr. S. A. Wicremasinghe, Philip Gunawardena, M. G. Mendis who would later change the country's political history.
In 1940, Trotskyists became powerful in the LSSP's central committee and ousted their rival Stalinists for defending the 3rd International and the Soviet Union. Expelled thus from the LSSP were prominent political figures like Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe, Rev. U. Saranankara, A. Vaidialingam, M. G. Mendis, T. Duraisingam and Several others, who in 1940 formed the Colombo Workers' Club and in 1941 the United Socialist Party, which later in 1943 became the Communist Party of Sri Lanka with Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe as its president and Pieter Keuneman as its secretary.
They have come a long way since amidsts schisms and setbacks of all kinds. It is now history. And the two parties are ready for unification.
Whatever their cynics say of them, it is from them and their counterparts that the working class and the less privileged of this country have benefited most. They have overcome their quantitative inferiority with the qualitative superiority. Credit for all workers' benefits and concessions for the poor should go to these leftists and their splinter groups.

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1440 Pallas and Lifa ini Our Tinas
It is in this fight that the decision of the two parties for unification should be welcomed by the ordinary masses of this Country. Whatever the factors that have led to this unification, it fulfils a long felt need in the country - that for a united left. And other leftist forces are also likely to follow suit.
Why is the decision for unification ? What will be the policies of the new organisation ? And how will it adjust itself to the harsh political realities of the present World Sars the Soviet Union? Answers to these questions were atterTipted in the following interviews with General Secretary of the LSSP, Batty Weerakoon and the acting General Secretary of the CP, Raja Collure in Tediately after the signing of the pact for unification of the two parties:
General Secretary of the LSSP, Batty Weerakoon thinks there are no ideological differences between the LSSP and the CP. Both are Marxist parties and their objectives are the same. He says the differences they had were mainly due to matters related to the former Soviet Union. But with the dissolution of the Soviet Union, he says, those differences too have disappeared. Above all, says he from 1964 On Wards there have been no differences between the LSSP and the
CP in principles of approach to national politics. Therefore he argues that there is no reason why the two parties could not unite,
The agreement the two parties reached last Week stresses on the importance of personal liberty and political democracy as integral parts of a movement, towards a socialist society. But it has been the argument of critics of socialism that Lunder such a regime the first thing people |ose are personal liberty and political democracy. What has Mr. Weerakoon got to say about this ?
He says it is not so. Socialism, he theorises, is a state in Which you hawe all your rights. One cannot speak of socialism without liberties and political democracy, But some distortions may take place in a Socialist society surrounded by hostile capitalist forces and this perhaps was the fate of the Soviet Union,

Left Unity Inevitablo 1441
LENIN, STALIN AND THE OTHER LEADERS OF THE BOLSHEWIK PARTY HAVING FRATERNAL DISCUSSIONS WITH THE GUARDS AND OTHERS AT THE FRONTDOOR FOOT-STEPSLEADING TO THESMOLNY, AT THE TIME OF THE RUSSIAN REVOLUTION IN NOWEMBER, 1917.
| .
L.-P.: M. /. Kasir, J. W. Sfair ard W. W. Le 7 ir
In 1940, Trotskyists became powerful in the LSSP's central corn inittee and ousted their rival Stalinists for defending the 3rd International and the Soviet Union, Expelled thus from the LSSP were prominent political figures like Dr. S. A Wickramasinghe, Rev. U. Saranankara, A. Waidialingam, M. G. Mendis, T. Duraisingam and several others, who in 1940 formed the Colombo Workers' Club and in 1941 the United Socialist Party, which later in 1943 became the Communist Party of Sri Lanka with Dr, S, A. Wicramasinghe as its president and Pieter Keuneman as its secretary. They have come a long Way since amidsts SchiSITIS and Setbacks Ðf all kinds. It is now history. And the two parties are ready for unification,

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1442 Politics and Life in Our Times
After the unification of the two parties how would they reconcile their economic policies with those of the SLFP which is the major component of the Peoples Alliance (PA) ? The LSSP General Secretary stresses that their economic policies are consistent with those of the SLFP. "I have studied the policy programme of the SLFP and I don't See anything disagreeable", says Mr. Weerakoon.
Although the leftist movement has been there in this country for several decades, it has not been able to penetrate the plantation sector which is now dominated by the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC). Why has this happened?
Dr. N. M. Perera, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and other leftists, he says waged the plantation struggle in the 1930s. And the leaders were arrested and detained by the British Raj. During this period a vacuum was created in the plantation sector trade union activities. The CWC of Thondaman filled it. Mr. Weerakoon says the CWC leader had resorted to communalism to strengthen himself. Sinhala communalism on the other hand has also strengthened the CWC and Mr. Thondaman. Being a deciding factor at present on plantations, the CWC is in a powerful position, he says. Despite the strength of the CWC, the left has been able to establish its trade unions in the estate Sector, he adds.
"We have reached a situation today" wraps up the LSSP General Secretary, "in which we have to go back to Karl Marx himself and view socialism as a state beyond capitalism. Socialism is not another competitive system alongside capitalism. The need for it comes as Marx has shown as a historical need with the development of production forces within capitalist system. Then a state is reached when those forces cannot be developed further within the confines of private property. Thus in the process of inevitable change in that system that the need for socialism arises. These are fully accepted positions in the socialist TOVeTet.
"It was after the 1917 revolution in Russia which was relatively Speaking a backward country where socialism had to address itself to the question of building socialism in the circumstances which were the reality of Russia at the time. What we have seen recently is the collapse

Left Unity inevitable 1443
of what was so built. The global economy has proved to be all encompassing and any attempt by a nation to isolate itself as it did happen in Cambodia to build a socialist society in a backward part of the world will inevitably result in the kind of Pol Pot regime. The Socialist movement has digested these experiences and I have no doubt that none is thinking that socialism can be achieved without fullest awareness of these experiences".
How does the CP view the move to unify the two parties, Acting General Secretary of the CP, Raja Collure too thinks that though there were some differences between the two parties the tendency for unification has always been there. The two parties have on many occasions entered common fronts. It is not a sudden decision, he stressed taken by the two parties to merge.
Mr. Collure toes the same line as his LSSP counterpart Batty Weerakoon where ideological differences are concerned. "Collapse of the Soviet Union and the socialist governments in the Eastern Europe has made all these ideological problems irrelevant", he says. Even before the disintegration of the Soviet Union the two parties had similar views on socio-economic and political matters. Before the 1940s these differences Could have been a matter of issue. But not today, he contends.
After unification of the two parties which line would the future party toe, that of Stalin or Trotsky? Mr. Collure answers quoting the joint statement the two parties have signed : "We are conscious of the fact that our past experience within the international socialist movement should no longer divide us and keep us apart. The issues that arose then are not relevant now. Today it is not possible to think of Socialism except as a system that marks a higher stage in the development and organisation of the forces of production. This is a state that cannot be contemplated except in terms of a close and continuous interaction within the global economy. Nor is it possible to think of a movement towards a socialist society without due regard

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1444 Politics and Life in Our Times
and respect for political democracy and individual liberty". This way he thinks there would not arise need for any particular line for the future party to adopt as it would be totally free from all kinds of petty CdifferenCeS.
Divisions among leftist forces, according to their critics, have retarded the socialist movement in the country. And it is also because of these divisions that quasi Marxist organisations like the JVP have emerged, they argue. How does Mr. Collure counter this argument? He says that organisations like the JVP was a phenomenon common in many countries. This happens because, he explains, some socialists believe that the only way for establishment of Socialism was through a violent revolution. This is held mainly by those who believe in the Chinese version and it is now repudiated. Beside the philosophy other social factors have brought about the kind of struggle the JVP waged here, he theorises drawing examples from Latin America. Unemployment, oppression and disenchantment of the youth from the status quo compel the radicals to find quick Solutions.
Therefore he argues the emergence of this kind of organisations could not be attributed to the "failure' of the leftist forces. Of the unification, Mr. Collure goes on to say quoting from the joint statement, "in Sri Lanka it is a united socialist movement that has to be the focal point for the mobilisation of the working class in the defence of its own rights and those of the rest of the population". And he concludes: "Our aim is to unify the two parties and embrace the new generation as socialism is now passing on from the old generation to the new. He believes there should be a link between the old and the new because the old must pass on to the new their experiences and the new should eventually take leadership in the future Socialist movement.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 5th December, 1993.

CHAPTER 16
National Languages
Sinhala as the Official Language of Ceylon
J. R. JAYEWARDENE'S SPEECH IN THE STATE COUNCIL ON 24TH MAY, 1944
Sir, the motion standing in my name reads as follows:
(a)
(b)
(c)
(d)
(e)
That Sinhalese should be made the medium of instruction in all Schools; That Sinhalese should be made a compulsory subject in all public examinations; That Legislation should be introduced to permit the business of the State Council to be conducted in Sinhalese also, That a Commission should be appointed to choose for translation and to translate important books of other languages into Sinhalese; That a Commission should be appointed to report on all steps that need be taken to effect the transition from English into Sinhalese.
My motion seeks to displace English from the position which it has held for over 125 years as the official language of this country. Though English has been the official language for so many years, only 10 percent of a population of over 6 million speak and know that
language.
The tragedy that is enacted everyday in our Courts, in our Public Departments and in the very lives of our people is very vividly described in that famous book, which I would advise Hon. Members of this Council to read, called The Village in the Jungle. There, Sir, a villager from a hamlet in the Hambantota District is brought up for

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1446 Politics and Life in Our Times
trial in the Courts before an English Magistrate, and after a number of days of trial, during which he did not understand a single word of what passed between the Judge, counsel and the other officials, he is sentenced to a long term of imprisonment, and even at that stage does not know what had happened. That tragedy is occurring even today.
It is argued by those who know only English, who have been educated only in English, that if we displace English and make Sinhalese and Tamil the official languages, we will be shutting out a large World of literature and culture from our people. They little understand that that world of literature is already a closed book to 90 per cent of our people. We can today after so many years of English as the official language, measure its achievements in this Country. It is true that we have produced a number of famous lawyers, doctors and judges and possibly legislators, but in the field of literature, of science, of culture, we have been entirely barren of achievement.
It was not so when the native language was the language of the Government. I think history records that wise men both from the East and the West came to the shores of Lanka to read the bookS that were preserved in the sanctuaries of the Buddhist Sangha. If one reads the travels of Hsuen Tsang, Marco Polo and Fa Hien and the lives of great Western philosophers such as Dr. Dhalke and Rhys Davids and others, we would find the contribution that this country made to World literature when we had our own language as the official language.
it is said that many of the mysteries of Indian history were unravelled by the translation of the Mahavansa into English, but today our youths, after so many years of British rule, are more interested in the love affairs of Henry VIII than in the historical events pictured in the Mahavansa; they are more aware of the materialism preached by

Sinhala as the Official Language of Ceylon 1447
Western pundits, than in the truths which are embodied in the Abhidhamma. It is with a view to changing this situation, a situation which can Only be changed by Substituting the national languages as the official languages, that I have thought it wise to introduce this motion.
If We look again at our educational structure, which will come up for examination on the motion to be moved by the Minister of Education, we will find that we are spending over Rs. 20 million a year for maintaining a system of education which creates two classes. Over 80 per cent of our schools educate our children in Sinhalese and Tamil, while only about 6 or 7 per cent of the children are given an English education. But the official language is English, and that is Why this country is always in danger of being governed by a small coterie who go through those English schools, whereas the vast majority who go through the Sinhalese and Tamil schools must always be in the position of hewers of wood and drawers of water.
We have not only defects in our own system of education as an example and an argument for accepting this motion; we have also the example of other countries which have been for many Centuries under foreign domination, and once they have become free or almost free they have dropped the foreign language and adopted their own language. I will take an example, first the Irish Free State. After centuries of Anglicization, the native language of the people of Ireland, Gaelic, was forgotten; hardly 10 per cent spoke the language of the people. Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Hyde, Who later became President of the Irish Free State, the Gaelic League was started, and Gaelic was again made popular among the people. When Mr. De Valera began his great fight for freedom, and succeeded, he insisted that the native language of the people of Ireland, though it was spoken only by 10 percent, unlike in Ceylon where only 10 per cent speak English, should be made the official language. He set aside all objections - he is a man who does not care for objections - and he made that language the official language of Ireland.

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144B Politics and Life irn” COLLI r Tirres
MY MOTIONSEEKS TO DISPLACE ENGLISH FROM THE POSITION WHICH IT HAS HELD FOROWER 125 YEARS AS THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE OF THIS COUNTRY. THOUGHENGLISH HAS BEEN THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE FORSO MANY YEARS, ONLY 10 PER CENT OF A POPULATION OFOWER 6 MILLION SPEAK AND KNOW THAT LANGUAGE. IF ONLY THE BOARD OF MINISTERSELECTED IN 1931 AND THE MINISTER OF EDUCATION WHO WASELECTED IN 1931 HAD TAKEN THE NECESSARY STEPS WITH A WISION THAT SHOULD HAWE BEEN THEIRS, TO PUT INTO EFFECT A PROPOSALSUCH AS THIS, ITMAYBETHAT TODAY WEWOULD BEABLE TO SPEAKIN THE LANGUAGES OF THE PEOPLE IN THIS COUNCIL AND |NOUR OTHER LEGISLATIVE ASSEMBLIES. IT IS NOT TOOLATEEVEN AT THIS STAGETOMAKEA START TOSEE THATSINHALESE ANDTAMIL ARE MADE THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGES OF THIS COUNTRY,
|TFETTE THBFaa Presidorf J. R. Jayewarder G 1709-1906 – () 7 ff. 15796
We have seen how the Arabs were the means of restoring Aristotle to Europe, and how such a prince as Frederick II acted as a channel through which Arabic philosophy and science played upon the renascent European mind, Still Tore influential in the stirring up of Man's ideas were the Jews. Their very existence was a note of interrogation to the claims of the church, And finally the secret, fascinating inquiries of the alchemists were spreading far and wide and setting men to the petty, furtive, and yet fruiful resumption of experimental science. And the stir in men's minds was by no means confined now to the independent and Well educated. The mind of the COTirton man Was awake in the World as it had never been before in all the experience of Tankind. In spite of priest and persecution, Christianity does seem to have carried a Thanlal ferment wherewer its teaching reached. It established a direct relation between the conscience of the individual man and the God of Righteousness, so that now if need arose he had the courage to fom his own judgement upon prince or prelate or creed.
– H. G. WGIS,
 
 

Sir hala as the Official Language of Ceylon 1449
We also have the example of India where the Indian National Congress had insisted that English should be supplanted from its position as the official language, that linguistic provinces should be created, and that Hindi should be the official language. We see that in Hyderabad and in the other Native States of India the official language is the language of the people. No difficulty, I think, cari be wisualized conce the spirit of the motion is accepted and the methods which I have outlined are put into effect.
If only the Board of Ministers elected in 1931 and the Minister of Education who was elected in 1931 had taken the necessary steps with a vision that should have been theirs, to put into effect a proposal such as this, it may be that today we would be able to speak in the languages of the people in this Council and in our other legislative assemblies. It is not too late even at this stage to make a start to see that Sinhalese and Tamil are made the official languages of this country. It becomes all the more important that we should adopt this motion at this stage, because the Minister of Education is introducing very farreaching proposals next week in this Council, one of which is to make Englisheducation free, Before you create an educational systern in which you teach English as a free and compulsory language, you must have clear before your eyes what is going to be the official languages of this country. Are you going to educate the people of this Country, 80 per cent of whom do not at present get an education in English, while the official languages of the country, are to be Sinhalese and Tamil? Or are we in the future going to have English as the official language? I think that that is the most important decision which should be taken by the educational authorities before they decide whether the medium of instruction should be the mother tongue or English, The educational structure should be suited to the official languages. One might as well teach Dutch and not English, if English is not going to be the official language,
Therefore, I Would place this motior, before the House; and Wish to speak a word of explanation with regard to my desire to include Tamil also. I had always the intention that Tamil should be spoken in the Tamil-speaking provinces, and that Tamil should be the official language

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1450 Politics and Life in Our Times
in the Tamil-speaking provinces. But as two-thirds of the people of this country speak Sinhalese, I had the intention of proposing that only Sinhalese should be the official language of the Island; but it seems to me that the Tamil community, who speak Tamil, wish that Tamil also should be included on equal terms with Sinhalese. The great fear had was that Sinhalese being a language spoken by only 3 million people in the whole world would suffer, or may be entirely lost in time to Come, if Tamil is also placed on an equal footing with it in this country. The influence of Tamilliterature, a literature used in India by over 40 million and the influence of Tamil films and Tamil Culture in this Country, thought might be detrimental to the future of the Sinhalese language; but if it is the desire of the Tamils, that Tamil also should be given an equal status with Sinhalese, I do not think we should bar it from attaining that position.
do not think there will be any difficulty in this House, which is composed of representatives chosen on a universal franchise, in Securing the end we have in view. It is the universal franchise that has brought the English-educated and the masses together, and it is the impulse Created by the use of the universal franchise, by the ideals realized by the grant of universal franchise which enable the people to choose their rulers, which will ultimately make Sinhalese and Tamil the official languages of this country. I would therefore suggest to this House that We anticipate that event, and give it the sanction of our vote and decision.
Language, Sir, is one of the most important characteristics of nationality. Without language, a nation stands a chance of being absorbed or of losing its identity. With language, it has a chance of living for centuries. It is because of our language that the Sinhalese race has existed for 2,400 years and think that, composed as we are in this House, on the eve of freedom as a free Country We should prepare for a national official language. This House, I am sure, will vote with me that English should be deposed from its position as the official language of the country and Sinhalese and Tamil, the ancient languages of Our people, spoken by over 80 to 90 per cent of our people, should be made the official languages of Lanka.
Colombo, May 24th, 1944.

The I. A. T. R. Conference Desecration of Tamil Memorials
by James T. Rutnam.
On 29th July, 1977, our former Prime Minister released to the Press a letter which she had sent to the President protesting against the new Government for what she calls "its failure to arrest the Wave of violence, terror and intimidation that has been let loose in the country by the supporters of the UNP". Everybody deplores these wanton acts of hooliganism and the Prime Minister had lost no time in appointing a Commission to report on these incidents. He had also promised to release the Siriwardana Report on the Post-Elections violence of 1970. The former Government has to answer to the people why it had withheld the publication of this Report. Was it to protect its supporters? We shall Soon be able to know the real reason.
was intrigued to read this goodlady complaining "that statues of the late Mr. S. W. R. Dias Bandaranaike erected by the people in public places have been destroyed, which shows that they have even stooped to desecrate the dead". One could very well understand the unfortunate widow's feelings, although with hindsight this country has Come to realise that the personality cult of Bandaranaike, which went to dizzy heights of adulation and toadyism and even to near deification, has been so undeservedly overplayed as to cause now its own destruction.
I agree that the attack on the statues is desecration. But what did Mrs. Bandaranaike do when the several monuments erected by the people of Jaffna.to commemorate the tragic deaths, on the night of 10 January, 1974, of the innocent victims of the savagery of the Police, composed of Sinhalese constables specially brought to Jaffna were attacked?

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1452 Políticos and Life i7 Our Times
These monuments were destroyed on swo occasions by underlings of the Government. Was that not desecration? The former Prime Minister will be able founderstand the angry and desperate feelings T L LCCMuLLL CLLLCLL LLLL LLLLLLLLS GCCLCLC LLLLLL LLLLL LLGLLL LLLLLL C bitter gall of the sama medicine.
The tragedy of January 10, 1974 is to Jaffna, what the Tassacre at Jalianwallah Bagh in the Punjab was to India and its Freedom Movement. This was a turning point in the history of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. It also Tarks the real beginning of the desperate cry for Eelam. See what the Morning Star, a newspaper published in Jaffna since 1841 and whose motto emblazoned below its title reads, "Righteousness exalteth a Nation", has to say:
"The eight days from January 3 to 10 Will go down as an event not merely in our national story but also as a bright chapter in World history. The City of Jaffna became for the duration of that week the international Capital of Tamil Culture. The spontaneous awakening of interest in, and enthusiasm for, their noble language and great culture reached their peak hour at the post-Seminar public meeting held in the lawn of the Weerasingham Hall on the evening of the 10th. Aptly enough aLLL CL GLGCHaLLL LLLLLLLK K LCHaLL LTMMM LLCMLL LLLLL LLLLH LLLLCLLLY LLLLLL that held the audience, made up of seething Crowds, in Wrapt attention by his eloquence and exposition of the glorious heritage which was enshrined in their common mother tongue.
"Than tragedy struck. The crowds of people were subject to what has been widely described as a 'brutal" attack by the Police. It is alleged that, without any warning, they were going to use tear-gas on the people if they did not move out, the Police rained, eye witnesses say, thrusts with the butts of their guns and batons, and sprayed fear-gas borrbs upon the tens of thousands of people who were there. As a consequence sewan precious was were lost, more than 20 seriously hurt and hundreds more sustained injuries. Reports have if that even in the bus stands fear-gas LLLLLL LGLLLLLLL LLLL LLDLGLGH LCCHSS SLLLLLLGGLL HGGGLS LGGGGG CCL men, children and grown-ups - were subject to unfold hurrillation. And the night turned into a veritable night-marish one".

LLLLLL SS LLS SLLLL LLS LLLLCLGCLLLLLC SCCCLL00LkekLOLLa LL LLLLLG GLaLLaLLLY 1453
THE LEADER OF THE PROGRESSWE NATIONALIST PARTY WAS S. W. R. D. BANDARANAIKE WHICH POLITICAL PARTY WAS FORMED |NOCTOBER 1925 AND HAS BEEN DESCRIBEDASA FRESHSTEPTAKEN IN CEYLONESE POLITICAL ASPIRATIONS. AMONG THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE WERE JAMES T RUTNAM, R. S. S. GUNAWARDENA D.N. W. DE SILWA, M.T.JALALDEENAND H, S. GINIGE. JAMESRUTNAMWAS PERSONALLY KNOWN TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T DURAISINGAM. THEY HAWE TOGETHER STUDED AND DISCUSSED WARIOUS HISTORICALMATTERS PERTAINING TO CEYLON. JAMES RUTNAM HAD NWITED THE AUTHOR TO AFFNA FOR AN ARCHAEOLOGICAL CONFERENCE HELD IN THE JAFFNA UNIVERSITY CAMPUSDURING THE 1970s, WHICH CONFERENCE WAS PRESIDED BY JAMESRUTNAM.
lasTīgs T. PLyfradr?? 15,695 - M., 988
The eight days from January 3 to 10, 1974 when the World Conference of the International Association of Tartill Research (ATR) was held, will go down as an event not merely in our national story but also as a bright chapter in World history. The City of Jaffna became for the duration of that week the international capital of Tamil Culture. The spontaneous awakening of interest in, and enthusiasm for, their noble language and great culture reached their peak hour at the post-Seminar public meeting held in the lawn of the Weerasingham Hall on the evening of the 10th, Aptly enough at the moment it was a famous Tamil Muslim scholar from South India that held the audience, Thade up of seething Crowds, in Wrapt attention by his eloquence and exposition of the glorious heritage which was enshrined in their common mother tongue.

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1454. Politics and Life in Our Times
There was no proper enquiry held into this grave catastrophe. The inspector was promoted - in the same way as General Dyer of Jallianwallah Bagh was hailed by his superiors. However O'Dwyer, the Governor who supported Dyer, finally fell to an assasin's bullet in his own country.
The people of Jaffna called for a Report from an independent Commission of Enquiry composed of two judges of the Supreme Court, de Kretser and Manikavasagar, and a former Bishop in Jaffna, Kulendran. After a full survey they came to the conclusion that they could "find no justification at all for the police assault on defenceless and innocent citizens". Their Report is now enshrined in Hansard. A Tamil representative in Parliament had incorporated the whole Report in the course of his speech for inclusion in the proceedings.
It is noteworthy that the tens of thousands who congregated at that spot in Jaffna on that fatal day were a peaceful lot, unlike the hostile Crowd that had blocked the railway lines at a place in South Ceylon some weeks earlier. But, strangely enough, the approach by the Government to these two groups was different. One was pacified by soft Words and a response of almost total Surrender. In the case of the other, baton blows and rifle-butts and tear-gas were the answer. Why these two different standards?
The present Government would do well to study carefully the extent of the gross maladministration of the last Government, the corruption, nepotism particularly, for this is a general human weakness and the UNP should take pains from the beginning to guard against it, and the provocative attempts to rule the Tamil areas (as if these formed a Sinhalese Colony) with the help of discreditable or discredited Tamil stooges.
Kumarasuriar was one of the handful of Tamils who were close to the last Government. He was brought to tears in the humiliating defeat he received from the people. From oblivion he came, to oblivion he now goes unsung, unwept, unmourned; for ever let us hope.

The I. A. T. R. Conference - Desecration of Tamil Memorials 1455
It is certainly not a pleasant thing to dwell on the misfortunes of others. We have a Tamil proverb - like the man who fell from a Palmyrah tree being trampled by a bull. But facts must be faced. It was Kumarasuriar who attempted to sabotage one of the greatest events in Tamil history, the World Conference of the International Association of Tamil Research held in Jaffna in 1974, where the cruelty and inhumanity of the Ceylon Police Force were seen at their worst, before an audience which included several foreign scholars. I was an eye-witness to the harrowing scene, being present there as One of the Secretaries-General of the Conference. I was struck unconscious following the burst of a tear-gas shell and would have been electrocuted like the Seven others, had not Some brave Tamil youths taken me away from a live electric wire that was lying near
e.
Some days before the Conference was due to open, Kumarasuriar had the effrontery to publish without any sense of shame a long rigmarole to the Press entitled "Why I am not going to the Conference". He little realised then that in publishing that document he was signing his own expulsion from the body politic of the Tamils of Sri Lanka.
Had only Sirimavo Bandaranaike come at that time to Jaffna and opened the Conference, as the highest functionaries in Malaysia and india had done at similar Conferences held in these Countries, she would have been hailed with delirious affection. This would have had an immeasurable impact on Sinhalese-Tamil relations.
She failed on that occasion. She despatched instead a large force of Sinhalese constables. Kumarasuriar Was One of the madam's closest counsellors with regard to Tamil affairs. He did his best to thwart the Conference. He pitted his imagined strength and influence against a body of scholars and the stream of public opinion in the Tamil land. Pride may be excusable, but Arrogance gets its own deserts eventually.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, August 13, 1977.

Page 189
Monk's Final Solution Army of Occupation
by James T. Rutnam
The Reverend Madihe Pannasiha Nayake Thero of Vajirarama Temple, Bambalapitiya, where presently some refugees are housed and cared for by several benefactors, is reported to have submitted a memorandum to the Prime Minister urging the stationing in Jaffna of a contingent of over thousand soldiers. They are to enforce state Colonisation of Sinhalese in the Northern and Eastern Provinces, the traditional homelands for centuries of the Tamils, and accepted as Tamilspeaking provinces by successive Governments, both SLFP and UNP. The idea seems to be to change the 'racial' and linguistic character of these areas. This would ensure a Parliament of 168 "Sinhalese only" Members. What a fantastic idea? Curiously at this very moment our Foreign Minister Hameed is leading the non-aligned nations to register their protest against a similar type of plantation of Jewish Settlements in the West Bank of the river Jordan. The militant Buddhist monk is perhaps not aware what a legacy of blood and tears has followed the plantation of Ulster in Ireland. Ireland is still bleeding. You cannot crush the spirit of Liberty, Equality and Fraternity with a thousand or more soldiers. Does the monk think that this is a Buddhist solution to the Tamil problem, so like Hitler's "Final Solution"? Where is Hitler now? What is happening to racists today all over the world, including South Africa? Does this monkthink that if these soldiers found an opportunity to exercise their might and armoured prowess over an innocent but resisting population, the world outside would remain quiet with folded arms?
We have already noted India's "concern". It is a reflection of the "concern" the Central Government of India has for forty-five million "Tamilians" (they use this term) in Tamil Nadu. On 24 August the people of Madras staged a General Strike and a demonstration of 100,000 protesters in connection with the disturbances in Sri Lanka. This was the largest assembly of people in Madras since Annadurai's funeral.

Monk's Final Solution - Army of Occupation 1457
Our Prime Minister need not worry about Trincomalee. It will continue to belong to the people of this island, and could only be captured over the dead body of India, our Big Brother. We cannot repudiate this relationship. Geography and Anthropology have sealed for ever.
The Government has pledged itself to solve the Tamil problem. We have to give this Government a chance to do it. I make this appeal especially to the TULF. I understand the predicament of the TULF. They have had a stunning mandate in the Northern Province. Their young men are restless. I agree. The first task of the Government is to find employment that had been unreasonably denied to them, solely because they were Tamils.
had an opportunity on 25 August to meet the Prime Minister along with several earnest men who are endeavouring to help in the restoration of calm and harmony among the people. Notable among them were R. S. S. Gunawardena, President of the All-Ceylon Buddhist Congress, Father Tissa Balasuriya, V. Manicavasagar, former Judge of the Supreme Court and Dr. Kaleel. All of us were impressed by the dedication and determination of the Prime minister to solve this problem at the beginning of the Government's tenure, but without dividing the Country into separate states. At the age of seventy-two years, with eyes Sunken and cheeks drawn, Jayewardene carries the burden of state with resolution and resignation, fortified by basic Buddhist principles. S. D. Bandaranaike once declared that S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was a Bodhisatva, but Jayawardene as I saw him, at an anxious moment of this grave crisis, appears to be nearer the ideal than anyone else I had known.
Premadasa's speech on 24 August has reassured the Tamils, coming as it did soon after the Prime Minister's heartening appeal to the good sense of all the people in this country. Premadasa had often dwelt on the accidents of birth that make Some Tamils and Some Sinhalese. His speeches are a lesson to both the clergy and the laity of all religions. I am only sorry that Premadasa was compelled to use the language of his principal detractor to crush him. This is unfortunate though understandable. Poor boy, Anura summons Benjamin Disraeli to his aid saying "The time will come when you will hear me". sincerely hope it will come, but he must change.

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1455 Postics and Life fri Our Tires
KUTTALAMS ASSOCATED WITH THE LEGENDARY FIGURE OF SIDDHA AGASTLA. KUTTALAM IS 7 K.M. FROM THEN KASI, SOUTH INDIA.
ता== s 鲇_ ༽
The author of this book, T. Duraisingar, is seen here taking a bash in the Sacred Kuttalian Water Falls,
Kuttalan waterfalls is connected with the springs of Thiripuramountain ranges, Thiripura mountain is covered with Tedicinal herbs and trees. Chitra river springs from this mountain and falls in Kuttalam river and thence into the Water falls which gives the bathers eternal youth and dgep knowledge. The residence of Guru Agastia is reported to be in the sacred Kuttalan area. The Hindus consider the Thiripura mountain in South India what Mount Kailas is to North India. Three ancient and sacred temples are here, namely: Lord Kuttalam Temple which is in the shape of a Conch, a weapon of Lord Wishnu. On either side are templeas Kuttalawai Moli Amirmai and the Goddass Parashakthi. It is reputed that Guru Agasthia acquired his deep and extensive knowledge of the Tamil Language by Worshipping at the temple of Lord Kuttalam,
 
 
 

Monk's Final Solution - Army of Occupation 1459
A Member of Parliament who glories in the name of Kariawasa T has incidently mumbled, during the height of the crisis, something about Dutugem Lunu and the Sinhalese. Dutugemumu is a legendary hero, despite the fact that in his youth he killed a very old but brave man in single combat. This was not a great feat. But why drag history or legend as Premadasa would say, This would only cause idle debate. Why not face the present reality? The composition of the present population in Sri Lanka is neither Tamil nor Sinhalese ethnically, The division is linguistic. Some of us speak English well, but we are not English nor do we claim to have the heart of a Richard the Lion-hearted,
Besides the name Karia Wa Sam We hawe a number of other names which we must renowe first, before We could call ourselves "true Sinhalese", like for instance Felix R. Dias (Bandaranaike), Scion of the House of Neelaperumaland cadet of the House of Jan Christoffel Schaarf of Sangarhausen, Germany,
Here is a shortlist of interesting names belonging to so-called Sinhale se:Govindawaduge, Demalapaliyegurunnan selage, Pon nahenadige, Selahenadige, Ilaya perrunal, Nalla peruma, Sellaperuma, Sella maperuma, Komara mudianselage, Agampodige, Thondamanarachige, Theveraperumage, Pulikutiarachi.
| wish to end this article with a Sad reflection of a Tamil victim of a Sinhalese assault recently. He told me pathetically, "I pray that my wicked assailant may be born a Tamil in his next birth". This brings me to the desire of Anagarika Dharmapala as he lay dying. He wished to be reborn in India, but as a Brahmin, I cannot understand this particular wish, for Anagarika's father in Sri Lanka was a "good" Goigama and his Tother a "good" Durawa. All this points to one thing, Brahmin or Sudra, Goigama or Durava, Sinhalese or Tamil, we are all one. If Justice and Equality prevails in this beloved land of ours, Sri Lanka, this Dharmishta Samajaya, then there will benc Tamil problem".
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 3, 1977.

Page 191
A Need for Goodwill
by James T. Rutnam
This will be my last article in this series which began on 2 July. Age and failing health are gradually claiming their toll. I hope to resume Writing later, though not on a Weekly or regular assignment. Looking back find, on a deeper study, that the most important cause of the estrangement between the Sinhalese and Tamils is the want of proper Communication. Language which should bring people together has in this instance torn them apart.
It is easy to blame S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. The Reverend Ananda Mangala is reported in the Sun of 12 September as having remarked, "The Tamil people love their language. They love what we love. We must give them their language rights. The Sinhala Only Act has erected barriers". Indeed it has, but Bandaranaike had other ideas. When he introduced the Sinhala Only Bill he had intended to solve the Tamil problem through a Federal Constitution. "A thousand and one objections", he said, "could be raised against the (Federal) system, but when the objections are dissipated I am convinced that some form of Federal Government will be the only solution". But Bandaranaike was notable to establish this himself.
Thus we had Sinhalese Only, with no corresponding relief to the Tamils. This way of appropriating one-sided gains has been a feature of our constitutional history for over fifty years. Arunachalam got the Sinhalese and Tamils together and campaigned for political reform as one people. This resulted in territorial representation for the Sinhalese at the expense of the Tamils.
In 1925 the Sinhalese and Tamil leaders entered into a Pact to remedy the situation, but this was not honoured. R. S. S. Gunawardena is the only signatory of this Pact now alive. The Donoughmore Commissioners came thereafter. They introduced Universal Adult Suffrage (including Vote for the Tamils of the plantations) and the Committee System.

A Need for Goodwill 1461
A homogeneous Sinhalese Ministry was formed by Senanayake. This really exposed the absurdity of the Constitution. The Soulbury Commissioners followed. They abolished the Committee System and established a Bicameral Legislature, and also allowed the Vote for the plantation Tamils to remain.
Eventually the Bicameral Legislature was abolished, the Plantation Vote scrapped and we had a lopsided form of Government that further denied the rights of the Tamils. This was accentuated by the Sinhalese Only Bill. Both Bandaranaike and Dudley Senanayake attempted to appease the Tamils with Pacts which they themselves repudiated, owing to alternating pressures from the contending UNP and SLFP.
This is where we are now. The seven years of SLFP government made further inroads into the rights of the Tamils. The Armed Forces and the Police were far too disproportionately packed with Sinhalese who were recruited generally through the back-door. Education of Tamils was strangled, and there was open discrimination against them in every field. The present UNP Government has inherited this mess.
The Elections exposed the pathetic state of the plantation Tamils who form nearly a million, and who are represented only by one single individual, Thondaman. The Government has recognised the anomalies of the situation, and has acknowledged the need for reform. In the meantime we have gone through a gruesome fortnight of agony and terror and even savagery unparalleled in our modern history.
Are we at the parting of the ways? Tarzie Vittachi had asked the same question almost twenty years ago at the end of his book Emergency '58. Our Prime Minister has not abandoned Hope. This will perhaps be the last chance for all of us to live happily together in one undivided Sri Lanka. Could this be accomplished?
The lack of Communication seems to be, as I said at the beginning the prime cause of our division. As an administrative measure the suggestion given by the Deputy Speaker Bakeer Markar to carry in the Hansard Sinhalese translation of Tamil speeches and

Page 192
FosffCS af 7d Lsg fri (). Tf7 7gs
Tamiltranslation of Sinhalese speeches is an appropriate step in bringing closer understanding among the Members of the Assembly, I Would suggest that we have an English Hansard as well. It Will be useful to LLLLLL LL LLLLLL HLLLGLCCL LCCCLCS LL LLLLLL CCGLHH LLLLL CLLLC CL increasing number now.
It has been realised that in Our hasty rush for SWatasha (Sinhalese in 24 Hours!) we had failed to appreciate the value of English. We have now produced two or three generations of graduates with hardly a working knowledge of English. This is fatal to intellectual progress in this narrowing World. It will thus become apparent that We should give wery serious consideration to recognising Sinhalese, Tamil and English as Official Languages. Nehru in India Scotched the move for Separation by Tamil Nadu by allowing the use of English instead of Hindi in this State. As a link language between Sinhalase and Tamils, English has ar importarif role to play especially in the present Context.
I would suggest a crash programme to be initiated by awarding attractive incentives to Sinhalese and Tamil students at Standards Five and Eight, for the study of these languages. The Sinhalese students should be examined by Tamil teachers and the Tamils by Sinhalese. The total number of prizes should be substantial, say twenty thousand prizes for Sinhalese and ten thousand for Tamils at each level. The suggestion made by the Maha Nayake Thera of Asgiriya that facilities should be provided for Sinhalese to learn Tamil as reported in the Caylor Daily News of 6th September is a welcome sign of leadership given by one who has by his Words and action distinguished himself as a Wise and true counsellor of the nation. Hearken to his call. It will bring Salvation to this presently unhappy land.
The only epic of Hinayana Buddhism was written in Tamil by a Tamil. It is the "Manirekalai", a classic which should be read by every Tafil. Its Sinhalese translation should be made freely available to our Buddhist brethren. They should treasure if asafoken of their obligation LL LLL LLLL LLLLL LLLL LL LLLLLLCL S LLSS S SLLCCL CLC CLLGL LLL LC great Buddhagosha was a Dravidian, and that many monks in the Maha Wihara at Anuradhapura were Tamils. One of them was a Maha Nayaka Offig MäTä Wärä.

A Need for Goodwill 1463
BABYLONS AN ANCIENT CITY IN ASA. IT STOOD ON THE RIVER EUPHRATES, ABOUT 60 MILES SOUTH OF BAGDAD AND WAS THE CAPITAL OF THE BABYLONIAN EMPIRE. ITS GREATPERIOD WASFROM ABOUT 1800-500 B.C., BUTITS FOUNDATION MAY GOBACK3000 YEARS EARLIER, OR EVEN MORE. IT STOOD ON BOTH SIDES OF THE RIVER, AND AS RECENTEXCAVATIONS SHOW, WASAN ENORMOUSCITYFILLED WITH MAGNIFICENT PALACES, TEMPLES AND OTHER BUILDINGS. ITS HANGING GARDENS WERE COUNTED ONE OF THE SEVEN WONDERS OF THE WORLD. ITSRUNS COWER SOMETHING LIKE SOS. MILES.
క్స్టిక్ల్లో Lion of Babylon ZiggLJrat
The Lion of Babylon is carved out of stone and is large and still to be seen in Babylor. This was the symbol of the power of the Babylonian Empire. The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, when he was in Irak in 1975 went and wis Wad this Lion.
Ziggurat is a seriple built in a series of stages. These terriples were built in Babylonia and Asgiria during the fires Babylonia was one of the great armpires affho ancient World, With Ils capifalat Babylon.
This ancient city of Mesopotamia which under Har Timurabi about 1750 B. C. became the capital of a flourishingerTipire (Babylonia, the greatest of the Semitic states which succeeded the Sumarians; King Hammurabidewised a code of law and organised the administration and irrigation of the whole Tigris and Euphrates region, The religion of Babylonia, with its god Marcluk or Baal and its artificial hills (Ziggurats) for temples is reflected in the story (if the Tower of Babel.

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Knowing each other's tongues is not enough. We should all help to produce a climate of Compassion and goodwill among our people, who I believe are ethnically more close to each other than to any other people in the world. The presently Sinhalese-speaking people of the Maritime Province, especially the Karavas, Salagamas and Duravas, are very much closer to Elara and the Tamils than they are to Duttugamunu or anybody else. So why not look upon each other with brotherly compassion and with no hate or bitterness? An excellent move would be to form a Race Relations Department under the auspices of the Government. We find this in the United Kingdom and in Australia.
Summing up this series of articles, find that here and there had allowed myself to express, rightly or wrongly, rather strong views whenever I felt obliged to do so. I suppose this comes when one is too near to events. However at the distance which have now set for myself in order to appeal for goodwill, love and compassion, for no hate nor bitterness, I feel should address this call to myself first.
I would like to clear a possible misunderstanding. I had always esteemed the Reverend Madihe Pannasiha Thera of the Vajirarama Temple, an abode internationally famous for its learning and Buddhist activities, thanks especially to the renowned Reverend Narada Thera. had personally known, and could say been benevolently influenced, by the Reverend Kassappa and Soma Theras (both alas, no more) of this fraternity.
In the course of my writing I took exception to a proposed stationing of troops to enforce State colonisation in some places. I am certainly not opposed to the Sinhalese people, personally taking up residence or finding employment, or establishing themselves in industries in the Tamil-speaking areas. But I did not favour State colonisation that would change the communal or linguistic character of these areas.
This is a universally accepted rule and regional autonomy has been Conceded to such areas. In Barcelona in Spain last Week one million Catalonions gathered to celebrate the imminent conferment of Regional Autonomy for this region. Scotland continues to remain

A Need for Goodwill 1465
the homeland of the Scots, Wales of the Welsh, but in England we find a large number of Scots and Welshmen, for (besides other reasons) London in England is the Metropolis of Scotland, Wales and England.
In taking up this issue with the Reverend Pannasiha Thera, feel that had overreached myself. Hence this "unease" within me. I have been brought up to respect the members of the clergy, be they Buddhists, Christians, Muslims or Hindus, and while protesting I had no intention to disrespect anyone, yet for the sake of the cause to which we are all attached, would like to express here my sincere regret for anything said by me that might have caused hurt or sadness to the reverend monk.
In the same strain would like to express my sentiments towards my boyhood friend, who is by any standard the greatest living political figure in the country, R. S. S. Gunawardena, with whom too I had to disagree in some instances. Despite occasional embarassments to himself when he is placed in certain offices or situations, he has for a number of years continued to work for Racial Harmony, and I have no doubt his invaluable and signal services in this direction would be appreciated and remembered by this generation and posterity.
As for me I am a humanist. I am neither proud nor ashamed of being born a Tamil. This is an accident of birth. I am on the side of those persecuted because of this accident. Presently the Tamils unfortunately happen to be the persecuted ones. Not for long, hope, with a Prime Minister resolved, like the great Asoka, to follow the Dhamma, "whatever the consequences".
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 17, 1977.

Page 194
National Unity and Discrimination
by A. C. Nadaraja A founder member and a Vice President of the S. L. F. P.
It was refreshing to read in the Tribune of the 9th January an article by Mr. R. Kahawita on "National Unity and Discrimination". It was a sober, sensible and balanced approach to the Tamil Problem. He feels sorry that with all our boastful heritage 2,500 years old, Culture, etc., "We have not yet learnt to understand the other man's point of view". This is the main reason for a lot of Anti-Tamil feeling today. So long as this attitude continues there can be, and will be, no unity in this country. Our country is steadily declining in every walk of life for this reason. Mr. Kahawita rightly and boldly asserts that "in this work of unification, the politician has no place". Unfortunately in this country nothing moves without the politician having his finger in it. There was nothing wrong with the ordinary people of the country either in the North or South till their thinking was poisoned by the politicians after independence. Mr. Kahawita says "Alas! What is troubling everybody is the language issue". This is quite correct. It is the Sinhala Only Act, No. 33 of 1956, that divided the country. In this connection it may be useful to refer to the gradual evolution of this problem, some aspects of which are not known to the public.
The question of the official Language was first raised in the State Council in about 1944 when Mr. J. R. Jayewardene introduced a resolution to make Sinhala Only as the official language. An amendment to this resolution was proposed whereby Sinhalese and Tamil were to be made the official languages. The council accepted the amendment. Mr. D. S. Senanayake, the Premier, approved it as he knew that Sinhala only would have divided the country. Thereafter the U. N. P. Government appointed the Official Languages Commission in 1951 on the basis that Sinhala and Tamil were the official languages.

National Unity and Discrimination 1467
On January 21st, 1954, the U. N. P. at its annual party conference reiterated its decision to make Sinhalese and Tamil official languages throughout the Country. When later it was announced in the press that the Commission on Higher Education had decided to submit a report on the basis that Sinhalese should be the sole official language, His Excellency the Governor General sent a communication to the Commission stating as follows: "You are no doubt aware that it is the accepted policy of the government that Sinhalese and Tamil should be the official languages of this country, and any examination of this policy would be contrary to the terms of reference".
When Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike formed his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (of which was a founder member and a vice president) our manifesto printed in 1951 had the following: "National Languages: it is most essential that Sinhalese and Tamil be adopted as official languages immediately, so that the people of this Country may cease to be aliens in their own land, so that an end may be put to the iniquity of Condemning those educated in Sinhalese and Tamil to occupy lowliest walks of life, and above all that Society may have the full benefit of the skill and talents of the people. The administration of government must be carried on in Sinhalese and Tamil".
It is obvious the two languages were the official languages till about the middle of 1955. What happened to change this state of affairs? About the early part of 1955 Sir John Kotelawala, the then Premier, made a tour of the North and he was given a grand reception. At the last public meeting held at Kokuvil, the principal of the Kokuvil Hindu College, Handy Perinpanayagam, suggested to the premier that Sinhalese and Tamil should be given a place in the constitution as official languages. The premier agreed to it, as the Government policy was that both were official languages.
Thereafter two senior politicians in the South started criticising Sir John for what he had agreed to at Kokuvil at every public meeting at which they spoke. Thereafter one day, Mr. Bandaranaike asked me to stay back after a committee meeting of the Party, as he wanted to speak to me on some matter. He referred to the trouble that was being Created by the two politicians and stated that we should not

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1468 Politics ard Life ir CDLur Tirrings
keep silent over it. We agreed that a language sub-committee should be appointed to report on this matter. The language sub-committee, of which Mr. Bandaranaike was president and Mr. Wolvin de Silva Was the Secretary, heard many deputations and drafted the following report: "The language sub-committee resolved that the Sinhalese language be declared the official language of the country with recognition accorded to the Tamil Language in the Legislature, Administration and Education in terms of the statement below, and that proper legal provision be made for this purpose.
Staferrerf."
1. Legislature Tamil may also be used in the Senate and in the House of Representatives, and all laws will be promulgated in that language as Well.
2. Administration: Sinhalese will be the language of administration in all courts, government offices and local bodies, provided that in the Northern and Eastern Provinces the Language will be Tamil.
3. Education. The medium of instruction shall be Sinhala, provided
that in the Northern and Eastern Provinces it shall be Tarthil. Proviso 7: Every pupil should be encouraged (but not compelled) to learn the other language as a second language and, if the parents of one-third of the pupils in any school desire to do so, the school shall be compelled to provide the necessary facilities, Froviso. 2: If in any school, in the Northern and Eastern Provinces the parents of two-thirds of the pupils desire that the medium of instruction shall be Sinhalese or in the case of a school in any of the other sever Provinces that the Inedium of instruction should be Tamil, this shall be allowed. But in such a school Tari or Sinhalese, as the case may be, shall be taught compulsorily as a second language to all the pupils in that school.
N. B. - A parent for this purpose shall be a registered voter for
Parliamentary Elections.
4. General : All citizens shall| hawe the right to transact official business
in Sinhalese or Tamil in any part of the island.

National Unity and Discrimination 1469
LLLL0 KLLLLLLLLE LLCLSLLLLLLLL LL LLLLL LLLLLL LL LL00LL0LLLLLLLLL LL OCTOBER 12, 1866 AND EDUCATED AT THE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL THERE SETTLING IN LONDON HE WORKED ASA, CLERKAND THEN ASAJOURNALIST. HEBECAMEIDENTIFIED WITH THE FABAN SOCIETY LLLLLL L LL LLLLL LLLLLLLL LLL LLLLLLL LLLLL LLL LLLL L LLLLL LLLLLLL OF THE GROUP THAT INSPIRED THIS MOVEMENT. HE EDITED THE LLLLLLL LLLLLLLLS LL LLLLLL L LL LLLLL LL LLLLL LLL 0LLLLLLLSS LLL 1900 HE WASMADE SECRETARY OF THE LABOUR PARTY, A POSTHE HELD FOR TWELVE YEARS; AND FOR THE NEXT TWELVE HE WAS ITS LLLLLLL LLLLS LLLLL 0LLLLG0aaa LLLLLLaL LLLL LL LLLLLLLGLLLLL LLLL LLLLLL aL COUNTY COUNCIL. MacDONALDMARRIED, IN 1896, MARGARETETHEL, DAUGHTER OF J. H. GLADSTONE, THE EMINENT SCIENTIST. SHE WAS A WOMAN OF UNUSUAL GIFTS,
James Ramsay MacDonald BarT7 or 72. 72, 78665
MacDonald was chosen as the leader of the Labour Party in the House of Commons. In 1922, the Labour Party was the official opposition in Parliament. As leader he was called upon in January 1924, to form a Ministry and he became the first Labour Prime Minister in Great Britain. After the general election of 1929 he was called upon to form the second Labour Ministry. This was in office under his premiership until a financial crisis led to its break-up in August 1931. With a few colleagues and followers MacDonald acted with the other two political parties and a National Government was formed, with himself as premier, This was confirmed in office when the general election of October 1931 sent an immense majority to its support in the House of Con Tions, MacDonald himself won a signal victory at Seaham over a Socialist opponent, MacDonald has travelled wery Widely and is a man of considerable culture, His books include Socialism and Society, Labour aid the Empire, The Awakening LL TLS T LTemLuutLLL GGGGOGGGOLOHS LLLLLLMMMGO CCtk LLLLLLLCS LLLLLL CCLLLLLLLLCCCLOLLL LLL t LuGCLL LLL LLL LLLLLLLLS 0K0 LL LLL0L C GLLLLL LL LL Royal Commission that inquired into the public services of India, and he has
Bēvēd Tēr L5 Cālēri: Brīd thĒr Lu5.

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1470 Politics and Life in Our Times
Transitory Provisions: There should be an immediate declaration of the official language, but in the transition period, until the above policy can be implemented, English may continue to be used. A Commission shall be appointed forthwith to draw up a time-table setting out the dates for the change-over and to what extent, if any, English may continue to be utilised, and also indicating, where necessary, the steps to be taken to give effect to this time-table".
When this report was presented to the Executive Committee three well known fanatical members objected to the adoption of the report as it stood. To satisfy them Mr. Bandaranaike suggested a compromise whereby Sinhala was to be made the official language with reasonable use of Tamil. The reasonable use was the use mentioned in the report, but it was not to be published. This meeting of the Committee held on 24th September, 1955 was the last meeting lattended, and I sent my resignation from the Party, as what was being done was unfair to the Tamils. Apart from being descriminatory against the Tamils, it affected their self respect. From the above it is evident that Mr. Bandaranaike's Sudden change of policy was purely to enable him to capture power in the approaching elections. What happened to the country was of secondary importance. That the country called for it, is untrue.
Soon after the Sinhala Only Act, No. 33 of 1956 was passed many Tamils, including me, got letters from Malaya stating that legal opinion of English lawyers was that the Sinhala Only Act was invalid under section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution, and called upon us to challenge it in a court of law. One does not know why the Federal Party did not challenge its validity at that time. However, the validity of this Act was challenged in the famous Kodeswaran case, and the District Court held in Case No. 1026/Z D. C. Colombo that the Act was invalid under Section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution. The Crown appealed to the Supreme Court which set aside the judgement on the preliminary point that a government servant had no right to sue the Crown in a court of law for salary or increment. The Court did not consider the Constitutional point, namely, the validity of the Act. However the Court stated that if it became necessary to consider that point, the Chief Justice

National Unity and Discrimination 1471
would place the matter before a fuller bench of five judges. Kodeswaran appealed to the Privy Council which set aside the judgment of the Supreme Court, but as the other points (including the constitutional point) had not been considered by the Supreme Court the Privy Council directed as follows: "The case should be remitted to the Supreme Court for further consideration of these other issues". (Vide 72 NLR 337). This judgement was delivered on 11.12.1969. It was generally believed in legal circles that the Privy Council would uphold the finding of the District Court, if the matter went back to them.
Mrs. Bandaranaike won with a big majority in the 1970 elections. Her government did not place the case before the Supreme Court for the consideration of the constitutional and other issues, but took steps to substitute the Soulbury Constitution with another Constitution. But before doing that, appeals to the Privy Council were abolished by Act No. 44 of 1971. It was obious her government did not want the validity of the Sinhala Only Act to go before the Privy Council. The 1972 Constitution was introduced and the Sinhala Only Act was specially referred to in that Constitution, apparently with the idea that the Sinhala Only Act placed on the shelf of the constitution would be preserved, even though it was invalid according to a court of law. Mr. J. R. Jayewardene however appears to have realised the weakness of that view, and he introduced the 1978 Constitution which has provisions for making Sinhala the only official language without reference to the Act No. 33 of 1956. The position seems to be that the Sinhala Only Act is invalid according to the decision of the court, but it is the official language under the 1978 constitution. It would have been proper and honourable if Mrs. Bandaranaike's government placed the appeal before the Supreme Court for its decision on the Constitutional issues.
Why did Mrs. Bandaranaike introduce the 1972 constitution? It was purely to protect the Sinhala Only Act, and to get rid of Section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution, which was the only protection provided for the minorities. If in 1947 the State Council refused to accept Section 29 of the Constitution there would have been no independence in 1948.

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1472 Politics and Life in Our Times
Having accepted the section which was regarded as an entrenched section, Ceylon could not have withdrawn it even by a two thirds majority. If a part could not have been withdrawn, it follows the whole constitution could not have been withdrawn. The Soulbury Constitution did not provide for a new constitution. Mrs. Bandaranaike's government had no power to introduce the 1972 constitution. She and the others elected to the House of Representatives in 1970 had no right to call themselves a Constituent Assembly, which must be elected by the people as such an assembly, only for the purpose of framing a constitution, which it was not. Fundamental rights cannot replace section 29 of the Soulbury Constitution. Besides what one section of the fundamental rights gave Was nullified by a subsection and or a following section.
Apart from these matters, as the District Court judgement was not challenged after the Privy Council judgement, the fact remains that the Sinhala Only Act, No. 33 of 1956 was and is an invalid Act. What justification was there at least morally and ethically to include an invalid law into the 1978 Act? Things have been done on the principle "Might is right". So long as Sinhala stands as the Only official language there exists no basis for unity between the two major communities. Mr. Kahawita having established in his article that Sinhala Only does result in discrimination against the Tamils, has suggested in the name of national unity and progress that Sinhala, Tamil and English, be statutorily declared official languages of Sri Lanka. Others too have suggested the same thing. Will the President do it? I Wonder
Hultsdrop, 23. 02.1982.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, March 13, 1982.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka
by K. Sivathamby
Ever since each of the two major communities of this island began fighting against the deculturising effect of the socio-educational policies pursued by the British by falling back on their feudalistic, religioCultural roots the characteristic feature of politicization has been the polarisation of the Sinhala-Buddhist and Hindu-Tamil groups. The mode of Sri Lanka's apprenticeship to parliamentary democracy (representation on the basis of ethnic and social groups) helped to consolidate this division. At the start there was a sharpening of the ethnic differences at the level of the emerging bourgeoisie, which they later, With the extension of the franchise, transmitted to the masses, at which level it became 'race riots'. The history of the constitutional reforms of this country, viewed in this light could also be seen as the history of the attempts made to determine the political status of the Tamils within a unitary Sri Lankan State. The interaction of the socioeconomic motivations, the political demands and the ensuing Constitutional adjustments has led to the emergence of language and religion (more language than religion) as the main planks in the process of deColonization.
Most of the academic attempts made to grapple with and elucidate this problem, have considered it sufficient to describe the events and delineate the trends. Thus the more deep-seated problems of inter-nationality relations were explained away as the "language issue" or more simplistically the "communal problem". It is true that this was a communal problem in that it arose because these "ethnic groups have developed an awareness of a common identity and have attempted to define the boundaries of the group(s)". But it was something more too, for each of these groups had also mobilized themselves for political action and were becoming politically significant.

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1.474 PolitiÇ5 ar7d Life in Cur. Tİr7795
It is at a stage like this that a community transforms itself into a nationality. A better conceptual tool is therefore necessary to understand this process and the concept of nationality is more suitable, But the unconscious impact of the Western concept of the nationstate did not permit the politicians and the analysts to view the problem in that light. The preoccupation with the nation of "the language issue" also hid from their view the "intra-Communal" differelCgs fould especially among the Tamils. Except for a few (Arasaratnam, Wilson and Jupp.), others failed to highlight the significance of this situation found among the Tasnils and indicate how it had influenced the formulation of the strategies adopted and solutions suggested by both the protagonists and the antagonists,
Even though there has been a general acceptance of the fact that the Tamils of Sri Lanka have genuine grievances regarding their rights as full fledged 'nationals' of Sri Lanka, there has been no unanimity of political opinion of action among the Tamils at any given moment or over a given situation. The closest ever the Tamils in this island CarTe to closing their ranks was when the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) was formed in 1972 with the coming together of the Federal Party (FP), the Tamil Congress (TC) and the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC) led by S. Thondaman, along with the Tamil M. P. in the United National Party (UNP), K. W. Devanayagam. But with the for ration of the UNP Government in 1977 and with the inclusion of Devanayagam in the Cabinet and later with the absorption of Thondaman into the Cabinet the political basis of this alignment has never been made clear, the TULF ceased to be a "front" in the original meaning of the term; it is now a combination of two parties the F. P. and the T. C., the latter split into two over the choice of candidates in the elections of 1977 with a dissenting group under the leadership of Kumar Ponnambalam, som of its founder President G, G, POrПВПБЈаlВITI.
However, it is at this title of dissensions and defections that the TULF has emerged as the voice of the oppressed Tamils, it is important to note that it is the national situation that has helped it to

Soria Aspects of the Social Cornposition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1475
KARTHIGESU SWATHAMBY, THE EMIRITUS PROFESSOR OF TAMIL WHO STUDIED AND EXPOUNDED THE SINHALA-BUDDHST ANDHINDUTAMIL CONFLCTS.
It is significant that progressive opinion in this Country nOW realises the need for a radical change in the attitude towards this problem and that the Tamils of Sri Lanka should be taken as either a nationality or a nation, having the Inalienable right of self determination. This would therefore be an opportune time to analyse the character of the Social composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Such an analysis of the Social formation would highlight the basic factors of Tamilian social organization which are very often understood only interms of traditional images like culture traits. Besides it would also throw light on the different Socioeconomic interests found among the Tamils, which have an important bearing on finding political solutions to their problem.

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1476 Politics and Life in Our Times
emerge as the main opposition group in the parliamentary politics of this country. It is also of interest to note that the unilateral accommodations made by the ruling parties on the status of the Tamil Language (both the SLFP and the UNP) have not been accepted as agreeable solutions because the TULF had not accepted them.
There is also another dimension to this problem which exhibits the internal contradictions within the Tamil 'community'. The defection of C. Rajadurai, the first M. P. for Batticaloa from the ranks of the TULF and the defence he made for his cross over to the UNP that, among other things, his action would help the Tamils of the Eastern Province to develop themselves, is an indication that labelling the Tamil issue as just a language issue or communal problem would not be enough. The lukewarm attitude of the Tamils of the districts of Batticaloa, Trincomalee, Mannar and Vavuniya to the issue of standardization and the provision of district quotas in University admissions - an issue which has more than any other factor led to the rise of a militant youth movement in Jaffna - is also very revealing. If, along with these, we take the utterances of S. Thondaman that he has joined the government in order to work for the alleviation of the conditions of the neglected Up CountryTamils, it becomes clear that the Tamil problem is not just a language issue or a communal problem. We need to go beyond the limits of ethnicity to understand this problem in proper perspective.
It is significant that progressive opinion in this country now realises the need for a radical change in the attitude towards this problem and that the Tamils of Sri Lanka should be taken as either a nationality ora nation, having the inalienable right of self determination. This would therefore be an opportune time to analyse the character of the social composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka. Such an analysis of the social formation would highlight the basic factors of Tamilian social organization which are very often understood only in terms of traditional images like culture traits. Besides it would also throw light on the different socioeconomic interests found among the Tamils, which have an important bearing on finding political solutions to their problem.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1477
The word "Tamil" refers to the language and its users. The South Indian usage includes the Muslims too (quite often they are referred to as Tamil Muslims). But in Sri Lanka, Muslims have a separate identity. The F. P. therefore has been trying to popularise, with very limited success, the term "Tamil-speaking peoples'. The religio-cultural traditions and historical conditions of Sri Lanka have given the Muslims a separate political identity. Thus we are left with only the Tamils'.
It is a well-known fact of Sri Lankan history and politics that the Tamils in Sri Lanka are divided into two primary groups - the Indian Tamils and the Sri Lankan Tamils. The term "Indian Tamils' refers mainly to those plantation labourers brought from South India in the 19th century and to their descendants, the bulk of whom are yet on the plantations; a small percentage of that group has migrated to urban areas and have become merchants or monthly-wage earners. This term also includes the South Indian merchants especially the Chetties, who had established themselves in Colombo and other provincial towns. There is a Chetty population in Jaffna town; this settlement is not directly connected with the above-mentioned migrations.
A closer look at the social organization of the Sri Lankan Tamils reveals that, in spite of ethnological homogeneity they would, in terms of geography, economic organization, social structure and level of development, fall into two distinct groups -
(a) The Tamils of the Eastern Province (mostly referred
to as Batticaloa Tamils and (b) the Tamils of the North.
Here again, the second group has a further division -
(i) The Tamils of Vanni and of Mannar district and (ii) the Jaffna Tamils.

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1478 Politics and Life in Our Times
An attempt will be made in this paper to go into the socioeconomic foundations of each of these groups of Tamils and to indicate the relationships they have with each other. It will also be shown how inspite of the group rivalries there is an overriding urge for unity and solidarity which brings them all together as a nationality.
The "Indian Tamils" living in the plantation areas are the descendants of those Tamilian workers who immigrated from South India in the latter half of the 19th century. "Their social customs and practices, though essentially of the Hindus, differ from those of their co-religionists in Jaffna, Batticaloa or Trincomalee. The customs and Ceremonies also vary according to their caste or village in India from where they originally came some 150 years ago". The system of recruitment of labour at the Tamilnadu end, the physical isolation of the group here in the plantations, and the type of labour organization both in regard to their work and their trade unions and above all their political isolation from the Sinhalese people among whom they worked, have cumulatively helped to preserve their separate identity and to maintain the caste continuities as they had operated in the places of their origin. As had been pointed out by Jayaraman "Adi-Dravida groups such as Pallans and Paraiyans have emigrated in large numbers and constitute more than half the emigrants to Ceylon. Vellalans, Kallans, Ambalakkarans, Agamudaiyans and other nonBrahmin caste groups form the bulk of the other half". In traditional caste ranking the Adi-Dravidas (Pallans, Paraiyans, etc.) come much below the non-Brahmin Castes like Vellalans, Kallans, Ambalakkarans, Agamudaiyans, etc. The Brahmins are at the top of the caste hierarchy. it has also been shown that there exists in the estates a definite relationship between the traditional caste hierarchy and the estate occupational hierarchy. "Generally, upper non-Brahmin castes such as Vellalan, Kallan, Agamudiyan and Konan are found in the higher positions of the occupational group".

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1479
It is in this respect that we find a difference between the South Indian workers who immigrated to the Caribbean and those who came to Sri Lanka. Here in Sri Lanka the traditional Social formation was preserved and thus has constituted a political problem of the type we do not find in Jamaica and other Countries. One can do no better than quote Jeyaraman fully.
"The continuity of the caste system is the result of the interplay of certain other factors which may briefly be recapitulated here. First, the relative isolation of estate labourers from the wider Sinhalese society has contributed to the caste system. Further the host society has a caste system of a kind which is not inimical to the continuity of caste system among the immigrant labourers. Second the two important features of the immigration pattern viz., the large scale family immigration and the kangany system of recruitment prevented labourers from attaining anonymity. Third, the productive organization of tea plantation was not so disturbing as to breakthe traditional images of castes. Fourth, the formation of labour gangs under kanganies, particularly under subkanganies strengthened the caste and kinship ties. Fifth, there were informal sanctions such as social boycott and ridiculing in public which maintained caste norms. Finally the festival and ritual occasions provided an arena of caste activities".
It is, however, true that there has been flexibility in this rigid structure and that discernible social mobility among the lower groups, though minimal, has been noticed. But even today, "inspite of these changes, caste has not ceased to be an important organizing principle of the Tamilian estate community"7. The social organization of the estate population is of great interest because it shows how a capitalist organisation can make use of the traditional social organisation to ensure Its continuity and further development.
But in the last few years, there have been many changes. The nationalisation of the estates and consequent retrenchments and displacements have forced the estate worker to migrate to some of the agricultural areas in Jaffna, Mannar and Vavuniya districts. Working as farmhands under absentee landlords they are as much exploited as they Were in the estates, but now live without the fear of communal riots.

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BO Po/itlČS arld Lffa in Our ľfrngs
SWAYOGASWAMY OF COLOMEUTHURAI WAS BORN AT MAWI DAPURAM. HE HAD HIS EDUCATION AT St. PATRICK'S COLLEGE, JAFFNA AND JOINED THE GOVERNMENT SERWICE. HE GAWE UP GOWERNMENT SERVICE AND BECAMEA DISCIPLE OF CHELLAPPAHSWAMY, WHOWAS AT THE THERADY OF NALLUR TEMPLE IN AFFNA. IN COURSE OF TIME SWAYOGASWAMY BECAME A MAHAYOG AND SIDDHA. HE FOUNDED THESIWATHONDAN NILAYAMS OF JAFFNA AND BATTICALOA AND CAUSEDA (UARTERLY MAGAZINE CALLED GWA THOWDAN TO BE PUBLISHED, WATCHIN THANASA COLLECTION OF HIS POEMS.
■■
E.
Sivayogaswamy of Colombuthurai 29. 5. JBF2 — 23, 4. 554
Sivayogaswamy had his Ashramam at Colombuthurai and many devotees Want to him to get his blessings on account of his psychic powers to predict the future. The late Markandu Swarny, Sellathurai Swamy and Hawal Subramnia Swartly are his wall known disciples. Yogarswamy attained Mahasamadhi in March 1964.
– M. Wagarafriar77 J. F. L. M.
 
 
 
 

Sorne Aspacts of the Social Corposition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 14E1
The India Tamil community has had a closed existence and their very existence in such large numbers in the heart of the Sinhala region had been a source of anxiety to the Sinhala-minded politicians. Nosooner the Doroughmore Commissioners recommended uniwersal adult franchise, than the Sri Lankan government of the day had an Order-in-Council passed (1931) which resulted in the disenfranchisement of a majority of the Indian Tamils. The Citizenship Act of 1948 and the Indian and Pakistani Residents (Citizenship) Act, No. 3 of 1949 effectively prohibited wide electoral participation of the Indian Tamils in the political life of the island.
It cannot be said that, up to the time of the formation of the Federal Party in 1949, there had been any political movement among the SriLankar Tamils which brought within its Vortex the Indian Tamils. Even on the issue of the Citizenship Act, the Tamil Congress, whose leader (G. G. Ponnambalam) was a cabinet minister of the UNP government that brought in the legislation, was not with the Indian Tamils. In 1931, "the claims of the Indian Tamils Were not Considered important to the Ceylon Tamils......".
As for the Indian Tamils, they too did not have a high opinion of the Sri Lanka Tamils. Of the Sri Lanka Tamils, it is only with the Jaffna Tamils that they had contacts and understandably enough "the Tamilians living in estates, particularly persons belonging to Wellalan, Kallan and other non-Brahmin Castes revealed a strong antipathy to the Jaffna Tarmil"o. The estate Tamils hawe always regarded the Jaffna Tamil as a selfish person and the Jaffna Tamil in his turn, had looked down on the estate Tamils as a people of OW Caste'.
But with the spread of the ideology of the DMK, many of the estate Tamil youth turned towards the FP. The FP by persevering with its effort to unite all the Tamils had also endeared itself to some of the estate Tamil youth. It could even be argued that the compellingnecessity for the Ceylon Workers' Congress (C.W. C.) to close ranks with the Sri Lankan Tamils was due partly to such pressure at its grassroots level. It is significant that the recent attempt on the part of the government to bring Wavuniya, traditionally a Sri Lankan Tamil area within a new revenue

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1482 Politics and Life in Our Times
district that would make the Tamils a minority within that district was Criticised by a spokesman of the CWC, even though its leader is in the Cabinet. However, it should also be mentioned that in this district there are many Indian Tamils working as farmhands.
The separation of the Indian Tamil community from the Sri Lankan amil community could be seen in the fact that Indian Tamils played no active role in the Sri Lankan Tamil struggle over the constitutional status of the Tamil Language (in 1956 and thereafter). In fact the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, which tries to accommodate the use of Tamil within a Sinhala only position, speaks of special rights for the use of Tamil in the Northern and the Eastern Provinces. The Current Constitution has slightly altered the position and this, S.Thondamanthinks, guarantees the right to use Tamil officially even in the estate areas.
A discussion of the causes for the continuing exclusiveness of the Indian Tamils, should, besides referring to the caste characteristics and to the uneventreatment they have received from the governments, which rendered a large majority of them stateless, also refer to the type of trade union organization they have had and the leadership it has provided. The historical conditions of the estate Tamil population had given the trade union which had an all Indian Tamil leadership an advantage over the other trade unions, especially of those of the left parties. This advantage that the C. W. C. enjoyed could be traced to the fact that the trade unions connected with the Sri Lankan political parties, could not offer a satisfactory solution to the political problem of the constitutional status of those workers. The one exception was the trade union formed by the F. P. but even their trade union has not fared well. The dominant hold the C.W.C. has tends to keep these Indian Tamil workers aloof from the rest of the working-class of this country.
AS has been mentioned above, the Socio-economic handicaps and the political isolation have not deterred them from falling back on their linguistic identity. Encouraged by the wide publicity given to their problems and the social acceptance consented to by the Tamil parties, the estate Tamils now call themselves the Malaiakat Tamilar (Upcountry Tamils).

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1483
The leadership of the upcountry Tamils, conscious of the geographical distribution of their population, i.e. the fact that they have to live in traditionally Sinhala areas, have openly dissociated themselves from the separatist demand of the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF). The Indian Tamil leadership also accepts the language policy of the present government-Sinhala and Tamil as the national languages of the country with Sinhala as the only official language.
Thus inspite of ethnic homogeneity, the social formation of the Indian Tamils has kept them away from the Sri Lankan Tamils. It could be said that it was only when the demands of the majority were articulated in extremely chauvinistic, ethno-centric terms, denying even the right of habitation in certain areas, that the Indian Tamils and the Sri Lankan Tamils came together in demanding joint political Solutions.
IV
As we move away from the Indian Tamils and focus our attention on the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are so named because they have been a part of the population of the country from early times, the important feature that should be observed is that they have been Concentrated in two main areas, the Northern and the Eastern Provinces, so much so these two areas are considered the traditional homeland of the Sri Lankan Tamils. There had also been a substantial number of Tamils living in the Puttalam and the Chilaw districts. A perusal of the pre-Donoughmore political history of Western rule in Sri Lanka would reveal the important role played in the political affairs of this country by the Tamils of that region, most of whom by that time had become Christians. But after years of acCulturation and assimilation, operating mainly through the agency of the Roman Catholic Church, they have, except in a few pockets like Udappu, which is largely Hindu, lost their identity and have now merged with the Sinhalese.

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1484 Politics and Life in Our Times
Today the main traditional homelands of the Sri Lankan Tamils are the North and the East. Here again, even though on common ethnic terms they are taken as Tamils, there is substantial difference between the Tamils of these two areas. The relative geographical separation of these two areas along with the discernible differences intraditional social organization, economic pursuits and, more important, varied historical background and the pattern of population distribution have clearly marked them out as two distinct spheres of interests resulting quite often in the sounding of a double note in the political orchestration of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
V -
The Eastern region has two main units - Trincomalee and Batticaloa and it is the latter that deserves closer analysis. The Trincomalee district in terms of social composition, seems to be a half way house between Batticaloa and Jaffna and because of the strategic importance of the natural harbour, has outstripped the other in importance and has significantly enough seen an increase of 40,192 Sinhala residents between 1953 (15,296) and 1971 (55,308).
The significant difference between the Batticaloa and the Jaffna Tamils could be seen in the traditional laws and customs in operation in each of these areas. if law is understood as the "totality of rules for people's behaviour in society which expresses the will of the dominant group and which are established with the aim of safeguarding, consolidating and developing the social relations and public order advantageous to the dominant group, then the Tesa Valamai laws and Customs of Jaffna and the Mukkuva laws and Customs of Batticaloa Could be taken as those which have arisen to safeguard the Vellalas and the Mukkuvas in Jaffna and Batticaloa respectively. It is true that these are only traditional laws and customs and that in cases of dispute the common law of the land is held supreme. But the very fact that these are in existence as laws and Conventions shows that the traditional Social organization in these two areas yet held sway in spite of increasing modernization and social change.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1485
Even a cursory glance at the types of social organization that exist in Batticaloa and Jaffna would indicate how different One is from the other.
In the Mukkuva law the unit of the family is known as the Kudi. Britto defines Kudi as follows: "The term Kudi is used by all Tamil speaking classes of Batticaloa to mean every person who is related to one on the mother's side only. Persons of the Kudi however distantly related recognized each other as relations"?. In contemporary Batticaloa it is not only among the Mukkuvas but also among the Vellalas and the Seerpadas (the other two major caste groups) the Kudi system is in vogue. The Vellalas have 12 Kudis, Mukkuvas 7 and the Seerpada group 13. The lower castes, which work for each of these major caste groups are known as "Ciraikkudis" (the bonded Kudis). The artisans and the serfs fall within the bonded Kudis.** The Kudis are exogamous clans and rights of property inheritance follow along the Kudi lineage. The Kudi system in Batticaloa is so vital to the socio-economic relationships that even the Muslims have adopted it. It also incidentally indicates the origin of the Muslims of Batticaloa. The Mukkuva law, matrilineal as it is, is integral to the organization of feudalism in Batticaloa. Unfortunately no definitive work has yet been done in this field. The feudal lord known as the Podiyar, unlike the feudal lord in Jaffna, is more often an active farmer.
This type of social organization is so different from the one that obtains in Jaffna, that the average Jaffna man has never Comprehended the system and considers the Batticaloa man somewhat alien to his own social system.
The other major factor is that Batticaloa is largely agricultural and therefore the interests of the Batticaloa Tamil has not been the same as that of the Jaffna Tamil. In fact when immediately after the implementation of the Donoughmore Commission report there was a boycott of the elections in Jaffna, organized by the Jaffna Youth Congress inspired by the movement for swaraj in India, the Batticaloa Tamils did not participate in the boycott and E.R. Tambimuttu was elected to the State Council.

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148B Politics and Life ir Cour Tirreas
Perhaps the decisive factor in the character of political activities of the Eastern Province has been the preponderant number of Muslims in that region. The following table illustrates the position:
Batsada Trill:OTT3Eg Amparas
L5C District Li5 Sri Lankan Tamils 177,275 65,905 60,519 Sri Larka MOS 60,889 60,219 126,365
(CFTSL5 är 7Ċd Stafisfrk:s figures for 7977)
This has determined the character of the political demands. In fact it is the presence of a sizeable number of Muslims in Batticaloa that was responsible for the for Tulation of the concept of the Tamil speaking peoples instead of a direct use of the term Tamils,
The educational backwardness of the district had prevented the inhabitants of Batticaloa from enjoying their due share in the public service and professional occupations. The Jaffna man has been dominating officialdon and the administrative machinery. There has been a sharp reaction to this among the Tamils of Batticaloa and quite often anti-Jaffna politicians of Batticaloa hawe raised the "Yalppanidomination" cry,
Inspite of these socio-economic differences, Batticaloa has played a significant role in the cultural revival of the Tamils since 1956; it has also been regarded as the repository of traditional Tamil culture, which has been seriously eroded in Jaffna due to missionary activity and English education. The movement for the revival of the Kuttu tradition prevalent in the Batticaloa district has an important place in the rediscovery of the Sri Lankan Tamil traditions as distinct from South Indian. Swami Vipulananda, the first TarTil Scholar ever to hold the Chair of Tamil in the University of Sri Lanka (he was first appointed Professor of Taniil at the Anna Talai University, S. India) symbolises the contribution of the Batticaloa Tamils to the development of Tamil studies in both India and Sri Lanka.

Some Aspacts of the Social Cor position of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1487
PRINCE OF WALES WAS THE TITLE BORNE FIRST BY THE SON OF EDWARD (17.06.1239). AND SINCE CONFERRED ON THEELDEST SON OF THE BRITISHSOWEREIGN. THIS PHOTOGRAPHIS THAT OF EDWARD, THE PRINCE OF WALES, THE ELDEST SON OF GEORGE WAND WHO WAS BORNATRICHMONDONJUNE 23, 1894. HE WENT TO THE ROYAL NAVAL COLLEGES AT OSBORNE AND DARTMOUTH AND IN 1913 ENTEREDMAGDALEN COLLEGE, OXFORD. ONJUNE 23, 1910 HE WAS CREATED PRINCE OF WALES AND INVESTED AT CAERNARWON IN 1911 HE WASGIVEN THE ORDER OF THE GARTER ANDIN 1918 HE TOOK
H. R. H. EdWard Théo Prince Of Wallas BOFT. Op 7 23.06.7594
H. R. H. Edward served between 1914 - 1918 in various theatres of the Great War, in the years after the Great War he travelled widely, but also found time for a great number of public duties, He went to Canada, India and Japan; then on a tour to Australia and more than once to Africa for hunting. In 1930-31 he visited South America and opened the Exhibition at Buenos Aires, giving on his return his impressions to businessmen of trade openings in South America. The Prince takes a keen and continuous interest in many forms of national activity, He fell in love with Mrs. Wallis Warfield Simpson, a twice divorced ATerican Woman, They met each other at different places and publicity was given to these meetings by the newspapers. After the death of King George W in 1935, his eldest son David Edward was proclaimed as King Edward VIII, the King of Great Britain. His love affair to Mrs. Simpson dragged on for some time and Just before his coronation, he was forced by his Cabingt and the than Prime Minister Hon. Stanely Baldwin to come to a decision, He cannot marry a twice divorced woman and be a king at the same time, The Church of England was als) against a morganatic marriage. Hence he abdicated, saying that "cannot hold on the responsibilities of a king without the love and support of the woman I love". This is one of the great sacrifices made for a woman's love by a man as given in recorded history, Later David Edward joined Mrs. Simpson in Wienna and had a quiet wedding.

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1488 Politics and Life in Our Times
Batticaloa, a seat of the cultural heritage of the Tamils, inspite of the fact that its socio-economic needs were very different from those of Jaffna, was brought into the movement of ethnic solidarity by the colonisation policy of successive governments, especially, in the Amparai district. The militant youth movement that started in Jaffna seems to have encompassed Batticaloa too and the government decision not to hold the elections for the Batticaloa Municipal Council indicates that, inspite of the cross-over of two TULF MPs to the government, the political mind there has not yet changed direction.
V - I
Within the Northern Province One could mark Out three different areas in terms of Socio-economic bases - the Mannar region, the Vanni region consisting of Vavuniya and Mullaitivu districts and the peninsular region ie. Jaffna district proper. The Socioeconomic situation in Mannar is somewhat similar to that of the Eastern Province; commenting on the situation during the Donoughmore constitution era, Jane Russell said that "the Eastern Province Tamil member and Mannar member, for instance, represented quite different kinds of electorates from those of the Northern members. Those former named members Were far more interested in agricultural policy than the public services, and they were more conciliatory vis-a-vis the Sinhalese, as a goodly position of their constituents were Muslims". But the social organisation of the Tamils of the Mannar district does not differ very much from that of the Tamils of the Jaffna district. Here, among the Tamils, the Catholics are in a dominant position and they have had a history of Conflict with the Hindus. In fact the bulk of the Hindus of Mannar are Jaffna-oriented. The Hindu-Catholic conflicts over the re-discovery and the development of the historic Tiruketheeswaram temple are too well-known.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1489
But here again the increasing popularity of the Federal Party and now the TULF has softened the Hindu-Catholic Conflicts within the Tamil community, but the Muslims generally have always expressed their individuality by professing support to non-Tamilian political groups. The support the UNP has among the Mannar Muslims should be seen in this light.
Among the Tamil areas, the Vanni region had been the least developed. Though interms of traditional social organization one does not notice any great difference from Jaffna, economic underdevelopment has left an indelible mark on the society. Vanni has been largely a closed social system until recently and the main agents of socio-economic change had been the Jaffna migrants, both traders and agriculturists. The traditional Vanni inhabitants had thereby developed a hostility towards the immigrants from Jaffna to the extent of forming a secret organization the Yarl Akatti Sangam (The Society for Removal of the Jaffna Man). In terms of economic demands the Vanni peasant is one with the Sinhala peasants of the Rajarata region. In fact during the period of S. L. F. P. rule there was some understanding forged with the Tamil politicians of the Tamil Vanni districts. But the action of successive governments in settling Sinhala peasant colonists in and around the Vavuniya district and the corresponding increase of Sinhala residents of the area has always given rise to Sinhala-Tamil conflict and confrontation in this district. Vavuniya has always been considered the Southern boundary of the Northern Tamil homeland and the increasing Sinhala settlements have made this the most sensitive area in terms of Sinhala-Tamil hostility. With the dpening up of several agricultural development schemes in the Vavuniya district and the migration of the Jaffna peasantry into those areas, the Tamilian character of the population is being consolidated. Vavuniya district has the largest number of Indian Tamil labourers outside the Central highlands. Even this is contributing towards the further strengthening of the Tamilian identity. The pressure of Indian-Tamil population - the over-flow from the estates - is very important for it is at this level that one sees a tendency towards an Indian-Sri Lankan Tamil merger through marriages.

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Being the border area, "communal" consciousness is markedly obvious. And there has been, of late, a revival of historical memories. The Vanni chieftains were the last of the Tamils to surrender their authority to the British and Pandara Vanniyan, the last Vanni chieftain killed at Katsilaimadu in 1803, is now presented as a great hero of the Tamils and the name of Kakkai Vanniyan who betrayed Pandara Vanniyan to
the British regiment, has become synonymous with treachery and betrayal. Anyone who goes against Tamilian solidarity is now referred to as a Kakkai Vanniyan. Pandara Vanniyan has become the Puran Appu of the Sri Lankan Tamils.
V - II
The Jaffna Tamils form politically the most articulate group among the Sri Lankan Tamils and the Sri Lankan Tamil problem has often been presented as one of deciding the role and the status of the Jaffna man within the island. Jaffna, besides Colombo, was the earliest region to receive the benefits of modernization especially in relation to English education and the people from Jaffna have been enjoying a disproportionate quota of jobs as state officers, teachers and professionals; they are thus found in all parts of the island. The Jaffna trader, quite adventurous had also established himself in like manner. But inspite of their island wide distribution they have had a sense of exclusiveness which prevented them from being one with those among whom they worked. The one distinguishing characteristic of the Jaffna man is that he has always been Jaffna-centric, Jane Russell's Characterisation of the Jaffna Tamil deserves attention:
"The Jaffna Tamil man was fiercely conservative and he maintained a jealous pride in his attachment to the peninsula and to the latsguage customs and beliefs of his ancestors... It could perhaps be termed a peninsularity of mind, the spatial isolation of the Northern Province being its most conditioning factor. However, when combined With a natural atavism stemming partly from the Hindu religion, an atavism which a British governor described as the preference of the

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1491
Ceylon Tamil for the methods of his ancestors, this peculiar conservatism becomes an ingrained trait. The admirable virtues of the community has been well expressed by Sir P. Arunachalam: "I have great belief in the Tamil Community. They will be saved by their commonsense and marvellous industry, their innate disdain of comfort and Spartan simplicity, their long knowledge and love of mother-tongue".
It is important to understand these traits of the Jaffna man in terms of his socio-economic base. Clearly these characteristics of the Jaffna manmark him out as a distinct group within Sri Lanka and this is well expressed in the operation of the legal system, based not on the legislative enactment of any single man or power but evolved out of the traditions of the country, A literal translation of the term Tesavalamai, the law that governs property rights in Jaffna, would be "traditions (usages) of the Country'. The manner of its operation is very symbolic. A Jaffna man living Outside Would be subject to the norms of that area but within Jaffna the tradition of the place dominates and continues to dominate. The Tesavalamai law is very much unlike the Mukkuva for the former is a peculiar Combination of patrilineal and matrilineal societies. Though originally based on the Marumakkattayam law, its evolution in Jaffna has brought within it many patrilineal aspects, thus making it a unique Combination peculiar to the people and the place.
Tesavalamai law also reveals the basic social organization of the Tamils of Jaffna. It is based on the caste system. Here again the ranking is quite different from that of the other Tamils, either in India or Sri Lanka. A closer analysis of the Tesavalamai law and the character of the caste-continuity would reveal it as Vellala-based; with even the Brahmin, though he occupies a position of ritual supremacy, coming below him in social power and authority. The caste system as it operates in Jaffna is a form of social control exercised by the highest group.
The rather "monolithic' view that Jaffna is al-Tamil would be not correct. Time and again it has been proved that it is the dominant Vellala caste (having for itself certain class characteristics) that has expressed its own needs and demands as the demands of the Tamils. Karalasingham has referred to this as "Vellala domination". Analysing

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1492 Politics and Life in Our Times
the political history of Jaffna from 1933 to 1947, Jane Russell said: "Governed as they were by a peninsula' outlook, the Vellalas felt secure in their numerical predominance and without their active co-operation any effective social transformation proved impossible".
An analysis of the social background of the leaders of Jaffna up to the time of the formation of the TULF would show that they have all been from the Vellala Caste and it Could also be seen that Some of them were Janus-faced on this problem. The classic instance is that of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan who opposed the introduction of adult franchise on the ground that it would give the lower castes the right to vote. He was also against the introduction of equal seating and commensality in Jafna schools'“.
A closer look at the way educational opportunities were provided by Hindu English schools would reveal that the depressed castes were largely left out. Even the Christian schools had to take cognizance of the caste system. It was the coming of the free-education scheme and the introduction of the Swabasha medium that radically changed the socio-educational set-up in Jaffna.
In terms of intra-political divisions among the Tamils of Jaffna, the Caste system has played an important role and Continues to do so. But here again politicization on ethnic lines has enabled the election for the first time of an M. P. from the depressed castes.
Even the traditional Hindu-Christian hostility seems to have lessened in recent times. Of late the Catholic Church has produced clergymen who have identified themselves fully with the Tamil cause.
he main economic source of the political problems of the Jaffna Tamil has been the public services. The post 1930 Sinhala-Tamil relations were almost centred round this main problem of recruitment to the public services. Sir A. Mahadeva's statement
"Much of the gulf that exists today between the Sinhalese and the Tamil communities is due to the fear that there may be a lack of impartiality in the recruiting of entrants to the public services".
made in 1935 is as true today as it was then - the only difference being that the government of the day has accepted by implication the charge that there is a certain imbalance in recruitment.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1493
Public Service-Oriented education had been an economic necessity in Jaffna and when efforts were made to solve the problem at the "lower stage' of the provision of education (so that there would be no problem for the state at a later stage in providing the jobs), the character of political agitation in Jaffna changed, for the system of standardisation affected only the youth. With the departure from the island of those who had the education but not adequate opportunities, the Sri Lankan problem has been given an international standing.
VI
The foregoing discussion on the Tamils indicates clearly the differences in the stand they take both in relation to each other and in relation to their general status within the national polity. More important, it also reveals the pattern of thinking behind the political actions of the successive governments in dealing with the Tamil problem in general.
An analysis of a group of people within a state and the impact it has on their political behaviour should by definition include a discussion of their class characteristics.
One factor, seen very clearly within the recent history of this question is that whenever the government in power adopts a Leftoriented economic policy, like nationalisation of estates or interventions into the private sector, the tendancy for Sinhala-Tamil polarisation and the intensification of communal feelings have been very high. It would not be far wrong to see a close connection between the decision of S. Thondaman to join the TULF (as one of its Vice-Presidents) and the decision on the part of the then government to nationalise the estates and impose a ceiling on land holdings. So too with the opposition of the professional classes among the Tamils which has always been higher during the ULF or the SLFP periods of rule than during the rule of the UNP. Even if the latter were equally hostile, it is seen that UNP government is able to evoke class unity and thereby minimise their conflicts with the activities of the TULF (as exemplified in the activities of the CINTA - Ceylon Institute of National and Tamil Affairs).

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THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, WITH MR. KANDIAH KANAGASINGAM, FOUNDER OF THE MALAYAN TRADING COMPANY., COLOMBO, WAITING AT TALAIMANNAR PIER IN 1951, TO LEAVE FOR SOUTHNDABY THE FERRY SERVICEONAPILGRIMAGETORELIGIOUS PLACES. IN THISPILGRIMAGE THEY WENT TO KUTTALAM, THENKASI, RAMESHWARAM, THIRUCHENDUR, KANYAKUMARI, CHIDAMPARAM, THIRUKALUKUNRAM, MADURA MEENACHCHAMMAN TEMPLE AND OTHER HINDUSACRED PLACES OFW
ELi
L-R. K. Karagasirgam, T. Durai singam, Mrs. Ponam palam Frīd Por]r)arrpallarr).
The impact of the October Revolution was felt by the author of this book, T. Duraisingam, very early in his life, W. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar, a socialist, with the help of Wadia, an intellectual, established on April 27, 1918 the Madras Workers' Union. This was the wery first trade union of workers, established in India. This trade unior Was founded a few months after the Russian October Revolution. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar now set about establishing a Tamil newspaper to spread socialist and progressive ideas, and to publish trade union news in order to buildup the trade union movement. The author's father, S, Tharnbimuttu, having contributed himself, also helped Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar to collect funds for the establishment of such a newspaper, and the Mawa Shakti, meaning New Forca or New Powyer, was founded in 1920, The author's father subscribed to this paper from its inception, and the author of this book became a regular reader of the paper from his tenth year,
 
 
 

Sorrig ASpacts of the Social Corposition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1495
But a class analysis of the Tamils of Sri Lankashould not go along the lines of a rural-urban dichotomy, The position is definilly a complicated one. Any such analysis should first take into account the possibilities and the realities of the caste-class Continuur. For, if it is true that a "traditional" Social organization is able to influence the political behaviour of a group as we have already seen, then such a social organization is not only "traditional" but also wery "contemporary" in its effectiveness.
Here again there is no specific study done on the character of class formation among the Tamils. The attempt made here is, therefore, necessarily exploratory and very tentative.
The Marxist theory of classes as defined by Lenin provides a clue to the understanding of the problem of the caste-class continuum,
the place they occupy in a historically determined system of social production, by their relation (in most cases fixed and formulated in law) to the means of production, by their role in social organization of labour and consequently by the dimensions of the share of social wealth of which they dispose and the mode of requiring it". - A Great Beginning.
The social organization of economic production and the ensuing social relationships that are seen in the organization of feudalism in Jaffna (as "fixed and formulated' in the Tesawalamai system) and in Batticaloa (as seen in the relationship between the podiyar or the feudal lord, the mullaikkaran, the lessee cultivator who pays fixed rent and the wayalkaran, the agricultural serf and in the constitution of the ciraikkudis (bonded class), examined in the light of this definition, would unanbiguously reveal the class basis of the Caste organization.
A further explanation of the method of social control exercised in a feudal society needs to be looked into:
"The main trend of social development (in the feudal society) was for a certain social organization, having assumed an exclusive right of discharging social functions in the sphere of legislation, administration of justice, education, religion and military affairs, to seek to obtain the largest possible share of the Social product using the social institutions it had usurped to coerce the labour force". - "What is Historical Materialism" by Martin Sidarov, Moscow, 1975-42.

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Understood interms of the feudal conditions obtaining in Jaffna and Batticaloa, this clearly shows that the depressed castes in the traditional Tamil hierarchy are also the oppressed classes.
Euro-Centric studies on the breakdown of feudalism show that the new class of bourgeoisie grew within it and led the struggle of the peasants to revolutionise it. The historical experience of this transition in the Asian countries has been different. Here in most cases defeudalisation took place under the impact of Colonialism. We have already seen how in the case of the Indian Tamil workers on the plantations, the feudal structure was made to conform to the exploitative demands of colonial capitalism. In the case of the Sri Lankan Tamils too, it is true, abourgeois class arose within it; but the first groups that arose within it, historically speaking, did not destroy that system; in fact they strengthened it. Colonialism placed the landlord class in an advantageous position in that they were the only class who could benefit by the acts of "modernization" of the colonial rulers and also in that they could, with their new found social power of administrative authority, contain the new benefits within their class. In fact it was the dialectics of the inescapable extension of the educational and social benefits given by the rulers based on the concepts of equality before law and the rule of law (along with the proselytizing activities of the missionaries, all of which brought in a sense of egalitarianism not experienced in the previous social order) that gave the lower castes/classes some taste of higher status and authority.
This is well demonstrated in the history of "modernization" in Jaffna. It has been shown that the "revivalist" movement in Jaffna headed by Arumuga Navalar was really an attempt "to contain the sociocultural changes flowing from the very character of British administration within the well-Antrenched social framework of the Jaffna Hindu society and that the beneficiaries of these activities, by aim and choice, were the upper caste Hindus". - SOCial Science Review, Vol. I, No. 1. It is now a well known fact that in spite of the "liberalism' of the British rulers, education and employment opportunities at the start went hand in hand with the caste system, except in small pockets like Manipay, where the missionary impact was rather high.

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1497
Up to the end of the Second World War, English education was virtually a monopoly in the hands of the high caste Hindu Tamils (except in the case of the non-fishing Karayars who along with an almost peer status in the traditional hierarchy, had also the benefit of the services of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna, but this again was confined largely to the Catholic Karayars) and thereby also employment with the government. Making full use of the educational system which provided for English education within the denominational system, the upper caste Tamils - literally the emerging Tamil bourgeoisie - very often denied the same facility to the depressed classes and when admission was forced, equal seating was not given in class rooms. This was also the time when the 'drift towards Colombo' started. But within Jaffna, the system was further strengthened by the new employment opportunities found in the Federated Malay States. It is interesting to note that the new found economic affluence led to an abundance of building activity - building temples and Schools which preserved the system effectively. And any Tamil outside Jaffna who wanted to go up the social ladder in his region came to Jaffna to obtain the English education that was a passport to advancement. Even the Sinhalese from Rajarata came to Jaffna for their English education.
Thus up to the first three decades of this century caste and class went hand in hand. Social mobility, Cutting across Caste barriers, Comes in only when the cumulative impact of the free education system and the swabasha-medium education began to assert themselves and this happened around 1956. But 1956 also marks the awakening of the consciousness of the peasantry and the awakening of the national bourgeoisie on ethnic lines. This led to an interesting amalgamation of forces among the Tamils, i.e. the depressed castes and higher Castes now closed ranks as Tamils. It was at a time when the depressed Castes were getting organised on class lines, (not only through employment in government service but also through entrepreneurial undertakings) that the ethnic factor was brought into educational and employment matters. And when that tendency grew the Tamils began voting for the FP or the TULF. It is significant that P. Kandiah of the C.P. was elected in 1956 and since then the Tamil district have not voted for any Leftist.

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It would be interesting to note that this had affected the fortunes of the Left movement in Jaffna which really grew on an antiCaste basis. When there was inter-caste class Collaboration, the strength of the Left movement declined considerably. The surviving base for the Left Movement now in Jaffna is the intelligentsia.
A major consideration that has determined the character of
the Tamil demands on the nationality issue has been the necessity for the middle-class Tamils to stay outside the Tamil areas because of their employment, trade or profession. The decreasing opportunities for such gainful occupation coupled with the realization of the economic potential of the Tamil areas, especially after the boost the cultivation of subsidiary crops received in the Seventies, are tending to make even such groups support the demand for a 'separate existence'.
The class position in the other Tamil areas cannot be taken as having come up to any substantial level of consciousness. In Batticaloa the consciousness is rather low, except at urban centres, because neither "Westernization" nor "modernization" have affected Society sufficiently deeply as yet. Conversely, the pattern of settlements in the newly opened up agricultural areas in the Eastern districts is helping to increase communal consciousness and tension. In Vavuniya, the overflow from the plantations is creating an agrarian proletariat.
he presence of a substantial number of Tamils in Colombo, especially within the city, is an important factor to be considered in thiş discussion. Although the bulk of them are from the workingclasses and the lower middle-class there is an articulate group of industrialists and professionals, whose class associations have determined their attitude from time to time. They have also acted as a pressure group on the political advocates of the Tamil demands.
Unfortunately it is not possible to analyse the general trends of the development of class consciousness in this country and how ethnic considerations have manifestly become a motivating factor in

Some Aspects of the Social Composition of the Tamils of Sri Lanka 1499
socio-economic development, but it could be seen that the pattern of decolonization, or rather the ideal relating to the 'deColonised State' that is in vogue has not rejected the symbols of power and authority derived through colonialist rule.
V
It is clear from the above discussion that the Sri Lankan Tamil problem arises from the very economic basis of the social Composition of the Tamils. Both the uniting forces and the divisive factors arise from it. A cursory glance at the social formation reveals it as basically a problem of uneven (or irregular) development, sharpened by the mode of deColonization.
Decolonization in a country that has had almost four hundred years of colonial rule should not be based on the ideological assumptions received through the Superstructures of Colonialism; decolonization should take the form of an intense, inward Search for the common social and economic bonds hitherto unrecognized and undiscovered. The process of decolonization will determine the character of the "genuine" independence that the Country seeks and it should therefore be as democratic and morally justifiable as the anticolonial movement had been, and by democracy is meant political, economic and social democracy.
Notes and References
1. Brass, R. Paul "Language, Religion and Politics in North India",
Cambridge, 1974, P8, 2, Arasaratnam, S. "Nationalism in Sri Lanka and the Tamils in Collective
identities, Nationalisms and Protests in Sri Lanka", (ed. M. Roberts) Marga -- Colombo, 1979, p. 510.
Wilson, A. J. "Politics in Sri Lanka (1947-1973)", MacMillan, London,
1974, p.52.

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11.
12.
14,
15.
16.
Jupp, James
Veluppilai, C. V. Jayaraman, R.
Ibid. p. 84 bid. p. 98
bid.
Russell, Jane
Jeyaraman Sivathamby, K.
Thambiah, H. W.
Balasundaram, R.
Russell, Jane
Politics and Life in Our Times
"Sri Lanka. Third World Democracy", London 1978,
pp. 142-157.
"Born to Labour", Colombo, 1970, p. 1. "Caste Continuities in Ceylon", Popular Prakashan,
Bombay, 1975, pp. 5-6.
C.V. Veluppillai, op. cit. "The Ceylon Tamils under the Donough more Constitution", Ph.D. thesis, University of Sri Lanka, Peradeniya, 1976, p. 52.
op. cit. p. 201. "Eelathil Thamil flakkiyam", (Tamil), Madras, 1978,
pp. 157-176. "The Laws and Customs of the Tamils of Ceylon",
Colombo, 1954, p. 131. "Maddakkelappupiratesa Muslinkalin Kudimarapukal" in WALARPRAI. 85th Anniversary Publication of the founding of Zahira College, Colombo, 1978. ор. cit. p. З02.
Ibid. pp. XXIII & XXIV.
Ibid. p. 62.
Ibid. p. 21.
Courtesy: Paper presented by K. Sivathamby at a Seminar in December,
1979 and published with other papers in "Ethnicity and Social Change in Sri Lanka".

Raja Ariaratnam
A Pioneer in Modern Tamil Journalism
by T. Duraisingam
A prolific writer, Raja Ariaratnam, fondly known as "Ariam" in Tamilliterary circles and among readers of his literary Works, is a pioneer in modern Tamil journalism. His literary career covers a period of over 45 years and he wrote articles to newspapers both in Sri Lanka and South India. He commenced his literary career by writing articles in English to English newspapers. With his becoming editor of the Jaffna Tamil newspaper "Eelakesari" in 1941, he concentrated his energies in writing articles and books in Tamil.
Born in Chavakachcheri, Jaffna, on May 11th, 1916, he lived to a ripe old age of 82 and died in Chennai (Madras) on 27th May, 1998. Afterworking for several years as editor "Eelakesari", he joined the "Eelanadu" as editor. In Jaffna he organised several successful Tamil cultural functions and meetings, in association with well-known South Indian Tamil writers like Kalki, Akilan, Keeva Jeganathan, Parthasarathi and Ma. Po. Sivagnanam.
In the 1960s he went over to Colombo and joined M. D. Gunasena's group of papers as editor of their Tamil paper"Chintamani", and was there as editor for more than Well Over a decade. He Continued to have his contacts with South Indian Tamil writers and was Honorary editor of "Kalai Chakkaram" edited by Periasamy and also of "Siruvar lakkiam" by A Valliappa. He served as a member of the South Indian Journalist Federation, Chennai Elanjar Sangam, Kamban Kalakam and he was a life member of P. E. N.
His best short story was "Vellam" and was translated into Russian and published in Russia. "Kalai Kalanjiyam" has published many of his short stories and a series of articles by Raja Ariaratnam about Sri Lanka was published by Chennai Valarchi Kalagam.
We have lost a great Tamil Writer.
Courtesy: "Sunday Times", Colombo, 30th May, 1998.

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NTAMILLITERARY CRCLES AND AMONGREADERS OF HIS LITERARY WORKS, ISAPIONEERIN MODERNTAMIL JOURNALISM. HIS LITERARY LLLLLL LLLL LLLLLL L LLLLL S0 LLLLL LLLL LLLLL L LLLLLL LLLLLLL LLLL L LLLLLLLLLLL LLLLG LLL LLL LLLLLL LLLLLL aLLLLLLGL LLLLaS LLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLL LLLLL LL LLLLL LLL LLLLLL L0L LLLL KLLLLLLLL LL LLLL LL LLLLLLLLLLLLLS LLLLLLLLLLL LLLL LL L LLaLLLLLLL TAMIL NEWSPAPER "EELAKESAR" IN 1941, HE CONCENTRATED HIS ENERGIESINWRITING ARTICLES AND BOOKS IN TAMIL,
Raja Ariyaratnam and his only child Shobana
His best short story was "Wallan' and was translated into Russian and published in Russia. "Kalai KalanjiyarT" has published Tiany of his short storias and a series of articles by Raja Ariaratriart about Sri Lanka was published by Chennai Walarchi Kalagam.
 

Regional Co-operation in Education, Culture and Technology the SAARC Experience
by Dr. Premadasa Udagama
The Consultative meeting of SAARC countries AAPSO natioma/ committees and the International Conference or the there, "Towards Regional Co-operation and Economic Integration", was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 26-29 November, 1993. Delegates from Bangaladash, India, Pakistar ard Sri Lanka atferded. Dr. Norad Ghaleb, Presider7, AAPSO, graced the Conference by his presence, Mr. E. A. Widyasekara from the Permanent Secretariat was also present. Given here is an abridged for 7 of the contribution of Dr. Premadasa Udagara of Sri Lanka.)
Permit me to quote a leading educationist of the former Soviet Union, W. Sukhomlinsky (1977). He observed that
"Education in the widest sense is a many faceted process of constant spiritual enrichment and renewal both for those being educated aid those who educate",
We in the SAARC region are engaged in such aspiritual journey, which began from a common cultural foundation from pre-historic times, Our journey is a continuation of a long, inspiring, and rewarding process of learning through great institutions of learning, centres of culture and high technology before the 19th century, when Europe began to influence, plunder and oppress Asia.
The Taxillas, Mlalandas, Mahawiha Tas, the first Universities of mankind, do not seem to inspire us now. From about the 19th century our spiritual journey Was mandated to derive spiritual sustenance from Europe, and this mandate is conspicuous in the modern educational institutions from Khatmandu to Colombo and from Karachi to Dakkha.

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These institutions within a few decades of political independence are "Constrained to some degree to Taintaining the styles, structures, organizations, standards and assumptions of the European institutions" as was observed in the case of African Universities (Aidoo, 1977).
The schools, too, in spite of their ancient origin in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainist and Islam, still mimic the missionary secondary school or the British public school. Each SAARC country has its own initation and adaptation of the high styled model, but anachronous British type of public school, perpetuated in spite of populist movements in education. These schools for over a century have been the great champions of a new civilization in our region. Of course the consequences of this civilization have been disastrous to the masses of South Asia.
The elitist power brokers in all our countries nurtured in Oxbridge, American Ivy League and the European Prestigious Universities espouse nothing but elitist Todels of education even in educating the masses. Inspite of Gandhi, Cour schools continue to hawe rigid structures, Curricula and organisations both in urban and rural areas. The school systems promote schooling for capitalism, and elitism Inspite of some constitutions which hawe "socialist" appendages somewhere in these majestic documents of great intent. Our region and every individual country big or small has vast disparities in education opportunities and achievements. This is the major historical burden of our region. We have two systems of education, one private and elitist and the other public and poor. We perpetuate another dichotomy, formal education supported by the state and non-formal education propagated by local and international NGOs,
Our region, believe, is the World's largest reservoir of powerty, illiteracy and social and political deprivation. Our leaders and the dominant political culture groups foster democracy, cultural pluralism, religious tolerance and an open economy, How our societies are to achieve these objectives without even a schooled, not necessarily an educated population, is clifficult to imagine, As an aspect of the

Fegional Co-operation in Education – fra SAAFC ExperierICs 1505
STANLEY BALD WIN AN ENGLISH STATES MAN, WAS BORN AT BEWDLEY, WORCESTERSHIRE ON 3 AUGUST, 1867. HIS FATHER, ALFRED BALDWIN INHERITED ANIRON FOUNDER BUSINESS, WHICH BECAME A GREATENGINEERING BUSINESS CALLEDBALOWNSLTD. STANLEY'S MOTHER WASA MacDONALD, THE GIFTED DAUGHTER OF AWESLEYANMINISTER. HE WENT TO HARROW ANDTRINITY COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AND LATERENTERED HIS FATHER'SBUSINESS. IN 1908 HE BECAME M. P. FOR THE BEWDLEY DIVISION AND HEAD OF THE FAMILY BUSINESS, HE MARRIED MISS RIDSDALE AND HIS FAMILY CONSISTS OF TWO SONS AND FOUR DAUGHTERS.
Ft. Hon, Stanley Baldwin Boss Orl Cl3.08.7867
In 1921 Stanley Baldwin became President of the Board of Trade and a member of the Cabinet. These offices were in a coalition Gower thent. In October 1922 Bonar Law became Premier and Baldwin Chancellor of the Exchequer. In May 1923, Bonar Law resigned, and Baldwin became Prime Minister. In August 1931 he took a leading part in the formation of a National government and since the leader of the bulk of its supporters agreed to serve under Mr. Ramsay MacDonald, he became therefore, Lord President of the Council and deputy Prime Minister. In 1926 a volume of his non-political speeches called On England was published, followed by another volume called Our sharitance. His many honours include the Chancellorship of the University of Cambridge.

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development process, some intellectuals, social workers and NGOs with external aid, do Continue to Work in areas of adult and nonformal education for literacy, empowerment of marginalised groups, Women, peasants and Workers, as well as for Sustainable development, environment conservation, and also for rural development.
Knowledge, like wealth, is poorly distributed in our societies. We have pockets of expert knowledge and high education in oceans of ill educated and illiterate populations. Education also allocates Social status roles in Our Societies. Even where education is more openly available as in Sri Lanka the 'secret' and the 'hidden' curricula do not empower the marginalised groups. The consequence, at least in Sri Lanka, was the eruption of youth violence, twice within two decades. Education can enlighten vast populations in the political, economic and cultural spheres of their societies. But education can also create frustration, anomie and unrealistic goals and ambitions in the youth population. Education for clerks may not create entrepreneural skills needed in open economies.
may have Created so far a sense of failure and inadequacy of our education systems. But our regional education systems have many and significant achievements, of which we can certainly Congratulate ourselves. The "war on ignorance", Jeffersonian phrase, has been waged by every government in the region, some with remarkable victories and others with some success. The opening up of primary schooling in rural areas, the all round increase in enrollment at all levels of education and specially at the tertiary level and the development of centres of excellence for promoting research and learning, the democratization of higher education by our open universities, are no mean achievements in the last three to four decades. The expressed concern for educating the girl child and Schooling all children by 2000 are high watermarks of the Colombo Summit in 1991. The NGO activities in adult non-formal education are also notable for developing their own momentum with or without state patronage to bring education to the masses in the region.

Regional Co-operation in Education - the SAARC Experience 1507
We have to truly educate our children and youth and not select them for societal roles as we have been doing so long. We need to nurture creative institutions, without blindly replicating western educational institutions and concepts. Imported concepts, values and Content in education seem to be dissonant with our Cultures, social systems and traditional values. There were times, inspite of Gandhi, Tagore, Ananda Coomaraswamy, iqbal and Radhakrishnan, that traditional values were Considered obstructive in modernization. SAARC as a formal organisation is only eight years old and still in its formative stage, but we can learn from other regional organisations as the EC and ASEAN. They have organised collective research and studies for necessary innovations in education, delivery systems and content. SAARC may have to organize their educational futures in regional terms for the good of each society and the whole region and even for mankind, of which we form nearly a fifth.
The development of the concept of SAARC so far has been left to the politicians and bureaucrats. The intellectual groups have not thrown in their expertise, knowledge and wisdom to strengthen and clarify SAARC as a regional concept. The common people in the region needs to make SAARC their own region, conceptualized and supported by them as has happened in the EC and ASEAN.
SAARC organisation now hold meetings of officials in education, culture and in other areas. The time is now opportune for intellectuals, professionals and others to meet together to deliberate On regional issues that affect the South Asian Community. As a region in which the majority of the people are poor and illiterate we should by now be the world's experts in literacy education and in the education of the poor and underprivileged. But we still seem to be importing experts in this field from international organisations.
Raja Roy Singh (1991) has presented our educational needs in a future Scenario.

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"The future-oriented education approach compels a Continuous scrutiny and appraisal of the existing educating systems and institutions and calls for the development of new kinds of educational institutions as well as new ways of educating. One of the key areas of educational innovation is institutional reform and renewal; without such renewal, the institutional systems become a drag on educational development".
South Asia as a cultural realm is unique in the ancient world. No other culture has so deeply and introspectively searched for the 'inner' man as in Our Cultures.
The contribution of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and other religions seem to be neglected in the fields of science, technology, art, music, dance, drama, literature and learning. Such a lacuna is detrimental to the development of endogenous learning and scholarship.
If cultural pluralism of the region is to be appreciated by all the people living in the region, we have to undertake much more learning, mass propaganda and aesthetic activities than were available in the past. Our educational institutions should encourage basic cultural learning relevant to SAARC, and needs to be studied by every adult, youth and child in the region. Mostly our value systems need to be appraised in facing cultural invasions from Outside, and value education will be Central in future in this Survival game of Our Cultures.
But for all these ideas to materialise, our prime need now is to evolve mature political and regional relationships. So far SAARC has been only a mild political exercise orchestrated mainly by politicians and bureaucrats. The intellectuals in the region have yet to develop acceptable concepts and goals for the region for all the people to participate in an emerging regional community.
Colombo, 29th November, 1993.

CHAPTER 17
The Connunal Problem
The Tamil Freedom MOWement in Ceylon
by S. Ponniah
SATYAGRAHA- JUNE, 1956
The Federal Party, on behalf of the Tamil-speaking people, had put forward the demand for official status to Tamil, and had indicated the desire of the Tamil-speaking people to live in amity with the Sinhalese people and tried to persuade the Government to solve the language question in an atmosphere of friendliness and peace. It was only when Mr. Bandaranaike and his Government stood adamant by their Sinhala Only policy and decided to introduce a Bill in Parliament to make it the only official language, that the Federal Party decided to launch the Satyagraha Movement in June, 1956. On the occasion of deciding in favour of the movement, Mr. Chelvanayakam the leader of the Federal Party, said that satyagraha was the only legitimate and non-violent method available to the Tamil-speaking people to win their rights. Violence was just the opposite of human Culture and the aggrieved people should make their opponents realise their just grievances by suffering hardships in their own persons.
On 5th June, 1956, the House of Representatives assembled at 10.00 a.m. for debating the "Sinhala Only" Bill to be introduced by the Prime Minister, Mr. Bandaranaike. At 8.00 a.m. on that day, the Federal Party Members of Parliament and their supporters and sympathisers sat on the Galle Face Green just opposite the House of Representatives and performed satyagraha, headed by Mr. Chelvanayakam. For one hour everything was quiet. It was 9.00 a.m. when crowds collected around the satyagrahis. In the crowd it was learnt there was a large number of island reconvicted Criminals. There were talks of a Counter

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satyagraha to be launched by Sinhalese extreme elements. A member of the Cabinet and a few Members of Parliament were also seen moving towards the Crowds and saying something to them. In a couple of minutes the attack on the satyagrahis started.
The hooligans stoned them and attacked them with clubs as they sat with folded arms. There were thousands of hooligans as against just a couple of hundred satyagrahis. To each of the satyagrahis there were about twentyhooligans some of whom pulled his legs, some pulled his arms, some others pulled his dress exposing him to ridicule while the rest pounced upon him, assaulted him, and sat on his belly and chest which choked him. Most of the satyagrahis were bodily carried or dragged away from that venue of Satyagraha by the hooligans. Some of the satyagrahis in their determined effort not to leave the place received severe club blows and other tortures. The Federal Party Members of Parliament and other satyagrahis, however, remained in spite of the extraordinary and calamitous situation; not one left the place. The Member for Vavuniya, Mr. C. Suntharalingam at this stage, joined the satyagrahis; Mr. G. G. Ponnambalam, M. P. for Jaffna also identified himself with the Satyagrahis. Messrs Chelvanayakam, Suntharalingam and Ponnambalam excepted, the others were brutally attacked. They bled profusely on account of the club injuries inflicted on them. Mr. C. Vanniasingam, Dr. E. M. V. Naganathan and Messrs. A. Amirthalingam, N. R. Rajavarothiam, V. N. Navaratnam, S. Rajadurai and V. A. Kandiah sustained injuries. The satyagrahis did not retaliate, but remained Calm and sat with folded arms, . يهتم هنة
it was between 9.30 and 10.00 a.m. When Mr. Bandaranaike arrived on the scene on his way to the House of Representatives to introduce the "Sinhala Only" Bill. He looked at the crowds and Satyagrahis, let out a hearty laugh and unconcernedly and without a Word he proceeded on his way. It was learnt that as he was proceeding there, a high police official accosted him and asked him whether any police action should be taken against the hooligans; but Mr. Bandaranaike, it appears, had asked him not to interfere.

The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon 1511
Although the situation developed and was becoming somewhat uncontrollable the Police were still quiet like non-chalant spectators. The satyagrahis still continued to remain seated on the Green. Stones and missiles were thrown at them. The police then advised Mr. Chelvanayakam to call off the satyagraha as the situation was getting out of hand. At noon Mr. Chelvanayakam called it off. The Federal members of Parliament, then, went into the House of Representatives with bleeding head injuries and participated in the debate which was in progress. "What an awful and bloody sight in Parliament", somebody from the Opposition remarked as these members walked into the House.
The riots did not stop with the maltreatment of the group of Satyagrahis. The rioters began attacking innocent Tamil members of the public. It was enough if a man looked a Tamil or was dressed in the Tamil dress. In the process, a number of Sinhalese people who were similarly dressed were also assaulted. Even Tamil visitors from abroad dressed in plain clothes and who were moving about the streets of Colombo got the shock of their lives when they were brutally attacked by thugs in this foreign country
Tamil public servants on their way to their offices were exposed to manifold indignities and assaults. Tamil shop and boutique keepers besides being assaulted severely, were robbed of their goods. Their business establishments were damaged, looted and burnt. The hardest hit section of the Tamils was the Indian Tamils whose enterprises and labour were confined to the streets and pavements. No Tamil was safe on the roads. When any one said "Onna Tamila" (There is a Tamil), there would be a mad race by the hooligans to catch the Tamil victim. There were several such incidents. Even respectable Tamils belonging to the legal, medical and other important professions were brutally attacked. Two Tamil advocates Messrs A. C. Nadaraja and S. Sharvananda were going in a car in the direction of Slave Island, not knowing that riots had broken out. A throng of about fifty thugs stood on the middle of the road and stopped their car. They then, pulled out these lawyers from the car and mercilessly assaulted them causing them serious injuries and tearing to rags the suits they wore.

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1512 Folics and Lif Ir Cour Tirregis
RESPECTABLE TAMILS BELONGING TO THE LEGAL MEDICAL AND OTHER IMPORTANTPROFESSIONSWERE BRUTALLY ATTACKED. TWO TAMIL ADWOCATES MESSRSA. C. NADARAJA ANDS. SHARWANANDA WERE GOING INA CAR IN THE DIRECTION OF SLAVE ISLAND, NOT KNOWING THATRIOTSHADBROKENOUT. A THRONG OF ABOUT FIFTY THUGS STOOD ON THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD AND STOPPED THEIR CAR. THEY THEN PULLED OUT THESE LAWYERS FROM THE CAR AND MERCILESSLY ASSAULTED THEM CAUSING THEM SERIOUS INJURIES AND TEARING TO RAGS THE SUITS THEY WORE.
韃
AdwOČafa Suppiah SharWarfarda
When Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike formed his Sri Lanka Freedom Party (of which I was a founder membar and a wice president) olur manifesto primited in 1951 had the following: "National Languages: It is most essential that Sinhalese and Tamil be adopted as official languages immediately, so that the people of this Country may cease to be aliens in their own land, so that an end may be put to the iniquity of Condemning those educated in Sinhalese and Tamil to occupy lowliest walks of life, and above all that Society may have the full benefit of the skill and talents of the people. The administration of gOverin Thont Trust be carried om in Sinhalese and TarTil",
— A. C. Wadaraja
 
 

The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon 513
ATAMPARA
The riot-fever spread to other parts of the country. Of all places, Amparai had a tale of woe to tell, Around Amparai town there are a few willages sparsely populated by Muslims and Tamils. The Tamil population consisted of a few hundreds only, who were, chiefly farmers leading a simple life without expecting any trouble from anybody. The Workshops at Amparai, its plantations and irrigation schemes were fully manned by Sinhalese labourers who were more than ten thousand strong. These labourersranamok, rushed into the villages armed with deadly weapons like swords and long-bladed knives and cruelly attacked and hacked to pieces the poor Tamil villagers. More than a hundred of then were thus massacred to death. The rest of the villagers fled for their lives. Those who were butchered to death included innocerit babies and pregnant women. Even in the heart of Amparai, some Tamils including women and children Were done to death. Some women Were raped and then killed. A number of Tamil families sought asylum at the Police station, while the others took refuge in the Residency of the Gal Oya Board. The rioters were deter Tined to besiege the Residency and attack the Tamils who were there. The Chair Than of the Gal Oya Board, Mr. Kanagasunderan who occupied the Residency then appealed to the police for protection. A police party arrived and took charge of the Residency under the command of the Deputy Inspector General, Mr. Sidney de Soysa, assisted by Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr. Ramanathan. The hooligans trifled with the Police and even despised their orders. One of the leaders of the gang in spite of Police protest, went close to the Worthen and Conducted himself in an indecent manner. He even challenged the authority and COTpetence of the police to maintain law and order. He and his gang created a situation which provoked the Police to open fire. One of the shots pierced through the body of the gang leader and he succumbed in a matter of Tinutes,
Meanwhile stories of these horrid incidents spread to far-off villages which were predominantly inhabited by Tamils. At once this lead to an influx of Tamils into Amparai, swearing reprisals, Fresh troubles started; it took a widlent turt. For two days a battle was raging. This time, reportedly, a good number of Sinhalese workers were killed. Their ten thousandstrong got disorganised and Were compelled to retreat into the

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1514 Politics and Life in Our Times
jungles of Moneragala. Normalcy was, gradually, restored. One should not fail to mention here the meritorious part played by Messrs Sidney de Soysa and Ramanathan who were directing police operations in subduing the riots and restoring normalcy there.
COMMUNAL HEIGHTS
The Government would not take any lessons from these incidents. Mr. Bandaranaike and his Collaborators were just following a steam-roller policy that flowed from a deliberate plan to crush the rights and initiative of a national minority, rather than aflexible policy of equality and justice canalizing to the aspirations of a people. Their excuse, their motives in refusing to accede due recognition to Tamil and the nature of their approach to the language question as a whole and the communal heights of the Government could be seen clearly in the speech made by Mr. Bandaranaike on 6th June, 1956, when he was moving the Second Reading of the Sinhala Only Bill. The relevant portions of his speech are as follows:
"People in the South saw this thing staring them in the face - parity of official languages- and felt that it would be gravely detrimental to the Continuance and progress of the Sinhalese language; that it would almost imply the extinction of the Sinhalese language. That is what a very large majority of the people, the Sinhalese people, felt. They felt that as the Tamil language was spoken by so many millions in other countries and possessed a much wider literature and as the TamilSpeaking people had every means of propagating their literature and Culture, it would have an advantage over Sinhalese which was spoken only by a few million people in this country. They felt that not only in the Northern and Eastern provinces was there a majority of Tamils, but that there was a large number of Tamil people in the Sinhalese provincesIndians who are also Tamil-speaking people - and that taking into account that business was in the hands of Tamil speaking people even to some extent- a fairly large extent-in our large towns, all this would Create a situation when the natural tendency would be for the use of Sinhalese to shrink and probably, in course of time almost to reach the

The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon 1515
point of elimination. Further than that they also felt that there were other reasons that militated against the advisability of giving parity of status to both languages as official languages namely, the fact that the large majority of the people of this country are in fact Sinhalese. These were all factors that created the feeling that whereas the Tamil Language did not run any real risk of disappearance, although given a position of parity, the Sinhalese language in fact did. People may or may not agree with that point of view, but at least take this as a fact that the vast majority of the Sinhalese felt that way very strongly. That at least is a fact, whether you consider them to have been absolutely justified is another question....".
Expressing his own feelings, sentiments and convictions on the subject, Mr. Bandaranaike pretended as if the sentiments and convictions were those of the Sinhalese people themselves. He moved the Second Reading of the Bill and it was passed. While there was tension throughout the country, bloodshed and mass murder, the Official Language Act was given birth to The voting indicated that Sinhalese extreme and communal elements had voted together in favour of the Bill, while the liberal Section of the Sinhalese Members and the nonSinhalese Members had voted against it.
THE OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ACT
Readers may be interested to know the main provisions of the Official Language Act.
OFFICIAL LANGUAGE ACT, No. 33 OF 1956
Section 2
The Sinhala Language shall be the one official language of Ceylon.
Provided that where the Minister considers it impracticable to Commence the use of only the Sinhalalanguage for any official purpose immediately on the coming into force of this Act, the language or languages hitherto used for that purpose may be continued to be so used until the necessary change is effected as early as possible before

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1516 Politics and Life in Our Times
the expiry of the thirty-first day of December, 1960, and if such changes cannot be effected by administrative order, regulations may be made under this Act to effect such change.
THE REASONABLE USE OF TAML
Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act
The Government now thought of finding an antidote to subdue the feelings of the Tamil speaking people, aroused by the recent Communal clashes. The antidote was the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act, No. 28 of 1958. On 19th June, 1957, Mr. Bandaranaike made a speech in the House of Representatives indicating his policy and the steps he proposed to take to give due recognition to the reasonable use of Tamil. This policy speech formed the basis of the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Act. These are its main provisions.
TAMILLANGUAGE (SPECIAL PROVISIONS) ACT, No. 28 OF 1958
Section 2. (1) Tamil pupil in a Government school or an Assisted School shall be entitled to be instructed through the medium of the Tamil language in accordance with such regulations under the Education Ordinance, No. 31 of 1939, relating to the medium of instruction as are in force or may hereafter be brought into force.
(2) When the Sinhala language is made a medium of instruction in the University of Ceylon, the Tamil language shall, in accordance with the provisions of the Ceylon University Ordinance, No. 20 of 1942 and of the Statutes, Acts and Regulations made there under, be made a medium of instruction in such University for students, who prior to their admission to such University, have been educated through the medium of the Tamil language.

The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon 1 517
Section
Section
Section
3. A person educated through the medium of the Tamil language shall be entitled to be examined through such medium at any examination for the admission of persons to the Public Service, subject to the condition that he shall, according as regulations made under this Act in that behalf may require:-
(a) have a sufficient knowledge of the official language
of Ceylon; or (b) acquire such knowledge within a specified time after
admission to the Public Service: provided that, when the Government is satisfied that there are sufficient facilities for teaching of the Sinhala language in schools in which the Tamil language is a medium of instruction and that the annulment of clause (b) of the preceding provisions of this section will not cause undue hardship, provision may be made by regulation made under this Act that such clause shall cease to be in force.
4. Correspondence between persons other than officials in their official capacity, educated through the medium of the Tamil language and any official in his official capacity between any local authority in the Northern or Eastern Provinces and any official in his official capacity may, as prescribed, be in the Tamil language.
5. In the Northern and Eastern Provinces the Tamil Language may be used for prescribed administrative purposes in addition to the purposes for which that Language may be used in accordance with the other provisions of this Act, without prejudice to the use of the Official Language of Ceylon in respect of these prescribed administrative purposes.

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1518 Polics and Life in Our in 72S
HINDUISMISASOCIAL AND RELIGIOUS ORGANIZATION MAINLY IN INDIA, WITH ADHERENTS THROUGHOUT THE WORLD, IT ISA DEVELOPMENT OF BRAHMANISMANDIS DIVIDED INTO ANUMBER OF GROUPS. THERE ARE ALTOGETHER OVER 630,000,000 HINDUS IN INDIA, AND THEY ARE THUS THE DOMINANT PEOPLE IN THE LAND.
A Hindu Wedding being officiated by a Hindu Priest, Kurchithapatha Kurukka, who is the Chief Priest of Sri Ponnampala waneswara Temple at Kolahana, Colombo. 73,
Early Brahmanism was affected by Buddhism and both existed down to about A. D. 800, when the latter disappeared from the peninsula leaving a new Brahmanism, the product of both philosophies. This modern Hinduism, based on the puranas, gives less prominance to Brahma than to his associates Wishnu, the preserver, and Siwa, the destroyer and reproducer, They are worshipped in innumerable forms, both in their male and female aspects, the latter being emphasized by Saktiism, which derives its teaching from the Tantras.
 

The Tarl Freedom Move Tignifir Ceylon 1519
Section 6. (1) The Minister may nake regulations to give effect to
the principles and provisions of this act.
(2) No regulation made Under sub-section (1) shall| hawe effect until it is approwed by the Senate and the House of Representatives and notification of such approval is published in the Gazette.
Section 7. This Act shall hawe effect subject to such measures as may hawe been or may be adopted Lunder the provision to section 2 of the Official Languages Act, No. 33 of 1956, during the period ending on the thirty-first day of December, 1960.
Section 5 of this Act provides that Tamil shall be the Language of administration in the Northern and Eastern provinces. It is rather inexplicable why the present Government which purports to follow the policy of the late Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike is reluctant to declare Tamil as the Language of administration in North and East. It is very important to know the special significance of the words
"In Northern and Eastern Provinces the Tamil Language may be used for prescribed purposes in addition to the purposes for which that Language may be used in accordance with the other provisions of this Act",
This section contemplates the use of Tamil in these provinces for the convenience of the Tamils who are in the majority. For example Tamil should be the language of the judicial records in these Provinces, for this would afford easy and quick access to the litigant public. If, on the other hand, Sinhalese is made the language of the judicial records in these two Provinces, then the convenience of the Tamil public, which is of paramount importance, will suffer causing at the same time immense and unnecessary expense, time and trouble. As the section indicates, the use of Tamil, for example, as the language of judicial records of these two Provinces shall not prejudice the use of the official language Sinhalese as the language of the judicial records in the Sinhalese areas.

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1520 Politics and Life in Our Times
Again Section 3 of this Act does not make a knowledge of Sinhalese a condition precedent for the confirmation of appointment in Government Service. On the other hand this section lays down imperatively that a student educated through the medium of Tamil has the right to be admitted to the Public Services throughpublic examinations conducted in Tamil. The Government cannot compel the Tamil candidate to sit for any public examination conducted in Sinhalese for the admission to the Public Service. What the section implies is that a Public Officer having entered the Public Service, shall acquire a knowledge of Sinhalese by a certain date. The Tamil public servants and the Tamil-speaking people, however, feel that no lawshall compel them to study the Sinhalese language. The standpoint of the Tamil public servants and the Tamilspeaking people on this matter is three fold
(1) They feel that to make a knowledge of Sinhalese a condition precedent for confirmation of appointment is contrary to the spirit of the accepted principle that a Tamil person educated through the medium of the Tamil Language is "entitled to be examined through such medium at any examination for the admission of persons to the Public Service".
(2) A knowledge of Sinhalese may be compensated by a special
allowance.
(3) A knowledge of Sinhalese shall not be a condition precedent
for confirmation of appointment.
Courtesy: "The Tamil Freedom Movement in Ceylon", by S. Ponniah - 1963.
In both his writings and speeches Lenin explained the principles underlying the federation of socialist republics, and the fundamental difference between such a federation and multi-national state formations under capitalism.

Civil and Political Rights of Eylom Thamils
by C. Suntharalingam
TO
The Hon. Colvin R. de Silva, Colombo.
My dear Colvin,
In the resolution passed at the Navarangahala Meeting on 19th July, 1970, convoking the Constituent Assembly it was proclaimed, to the bombast of the Magul Bera, that the Constitution you were proposing to draft, "was deriving its authority from the People of Sri Lanka and not from the power and authority assumed and exercised by the British Crown and the Parliament of the United Kingdom in the grant of the present Constitution of Ceylon". I have already, in the first open letter to you, shown how by the use of the singular 'people' and similar 'One Nation' and "Oneness-of-our Nation', you are limiting yourself to the Bauddha Sinhala People to the exclusion of the Eylom Thamil People, be they Saivites, Muslims, Roman Catholics, other Christians or Buddhists living in Thamil Eylom territories.
You have also proclaimed that the Constituent Assembly is "pledged to realise .......... the fundamental rights and freedoms of all Citizens".
In this letter propose to demonstrate beyond all doubt the hollowness of your high Sounding pretensions and pledge' by examining the more important and fundamental of your Draft Basic Resolutions.
FeSOlution 1
"Sri Lanka shall be a Free Sovereign and Independent Republic"-This only paraphrases what the present Constitution stands for, namely "Fully responsible Independent Dominion of Ceylon": you are only abolishing the Crown.

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1522 Polis ard Lifeg liri CLJr Tirr9;S
Resolution 2.
"The Republic of Sri Lanka shall be a Unitary State". In your published research thesis "Ceylon under British Occupation", My dear Colwin, you hawe clearly indicated that before 1833 there were three areas under three separate British Administrations, though subject to the supervision of the central administration in Colombo, these Went under British rule independently of one another. These areas were (1) Low Country Sinhala Area in the south and Western sectors of the Island from "Chilaw to Walawe' conquered from the Dutch early in 1796; (2) Eylon Thamil area extending from "Chilaw to Walawe' northwards and eastwards including the then "Puttalan and Batticaloa' districts, even now roughly recognised by you in Basic Resolution 24 as the "Northern and Eastern Provinces - this area was taken by the British from the Dutch later in 1796, and (3) The Kandyan area conquered in 1815 from the Kandyans though assisted by the Eylom Thar Tils (read the Ballad of Gannoruwa) after betrayal by the Sinhala traitor Eheylopola, the Chief Adigar of Sri Wickrama Rajasinha, the "Malabar Ruler" as the Kandyan Convention of 1815 itself described him. These areas are clearly demarcated in the Official Arrowsmith Map of Ceylon published in London on January 1, 1803, that is nearly 170 years ago. The administration of each of these areas was in the language of the preponderating inhabitants of the area. Indeed if you examine the early parental notarial deeds in the Anuradhapura area you will find that they are in Thamil. These three areas were, as you know, brought under one central administration by the British Colonial Administrative Fiat of 1833, after the Colebrooke Commission Reports. The peoples of Ceylon at the time, the Eylon Thamils, the Low Country Sinhalese and the Kandyans had no voice whatsoever in making Ceylon a Unitary State. You will not deny that the present

Civil and Political Rights of Eylor Tharris 1523
C. SUNTHARALINGAMWAS BORNINURUMPIRAI, JAFFNAIN SRI LANKA. AFTER COMPLETING HIS STUDIES IN SRI LANKAHE PROCEEDED TO ENGLAND, PROBABLY ON A SCHOLARSHIP, AND THERE HE WAS SUCCESSFUL IN THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION. IN HIS UNIVERSITY CAREER IN ENGLAND, HE SPECIALISED IN MATHEMATICS. HEDD NOT ACCEPT THE CIVIL SERVICEAPPOINTMENT BUT PREFERRED TO BECOME THE PROFESSOR OF MATHEMATICS AT THE CEYLON. UNIVERSITY COLLEGE HE WAS FOR SOME YEARS THE WARDEN OF THE UNION HOSTEL WHICH WAS ONE OF THE RESIDENCES OF THE UNDERGRADUATES OF THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE IN THE EARLY 1930s, WHEN THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T DURAISINGAM, WAS STUDYING AT THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, HERESIDEDAT THE UNIONHOSTEL. AT THIS TIME PROFESSORSUNTHARALINGAMWAS THE WARDEN AND THE HOSTEL WASAT GUILDFORDCRESCENT,COLOMBO 7. LATER HE BECAME THE M.P. FORWAWUNYA.
- EP
798, 895 - 2, 985
Al Guildford Crescent under Sunthasalingam's patronage radicalism of the undergraduates spread and grew in strength. Most evenings when he and the hostelers had dined, C. Suntharalingam would stride into the Junior Common Room and hold forth on the iniquities of the British Raj and the humiliation of subject peoples like ourselves, and telltales of his defiance to pin pricks inflicted by the myrmidons of the Rajwhen he was in England. To him Union Hostel was a nursery for the development of a free and United Lanka. He took special to make the hostela fora-shadowing of independent Sri Lanka. Deliberately
e look pains, to make the hostella miniature of the Lanka ihat he envisioned. Young people of all races and all Creeds were encouraged to come into the hostel. As a matter of fact, there was no need for encouragement or inducement because C.S.'s same was one to conjure with. His academic achievements, his defiance of Governmental services and his genuine egalitarianism in dealings with people was already known when he became warden of Union Hostel. Suntharalingam always makes a boast of the fact that the two outstanding Christian dignitaries of Ceylon are alumni of Union Hostel-D. T. Niles, President of the World Council of Churches, and 1he Right Rewerend Sabapal hy Kulendran,

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1524 Politics and Life in Our Times
Constitution of Ceylon is the culmination of historical events and circumstances which occurred under British Rule through the years from the principles of state policy as outlined by the Colebrooke Commission and implemented in the first instance by the Administrative Fiat of 1833. If not for that Fiat, due entirely to the "power and authority assumed and exercised by the Crown", after victories in wars, the Eylom Thamils, would now be masters and rulers in their traditional territorial homelands in Thamil Eylom according to the Arrowsmith Map of Jan. 1, 1803; they will also be having Thamil as the Official Language along with English on an equal footing", to conform to changed world conditions. If not for the consent given by the Eylom Thamils, who believed that Sinhala politicians would be honourable enough to Carry out the Compromise proposals and agreements (in which I played no small part) reached during 1943-1945, after protracted negotiations, the Ceylon Constitution Order in Council, 1946, the Ceylon Independence Act, 1947, and the Ceylon Independence Order in Council, 1947, would not have seen the light of day and you would not be the Honourable Minister for Constitutional Affairs in Ceylonto arrogate to yourself - to use your very Words - "the power and authority assumed and exercised "not by the Crown' but by Hon. Mr. Colvin Under these arrogated "power and authority' you are deliberately seeking to impose on the Eylom Thamils a new constitution of your making without their "request or consent". Why? Why do you want to be illogical to your own logic?
The international Covenants on "Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights, 1966" and on "Civil and Political Rights, 1966" provide (Part I Article 1 Section 1): "All peoples have the right to selfdetermination; by virtue of that right they freely determine their political Status and freely pursue their economic Social and cultural development". Ceylon, being a signatory state to the first of these two

Civil and Political Rights of Eylom Thamils 1525
Covenants, is in honour bound to recognise and implement this fundamental Right of Self-Determination for the Eylom Thamils. Why do you want to brand Ceylon as a dishonourable, unreliable, Somersaulting State in the eyes of the world owing to the conduct of its Cabinet Ministers?
You are now embarking on a venture to backslide on the present Independence Constitution so magnanimously granted by the British Government-repeat 'at the request and with the consent of all the peoples of Ceylon'- without a drop of blood being shed. suppose you will now pursue your course by backsliding on the International Covenants as well, which Ceylon has signed. Why this not too honourable behaviour on the part of Premier Srimavo Bandaranaike's Government? Why not submit this question whether the Eylom Thamils want a Unitary State or not, to a referendum or plebiscite of the Eylom Thamils? During all the post-World-Waryears, all controversial fundamentals regarding Constitutions have been submitted, singly, all the World over, including African countries, for decision by Referendum or Plebiscite procedure. I beg of you and the Cabinet of which you are a Member, why not agree to this in so far as the Eylom Thamils are concerned?
Basic Resolution 3:
"in the Republic of Sri Lanka, Buddhism, the religion of the majority of the people, shall be given its rightful place and accordingly it shall be the duty of the State to protect and foster Buddhism, while assuring to all religions the rights granted by Basic Resolution 5 (iv)". I have dealt with this resolution at some length in my third open letter to you. The resolution appears to be a twin-brother, delayed at birth, of Premier Solomon Bandaranaike's creations namely, Sinhala Only Official Language with "Reasonable Use of Thamil". Do you realise that there is not a single modern constitution the world

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1526 Politics and Life in Our Times
over today, which enables one of the religions of the peoples, even though it be the religion of the majority, to thrive and prosper on funds provided to the Exchequer by the followers of the other religions in the country?
What would the Lord Buddha have to say for such conduct On your part? Religious Neutrality, Religious Impartiality have been Scrupulously observed in all states from the middle of the 18th century and in Ceylon by the British Government throughout the whole period of their Colonial or Semi-Colonial Rule. And now, you, by constitutional law to be enacted by you want the followers of Saiva, Islam, Catholic and other Christian Religions in Ceylon, to submit themselves meekly to be the citizens of a Bauddha Sinhala Desa! Please do not, in the name of Buddhism, which so nobly and uniquely extols "Ahimsa" provide in the Constitution something which sooner or later, must lead to "Himsa" in the country! Do not forget the ruins of Anuradhapura, Sigirya, Polonaruwa, Dambadeniya, etc., (1 have given the full list in chronological order in Parliament). Your Basic Resolution 3 is a flagrant violation of the present Constitution (Sections 27 and 29) and a shameless disregard of the fundamental rights of minorities as set out in the International Covenants!
Basic Resolution 4:
For this Resolution you have "lifted" the corresponding provisions included in the Constitutions of practically all countries which have secured independence after the Indian Independence Act, 1947, which by the year 1950 had been converted, according to the Act itself, into a Peoples' Constitution of India. In these Constitutions the provisions in regard to the Principles of State Policy are "justiciable" but in your proposed Constitution they "shall not be justiciable, in any court of law". What a piece of surreptitious duplicity? You are seeking to perpetrate in the guise of fundamental rights

Civil and Political Rights of Eylom Thamils 1527
and freedoms what will prove to be the tyranny of the majority and a mean betrayal of the proclaimed "pledge". Certainly the important minority of the Eylom Thamils will not be duped by your betrayal.
Basic Resolution 5:
"Fundamental Rights and Freedoms". These are also "lifted" with hidden sinister adaptations in some details. In the pursuit of your Premier Solomon "Bandaranaike-Policies", to which your United Front is committed, how frequent have there been outbursts of riots, loot, arson, rape (unprintable details), blood baths, murders, live human-torches, Emergency and Curfew Orders, Proclamations? Announcement of high sounding ideology is one thing, its implementation, practice and achievement all quite another. At the Navarangahala Meeting you referred to the Mandate of the people given to you at the General Election. Already within one year of your bombast what is the Fate that has befallen your Sri Lanka! Alas!!
Believe me, Yours very sincerely, "SUN" (Sgd.) C. Suntharalingam London, July 13, 1971.
Courtesy: "Plight of Eylom Thamils under Colvin's Constitution" by C. Suntharalingam - 1971.

Page 225
J. R., U. N. P. and the Tamils
by R. Kaha Wita
do not know how many people - both Sinhala and Tamil speaking-have reacted to a state Ilent, reported to have been made by "JR" at a political meeting that his objective is to be the Prime Minister for the whole country and not for only a section of the people. His premiership will be North to South and East to West.
Obviously his ambition is to be the premier of a United Country, "One country one people" is the basis of his ambitions. We can believe that this will be his goal, because even in the Party commitment of 25th May he has pledged to solve the Language and other problems of the Minorities at an all party conference, thus elevating the Conference above politics while getting all their views, at the same time work out a Workable and permanent solution to the problems, so that all national communities can march ahead in harmony, perfect understanding and trust in each other, with one common objective of building a united democratic nation.
Conferences and discussions are well and good but what is resolved at these Conferences must be written into a document to guarantee the inalienability of these resolutions. That document should be the Constitution. Here again, "JR" has committed his party to give a clean, Workable, democratic Constitution so that all national Communities can develop their aspirations, cultural, economic and traditional, in keeping with their respective societies. Therefore, the former, "the roundtable conference" must precede constitution drafting,
We can trust his interfs, because already he has put into motion a fact finding committee to sort out the genuine grievances and short comings. To take his intentions to the grass roots he has matched 14 candidates at the forthcoming general elections to contast the traditional Tamil speaking Constituencies, His nominees lay not be successfular the hustings, but the exercise will serve a very useful purpose of gauging the mood of the Tamil speaking people and what numbers of them are With his policy.

J. R. L. N. F. and the Tamils 1529
ABRAHAM LINCOLN WAS AN AMERICAN STATESMAN. HE WAS BORN INALOG HUT IN KENTUCKY ON FEBRUARY 12T, 1809, THE SON OF THOMAS LINCOLNWHO WAS DESCENDED FROMAN EMIGRANT FROM HINGHAM IN NORFOLK. HIS MOTHERNANCY HANKS, DIED WHEN HE WASA BOY, ANDIN POORCIRCUMSTANCES THE FAMILY MOVED FROM PLACE TO PLACE, FINALLYSETTLING INILLINOIS. ABRAHAMRECEIVED ALTTLEEDUCATION IN SCHOOL BUT MORE FROMHIS OWN READING. LLLLaLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLL L LLLLaLLLL LL KKK LLLL LLLLLLaLL STRENGTH AND WAS POPULAR ASA STORY TELLER. HE EARNED A LIVING ON THE LAND, LEAVING ITTWICE TO WORKON CARGO BOATS THAT SALEDDOWNTONEWORLEANS. HE THENBECAMEACLERKAT NEWSALAM, ILLINOIS, AND WENT ONA CAMPAIGNAGAINST THE RED INDIANS IN 1832. ON HIS RETURN HE AND A PARTNER OPENEDASTORE, BUT THIS FAILED. HETHENSECUREDA POSITIONAS POSTMASTER OF THE TOWN AND WORKEDASA SURVEYOR. HE GUALIFIEDASALAWYER IN 1836, AND BEGAN TO PRACTICE AT SPRINGFIELD IN 1837.
Abraham Linco) f2.(?2. 78(99? — 75.2«f. f36«
In 1834 Lincoln's public life began with his election to the legislature of Illinois, and his talents as a deballer Wol for him the leadership of his 醛 In 1846 he was elected to the House of Representatives at Washington. He declined reelection, In 1861 the Southern states of America seceded and under Lincoln's direction the Northern States antered upon the Civil War, AITid circumstances of great difficulty he directed the campaigns and in the end the North was victorious, He had saved the Union, which he always asserted was his aim, although at an enomous Cost, and in 1863 he had announced the ermancipation of the slaves. In 1864 he was again elected President, his opponent being M'Clellan and in his inaugural address he spoke of his desire to heal the wounds of the country. On April 14, he was shot in the theatre at Washington by an actor, J. Wilkes Booth, and died on the following day. In 1842 Lincoln married Mary Todd. Only one of his four sons survived him, Robert Todd Lincoln, who was American Minister in LOIIdol, 1889 - 1893.

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1530 Politics and Life in Our Times
This strategy will involve almost seven lakhs of Tamil speaking voters. This can be considered almost a referendum to what the Party has committed itself in their manifesto regards the language and other issues of the Tamil speaking community. The results of the elections in those areas should form the background and the springboard for the proposed "all party conference".
For the first time, since independence, we have a Political Leader who has come out with a definite programme and a determination to solve our "inter-community problems".
What are his instruments with which he is going to mould a united people?
They are: Going out to the Tamil speaking areas in numbers to find out democratically the mood of the people involved, a non-party Conference to hammer Out differences and then Write the Solutions into a constitution. A leader is of no value without a following. Every leader expects a following to endorse what his objectives are: So it is up to the various Communities, Social and religious groups and intellectuals, etc., to give this leader that support and be guided by him. Let us then prepare the way now, if he is called upon to form a Government, that he will have the backing to implement what he has planned to do "to settle the minority issues".
We have specifically picked up the leader of the United National Party, because he is the only leader who has, so far, chalked out a plan to wipe out inter community differences. If others too come forward, the same co-operation must be there; for the ultimate end is not to separate the communities but to weld them together to form one people one country, this shall be the common denominator to all parties or groups who seek a solution. V
Then as one leader has stated clearly what his plans are to bring all communities together, let all other leaders, in spite of their political differences join hands to find a solution to a problem that has befuddled uS since 1940.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, July 2, 1977.

"Federal Government is the Only Solution..."
by James T. Rutnam
Who Said so?
S. W. R. Dias Bandaranaike.
Where ?
ln Jaffna.
Wher?
In July 1926,
How do you know?
It is fully reported in the Ceylon Morning Leader of Saturday,
17 July, 1926.
Bandaranaike's direct words were, "A thousand and One objections could be raised against the system, but when the objections are dissipated, I am convinced that some form of Federal Government will be the only solution". The title of his talk was "Federation as the only solution to our Political Problems".
Bandaranalike returned to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1925 after a brilliant career in the Oxford Union as a political speaker. He missed the Presidentship, but he was Junior Treasurer of the Union, the stepping stone to the higher office. Politics was his special study. He was an ambitious man. He shed his loyalties to the feudal society into which he was born. His father was a Servant of the Crown in the Imperial Court of the Governor. His grandfather S. C. Obeysekera despised the aspirations of the common man. He had called them "nobodies trying to become somebodies". But as young Bandaranaike stepped into the island, he became the rising hope of the radical youth of the country. For his fame (at the Oxford Union) had travelled before him. At once he offered himself to be a leader to emancipate Sri Lanka. He founded in 1926 the Progressive Nationalist Party of which I too was a member. The whole country was then getting ready for the agitation for substantial Constitutional Reforms, on the eve of the arrival of the Donoughmore Commissioners.

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1532 Politics and Life in Our Times
Bandaranaike had realised, in the same way as Ponnambalam Arunachalam did when he inaugurated the Ceylon National Congress, that communal Consensus was a sine qua non for the achievement of national peace and prosperity, the essential objectives of all good governments. Arunachalam roped in the Tamils with the famous, and now notorious, letter of James Peiris and E. J. Samarawickrama, respective Presidents of the Ceylon National Association and the Ceylon Reform League. This letter is a dead letter. So had become Bandaranaike's Cure-all of a Federal Constitution.
Today the cry of the Tamils is for Separation. It is born out of frustration. This cry is proclaimed throughout the Northern and Eastern Provinces by every group or party of any substance. These Provinces have been recognised in the present Constitution, as well as in numerous government declarations and pronouncements, as Tamilspeaking areas as distinct from Sinhalese-speaking areas, although a subtle form of colonisation in some places is threatening the linguistic identity.
The TULF is making the present Elections a plebiscite for its demand for separation. No doubt, as things are at present, the TULF will Succeed in getting a resounding response. This is bound to Create problems both national and international. You cannot close your eyes to it. The future of peace and prosperity in Sri Lanka may hang on this issue. It could become a festering sore as it had been in Ireland (since the Plantation of Ulster) and in many other countries. The move for national or regional autonomy in all parts of the world had gained momentum, since Bandaranalike proposed a Federal System for Sri Lanka fifty-one years ago. Very soon, after many years of bloodshed the Basques and Catalans will gain national autonomy in Spain. So would the Greeks and Turks in Cyprus. Who had expected the devolution of the United Kingdom into England, Scotland and Wales? But this too is in the offing. It is a modern trend. Wise men who want peace and prosperity will realise that this is, paradoxically, a move towards integration rather than towards disintegration.

"Federal Government is the Only Solution... 1533
At a meeting of the Progressive Nationalist Party held on 21 June, 1926 at 119, Hultsdorf, in the spacious chambers of the late Valentine S. Perera, with Bandaranaike as Chairman, a Scheme of Reforms for a Federal Constitution with a restricted male franchise was passed by the large assembly of members present with only one solitary dissension. That dissension came from my own humble self. was for a Unitary Constitution and also for manhood suffrage and a restricted women suffrage then. I had earlier in 1924 written in favour of this in the press, having been influenced by men like Arunachalam, Victor Corea, Goonasinha and E. T. de Silva. I also joined issue with Bandaranaike in the Ceylon Morning Leaderover Federation after the meeting, in July 1926.
The Ceylon Morning Leader of 22 June, 1926, duly reported on its first page my dissent as follows: "Mr. James Rutnam dissented from the recommendation of the Report. As his dissent was opposed to the Constitution of the Party, it was ruled by the Chairman (Bandaranaike) as out of order".
Out of order indeed! I alone stood up for a Unitary Constitution against Bandaranaike. What an irony of fatel The Chairman brooked no opposition. He was a hot-gospeller for Federation.
believed then, in my idealistic youth, in a United Ceylon with no communal differences. This occurred fifty-one years ago. We were then fighting the British Raj. We did not consider ourselves separately as Sinhalese or Tamils in this struggle. Now I am a disillusioned man. Communal differences Continue to divide us into racial groups, and also it must be realised, into caste groups. I think Bandaranaike had been politically very wise to have proposed Federation.
He found support for this idea from the Kandyan National Assembly led by A. Godamune and also believe from C. E. Corea, that doughty Ceylonese patriot. It is evident now that under the present set-up no one from the caste groups among the Sinhalese in the maritime provinces, such as the Karawas, Salagamas or Duravas, not to speak of those considered unmentionable, will ever be able to become a Prime Minister or a President of Sri Lanka.

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1534 Politics and Life in Our Times
As far as the Tamils are concerned, it is not fully realised how strong a language could be to bind a nation or state or Community. Morarji Desai himself had admitted that even Asoka could not prevail over the Dravidians of South India. This had found an echo, over two thousandyears later, in the recent Lok Sabha and National Assembly Elections. The Tamil Nadu cry for Separation was effectively silenced without bloodshed by the Nehru declaration that Hindi would not be imposed even as a link language. I think the Biafra cry for Separation was checked by the grant of Federal status in Nigeria, of course after a good deal of bloodshed.
In the interest of all concerned believe the first duty of the New Parliament should be to formulate a Federal Constitution for three States, and not for nine states as Bandaranaike had proposed, one for the Kandyans composed of the Central, North-Central, Uva and Sabaragamuwa Provinces, one for the Low-Country Sinhalese composed of the North-Western, Western and Southern Provinces, and One for the Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces. The boundaries could be modified or adjusted by Consensus.
Say what you like, this problem of the Tamils is bound to reach alarming proportions, if wise Counsel does not soon prevail on both sides. We are the defenders of the oppressed, and Supporters of liberation movements throughout the world. The SLFP Manifesto specially stresses it. Jimmy Carter has declared that Human Rights are not the concern of the respective individual States only. Already we hear of demonstrations on behalf of the Tamils of Sri Lanka, both plantation workers and others, in the capitals and cities of the World. We could ourselves solve this problem with reason and without hate if only we recall the image and follow the direction of the youthful Bandaranaike of the twenties. I give below his speech which is not found among his Collected Speeches and which he himself in the course of time chose to side-step with a political pact, purely because of the insatiate appetite of racial chauvinists and the opposition of political opportunists. This speech was the foundation stone of the Bandaranaike Policy over which a generation which knows not him is raving today.

"Federal Government is the Only Solution..." 1535
"Federation as the only solution to our political problems".
by S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike.
From the Ceylon Morning Leader, Saturday, July 17, 1926.
Under the auspices of the Students' Congress Mr. S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, B. A. (Oxon), Barrister-at-Law, delivered a very interesting lecture on "Federation as the only Solution to our Political problems". Dr. Isaac Thambyah presided.
Mr. Bandaranaike said that it was necessary in the first place, to realise the importance of the present time. A revision of the Constitution was due in 1928. A satisfactory measure of self-government was expected. It was therefore necessary to think very clearly and realise in its entirety the whole political question. A false step taken, a false proposal made now would be very difficult to retrieve in the future. They all wanted self-government. The question remained what was the measure of self-government they were aiming at.
There were briefly two forms of Government met with in Ceylon. One form was the "Nindagama" system of land tenure, the other was the Headmen system of provincial administration.
The Nindagama system was a feudal form of Government. As long as the feudal dues were paid (they were always paid in kind) no notice was taken of anything else. In the Headmen system, the village was Considered as the unit. The King had his various Disawas, Rate Mahatmayas, etc. The various provinces were divided and subdivided till one came to the Gansabawa. The Gansabawa was composed of the head of each family of all those in the village irrespective of wealth. The litigants had the right to appeal to the King himself but the Ganasabawa's decision was rarely upset. All that meant that the whole land was a loose federation bound by one common oath to the King. When the British came to the island they introduced a Centralised form of Government. That Centralised form of Government as introduced had a semblance of a free institution. Even to the present day it was nothing else but a bureaucratic form of Government.

Page 229
153 ES POssios and Log in ČLr Trles
FINLAND IS A REPUBLIC OF EUROPE. HELSINGFORS (OR HELSINKI) S THE CAPITAL AND THE LARGEST TOWN. FOR SOME CENTURES FINLAND WASPART OFSWEDEN, BUT IN THE 16TH CENTURY IT BECAME A GRAND DUCHY IN 1809 IT WAS HANDED OVER TORUSSIA, WHICH HADPREVIOUSYSECURED PART OFIT AND THETZAR BECAME GRAND DUKE, LATER THERE WASA, GOOD DEAL OF TROUBLE BETWEEN THE FINNISH AND THE SWE DISH ELEMENTS IN THE POPULATION. ORIGINALLY THE WORLD PEACE COUNCILHADITS HEADQUARTERS AT HELSINKI. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURASINGAM, ISA
L.
TFF Fir]]jgfı Wafforlas' ThläfrĖ This book, "Politics and Life in our Trias" was printed on paper imported from Finland
Finland was, in 1917, declared a sovereign and independent state. It is governed by a president, elected for six years by Universal suffrage, and a council of state. These are responsible to a house of representatives of 200 Tembers. Socialism is very strong in the country and against Communism repressive measures were found necessary in 1930. The chief OCCupation is agriculture, Rye, barley and oats are grown. There are immense areas of forest and timber and pulp are the principal exports, Horses and cattle are kept and butter is made, The railways are state owned and transport, especially of timber, is facilitated by the nurtorous lakes which are joined by Canals,
 

"Federal Government is the Only Solution..." 1537
The lecturer then referred to the course of political agitation for larger measure of reforms. It did not start till 1915 when the riots took place. The lecturer then referred to the great part played by Sir P. Ramanathan, then the Educated Ceylonese Member, Sir P. Arunachalam started the National Congress. It was he who fathered the novement for agitation for reform. When the Congress was started the articles to which all the Thembers subscribed themselves was that their aim and goal should be self Government within the Empire. Beyond the securing of a few more seats in the Legislative Councilnothing else was done. Those who agitated for reform concentrated their whole energies on arguing in two directions on fallacious bases. The system was not questioned as to its suitability, secondly they airTed at copying the type of Government as existing in England. The result was that the Legislative Council at present Was a Tostmongrel assembly. It was a assembly of the people in theory but in reality it was utterly useless, Warious compromises were made. They were Government Members who were not responsible to anybody of Voters. The territorial principle Was acknowledged, the Com Tunal principle acquiesced and when all was said and done the assembly had no real power. The Legislative Council had a certain measure of Control over the finances, but that did not amount to much. The Executive Council was divorced from the Legislative Council which looked like a School Boys Debating Society, That was the nett result of the agitation of the last few years. The price paid for it was the Sinhalese-Tamil split and the Low Country and the Kandyan Sinhalese split. The minorities, looked with mistrust one at the other. It was wrong to think that the differences were not fundamental, There were men who thought that the differences were created by a few ambitious persons and when those persons died the differences Would disappear. A hundred years ago there were no such differences. They did not appear because the Englishman sat on the heads of the Tamil, the Low-Country Sinhalese and the Kandyan Sinhalese,
The moment they began to speak of taking the Government in their hands, then the differences that were lying dormant smouldered forth. If they considered past history they would see that the three communities, the Tamils, the Low-Country Sinhalese and the Kandyan

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1538 Politics and Life in Our Times
Sinhalese had lived for over a thousand years in Ceylon and had not shown any tendency to merge. They preserved their language, their Customs, their religion. He would be a very rash man who would pin his faith on the gradual disappearance of those differences.
The lecturer then proceeded to outline the difficulties that would Crop up. The Legislative Council would under the anticipated reformed Government, elect their Prime Minister and the various Ministers. Now there was a certain proportion of members to represent the various communities. If that proportion was maintained, in the ministry too the communities would demand a certain proportion.
A centralised form of Government assumed a homogenous whole. He knew no part of the World where a Government was carried on under such conflicting circumstances as would be experienced in Ceylon.
Those would be the troubles if a centralised form of Government was introduced into countries with large communal differences.
In a Federal Government, each federal unit had complete power over themselves. Yet they united and had one or two assemblies to discuss matters affecting the whole country. That was the form of Government in the United States of America. All the self-Governing dominions, Australia, South Africa, Canada had the same system. Switzerlandafforded a better example for Ceylon. It was a small Country, but three races lived there, French, Germans and Italians. Yet Switzerland was a country where the federal form of Government was very successful. Each canton managed its own affairs. But questions of foreign affairs, commerce, defence, etc., matters about which differences and controversies would be at a minimum were deat With by the Federal Assembly. In Ceylon each Province should have complete autonomy. There should be one or two assemblies to deal with the Special revenue of the island. A thousand and one objections could be raised against the system but when the objections were dissipated, he was convinced that Some form of Federal Government WOuld be the only solution. He had not dealt with the smaller communities. For such Communities temporary arrangements could be made for special representation. Those temporary arrangements would exist till the fear

"Federal Government is the Only Solution. 1539
existed about one community trying to overlord the other. He would suggest the same for the Colombo Tamil seat. The three main divisions in the island were the Kandyan Sinhalese, the Low Country Sinhalese and the Tamils. It was difficult to find a system that would completely satisfy everyone. That was in brief the Federal system. He would be amply satisfied if it was recognised that the problem did exist. If there were a better form of plan he hoped someone would think about it and place it before the people. (Several speakers then made comments and asked questions.)
Mr. Bandaranaike in reply said that the question of religion was hardly a matter to be dealt with by legislation. The question of financial inequality was a serious objection, so also was the question of education. The common fund could be shared among provinces that required help. The subject was full of controversy. The last speaker had hit the nail on the head. Why not remain under the British? Why all that worry and discussion? No nation deserved the name of a nation if it did not Want a measure of self-Government. It deserved to be wiped out of the Surface of the earth.
Dr. Isaac Thambyah said that the lecture was powerfully delivered and reasonably thought out. He hoped that a great deal of interest would be created. The British Malaya was the only place he knew where Federation was working and working well too. He suggested that their leaders of thought in Jaffna and Colombo should pay a visit to Malaya and come back and tell them what they thought of Federation. In conclusion Dr. Thambyah congratulated the Students' Congress for its choice of lectures. Sometime ago a gentleman spoke of the ideals of education. That night Mr. Bandaranaike had spoken of the ideals of Government. He moved a vote of thanks to the lecturer. The vote was Carried with acclamation.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, July 2nd, 1977.

Page 231
Tamil-Speaking Peoples' Problems
by R. Kahawita
The United National Party, under the Leadership of Hon. J. R. Jayawardene, has swept the Board, leaving the Tamil United Liberation Front as the worthwhile opposition with an inarticulate Sinhala Group of eight (8) to support them. The results of the Elections are devastating from the point of view of Parliamentary Democracy, based on political parties and a vociferous but effective Opposition. However, from the point of view of working out National Unity, there could not have happened anything better.
The TULF may not even take their seats in the National State Assembly, nor even take their Oaths of Allegiance to the Constitution as they have not subscribed to the adoption of the Constitution in 1972. They may be just spectators waiting to see - What's next.
The UNP has 139 seats of their own out of 166 already elected. In this Group of 139 seats in the NSA there are several Tamil-Speaking members, representing a large section of the TamilSpeaking voter, not counting the voters who voted UNP but those who failed to return a member. This makes the TULF stand for a separate Tamil-Speaking State absurd and impractical. Though they have 17 seats out of 22 seats contested, all the Tamil-Speaking people are not with them - to have a separate Tamil-Speaking State. When the TULF started their Election Campaign on a separate State, they probably did not realize that the desire of the peoples of Sri Lanka was to change the ruling party. Their bargaining with the Tamil-Speaking people that preceded the Elections may have given TULF the confidence that they would be in a position of a "King Maker", to the party that acceded most to their demands to get into the Seat of Government. If this was their Scheme, the TULF stands isolated and they are not in a position to bargain. The voters have

Tamil-Speaking Peoples' Problems 1541
decided this for them. There is no give and take business now. This is why I say nothing could have happened better for National Unity. As usual in a game of Politics TULF must take a different stand and change their strategy to have their grievances remedied through negotiations and participate as equals in a United Sri Lanka.
The voters, in selecting the UNP to the seats of Government with no opposition to speak of, besides other things, have accepted the solution offered by the Leader, Hon. J. R. Jayawardene to "The Problems of the Tamil-Speaking People".
The Programme of action of the UNP on this subject states - "The UNP accepts the position that there are numerous problems confronting the Tamil-Speaking people. The lack of a solution to their problems has made the Tamil-Speaking people support even a movement for the creation of a separate State. In the interest of National integration and unity, so necessary for the economic development of the whole country, the Party feels such problems should be solved without loss of time. The Party when it comes to power will take all possible steps to remedy their grievances in such fields as (1) Education; (2) Colonisation; (3) Use of Tamil Language; and (4) Employment in the Public Sector and semi-public Corporations. We will summon an All-Party Conference as stated earlier and implement its decision".
have quoted in full here to keep the undertaking given by the UNP in the forefront and fresh in the minds of the Sinhala and Tamil-Speaking people alike. Above offer to the Tamil-Speaking people is what the UNP put to the people to decide at the Elections. The Sinhala and a bulk of the Tamil-Speaking voters have endorsed this wholeheartedly by giving the leader of the UNP an unprecedented majority in Parliamentary Elections history. Then, when Mr. J. R. Jayawardene went to Kandy on the 28th July to pay his respects to Their Holinessess, the Mahanayake Theras of the Asgiriya and Malwatte Chapters, Their Holinesses admonished Mr. Jayawardene in the following words: "He is the Prime Minister to serve not only Buddhists, but all countrymen. He must hold the scales evenly among Buddhists, Muslims, Christians and Hindus. Religion

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1542 Polis ard Liffs ir 7 ČOur Torres
GEE TACHANDRAN, PRIMADONNA OFBHARATANATYAM, ISA CLASSICAL DANCER WHOIS A TOP-RANKING PERFORMER, A TEACHER, FOUNDERPRESIDENT OF "NATYAVRIKSHA", AWRITER, ANACTIVIST WHO BELIEVES THAT ARTISTS MUST ARTICULATE SOCIAL CONCERNS. THERE ARE SEVERALDIMENSIONSTOBHARATANATYAMDANCERGEETACHANDRAN. HAILED AS A CONTEMPORARY LEGEND IN THE CLASSICAL, DANCE OF BHARATANATYAM, THEART OF GEE TACHANDRANTRAVERSES THE TWIN UNIVERSES OF PRISTINE TRADITION AND MODERNITY. THOUGH SHE IS AN ARTIST TRAINED BY A GALAXY OF EMIN ENT GURUS IN THE THANJAVOOR BANI (TRADITION) OF BHARATANATYAM, YET GEETA ISA WOMAN OF TODAY, HERDANCE REFLECTS HER CONTEMPORARY CONCERNS: THE NEED TO PROTECT THE ENVIRONMENT, URGING GENDER EQUALITY, EWOKINGNATIONAL PRIDE AND BUILDINGSOCIETAL BRIDGES.
Gaeta Chandran in a striking possure of Bharasanalya, 77
Dancing is the rhythmical steps and movements of the body. Primevally it is a spontaneous expression of slog emotion, religious or social and is illustrated in the art of the Stone Age. Primitive peoplasmanifest it Wariously, as ALIstralian corroborees, Iroquois corn dances, Hawaiian Lilas and Asiatic posturings. The sound for measuring the rhythm enhances the emotional appeal, even if it is only There hand clapping or dru II-lapping, Music advanced with dancing to stimulate the sense of rhythm. The Morris dance round a Taypole, brought by John of Gaunt from Spain, typifies the homely measures of Tudor England, and survives in the games of Todern children, AITerican barn dances of negro origin, governed by jazz band syncopation, came to Europic and developed into the twostep, the one-step and the foxtrot. Stage dancing elaborated the latter both French and Russian.
 

Tamil-Speaking Peoplas' Problems 1543
and Language should be treated equally, The Prime Minister should do everything in his power to Correct the situation that prevailed hitherto". (Extracted from the "Sun" report of 29.7.77). The two Mahanayake Theras are the Custodians of the Language, Culture and Religion of the Sinhala, They guide and maintain the traditions - written and unwritten — of the Sinhala People. They too, hawe endorsed, as the most high advisers to the Prime Minister to treat Religion and Language equally. This should renowe any doubts in the minds of the non-beliewers as to the intent of the UNP to find a permanent solution acceptable to all citizens of Sri Lanka.
The acceptance of the Party Manifesto by the voters and the admonishment tendered to the Prime Minister by the two highest religious dignitaries of the Country, hardly leave any room or need for an all-party Conference. To my mind, it does not arise at all now, What is now required is to tell the Tamil-Speaking people what the solutions are to the four points spelled out in the Party Manifesto to achieve National Unity and the integration of the communities to Weld themselves together to form one people, one country.
So, we exhort the Hon. Prime Minister, without losing time on All-Party Conferences, to formulate his solution to the four points, where he has accepted that there are disabilities confronting the Tamil-Speaking people, and place them before the Tamil-Speaking people to accept,
Finding solutions is not our sphere, newertheless We take the llberty to suggest what they TThay be.
(1) Education. Sinhala,Tamil to be made compulsory languages in elementary education up to 13 years. There should not be any discrimination to the entrance to higher educational institutions. This should be competitive and open. Standardization should be abandoned so that admission is open and competitive,
(2) Colonization. There should not be any reservations in the selection of settlers to Government sponsored settlement schemes, All must be treated equally and land given on equal merits, and all applicants treated as Citizens of Sri Lanka without any regional distinctions. A Sinhala must be free to settle in a predominantly TamilSpeaking area and vice versa, as the Muslims have done up to now.

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1544 Politics and Life in Our Times
Even in village expansion schemes, there should not be any reservations Community-wise, as long as the needs of the people indigenous to the area have been satisfied first. Others also may be settled in the area if they wish. There shall not be any areas or colonies reserved for a particular community only.
(3) Use of Tamil Language: Shall be universal and it shall be an official language, for administration, business, record, evidence, etc. It will have the same status as Sinhala Language as an Official Language. To this must be added English Language, as an Official Language.
With the growing demand for English as an international language, our citizens should not fall between the benches in attempting to make Sinhala and Tamil as official languages. These three languages are necessary for unity, integration and to widen the Outlook of future citizens.
(4) Employment: Shall be open and competitive in all Government, semi-Government or Corporations, with a condition that all employees should be able to work in Sinhala and Tamil irrespective of the area or region of work. All employees in the Public Sector should possess a working knowledge of Sinhala and Tamil alike, with English optional. In all selection examinations for appointments in the Public Sector there should be a written and Viva examination in Sinhala and Tamil. In the Education Service, English should also be a compulsory language, so that teaching of Science can be stepped up in the rural areas.
In the new Constitution, if the three languages are given equal status as official languages, and the freedom of movement anywhere in Sri Lanka with equal rights and privileges as Citizens of Sri Lanka, all other issues become matters of administration and nothing more. Thus the integration of all communities becomes complete and absolute. This is the goal, we presume, that underlines the statement in the Manifesto.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, August 13, 1977.

Religious Leaders Appeal for Communal Amity
It is a simple fact that communal tension and antipathy have reached such a pitch that we are at the Cross-roads as an emerging nation in the modern world. If events are allowed to take their present Course, following the assassination of police personnel and a political leader in the North and also the burning of Sri Lankan embassies abroad by groups of Tamil extremists on the one hand, and the massive counter retaliation on the other hand by Sinhala security forces in the North, and later by organised gangs with the Conivance of certain police personnel and some politicians in Tamil plantation areas, involving loss of lives and property, more especially among poor and innocent Workers, the forces of destruction will cause national disaster. We see before us the tragic consequences of such disaster in Lebanon, Northern Ireland and in the Indian sub-continent. The times are out of joint, and we need a massive and conscious antidote of both right understanding and righteousness, if a cure is to be found for this spreading cancer of racialtribalism in the body politic. Power politics had to be refined and exalted by "soul-force" or "true religion".
We are thankful that responsible leaders in the present government and responsible political leaders among the Tamils are seeking to inculcate restraint, and to find agreement about the conditions that will lead to justice, reconciliation and peace, in spite of opposition from within their respective parties. This is reflected in the recent talks taking place between them. But such an attitude and such initiatives must permeate downwards through religious leaders, politicians, administrators, security forces, businessmen, the professional and middle classes to the Workers and peasants also, if our nation is to survive this period of confrontation and conflict and forge the bonds of

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1546 Politics and Life in Our Times
Cooperation and Consensus. Inflamatory articles and pamphlets must cease to be produced and circulated, and the rousing of communal passions must be abandoned. It is in local areas and in local Communities that attitudes have to be altered, and the lives and properties of people Secured by concerted and vigilant action against false propaganda and insidious rumours, and even more, against gangs of opportunists and extremists. Ordinary people have decent instincts but responsible local leaders must arise to support responsible national leaders, to spread this sense of decency and to draw out the spirit of courage and commitment that must sustain it. We deeply appreciate the risk involved in exercising Such Courageous leadership in local areas.
We strongly condemn the calculated violence of both the Tamil extremist groups and the Sinhala extremist groups. We are unable to accept the demand for Eelam, though we appreciate the conditions that have given rise to it. Equally we are unable to accept the demand for Sinhala dominance in the institutional Structures of the nation that relegates the Tamils to a restrictive minority status, though we understand the Conditions that have nurtured it. We are Committed to a national policy that recognizes all personal and groups within the nation, of whatever race or religion, as entitled to equal treatment, while recognising the legitimate position of the Sinhala and Sinhala-Buddhist majority within the common life of our emerging nation.
We urge that the outstanding problems between the Sinhalese and Tamils continue not only to be negotiated upon but also implemented expeditiously by political leaders and their administrators. These problems include ensuring security of life and property for all minorities whereever they be domiciled, and facilities for Sinhala persons to work and live without restraint in those areas where Tamils and Muslims are in the majority, the request for Tamil as an official language, land settlement schemes, proper educational facilities, employment opportunities, district government and development, and citizenship facilities for plantation Tamils. In this connection we believe that the political system of an executive Presidency allied to Parliament interacting with District Development Councils, is conducive to the

Religious Leaders Appeal for Communal Amity 1547
achievement of mutually acceptable solutions to these and other allied problems. This system enables regional areas which are ethnically homogeneous like Ruhuna, the Northern peninsula, and certain coastal areas, regions which are multi-Communal like the Kande Uda Pas Rata, Sabaragamuwa, Vavuniya and the Eastern provinces; along with regions facing rapid modernisation and inter-mixing like Greater Colombo and Greater Trincomalee (because they are expanding ports for a developing export-orientated economy) to develop, each and all, in their particular ways. Thereby, the respective insecurities of the majority and minorities will gradually be Overcome and Convergence towards a reconciled nation will be nurtured. Such a many sided development of resources both material and humane will also be mooted in the lasting traditions of all areas and the groups domiciled with them. Thus will emerge an united modern nation, which is also moored in the ancient past.
Let us learn to read the events of our ancient history creatively rather than destructively, because such events are embedded in our racial memories. King Dutugemunu is truly a hero but not because he championed the Sinhala cause. We know that he strove both rightly and mightily to unite the island under one ruler. But we must not forget the fact that he had to overcome thirty-two local rulers, many of whom were Sinhala, in addition to his battle with King Elara. Our leading modern (Sinhala) historian says, what is now commonly accepted, namely that at that time not all Sinhalese were Buddhists and that there were many Tamil Buddhists in the country. Nandamitta, ageneral serving in Dutugemunu's army is said, in the Mahavamsa, to have had an uncle who was a general serving Elara. Also King Dutugemunu showed great magnanimity towards his fallen foe by giving a royal burial and enjoining royal respect to his burial mound, though Elara was a Tamil. In his life time King Elara had earned the respect and support of the Sinhalese under his rule because he had ruled justly. Finally, it must be noted that On his death bed the royalDutugemunu was truly sorry for the killing he had to do when he engaged in War, as his great Indian predecessor King Dharmasoka had been sorry. This is because, he knew that

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THE POPE IS THE HEAD OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH. THE TITLE ISDERVED FROMAWORDMEANINGFATHER, AND WAS USEDGENERALLY FORBISHOPS UNTIL 1073, WHENIT BECAMERESTRICTED TO BISHOPS OF ROME. A NEWPOPE SELECTED ON THE DEATH OF THE REIGNING PONTIFF, BY THE COLLEGE OF CARDINALS, HE HAS SUPREME AUTHORITY IN MATTERS OF FAITH, AND HIS INFALLIBILITY WHEN SPEAKING EX CATHEDRA, ON MATTERS OF FAITH AND MORALS WASDECLARED BY A WATCAN COUNCILIN 1870.
Pope John Paul II
The 79-years-old Forman Catholic Pontiff bestows his blessings at New Dash of Nowarbar, f 99.
Our leaders of different religions, call upon our people to resolve from now onwards to seek for the release of inner spiritual resources from within them, to cure this spreading cancer of communal discord. We need daily to collectively radiate kindness and COTipassion, equanimity and mindfulness to all beings, especially those who work for evil in our midst and whom we consider as our enemies, it is only such deep spiritual energies and radiation that will alone be able to subdue and ward off the ilf-effects of communal animosity and its attendant evils, Madness has to be eradicated. Each according to his or her own religion or belief, must follow the spiritual path most effective for this purpose. Together We must struggle for right understanding and righteousness to direct and guide our political rivalries, Our economic conflicts and our cultural prejudices. In so doing we shall learn that we belong to each other, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, as We build a Common life in Todern Sri Lanka.
 
 
 
 
 
 

Religious Leaders Appeal for Cornitural Affifty 1 54g
killing of living beings whether human or otherwise, as an evil to be avoided according to the sublime teaching of the Thathagatha, whose Dhanna he followed. Indeed, it was the same Sakyamuniwho met the Litchchawi and Koliya leaders and used personal influence and teaching to ensure peace between potentially warring groups, who Were linked to each other in so many other ways. Our past history must be read with freedom from ideological bias, and in the context of the Buddhist Dhamma which has for so long influenced the destinies of the Sinhala people in this island; and which influenced the Tamils both here and in Tamilnadu from the second century before Christ to the sixth century after Christ,
Let this Dhamma with its teaching about righteousness and right understanding enable usall, of whatever race and religion, caste or class, to build an United nation where justice, equality, reconciliation and peace may prevail, where the majority has a right vision of its presence as inclusive of minorities, and the minorities have a right wision of the legitimate position of the majority. This island Will then be able to become truly an island of righteousness; and a resplendent light for all Asia and the World, torn apart like ourselves by conflicts due to Wrong understanding and unrighteousness. The banner of this righteousness will become the flag under which each and all of US may stand with dignity, self respect and Tutual understanding.
We therefore call upon our people to resolve from now onwards to seek for the release of inner spiritual resources from Within them, to cure this spreading cancer of communal discord. We need daily to Collectively radiate kindness and compassion, equanimity and mindfulness to all beings, especially those who work for evil in Our midst and whom we consider as our enemies. It is Only Such deep Spiritual energies and radiation that will alone be able to subdue and ward off the ill-effects of communal animosity and its attendant evils, Madness has to be subdued, irrationality has to be stilled and evil has to be eradicated. Each according to his or her own religion or belief, must follow the spiritual path most

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effective for this purpose. Together we must struggle for right understanding and righteousness to direct and guide our political rivalries, our economic conflicts and Our Cultural prejudices. In so doing we shall learn that we belong to each other, for better for worse, for richer for poorer, in sickness and in health, as we build a Common life in modern Sri Lanka.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Laksman Wickremasinghe,
Bishop of Kurunegala.
The Rev. S. K. Perera, President, Methodist Church.
The Rt. Rev. Dr. Nicholas Marcus Fernando,
Archbishop of Colombo.
V. Siva Supramaniam, President,
All Ceylon Hindu Congress.
A. H. L. A. Saleem, President,
All Ceylon Muslim Missionary Society.
Oliver S. Abeysekera, Secretary,
Congress of Religions.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, January 23, 1982.

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka
by Prof. C. G. Weeramantry
This is the text of an address delivered by Prof. C. G. Weeramantry at a meeting of the Overseas Sri Lankan's Organisation for National Unity held at the Old Arts Theatre, Melbourne University on 17th September, 1983).
May welcome you all this afternoonto this general meeting of the Overseas Sri Lankans' Organisation for National Unity. Your presence in such numbers will no doubt assist in charting a path for our journey towards national reconciliation. May also say that appreciate your electing me, especially in my absence overseas, as President of this Organisation. It is a very sad episode in our recent history that bring us together and hopefully this episode will stimulate overseas Sri Lankans to contribute more positively to the general interest and well being, the unity and good name of Sri Lanka. There seems at the present time to be a widespread attempt to damage Sri Lanka's interests and denigrate her image. This is causing grave concern to all who value Sri Lanka's reputation, prosperity and national integrity. All who love Sri Lanka need to contribute to the preservation of her fair name and national unity - qualities which anyone with the national interests at heart must value. This appeal is therefore addressed to all Sri Lankans, irrespective of ethnic origin, religion, language or place of residence. I do not know whether similar meetings of Sri Lankans have been held in other parts of the world and it may well be that our group may inspire similar activities elsewhere. I believe groups such as this, dedicated to the national welfare and approaching current problems in a spirit of reconciliation and goodwill, can help greatly towards easing misunderstanding and building bridges of communication between all

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groups of Sri Lankans. The Sri Lankan community in Melbourne is one of the largest and best established groups of Sri Lankans living OverSeas and it is appropriate that some initiatives should proceed from their group. This is an association, I might stress, which is centred on the themes of national unity and non-violence. It is open to all people of goodwill who desire a united Sri Lanka and abhor violence. Its officebearers will be drawn from all communities and an open invitation is extended to all who share these ideals to join with us.
The event that brings us together is not only one of the saddest but also one of the most momentous in our recent history. The insurgency of 1971 took many more lives than the present episode and was a frightening upheaval. Yet it did not have the potential to tear the Country apart and plunge us all into a future of disharmony and racial rancour. That is why the present situation demands much more from us all. It denies to any one of us the right to be passive bystanders bemoaning their helplessness in the face of apparently insurmountable forces. A contribution is required from each of us. No effort is too little, no individual too powerless, to contribute positively to the limit of his ability. To bind up our wounds and help in healing the malady which caused them is a national task of the utmost priority. In this great national task certain attitudes are necessary on the part of all Sri Lankans.
Necessary Attitudes: The first essential is a sober and calm evaluation of the factors lying behind the recent crisis. We need cool heads rather than inflamed hearts, sober judgement rather than impassioned rhetoric. We must not indulge in recriminations. ReCriminations are very easy to indulge in, blame very easy to apportion. All Sri Lankans should resist this temptation, if for no other reason than that by their own passive inaction blame must lie on them all. The structure of law and order has broken down so dramatically that there must be some self-examination by us all to see where We have gone Wrong. It is most encouraging to see signs of this spirit of selfexamination already in some quarters in Sri Lanka. Anotable example is provided by the Sarvodaya movement which is taking stock of the situation in a frank and Candid Search for the Causes which led to this moment of madness. Where have we as a nation gone wrong? What

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1553
is lacking in our national character or in our educational system or in our social mores? Why do we reel from one crisis to another? Why does the structure of law and order collapse like a house of cards? We just cannot afford to drift on in this fashion. We cannot afford another such episode, another bout of madness. The only way to avert it is to considermost urgently where we have gone wrong and pool our wisdoms to steer a change of course. For this purpose we must plan both in the short term and the longterm, for some of the scars left by this episode Can Only be removed by long term measures, planned with deep sensitivity and perception.
Politicians cannot handle this. Indeed they have failed dismally The clergy, professional people, society workers, the lay public - all who have something to contribute - must pool their resources because we cannot leave this task to the politicians alone. In another Context the French statesman ClemenCeau Once Said that War was too Serious a business to be left to the generals. In the present context, communal disharmony is too serious a business to be left to the politicians. Movements such as the Sarvodaya movement, which are attempting an apolitical approach deserve every encouragement and Support. It is in such ideology and attitudes that we have the best opportunities for creating harmony where rancour now prevails. A proper approach to our present problems cannot be linear and simplistic. It must be multidimensional and multi-disciplinary. It must reach far below the surface and delve deep in its search for the causes and for the causes underlying these causes. It will involve considerations of history, economics, Sociology, psychology, law and international relations. The causes and the preventives will not be found if we merely keep scratching the surface of the problem. Indeed it is by scratching the wound in this way that it has been further irritated and produced a running sore.
A Second attitude which is essential is the attitude of national unity. That is one of the principal justifications for this association and that way alone can We achieve the objectives of restoring peace and harmony to our country. A third necessary attitude is the abandonment of defeatism. What has occurred is a terrible episode, but we must not resign ourselves, because of its intensity and the havoc it created, to

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1554 Politics and Life ir Our Tirrings
THE BRITISH DOMINIONS ARE AUTONOMOUS COMMUNTIES WITHIN THE EMPIRE, EQUALINSTATUS WITHGREATBRITAN AND WITHONEANOTHER. INDIA BEING IN THE EMPIRE OCCUPES AN EXCEPTIONAL POSITION, WHICH IS BEING GRADUALLY ALTERED IN THE DIRECTION OF DOMINION STATUS, COLONIESINCLUDESOUTHERNRHODESIA AND OTHERPARTS OF THE EMPIRE WHICH ARE SELF-GOVERNING AS WELLAS ISLANDS AND DISTRICTS SUCH ASCEYLON AND SIERRA LEONE OVER WHCH THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT HAS LEGISLATIVE POWERS, MORE IN SOME ANDLESS IN OTHERS. PROTECTORATES ARE CHIEFLY STATES SUCH ASUGANDA AND SOMALLANDN WHICH NATIVE RULERS ARE LEFT TOMANAGE THEIR OWN INTERNAL AFFAIRS, MANDATED TERRITORIES ARE AREAS GOVERNED UNDER MANDATE FROM THE LEAGUE OF NATIONS. SUCH INCLUDE PALESTINE, TANGANYIKA AND SAMOA.
ETTER
The Heart of the Empire
An aerial view of the Tharnas at Westminster, showing the Abbey and the Houses of Parliament.
The Parliament at Westminster can theoretically legislate for the whole Empire, but in practice it has nothing to do with the internal affairs of the Dominions, and their independent position was fully recognised by the Statute of Westminster passed in 1932. Their legislation, however, requires the sanction of the King, but this is never refused. To discuss the affairs of the Empire an Imperial Conference meets in London every five years and ministers from the Dominions sometimes attend the meetings of the Committee of Imperial Defence, The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council on which are representatives from the Dominions, is the supreme court of appeal from the courts of the Warious parts of the Empire. In 1932 representatives from the Whole Empire That at Ottawa for an economic conference.
(The information given above has nok been updated)
 
 
 
 

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1555
the feeling that nothing can be done. There are many steps that can be taken and We must Overco The such defeatism. We must restore for Our children the harmony which, as children, we once enjoyed. Fourthy, We need, in order to achieve success, an attitude of reconciliation, forgiveness and charity. All our traditional wisdoms point to this. Whether we look at any of our great religions or at our ancient cultures, we will find that they all point in this direction-reconciliation, forgiveness, charity. In Buddhism, as we all know, a doctrine which every Sri Lankan Buddhist - as well as others - has learnt at his mother's knee is that hatred ceases not by hatred but by love alone. In Hinduism the Bhagavadgita teaches us that freedom from anger, compassion towards all and forgiveness are among the transcendental virtues. Christianity immortalises its Founder's teaching: "Love one another as have lowed you". In Islam the farewell sermon of the Holy Prophet contains a ringing reThinder to all Muslims, that one race has no superiority over any other but that all alike are the children of Adarn. These teachings are all an integral part of our national culture, interwoven into the fabric of Sri Lankan life by generations of co-existence with Tutual respect for each other's traditions and values. So much are they part of our national life that every one of us has assimilated some part of them. I do hope we will be able to use some of this wisdom and of the sense of values underlying it to remould our contemporary attitudes, if there was evera time in our nation's history when We needed reconciliation, forgiveness and charity, it is now. In order to achieve recor Iciliation what must We do?
Requisites for Reconciliation. In the first place it is necessary for the Sinhalese to recall the Contribution which their Tail brothers and sisters have made to the development and culture of Sri Lanka just as Sri Lankan Ta Tils need to recall the Contributions of their Sinhalese brothers and sisters. On the national scene we have had truly national leaders, like Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan who worked untiringly for the national Welfare without thought that they belonged to this community C]r that. CT1 the International SCEF1B We hawe had SCh[]|afs like Arlärlda

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1556 Politics and Life in Our Times
Coomaraswamy who, without fear of contradiction, could be described as the most outstanding internationally recognised scholar we have produced. His life and work, to which a leading American University has seen fit to devote a multi-volume biographical study, had brought enduring lustre to our country. Significantly, his books included Mediaeval Sinhalese Art and Buddha and the Gospel of Buddhism. Likewise, the achievements of Tamil Culture can justly be described as immensely enriching our national heritage and the fabric of our national life. The high antiquity of Tamil civilisation, the brilliance of its literature, the sophistication of its musical and artistic forms, the depth of its philosophy - all these are matters of national pride. So ancient was this culture that people, places, animals and products mentioned in the Old Testament have been identified with Corresponding Dravidian terms, thus attesting to a civilisation as old as any known to mankind. The powerful Dravidian kingdoms of South India had a thriving trade with ancient Egypt, Greece and Rome. When Christian civilisation Commenced, Dravidian civilisation Was old. Though Sri Lankan Tamils have lived in Sri Lanka for a thousand years and thus identify naturally with Sri Lanka rather than India, they must, as naturally, take immense pride in these ancient achievements of Dravidian civilisation. All Sri Lankans knoW also that Tamil culture is an integral part of our national way of life from the solemnities attendant on the Kandyperahera to the more homely celebration of Thai Pongal and Deepavali and the festivities associated with the Vel procession.
in the same way as Sinhalese remember with gratitude their Tamil leaders who were truly national, the Tamil Sri Lankans Would likewise remember Sinhalese leaders like Sir James Peiris, F. R. Senanayake and D. S. Senanayake, who were accepted as national leaders by Sinhalese and Tamils alike. Tamil Sri Lankans will remember also that ever since they became an integral part of Sri Lanka's population, hundreds of thousands of them have lived happily and earned their living in the midst of the Sinhalese population. They

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1557
were welcomed, they prospered, they rose to positions of eminence. Except for the sporadic aberrations of recent years no resentments were shown to them in the South nor were any distinctions made, from the spacious luxury of the Cinnamon Gardens to the humble Tamil boutique down the street. If this general picture has recently become distorted, we must not lose our sense of perspective.
Likewise, it is necessary for Tamil Sri Lankans to have a due appreciation of Sinhalese culture. Like the Tamil, it is rich in achievement. Among its achievements are the preservation and fostering of Buddhism in its purest form and the recording of the Buddhist scriptures at Aluvihare in the first century B. C. by a commission of monks. This compilation exceeded in volume the famous Codification of Justinian six Centuries later, which was one of the greatestworks of collective scholarship known to the European world till modern times. It evolved a sophisticated irrigation system, of which Arthur Clark has said the like has yet to be seen upon the face of this planet. It produced a civilisation of peace and serenity
civilisations of the world. The flourishing Sinhalese kingdom at the commencement of the Christian era had an embassy at the Court of Rome, as we learn from Gibbon and other Writers. The Colossal structures of that period such as the Ruwanvelisaya rival in size the pyramids of Egypt. In the context of today's lawlessness it is worthy of note that Sri Lankan Society in that age was so orderly that payment of the workers took the form of baskets of coins being placed at the four entrances to the workplace. Each labourer was free to help himself from the basket with what he considered a just payment for his labour. This is recorded in some detail in the Mahavamsa, the ancient contemporaneous chronicle of the Sinhalese and it is good to remind ourselves of this at a time when disorder and loss of self restraint are hacking the country.
The intertwining of these brilliant cultures - the Tamil and the Sinhalese - has been a historical process at work for centuries and has made Sri Lanka what it is. We need on the part of Sinhalese Sri Lankans and Tamil Sri Lankans a mutual recognition of these contributions

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and their inter-relatedness - a recognition often notably lacking among many leaders, and through their example spreading a corrosive influence to other levels of society. Mutual appreciation of each other's Cultures and contributions to the nation is thus the first prerequisite.
The Second Prerequisite is that each of us should take a little time to consider our own personal experiences. Sinhalese persons would no doubt, each one of them, be able to recall numerous instances of kindness, of instruction, of comfort, and of material benefits which they have received from their brothers and sisters of the Tamil community. Members of the Tamil community would be able to do the same. Taking my own case, for example, I remember with great affection and respect my first form teacher at Royal College, the first teacher encountered in that school, Mr. Rajaratnam. I remember my first teacher of law, Professor Nadaraja. If I go back to my earlier years-in my very early childhoodI remember our neighbours, a family called Muttunayagams, and as a little boy was in and out of their house, and they were very dear aunts and uncles to me. As a judge later on in the Jaffna Assizes, which very often asked for, had very happy times with the complete co-operation of the Bar and of the members of the community in Jaffna. And some of my best and dearest friends both at School and later on at the Barhave been members of the Tamil community. I am sure each one of you can repeat that sort of personal experience. I could go on mentioning a long list of names, as have no doubt each of you can.
Thirdly, we must always remember that we must keep the bridges of Communication open so as to preserve every possibility of dialogue With Our brothers and Sisters of the Tamil community. in these days of stress and sensitivity, it is easy to slip into the offending phrase or sentiment which can so easily breakdown these delicate bridges and ruin, through thoughtlessness, what we should labour hard to protect.
Fourthly, it is most important that we condemn violence in every form, whether it be the violence of youth, or the violence of the mob, violence as a political weapon, or violence in khaki. All these forms of violence we must condemn. Reconciliation is impossible without a general Condemnation of violence in all its forms.

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1559
Fifthly, we need areaffirmation of equality and the human rights of every individual and a fresh dedication to these ideals. Lip service will not do. Constitutional or other provisions however eloquently expressed on paper, are no substitute for a genuine Commitment to these ideals at all levels of the community. We must ensure that through such a genuine commitment, we avoid the criticism that Constitutional guarantees are only parchment protections to be broken through like parchment when the need arises.
Sixthly, we need to extendour sympathy and show Our Concern to all who have been the victims of violence - those who have been cruelly bereft of their loved ones or deprived of their life's savings; those who have seen their homes devastated their neighbourhood destroyed their lifestyles shattered. There is little indeed we can do to fill these gaps in their life, for nothing can restore the touch of a vanished hand or the Sound of a voice that is still. But we can at least show how deeply we care - not merely by words but by genuine attitudes of Concern.
A seventh point is that we need also, on each side to recognise our faults. If there has been conduct that was not merely brutal, but bestial, let us acknowledge this and call a spade a Spade. Let us not hide behind excuses, scapegoats or smokescreens of any kind. Let us expect this attitude from all sides and not settle for any less.
An eighth point is that violence is never a justification for violence in return. Violent conduct by one party tends often to be referred to as though it were justification for an act of return violence. As Mahatma Gandhi said, if we followed the principle of an eye for an eye the whole World Would be blind.
We must therefore not slip into the error one often hears repeated that crime B was committed because Crime A preceded it. The murder of soldiers is not condoned by allegations of prior acts of rape. Murder and arson against a civilian population are not in the least condoned by the prior murder of soldiers. Nor should we put up with what may call the 'drop in the ocean' argument. One hears it said that the violence of the Tiger terrorists is 'a drop in the ocean' compared to

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the violence on the other side. I do not think this is an acceptable argument at all. Even a single human life is never 'a drop in the ocean' and there have been many lives taken as a result of this kind of political violence. Seventy political murders, committed by these terrorists in slow stages over a period of five years, cannot by any stretch of logic or language be described as 'a drop in the ocean'. Four murders of police and service personnel in 1977, 8 in 1978, 3 in 1979, 9 in 1981, 9 in 1982, 4 in 1983 followed by the killing of thirteen soldiers, constitute a chilling record of horror by any standards. In addition 14 politicians Were murdered during these years and 13 informants. The Sinhala majority in the face of such provocative acts, stood by for six years. Still, the unleashing of mob fury that resulted when the dams of restraint were breached cannot in any way be condoned.
It is clear then that we must begin dialogue and I am happy that the initiative We have taken in this direction has already been productive of significant results. When we first suggested this, there was a feeling a Thong many that this would be a fruitless exercise, having regard to the intense feeling that had been developed on both sides. This dialogue did however bring together representatives of all communities - Sinhalese, Tamil, Burgher and Muslim - and we were able to achieve much agreerTent resulting in a significant common document Condemning violence and affirming the human rights of every citizen of Sri Lanka, What becomes so patently clear when you start this kind of dialogue is that the moment people meet face to face, they discuss things frankly. There is a complete reasonableness that comes into the entire exercise and so much more is achieved than can be achieved if each camp sulks at a distance from the other, and broods over the Wrongs-real or imagined - that might have been done to it. So one of Our great objectives must be to buildup dialogue and keep the bridges open. Sinhalese people should imagine themselves in the place of the Tamil Community who have gone through such a harrowing time. Loss of property, destitution, injury, death, humiliation, fear, the scarring of

A Plaa for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1561
AROUND SOO THE ENGLISHMAN ROBERT KNOX WAS CAPTUREDAT KOTTIAR, NEAR TRINCOMALEE HE WASCAPTURED BY THE SOLDIERS OF THE KING OF KANDY, FOR THOSE TERRITORIES WERE THENUNDER LL LLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLS LLLLL LGLLLLLLL L LLLLLLaL LLLLLL LLLLLLLL L LLLLLLLLLLLLL L LLLLL LLLL L LLLLLLL L L LLLLLLLGLLLLL IN THE KANDYAN PROVINCES - A DETENTION WHICH, THROUGHHS MEMORS BECAME FAMOUS THROUGHOUTEUROPE. STUDENTS OFSR LANKAN HISTORY WILL ALSO RECALL THE MAHAWAMSA DESCRIPTION OF THE RECEPTION OF THE SAPLING OF THE SACREDBOTREE BY KING DEWANAMPIYATSSA IN THE 3RD CENTURY B. C. THE KING RECEIVEDIT BY WADING INTO THE SEA IN THE NORTHERN PART OF THE JAFFNA PENINSULA, ATAMBUHOLAPATTANA
The author of this book, T. Duraisingam (in the centra), seated with Sri Larkar ExpārïaťSS from Čarlada.
The first settlers in Canada were the French, who founded both Montral and Quebec or land wisited by Cartier and Champlair, New France, as they called it, included the older part of the Province of Quebec and Nova Scotia known as Quebec. In 1791 Canada was divided into Upper (British) and Lower (French). In 1840 the two Were joined under one gover Tent, and in 1867 Canada became a self-governing Dominion. At first federal authority was erTiphasilzad, and transContinental railways Werg built to unito tha Country. FroT) the 1890s provincialism was to the fore, but the depression of the 1930s and LL LLLLLLL LLLL LLL LLLLLL LL LLLLLLLLGL HaLLLL LLLLLLLL LL LLL LLLL LL Central planning and of their common nationality, Although one of the largest Countries in the world, much of Canada is unfitted for habitation and less than 10 per cent of its area is cultivable. Most of the population lives in a long irregular strip north of the Canadian U. S., border, Newartheless its resources are varied and rich, its great forests make it the World's leading supplier of timber, pulp, and newsprint; on its prairies are raised vast crops of wheat and herds of cattle and fruit growing, fishing and fur-farning are also iTportant. In the production of nickel, asbestos, and platinum, Canada ranks first in the World, and in gold and uranium second; copper, iron ore and petroleum are also waluable products of Canada.

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the minds of the younger generation - all these evil things have happened to them and must be condemned. Likewise Tamil people should see the widows, the fatherless children, the bereaved parents of the numerous victims of Tiger' violence. Where is all this leading our nation except to destruction?
Another factor see as important is the duty not to spread false and misleading information. This poisons the atmosphere, and if such a campaign has been carried on, it should be condemned. Let me illustrate this from my experience. At Monash University, not so long ago, Prime Minister Mugabe of Zimbabwe was visiting us for a very important speech, and the elite of Victoria were all there. The hall was packed with over a thousand people, and there were hundreds outside the hall who had been turned away. That occasion had nothing to do with Sri Lanka, but there were people there - I don't know how manydistributing leaflets. Those leaflets had drawings of Sinhalese policemen shooting point blank at unarmed defenceless Tamil women. All Sri Lankans know that such a thing has never happened. These pamphlets were distributed and reached the hands of a lot of people who were in the hall. was seated next to two people holding very important positions in the Australian community, and had to spend nearly the whole evening trying to convince them that there was no truth in this kind of suggestion. They took the point that "there is no smoke without fire'. Why is this being said if it did not indeed happen? As I said, it took a great effort on my part to negative that.
I have in my hands some documents issued by Sri Lankan Tamil Organisations which speakemotionally of 'genocide of the Tamils' and of 'Anti-Tamil pogroms'. One leaflet, presumably intended for public circulation, starts with misleading information that the Tamils constitute 20% of the population of Sri Lanka. This is a true statement taken in isolation, but in the contextin which it is written is deliberately misleading, for all Sri Lankans know that it includes the totally distinct group of Indian Tamils who are in no way associated with the terrorist movement Or the demand for separation of the Tamils of Jaffna. Indeed their leaders have publicly and categorically disassociated themselves from the

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1563
demand for separation. Such misinformation obscures the truth that the demand for separation comes only from the Sri Lankan Tamils, who are only a 12.6% minority of the community - and indeed form only a portion of them. I would appeal to my dear friends on both sides not to let mischievous propaganda of this sort circulate, for it only embitters the atmosphere, recoils upon those who use it and puts further away the day when wisdom and sanity will prevail.
was in Southern Africa, just last week, on a lecture tourthrough many Countries, and there was much publicity given to the Sri Lankan disturbances. The impression, rightly or wrongly, had got around that in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese community was oppressing and terrorising and vicitimising and enslaving the Tamil community. At the end of a lecture at the University of Tanzania at Dar-Es-Salam, an African student asked me this question, which would be amusing if it were not so serious. He said, "The Roman Dutch law is the Common law of South Africa and of Sri Lanka. We find that in South Africa the white minority has enslaved the black people. In Sri Lanka the Sinhalese majority has enslaved the Tamil people. There must be something wrong with the Roman Dutch Law." It took me a longtime to explain that this had nothing to do with the Roman Dutch Law, and that the questioner had got his basic facts wrong if he thought of the Tamil people as being enslaved by the Sinhalese.
This leads to another point. I have, as perhaps some of you know, been doing some Writing in the area of apartheid. I once gave a broadcast over Radio Australia on a programme where people any where in Australia could phone back and ask me questions. The first question I had on the talkback was, "You talk about apartheid and about the enslavement of the black population in South Africa by the whites. How can you make such an issue of this when in Sri Lanka the Sinhalese have similarly enslaved the Tamils? That was the first question that came to me and I said, "Well, in South Africa the black people do not even have a vote. They do not hold any office of consequence. They do not participate in the government of the country. The statute book enshrines their inequality and classifies them according to race. In Sri

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Lanka, on the other hand, they will never have a Supreme Court bench without its honoured Tamil members, they will not have a Cabinet without a Tamil member. We have Tamils in all positions of the highest importance in life, and of course there is no question, and never has been a question of their denial of the franchise." This must have taken my questioner by surprise, because he had the opportunity to question me back but he went silent. He may well have realised that his informant, whoever he was, had badly misinformed him.
Where there is false information of that sort it does damage to the image of the country. This damages the economic interests of the country and damages all of us as individuals. It would be unfair that such false information be disseminated and it is necessary for the preservation of the fair name of the country that such impressions be corrected.
To give you another personal experience, it so happens that a new book of mine on Human Rights was released last week by Penguins, and the publishers had arranged for me to be interviewed, by various radio stations. At one radio station, while I was waiting to be interviewed, an employee of the broadcasting station who looked at the front page of the book rather jocularly said to me, "How can Sri Lankans, least of all the Sinhalese, talk about human rights?"
It is a great disservice on the part of anybody who creates such an impression because what has happened recently is only an aberration. It is by no means symptomatic of the normal way in which SriLankans live together, and we lived together, in amity for a thousand years. We have lived together, as communities side by side with each other for so long and I don't think it is fair that we should be judged upon a recent aberration that does not in any way represent the true position of the vast majority. That true position is reflected in the fact that during the recent unfortunate rioting hundreds of Sinhalese homes, often at great risk to themselves and sometimes at great cost, sheltered hundreds of Tamil families who were their friends and neighbours. These are the true expressions of how the Communities feel for each other-acts which most Tamil Sri Lankans in Sri Lanka will remember.

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1565
I would suggest that the overseas Sri Lankan Tamil community can use its restraining influence to discourage the dissemination of
share of the cream of Tamil intellectual achievement in our generation, and wields great influence. The hot-headedness of youth and idealism needs wise guidance and there is no source of wisdom and guidance Tamil youth would take to more kindly than the voice of this community. As with the young insurrectionists of 1971, so also some of the misguided Tamil youth who are now resorting to violence, are potentially among the flower of our youth. Cannot their creative energies be channelled into activities more conducive to the future of their community and the well being of their country?
Misleading propaganda of the sort I have mentioned can give these youths an encouragement to pursue violence as well as a false sense of confidence and can thus continue to worsen the current problem. It also has the after effect of incensing the Sinhalese population. Overseas Tamil Sri Lankans are thus in a position of a high trust and responsibility and appeal to them to use their influence wisely. All that has been said is not in any way a condonation of what has happened during the recent disturbances. Just as the violence of the Tigers is to be condemned so also there must be an unequivocal Condemnation of What the Sinhalese rioters have done.
People have not merely been murdered but have been burnt alive. Property built up for a lifetime has been destroyed. People have been brutally tortured. Some have been battered to death. Parents have seen children being killed before their eyes. Children have seen parents killed before their eyes. Scars for life have been Created in the minds of those children. There has been humiliation and insult. A major public library has been burnt. Well, all these things have got to be faced, and it will not do just to say it must have been a mob, it must have been some group, it must have been somebody else who did itwe must be frank enough to consider that all this recoils on the Sinhalese people. It is one vast indictment that has been served on them, upon their public figures, upon their political leaders, upon their religious

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leaders, upon their professional leaders, upon them all, because they have failed in leadership and in example, if those whom they claim to lead have departed so violently from the basic precepts they were taught. All members of the Sinhalese community, including each one of the Sinhalese amongst us are sharers of the guilt.
DISCRIMINATION AGAINST THE TAMILS
As have said earlier an impression has now been propagated abroad that Tamils are a community vastly discriminated against. Discrimination can take many forms - legal, economic, professional, governmental, educational, linguistic, social. I doubt very much that in any of these areas there is a substantial ground for complaint.
(a) Legal: The legal system makes no discrimination whatsoever against the Tamils as a community. They have an equal share of participation in the government; they have a free vote at national and local government level. Indeed the legal system of Sri Lanka contains no discrimination against any minority groups but rather fortifies them with constitutional protections. Legal discriminations can take various forms ranging from the enshrinement of race discrimination in the statute book (as in South Africa) to such restrictions as the legal disabilities of Fijian Indians (50% of the nation) in regard to the purchase of land, or the Bhumiputra legislation of Malaysia directed at improving the lot of Malays by positive discrimination in their favour. Sri Lanka makes no such discriminations. A discriminatory legal system would presumably have appropriate personnel to work its discriminations. In Sri Lanka the Attorney General's Department - the chief prosecuting and advisory agency of the government - has long been headed by a Tamil Attorney General. The police force, one of the chief repressive instruments of any repressive government, is headed by a Tamil Inspector-General who has 9 deputies of whom 5 are Tamils. The Supreme and High Courts each have respected Tamil members. If indeed legal discrimination of the Tamil community has been one of the objectives of the government, one Wonders at its ineptness in pursuing those objectives.

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1567
The laws relating to trade, land holding, appointments in the public service and entry to the professions contain not the slightest trace of discrimination against Tamils. Tamils have indeed been flourishing in trade, they own considerable property, and they hold a share of public appointments disproportionate to their numerical strength. It has been alleged that the Tamil people have been deprived of basic democratic rights. Basic democratic rights mean the right to vote and participate in the government of the country. This the Tamils have never been deprived of. It is unfortunate that they alone of all the racial groups in the country have chosen to base their politics upon race and to follow racial rather than national Political parties. That has been their choice and they have not in any way been interfered with in pursuing this course. It is to be hoped that Tamil politics will grow out of this racial approach, and if it does, one of the root causes of the present crisis would automatically vanish.
The point is also made that there are laws for the suppression of terrorism and that this is a form of persecution of the Tamils. One deplores the need for such laws and the severity of such laws. It is important to note however that terrorism against a government will be resisted by any government irrespective of the racial group from which the terrorists come. The instrumentalities of government react against such violence not because it comes from this or that racial group, but because it is aimed at the Subversion of the legitimate governmental process. Today it may be Tamil youths who are at the receiving end of retaliation from police and army personnel. Ten years ago, in 1971, hundreds of Sinhalese youths - many more than the Tamil youths involved today - were at the receiving end because these services were reacting against the violence the youths had directed against them and the government. One deplores violence in all its forms and hopes that violence as a political weapon as well as violence as an instrument for suppressing it, will soon be a thing of the past.

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(b) Economic; in the economical sphere there has been a remarkable achievement by the Tamil community at all levels. Ranging from the largest industrial ventures to the smallest entrepreneuria enterprise, the Tamils have achieved signal success. No restraint whatever, legislative or social, has stood in their way. Lest it be thought that financial discrimination is practised against the Tamils in the sense that a smaller per capita expenditure is provided for the Tamil areas, the 1982 Decentralized Budget provides as per capita expenditure of Rs.29.51 for the Northern Province (96.6% Sri Lanka Tamil) which is the highest per capita expenditure of any province in the country. The other provinces range from Rs. 23.08 (in a province where the Sinhalese are 97.05% of the population) to Rs. 26.71.
(c) Professional: Tamil professional men and women again have filled with distinction the highest professional positions. Among the ranks of consultant Surgeons, physicians, Supreme Court Judges, Queen's Counsels, academics, engineers, accountants, veterinarians and all other professional groups, Tamils have Commanded some of the most eminent positions. No discriminations have stood in their way. A good reflection of the eminence they have achieved is the following set of figures of professionals in the public service, drawn from the 12.6% Tamil community: Engineers 34.9%; Surveyors 29.9%; Doctors 35.1%; Veterinary Surgeons 38.8%; Medical Technicians 30.2%; Accountants 33.1%.The position in the private profession is no different.
(d) Governments: in the public service, numerous heads of government departments, ambassadors heading some of the most important diplomatic missions including those to the UK and France, and key staff officers at every level are Tamils. Indeed one of the Sinhalese grievances has been that ever since the time of the British the Tamil community has enjoyed disproportionate share of the positions in the public service. Among the professional positions in the public service the appointments held by Tamils have already

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1569
been noted in the previous section. One is very happy that a community should be able to achieve for itself such a position. But by the same token it would be unfair while those positions are being enjoyed, for the point to be made at the same time that there is underprivilege, of discrimination in regard to that community,
(e) Educational Academic positions occupied by the 12.6% of the Sri Lankan Tamils are nearly double what their numerical percentage represents - namely 23% of all academic positions. University entry figures are even more compelling as the ensuing table indicates.
1977 1978
Medicine 27.8% 4.2%
Veterinary Science 44.8% 50% Agriculture 23.5% 30% Architecture 31.3% 36.8%
Dental Surgery VM 62.0% Bio-Science 33.0%
Engineering MMN 34.9%
A standardisation system for university marks had been introduced in 1972 which caused resentment among Tamil youths, but was done away with. If there are in fact grievances relating to the entry system to universities this is certainly atopic that could be discussed. It is no excuse for terrorism, or separatism. Secondary education is Compulsory and no Tamil child suffers from lack of access to the educational system of the State.
(f) Linguistic: One of the long standing demands of the Tamil Community has been parity of language. Education in the mother tongue is available from kindergartento University. Section 19 of the Constitution declares both Sinhalese and Tamil to be National Languages, and Chapter IV recognises the special status of Tamil in the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Al Government notifications, official documents and circulars must under the Constitution, be issued in both languages.

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(g) Social. Sinhalese and Tamils have always moved freely together socially. Tamils have been at the very apex of Sri Lankan Society and have been warmly received at every level. However, there is no community in the world where there are no discriminations against Constituent groups of that community. We are all against discrimination of that sort and if there are such discriminations they must be countered and We must bring all our goodwill to bear upon countering them. But what is there that cannot be the subject of dialogue? That is what has broken down and that is what we must try to restore. It needs little reminding that, as in every community there are discriminations among the Sinhalese themselves and among the Tamils themselves. There are discriminations among the Sinhalese in regard to caste for example, and the best elements among the Sinhalese are fighting to counter this. People are very sensitive on such issues and rightly so, for they touch the deep issues of human dignity and equality. Do not such discriminations exist among the Tamils themselves-practised by Tamils upon Tamils and often condoned by some of the most highly placed members of the Tamil community? Some of these discriminations run far deeperthan any allegedly practised upon the Tamils by the Sinhalese.
With no intention of disrespect let me proceed to illustrate. As a judge who has tried many a case in the Jaffna Assizes, have heard numerous instances of discrimination by one Tamil person towards another Tamil person. However, the instance that stands out most clearly in my memory is a case that was specially transferred from Jaffna to the Colombo Assizes where was presiding. It was to be heard by an all-Sinhalese jury, because a fair trial of the so-called low Caste accused Could not be had in Jaffna. The accused was charged with the murder of a so-called high caste man and the evidence was that this very old and venerable person of the depressed caste could not enter the house of a young man of the high caste to speak to him. Even on a hot day he had to speak to him standing out in the noonday Sun, because if he came so close as to stand under the shadow of the eaves of the high caste man's house, the house would be polluted. That was the actual evidence that was led in the case. This is not all. We all knoW

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1571
of discriminations which run even deeper-into that sacred area of the right of worship. There can be little else pertaining to human rights and dignity which is more sacrosanct than this. Yet we all know of cases where people of the highest standards of education, University professors among them, have stood in the way of depressed caste people wanting to exercise this basic human right, and used physical force upon them to bar them from temple entry. So discriminations do exist and they do exist l dare say, in all communities. Let us try to put our heads together and see what we can do to remove that sort of denigration of human dignity. Surely such indignities will not be a justification for the depressed caste to resort to force against the high caste. All these are no excuses for violence of any sort.
SEPARATE STATE
Having said that, may examine this question of separation, because the claim for separation is one of the root causes of much of this trouble, just as the use of terrorism as a political weapon has been one of the other root causes. When separation and terrorism are associated together, the combination is a rock-like obstruction in the path of any settlement. The claim to separation is so important as a root cause of the current conflict, that I may be forgiven for examining this claim at some length, though of course not in the detail the problem deserves. I would like to approach this problem from the standpoints of history, geography, demography, international law, national law, and psychology. I can only do these in the briefest outline in this paper and cannot go into these areas in any depth.
(i) History. Historically there are some well-known facts which do not accord with the Vaddukoddairesolution enunciating the separatist claim. This asserts that "throughout the centuries, from the dawn of history, the Sinhalese and Tamil nations have divided between them the possession of Ceylon, the Sinhalese inhabiting the interior of the country in its Southern and Western parts ....... and the Tamils

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1572 Politics ard Liffs ir ČOur Tir7ies
COMMUNAL DISHARMONY STOOSERIOUSA BUSINESS TO BE LEFT TO THE POLITICANS. MOVEMENTSSUCH AS THE SARWODAYAMOVEMENT, WHICHAREATTEMPTING ANAPOLITICAL APPROACH DESERVE EVERY ENCOURAGEMENT AND SUPPORT, IT IS IN SUCH IDEOLOGY AND ATTITUDES THAT WE HAWE THE BEST OPPORTUNITIES FOR CREATING HARMONY WHERE RANCOUR NOW PREVAILS. A PROPER APPROACH TO OUR PRESENT PROBLEMSCANNOT BE LINEAR AND SIMPLISTIC, IT MUST BE MULT-DIMENSIONAL AND MULTI-DSCIPLINARY. ITMUSTREACH FAR BELOW THE SURFACE AND DELVE DEEP IN ITS SEARCH FOR THE CAUSES AND FOR THE CAUSESUNDERLYING THESE CAUSES, IT WILL INVOLVE CONSIDERATIONS OF HISTORY, ECONOMICS, SOCIOLOGY, PSYCHOLOGY, LAW AND INTERNATIONAL ELATIONS
EE;
Sri Lankan expatriates of Canada on a visit to England are seen at
Madame Taussards, London. Motherand soms standing Ely the side of the Wax Model of Lanin.
Lenin is the name taken by the Bolshevist leader, Wladimir Ilyich Ulyanow. He was born on April 10, 1870, the son of a schoolmaster, and was educated at Simbirsk, his birthplace, and then at the University of Kazan. As a student he was a leader in the demonstrations against authority prevalent at that tirine. He went to St. Petersburg to study law, and was exiled to Siberia, Released in 1900 he lived for a time in Paris and London. He was in Russia during the brief revolution of 1905, after which he resided chiefly in Switzerland. During these years he was one of the leaders of international socialism. In 1917 the German Government agreed to an arrangement by which Lenin and other leaders were to return to Russia. They passed from Switzerland to Germany in a closed train and reached Petrograd, Keransky was then dominant in Russia. But later, or 7th Now, 1917, the Bolshewicks captured power, The new ideas of government, based on the theories of Karl Marx worked out by the Bolshevicks during the years of exile were then put into operation. A council of People's Commissioners was set up with Lenin as president, and the system known as Bolshevism was established. Lenin retained his power until his death in January 31, 1924. The Bolshevists honored his memory by a magnificent tomb. In 1920 Petrograd had been renamed Leningrad.
 

A Plea for National Uriyadar Uridiidad Sri Lanka 1573
possessing the Northern and Eastern districts....". The T. J. L. F, also claims in its manifesto that in the 13th century a stable political fact energed, namely that the territory stretching from the Western Sea Board front Chilaw to Puttala T1 and Marrar and ther to the norther regions and in the East, Trincomalee and Batticaloa up to Kumana was established as the exclusive homeland of the Tails.
We all know that when, around 1600 the Englishman Robert Knox was captured at Kottiar, near Trincomalee, he was captured by the Soldiers of the King of Kardy, for those territories were then under the Suzerainty of the Kandyan King. From there he was taken inland where he suffered his long terrT of forcible detention in the Kandyan provinces - a detention which, through his memoirs became famous throughout Europe. Students of Sri Lankan history will also recall the Mahavamsa description of the reception of the sapling of the Sacred Bo Tree by King Devanampiyatissa in the 3rd century B. C. The King received it by Wading into the sea in the northern part of the Jaffna peninsula at Jalbuholapattana, it is not unreasonable to suppose that these were then the dominions of the King. Reinforcement for such a view comes from the fact that many place lates in the Jaffna peninsula derive from Sinhala names and what remains of ancient Buddhist temples almost without number are found in the Northern and Eastern parts of the Island-at Kantarodai, Nilawarai, Wavunik Lula T, Churnakam, Udu wil, Puloli, Koddiya Wattai. In the wicinity of the Trinconale e area there are numerous Buddhist remains, some of enormous magnitude, Which, thanks to the Work of the Archeological Department, hawe been Sawed and Testored. Indeed inscriptions of Sinhala Kings hawe been found in many places in Jaffna - the Tiriyaya inscription of Aggabodhi WII (733-772), the Tiruketiswaram Pillair inscription of Sena II (853-887), the Nainativu inscription of Parakramabahu and the Sinhala inscription of Dappula IV (10th century) at Kandarodai, Many Thore inscriptions in the Mannar district and the Eastern province could be mentioned.
The theory therefore that a division has existed from the dawn of history seems, with all respect, to be unfounded. In regard to more recent times, the Knox episode, the Writings of de Queyros the Portuguese historian (who described the Jaffna kingdon as tributary to

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1574 Politics and Life in Our Times
the King of Cotta) and Baldaeus the Dutch historian who describes King Rajasinghe's titles as including "King of Jaffna", all attest that the alleged claims of total separation of jurisdictions are not based on historical facts. Indeed Baldaeus also tells us that King Senarat of Kandy shortly before his death summoned all his subordinate rulers to a Council to select his successor and that among those who attended was the King of Jaffna. Thus even the existence of a King in Jaffna during some periods did not necessarily mean that this was an independent kingdom. Indeed there have been short historical periods from the 13th century, when separate Jaffna kingdoms or principalities did exist but so also did such entities in the Southern part of the Island, as for example in Ruhuna which was a separate principality for one thousand five hundred years. These, surely, are not historical bases for a claim to separatism. The same would apply to the Kandyan provinces, demonstrably independent for centuries. In any event during the Comparatively short period when Jaffna kingdoms did exist it seems unduestionable that the Eastern parts of the Island were not part of their domains.
(ii) Geography: Looked at geographically, the map reproduced earlier will demonstrate that the suggested territory for the separate state has a border of around 200 miles separating it from the Sinhalese territory. On any reasonable view this seems an unsustainable boundary - one which, over the years, will generate tensions, animosity and violence on an escalating scale. Moreover the territory enclosed within the suggested boundaries is out of proportion to the 12.6% numbers of the Sri Lankan Tamils and furthermore, has large numbers of Sinhalese and Muslims within it. We do not for a moment desire a repetition of the agony of partition which India experienced, and one fears that any such division must necessarily produce such consequences.
Sri Lanka is far too small a geographical unit for such a dismemberment into minuscule portions. It will be noted also that the Suggested division takes in Trincomalee, the possession of which has for centuries been considered a key to the control of the Indian ocean. The great maritime powers have always coveted it. Should it fall within

A Plea for National Unity and an Undivided Sri Lanka 1575
the territory of Eelam, one knows what tremendous leverage this would give for the control of the waters around the rest of Sri Lanka-a control which, with the aid of a foreign power friendly to Eelam, could lead to domination of the Sinhala territory. The US, Soviet Russia and India will engage in glib power politics for gaining a foothold there.
(iii) Demography : Demographically, we know from the 1981 Census that Over a million Sri Lankan Tamils live Outside Jaffna. If separation should even be accepted there will be a mounting demand in the Sinhalese areas that Tamils resident therein be repatriated to their territory. Population patterns that have existed for centuries will be disrupted. Muslim Sri Lankans will find themselves torn between two loyalties and would, as a community, be split asunder.
Looked at statistically, there are 1,056, 972 Muslims in Sri Lanka according to the latest census. 250, 801 Muslims live in the Eastern province. Eelam will have the effect of cutting off the Muslims of the Eastern Province from their 750, 000 fellow Muslims living in the Sinhalaprovinces. These Eastern Province Muslims would then become a minority in the new state of Eelam and could with equal legitimacy move some day for a separation of their traditional territory from the state of Eelam. Nor have these Muslims given their consent to such a division. In the first Parliamentary elections in 1947 Muslim candidates won 4 seats in that province against the 3 seats won by the Tamils. In the 1977 elections they won 5 seats against 5. The automatic inclusion of this large racial group into Eelam without their consent is a significant demographic factor to be considered.
This leads me to another vital point. When India was partitioned, the partition had the approval of the Indian Parliament. The partition sought in Sri Lanka is one which its proponents hope to achieve only through an exercise of the right of self determination by the Tamil people to the exclusion or participation in that decision by the entire population. Such an undemocratic method of dismembering a country is without precedent.
The international law implications of such a position were dealt With in the address, but have not been included here.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, October 22, 1983.

Page 249
We Share in the Moral Guilt
The violence of July 1983
by The Rt. Rev. Dr. Lakshman Wickremasinghe, Bishop of Kurunegala
We are in the midst of our national crisis, since the regaining of our independence. Attitudes have hardened among the Tamils and Sinhalese. There is still an uneasy calm. We do not know what will be the consequences of this escalating violence, bitterness and fear.
Various persons and organisations have been engaged in protecting victims, providing relief and supporting rehabilitation. It is a matter of deep gratitude and pride that a number of Sinhalese and others have engaged in humane actions, at much risk to themselves, in the midst of inhuman brutality and destruction. quote some words from the Sansoni Commission about such people, who so acted in 1977. "These splendid persons proved that Courage and charity can Survive...... when most needed. There is no law which compels a person to defy a howling mob, or to hide a neighbour or even an unknown man fleeing like some poor animal from a crowd bent on killing him. Yet, they understood and practised the duty of the unenforceable, which is the test of civilisation in any country". We must acknowledge whatever is good at this time both for its own sake, and to overcome our sense of despair. But such action is not enough. To courage and Compassion, We must add insight. We need a further kind of action based on a deeper awareness of what has happened. In the words of Thomas Merton, "Contemplation is the spring in action in the stream".

We Share in the Moral Guilt - The violence of July 1983 1577
REFLECTIONS
PERSONAL COMMENTS
was not present in the island, when the violence erupted at the end of July 1983. But I have been present and witnessed similar violence in 1958 and 1977. also experienced the other period of violence in April 1971 when there was an armed insurrection by Sinhala youth. But during July 1983 and afterwards, I was able to follow closely the events that took place from abroad. A friend had collected all the news and comments in the English press from July to August, and gave the documents for me to read. Since returned, a local friend gave me a similar file of documents from the Sri Lankan press from early July to the end of August. I was able to visit the damaged areas, talk with various people and also met people in the Jaffna peninsula. Our own Tamil church-members within this Diocese had their stories to tell. In short, the Comments will make On the situation We face are based On much reflection. They also express twenty five years of experience in seeking to find a solution to our ethnic conflict. I am among those who tried hard and failed. But I know and trust in God, who is ever Creative in bringing good out of evil.
BASIC PERSPECTIVES
I am against the arson, loot, murder and insurrection associated with armed groups of indigenous Tamils. I do not support the demand for a separate state. I do not condone the biased propaganda of certain expatriate Tamils, in various parts of the world. I do not respect those Tamils who ask for a negotiated settlement of their grievances and, at the same time support these armed groups. But I do feel a deep sympathy for those indigenous Tamils who are faced with a real dilemma. They have a strong sense of resentment and also grievances which they want remedied. But they do not support the demand for a separate state and are also unable to approve the activities of the armed groups, though they may appreciate the outlook of those from whom they differ. Since the security forces cannot protect them and they fear swift revenge from the armed groups, they remain silent. It is too risky to speak out in public.

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1578 PoliľC5 and Life in ÚJulf TľT185
Likewise, art against the arson, loot and murder of innocent people and torture by the security forces in Jaffna, Trincomalee, Wavuniya and elsewhere. These are unjustified acts of revenge for the activities of the armed groups whorl they cannot eliminate. I do not support the demand for the domination of the Tamils by the Sinhalese majority. Nor do I condone the biased propaganda to be found in the national daily papers. I do not respect those Sinhalese Who Want a negotiated settlement of mutual grievances, and at the same time want domination of the Tamils by the Sinhala majority. But I do feel much sympathy for those Sinhalese who are faced with a real dilemma. They genuinely want mutual grievances remedied by negotiation. But they are against the domination of the Tamils by the Sinhala majority, and against the unjustified activities of the security forces, though they may appreciate the genuine problems raised by those from whom they differ. Since they fear the revenge of thugs with political patronage, and know that they are not likely to receive protection from the police, they remain silent. It is too risky to speak out in public.
My deepest sympathy is for the Tamils, whose ancestors arrived during the period of British rule, And it is especially so, for it is the estate labour who hawe contributed So much to OLIIT in Come from exports. They have been innocent victims who have faced arson loot and death in 1977, 1981 and 1983 as a result of a conflict in which they have no part, Even in 1976, some of them within the region covered by our diocese, faced eviction, arson, loot and starvation owing to the activities of thugs with political patronage. They have suffered and been humiliated because they have been defenceless. I feel deeply ashaned for the pain and the loss they have undergone. It is a moral injustice that cries out to heaven,
There is one last aspect to my basic perspective. It is my rejection of those who twist the facts of history to create myths. By myths Thean those theories which misinterpret facts and make false notions, it is such Tyths that harden prejudice and rouse wiolence,

LLL LLLCCL LLLL LLLLLL aLLLLL S LLLL LLLLLLLCCLC L SLLLLL S 000 1579
PALESTINIAN PRESIDENTYASSERARAFAT (R) EMBRACESESTRANGED COMRADE NAYEF HAWATMEH, LEADER OF THE RADICAL DAMASCUSBASED DEMOCRATC FRONT FOR THE LIBERATION OF PALESTINE (DFLP), BEFOREA MEETING ON AUGUST22*, 1999. BOTH MEN BEGAN LLLLLLLLL LLLLLLL LL LLLLLLL LLLL LL LLLLL LL LLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLL FACTIONS AHEAD OF PEACE TALKS WITHSRAEL,
L-R.: CorTrada Nayef Hawatr77ehand President Yasser Arafar
Thousands of Tamils, old and young, and even little children were assaulted, robbed, killed, bereaved, and made refugees. They say their homes, possessions, Wehicles, shops and factories were plundered, burnt or destroyed. These people were humiliated, made to live in fear and rendered helpless, Business premises run by Tamils or Indians were selected and burnt. The homes and possessions of Tamils in the professions and government services Were also selected and destroyed. On two occasions, Tamils were selected and killed in Welkade prison. Such selectiveness indicated a prepared plan of action. It is not that poor Tamils were also not killed or made refugees. They Warg, I is simply that in their case, the mobs did not reveal a method in their madness, But there was more. A large number of people lost their employment as a result of destruction, and these included not only Tamils but Sinhalese and others, Even some kovils, churches and vicarages were not spared. As a result of all this, economic development and foreign exchange suffered an immense loss, Public services were disrupted. Our image abroad Was da TageId.

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whether among armed mobs or armed guerillas. Sinhalese and Tamils have to erase from their minds false notions about themselves and their island history, by allowing facts to control theories. That is why I am against those who make and spread such false notions. False rumour has cost many lives. But it is false notions about each Other, that have made these false rumours effective.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF JULY 1983?
There are theories and there are facts. Theories vary. Some say that the originators were left-wing groups aided by foreign powers. Others say that the originators were thugs and private hirelings of powerful politicians connected with the Government. Still others say that both these groups were involved for different motives. This is not the place to discuss these rival theories.
The facts however cannot be denied. Thousands of Tamils, old and young, and even little children were assaulted, robbed, killed, bereaved, and made refugees. They say their homes, possessions, vehicles, shops and factories were plundered, burnt or destroyed. These people were humiliated, made to live in fear and rendered helpless. Business premises run by Tamils or Indians were selected and burnt. The homes and possessions of Tamils in the professions and government services were also selected and destroyed. On two occasions, Tamils were selected and killed in Welikade prison. Such selectiveness indicated a prepared plan of action. It is not that poor Tamils were also not killed or made refugees. They were. It is simply that in their case, the mobs did not reveal a method in their madness. But there was more. A large number of people lost their employment as a result of destruction, and these included not only Tamils but Sinhalese and others. Even some kovils, churches and vicarages were not spared. As a result of all this, economic development and foreign exchange suffered an immense loss. Public Services were disrupted. Our image abroad was damaged.

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The people responsible for all this violence and destruction and suffering were mostly Sinhalese. The fact that Ja-ela, Wattala, Kotahena, Kelaniya and the Galkissa-Wellawatte areas were places where mob-rule was evident, points to some Christians being involved. Those Sinhalese responsible were not confined to Buddhists. People other than Sinhalese may also have been part of the dominant Sinhala mobs. Young people including students, were also part of certain mobs on the rampage. And according to available evidence, the police and armed forces were seen in different places, to be either inactive spectators or active supporters of these mobs, who attacked the lives and properties of Tamils.
THE MAIN ISSUE - WAS ALL THIS JUSTIFIED OR NOT IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES 2
There are those who say that the massive Sinhala retaliation on Tamils in the Southern parts of Sri Lanka was justified. They say that the killing of at least 83 persons, including the 13 soldiers on 23rd July, the attacks on police stations, damage by bombs to an aircraft, a passenger train, and government institutions, bankrobberies and acts of arson on public property in the North were Such Crimes as to deserve the revenge exacted by the Sinhalese. They add that Tamils in the South of Sri Lanka did not for, the most part, condemn these acts by armed groups. But those who say this forget three facts. First, the retaliation for these actions were being taken by the police and armed forces in Jaffna district, Trincomalee and Vavuniya through the killing of many more than 83 persons, damage to private property, arson, looting, assault on civilians, destroying of public property such as the Jaffna Public Library in 1981, and the torture of detenues in police stations and army camps. Secondly, indigenous Tamils who lived in the South of the island had already faced arson, looting and death and became refugees in 1977. Thirdly, the Tamils who faced such retaliation in 1977, 1981 and 1983 included Tamils of Indian origin, who had no part to do in the attacks made by armed groups in the North.

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In view of these facts, to say that the retaliation in July was justified is to advocate tribal vengeance. In fact the verse in the Old Testament, which says 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' was a reminder that the Jews should not engage in tribal vengeance. A tribe should not destroy the whole of another tribe for the crimes of its members. Jesus in the New Testament pointed out that this ancient Jewish law was a moral standard that was no longer justified. This shows that those who say that the massive Sinhala retaliation on Tamils living in the South was justified, have a lower standard of morality than the ancient Jews. Their conscience is distorted. We must rise above such tribal morality.
There are others who say that the personal suffering and murder which took place in July may not be justified. But they feel deep down in their hearts that the enforced departure of indegenous Tamils, from the professions, government services, universities and schools, and of Tamils of Indian origin from retail trade and other OCCupations in South Sri Lanka was justified. They have questions of Conscience about the methods adopted, but not about the final result. Because they feel that the undue advantages which the indigenous Tamils had in relation to their percentage of the population, and which the Tamils of Indian origin had in the internal trade, especially within the Sinhala areas, were not justified, they are not willing to condemn the methods adopted to get rid of them. They had compassion and were helpful in many instances. But they did not feel a sense of moral outrage.
I would like these people to reflect on three questions. First, were these undue advantages solely the result of what happened in the colonial period, and to mutual help among themselves at the expense of the Sinhalese? Did not the middle-class Tamils have to move Southwards and abroad, because Jaffna district did not provide enough avenues for prosperity through economic enterprise, as South Ceylon provided for the emerging Sinhala middle-class? Did not the qualities of hard work, thrift and ability, help the Tamils to prosper where they came to work and reside? Secondly, who enabled them to remain in the Sinhala areas? Did not successive Sinhala political

We Share in the Moral Guilt - The violence of July 1983 1583
leaders make use of skills of the indigenous Tamils to implement their programmes? Did not the traders of Indian origin have easy credit facilities with people in India, which enabled them to provide certain goods speedily and efficiently? Did not Sinhala politicians and officials permit them to remain, also because of the presents they took from these traders? Thirdly, can the final result of removing those with undue advantages through methods that are now condemned, be restricted to the Tamils? In Kandyan areas, people from the low country have undue advantages in the professions, government services, universities, leading schools and in the trade. The Muslims have such undue advantages in the trading sector. Are these undue advantages due solely to what happened in the colonial period and to mutual help at the expense of the Kandyans? Did not the qualities of enterprise, hard work and ability enable them to prosper in these areas? Do these undue advantages justify the final result of securing their enforced departure, if the Kandyan Sinhalese were to adopt the same methods as were adopted in July 1983 towards the Tamils? Another question follows. Certain families in our rural areas have such advantages as undue ownership of land, access to the best schools and to the best occupations, which the poorer people in these areas do not have. Are such advantages due solely to what happened in the Colonial period and to mutual help at the expense of the poorer people? Did not the qualities of hard work, thrift and ability enable them to prosper as these areas were developed? Do these undue advantages justify the final result of securing their displacement, if the poorer people were to adopt the same methods as were adopted towards the Tamils in July 1983? Did not the insurrection led by the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna in 1971 have this result in view? So, let those who justify the final result of what happened in July 1983 to the Tamils in South Sri Lanka consider further the implications of their moral standards. To restrict what they justify when it happens to the Tamils, is to hold double standards. This is hypocrisy. To think in this way at all, is really to hold the moral standard that the end justifies the means. None of the great religions we profess upholds this morality.

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There are still others who justify the role of several of the police and armed forces, during this massive retaliation in July 1983, Some people say that these security forces did nothing to stop the violent mobs or encouraged them, because they were angry that their own personnel had been killed or failed to do in the South. The security forces are trained and armed to eliminate armed groups, They are paid to protect the lives and properties of civilians, and to maintain law and order. Their inefficiency in being unable to eliminate, armed gangs of Tamils in one part of the island, does not justify their ensuring that revenge is taken on innocent Tamils in the other part of the island. This is not the kind of behaviour that can be justified on moral grounds, Then, other people say that the security forces could not be expected to harm or kill their own Sinhalese people to save Tamils. But in fact, I saw Some security forces do so in 1958. witnessed the army doing so in 1977 though not the police. They did their duty in enforcing law against mobs on the rampage. To give reasons why this was not done in 1983 is to provide psychological explanations. It is not to provide moral justification. Finally, there are still others to say that there were several instances where the police and armed forces simply, could not disperse the mobs. This was because there were too few in number in some places, not properly concentrated in the right areas, and in some instances they were faced with young students placed in front of the advancing mobs. Or else, some had lost their morale Owing to the success of armed groups in the North. We can sympathise with some of the police and armed forces who were faced with such situations. These reasons may be explanations for inefficiency, for which such persons may not be responsible. They do not justify failure to protect the lives and properties of defenceless people. This must not prevent us, however, from expressing our deep gratitude to those in the police and armed forces who did their duty, in spite of risk, and division within their OWs farks.

We Share in the Moral Gulf - The violenca of July 1983 1585
RTHON. DAWID LLOYD GEORGE WASA BRITISH STATESMAN. HE WAS BORN AT CHORLTON-ON-MEDLOCK, MANCHESTER ON 17th JANUARY, 1863, AND WAS THE SON OF WILLIAM GEORGE, A SCHOOLMASTER. OWING TO HIS FATHER'S EARLY DEATH HE WAS BROUGHT UP BY HIS UNCLE RICHARD LLOYD; ATLLANYSTUMDWY, NORTH WALES. HE WAS ARTICLED TO A SOLICITOR AT PORTMADOC, AND IN 1884 BEGANTO PRACTISE ON HIS OWN ACCOUNTAT CAERNARWON. IN 1888 LLOYD GEORGE MARRIED MARGARET OWEN.
Pfeffer F. ноп.
Ladar of the British Liberal Parly
David Lloyd George having taken a leading part in local politics, was elected M. P. for the Caernarvon Boroughs, and in the House of Comrons soon showed himself a clever debater. His opposition to Joseph Chamberlain and the Boer War made him a National figure. In 1905 Lloyd George entered the Liberal Cabinet as president of the board of trade. In 1908 he succeeded Asquith as chancellor of the exchequer, in August 1914 Lloyd George supported the policy of declaring war, Early in 1915 he left the exchequer to become minister of munitions and soon afterwards helped to form the first coalition ministry, and in July 1916, he became secretary for war. After negotiations, he himself became prime minister, with the Unionists under Mr. Bonar Law as his chief colleague. As premier Lloyd George introduced certain innovations into the government. In 1919 he was Britain's chief represerlative at the peace conference at Wersailles. He was supported by the verdict of the country given at an election in which Women voted for the first title, a policy for which he was responsible. His prernicrship ended in October 1922, when the Uri Fortist withdraw front the Coalition. In 1926 he was chosen as the party leader, but there were Liberals, both inside and outside parliament, who refused to accept him. The election of 1929 placed the balance of power in the hands of the Liberals, but it was found impossible to secure Complete unity among them. A son of Lloyd George, Gwilym, and a daughter Megan, were elected to Parliament in 1929 and again in 1931.

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SHAME AND APOLOGY
The arguments that have been stated so far, point to one basic moral fact. It is that the massive retaliation mainly by Sinhalese against defenceless Tamils in July 1983, cannot be justified on moral grounds. We must admit this and acknowledge our shame. And we must do so for the right reasons. It is not enough to be ashamed for the reason that inhuman passions enslaved a section of Sinhalese for a short period. Nor must we be ashamed because our sense of moral Outrage will improve our image abroad. We must be ashamed because what took place was a moral Crime. We are ashamed as Sinhalese for the moral Crime other Sinhalese Committed.
We must not only acknowledge our shame. We must also make our apology to those Tamils who were unjustified victims of this massive retaliation. An apology must be made for three reasons. First as Sinhalese we share in the total life of our people. We share in all that is good and great in our Sinhala heritage. These good and great aspects were due to the lives and achievements of only a section of the Sinhala people. But as members of the whole group we claim what one section did as belonging to us all. We share in the joy and the responsibility of their lives and labours. That is why in the diocese we acknowledge and rejoice in all that is good and great not only in our Sinhala heritage, but also in Sinhala-Buddhism. We have absorbed all this into the life and mission of this diocese, except that we have our basis in Jesus Christ. In the same way, when a section of the Sinhalese do what is morally wrong or bad, we share in it. As members of the whole group, we claim that what one section did, belongs to us all. We share in the evil they have done. Secondly it is a mark of moral maturity to acknowledgca moral crime on behalf of those closely knit to us, who do not realise that they have done so. And an apology is made on their behalf. Parents do so on behalf of children. Others do SO On behalf of relatives or friends. There is a solidarity of family, of kinship and of friendship, in things both right and wrong. Gandhiji used to acknowledge the moral crimes of those who engaged in violence. He fasted in order that they would come to the point of acknowledging the evil they had

We Share in the Moral Guilt - The violence of July 1983 1587
done and change their ways. Thirdly, there is the example of Jesus in the midst of brutality and suffering. He shared, in the guilt of all those who were involved in the moral crime of bringing about His unjust death, because He shared in our humanity. He apologised for all those who did not know the moral evil they were doing. His compassion acknowledged both shame and guilt. He apologised so that He might begin the process of setting right what was wrong in a broken relationship. It was between Jesus and those who had done Wrong to Him. It was also between God whose will Jesus had done, and all those who thereby had done wrong against God.
In setting right their wrong done to Jesus, they would also set right the wrong they had done to their Heavenly Father. As He apologised He also prayed that all would come to recognise the wrong they had done, duly apologise and change their ways.
It is only by such a kind of apology that we shall also recover our proper moral and religious values. Then, we can begin the process of setting right what went wrong in our relationship with the Tamils. A section of the Sinhalese must acknowledge the wrong done to those Tamils who were innocent victims. And they must do so with compassion for their fellow-Sinhalese who did the wrong, and for those who do not want to admit that a wrong was done. Christians will know that in setting right a broken relationship with God, who is the heavenly father of us all. At the same time, they must pray that those who did the wrong and those who are unable as yet to admit the wrong done by others, will come to a new level of moral insight. The tragedy is that it is becoming harder in 1983 for Sinhala Christians to acknowledge that what has been done is a moral Crime, than in 1958. Our moral sense on this matter is getting dull. We must ask that the Holy spirit may enlighten Our COnSciences.
It may be that this process of setting right the moral wrong that was done, by a section of the Sinhalese may evoke a softening of attitudes among a section of the Tamils. To so admit the wrong, to make the apology and to change past attitudes may awaken a new moral sense among a section of the Tamils. They may come to

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acknowledge the moral wrong of condoning violence, especially the seeking of revenge among their own people. The main point however is that the true basis of reconciliation is admission of wrong done and an appeal for forgiveness. When forgiveness is given or a mutual apology is evoked, reconciliation begins to take effect, slowly but Surely. Hardened attitudes begin to change.
RECONSTRUCTION
Relief Work has been done, and Continues to be done. But this is not enough, as we all know. Rehabilitation of the lives of those who suffered is much more difficult. There is the public aspect of rehabilitation. This involves guaranteeing Tamils residing in or returning to Sinhala areas genuine Security of life and property. It includes regular payment of wages and assistance to rebuild homes and restart business enterprises. We can only hope that those in power will take the necessary action. We must keep these issues alive in Our Own minds and in the minds of politicians and officials. We can do so effectively by supporting those who influence public opinion.
There is the personal side of rehabilitation. We can invite refugees to share our home until they are ensured of personal security. We can form groups in neighbourhoods to help others rebuild their homes, send their children to school and regain confidence in their neighbours. This is not easy. We shall be taking risks. We may be criticised and lose Sinhala friends. We may be opposed by others who want to take personal advantages of the situation. People with power may frustrate our efforts. But we need the grace to persevere. Re-building relationships between Sinhalese and Tamils at this time is a vocation and a ministry under God. This is real Christianity.
POLITICAL SOLUTIONS
We know that this is not a matter which We Can do much ourselves. But We also know that if there is no sustained dialogue and negotiation, the situation will get worse. The deadlockat present between the different Sinhala leaders, and between the Sinhala leadership and the Tamil leadership, is disheartening. A consensus among the Sinhala

We Share in the Moral Guilt - The violence of July 1983 1589
leaders is essential. This consensus must have the support of the leading monks in all the Nikayas. The urgent demands of our national Crisis must overcome personal, party and petty interests. We must pray for and support those who are trying to build conversation in the midst of divergence.
Renewed dialogue between the Sinhala and Tamil leadership should not be delayed. The possibility of renewed violence remains in the background like a dark shadow. India's interests as the regional power in our midst cannot be disregarded. The All Party Conference, which was promised in the Party Manifesto needs to be implemented now. The issues remain the same in regard to the indigenous Tamils and the Tamils of Indian origin. Various concessions have been made. Now a genuine sharing of power between the majority and the minorities has to emerge. Actual realities have to be faced by all those negotiating. The security of ordinary people, of minorities and of the whole island has to be assured. What we have to pray about and work for in every way we can, is this: There must be a real determination to reach a settlement. Otherwise, there will be increasing disorder along with increasing dictatorship.
An independent Commission of Inquiry similar to the one presided by Mr. Sansonican be of real use. The inquiry will need to consider not to merely how and why the recent violence took place. It will need to examine the role of the mass media and of the educational system in relation to communal attitudes and conflicts. Its sittings should be adequately protected from the intrusion of political thugs and hirelings. It should be conducted both in Sinhala and Tamil, with the use of English only when desired. The commission should have the Support of all the major political parties. We must pray and work for this as well. We must continue also to hope. As the late D. T. Niles used to say: "Hope in God arises out of ruins of our expectations".
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, October 31st, 1983.

Page 256
Communalism Gone Mad
by N. Sanmugathasan The Leader of the Ceylon Communist Party (Chinese Wing)
Both as a Marxistandas a Sri Lankan Tamil, I hastento deplore the publication of a recent book, Sri Lanka, The National question and the Tamil Liberation Struggle, by Satchi Ponnambalam, a London barrister. It is Tamil communalism gone mad - an antithesis of Sinhala Communal books. It is Counterproductive and serves to defeat the cause that it sets out to espouse. Nothing is ever gained in an argument by exaggerating beyond all reason one's own case while denigrating one's opponent to absurd limits.
This is what Satchi Ponnambalam has done in his rambling 273 pages of wasted print. This is the other side of the attempt by Sinhala chauvinists to revive the story of Dutugemunu and his epic battle with Elara for their own racialist ends. He dismisses the Sinhalese as a race and denigrates their ancient civilisation; and propounds the theory (nothing very original) that the Tamils were the original inhabitants of Sri Lanka while the Sinhalese were the real invaders.
refuse to get entangled in the conflict as to who were the original inhabitants of this island as it has no relevance to the Solution of the present communal problem. The Sinhalese and the Tamils are people who belong to similar Indian racial stocks and have a common ancestry. if the myth of Vijaya and his seven hundred followers sending to Madurai for a princess and her royal maidens has any historical bearings; and if the Sinhala race is descended from them, then what I say is proved.
The Sinhalese and Tamils are two groups of similar people who speak two different languages, but share a common ancestry and culture and belong to two religions which have manythings in common - although one is aesthetic and the other not. They even worship the same gods e.g. Vishnu, and worship at the same shrine e.g. Kataragama.

Communalism Gone Mad 1591
There are more things that unites us than divides us. It is also ridiculous to denigrate the ancient civilisation of the Sinhalese, although the Tamils also contributed to this development. There cannot be any doubt that there was a fusion of Sinhala and Tamil cultures. When they were not fighting each other, there was a lot of co-existence and Co-operation between the Sinhalese and the Tamils. In most periods of the pre-colonial history of Sri Lanka, Tamils from South India were to be found in the Sinhala kingdoms as prohits, artisans, traders, mercenary soldiers (during the Polonnaruwa period there was a regiment called the Velikkaras - Tamil guards - who acted as bodyguards to the king). These could not have been without their influence.
It is the fusion of these two cultures that was responsible for the prosperity of Sri Lanka for well over a thousand years during the Anuradhapura period, and was responsible for the magnificent system of irrigation tanks that still stand as a monument to the greatness of ancient Sri Lanka.
Satchi Ponnambalam's book contains so many inaccuracies that to follow each of them would need another book. But I will deal with two of them. He says that there was never a Buddhist age in India. This is so palpably false that it is a pity having to spend time refuting it. There is no doubt about the fact that once Buddhists prevailed in a good part of India. Hinduism fought a rear guard action and vanquished it. But to say that it did not exist is false. Ponnambalam has only to read the devotional songs of such Tamil saints such as Thirugnanasambander, Thirunavukkarasu or Manickavasagar to know, that many of their Songs were composed in the course of a furious religious dispute With Buddhism.
He also says that it was the Tamils who were the main force that won independence for Sri Lanka. This is simply not true. It is true that the Ponnambalam brothers fought alongside E. W. Perera and James Pieris to obtain more and more reforms from the British. But neither group challenged British imperialism or demanded

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1592 Polifics irid Life irn CDLur Tirras
THESINHALESEAND THE TAMLS ARE PEOPLE WHO BELONG TO SIMILAR INDIAN RACIAL STOCKSANDHAWE ACOMMONANCESTRY, F THE MYTH OFWJAYAANDHISSEVENHUNDRED FOLLOWERS SENDING TOMADURA FOR A PRINCESS AND HERROYAL MADENS HAS ANY HISTORICAL BEARINGS: ANDIF THE SINHALARACE IS DESCENDED FROM THEM, THEN WHATISAYS PROWED. THE SINHALESE AND TAMILS ARE TWO GROUPS OF SIMILAR PEOPLE WHO SPEAK TWO DIFFERENT LANGUAGES, BUT SHARE A COMMON ANCESTRY AND CULTURE AND BELONG TO TWO RELIGIONS WHICH HAWE MANYTHINGS IN COMMON - ATHOUGH ONE IS AESTHETIC AND THE OTHER NOT. THEY EVEN WORSHIPSAME GODS E.G. WISHNU, AND WORSHIP AT THE SAME SHRINE E.G. KATARAGAMA. THERE ARE MORE THINGS THAT UNITES US THAND WIDES US.
["#EEE; TE
The leader of the Ceylon Corrrrurist Party (Chinese wing) N. Saugathasar? (righ) Wh Maa 7sa Turg
Karl Marx, a Garminan economist, was born at Trien om May 5th, 1818, He was a Jaward was educated at the liversities of Bols and Berli1. He became a journalist, but his advanced views led to his expulsion from Germany and then from Paris, where he lived in 1843-44. He was again in Germany in 1848, but after the failure of the rising of that year, he went to London. There he lived until his death, March 14th, 1883. Marx Bxarcised af BrIDrmous influence of the Socialist and Communist movements, and his doctrines are still accepted by a large number of their adherents. In 1847, at Brussels, he and Frederick Engels issued the Com 77 unisť Manifesta which states the airT1s of the Communists, These views are more fully developed in his book, Capital, published in 1867. Shortly his ideas are that all wealth is produced by labour and should go to labour and that, as this leaves nothing for the capitalist, who can therefore newer accept the system, the worker must prepare for a class war in which capitalism will be destroyed. In 1843 Marx married the friend of his childhood, Jenny won Westphalen, who to the end of her life, shared with him all the hardships and difficulties of the revolutionary struggle,
 
 
 
 
 

Corrrr) luralism Gorg Mad 1593
independence as their Indian counter parts did. They were content to remain inside the British Empire as loyal subjects. The first organisation to demand Complete independence was the non-communal Jaffna Youth Congress, followed by the LSSP and the CP and there afterwards by the Ceylon National Congress.
The tactics of the Tamil leaders during the Donoughmore era was to depend more on the British over-lord rather than on their fellow wictims of imperialism—the Siri halese. Ewen after the Soulbury Commission rejected the demand of the Tamils for balanced representation, the Tamils did not abandon these tactics. When Premier S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike secured the evacuation of British bases and troops from Trincomalee and Katunayake, the president of the Federal Party, Dr. E. M. W. Naganathan, telegraphed Her Britannic Majesty not to desert the Tamils without protection
Why resort to such mis-representations? In fact nobody fought for our independence in that not a drop of blood was shed. We obtained it by proxy, as it were, because of the Indian independence Thovement.
It is true that Tamils have suffered Communal wiolence and the regional autonomy demand has arisen as a result of these events. Why can't we put forward this argument straight without embellishments with myth and fantasies? Satchi Ponnambalam has done a great disservice to the cause of the Tamils by writing this book. The Tamils might well say; "Save Lus from our friends!".
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, Dacas Iber 24, 1983.
Lenir's doctrines are a beacon, lighting up the path of the victorious struggle of the working people for their emancipation. Lenin's ideas, assimilated by the massas, hawe become a great force for the re-organization of society on socialist principles. Litrisiinism is the banner of millions of proletarians and working people all over the World.

Page 258
Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem
by Jehan Perera
"Sinhalade? Demalade? was frequently a life or death question during the July riots. It is a cruel epitaph to the hundreds killed that week in July. But it is also a testimony to the close physical similarity of members of these two estranged communities. My own reply that was Sri Lankan did not answer the question. Neither did it satisfy the mob for, in that week of intense polarization of society, there was no room for a national identity that transcended communal ones.
THE SIGNIFICANCE OF COMMUNAL IDENTITY
The present state of relations between the Sinhalese and Tamil communities have their roots in historical perceptions that first arose in the dynastic wars fought by feudal rulers based on the island and neighbouring South India; in the later period of Sinhalese contraction these memories were resurrected and reinterpreted as the efforts of Hindu South India to absorb Buddhist Lanka; communal grievances and fears came into focus in the heady period of transition from colonialrule to self-rule; the competition for scarce economic resources and employment in the context of a stagnant economy led to the formation of Communal interest groups that cutthrough class; government policies and Communal riots institutionalized the Communal divisions.
The Communal Conflict can be defined in terms as broad as is desired. However, the primary disadvantage of a broad definition that encompasses the economic, social, political and cultural dimensions is that it tends to lead to the confusion of issues having a vast range of possibilities, and hence to inaction. In Sri Lanka what obstructs the vision to a clear solution to the communal problem is the almost undivided attention given to the clutter of history, real and imagined,

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1595
and more recently the focus on statistical data. The thesis presented here is that amongst the economic, social, cultural, political and other factors that have contributed to the present explosive state of SinhaleseTamil relations, it is the psychological dimension of individual and communal identity that takes primacy. Identity is at the heart of communal conflict, and around it crystallize the economic, social and other grievances.
Confronting a communal and regional problem of much greater complexity than that to be found in Sri Lanka, the Russian revolutionary leader and theoretician Lenin wrote "Why will you not understand the psychology that is so important in the national question, and which if the slightest Coercion is applied besmirches, soils and nullifies the undoubtably progressive importance of centralization, large state and an uniform language". The young Soviet state heeded Lenin's warning and today the Soviet Union has a federal system of government, no Country-wide official language and a high degree of Communal harmony.
The Sri Lankan experience gives substance to the view that communal conflict cannot be resolved into, and is harder to solve than class Conflict. The class-based 1971 insurrection Was Crushed in a week whereas Tamil terrorism is now in its ninth year, outlasting the government that stamped out the insurrection. The reason for this is that at the heart of community is the subjective psychological dimension, that is difficult to come to grips with as it revolves around often intangible factors unrelated to objective indicators and statistics. The landless labourer in Vavuniya has the desire to leave the ranks of the proletariat and join the landowner class. He will work hard to achieve this end, and there is every possibility that with his savings he will one day reap fields that are his own. But the Tamil farmer in Vavuniya does not desire to become a Sinhalese even though his Sinhalese neighbours in the district have access to larger and better-irrigated plots of land. He cannot and does not want to give up his Tamil identity, unlike the landless labourer who willingly gives up his class position, because he is proud of his Tamil identity and finds it reassuring to belong to the Tamil community.

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Thus, communal conflict has occurred in economically developed countries (Canada, Belgium), in less-developed countries (Pakistan, Zaire), in the richer regions of Countries (the Basque region in Spain) as well as in the poorer regions of Countries (Northern Ireland in the U.K.). Where cornTunal conflict has become the focus of a society it has divided people and diverted them from more objeçtive problems that may hawe a greater bearing on their materia|| lives such as powerty and the unequal distribution of Wealth. For instance, in 1971 although, rural Tamil youth had grievances similar to the rural Sinhalese they did not join forces in the insurrection because Communal feelings that stemmed from divisions of language and culture were more powerful than class-based feelings that stemmed from a common powerty,
THE ROOTS OF COMMUNAL CONFLCT
There is a growing opinion that corn Tunal conflict cannot be solved and can only be managed, Let history be the arbiter of that question. The task before Sri Lankan leadership is to improve Communal relations between the Sinhalese and Tamils to the point where the major thrust of state power and initiative can be released away from communal issues towards tackling the enormous problems of development, of creating a wealthy and just society. The first step is to realize that terrorism is but a symptom, a vicious one, of a deeper malady that afflicts the country that spawned it. The key to improving Sinhalese-Tamil relations is not to focus on merely wiping out terrorism, a SyrTipton, but to get rid of the cause of terroris IT,
The roots of communal conflict lie in the differing perceptions of the Sinhalese and Tamils which arises from the fact of a separate Sinhalese identity that over the centuries grew and hardened in opposition to that of the Tar Tils. The fact is that the Sinhalese and Tamils speak different languages, and hawe different cultures and interpretations of what happens. Thus, the victory of Dutugemunu Teant the defeat of Elara; the period of Sinhalese decay in the Rajarata corresponded to the rise of Tamil power in the Jaffna peninsula; the

Exploring Solution to the Cornuna Problern 1.5g7
ASA SUCCESSFUL JOURNALIST KEUNEMAN WASPAD ANATTRACTIVE SALARY HE KNEW THAT THE COMMUNIST PARTY, THEN WITH NOTEVEN A 100MEMBERS AND MOST OF WHOMWERE WORKERS, WOULD NOT BEABLE TO PAY HIMAN ADEQUATE ALLOWANCE. HOWEVER, AT THE CALL OF THE PARTYOURCOMRADE GAVE UPHSJOBAT LAKE HOUSE AND BECAME A FULL TIME PARTY WORKER. THE PARTY PAID HIMA SMALL MONTHLY ALLOWANCE WHENTHERE WAS MONEY ANDDD NOT PAY HIM WHEN THERE WASN'T ANY, WE CAN NEVER FORGET THIS GREAT SACRIFICE MADE BY HIM,
వ్లో
, ! , * 壹
Mer77 bers of the Farer it-Teachars Counci, Colombo, garanding fheir Frosident, 7. Duraisirgar77 ard Hor, Pieter Keure Tian,
L-FR.: Balasubrar77 arriarm, 7. Duraisingan77, W. Siwarajar, Prefer ke Luriaman and LμArnaria ναr,
Born in 1911. Duraisinga IT first became acquainted with anti-imperialist ideas and the Worker's movement at the early age of 10 years. His father knew personally the South Indian Socialist and trade unionist, W. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar, co-founder of the first workers' trade union in India, the Madras Workers' Union which was formed on 27.04.1918 shortly after the Great October Revolution in Tsarist Russia. From 1921, the young Duraisingam was a keen reader of the Tamil weekly newspaper "Navashakti", which Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar edited and to which his father was a regular subscriber. During his tgens, he read Seweral anti-imperialist and socialist books written by the sa Tig author, as well as those written by the first communist of Tamilnad and one of the founders of the Communist Party of India, M. Singharavel, who was associated with all progressive movements in India of that time, What he read attracted Duraisingam immensely and by 1927 he became convinced that communism provided the only solution for the World's and his country's ills,
— Pelé" KLITETlar)

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1598 Politics and Life in Our Times
historical privileges/rights of one community have smelled of discrimination to the other; democratic majorities to the Sinhalese has meant the despotism of a communal majority to the Tamils; and "terrorists" to the Sinhalese are "boys" to the Tamils. Such striking differences in perception are not limited to Sri Lanka. In Northern Ireland, for instance, when Catholics and Protestants were asked whether they were aware of discriminatory practices, over 75% of the Catholics said yes while a similar proportion of Protestants said no.
ldentity is inherent in the fact of being a someone. "Who am I?" has as its inevitable corollary "Who is he?" These questions and the existential anxieties they give rise to can be reduced in togetherness within the womb of community. In communal terms the questions then become "Who are we?" and "Who are they?" More by their actions than their words the Sinhalese mobsters with Swords and firebrands in hand were asserting their awareness of identity, that they were Sinhalese and belonged to a community that had lost thirteen of its members to the Tamil collectivity. While at their deadly work the mobs cheered the passing convoys of the armed forces, who often cheered back, and made it known that they were destroying Tamil establishments as a gesture of communal solidarity and vengeance to retaliate the killing of the thirteen. In the communally sensitive and threat-laden atmosphere of that week in July, communal pressures SO escalated that individuals were emotionally impelled into aligning their behaviour with that of the community as a whole; Sinhalese, peaceful and tolerant in ordinary life, united emotionally with hoodlums. Communal identity is an extension of individual identity that gives people a sense of belonging. Identity, to quote the American Social psychologist Erik Erikson, "is a process located in the core of the individual and yet also in the core of his communal culture". Apparent in the search for roots in Africa by American Blacks is the search for a communal past that will lend continuity to the individual life. Even a name can be used to associate an individual Who Can be anyone with a sense of belonging, of time and place, and with unique values and behavioural standards. Communal identity eases the problems of anonymity and weakness.

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1599
No community can maintain a viable identity without symbols and values that point to a distinctive identity. In 1981 even the armed forces stationed in the North recognised, unconsciously perhaps, the importance of communal symbols when they burned down the Jaffna Public Library and destroyed statues of Tamil heroes and poets. Some symbols, language for instance, are relevant to differentiate between groups. Others, such as caste hierarchies, are meaningful only within the group and have little relevance to outsiders. When reinforced by a co-extensive history, language is usually the key marker of distinctive identity, and consequently is a focus of communal loyalty. In addition to its obvious role in communication, language has a powerful emotional aspect that stems from its particular sound and familiarity as the mode of conveyance through the centuries of the thoughts and experiences of the community.
THE COMMUNAL PERCEPTION OF LANGUAGE LEGISLATION
The power of communal symbols can be exploited to yield material benefits. In its struggle for political power, the newly formed SLFP reaped a rich harvest of communal votes when it skilfully manipulated the customs, values and myths of the Sinhalese and linked them to economic and social grievances. The initial thrust of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike's campaign was class-based and was directed against the privileged position enjoyed by the English-educated elite. But rapidly the class component of his appeal was overshadowed by its Communal implications and the language issue became a red flag to the communities. The clear basic of the SLFP's appeal lay in the elevation of the Sinhala language and the emphasis on the rights of the Sinhala-speaking masses. The power of community over economics can also be seen in the Tamil reaction. The Tamils decisively rejected the ACTC which saw in the language issue a question of discrimination in employment and education. In the wake of "Sinhala-only" they swung towards the FP, and later the TULF, which gave priority to Tamils identity and political autonomy as being of the foremost importance.

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it follows that the most grievous blow to an united Sri Lanka that explicitly mobilized communal solidarity and support was that struck by the cry for "Sinhala-only". This election slogan which promised Sinhala-only in 24 hours hit deep at Tamil self-esteem and devalued the Tamil culture. "Sinhala-only" also made life in general that much harder for a non-Sinhala-speaking Tamil who no longer enjoyed the same rights as a Sinhalese in the transaction of business with the state which, to make matters worse, was taking over a growing area of what had been the domain of the private sector. In the struggle for education and employment being Tamil-speaking had become a grave handicap. But the Sinhalese perception was different; the majority Community, hitherto suppressed, getting back its rightful place and past injustices were being righted.
TOWARDS TAMIL SELF-DETERMINATION
Post-independence reality thus clashed heavily with the preindependence perception of the Tamils regarding their equality of status as a major community alongside the low-country Sinhalese and Kandyan Sinhalese. The psychological adjustment to the fact of being a politically irrelevant minority was painful on its own merits. The attempt of the independent state to create a single political Culture overriding communal cultures, yet drawing many of its symbols from the heritage of the Sinhalese community, such as the adoption of the Lion flag the installation of "Sri" number plates and colonization of the Rajarata, reinforced the sense of Tamil grievance. The evidence from a number of countries affected by communal problems indicates that feelings of political powerlessness and status deprivation are more closely related to communal action than economic constraints. Although communal leaders may make complete their case with reference to economics and figures, the core of that appeal remains psychological rather than economic. Thus, today, after 36 years of independence and rule by governments heavily accountable to a Sinhalese voter base, communalism has succeeded in turning the Tamil community into seeking the psychological satisfaction of selfdetermination even at great cost.

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 16O1
There is a Common belief that the Sri Lankan communal Conflict is unique to the world. This is of course true, but only in a narrow sense because any investigation of communal conflict in other countries will show recurring patterns followed rather closely by Sri Lanka. Take for instance Pakistan. In 1948 in the Parliament of the newly formed state, Prime Minister Liaquat Ali Khan said decisively "It is necessary for a nation to have one language and that language can only be Urdu". The Bengali speaking people of East Pakistan united in protest. Although in 1956 the Pakistani government accepted Bengali as a second official language the damage had been done, and in East Pakistan the Bengali identity Superseded the Pakistani one. The language issue created a frame of mind that persisted long after the Bengali language was elevated. The cost of 1948 was paid in full in 1971.
In the Tamil cry for Eelam are two intertwined themes. One is the struggle for liberation from poverty and misrule, the demand of a Community possessing self-esteem to determine the course of its life; the other is a manifestation of separatist frames of mind, the ambition of those who seek a country to rule. The task of Sri Lankan leadership, before it is too late, is to unraval these and give priority to the realization of the former. For in this is the yearning of people of all communities for a life of dignity and sufficiency. The private ambitions of the separatists can then be made to flounder, as they did in Quebec and the Southern Sudan. The goal of self-determination for the Tamils must not be seen as the break-up of Sri Lanka; neither as the seal on the estrangement of the Sinhalese and Tamils. Separation and the formation of a new state is but one form of self-determination. It may be hollow in reality as in the case of satellite Countries. For instance, the Italian-speaking people in Federal Switzerland who constitute less than 10% of the population enjoy assuredly greater self-detertimination than the Soviet Union permits the Poles in Independent Poland. Thus, the goal of selfdetermination for the Tamils must be seen as the first step towards the rapproachment of the Sinhalese and Tamils as individuals, and as Communities, enjoying equally the rights to language, to the protection of the State and to self-determination.

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The key question today then is not whether the Tamils should have the right to determine the course of their lives, because in this democratic age which recognises inalienable and fundamental rights of all human beings it is evident they must, but rather given the geographical, economic and political parameters what the most appropriate form that this self-determination should take. Before proceeding to an examination of this question it might be useful to reflect upon the experience of the Sudan which offers several parallels to the Sri Lankan case of sufficient importance to be worth considering. The final Solution reached in that country is also instructive in the willingness and courage of the leadership of both sides to negotiate a lasting settlement.
COMMUNAL CONFLICT N THE SUDAN
in the Sudan, as in Sri Lanka, the conflict was between the northern and southern parts of the country. To the north of the Sudan are the Arab states of Egypt and Libya, while to the South are the Black African states of Ethiopia, Uganda and Kenya. In keeping with this geographical position the northern parts of the Sudan consist of Arabs and arabicized people who account for more than 12 m. of the country's total population of 18 m.; in the South live approximately 4 m. Blacks who speak Nilotic languages and are adherents of Christianity and native religions. Thus, parallel to Sri Lanka, the north and South of the Sudan differ radically in language, culture and population.
With independence in 1956 the new state inherited acute antagonisms. During the colonial era the memories of the times when Arab traders from the north sold thousands of Southern Blacks into slavery were kept alive by the British administrators to facilitate and consolidate their rule, and by Christian missionaries who sought the salvation of souls against the competition of Islam. In this context, the newly independent government's policy of Arabicization was resented by the southerners right from the start. But the policy reached fruition for the northerners and flashpoint for the south a mere 12 years later,

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1603
in 1968, when a new constitution was adopted in which The Republic of Sudan was proclaimed a unitary state with Arabic as the official language and Islam the state religion. It was this more than economic deprivation that confirmed to the Black African south the disregard with which the Arab north held them, their language and culture, and cast doubts on their equal membership of the polity. Relations between the north and south plunged and led to the call for the complete secession of the south and the formation of the independent state of AZania.
THE SUDANESE SOLUTION
The deepening crisis prompted, in 1969, the granting of limited autonomy to the south. The package was based on the assumption that satisfying the economic grievances of the south within the existing political framework would suffice. It consisted mainly of measures for the economic development of the south and included the drafting of a separate southern budget.
However, these measures side-stepped the key demand for greater self-determination and failed to win the support of the south. The leadership of the Anya-Nya, the southern insurgent movement, in 1971 proclaimed the founding of the Azania Liberation Front. Civil war broke out. The governmental forces scored convincing victories in the initial open warfare, but when the Anya-Nya changed its tactics to that of guerilla warfare a situation of stalemate developed. Aware of the odds against a quick military settlement in opposition to an increasingly united south, and the sapping of the national coffers in One of the world's poorest countries, the Sudanese government put forward a new plan for a political settlement that envisaged regional autonomy for the south.
There was much agitation in the north over the regional autonomy plan which, it was feared, would ease the task of secession to the south. The argument made, ironically the reverse of that made in Sri Lanka, was that given the large size of the country and the poor communications network, regional autonomy would be de facto

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COMMUNAL IDENTITY SANEXTENSION OF INDIVIDUAL IDENTITY THAT GIVES PEOPLE A SENSE OF BELONGING. IDENTITY, TOQUOTE THE AMERICAN SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGISTERIKERIKSON, "IS A PROCESS LOCATED IN THE CORE OF THE INDIVIDUAL ANDYET ALSOIN THE CORE OF HIS COMMUNAL CULTURE". APPARENTIN THESEARCHFOR ROOTS INAFRICA BY AMERICAN BLACKS IS THESEARCH FOR A COMMUNAL PAST THAT WILL LEND CONTINUITY TO THE INDIVIDUAL LIFE, EVENA NAME CAN BE USED TO ASSOCIATE AN INDIVIDUAL WHO CAN BE ANYONE WITH A SENSE OF BELONGING, OFTIME ANDPLACE, AND WITH UNIQUE WALUES AND BE HAVIOURAL STANDARDS. COMMUNAL IDENTITY EASES THE PROBLEMS OF ANONYMITY AND WEAKNESS.
MoLur)! Kilim Tanjaro of Tanganyika
Tanganyika is mainly populated by the Bantus and Masais. It is a Republic in East Central Africa, with a President, elected by Universal suffrage, who is head of both government and state, the Presidency being linked to the majority party in the National Assembly of 71 glected members and up to 70 nominated by the President, In 1964 the author of this book, T. Duraisingam, attended the Afro Asian Solidarily Organization's International Conference held near Arethusa, which is on the slopes of Mount Kilimanjaro, when he had the occasion to Teet the President of the Republic. He had also the occasion to g0 to the Capital City, Dar-ës-Salaam, which is by the side of the siga, where he enjoyed a sea bath with other delegates to the conference. Mount Kilimanjaro, though it is along the equator, is always covered with snow.
 

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1 B05
separation soon to be followed by the real thing. Nevertheless, the military government led by General Nimeiry disregarded the opposition and stood firm. In 1972 representatives of the government and the Anya-Nya signed the regional autonomy agreement,
The cort Turnal problem in the Sudan has not ended, which gives substance to the view that communal conflict cannot be solved but only managed. There is dissatisfaction in both the north and south regarding the terms of the regional autonomy agreement. Nevertheless, the Sudanese experiment is of great relevance to Sri Lanka in demonstrating that a skilfully negotiated political settlement can diffuse secessionist pressures and give the political leadership another chance at building national unity upon a new foundation.
The American sociologist and former ambassador to Sri Lanka, Howard Wriggins, noted that a significant aspect of politics in Sri Lanka lay in the intensity of feelings that could be nobilized around proposals that were left abstract and therefore ambiguous. His example was the debate Ower federalism in the Wake of the FP's formation and electoral strategy. Because the call lacked precision, opponents of federalism Were left a free hand to play upon the fears of the Sinhalese and claim it would be the first step towards secession. The same lack of knowledge and fear exist today. Therefore, investigating the regional autonomy agreement of the Sudan will provide exposure to a concrete and working agreement, The agreement can provide an outline of a model for Sri Lanka.
A REGIONAL AUTONOMY MODEL
The Thain points of the Sudanese plan are listed below:
(a) Matters pertaining to defence, foreign affairs, trade and planning were assigned to the central government; all other Thatters relating to the southern provinces were placed under the control of the regional government which would have its own elected legislative and executive organs of power in the three southern provinces.

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(b) All citizens of the Southern Region were guaranteed equal opportunities of obtaining employment and education and of engaging in trade.
(c) The southern legislature, by a 2/3 majority, could request the President of the republic to postpone the implementation of any central government legislation which, in its view, was harmful to the interests of the Southern Region.
(d) English was recognized as the main language of the Southern Region and allowance was made for the use of any other language that could satisfy local needs; Arabic remained the official language of the Country.
(e) The rebel armed forces of the south were incorporated into the Sudanese national army, and for the first 5 years the Sudanese Army stationed in the south was to be equally made up of northerners and Southerners under the Command of a Southerner.
(f) The regional government was required to exert efforts to reinforce and promote the unity of the Sudan.
(g) The agreement was signed for an initial period of 10 years, and could be further extended depending upon its success. The agreement has since been renewed.
The capacity for reconciliation of the human communities must not be under-estimated. Shortly before the Sudanese regional autonomy agreement was concluded, few would have predicted that Sudanese President Nimeiry would tour the formerly secessionist regions to scenes of enthusiastic welcome, or that a year after the end of the bitter Nigerian civil war former Biafrans would travel with security the length and breadth of the Nigerian federation. Indeed there is no need to travel sofarabroad for examples of reconciliation. In Sri Lanka the Buddhists and Christians live together harmoniously, yet a mere twenty years ago the hostility and Suspicion that existed between the two religious communities seemed insuperable. The recognition on the part of the Christian churches of the inevitability of losing any serious confrontation with the Buddhists and the consequent willingness to compromise evoked shortly

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1607
a generous response from the Buddhists and today the amicability of the Buddhist-Christian relationship is a model for the world. But it is important to note that the Christians unlike the Tamils, lacked a territorial base and the Sinhalese and Tamil Communal identities Cut across that of religion.
AN OPPORTUNITY LOST
When in 1948 Sri Lankan's recovered the power to preside over their own destinies, the Country could yet have been guided towards communal harmony. There was then a wider range of choice than there is now. In 1955 at the height of the language dispute Senator S. Nadesan noting the volatility of communal emotion when it touched upon issues of language and communalrights wrote:"There are only two known methods of ensuring equality between the majority and minorities in a multinational state: one is the method of bilingualism, the other that of federalism".
Of the two methods it is the former that is the preferable solution to a national ruling elite jealous of its power at the centre. Until the general election of 1956 it seemed as if bilingualism would be the method employed. In 1944. J. R. Jayewardene had in the State Council, the then legislative body, sponsored a resolution that both Sinhala and Tamil were to be official languages, while Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake had asserted "Nor again should it be forgotten that our essential task is to Create a nation, and that our people Speak not one language, but two or perhaps three". But what actually happened is too well known to need any elaboration. In search of easy votes an opportunistic political leadership caved-into the pressures of the lowest Common denominator. The result: Sinhala-only in an unitary state in which communal identity took on surpassing importance.
REJECTION AND COMMUNAL POLARIZATION
The rejection of bitingualism and the consequent growth of a Tamil communalism that fed a larger Sinhalese one has led the unitary state system that exists today to an impasse. If the state had recognized the right of every Sinhalese and Tamil to his own language the hardening

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of a separate Sinhalese and Tamil identity in the flamable role of ruler and ruled could have been stemmed. But the opportunity is now lost; what has been done cannot be undone. The communally polarized political system has made Tamil votes virtually irrelevant to the formation of strong governments which in turn are hostage to their Sinhalese voter base. This system of unitary government, wherein which two pacts negotiated by Prime Ministers were unilaterally abrogated and another one pushed through by the President was watered down in deference to Sinhalese pressures, stands discredited in Tamil eyes. Terrorism in the north which has a degree of support from the people of the area is the spawn of three decades of political neglect and Communally perceived humiliations. The urgent task that faces the Country's leadership is to act decisively before the volatile situation in the country, explodes beyond all control; it is to establish a new political framework which decentralizes administration devolves power to the people of the predominantly Tamil areas who presently have little say in the highest decision-making process. Even the highest of civil servants, the IGP, the Attorney General and the Ambassadors to mention but a few, are under the direct and absolute Control of the Cabinet Of MinisterS Which is the product of the political system. The solution is very clearly not to drift along in the present manner.
The present uneasy calm is but the eve of a storm that was triggered-off once by terrorism in July and can well be set off again.The existing situation where the government has lost control over the predominantly Tamil areas, highlighted by the remorseless killings and spates of bank robberies, cannot continue on an even keel without escalating into another orgy of violence. But given the constraints of the situation terrorism cannot be eliminated by the armed forces without the co-operation of the people of the area and the Government of India.
WHO IS TO BLAME?
Many Sinhalese hold that major part of the blame for the escalation of Tamil separatist demands and dominance of the terrorists in the north is to be apportioned to President Jayewardene. The reasoning is that had the President acted with greater forcefulness, at the beginning of his term of office in 1977, against the terrorists in

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1609
particular and the Tamils in general, neither the Tamil demands for a separate state nor terrorism would have reached the proportions they have now. But the facts are otherwise.
The demand for a separate State was first articulated by prominent Tamils, though on an individual basis, as far back as 1955. However, it was only after the adoption of the first republican constitution by the SLFP government in 1972 that mass Tamil agitation began to crystallize around the concept of a separate state. This sentiment received authoritative confirmation in 1975 from S. J. V. Chelvanayakam, the leader of the TUF as the TULF was then known, in his victory speech after the Kankesanthurai by-election. The next year, in 1976, the TUF Members of parliament signed and brought a motion before the SLFP dominated parliament claiming that the results of the by-election represented a mandate for "the restoration of the free, sovereign, secular, socialist state of Tamil Eelam". Parliament rejected the motion, but no decisive measures were taken to eliminate separatist feeling. It was under an SLFP government led by people of the calibre of Mrs. Bandaranaike and T. B. Ilangaratne that the TULF gathered strength for two years, and the precedent was set for leniency of treatment. Further it was under the SLFP government that the TULF campaigned openly at the general election of 1977 on a platform of separatism.
Likewise, Tamilterrorism became a major national issue under the SLFP government when Alfred Duraiappah, the SLFP Mayor of Jaffna, was gunned down by terrorists in 1975. This political assassination gave much publicity to the terrorist movement. But already in 1972 and 1974 unsuccessful bomb attacks had been made on the life of the Mayor. Again, on the first Republic day anniversary in 1973, 49 C. T. B. buses were attacked in Jaffna. 6 were burned and an attempt was made to derail a train.
Public opinion also holds that the reason for the dominance of terrorism in the Tamil areas is to be attributed to the government policy of keeping the armed forces on a tight leash. It is argued that if the armed forces were to be given extensive powers of search and

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arrest and of shooting at sight on suspicion, that terrorism can be eliminated. Eliminate the terrorists who are a minority, then give some concessions to the peaceable Tamil majority and everything will be pretty much okay once again is the common follow-up to this line of reasoning, The success of the government in destroying the 1971 insurrection is often adduced as proof of the success of a policy of "bullets and Carrots'
Such arguments, emotionally satisfying though they may be, are far from being applicable in a practical context to the communal conflict. On the one hand they disregard the geographical vicinity of an impassioned interventionist South India. On the other hand they ignore history and the experience of other countries faced with similar problems of a determined territorially based people.
COMBATTING TERRITORIALTERRORISM
The Israeli army in Palestine, the British in Northern Ireland, the Spanish in the Basque region, the Pakistani in East Pakistan, the Sudanese in the Southern Sudan, and the Nazi German Army in occupied Europe, to mention but a few, failed or are failing, to Suppress terrorism. This failure was not due, at least in the last three examples, to any constraints placed on the armed forces by their respective governments. It was due to the impossibility of eliminating terrorism and individual acts of violence without the active cooperation of the people of the area. Where well-trained armies failed it is not likely the Sri Lankan armed forces will succeed. In Sri Lanka, the people in the terrorism affected areas do not co-operate with the armed forces, not merely because they fear the wrath of the terrorists but also because they are alienated from the government and its armed forces. In fact the excesses of the armed forces in the north in the past years and the neglect of their duty in the South during the July riots have served to steel the Tamil consciousness into a unity that further violence can only harden.

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1611
There is another factor that militates against a military Solution to terrorism. This factor is the present unwillingness of the Indian Government to prevent Sri Lankaterrorists from having refuge in South india after an attack or whenever the need arises. For instance, the terrorist suspects who escaped from the Batticaloa prison found unofficial asylum in India. Prabhakaran and Maheswaran can settle their quarrels on Indian streets, but the Sri Lanka armed forces have no access to India.
In 1971 the Sinhalese insurgents lacked both of these advantages. Instead they fought a predominantly Sinhalese army in open battle, in rural areas that had produced children fighting on both sides. Poorly equipped, using wrong tactics and informed upon, they were no match for the armed forces.
Malaysia of 1947 presents a case that differs fundamentally from that of Sri Lanka and the other terrorism affected COuntries mentioned earlier. Malaysia lacked a territorially-based anti-government population and a foreign haven for terrorists. The Chinese were mixed fairly evenly throughout the country and therefore the Chinese Communist insurgents did not have a Chinese home territory. Further, the Chinese community itself was divided. For instance, the wealthy and powerful Chinese business Community was totally opposed to communism which sought to deprive the rich of their riches and equalize society. In this environment the government very effectively infiltrated the Communist Organizations using Chinese agents. In the neighbourhood of Chinese settlements, and often surrounding them, were Malay settlements which were hostile to the insurgents and offered information and security to the Malaysian armed forces. Similarly, Thailand and Indonesia were fully supportive of the Malaysian government. As a result the Chinese insurgents could not both attack the Malaysian Armed forces and hide.
A draconian part of the Malaysian anti-insurgency operation was for the armed forces to encircle Chinese settlements near to the scene of any insurgent activity and shoot any Chinese suspected of terrorism. This course of action may well have hastened the end of the insurgency in Malaysia without causing a civil War or Worse, but in

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1B12 PO/fľCS ajTÚf Lifg Jr.) ČYLľr "Tlg5
THE CONGRESS OF THE ALL CEYLON HINDU ASSOCATIONS WAS FOUNDED ON 06.02.1955. THE ALLCEYLONHINDU congrESS (ACHC) WAS ONE OF THE MEMBERS OF THIS ASSOCATION. IN APRIL 1968 ARRANGEMENTS WERE MADE BY M. SRIKANTHA, C. C. S. To obTAIN THE LANDATSIRCHIT TAMPALAMA. GARDINAR MAWATHA FOR ACHC BUILDING. FOUNDATION FOR ACHCBUILDING WASLAIDON 19.10, 1970, WHEN HON. JUSTICE. W. SIWASUB RAMANIAM WAS THE PRESIDENT OF THE ACHC. IN 1973 NITIAL WORKS ON THE FOUNDATION OF THE BUILDING WERE DONE. ONO3.02.1982 ALEASE WAS EXECUTED BY UDA. INFAWOUR OF ACHC FOR 99 YEARS. DURING THIS PERIOD THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T.DURAISINGAM, WASFOR ABOUT A DECADE, A WICE PRESIDENT OF THE CHC.
W Balas bara Tarfar77 A Generous Bangfacto, Presider of ÁČHČfrO7 25. 7.785 g 757. 2.
After he passing away of Hon. Justice W. Siwasubramaniart of C5.12, 1985, W. Balasubra Thanian was elected the President of the ACHC on 26, 10, 1986. On 23.07.1988 a tea party was held at the President's residence as a building fundraising function. The contribution by the President himself ran into lakhs of rupees, which enabled the 1" floor of the building to be completed, A Bharatha Natya recital by Miss Wanathy Easparathasan, in aid of the building fund, was held on 08.09, 1991 at the New Kathiresan Hall. Similar fundraising functions were held and the building went up and up with the able assistance of Kandiah Meelakandan, the General Secretary, and M. Kardasarmy, thig Treasurer. The President W. Balasubramaniam passed away on 15.07.1992, W. Kailasapillai (ther Deputy President) was elected the President of the ACHC or 02.08.1992. In 1995 the five floor building of the ACHC was completed and it is a Tagnificant edifice of the Sri Lankan Hindus.
 

Exploring Solution to the Cartmunal Problast 1813
Sri Lanka a similar action would in effect be civil War and Worse. The Tamils have a home territory in which they are an over-whelming majority. The armed forces therefore would be surrounded by a hostile and fearful population. If the armed forces encircle a Tamil willage in the north suspected of harbouring terrorists and shoot all suspect terrorists and enraged neighbours from the surrounding villages, which unlike in Malaysia will also be Tamil, will have no difficulty attacking the encircling forces from the rear. A military solution will inevitably lead to a bloodbath in the Tanil areas, and perhaps elsewhere, and Will serve to give international legitimacy to Indian interwention. Avoiding this eventuality should be a national priority because any direct interwention by India would be gravely injurious to Sri Lanka's Sovereignty and territorial intergrity, Grenada could not resist the United States and it is fantastic to imagine that Sri Lanka can resist the might of India. It is also idle to imagine that the United States will wish to seriously antagonize, and risk a military Confrontation of unimaginable magnitude with India, for the Sake Of Trinii COThallege Farbi) Lur,
In Sri Lanka, then, there is no military solution to the Communal proble. There is only a political solution that takes the fact of strong Cotual identities into account. The "front" is not the military battlefield; it is the mass rally and the negotiating table. It is not the Courage of violent youth but the wisdon of political leadership that can pull together this impowerished country, so that the flower of Sinhalese and Tamil youth will not shed their blood in wain but unite in a Common effort to better society.
THE NEED FORREGIONAL AUTOMOMY
There is a need for haste, for great urgency, Every terrorist attack against the lives of the armed forces in the north brings ominous rumbles in the south. Thus far the terrorist campaign has been limited to the predominantly Tamil areas, perhaps beca Luse the terrorists themselves fear the Wengeance that can be Wreaked against the Tamil comunity hostage in the Sinhalese areas. But how much longer will this avoidance of the South continue, and what Will be the Consequences of Such as attack?

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1614 Politics and Life in Our Times
Where communal conflict has reached the point of violence and secession, regional autonomy formulas, which include federalism, have proved to be the only realistic solutions. Regional autonomy reconciles the state's principle of territorial integrity with the minority's principle of self-determination. It is the bridge between the Tamil demand for a solution as near as possible to secession and the Sinhalese demand that the solution be as far as possible from i SeCeSSiOn.
For the past several years the state has been unable to effectively govern the predominately Tamil areas. Terrorism was originally limited to the Northern Province; now it has established itself in the Eastern Province as well. Civilians are murdered, state property is destroyed, banks are robbed of millions, servicemen are ambushed and this goes on every day. The government has much to gain and little to lose by giving autonomy to those predominantly Tamil areas in which its rule, even now, has practically ceased to exist. Emotion should not detract from a recognition of this fact. Even now the persistence of the communal problem, and the demonstration of state impotence is leading to a dangerous perception, among Sri Lankans of all Communities and Social classes, of Societal failure and loss of Worth of all governments.
The Tamil separatist leadership led by the TULF has made it clear that they are prepared to abandon the demand for a separate state if a viable alternative is designed and made available. There is a possibility that a solution that falls short of secession, even though backed by the TULF, might not satisfy some groups of terrorists. But by reaching a solution supported by the Tamil political leadership and ratified by the people of the area at a referendum, the government will, with the only means at its disposal, eliminate terrorism by depriving the terrorists of their two-fold prop: a co-operative population in their home territory and a haven in India. When Tamils are governing themselves in their autonomous region the terrorists will have to kill Tamils elected by Tamils if they wish to continue being terrorists. The Indian government has stated on several occasions that it will welcome

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1615
a settlement acceptable to the Tamils. Indeed, India has a stake in a stable and non-aligned Sri Lanka that will not destabilize the region, and India itself, by becoming an arena for superpower rivalry, or cause passions in South India to reach boiling point and thereby endanger India's own fragile unity.
Among the political and economic gains brought about by regional autonomy, would be the enhanced scope for participatory democracy that smaller governments more sensitive to the needs of its constituents bring, as well as the opportunity to use Competitive Communal attachments in local initiatives to supply the driving force for national development. Yugoslavia is an example of a country that has emphasized local involvement that depends on communalties in a federal system.
The major cost of regional autonomy would be the psychological one borne by the Sinhalese whose whole history and education have made them identify themselves, and the Buddhist religion, with rulership over the entire island. The loss of the rulership over the Tamils and Tamil areas is a price that has to be paid for the unity and development of the country. It is a big price to pay, but it is not bigger than the lives and resources that are squandered everyday in the north, especially when it will not cost the Sinhalese any diminution of power over their own destinies in the Sinhalese areas and in the international arena.
But there is another psychological hurdle to be overcome in dealing with the question of regional autonomy for the Tamils. This revolves around Sinhalese concern over the fairness of competition with the Tamils on a basis of equality. Embedded in the Sinhalese Communal identity are two insecurity-generating perceptions that are a heritage of the past. One is the perception of isolation in the world; "the Tamils have South India, the Muslims have the Arab World, but the Sinhalese have only Sri Lanka". This perception was given substance recently in a speech by Mrs. Bandaranaike. The other is the perception of historical deprivation first brought to the mass Sinhalese consciousness by Anagarika Dharmapala. Taken together

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1616 Politics and Life in Our Times
these two perceptions have led successive post-independence governments to devise policies that favoured the Sinhalese. But in this bid to even the scales, the injustice done to individual Tamils has been all but lost sight of.
The debate over regional autonomy for the Tamils therefore is bound to reawaken the lingering doubts of the Sinhalese regarding their ability to maintain their position in the country, and the "fairness" of open competition with the Tamil region, once Central Government control over regional affairs is lost. But in 1984 these doubts are no longer valid. In many fields of endeavour the Sinhalese have produced leaders of world stature. In science there is Cyril Ponnamperuma, in International economics Gamini Corea, Multinational business Upali Wijewardena, in Art, Senaka Senanayake, in Law C.G. Weeramantry, in Social anthropology Gananath Obeysekera and in Medicine Tony Don Michael to name but the most conspicuous. In 1956 S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike brought to the Sinhalese masses the consciousness of their political power which was used, among other things, to fashion crutches. But crutches if used too long debilitate rather than strengthen. Today the Sinhalese are the equals in ability to any other community, and they need not have doubts about their ability to compete.
REGIONAL AUTONOMY AND SECESSION
The Sinhalese fear that regional autonomy will someday lead to Secession is speculative and is not based upon the experience of other countries. In no country in the world in modern times has regional autonomy led to separation against the wishes of the state. But interestingly enough where regional autonomy has been refused, as it was in Pakistan and Cyprus in recent times and in Great Britain at the turn of the century, separation has taken place. The fear that regional autonomy in Sri Lanka will be a further step to a separate state has as little validity as claiming that the TULF's electoral success in 1977 or the elevation of Tamil to the status of a national language in 1978 were steps to Eelam.

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1617
Like the Sudan, Canada provides an example of a country that successfully halted the slide towards secession by moving in Concrete fashion to ease the language, and status grievances of the minority, sometimes by over-compensating them. Canadian political and economic life has traditionalybeen dominated by the English-Canadians which has generated friction between the majority English and minority French-Canadians. In the early 1960s French-Canadian resentment, especially in the French-Canadian state of Quebec, manifested itself in terrorism. In 1968 the PartiCRuebecois (P.Q.) was formed with the goal of political independence from Canada in view. In 1976 the rapidly growing P.O. defeated the governing Liberal Party in Quebec. In response to the mounting secessionist Crisis the Federal government passed an Official Languages Act to make the delivery of government services in both the English and French languages a reality. High-ranking federal government employees were obligated to learn French within a period of 2 years. Simultaneously, an informal programme was adopted to increase the representation of French-Canadians at the highest levels of Canadian institutions. Finally, in 1980 the government of Quebec held a referendum to determine whether Quebecers were in favour of secession. 59.5% of Quebecers said no. This Canadian example clearly shows that the anxiety of the separatist leadership to secede and lead a new country is not necessarily shared by the members of the group concerned, who prefer an honourable settlement within the framework of the existing and familiar country.
Regional autonomy formulas are not new to Sri Lanka. In 1957 Prime Minister and leader of the SLFP, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, negotiated an agreement with S. J. V. Chelvanayakam the leader of the F. P. This agreement, better known as the BandaranaikeChelvanayakampact, was a Comprehensive regional autonomy solution. In 1965, Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake, leader of the U. N. P., concluded a similar agreement with S. J. V. Chelvanayakam but both these agreements were not implemented due to the strong opposition to them in the south. Neither S. W. R. D.Bandaranaike nor Dudley Senanayake, two of the foremost leaders of the country and of the

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1618 Politics and Life in Our Times
Sinhalese, thought that regional autonomy would harm the interests of the country they led and were responsible to. Rather they thought that regional autonomy was the best device to strengthen the unity of the country and its communities. But they lacked the courage and strength to implement their convictions. In 1984 it is now President J. R. Jayewardene's opportunity to make amends for the failures of 1957 and 1965.
Regional autonomy is not an impairment on the sovereignty of the country or of its territorial integrity. In dealings with other countries there will not be two or more states; rather, there will be one Country, Sri Lanka. There will, for instance, be only one Sri Lankan currency; all citizens of Sri Lanka will have the perfect right to travel the length and breadth of the country and settle down wherever they please; noncitizens will not be permitted entrance into the country except with the permission of the central government. Indeed, all powers vital to the preservation of the country's integrity such as the armed forces, foreign affairs, external trade, finance and immigration will remain in the hands of the central government. Finally, if worse comes to the worst and the autonomous region works against the interests of the country as a whole, the central government can always intervene effectively as has happened rather frequently in India. Regional autonomy is as far from secession as the Sinhalese could reasonably want.
Regional autonomy also means that the people of the autonomous regions would decide for themselves what type of regional government they want, and what their priorities are with respect to the allocation of resources. The regional government will decide, for instance, whether it wants to spend its funds, collected locally and allocated according to the constitution by the central government, on the construction of factories or dams, on subsidies or to repair roads, etc. The regional government will have its own policies with regard to the educational and judicial systems and recruitment to the regional civil service. For law enforcement within the region it will have its own police force. Regional autonomy will provide the Tamils with as much self-determination as they can reasonably want.

Exploring Solution to the Communal Problem 1619
The fear that granting the Tamil areas regional autonomy might spark off similar demands from territorially concentrated minorities, such as the Muslims in the Eastern Province and perhaps even by the Kandyan Sinhalese, is not based upon an understanding of the principles of decentralized government. Even if these groups should ask for autonomy at a referendum, Sri Lanka would not then be a vivisected aberration but would rather possess a decentralized system of government that brings democracy and efficiency closer to the people. There is an extensive literature that documents the advantages of decentralized as compared to centralized government, where Satisfying the genuine needs of the people is concerned. Regional governments, simply, are more accountable to the people of the region. When Switzerland with its population of 6 million can have 23 regional governments and Yugoslovia with 21 million can have 8, having 4 or 5 regions would not make Sri Lanka any sort of exception in the international state system. Indeed, as far back as 1925 S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike proposed that Sri Lanka should have 9 regional governments within a federal frame work.
The American political scientist Crawford Young has observed that "With few exceptions, the international arena has been resolutely hostile to the fragmentation of its components". This is partly because separatism is a latent political option for dissatisfied territorial groups in every plural state. It is worth noting that in almost 75% of the countries in the World minorities account for at least 10% of the population, and in about 40% of the countries the population is divided into 5 or more significant Communal groups.
Other than in South India the Eelamists have received little or no official response in their search for external support. In recent times Bangladesh, and the Turkish part of Cyprus, stand alone in having successfully separated against the resistance of the state. Here India, and Turkey, provided all the resources, including invading armies, normally denied to secessionists. Likewise secession can never take place in Sri Lanka except with the dire military intervention of India or a Super power.

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152) Fis r1 Life ir7 u Tips
THE HISTORY OF RECENT TIMES REFUTES THE DEATHAT REGIONAL AUTONOMY IS THE PRECURSOR TO SECESSION. ON THE CONTRARY TIMELY GRANTING OF REGIONAL AUTONOMY HAS SUFFICENTLY ALLAYED ANXIETIES AND ALTERED PERCEPTIONS, THAT GREATER UNITY HAS BEEN THE FREQUENTRESULT. THE SOVIET UNION, CANADA, AND SWITZERLAND ARE BUT THE BETTER KNOWN EXAMPLES: THE SUCCESS OF REGIONALAUTONOMY IN THE SUDAN, LIBYA AND NIGERIA ARE LESS WELL KNOWN.THUS, LIKE SWITZERLAND WITHITS GERMAN, FRENCH, ITALIAN AND ROMANSCHCOMMUNAL IDENTITIES THAT FIND EXPRESSION IN THE UNITY OF FEDERALISM, SRI LANKA WITH ITS SINHALESE, TAMIL MUSLIMAND BURGHER COMMUNAL IDENTITIES CAN DEVELOP ITS OWN REGIONAL AUTONOMY SOLUTION THAT FINALLYMOULDSAPOLITICAL IDENTITY CAPABLE OFOWERRIDING THE MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVECOMMUNAL IDENTITIES.
The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, and his wife with the brida and bridegroom at a Muslim Wadding in Colombo.
In the Sixth Cenctury A. D. Muhart IITiad appears first in history as the young husband of the Widow of a rich merchant of the town of Mecca. Until he was forty he seems to have taken considerable interest in religious discussion. About forty, Muhammad began to develop prophetic characteristics like those of the Hebrew prophets twelve hundred years before him. He talked first to his wife of the One True God, and of therawards and punishments of wirtue andwickedness. There can be no doubt that his thoughts were wery strongly influenced by Jewish and Christian ideas. He gathered about him a small circle of beliewers and presently began to preach in the town against the prevalent idolatry. This made him extremely unpopular with his fellow townsmer because the pilgrimages to the Kaaba Were the chief source of such prosperity as Mecca enjoyed. He became bolder and more definite in his teaching, declaring himself to be the last chosen prophet of God intrusted with a mission to perfect religion, Abraham, he declared, and Jesus Christ were his forerunners. He had been chose to Complate and perfect the revelation of God's will. He produced worses which he said had been Communicated to him by an angal, and he had a strange wision in which he was taken up through the Heavens to God and instructed in his mission,
- H. G. MWEN.
 

Exploring Solution to the Communal Probsart 1621
A les som from history that has particular Televance to Sri Lanka at the crossroads, can be gleaned from events of a century ago in Great Britian, then the mightest Country in the world. Ireland was then an integral part of Great Britain. When William Gladstone took office as Prime Minister in 1880 in the midst of disturbances in Ireland he said "My mission is to pacify Ireland". He introduced a "Home-Rule" bill which in effect gawe regional autonomy to Ireland. Its main provisions were to establish a regional parliament in Dublin to deal with internal Irish affairs and to leave control of foreign affairs, external trade and defence under the jurisduction of the British government in London. The opposition under Lord Salisbury capitalized on British fears of the disinenberTent of Great Britain, Because of the opposition generated by the plan Gladstone in 1886 called elections and said "TWO plans are before the World. There is the plan of the government and the plan of Lord Salisbury, Our plan is that Ireland shall transact her own affairs. Hisplan is to ask for new repressive laws and to enforce ther resolutely for the next 20 years". The appeal to chauvinism and caution Won and the new government under Salibury promptly introduced its policy of "whips and carrots". The Irish ranks closed, and terrorists became heroes and martyrs; governing Ireland became increasingly difficult. In 1920 the British parliament passed the Government of Ireland Act partitioning the country. In 1922 the Irish Free State was formed.
The history of recent times refutes the idea that regional autonomy is the precursor to secession. On the Contrary timely granting of regional autonomy has sufficently allayed anxieties and altered perceptions, that greater unity has been the frequent result. The Soviet Union, Canada, and Switzerland are but the better known examples, the success of regional autonomy in the Sudan, Libya and Nigeria are less Well known. Thus, like Switzerland with its German, French, Italian and Rotansch communal identities that find expression in the unity of federalism, Sri Lanka with its Sinhalese, Tamil, Muslim and Burgher communal identities can develop its own regional autonomy solution that finally moulds a political identity capable of Owerriding the Tutually exclusive Communal identities.

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1622 Politics and Life in Our Times
The communal problem is liable to baffle those who investigate Societal problems through economic analysis and Common sense. Within this inadequate frame work the grievances of the Tamils are thought to Consist primarily of employment and educational disabilities which, however, are seen to afflict the majority of Sinhalese as well. This Commonly-found view has hardened popular Sinhalese sentiment against the granting of concessions to the Tamils. But while jobs and university degrees are undoubtedly important to the Tamils, what has driven the Tamils to separatism is the communally perceived inequality of rights that has made Tamils as individuals unequal to the Sinhalese in the state influenced competition for employment, education and land. Communal relations have, in the years since independence, travelled by default to a situation where self-determination for Tamils is the only way out of the present crises.
Today we in Sri Lanka are like that amazing bird, the ostrich, who buries its head in the sand when it hears the leopard's roar. For a moment, perhaps two, with its eyes closed it hears only a huffing and puffing.
There is a communal problem in Sri Lanka. The daily news, the tarnished international reputation of this once model island, the precious lives and Scarce resources Swallowed everyday bear witness to that fact. It is childish and dangerous, to claim there is really no problem, or that the problem is unjustified, or that no solution can be found. Each one of those claims is an excuse for inaction. Reflecting on the French revolution, the 18th Century British political philosopher Edmund Burke said "A state without the means of some change is without the means of its conservation". There is a solution to the communal problem, and it must be found before the Ostrich's fate befalls us.
Courtesy: "Saturday Review", Jaffna, May 12, 1984.
* Edmund Birke was an irish writer and statesman. Born on January 12, 1729, was educated at a private school at Ballitore and Trinity College, Dublin. Going to London he earned alivelihood by writing for The Annual Register and in other ways. In 1765 he became private Secretary to Lord Rockingham and entered the House of Commons as M.P. for Wendover. From 1774 to 1780 he sat for Bristol and from 1781-94 for Malton. Outside Parliament he was a member of the circle that gathered round Johnson. He died on July 8th, 1797.

If There is a Will, there is a Way
by Motilal Nehru, P. C.
Government and the LTTE began negotiations on April 11, 1989. Hostilities between the Government and the LTTE broke out on June 11, 1990. We are in October 1990. There appears to be no sign of cessation of hostilities. The two sides negotiated for 14 long months. But the country does not have the benefit of even a 14 line statement from either side indicating the nature of negotiations between the two parties. No explanation has been offered to the country as to why hostilities broke out.
The country is shocked as to why hostilities broke out, and the Tamils are in a greater shock because they are at the receiving end. An affair between a Muslim youth and a Sinhalese lady in Batticaloa is being trotted out as the cause for the hostilities.
The incident that began the First World War was the assassination in June, 1914 of Archduke Francis Ferdinand, heir to the throne of Austria-Hungary. This assassination, historians say, was the excuse to begin the War, not its cause. Similarly, the affair between the Muslim youth and the Sinhalese lady, our future historians will say, was the excuse to begin the War, not its cause.
inspite of the bilateral negotiations, North and East were a tinder box, ready to burst into the flames of war at the slightest spark. The "affair" at Batticaloa provided that spark.
The ongoing war has resulted in mass deaths, damage to properties, famine and above all, Sri Lanka turning out to be the largest refugee camp in the world. Thousands of people are fleeing the North and East and civil administration has come to a standstill in those areas. Rule of law has been replaced by the law of the jungle. Hundreds of thousands of people have been made destitute, why?

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1624 Politics and Life in Our Times
POLITICAL SOLUTION
This war must stop. There should be a cessation of hostilities. Both parties should forget their pride and prestige. In as much as it is the duty and responsibility of the government to ensure the safety and protection of the people in the North and East, it is equally the duty and responsibility of the LTTE to ensure the safety and protection of the people in the North and East.
Ultimately, both parties are answerable to the people. Even if the government succeeds in bringing North and East under its complete control through military means, we have not found a solution to the problem of the people in those areas. An honourable political solution acceptable to the people in the North and East is the only answer.
Military might cannot be the lasting solution. History has taught us this lesson. Recent happenings in the Eastern European countries have clearly demonstrated that the might of the military cannot hold the people for ever. It is in the interest of every Sri Lankan to bear in mind this lesson of history. Otherwise, the losers will be not only Tamils but also Sinhalese, Muslims and every son of this land.
What is the political solution that is acceptable to the people of the North and East? Out of the devastation of the First World War was born the League of Nations. Out of the Second World War was born a more effective arrangement - the United Nations Organisation. These arrangements became realities in order to ensure peace and prosperity for the people of the world. Similarly, can't we find a solution which would ensure peace and prosperity to the people of our country? If there is a will there is a way. If we learn to accommodate the legitimate aspirations of the minorities, we would have succeeded in finding a lasting solution.
Sri Lanka is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural. In order to find a lasting solution to this vexed problem, the "Tamil question", it is imperative to keep in mind the fact that our country is multi-racial, multi-religious and multi-cultural. Sri Lanka does not belong to one race or one community. If we seek to find a solution ignoring these basic facts, there can never be peace in this land.

If There is a Will, there is a Way 1625
The Tamil-speaking people comprising of Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamils of recent Indian origin and Muslims constitute 25.27 per cent of the population of this country. The Northern and Eastern provinces have been traditionally recognised as Tamil-speaking areas. This was the position at the time of the British conquest of the maritime Provinces of Sri Lanka.
A SINGLE LINGUSTICENTITY
Under the constitutions of 1972 and 1978, the Northern and Eastern provinces were recognised as a single linguistic entity wherein the Tamil language shall also be used as the language of administration for the conducting of business by local authorities and in the Courts of Original Jurisdiction.
These two provinces are predominantly Tamil-speaking. The Northern Province is 97 per cent Tamil-speaking and in the Eastern Province 72 per cent of the population have Tamil as their mother tongue. In the combined Northern and Eastern provinces the Tamilspeaking people form over 86 percent of the population. It is therefore important to bear in mind the fact that the Tamil-speaking people in Sri Lanka Constituted a nation distinct from that of the Sinhalese in every fundamental test of nationhood.
Even the Indo-Sri Lanka agreement of 1987 recognises that the Northern and the Eastern Provinces have been areas Of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking people. One may call North and East the traditional homeland of the Tamil-speaking people. Another may call them areas of historical habitation of Sri Lankan Tamil-speaking people. There can be difference of opinion in giving a name to a territory, but the fact remains that the North and East are predominantly Tamil-speaking areas. Labels do not matter. These two provinces should be one unit.
This is the basic aspiration of the minorities in this country. These provinces are the homeland of the Tamil-speaking people because Tamil-speaking people have been traditionally living there. If the land is lost Tamil-speaking people will eventually lose their

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1626 Follics Hrt Lift írt Cll Jr. TÍTÉS
REPUTEDLY THE ONLY TAMIL PRESIDENT'S COUNSEL APPOINTED BY PRESIDENT RANASINGHE PREMADASA, MOTILAL NEHRU S A. WELL KNOWN FIGURE IN TAMIL POLITICAL CIRCLES HE'S ANNA, TO LTTE SUPREMO WELUPPILLA PRABHAKARAN, BUT THIS HAS NOT BARRED
LL LLLLLLL LLLL LLL LLLLLL LLLLLLLKLLLLL LSLLLLLLLLaL LL SLG LLLLLLS LLLL LLLLLLL CONTRARY, MR. NEHRU MAINTAINS A CLOSE RAPPORT WITH BOTH PRESIDENT PREMADASA AND MRS. SIRIMAWO BANDARANAIKE, AND IS LLLLLL LLLLLLLEcL LLL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLGaLLLL LLL LLLL G LLLLLL LL LLL LLLLLL SLFP DWIDE, BORN IN WELVETTITHURAI, MR, NEHRU BEGAN HIS POLITICAL CAREER ASA MEMBER OF THE CEYLONCOMMUNIST PARTY. WHEN HE CONTESTED THE POINTPEDRO SEAT FOR THE CPIN 1965, HE WAS 23 YEARSOLD, AND THE YOUGEST CANDIDATE AT THE HUSTINGS, A YEAR LATER, HE CUIT THE CP AND JOINED THE ALL CEYLONTAMIL CONGRESS OF WHICHHE WAS THE WICE PRESIDENT FOR SOMETIME.
Mossa MgFIL P C. 3.B. 939 - 29,
Marxism - the revolutionary teachings of Karl Marx and Frederick Engels which incorporate the progressive ideas of the pas! — has become Wide-spread, throughout the World. Marx and Engels approached human Society as an object of scientific investigation. They elaborated the theory of scientific socialis, which proves that a new, Socialist System will inevitably replace Capitalism. The building of a new society based on the principles of freedom, equality, fraternity, peace and labour must be headed by the working class With he support of the peasants and all progressive sections of Society. This theory, creatively developed by Wladimir Lenin and successfully applied in LLLLSLLLLLLLL LLL aLLLLL LL LLLLLL HLL LL LLLLLLLLuLLLLLL LL LLLLL HLLLLHLLLLLLL LL LLLLLL a Workers and peasants. Several countries in Asia have adopted the Marxist doctring and are building a socialist Society, Inmost of the rest of the Countries the ideas of Marxism-Leninism have been gaining ground in one way or another,
 

If There is a Will, there is a Way 1627
identity. This is the basic fear in the minds of the Tamil-speaking people. This aspect should be appreciated and respected by the majority community. If there is no appreciation of this fundamental fact, no lasting Solution could be found.
ls there an appreciation of this fundamental fact by the people who matter? The answer is "Yes". President Premadasa who presides ower the deliberations of the All Party Conference (APC) to find a solution to the ethnic problem has given positive indications of appreciation of this fact. In my view, he appears to be genuinely interested in finding a solution within the perimeters of this concept.
This approach was fortified by the announcement he made at the APC on October 7, 1990. He said he was convening a conference of the leaders of all recognised political parties to find a way to break the deadlock between the Tanilpolitical parties and the Muslim political parties on the unit of devolution.
The statement issued by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party a few days later on the merger of Northern and Eastern provinces also appears to appreciate this fundamental concept. The last paragraph of the statement of the SLFP is positive in its approach to this question, The two major political parties have begun their journey in finding a lasting solution. It is therefore imperative that certain individuals and organisations who are watching from outside to take advantage by whipping up the sentiments of the people, should also join the mainstream and Work out an honourable solution acceptable to the people of the Northern and Eastern provinces,
In this context, I Would earnestly appeal to the President to announce a cessation of hostilities and invite the LTTE to join the discussion with all political parties to find a lasting solution. In my view, the invitation for negotiations to the LTTE accompanied by the announcement of Cessation of hostilities should be unconditional. This approach could go a long way in Taking Sri Lanka a better and peaceful land so that al| communities could live in harmony.
Courtesy; "The Sunday Tires", Colombo, October 14, 1990.

Page 275
N-E War an Obstacle to Nation's Progress
by Alavi Mowlana Minister of Provincia Councils and
Local Goverrer
Kalutara-"The War in North and East is a great hindrance to the development of the Country and every citizen should extend his or her fullest support to the political package of the government to end this war, When the war is ended the government would not only give tractors and other equipments, but even helicopters to expedite the development work. Today a massive amount of money has to be spent on an useless war" said Mr. Alawi Mowlana, Minister of Provincial Councils and Local Government at a ceremony held in connection with the distribution of ten tractors to the Pradeshiya Sabhas (PS) of the Kalutara district and one for the Beruwala UC. The value of the tractor was rupees four million. The ceremony was held at the Town Hall, Kalutara.
Addressing the members of the local government institute he said that he had discussed with the President the shortcomings of the Pradeshiya Sabhas and she had instructed that funds and essential equipment be provided shortly. Already the central government has decentralized its administration and the government has not divided the Country. The country that was divided under the previous regime had been united under the leadership of the President.
"Had the earlier government implemented the BandaranaikeChelwanayagar Pact, or Dudley Senanayake-Chelwanayagam Pact, the country would have been prosperous and there could have been unity among all communities",
He also requested that the people extend their fullest support to implement the political packages to ensure permanent peace.
Speaking about the media he said there is freedom for the press and it is not restricted as during the last regime. The government always Welcomes Constructive Criticism.
Mrs. Sumithra PriyanganiAbeyweera, Deputy Minister of Internal and External Trade and Commerce, said that the problems faced by

N-E War an Obstacle to Nation's Progress 1629
"THE WAR IN NORTH AND EAST IS A GREAT HINDRANCE TO THE DEWELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY AND EVERY CITIZENSHOULD EXTEND HIS OR HERFULLEST SUPPORT TO THE POLITICAL PACKAGE OF THE GOVERNMENT TO END THIS WAR. WHEN THE WAR IS ENDED THE GO WERNMENT WOULD NOT ONLY GWE TRACTORS AND OTHER EQUIPMENTS, BUT EVEN HELICOPTERSTOEXPEDITE THE DEVELOPMENT WORK. TODAY A MASSIVE AMOUNT OF MONEY HAS TO BE SPENT ON AN USELESS WAR" SAID MR. ALAWI MOWLANA MINISTER OF PROVINCIAL COUNCILS AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT AT A, CEREMONY HELD IN CONNECTION WITH THE DISTRIBUTION OF TEN TRACTORS TO THE PRADESHIYASABHAS (PS) OF THE KALUTARADISTRICT ANDONE FORTHE BERUWALAUC. THE WALUE OF A TRACTORWASRUPEES FOUR *闇 鬣
冒
retire
LLLLGGGGLLLLS LLLLLLGHHLL aGHL TLLLLLLL LLLLLGGHGCCH LLLuHC LLtG LGLLLLLLLLC CTCLL over cheques to the value of Rs. 75,000 each from the President's Fund to two LCLLaa LHaaLLLCH LLLLLL LLLL CmtGLGCLKLLLLL LLLCLaHGGL LCLCCO CCLS aL Bodhirajaramaya, Colombo 3. The Minister's Co-ordinating Secretary Naseeb Mowlana was also presert.
Addressing the members of the local government instituto he said that he had discussed with the President the short comings of the Pradeshiya Sabhas and she had instructed that funds and assential equipment be provided shortly. Already the central government has decentralized its administration and the government has not divided the country. The country that was divided under the previous regime had been united under the leadership of the President. "Had the earlier government implemented the Bandaranaike-Chelwanayagam Pact, or Dudley Senanayake-Chalwanayagam Pact, the country would have been prosperous and there could have been unity a Tong all communities". He also recquestad that thë pople externd theoir fullest support to impleTent the political packages to ensure permanent peace. Speaking about the media he said there is freedor for the press and it is not rostricted as during the last registic. The government always welcomes constructive criticist.

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1630 Politics and Life in Our Times
the Pradeshiya Sabhas would be gradually solved and by donating a tractor to each PS is a progressive policy adopted by the Chief Minister, W. P. P. S., Susil Premajayantha.
"Today the Urban Council and PS Kalutara are under the administration of People's Alliance government and during the last few months, the two institutes had rendered a valuable Service to the taxpayers".
She stressed that the present government renders its service irrespective of political differences and it is a great pleasure to see the chairman of Agalawatta PS, which is under the control of UNP also present at this ceremony.
Finally, she said that the Provincial Council elections will be held next year and wished that the chief minister would be re-elected to continue the development work.
Mr. Susil Premajayantha, Chief Minister, WPPC said that he would take early steps to assist the local government institutes as the development should be from grassroot level.
He assured that all the vacancies in the local government would be filled by recruiting qualified persons through a competitive examination. At present there are 836 vacancies for clerks, typists, stenographers and other categories of officers.
"The WPPC will never interfere in the administration of the pradeshiya Sabhas and full freedom is given to carry out their policies. There should be no corruption and irregularities in the local government institutes to win the confidence of the public. Further funds will be allocated with no political bias". w
Mr. Ediriweera Premaratne, District Member, Kalutara, said that the WPPC council renders an excellent service to the tax-payers irrespective of any political differences. Even the request of parliamentarians have not been rejected by the PC.
Mr. Nalin Mahes Perera, Chairman, UC, Kalutara welcomed the distinguished gathering.
Mr. A. J. Somasiri, Chairman, Kalutara PS proposed the vote of thanks.
Mr. Nihal Devinda Fernando, Chairman, Panadura PS and Mr. Sanjaya Galaboda, Chairman, Agalawatta PS also spoke.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, October 20th, 1997.

D. E. W. Gunasekara Said Communist Party was Always with the People
by Ranga Kalansooriya
As a responsible political party, the Communist Party of Sri Lanka has never entered the path of terror, but was always with the people fighting for their rights, said CP Vice President D. E. W. Gunasekara at its 54th anniversary celebrations held at Sugeeshwara Hall, Borella on Thursday.
Being the second oldest political party in Sri Lanka, the service it rendered to the country would make a new chapter in the country's history, he said. But it should step towards the twenty-first century with new vision and ambition, beside all the typical themes and slogans, Mr. Gunasekara added.
"Throughout the past 54 years, there were instances where we were out of track or not in the proper direction, but in all those situations, we were humble enough to do self criticism and identify our faults to get back to the correct track", he said.
"We were never with arms, never responsible for any murder in the political arena even of our political enemies. As a matured political party that is not our culture. Being the real leftists we always adhere to our ethics and principles to serve the working community in the country.
"If the ideas of the late CP leaders on the country's ethnic issue were considered by the then leaders, today, we would not experience this blood shedding war between two brotherly ethnic groups of one Country.

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1632 Polities arid Life irT COLJr Tirtas
THE COMMUNIST PARTY OFSRI LANKA, BEING THESECONDOLDEST POLITICAL PARTY IN SRI LANKA,THE SERVICE TRENDERED TO THE COUNTRY WOULDMAKE A NEW CHAPTER IN THE COUNTRY'S HISTORY. BUT IT SHOULD STEP TOWARDS THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY WITH NEW WISION AND AMBITION, BESIDES HAVING ALL THE TYPICAL THEMES AND SLOGANS. ITS MEMBERS WERE NEWER WITH ARMS, NEVER RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY MURDER IN THE POLITICAL ARENA EVEN OF THEIRPOLITICAL ENEMIES, ASA MATURED POLITICAL PARTY THAT IS NOT THEIR CULTURE. BEING REAL LEFTISTS THEY ALWAYS ADHERE TO THEIRETHICS AND PRINCIPLES TO SERVE THE WORKING COMMUNITY IN THE COUNTRY.
LL LLL LGLLLGGGLL LLLLL LaL LLLLLaLLLL LL LLL LLLLLLLLS LS LLLGLTCLLS LLLLuLLLLLL LL LLLLLL laading 77obars of Ihe Pary To the efaffa chairTar) is Faja Colure and fa ffyg rigfıf as ho ČChairYTā ir is ridika GL na Wardersa.
Marxist defines to state as a machine for the suppression of one class by another. Like other instruments for ensuring the exploiting classes domination ower tha people, tine state carme into being with tha Thergence Col pri Wate ownership and the division of society into antagonistic classes. Both in slaveowning and feudal societies and in capitalist society the state is an instrument for oppressing the working people who form the overwhelming majority of the population. In the age of imperialism the bourgeois stato machine plays an ghlaced rcle; there is är Lumprecedented i Creasa in its ELi reĒLLIČratiC ad military apparatus, which is directed against the revolutionary proletariat, the national liberation movement of the oppressed peoples, and 50 Ori,
 

r,
D. E. W. Gunasekara said Corrrrtunist Parly was Always with the Paople 1633
"The left, not only the CP but also the LSSP was always with a far sighting vision without promoting communalism or chauvinism. It was clearly indicated in the late Colwirl R. de Silva's Wersion thus: "One language - two countries, two languages - one country". We would like to see the present govern Tent Work on those ideas", he said.
CP General Secretary Raja Collure said the party should step forward within the frame work of socialism in order to create a balanced and just society. But it should identify the current global trends as market economy, globalisation and information technology, he said.
"We should support the efforts to abolish the executive presidency, current electoral System and other related issues, And also we should be alert to the present political scenario to guide the PA in the proper direction", he said,
Housing and Constructions Minister and CP politburo member Indika Gunawardena said the CP and LSSP Were the founders of Sri Lankan politics. Those two parties were at the forefront on any occasion where the people of this country had to face conflict situations.
At this juncture too the country was facing the most dangerous challenges and it is the great responsibility of these two pioneer political parties to support the government to overcome this Situation, the min İster Said.
There is no future for the country without a political solution to the ethnic problem and we as leftists who hate war should get to the forefront in the war for peace, he added.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, July 5th, 1997.
Lenin showed the significance of Marxism as the only true revolutionary theory springing from the sum total of human knowledge, and compared the conclusions of Marxism with the results of the development of human society. All the component parts of Marxism - philosophy, political economy and Scientific communism - were studied, enlarged on and applied to specific situations in Lenin's theoretical works and practical activity.

Page 278
Broken Pledges and Militarism
by V. Navaratnam
IV. Navaratnam, the only living founder member of the lankai Thamil Arasu Kadchi (Federal Party), represented the Kayts constituency in the Ceylon Parliament. He later broke away from the party and advocated self-rule for the Tamils. A leading political strategist of the time, he now lives in Canada. Mr. Navaratnam is the author of "The Fall and Rise of the Tamil Nation (1995)").
Historically the Tamils and the Sinhalese were always politically independent of one another, and separately occupied their respective traditional homelands until the British conquest early in the 19th century. The Tamil homeland territory was ceded to the British by the Dutch by the Treaty of Amiens of 1802. It was the British who amalgamated the Tamil and Sinhalese territories into one Crown colony for administrative purposes, which resulted in the Tamils becoming smaller in numbers as compared to the Sinhalese in the unified country.
Mindful of this, when Independence was being negotiated in 1946 the British insisted on making provisions in the proposed constitution for the protection of the Tamils and demanded that the Sinhalese obtain the consent of the Tamils for the complete transfer of power to the people of Ceylon.
The Sinhalese gave a solemn promise and undertaking and pledged themselves never to use their majority numbers to discriminate against or to the detriment of the Tamils (vide State Council Hansard of 1946).

Broken Pledges and Militarism 1635
1948 CONSTITUTION
The British took care to ensure the faithful performance of the Sinhalese promise and undertaking by giving it legal form and incorporating it as unalterable laws in Article 29 of the 1948 Constitution and agreed to the British transfer of power to the people of Ceylon.
The 1948 Constitution, the one and only lawful and legally enacted Constitution Ceylon has ever had since the end of World War II, therefore provided for -
(i) a Parliament, with power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of Ceylon subject to the limitations placed on that power by the unalterable laws in Article 29 and consisting of
(a) the Queen of Ceylon as constitutional Head of the State, (b) the House of Representatives with balanced representation elected on the basis of universal adult franchise; the proportion of seats was something like 52% for the Sinhalese and 48% for all the minorities, and (c) the Senate as a second chamber for sober and mature deliberation of proposed laws and for the voice of interests not represented in the House of Representatives; (ii) a Cabinet of the Westminster model with executive power responsible to Parliament;
(iii) an independent judiciary with a Supreme Court appointed by the Queen;
(iv) the Right to Appeal to Her Majesty's Privy Council as the Court of Last Resort.
It was relying on these safeguards that the Tamils accepted the Constitution and agreed to Britain transferring power to a unified Ceylon. Early in the exercise of their power the Sinhalese began to renege on their solemn promise and undertaking by enacting Controversial citizenship of more than one million Tamils and rendering the rest of the Tamils doubtful citizens or altogether stateless. Vehement Tamil opposition was ignored.

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1636 Politics and Life in Our Times
Then, the Sinhalese enacted The Ceylon Parliamentary Elections Order-in-Council Amendment Act of 1949 which reduced Tamil representation in Parliament by nine seats.
The ratio of Tamil representation was further tampered with and reduced by systematic planned state-aided colonization of Tamil homeland areas with Sinhalese colonists from outside the Tamil provinces in impudent violation of the Land Development and Land Settlement laws in force and by the revision of Parliamentary Electoral Districts (ridings).
On the 2nd of June, 1972, the Sinhalese broke their plighted word to the Tamils, went back on their solemn promise upon which Britain transferred power, treated the Privy Council with utter contempt for its opinion, and drove the last nail on the coffin of the 1948 Constitution, illegally proclaimed Ceylon a republic with the illegal name of "Sri Lanka", and sent their Army to the Tamil homeland Provinces to coerce the Tamils into submission by military force.
Now, as one who had organized and led peaceful non-violent civil disobedience campaigns on the pattern of Mahatma Gandhi's historic campaigns in South Africa and India against the Sinhalese abuses of power and discriminatory laws and policies and imprisoned twice without trial for such activities, once had a twilight faith that the Soulbury-lvor Jennings drafted 1948 Constitution with its Article 29 safeguards for the protection of minorities and the democratic Parliament it provided for, might possibly act as a deterrent to any Sinhalese attempt to exercise dominion over the Tamils.
SOME QUESTIONS
ls there a legitimate government in Ceylon for anybody to deal with? Should not Prabhakaran be wary when he deals with lawbreakers and usurpers of power? Why is Prabhakaran's alleged withdrawing from a temporary ceasefire agreement upon the discovery of bad faith more censurable than the Sinhalese breaking

Broken Pledges and Militarism 1637
the momentous solemn promise that was so vital for the purpose of obtaining the Consent for Independence and then going back on their plighted Word? Why is Sinhalese calculated flouting of the State's Constitution and flouting the Rule of Law in an arrogant show of utter contempt for the Privy Council judgement justified? What Constitution, what laws, what solemn agreements, what civilized values, can be trusted to be safe with Sinhalese leaders?
The 1948 Constitution was never expressly abolished. Nor was it ever positively repealed.
So, did Her Majesty Elizabeth II ever legally cease to be Queen of Ceylon?
lf yes, when and how? Did the Queen of Ceylon ever legally cease to be a constituent of Parliament and constitutional Head of State of Ceylon? If yes, When and how?
In 1965 the constitutionally elected Prime Minister of Rhodesia, lan Smith, made a Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI) which Britain and the international community of sovereign states refused to recognise. But when the constitutionally elected Prime Minister of sister Commonwealth country, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Ceylon, made an identical UD seven years later, they all rushed in to grant it recognition. Why is UDI good for Ceylon, but not good for Rhodesia, or for that matter, for Quebec or Serbia? Why this double standard?
LEGAL CONTINUITY
it is a fundamental principle of state succession that legal continuity must always be preserved between the outgoing state and government and the successor one. It is achieved by strictly following the procedure laid down by the law in force. Where it is not followed here is a breach of legal continuity, and the successor state and government is tainted with illegitimacy. Professor S. A. D. Smith of

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1638 Fossa:5 ärld Lisg sr) Our Tírsla:5
Cambridge has pointed out that when Ceylon adopted a republican Constitution in 1972 in violation of the law there was a clear "breach of legal continuity". It necessarily follows that all governments in Ceylon since 2nd June, 1972 are illegitimate, The question therefore arises:
At the Parliamentary General Elections of 1977, which were the last orderly held regular elections in the Tamil homeland Provinces up to date, the registered political party which contested all the Tamil seats on the publicly declared policy and promise to establish the separate independent State, the Tamils were given the opportunity democratically to express their wish. The Tamils almost unanimously expressed their Will to separate in no uncertain terms. The Sinhalese replied by sending more troops to the Tamil Provinces and spread terror among the population. They engineered the Nazi-type pogrom of 1983 against the Tamils in Colombo burning them alive in cars on the roads and in their homes with their houses.
INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENCE
What useful purpose will be served by the international media and governments bringing pressure on Welupillai Prabhakaran, whom the Tamils acknowledge as their one and only leader and spokesman, to try yet another negotiated agreement when the Sinhalese are known to have torn up every one of the negotiated agreements in the course of the last one hundred years, including even the 1948 Constitution negotiated between the British government, the Sinhalese and the Tamils?
Finally, the eminent English Jurist Austin enunciated the principle that "La W is command supported by sanctions", and professor S. A. D. Smith cited the case of the illegal declaration of a republican state by the Sinhalese in Ceylon in 1972 with military Support as an example for the principle that "might becomes law" Cor "Tight is la W".

Brokert Pledges ard Militarigr77 1639
IT WAS THE BRITISH WHO AMALGA MATED THE TAMIL AND SINHA LESE TERRITORIES INTO ONE CROWN COLONY FOR ADMINISTRATIVE PURPOSES, WHICH RESULTED IN THE TAMILS BECOMING SMALLER IN NUMBERS AS COMPARED TO THE SINHALESE IN THE UNIFIED COUNTRY. MINDFUL OF THIS, WHEN INDEPENDENCE WAS BEING NEGOTIATED IN 1946 THE BRITISH INSISTED ON MAKINGPROVISIONS IN THE PROPOSED CONSTITUTION FOR THE PROTECTION OF THE TAMILS AND DEMANDED THAT THE SINHALESE OBTAIN THE CONSENT OF THE TAMILS FOR THE COMPLETE TRANSFER OF POWER TO THE PEOPLE OF CEYLON THE SINHALESE GAVE A SOLEMN PROMISE AND UNDERTAKING AND PLEDGED THEMSELWES NEWER TO USE THEIR MAJORITY NUMBERS TO DISCRIMINATE AGAINST OR TO THE DETRIMENT OF THE TAMILs (WIDE STATE COUNCILHANSARD OF 1946).
స్టోవ్లో
W. Navaratnam, an astute Lawyar, former M. P. for Kayts, The only living Founder Member of the Fodora! Party
Federalism is a process by which nations have been for Tad by bringing together, in a given situation, territories and peoples that have shared a Common political, cultural or other heritage. The USA is its most excellent example. Britain resorted to the same process in insulating its dominions in Canada from possible pressure from the USA. It has been a very creative process in the world of expanding capitalism, and historically it has been in the interests of capitalist expansion. That almost the same process is being carried out on a regional or continental basis as in the case of the European Union is a pointer to its remarkable creativeness. It is in these circumstances that political scientists have advanced the wery plausible position that, in the context of the globalization that is taking place today, the concept of the nation-stata is no longer Walid. For the developing world too it is a fact, that the larger the nation the more capable it could be in managing imperialist pressures on it. The parochialism that is reflected in separatism is no longer consistant with economic and political realities.

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1640 Politics and Life in Our Times
If the Sinhalese are entitled to invoke these principles to seek perpetual domination over the Tamils and to rule over them as a subject people, what is wrong if Velupillai Prabhakaran chooses to invoke the same principles to defend and protect his people and posterity and prevent them from being trodden under? What is wrong if he believes, as the Sole trusted leader of the Tamils, that he has no choice but to invoke the same principles like the Sinhalese aggressors to ensure that his people and their progeny live in their traditional homeland territory of Tamil Eelam in peace, freedom and selfrespect, and free from the fear of Sinhalese terrorism and violence?
The international media and governments owe it to their Conscience and to the Several hundreds of thousands of Tamil men, Women and children who have been driven Out of their homes and villages and cities by the Sinhalese Army to wander in the jungles as destitute refugees without food or shelter or medicines to ponder over the above questions and try to answer them, if they can, rationally and truthfully. It is strange that they do not realize how unseemly it is to repeat parrot like the motivated propaganda of an illegitimate Sinhalese government that poses as a paragon of virtue.
Courtesy: "The Sunday Times", Colombo, January 19th, 1997, and "Hotspring", a mouthpiece of the LTTE.
On Greatness
Even nobility of birth, wealth and learning, if in (the possession of) the base, will (only) produce ever increasing pride.
The great will always humble himself; but the mean will exalt himself in Self-admiration.
Freedom from conceit is (the nature of true) greatness, (while) obstinacy therein is (that of) meanness.
The great hide faults of others; the base only divulge them. Tirukkural - The Tamil Veda,

1641
All Nations Should Unite to Combat Terrorism
by Lakshman Kadingamar
Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar said that the nations of the world should come together to combat terrorism.
He said this when interviewed by CNN for its Business Asia program. He is now in New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly sessions.
The following is the text of the interview: O: Welcome back to BusineSS ASia. like to start first with the question about the ongoing civil War. It looked like there was a possible breakthrough for peace last year, but the civil warrages on with the death toll rising again last weekend. What is blocking the prospects for peace?
FM: Well when our government came to power our President, Mrs. Kumaratunga made it very clear that she was prepared to talk to the Tamil Tigers. Well we did start talks and we had talks over four to five months and there was a cessation of hostilities as well. Well it was militarily broken on the 19th of April last year and they went back to war. Now that to our mind was a clear indication of the fact that they do not believe that a peaceful settlement is possible to our problem. They believe that they could win a separate state by force. That particular belief is utterly unacceptable and we will resist it to the utmost.
Q: What is needed to stop the periodic attacks, these terrorist attacks. Do you See a need of appealing to other Countries for support.
FM: Yes, the recent initiatives that have been taken at international level after the Paris meeting and the Lyon Summit following the Oklahoma bomb, TWAbomb, Atlanta bombing, bombings in Manchester and Tokyo and so on. The International Community at least in the West is beginning to take an interest in this very serious problem. And Sri Lanka wholly approves of the initiatives that are being taken. We are the longest suffering victims of terrorism and severe brutality and so we are in line with all the measures that are proposed to be taken to combatterrorism internationally.

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1642 Paulas and seg i 7 () ir Tirros
IT SWEDELY ACCEPTED THAT BENEFITS OF GLOBALSATION COULD EXCEED ITS COSTS. THE MOST IMPORTANT BENEFIT IS THE NEW OPPORTUNITIES THAT IT CREATES FOR THE DEVELOPMENT AND APPLICATION OF UNIMAGINABLE HUMANSKILLS NINVENTIONIS AND INNOVATIONS, PRODUCTION, TRANSPORT, TRADE AND FINANCE - USING THE MARWELS OF SCIENCE ANO TECHNOLOGY OF THE KNOWLEDGE IN INDUSTRY - FOR RASING THE LIVING STANDARDS OF MILLIONS OF PEOPLE WHO RESIDE IN WARIOUS PARTS OF THIS GLOBE. HOWEVER, PREMATURE, UNPLANNED AND UNCONTROLLED GLQBALISATION CAN LEAD TO DISASTRO US CONSEQUENCES, BRINGING MISERY TO MANY
L Minister of Foreign Alfairs, Sri Lanka.
Lenin had friendly and warm conversations with the envoys of the peoples of the East and helped the to find the correct road to liberation from colonial oppression, The Indian MoslerT defegates who wisited Lenin in 1918 wrote about this meeting: "Two representatives of the Indian Mosier Is..., travelled here and introduced themselves to our leader Lenin. They talked to him about Tany problems of India and tre East". Professor Barakatullah, a representative LL LLL LLLLLL GtmtLLatLt LLLHHLHLGGGaLLS LLLGLL LLLLL LCLLLLLLLLtttL L 0000S LLLLL SLL day of liberation of mankind is breaking on Fussia's horizon, and Ulyanow Lenin is the bright sur that augurs happirass for mankind", Lenin was deeply Cornwir:Ed thal Asia would awaken, artid that the East Gr 1 peoples would hawe the will and ability to build a navy life. He was certain that "no power on earth can restore the old serfdort in Asia Cr wipe out the heroic destocracy of the T135ses irl the Asiatic and Salini-Asiatic :ÇJntries".
 

LL LLLLLLLEEL aLLLLL LGGLLLL LLL LLLLLLLLkMLL SLLGGLLLLLLLS 1643
Q: This is one of the top issues expected at the UN sessions? FM: Indeed I am sure President Clinton is going to say Something about that. He said so last year at the 50th anniversary Sessions of the United Nations and our President also said the same thing last year,
Q: So what do you hope to achieve through your talk on terrorism at this assembly?
FM: Well, we will give notice of the fact that we are very much in favour of the initiatives that are being taken and we will offer to help in whatever Way We can. Because we believe that the nations of the World must come together to combat this kind of brutality,
Q: Now at this point periodic terrorist attacks seem to hawe scared a lot of tourists, tourist is down sharply, what about overseas irħwest Tlet?
FM: Even tourism you see does decline, must tell you quite honestly when there are bombs going off and so on. But tourism is very resilient and tourists are very resilient, They are very well informed today and you find very quickly the curve begins to go up again. Now take the recent cricket, a series of matches that was played in Colombo. Four countries came including the Australians who did"nt come when the World Cup was played. And it all went off beautifully. There were very large crowds and there was a very happy at Thosphere in the country and I am very confident that tourism will pick up again,
Q: You talked about tourism, what about your privatisation plans?, FM: Nowhere too privatisation is going very well. There is a degree of slowness involved because there are wery complex procedures that we want to put into place, You see this government is very keen that privatisation should proceed in an orderly, systematic, open, fair, transparent manner. I mean one can privatise wilely and give your assets away, Selling them for a song. We can't do that. We can't do that and we have said to all our investors that - you will all benefit from the fact that we will lay down solid procedures, So Wait a bit, And it's happening, we have a lot of very big investors coming in.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, 25th September, 1996.

Page 283
Devolution Process Painfully Slow TULF President M. Sivasithamparam
Interview by Lakshman Gunasekara
Q: It is now a year since the Government announced its 'package' of Devolution Proposals and the Parliamentary Select Committee began a process of consultation to formulate Constitutional reform as a solution to the ethnic conflict. Do you think that there has been any kind of progress, in political terms, made in the past year?
A: Despite my being satisfied that the President and Professor Peiris are committed to a political solution, I am disappointed at the painfully slow progress of the Constitutional reform process. As everyday passes my doubts are increasing as to whether there will ever be any fruition of this process. I am also disappointed that the UNP has not come out categorically with their standing on the contentious issues - that is, besides making general statements such as that they are for the "widest possible devolution'. On the contentious issue they did not say anything specific.
Q: in what way has the progress been 'slow"? A: In the first place, it should not have taken so much time between the proposals announced on August 3 and the legal draft. Q: But don't you think that the intensive debate that took place in that interval was necessary given the pluralistic nature of our political scene with so many diverse interests?
A: It was necessary, but the Government need not have waited for this debate before it gave its own proposals in legal form. Q: The Government's view is that the legal draft had to be, where possible, the sum of thinking in the Select Committee arising out of that lengthy debate...

Devolution Process Painfully Slow 1645
LEGALDRAFT
A: Unfortunately what has happened, because of that discussion or debate, is that some of the original August 3 proposals have been diluted in favour of the extreme Sinhala opinion and not in favour of the Tamil opinion, for instance, a number of safeguards for the unitary nature of the State, such as the constraints on separatism, etc.... have been introduced in the draft law which has served to merely strengthen the unitary character of the State. Secondly, powers of dissolution of provincial or regional bodies have been given to the President in the legal draft which were not there in the original proposals. I do not say that there should not be some mechanism by which they can deal with a provincial council which agitates for a separate or goes completely off the track. But in the legal draft, very wide discretionary powers have been given to the President regarding dissolution and this is something that militates against what we thought was a federal principle. Furthermore, the legal draft does not provide the right to go to court by any person who is dissatisfied with an order for dissolution or take Over of a regional body. While we agree that there should be some mechanism to keep a provincial council on track, the provisions in the legal draft are far too wide in favour of central control. Finally, there is the question of authority over land. In the August 3 proposals the subject of land was vested in the provincial council. But they allowed the centre to acquire land for the purpose of subjects that are in the "Reserve' list. But the legal draft provides the centre with almost blanket powers to take over land whether the provincial council likes it or not. The quantity of land and reasonableness of the take over, none of this can be negotiated or questioned by the provincial council. Supposing a provincial council has a very good reason as to why a particular piece of land should not be given over, there should be some independent body who Can arbitrate and decide On the matter.

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646 Politics and Life in Our Tinnes
Q: In your Comment on the powers of dissolution in the legal draft you acknowledged that Constraints against any Secessionist tendency must be in place in a reformed political system here. Does this mean that the TULF is no longer committed to the principal of the right of secession for the Tamils as a nationality?
A: I think it is too late in the day to speak of principles. There is a set of proposals. Let us see whether it can be improved and worked on to make it as close to a federal system as possible.
Q: Are you saying that, as the party which put the Tamil struggle for secession on the national political stage, the TULF has made a major concession now by giving up the goal of a separate Country?
A: It is Certainly a Concession in order that we may all reach a compromise that will bring peace to the country. It is a concession which flows from a realisation of the ground realities. Everybody acknowledges that We were, at One time, compelled to go for a separate state. Now We are giving up that demand and opting for a federal constitution - something which many countries have done to solve their ethnic problems. When someone tells me, "you are still insisting on federalism". I say :"No, we were insisting on a separate state and We have now come down to federalism. You have been insisting on a unitary state, now, please come down, so that we have some meeting point".
Q: Would this bring you into some form of disrepute among your political constituency, that is, the Tamil voters?
A: I don't think so. As far as We can See, the Tamils will be Satisfied with a federal or near federal Constitution.
Q: Does it mean then that the TULF has shifted away from your previous clear position for secession with the confidence that your constituency also has given up that idea and will, therefore, continue to remain with you?
A: The decision not to insist on the right to secede and opt for a federal solution was taken when Mr. Amirthalingam was still alive. He found in his tour of western countries that, while they sympathised with the predicament of the Tamils, those countries did not favour any Secession. We took a decision and told the J. R. Jayewardene

Devolution Process Painfully Slow 1647
government of the time that, although the mandate given by our people was for a separate state, if the government was to offer a reasonable alternative we are prepared to take it to our people for their consent. But for seventeen years nothing happened. Only now, there are some proposals which are very close to a federal system.
Q: So you are confident that the Tamil people will accept a federal Solution?
SEPARATIST CAUSE
A: I have not yet met any Tamil person who has criticised us for dropping the separatist cause in favour of a federal system. My own impression is that, by and large, the Tamil people will accept a federal solution. They will vote in favour of it.
Q: You have mentioned the controversy over the unitary issue. What are the other blocks you currently see in the constitutional reform process?
A: The other principle block is the issue of the territorial unit of devolution. You see, the Government itself has not made any decision on what the unit should be. The UNP is not spelling out what it wants except to vaguely talk about a plebiscite. But they are not stating clearly and precisely, their position on this vital issue. After all, it was the UNP government which joined the North and East and through emergency regulations, at that. The UNP today is not making any clear statement on its position on these two very vital issues which have blocked the devolution process. This is very strangel
Q: The UNP has already said that it will not compromise on the unitary issue...
A: But then, why did the UNP in the Mangala Moonasingha Committee report, say that they will have devolution on the pattern of the Indian Constitution? Unless they did not know what the Indian constitution was, or, they were merely playing tricks

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1648 Politics and Lifg in CPL Ir Tirrings
Q: Are you saying that, after having taken a position in favour of federalism in the Mangala Moonasingha Committee, the UNP is now going back on its Word?
A: Yes, it is going back on its position, They are going back when they now insist on the unitary state. When was the unitary state first put into the Constitution? It was first introduced in 1972 and then again in 1978. The Soulbury Constitution never spoke of a unitary State. Nor was there any talk of a unitary State prior to thateither in the Donoughmore or previous frameworks, My own feeling is that this has been put into the Constitution to pre-empt any solution in federal terms. But forgetting that, the UNP backed the Mangala Moonasingha Committee on a federal solution.
Q: Does the UNP's current stance mean that there is now an ewer1 TT1øre reduced Char1CG 0f a C011SETISLS tham there was befOrg?
A: Yes, I am very sorry that the UNP should have taken this stand. I must remind you of the speech by Mr. Ronnie de Mel during the debate on the 13th Amendent in which he ridiculed the whole concept of the unitary State. He asked: "What is so sacrosanct about this unitary State? Let us give as much power as possible". You see, in the Tamil psyche, the dispute has been an unitary State and a federal State. So that whatever cosmetics you might adopt, if you use the word "unitary' the Tamils feel that we have not got what we have been asking for after compromising on our own stand for a separate state.
CHOKSY |N|TIAT|WE
Q: Is that why you so very quickly rejected the Choksy initiative? The Chosky suggestion, in the UNP's typical style of playing about deviously with words and terminology, actually made space for a federal system while at the same time retaining the unitary terrinology. It actually diluted the whole concept of the unitary State. Why were you so quick to reject it?, Why not give it some positive consideration first before taking a position?

Devolution Process Pair fully Saw 1543
IN THE SPEECHBY RONNE DEMELDURING THE DEBATE ON THE 3TH AMENDMENT, HE REDICULED THE WHOLE CONCEPT OF THE UNITARY STATE HE ASKED: "WHAT IS SOSACROSANCTABOUT THIS UNITARY STATE? LET US GIVE AS MUCHPOWER AS POSSIBLE". YOU SEE, IN THE TAMIL PSYCHE, THE DISPUTE HAS BEEN AN UNITARY STATE ANDA FEDERAL STATE. SOTHAT WHATEWER COSMETCS YOUMIGHTADOPT IF YOU USE THE WORD "LUNTARY" THE TAMILS FEEL THAT WE HAWE NOT GOT WHAT WE HAWE BEEN ASKING FOR AFTER COMPROMISING ONOUROWN STAND FOR ASEPARATESTATE,
FIM Forter Ceylon Civil Sarvard and arran of marry parts
The Government of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga has expressed its willingness to work with the UNP on numerous occasions. FroT the Very day that the devolution proposals were placed before the people, President Kumaratunga invited the UNP to comment on it and suggest alterations or alternatives. The UNP has tried to paint a very grin picture of the military campaign which has scored several significant victories. But losses too are inevitable in a Tilitary drive. UNP leaders have been going around the country, speaking about the military's loss. Perhaps it has forgotten the raverses Suffered by the military when it was in power.

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1650 Politics and Life in Our Times
A: They say that they were diluting the unitary concept. But the complicated language of these amendments are such that, as constitutional provisions, they will be a rich field for litigation. And I am certainly not prepared to entrust the future of the Tamil people to the tender mercies of the Supreme Court. After having come all this way, is it viable to enact legislation which will again have to be fought over in the courts where a ruling can change the entire thing? The way the Supreme Court has dealt with the 13th Amendment, and some of the judgements of that Court, certainly convince me that we cannot allow the future of our people to be in the hands of the Supreme Court. Any legislation must be definite and must be precise.
Q: Are the continuing inter-communal tensions and fears arising from the violence of the LTTE's persistent insurgency also an impediment to the smooth flow of the devolution process? Is the violence by the LTTE preventing the Sinhala political leaderships from moving towards a compromise?
A: My attitude on that is this: let us not worry about the LTTE's insurgency. Let us try to finish the devolution process. I think the Sinhalese leaders should not bother about the LTTE...
Q: But the Sinhala leaders must bother about their own principal political constituency - the Sinhala community which is pushed further into fear, apathy and mistrust by the LTTE's continuing military Campaign, whether it is in Mullaithivu or Dehiwala. Can the Sinhala leaders ignore their own constituency?
A: If they want to satisfy their constituency in that way, then of Course, there can be no political settlement.
Q: As an experienced politician, yourself, can you suggest as to how politicians could get around those powerful emotions which arise from Such violence?
A: They must take the buil by the horns and do what is right, and do it without delay and hesitation. Just as my own party is taking risks with our constituency by compromising on a separate state, expect the Sinhala leaderships to take risks in order to resolve this national Crisis.

Devolution Process Painfully Slow 1651
Q: Where do we go from here? A: I don't know if the Government has any other options except to follow the Parliamentary process and seek a two thirds majority. If that is not possible, then they could go for an election.
Q: But is it not likely that if there is change of government in an election, the new government might be even less likely to compromise on the devolution process?
A: That is a risk. Another option might be to hold a nonbinding referendum only on the specific devolution issue - that is, the legal draft. Let us put it to the people. These are the options. What else is there?
Q: What about the option of militarily defeating the LTTE - which some still say is possible?
A: I don't agree at all. There can be no victory for either side. The military situation is a no-win situation. The war will simply go on and on with the disastrous consequences to our nation, which we can already see, only Worsening. The youth, the future of our peoples, are dying, thousands of families are affected. The economy is in tatters. If anyone has an idea that the war can be finished quickly, he is living in a pipe dream. This war has already gone on longer than the Second World War. You see what has happened to Jaffna.The same will happen to the rest of the country as well. You see what has happened to part of the Fort area in Colombo. People who talk of military solutions after all that has happened all these years, simply don't know what they are talking about.
Courtesy: "The Sunday Observer", Colombo, August 11th, 1996.

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Devolution of POWer Will SOVe Ethnic Problem
by D. E. W. Gunasekera
The Chairman, Rupavahini Corporation, D. E. W. Gunasekera said that the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka is the continuation of a vicious political trend from 1920 to 1983, for which all governments past and present are responsible, culminating under the J. R. Jayewardene administration in driving the country into the ferocious mouth of the Tigers. The problem can only be solved by the broadening of democracy through a just devolution of power proposed by the President, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga.
He was speaking at a conference on "Unity through Devolution of Power", held at Ratnapura Town Hall, recently.
Mr. Gunasekera said that a multiplicity of causes, the chief of which was the implementation of the 'Sinhala only' policy, gave a death blow to the fundamental rights of the Tamil community, leading to the war in the North and East, costing the nation Rs. 150 million a day.
Sri Lanka is not the only country beset with a problem of that nature. Similar wars are going on in 82 countries, at the moment. Ethnic conflicts are found in every country with two or more ethnic groups living together, he said. In most countries the problem was either political or economic.
In the early stages, the demand was only for the recognition of the language rights of the Tamils. But by slow degrees, it increased in momentum and by 1948, it aggravated, after Chelvanayagam formed the Federal Party to fight for equal rights, in Sri Lanka.
LTTE is of recent origin. It came into being after 1983 as a protest against the continued neglect of the Tamils and their birth-right by all governing parties, first, by the SLFP with a 2/3 majority in the 1970s and by the UNP with a 5/6 majority in the 1980s. With the passage of the 'Prevention of Terrorism Act' in the 80s, matters came to a head and the LTTE terrorism broke out in earnest, he said.

Devolution of Power will Solve Ethnic Problern 1653
The Tamils over the years could do, one of the twothings, eitherto separate or live together. They tried the latter but failing under the negligence of the majority governments to honour their human rights, they had decided to fight a guerilla-war under Prabhakaran for a separate state, he said.
Apart from the cost of the war in terms of money, the damage caused to the nation, interms of human lives is indeed prohibitive. It is the man in the street, On both sides, who become the Cannon-fodder in the Conflict.
The delay, in the solution of the ethnic problem had driven lakhs of Tamils as refugees out of the Country and enabled the terrorists to open offices in the foreign Countries to Collect funds for their murderous attacks, on the innocent Sinhala and Tamil people, he said.
It was Sarath Muttetuwegama who for the first time pointed out, as far back as 1981, that the ethnic problem demanded a political solution. The UNP with a steam-roller majority in the House ruled the country, with the minority Tamils leading the opposition. The J. R. Government did not heed his prophetic words. That was the beginning of the end of ethnic peace in Sri Lanka, he said.
The unitary concept which is the other 'bone of contention'had no validity in reality. There isnomention of it, in legal terms in the constitution. Solong, astheterm remained unknown there was unity in diversity among the ethnic groups. But the moment the politicians started bandying it about, the matter became controversial affecting the devolution package he said. The devolution package consisted of proposals agreeable to all parties. There were also controversial points which can be sorted out by discussions, he said.
The JR government attempted to find a solution in 1987, through Provincial Councils. But the system failed miserably, due to defects in implementation and other vital short-comings which received little or no attention.
The present package meets all the needs. It broadens democracy, byproviding in-built safeguards, against the abuse of powerby either party, central governmentor the provinces, and is the only way for a lasting peace within sight, he said.
Attorney-at-Law D. M. Seneviratne, Mr. Jayantha Wickremesinghe of the Kelaniya university and several others also spoke.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, September 28th, 1996.

Page 288
InterView With CNN Of President Kumaratunga
The following is the full text of President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga's interview with Cable News Network (CNN).
Question: You have just Completed two years in office. What would be your achievement?
Answer: We inherited a political system with a culture of state terror and political violence. In that sense we have been able to achieve much. We have been able to re-establish democracy, strengthen the democratic institutions, give back human freedoms which were very seriously violated. Well, secondly we also inherited a system which was noted for the corruption from top to bottom. We have broken, believe, a new and clear vision to the solution of the ethnic problem for some. Unfortunately, we have also had to continue to wage War against a small group of Tamil people who do not believe in peace, that is the LTTE, while we have been able to give back a good image internationally to Sri Lanka.
Q: What if the war wages on?
A: Well, you know two years is a very short time in the life of a war. The ethnic problem itself in our country has a long history of many decades. It has been terribly messed up and I believe We are coming quite definitely to an end of the war. On the military front, believe that the LTTE has suffered very big losses, specially when the government forces took over Jaffna which is the heartland of their area. I cannot see how the LTTE could continue the war very much longer.
Q: But at the same time defence experts say that the Tiger attack on the Mullaitivu camp in Sri Lanka is the worst military disaster.
A: I don't believe so. Mullaitivu was an isolated camp in the middle of the Tiger land. It was not a difficult target for the LTTE.

Interview with CNN of President Kumaratunga 1655
Q: Would you like to have any talks with the LTTE in the future?
A: Under the strict Conditions - We do not rule out talks - but they have to first conform to essentials - which is leading to total lay down of arms declaring that they have given up politics of terror and violence. Until then we will fight them.
Q: Where do you identify the main obstacles you face? A: There were many and there are many, but the main one would say was and still continues to be so, the front Mafia which was built up by the last government to implement their program of state terror. Given the fact that we act democratically even with these people and leave the law to take its own course, they are a bit of a nuisance and even a danger. Secondly, it is also what I call the business Mafia which was part of the whole corrupt network of the last government. This was only a handful of business people who were partners with the last government in indulgence in corruption and who still believe that they can have their corrupt way with this government too.
Thirdly, of course the lethargy and inefficiency as I told you of the Public Service which I do not think is special to our country but common to many countries in this region. Apart from this I do not See any other major obstacles. Even these are things we can Overcome Some time.
Q: What about the Cost of this War? A: The economic cost is enormous. We are still suffering from the effects, the consequences as you know of these excessive expenditures and also the fears that are created for investors, few bombs go here and there.
Q: You promised to limit the prices, yet the prices are rising. A: No, we didn't promise to limit the prices, we promised to give a subsidy on the things. And we did give it. So therefore, we have had to reduce the Subsidy but we are still giving a very large Subsidy. Q: But you said subsidies were not to be reduced because of the war effort. Do you think it is a political mistake?

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1 558 Polics arid Life in Our Trigs
A: No, I don't believe so. Because we are giving all kinds of Other hidden subsidies now to encourage production.
Q: Do you believe that the international community has done enough to help Sri Lanka to deal with terrorism?
A: Well, they could do more. We have had a lot of very encouraging statements made by international governments and we would like to see more practical support in the way of not encouraging or not permitting the LTTE which has offices in about 30 Odd Countries in the World. We Would like to see our friendly countries taking action against the Collection of funds and arms to be used in their politics of terror in this country.
Q: Why don't you allow international Tediation to end this ethnic conflict?
A: Well, we have not ruled it out. But we have not particularly Considered at the moment because we don't see what anybody could mediate about, because as you know, as soon as our government came into power, within about 10 days we started a dialogue with the LTTE. We invited thern to a dialogue, we continued the dialogue for 8 months, government delegations went to Jaffna, they discussed with the LTTE, we negotiated a ceasefire with them, and thereafter they broke the Ceasefire Without any reasons as far as we see it, and since there has been no basis on which anyone could begin to mediate.
Q: Critics say that your devolution package was not making much progress.
A: Well, I don't agree with that.... It was making considerable progress. Firstly, for the first time a Sri Lankan government has been able to get the accord of the majority of the simple people for this package. We have now only to clear the hurdle of Parliamentary two tirdS.
C: || hawe just returned from Jaffna and || find after the last Tiger Suicide bornb attack, reconstruction work has slowed down,
A: This is true to some extent because officials cannot be forced to go there to do the work. There are some fears,

Intervigw with CNN of Presider Krata fuga 1657
THE HISTORICAL OCCASION OF THE PUBLIC RELEASE OF THE MANIFESTO OF THE UNITED SOCIALIST ALLIANCE (USA) TOOK PLACE IN FRONT OF THE COFFIN OF THE LATE WIJAYA KUMARATUNGA, A PATRIOT WHO WILLALWAYS BEREMEMBERED BY THE PEOPLE, AT THE INDEPENDENCE SQUARE, COLOMBO 7, ON 21st FEBRUARY, 1988.
The solemn oath taken by Chandrika Kumaratunga in front of the Vijaya Kumaratunga's coffin to Continue his policy for the Walsare of the people. Standing by her side are: K. P. Silva, Bernard Zoysa, and Vasudava Nanayakkara, leaders of the Lited Socialist Asia Ce.
Infront of the coffin of the assassinated patriot, who will always be renambered by the people of the country, the Tanifesto of the USA was officially signed by Chandrika Bandaranalike Kumaratungo, the President of the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, K. P. Silva, the General Secretary of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, Bernard Soysa, the General Secretary of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and Wasudewa Nanayakkara, the leader of the Nawa Sama Samaja Party, on behalf of the four constituent parties of the United Socialist Alliance. After signing the USA manifesto, Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga solemnly pledged to the people of the country, her firm conviction to continue the path chartered by her late husband.

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1658 Politics and Life in Our Times
Q: How do you respond to criticism that you are idealistic but ineffective?
A: Well, given all the facts we mention just now, if that is what you call "ineffective' I don't know what "effective" is.
Q: You talk about Tiger suicide bomb attacks, how do you feel like to be the most endangered woman.
A: Well, as I once told you it is not fun. But I have personally told myself that we have a mandate for 6 years, at least, and those 6 years have decided that dedicate to the job have been given to do and I cannot do anything else. 6 years is not a longtime in the life of a person and I have had a very rich life before. I have done most of the things I like to do and even though it is not what would wish for myself, I suppose could go through the 6 years and see what happens.
Q: But don't these restrictions bother you? A: Yes, immensely. I hardly have time to think of what I am missing.
Q: As you begin your third year, what do you see as your main challenges that lie ahead?
A: Well, I would say we have only two main challenges. One is solving the ethnic problem effectively, and the next one is currently and thereafter waging and winning the other war the economic one. So, the two are very closely interrelated and I would say there are only two major challenges. In fact if we win the first one, I think the rest just follows automatically for the stage is set for it to do so.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, September 16th, 1996.
"Lenin
is now
the most live of all living. Our weapon,
our knowledge,
our power".
— Vladimir Mayakovsky.

The Crisis of Socialism and the Ethnic Problem
(Alexander Bovin, "IZVESTIA" political observer, analyses the causes of the acute ethnic conflicts in the Soviet Union and the East European countries.)
The crisis of socialism that grips the European countries which Once Considered themselves "socialist", has destabilized ethnic relations. It has aggravated old conflicts and led to new ones. Though they differ in scale and social impact, duration and intensity, all of them are essentially of the same nature. Their primary source are breaches of justice and equality in ethnic relations. The prime mover of the conflicts, therefore, is the striving to restore justice and equality. That is the formula. Behind it, as we now know all too well, are unruly mobs of fanatics, cynicism of politicians, slaughter of guiltless, and the Sorrow and despair of the persecuted and humiliated.
At seventy-six points in the Soviet Union ethnic tensions have risen to a dangerous high. Eruptions of ethnic strife have already taken a toll of hundreds of lives. In 1990 alone, they claimed 782 lives, with 3,617 Wounded. Losses of the law and order forces numbered 77 killed and 548 Wounded. Houses have been attacked, gutted, looted. A few hundred thousand people have fled in fear from their long-time homes.
The "war" of sovereignties is continuing. The three Baltic republics, Georgia, Armenia and Moldova refuse to recognize the validity of Union-wide laws in their territory and have their sights set on seceding from the Soviet Union. Great dangers lurk in the collisions between the Union Center and the RSFSR.

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1660 Politics and Life in Our Times
By definition, the new Treaty of Union should resolve the crisis of Soviet federalism and give the Soviet Union a new lease of life. But we are literally swamped by so many in effect pointless ideas that it is very hard to remain an optimist.
The formidable ethnic crisis in Yugoslavia, yet another socialist federation, may be traced to the disintegration of the League of Communists in that country, which had priorly controlled the main machinery of political consolidation. The League's former republican branches wasted no time to alter not only their appellation but also their policies.
A frantic campaign over the "Bessarabian question" is under way in Romania. Here is a passage from the Weekly Zig-Zag. "Boastful and misguided, we are sitting on our hands while four million Romanians in Gorbachev's GULAG are suffering. The cowardly government is silent, the Gagaouzes are tearing Bessarabia apart, the Russians are terrorizing the countryside and sending Bessarabian soldiers back home in coffins". The Soviet-Romanian Treaty of Cooperation, Good-Neighbour Relations and Friendship signed on April 5, 1991, in Moscow, which renounces territorial claims, has provoked sharp criticism in the Romanian anti-government press.
Elements of tension, unrest and mutual suspicion have reappeared between the Czechs and Slovaks. Sentiments favouring autonomy are surfacing in Moravia and Silesia. There are those who want Carpathian Ruthenia, now part of the Soviet Ukraine, to be returned to Czechoslovakia. M. Sladek, leader of the Republican Party, has gone so far as to hoist the Czecho-Slovak flag in Mukachevo.
The attempts of the post-Zivkov authorities in Bulgaria to scrap the policy of forcible assimilation of the Turkish-speaking Moslem population and to grant Turks equal rights, precipitated an outbreak of Bulgarian chauvinist feeling.
Now, let's ask ourselves why the Crisis of socialism, the reevaluation of our views of socialism, caused an aggravation of the ethnic problems and reanimated what had seemed to be long since

The Crisis of Socialism and the Ethnic Problem 1661
forgotten conflicts and collisions? In each case, to be sure, a decisive part is played by wholly tangible and specific circumstances. But through the specificity of the particular we can probe down to common CauSeS.
To begin with, ethnic strains and suspicions were an inescapable reaction to mistakes and faults that had accumulated over the years in ethnic or what was called nationalities policy. The myth-building mentality typical of totalitarian "socialist" societies created an artificial make-believe world where "friendship of the peoples" and "socialist internationalism" encouraged "all nations to flower", and where no cause existed for any serious discussion of ethnic problems that, in fact, lay dormant. Yet the problems were many, compounded with big and minor injuries and resentments. Driven beneath the surface, they provided fuel for future quarrels and Clashes.
The advent of glasnost, coupled with democracy relieved people of the need for lying or, rather, of the fear of speaking their minds. Their patience was wearing thin. And the truth was spoken aloud. The frippery of the primped up "socialist" wellbeing collapsed. Instead of ersatz equality, people demanded the genuine article - true justice and a true right to self-determination.
WHAT HOLDS BACK CO-OPERATION WITH THE USSR
The reserved attitude of the local business community to the Soviet market has caused Japan's Considerable lag behind other developed countries in business co-operation with the USSR. However, it seems difficult to change this attitude, says the White Book, the Japanese Ministry of Foreign Trade and industry issued in 1991.
The ministry based its conclusion notably on the fact that the Japanese share of joint ventures set up in the USSR by the end of 1990 as a result of the Soviet Union "actively attracting foreign capital" was a mere 1.6 per cent. One of the main reasons for such a situation, according to the White Book, is a much more reserved

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1662 Politics and Life in Our Times
approach on the part ot the Japanese business circles to partnership with the USSR. Thus only 45 percent ot those regarding co-operation with the USSR as promising believe it will be linked with a market economy in that country whereas the figure is as high as 65 per cent among the Europeans.
"Is there a possibility to revise such an approach?" asks the White Book. Its authors hold that the sticking point is the big indebtedness of Soviet clients to Japanese Suppliers, which has reached $450 million. What with the complex relations between the Union and the republics, it is still not quite clear who is best to enter partnership with.
"As long as those problems remain, no amount of appeals to develop co-operation with the USSR will remove the companies' doubts", stresses the White Book.
Second, the disaffection over the nature of ethnic relations, the yearning for change, for self-assertion, are stimulated by the Social and economic backwardness of the Societies Concerned. A form of auto-suggestion has appeared: if only "no one from outside" stood in the way, if only "outsiders" did not interfere, if only the "center" did not meddle, if decisions were made independently, if there were sovereignty, everything would be different, people would live better, prosperously, happily. In an era when integration processes are gathering momentum elsewhere this conclusion is far from flawless. But reasoning and debate are of no use where national passions flare. Emotion rules the day, and emotion divides rather than unites. Third, the search for the "culprit", the "scape-goat" responsible for the dislocation, the drabness, the troubles and discontent - a! this tends to reanimate ineffective, feudalistic, even pre-feudalistic classic nationalist prejudices. Again, gypsies are being persecuted. Again and again, bonfires of anti-Semitism erupt, destroying the decency of those who fall for the man-hating propaganda. We are yet to find out the damage done to the Soviet Union by the exodus of Jewish families whom the authorities and philistines literally prompted to leave the country.

The Crisis of Socialism and the Ethnic Problem 1663
Let me cite the now fashionable old-time Russian philosopher Nikolai Berdyayev. "At the root of anti-Semitism", he wrote, "lies incompetence. There is only one way to counter the Jews' big part in science and philosophy: make great discoveries yourself... It is humiliating to think that freedom is always favorable for Jews and unfavorable for gentiles". Absolutely true.
Fourth, looking into the reasons for the aggravation of ethnic relations that accompanies the Crisis of socialism, we must not fail to scrutinize the overall global setting. The collapse of colonialism and the emergence of dozens of new states has left an indelible imprint on the entire latter half of this century. A hypersensitive sense of ethnic identity and intolerance of the least impingements on ethnic equality and dignity marks the spiritual and ideological atmosphere of our time. This explains why in the latter half of the century ethnic problems came to the fore where they seemed to have been settled a longtime ago. Take Quebec in Canada, Scotland and Wales in the United Kingdom, Corsica in France, the Basques in Spain, and so on. Naturally, this has made a director indirect impact on the state of affairs in the "socialist" countries and stimulated the tendency to preserve the national identity and to clothe the political struggle in ethnic garb.
One might go so far as to say with just a few reservations that the collapse of totalitarianism and the open public discussion of ethnic matters have taken us back to the 19th century when the idea of nation-states predominated. Such, as I see it, is the ideological texture of the national strife in the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe. it may be of different duration in different places. The outcome, too, may differ from place to place. Each country is specific. So the solutions will be specific. But there is a common denominator: the only possible solution of the national question is a democratic solution. Or else there is no solution.

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1664 Politics and Life Irt1 COLJr Tirres
BENTO MUSSOLIN WAS ANITALIAN STATESMAN, BORN AT WARANO DI COSTA, DOWIA, IN THE PROWINCE OF FORLI, ON 29" JULY, 1883. HE WAS THE SON OF A BLACKSMITH, WHO ATTENDED AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL, AND LATER A, BOARDING-SCHOOLAT FAENZA AND GAINEDATEACHER'S CERTIFICATE AT FORLIMPOPOLI, AFTER WHICH HE TAUGHT FORAYEAR AT GUALTER, REGGIOEMILA. HE WENT TO SWITZERLAND IN 1902, AND WHILE DOING MANUAL LABOUR, STUDIED FRENCHAT LAUSANNE UNIVERSITY, READ WIDELY, MADE SPEECHES, ORGANISED UNIONS AND STRIKES, AND WAS EXPELLED FROM ONE CANTON AFTER ANOTHER INSWITZERLAND. THE END OF THE WAR FOUND ITALY IN SUCH ASTATE OF DISORDER THAT MUSSOLINJUDGED THE TIME FOR HIS COUNTER-REVOLUTION RAPIDLY APPROACHING, AND ON MARCH 23RP, 1919, FOUNDED THE FASCISMO INSTITUTION. WHEN THE FASCISTS MARCHED ON ROME, KING WICTOR EMMANUEL DISMISSED HIS PRIME MINISTER, FACTA, AND INVITED MUSSOLIN TO ENTERROME ON OCTOBER 30, 1922. SINCE THENMUSSOLIN HAS BEEN THE DICTATOR OFITALY, HOLDING THE PREMERSHIP, AND AT ONE TIME THE MINISTRIES OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS, INTERIOR COLONIES, WAR, MARINE, AIR AND LABOUR.
Begriffo MSSOsiri
E83 - 93 The foundar of the authoritarian Corporative State in Italy
Fascism is the authoritarian philosophy associated with the regime of Mussolini, under which Italy was governed from 1922 to 1943, the principal theoretical exponents being Rocco and Gentile, it asserted the absolute supremacy of the nation-state in the fields of morality and law, identified the will of the state with that of its ruler, the Duce, and urged that the state be corporately organized to maximize social harmony and national discipline; whilst developed as the anti-thesis to communism, in practice fascism differed little in methods from other dictatorial regimes, though it was unlike communism in its unconcealed belief in the "leadership' principle, in its wiolent nationalist and anti-ser its 77, and in its exaltation of War rather than revolution as a means of national expansion. The leading fascist regimes in Germany (Nazism) and Italy disintegrated in defeat, but governments of somewhat similar types survived in Spain (Falangist Party) and Portugal.
 

The Crisis of Socialism and the Ethnic Probler II 1665
Internationally, the rearrangement of ethnic relations, of relations between nationalities, inside a country, may create additional snags and strains in relations between countries, The passage from a totalitarian "peace and order" to democracy is often perceived as a return to chaos and strategic dislocation. The old equilibrium has, indeed, gone with the wind, while a new one has not yet appeared. There is a chance that Eastern Europe may Balkanize, But there is also the possibility that regional alliances may emerge - a Balkan group, for example, or a Danube-Adriatic group ora Central European Corntonwealth or a union of Central and East European Countries.
The Soviet Union has a stake in stability along its border with the East European countries. It has nothing against regional alliances. Provided they fit into the general pattern of a European home and provided they buttress detente and work for equal cooperation among all countries. Acting on the universal standards of international law, the Soviet Union, for its part, is prepared to update the system of its bilateral agreements with its neighbours.
As for now, events are in full swing, it is a little frightening that spontaneous developments are obfuscating longer-term conceptions. But it appears that history cannot follow any other path, At least for the non Ce.
Courtesy: "Asia and Africa Today", Moscow, No. 6, 1991.
In the specific conditions obtaining during the 1905 Russian revolution, Lenin maintained that only a popular nation wide armed uprising could depose the tsar and crush the resistance of tsarism's bureaucratic police machine. He analysed and argued the need for such forms of struggle as mass political strike and political demonstration and examined the relationship between strike and armed uprising,

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Nadesan, Q. C. - A Tribute
by Manel Fonseka Civil Rights Movement
Mr. S. Nadesan, Q. C., the eminent lawyer, Senator and gifted and dedicated champion of human rights, died in the early hours of Sunday morning after a brief illness. He was in his 83rd year.
Mr. Nadesan applied his intellect and passion for justice to an amazingly wide range of human rights issues throughout his life. Beginning his legal career in the 1930s, he was noted for his incisive logic, relentless pursuit of facts and skilful and dogged advocacy. He was elected to the Senate in 1947 as an independent and was a founder member of the Civil Rights Movement in 1971. He was President of the Bar Council from 1970 to 1972.
in a long career of 55 years at the Bar, Nadesan was associated with a number of famous and important cases, such as the Abdul Aziz trade-union trespass case, the challenge to the Press Council Bill of 1972, the Fundamental Rights Applications against the banning of the Aththa and Saturday Review newspapers, and the challenging of the contention that the Supreme Court judges were deemed to have vacated office. Amongst his most recent and successful cases were the "Pavidi Handa" fundamental rights case, the Kalawana Constitutional issue, and the defence of the Kalmunai Citizens Committee President, Paul Nallanayagam.
He was a colossus in a vanishing breed of lawyers who excel in every sphere of the profession. Nadesan was equally at ease, and equally a master of his field, whether applying his extraordinary talent to a criminal trial, a tax case, a Constitutional issue, a trade union dispute, a complex commercial arbitration, or a case involving international human rights standards. This versatility marked his career from its beginning right up to his last days.
Mr. Nadesan was himself charged and acquitted - in 1980 with breach of Parliamentary Privilege, for a series of articles he had written on this subject in 1978. Ironically, he had been a member of the Joint Select Committee of Parliament, which had drafted the original Parliamentary Privileges Act in 1953.

Nadesan, O. C. - A Tribute 1667
Mr. Nadesan had a unique record as an independent Senator, having been a member of the Upper House from its inception in 1947 to its abolition in 1972, with a brief interruption. In the Senate he was associated with social and labour legislation and with issues relating to the national question. He made particular contributions to the question of minority rights and of citizenship for the plantation workers, both of which were seen by him in the context of national unity and national harmony. Perhaps the most impressive of his many remarkable Senate speeches is that made, courageously, in the month following the April 1971 insurgency. It reflects Nadesan's passion for social justice; in it he eloquently identifies the economic and social problems which gave rise to the frustration of our country's youth, for which he says the older generation of which he is a part must take the blame. It also reflects his deep concern for human rights, its plea to abeleagured government not to dismiss out of hand allegations of excesses by the army and police, but to publicly commit itself to investigating them once conditions permit, is extraordinarily skilled and compelling.
Among his most valuable writings are his dissenting report as a member of the National Flag Committee (1950); his still extremely relevant article on Regional Autonomy, originally published in the Sunday Observer in 1957, and in his post-Senatorial days, his book on the principles of Constitution making and the 1972 Constitution, and report on the 1980 Strike and its Aftermath, written for the Civil Rights Movement.
A number of Nadesan's cases in the superior Courts are extremely important social documents, as they place in the public domain important evidence and issues which are otherwise inaccessible. His life is a chronicle of the age, as much as the values for which he stood were such that he has been Called "the Conscience of Our times".
Although a fierce and aggressive fighter he was a man of great gentleness and warmth. He was well-known for the simplicity of his lifestyle, his famous fruit and vegetable diet and the long, reflective Walks which be took across the length and breadth of Colombo- often dressed in a pair of baggy shorts and carrying his papers in a shopping bag.
Many will mourn the death of a great human being.
Courtesy: "Saturday Review", Jaffna, January 3rd, 1987.

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The Continuing Tragedy Misconduct of Armed Forces
by Suriya Wickremasinghe, Secretary, Civil Rights Movement of Sri Lanka
The continuing tragedy of the conflict in the North and East, and the heavy toll it takes of the lives of both combatants and non-combatants, was the subject of discussionata recent meeting of the Working Committee of the Civil Rights Movement (CRM). The intolerable suffering inflicted on the civilian population was a matter of particular concern.
While some aspects of the conflict are necessarily outside the scope of a nonpolitical civil liberties body such as CRM; certain elements are very much within its concerns. The following are among the aspects identified by CRM on which it wishes to urge that expeditious action be taken by the relevant authorities.
(a) ALLEGATIONS OF MISCONDUCT BY THE ARMED FORCES
CRM is deeply perturbed by the several accounts of serious misconduct including rape recorded in the recent Special Report by the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna). This group which is highly critical of the LTTE cannot be accused of bias. The Virakesari of 15 October reports the rape and murder of 23 year old Rajini Velayudapillaiwho went missing on 3 September, and whose body was found some weeks later. On a complaint by her father, the Military Police investigated and six soldiers were reportedly taken into custody. Subsequently, the shocking case of the rape and murder of 19 year old Krishanty Kumaraswamy, and the murder of her mother, brother and a neighbour who went to search for her, has come to light. While the fact that Some action was ultimately taken, and arrests of suspects made, is welcome, the circumstance remains that it took till the latter part of October for action to be taken on this event which took place on the 7th of September. It is essential that all such complaints be investigated promptly and culprits brought to book; it is equally essential to introduce checks and safeguards to see that they do not recur.

The Continuing Tragedy - Misconduct of Armed Forces 1669
(b) HUMAN RIGHTS TASK FORCE SHOULD OPERATE IN JAFFNA
As long ago as May this year CRM reviewed issues of civil liberties arising out of recent developments in the conflict in the North and East, and made a number of representations to the Ministry of Defence, as a matter of urgency. Foremost amongst these was that an office of the Human Rights Task Force (HRTF) be opened speedily in Jaffna. Over five months later, we find we have to voice the same need. We are certainly conscious of the limitations and constraints under which the HRTF functions, and we do not expect it to work miracles. What is difficult to understand, however, is why even this minimum step was not taken promptly after the armed forces took control of the Jaffna peninsula.
Places of detention in government-controlled areas should be designated.
The emergency regulations very correctly provide that arrested persons should be held only in officially authorised places of detention, lists of which must be published in the Gazette, and furthermore it is an offence to hold a person in any other place. Yet it was only in late July that even a place in Vavuniya the 4th Brigade Headquarters was gazetted. No such authorised places of detention were gazetted in respect of Jaffna until 22 October. This cavalier attitude towards the emergency regulations is unfortunately frequent. The regulations enabling arrest without warrant, are resorted to; those provisions of the regulations which introduce safeguards for arrested persons are apparently considered only cosmetic devices and are blatantly disregarded. This cannot but strengthen the climate of impunity which is the most serious danger to the civil liberties of all Sri Lankans.
CONDITIONS OF DETENTION
CRM reiterates once again that it is imperative that legal provision be made laying down basic minimum conditions of detention applicable to persons held under the emergency regulations and Prevention of Terrorism Act. The need for such legal safeguards for

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1670 Politics irid Life ir Clur TirTGs;
persons held under special legislation has been the subject of repeated representations to successive govers Tents by our organization over the last twenty five years.
To quote the most recent instance:
The need for a law creating basic minimum standards governing persons detained under special legislation has...... been repeatedly called for by human rights Organisations (again including CRM since its inception in 1971)........
When persons are held in a prison, specific laws govern their rights, nately, the Prisons Ordinance and the Prison Rules Thade under that Ordinance, These gover a wide variety of matters in considerable detail Such as Wisitors, Correspondence, diet, bedding, clothing, medical attention, bathing, exercise and so forth. Conditions in our prisons are nevertheless far from satisfactory, but there are at least these legal standards which one can try to have enforced and improved. Any official inspection of a prison, including visits under the PrisonVisitor system provided for by the Ordinance, thus has some yardstick to go by. Persons held under the energency regulations or the Prevention of Terrorism Act, however, can be, and often are, held in places other than prisons, where no such laws apply. In this Context, giving the Human Rights Task Force or the new National Human Rights Commission the task of monitoring the welfare of detainees or visiting places of detention is clearly insufficient, and is in a sense to put the cart before the horse. If it is not possible to accord all detainees all the rights spelt Out under the normal law, at least the basic minimurt standards to which they are entitled must be laid down by law. Then, Certainly, the question of inspection, and the implementation and Supervision of the legal rules created, must be entrusted to an effective body,
CENSORSHIP
The Censorship, which should newer have been framed in such wide terms in the first instance, has fortunately been lifted. This alone however does not suffice, It is important that journalists and human rights organisations be allowed access to the North without hindrance front the authorities.

The Continuing Tragedy - Misconduct of Arted Forces 1 SW 1
TSARISM SOUGHT REWENGE. WHAT LENIN CALLED THE HELLISHLY DIFFICULTYEARSOFREACTION BEGAN. REVOLUTIONARIES, AND ABOVE ALL, BOLSHEWTKS, WERE SUBJECTED TO CRUELREPRISALS. HUNDREDS WERE EXECUTED AND THOUSANDSMORE WERE IMPRISONEDOR EXILED OR SENTENCED TO PENAL SERVITUDE. LENIN HAD TO FLEE RUSSIA: IN DECEMBER 1907, DODGING POLICE SLEUTHS, HE WALKED, AT GREAT RISK, ACROSS THE ASYET THINCE OF THE GULF OF FINLAND TOWARDS A PLACE WHERE A STEAMER WAS TO PICK HIM UP AND TAKE HIM TO STOCKHOLM. NADEZHDA KRUPSKAYA SOON JOINED HIM, AND TOGETHER THEY LEFT FOR GENEWA TO BEGINA SECOND PERIOD IN EMIGRATION THAT WAS TO LAST FOR ALMOST TEN YEARS.
Në AT
Lehirl in MaSCOky İr) f920 22O4. B7 - 2.O. 924
In the spring of 1907 the RSDLP held in London its Fifth Congress. Gorky, who was present at this congress wrote "Lenin did not try to invent fine phrases. He set things forth word by Word, revealing each in its precise meaning, and with amazing ease. It is wery difficult to convey the unusual impression he made. Hisarm outstretched and slightly raised, he seemed to weigh every word in his open palm, winnowing away his opponent's fine talk and replacing it with weighty arguments, demonstrating the right and the duty of the working class to take its own way rather than follow, or even acco Tpany the liberal bourgeoisie. All this was unaccustomed, and it was said not as though coming from him, Lenin, but as the dictate of history. There was a monolithic completeness, directness and force in his speech, and his entire figure as he stood on the rostrum produced the impression of a classical statue with everything that was needed and not onë unnecessary detail, not one embelishment".

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1672 Politics and Life in Our Times
THE CIVILIAN POPULATION
Priority must be given to relieving the intolerable suffering of the civilian population many of whom have now been displaced several times over. CRM is in particular concerned at reports that adequate medical supplies are not available in the Wanni and that there is danger of epidemics. Humanitarian relief must be given wherever it is needed, and international humanitarian agencies should be allowed to function freely. CRM understands that in some places the LTTE prevents relief work. Such actions will only enure to its detriment, and it is essential that the Government show the Contrast in its own behaviour.
As an earnest of its sincerity in protecting the civilian population to the fullest extent possible, CRM urges the governmenttoratify additional Protocol to the Geneva Conventions. This Protocol deals solely with the protection of victims of non-international armed Conflicts, and so is of particular relevance to our situation. It should be noted that there is no fear of the LTTE getting legal recognition as a result, for the text specifically provides that.
"Nothing in this Protocol shall be invoked for the purpose of affecting the Sovereignty of a State or the responsibility of the government, by all legitimate means, to maintain or re-establish law and order in the State or to defend the national unity and territorial integrity of the State".
Of particular significance is the fact that once the government ratifies this, the LTTE too becomes legally bound to observe it. In fact some years ago the LTTE did publicly announce that it would abide by the Protocol if the government ratified it. Whether in fact they would abide by it is highly doubtful, but ratifying it would enable the government to take the moral high ground. It would also, as we said earlier, be an important signal to the civilian population of the government's concern for their plight.
THE PURSUT OF PEACE
Since 1991 CRM has repeatedly pointed to the peace process in El Salvador as one that could be relevant to Sri Lanka. In that Case, an agreement on human rights was actually reached and implemented while the war was still continuing. The peace process involved the

The Continuing Tragedy - Misconduct of Armed Forces 1673
reaching of a series of agreements on a number of topics; the cease-fire and surrender of arms coming right at the end. This history is interesting, firstly on account of its very careful step by step approach, and secondly as it illustrates the importance of the role that a neutral intermediary in that case the Secretary General's office of the United Nations can play in a situation of civil war. CRM is heartened by the fact that recently a group of MPs from a wide political spectrum have been able to agree that a political solution must be found and that the services of a facilitator might be useful to move the talkS forward.
CRM urges the government to actively pursue this idea with a view to securing the rights, safety, security and freedom of all the people of Sri Lanka.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, November 29th, 1996.
The Word Law means rule or order. It is used in two main senses. The first is for an inevitable order of the universe, as the laws of motion or the laws of cause and effect. In the Second Sense it refers to a rule laid down for human action, disobedience of which is likely to be followed by some penalty or inconvenience. The general name for such rules is law; the study of law is jurisprudence. Men cannot live together in society without law and laws appeared at a very early stage in human history. In their growth religion played a great part, and early laws were regarded as the commands of a god. This idea in modern times is partly responsible for what is known as the moral law. The early codes contain strong evidences of priestly influence. Gradually among primitive peoples Custom became an important factor in the development of law, and many early codes of law, e.g., the laws of the English before Norman times, are merely collections of accepted customs. The law givers of ancient times, such as Hammurabi and Moses, were not legislators in the modern sense. They did not make laws; they restated those already existent. The Greeks had a developed system of law, but modern law owes its greatest debt to the Romans. Law has been classified in various ways. The Romans divided it into the civil or national law, and the law of nations which is the basis of international law. This division premises that certain laws, or rules are by their very nature binding upon all mankind, but others only upon a particular people or state.

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Human Rights of Women The Vienna Declaration
The human rights of women and of the girl-child are an inalienable integral and indivisible part of universal human rights. The full and equal participation of women in political, civil, economic, Social and cultural life, at the national, regional and international levels, and the eradication of all forms of discrimination on grounds of sex are priority objectives of the International community.
Gender based violence and all forms of Sexual haraSSment and exploitation, including those resulting from cultural prejudice and international trafficking, are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person, and must be eliminated. This can be achieved by legal measures and through national action and international Cooperation in such fields as economic and social development, education, safe maternity and health care, and social support.
The human rights of women should form an integral part of the United Nations human rights activities, including the promotion of all human rights instruments relating to Women.
The World Conference on Human Rights urges Governments, institutions, intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations to intensify their efforts for the protection and promotion of human rights of women and the girl-child.
The Member States of the United Nations have Solemnly pledged to respect human rights and fundamental freedoms and to undertake individually and collectively actions and programmes to make the enjoyment of human rights a reality for every human being.
UN MVOrld Conference - 1993

Racism and Apartheid in the Pillory
by Jana Spiskova, Geneva
I am not addressing the readers from a microphone in Prague this time, but from the Swiss city of Geneva. Today's subject is the struggle against racism and racial discrimination. I was one of 100 representatives of non-governmental organizations, governmental observers and representatives of U.N. bodies and organizations at the International Non-Governmental Organizations Conference for Actions to Combat Racism and Racial Discrimination in the Second U. N. Decade. We agreed that despite efforts of the United Nations and the world public, racism unfortunately remains a political fact of the end of the twentieth century. Apartheid still commits crimes. I agreed with the idea, repeated many times at the conference, that struggle against racism and racial discrimination cannot be regarded merely as a specific phenomenon, as the suppression of the rights of some nations (for example, in the south of Africa and the Palestinians) threatens peace in the whole world.
it certainly is positive - and U. N. bodies and organizations as well as non-governmental organizations played an extraordinarily significant role in this - that the world public has realized the criminal character of the regime of apartheid in South Africa, and understood the illegal character of the occupation of Namibia and attacks conducted for years by Pretoria against neighbouring independent States. −.
Considering everything that was said at the conference and that we expressed in the final statement, the world public has certainly shifted towards correct understanding of the danger posed by the regime of apartheid. But the world public is often intentionally disorientated by the bourgeois press as regards the need for strict observance of economic sanctions against the South African

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1676 Politics and Lifg in Our Times
Republic, although consistent and general observance of these sanctions Would be, as many experts hawe calculated, one of the most effective instruments of defeating this inhuman racist regime. Naturally, a number of states have adopted so the economic sanctions against Pretoria. A positive role in this has been undoubtedly played by the public opinion in the capitalist states (the socialist Countries hawe not been maintaining any economic or other relations with the South African Republic for more than a quarter of a century). It need not be recalled that co-operation and co-ordination of activity of nongovernmental organizations on regional, continental or global footing are of great importance just as the exchange of experience. This was why the International Non-Governmental Organizations Conference for Actions to Corbat Racism and Racial Discrir Tiination in the Second U. N. Decade, which took place last October, called especially on organizations of youth and students, and Women, cultural and religious organizations and institutions, trade unions, pedagogues, journalists and all who can use the information media to Thobilize the public opinion against racism and racial discrimination, as it is essential to step up the struggle against these criminal phenomena, I would like to stress the formulation in the final statement that actions to defeat racist and racial discrimination are inextricably linked with the struggle for justice and peace,
Although attended this conference as a delegate of the Czechoslovak Committee for Solidarity with the Peoples of Africa, Asia and Latin ArTerica, could not suppress the radio reporter in me and asked the chairman of the Conference, World Peace Council President Romesh Chandra, to assess the Geneva meeting,
He told me: | feel that the second half of this second decade (of the U. N. aganist racism and racial discrimination - note of editor) is a period in the world history characterized by new opportunities for the solution of the problems of the World and the problems of each people. The new international climate about which we talked is a climate which, We believe, if used properly will lead, not automatically but with the

Pacis 77 and Apar FE id for the Fillory 16了了
TODAY'S SUBJECT IS THE STRUGGLE AGAINST RACISM AND RACIAL DISCRIMINATION. I WAS ONE OF 100 REPRESENTATIVES OF NONGOVERNMENTAL, ORGANIZATIONS, GOVERNMENTAL OBSERVERS AND REPRESENTATIVES OF U. N. BODIES AND ORGANIZATIONS AT THE INTERNATIONAL NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS CONFERENCE FORACTIONS TO COMBATRACISMANDRACIAL DISCRIMINATION INTHE SECONDU. N. DECADE, WE AGREED THAT DESPTE EFFORTS OF THE UNITED NATIONS AND THE WORLD PUBLIC RACISM UNFORTUNATELY REMAINSAPOLITICALFACT OF THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY. APARTHEID STILL COMMITS CRIMES, I AGREED WITH THE DEA, REPEATED MANY TIMES AT THE CONFERENCE THAT STRUGGLE AGAINSTRACISMANDRACIAL DISCRIMINATIONCANNOT BE REGARDED MERELY ASA SPECIFIC PHENOMENON, AS THE SUPPRESSION OF THE RIGHTS OF SOME NATIONS (FOR EXAMPLE IN THE SOUTH OF AFRICA AND THE PALESTINIANS)THREATENSPEACE IN THE WHOLE WORLD.
勳 South African Presider Nelson Mandala (L) and his wife Grace Macha 2L) pose with president-glacf Thabo Mbeki (R) and his wife Zanese s2"F)
in Parlliarment in Cape Town 14 June, 1999, Farliamearst corn wered ħis day to swear in new members of parliament and elect a new president.
The links between all the struggles against racism and racial discrimination and apartheid, I think, have been seen more clearly by the participants at this conference and also by the governments and the U.N. I feel that the Conference has given a great new push forward to the work of elimination of racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, and there will be a Commonstruggle of a|| peoples for peace and justice, national independence, which is a struggle for a world without nuclear Weapons and without wiolence, a World in which each hurTan being can stand with dignity on his or her feet and say - I am a citizen of this World, I love my country, but lowing my country means that I love the World.

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1678 Politics and Life in Our Times
struggle of people, to much quicker arrival to a nuclear-free and nonweapon world. We are interested in seeing this world, which I hope will come in the 3rd millennium, as a world in which certainly the danger of nuclear war will have disappeared and in which we shall be able to see also the solution of the global problems. The problem Of racism and racial discrimination which we have discussed at this important Conference is one of the most serious that we face, but we have seen long steps taken towards the independence of Namibia and the implementation of the resolution 435 of the Security Council. Yet there is much to be done, but one can see the light already for this. The whole isolation of the apartheid regime, the sanctions being imposed even by governments which have until now been closely collaborating with the USA - this is the result of the struggle and above all of the voice of the people in each country. The USA has imposed sanctions in certain respect, not sufficient enough, as the Collaboration continues and we want mandatory sanctions. But this is to be seen as a great advance. You take the other questions which We have discussed here.
The questions of the terrible genocide, virtual genocide, think this is the correct word to use, against indigenous people in Several Countries, in the USA, in Countries of South America, in Australia and we have had evidence in other places. This is something which has now come to the attention of all people. The non-governmental organizations sub-committee has been largely responsible for opening the door to the U. N. We now have at least a particular body of the Human Rights Commission and many people from all over the World can come and place their cases, their problems, and charge the governments and the transnational Corporations and others who commit crimes against them, destroying their culture and their lives. And therefore this Conference has been able to take that struggle of the indigenous people to a higher stage.

Racism and Apartheid in the Pillory 1679
We also met links at this conference with the problem of discrimination against immigrants. We had talks with countries of the European Community about the whole subject of immigrant Workers, their rights, their duties. In some countries, as you know, Very dangerous fascist groupings have risen, take France - the National Front and Le Pen. They are based entirely on racism against immigrants, against Algerians and North Africans in general. And therefore this problem is not just something of economic character, economic rights, but the political rights of these people.
The links between all the struggles against racism and racial discrimination and apartheid, I think, have been seen more clearly by the participants at this cor, erence and also by the governments and the U. N. feel that the conference has given a great new push forward to the work of elimination of racism, racial discrimination and apartheid, and there will be a common struggle of all peoples for peace and justice, national independence, which is a struggle for a World without nuclear weapons and without violence, a World in which each human being can stand with dignity on his or her feet and say - I am a citizen of this world, I love my country, but loving my country means that I love the world.
Courtesy: Radio Prague, Czechoslovakia
The Mensheviks, as opposed to the position taken by the Bolsheviks led by Lenin, believed that in Russia too, as during earlier bourgeois revolutions in Western Europe, revolution should be directed by the bourgeorisie and should lead to the victory of the bourgeoisie. They spurned the idea of proletarian hegemony and denied the peasantry its revolutionary role. They were opposed to an armed uprising, which, they said, Would alienate the bourgeoisie from revolution.

Page 301
LTTE'S Pyrrhic Victory
by Prabath Sahabandu
The bomb blast in the passenger train on Wednesday was an attempt by LTTE terrorists to create a backlash in the south. But the south is now aware of such tactics and reaction of the people was to urge the government to extirpate terrorism without falling into a trap as they did in 1983. W
The terrorists bomb blast in the train is also an indication that the terrorists are not content with their so-called victory in Mullaitivu. According to terrorists radio messages intercepted by Military intelligence, well over one thousand terrorists have been killed in the Mullaitivu battle. It was in other words a Pyrrhic victory for terrorists. The terrorists have, as they themselves have admitted on many occasions, only 10,000 cadres and loss of 1,000 cadres amounts to a loss of one tenth of their fighting force.
According to confirmed reports, at the time of writing, over 600 wounded terrorists were trapped in Mullaitivu with the Special Forces batting their way into the terrorist held area. These 600 Wounded terrorists cannot be evacuated now by the LTTE as Operation Sathjaya has been launched in the Wanni. If terrorists are to resist the advancing columns of the army, then they have to withdraw from Mullaitivu leaving behind the wounded or giving them anaesthesia. Or if they feel for their wounded cadres and want to remove them, then there is the problem of where to take them for treatment. For, although the terrorists are said to have a hospital Somewhere in their jungle hide outs in the Mullaitivu area, such a big number of Wounded Cadres Cannot be treated there.
This is the predicament of the LTTE now. Operation Sathjaya is certainly a good counter move by the military.

LTTE'S Pyrrhic Victory 1681
RESPONSBILITY
But the government has to take the full responsibility for the Mullaitivu debacle. Although the LTTE adopted superior tactics including the so-called human wave tactic which caused hundreds of young terrorists to be used as cannon fodder by Prabhkaran to break the well fortified defence lines of the Mullaitivu base against heavy machine gunfire, the government too, having given breathing space to a ruthless terrorist organisation to regroup is responsible for the loss of military personal in Mullaitivu.
Success of a war against terrorism lies in the ability of the state to launch multipronged attacks on it relentlessly. The LTTE as manifest in its onslaught on the Mullaitivumilitary base and the bomb attack on a passenger train on Thursday has had time to regroup. During the Successful Operation Riviresa, the LTTE with all its cadres deployed in the war front, was not in a position to go on the offensive. As a result, the south was free from terrorist attacks and due to breakdown in Communication between the terrorists and the leadership many terrorists had to abandon their missions and they could be arrested in ColombO.
But the post Operation Riviresa period was characterised by a lull in the northern theatre of war though the government does not Want to admit it. Various excuses were given for absence of major offensives against terrorists and one was the dearth of personal. But when recommendations were made, last November, to the government by a eight member cabinet sub committee that a large scale conscription drive be embarked upon, Minister S.Thondaman raised objections and the government succumbed to his pressure.
The failure of the UNP to crush the LTTE was due to its leadership playing politics with the war. And the PA was able to be different from the UNP at the beginning and managed to wrest control of the Jaffna peninsula. But, with that victory the PA became overconfident and rehabilitation and reconstruction were given priority at the expense of other military offensives to keep terrorists under pressure thus enabling them to go on the offensive.

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1682 Positics ard Lisso ir 7 (2Lr Tirgs
D. B. DHANAPALA, ARENOWNED SON OF RUHUNA WAS BORN AT TISSAMAHARAMA ON JANUARY 4, 1905 AND HIS CHILDHOOD WAS BESET WITH MANY DRAWBACKS WHICH HE BATTLED THROUGH COURAGEOUSLY. BEGINNING HIS PRIMARY EDUCATION AT THE WILLAGE SCHOOL, HE CONTINUED HIS STUDIES AT MAHINDA COLLEGE, GALLE. AT THAT TIME GORDON, PEARCE WAS THE PRINCIPAL. A.T MAHNDA COLLEGE HE THEN MOWED ON TO PARAMESHWARA COLLEGE AS PRINCIPAL, WHICH COLLEGE WAS FOUNDED BY SIR P. RAMANATHAN DURING THE 1920s. SEWERAL STUDENTS, INCLUDING DHANAPALA, BECAUSE OF THEIR ASSOCATION WITH GORDON PEARCE, LEFT MAHINDA COLLEGE AND JOINED PARAMESHWARA COLLEGE. DHANAPALA CONTINUED THERE FOR SEWER AL YEARS, AND IT WAS THEN THATHE CAME IN CONTACT WITH JAFFINA AND CAME TO KNOW ITS PEOPLE. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T DURASINGAM, WHO STUDIEDAT PARAMESHWARA COLLEGE DURING THIS PERIOD, FIRST CAME TO KNOWHIM HERE.
D. B. D'fharapala 4. Of - E3, 9
D. B. Dhanapala's services to this country were many. The Thost outstanding of these was the active part he played to infuse a new life to the national culture through the medium of journalism. His foremost thoughts were the love for his Country and religion and he was a colossus that spurned barriers of race, creed and nationality. He even inspired men and avants in the neighbouring Asian Countries as well. He began his journalistic carrier while still in school and later shone in this sphere at all the leading rewspaper establishments in Sri Lanka. D. B. Dhanapala was fearless in manner, independent inspirit and his dynastic personality beamed forth with radiant energy that captivated the hearts and Tinds of all those who came in contact with him. The vibrant thoughts that flowed through his pen had a magical charm on all types of readers spread throughout the Country and his integrity of character and uprightness inspired Tiany of us during the for Tiative days of our journalistic career. He was indeed one of the greatest men that Sri Lanka produced in recent times,
– Arrely Sco,
 

LT TES Pyrrhic Victory 683
SUBCOMMITTEE REPORT
Now that the LTTE has rejected the Package, the government has to concentrate on its military option as the solution to the terrorist problem while guaranteeing devolution of state power to solve the problems of the Tamil people. People expect the government to do so and it is the hope that the government will avenge the wictims of the bomb blast and those killed in Mullaitivu that has prevented people from resorting to violent acts in the south. Time has come for the government to act and to declare all out war against the LTTE. Mere appeals to remain calm in the aftermath of bomb blasts will serve little purpose. Having false stories about Deputy Minister Ratwatte leading the Mullaitivu battle published in the state controlled media only adds insult to injury. The government should not make wain attempts to fight this war through its propaganda organs.
A government is formed by the people to Take decisions that they cannot make for themselves, Statements issued by political leaders giving reasons for their inability to annihilate terrorists will not be acceptable to the people.
The UNP, which de Tards to Know the numbers killed in action and Calls for debates even before battles are over in the War front, was voted out by the people for its failure to find solutions to burning problems of the people. Today, threats by terrorists to kill school children and bomb blasts, have made their survival the wery problem that people seek a solution to,
The difficulties facing the government in its War against terrorism have already been identified and it is the responsibility of the incumbent government to find solutions to them. The recommendations made by the cabinet sub committee if implemented, in the opinion of most ministers, would help the government to evolve solutions to many of the problems.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, July 28th, 1996,

Page 303
The L. S. S. P. on the Only Possible Approach to a Solution of Sri Lanka's
Ethnic Crisis
by Bernard Soysa L. S. S. P. General Secretary
The devolution of power to a territory in which Tamils are in a majority can be the only basis for a satisfactory solution to the prevailing ethnic crisis in Sri Lanka. Chauvinistic forces within the governing United National Party itself have opposed such a solution and President Ranasinghe Premadasa has shown no readiness or willingness to combat these forces. He has resorted to various measures to buy time for the purpose of getting over the ethnic hurdle each year the Aid Donors meet regarding their aid to Sri Lanka. The Opposition, which is predominantly the SLFP, far from showing up the President's opportunism, has taken up uncompromising chauvinistic stands on the ethnic question.
Chauvinism, whether Sinhala or Tamil, strengthens and reinforces each other's most reactionary and regressive drives. it establishes the situation in which fascistic forces take the upper hand and proceed with impunity to liquidate all dissent. The fascistic roles of the LTTE and the JVP within their respective communalism need no special mention. What is of even greater significance is that the UNP government itself has exploited the situation to arm itself through Emergency Regulations with the most reactionary and undemocratic powers relying on the support of Sinhala chauvinism.
The ten years of bloody civil war which we have gone through has proved that neither the armed forces of the state nor the LTTE's guerilla forces are capable of wiping out the military potential of the Other Side. This has been the invariable characteristic of all ethnic conflicts in recent times. Superior military power has not enabled a

L. S. S. P. On the Solution of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis 1685
state to pacify territory in which ethnic insurgency has taken place. Nor do the fighting efficiency and commitment of guerillas suffice to expel occupying armies from the territory fought for, despite the support they may get from a rebellious people.
Devolution of power to ethnic minorities was placed on the political agenda in Sri Lanka with the formation of the Federal Party, following the deprivation of people of recent Indian origin of their citizenship rights in 1948. On two occasions, in 1958 and 1966, the Government in power concluded written agreements with the Federal Party to implement measures of limited devolution and went back on its undertaking in the face of opposition from the forces of Sinhala chauvinism. On a third occasion, in 1977, the Jayawardena Government went back on its election pledge to summon an all-parties conference on the ethnic guestion and embarked on a course of intimidation of the Tamil people through race riots and military suppression. The government put forward the District Development Councils system and the TULF accepted it despite its being completely unworkable. This cost the TULF its credibility among the Tamil people. The Government in which the present President, Mr. Ranasinghe Premadasa, was Minister of Local Government, starved the DDCs of finances and encouraged the centrally appointed District Ministers to take control of the Councils. It is only with the widening of the military activities of the Tamil militants and with Indian mediation, that the Government started taking any meaningful steps towards a political solution of the ethnic problem.
Indian concern in Sri Lanka's ethnic problem was officially registered as far back as 1981 when, following upon the anti-Tamil riots here, an all-party delegation from Tamil Nadu visited New Delhi and persuaded Prime Minister indira Gandhi to officially announce India's active concern in the welfare and security of all Tamils in Sri Lanka. This was an important announcement and it indicated the nature of the political pressures on any Indian central government in respect of an escalating ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. J. R. Jayawardena however gave into the dark forces of Sinhalachauvinism and engaged

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in his own sabre-rattling, withoutmaking any effort to win the sympathy and co-operation of the Indian government on the matter. This was inexcusable for by then it should have been clear to him that, without India's active co-operation in denying to the separatists facilities in India as are necessary for a guerilla struggle, there was absolutely no hope or possibility of coping with the political and military problem posed in Sri Lanka. This attitude of J. R. Jayawardena and his government led to the events of July 1983, after which India had the problem of a growing exodus of refugees across the Palk Strait. In the absence of the necessary political understanding between the two countries it was to be expected that India would resort to other devices as have been attributed to its intelligence machinery, the RAW. Political reality thereafter forced the Jayawardena government at the Delhi Summit of June 1985 to recognize, amongst other matters, the Indian interest in Sri Lanka's ethnic crisis, and the necessity for India's involvement in seeking a political solution acceptable to the contending parties.
The consequent discussions between the two countries, India's mediation with the Tamil militant groups as well as with the TULF, and the Work of the Political Parties Conference which sat in Colombo Contributed to the drafts that were made of the Amendments to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act, which later came to be part of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement of 1987. As far as the institutional arrangements for devolution are concerned, the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement itself added nothing more to what had thus been already drafted and even agreed upon by the governments of both Countries. The Agreement however was decisive on the question of implementation. In furtherance of this it provided for a conditional merger of the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils and India recognised as its obligation the disarming of the LTTE. That appeared to satisfy the LTTE and the other Tamil groupings that wanted, as the basis of settlement, the clear provision of a single territorial unit as the unit of devolution. It also won the confidence of those who quite correctly felt that the continuance of an armed LTTE in these provinces would

L. S. S. P. On the Solution of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis 1687
prevent, obstruct and stultify the democratic process. There is no doubt that had the Provincial Councils system been put into effect on the basis of the conditions provided for in the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement the country would have had an essentially democratic system in which the ethnic problem could have been laid to rest. Indeed the Provincial Councils system that was provided for Constitutes the most progressive step in nearly forty years of history in the democratisation of the national state. In this regard the LSSP, in a statement which it issued in August 1987, examined the provisions of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement and the relevance of its provisions to the problem at hand, and pointed to the basically Sri Lankan contribution to the evolution and shaping of this system when it pin-pointed its own role in the matter. It said:
"The LSSP, consistent with its position of seeking to achieve a self-managing socialist society, put forward and pressed for the acceptance of the devolution of power from the Centre to the Provincial Councils. The LSSP in the All Parties' Conference and the Political Parties Conference maintained the position that envisaged the devolution of powers that would enable the people to exercise larger democratic rights both at the Provincial and the Local Government level".
The Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement had reference not only to the ethnic problem in Sri Lanka. Fears and difficulties India had in regard to the UNP Government's Subservience to the interests of the United States of America brought into the Agreement positions which the LSSP's Statement Summarised thus:
"Further in the latter section of the agreement, which includes an important annexure, there would seem to be established a special relationship between Sri Lanka and India which in certain matters gives India a hand in Sri Lanka's affairs. There is provision for this role in the agreement to set up 'a joint consultative mechanism' to continuously review these matters of Common Concern:
(i) ensuring that the presence in Sri Lanka of foreign military and intelligence personal will not prejudice Indo-Sri Lanka relations,

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688 Politics and Life ir CMLJ TirT 735
(ii) ensuring that TrincorTalee and other ports will not be made available for military use by any country in a manner prejudicial to India's interests; (iii) The restoration and operation of the Trincomalee oil tanks fart be undertaken as a joint Wenture between india and Sri Lanka; (iv) ensuring that any facilities set up by foreign broadcasting organizations in Sri Lanka are not used for any military or intelligence purposes". This meant a Withdrawal on the part of the Jaya Wardena government from concessions freely given to the USA since 1977, and what happened thereafter was recognisably the backlash of American imperialism. There was orchestrated in the South and West of Sri Lanka a wirulent anti-Indian and racist novellent which destabilised the J. R. Jayawardena regime and projected Ranasinghe Premadasa for UNP leadership. After the election of Premadasa as President of the Country, his official anti-Indian stance was supported front the Outside by Sinhala racism spearheaded by the JWP, and the LTTE which had its own need to get the IPKF off its back. With this, American imperialism succeeded in sabotaging the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement at the Sri Lanka end.
With the sabotaging of the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement the racists in the South of the country were free to deny to the North and the East even the benefits of the 13th Allendrient to the Constitution and the Provincial Councils Act. The LTTE too was free to get back to its fascistic pursuits both in the North and the East. With this the Provincial Councils were denied the opportunity to contribute what they Could to tha salution of the athmic problem. President Premadasa's unimaginative attitude to the Provincial Councils systern, his lack of appreciation of its potentialities, his refusal to provide the Councils with adequate finances and his usurpation of their functions have in no Way helped this System to Commend itself to the Tamil people as a Solution to their problem. Despite the lapse of four years, no real transfer of powers to the Provincial Councils as provided for in the 13th

S aS a0S LL LHHL aLLCH LLL a LGLtuLK YLHMLL LLTLLLLLLL 1689
MERWYNST. S. CASE CHETTY, WAS A SENIOR AT TORNEY-AT-LAW AND NOTARY PUBLIC. HE WASA, FEARLESS CHAMPION OF RATIONALISM AND FOUGHT AGAINSTIGNORANCE AND SUPERSTITION, EARLIER AS WICE PRESIDENT OF THE SRI LANKARATIONALIST ASSOCATION AND LATER AS ITS PRESIDENT. HE WAS AN ACTIVE SYMPATHIZER OF THE LL LLLLL LLLL LLLLLL LLLLLL LLS LLLLLLL LLLL LL LLLKLL S LLLLLLaLLLL (PROCTOR) OF MOST OF THE PARTY'S LEADING MEMBERS. MERWYN LLLLLL LL LLLLLLaL LLLL LL LLLLLLLLLS S SLL LGLLLLLLL LLLLLL LKLL LLLS WELLCAUGHT THE TWINKLE IN HIS EYE AND HEARD THESOFTCHUCKLE. HIS POEMS AND THE PUBLICATION HE BROUGHT OUT, "RHYMES AND REASON"EPTOMZESBOTH SEDESOF HIS PERSONALITY - THE HUMOUR AND THE SERIOUS. MERWYN ALSO EPITOMES THE PERFECT GENTLEMAN. HE CARED FOR PEOPLE. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURASINGAM, KNEWHIMPERSONALLY FOR DECADES, MERWYNWAS HELPFUL TO THE AUTHORN DIRECTINGHIM TO SEVERAL ARTICLES
LLLLLLKLLLLL LLLL GG LLLLLL KLL LLLLKLL LaLLLLL LLL GLLL LLLLaLLS
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- f F
Roger Baconi (Circa 1210 to Circa 1293), a Franciscan of Oxford, the father of Todern experintental Science. His name deserves a prominence Second only to that of Aristotle, Roger Bacon's writings were like a flash of light in a profound darkness. He combined his attack upon the ignorance of his time with a wealth of suggestion for the increase of knowledge, his passionate insistance upon the need of gxperiment and of Collecting knowledge, the spirit of Aristotle lives
again. "Experiment, experiment' that is the burthen of Roger Bacon.
— F. G. MWEMAS,

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1690 Politics and Life in Our Times
Amendment has taken place. Administratively, he has used his powers to undercut the Provincial Councils in areas of activity in which the Centre has concurrent powers with the Provincial Councils. The recent appointment of Divisional Secretaries under his direct and exclusive authority and the subjection of the Pradeshiya Sabha activity to them is, for instance, a direct violation of the provision that all local government should come exclusively under the purview of the Provincial Councils. The disruption of the North-East merged Provincia Council and the wholly subservient provincial administrations elsewhere have been helpful to President Premadasa in this exercise. It should be mentioned, further, that, side by side with devolution, reform of the Parliamentary and Ministerial system is essential to avoid the duplication of functions and, more important, the duplication of expenditure. This has not even been thought of during the past four years.
The present reality is that any progress in meeting the aspirations of the Tamil minority can be achieved only through a willingness to adhere to the scheme of devolution of power provided by the 13th Amendment, with concomitant efforts to improve it. To this must be added the recognition of the need of the Tamils of the Northern and Eastern Provinces to administer on their own a single territorial unit as the unit of devolution. The Indo-Sri Lanka ACCOrd met this need through the stipulation that, subject to its affirmation through a referendum, the Northern and Eastern Provinces shall Constitute a single PC. It was on the acceptance by the UNP of this stipulation that the first PC elections were held With the Northern and Eastern Provinces being regarded as a single administrative unit. The Government of President Ranasinghe Premadasa, backed by the darkest forces of Sinhala communalism, provided the LTTE with facilities to destroy the EPRLF administration of the North-East PC and drove the EPRLF leadership itself to desperate and untenable political positions. Since then the Premadasa government has back-slided on the condition of merger of the two provinces and has failed to offer a viable solution.

L. S. S. P. on the Solution of Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis 1691
The continuance of this attitude of attempting to forget the package contained in the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement for the settlement of the ethnic problem can take the country nowhere close to a solution. It must not be forgotten that what was contained in the Agreement with regard to a solution to the ethnic problem was a reaching down to rock-bottom. A solution cannot be arrived at with less being offered to either side. The solution proposed by the majority of members of the Parliamentary Select Committee which sat on this subject suffers from a failure to appreciate this reality. It has reference to the question of the extent of devolution of powers but has sheepishly avoided any thought about the fact that the Indo-Sri Lanka Agreement had provided tentatively a merger of the Northern and Eastern Provincial Councils. Basically what was provided in the Agreement was that the two Councils be merged ultimately only if the will of the people of the Eastern Province to do so could be ascertained in a referendum. The immediate merger stipulated there was conditional and on it depended the disarming of the LTTE. The LSSP is of the view that the only solution that can at present be acceptable to the Tamil people is an acceptance of Such merger subject to those very same conditions.
if it is impossible to accept that contiguous territory inhabited by a majority of Tamil-speaking people should constitute a unit for the devolution of regional power, it must be regarded that no possibility exists of peaceful negotiation of a solution to the Sinhala-Tamil problem in the Country. There would then be no alternative but to seek to impose a solution by one side on the other through the gathering of superior military force. Ten years of searching for such a solution have today served to demonstrate its complete absurdity. In the first place, neither side has the ability tomobilise sufficient human and material resources to inflict a devastating military victory on the other. Any attempt to do so will result in the common ruin of both contending sides. In the second place, both Sinhala and Tamil chauvinists are heavily dependent on foreign sources for military supplies and financial assistance to pursue their military endeavour. Both sides have already reached a point when

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1692 Politics and Life in Our Times
these supplies are likely to be withheld from them if no kind of peace is immediately established. Thirdly, the common people on both sides have reached the point of total disillusion with this war which nobody understands and only a self-seeking few desire. Large-scale desertions from the Sinhala armed forces and a virtual drying up of recruitment to the armed forces have become a significant phenomenon. In other words, even if peace is impossible, it is equally impossible to continue the War.
The Government of Sri Lanka must, therefore, be compelled to realise that it has an obligation to confront Sinhala chauvinism in order to serve the country's true interests. The right to a contiguous Tamil territory as a unit of power-devolution is both a right demand, an irresistible demand and a demand that serves also the true interests of the people of the whole of Sri Lanka. There is no alternative to it. At the same time, the sharing of power between centre and periphery detailed in the 13th Amendment and the Provincial Councils Act must not be Curtailed in any way. If at all it must be improved. Land and responsibility for law and order necessarily belong to the Provincial Councils.
The LTTE may not appear to endorse this approach to peace at this juncture. In any case, there cannot be any opening of negotiations with them unless they first undertake to surrender their arms and participate in a multi-party political system. If the peace-makers can reach out to the masses of all parts of the Country and construct an extensive front to bring about the stoppage of this war, it won't be long before even the LTTE cardres begin to think more critically of their present ways.
Courtesy: LSSP publication on "Sri Lanka's Ethnic Crisis", Colombo, February 3rd, 1993.

CHAPTER 18
Religion
Distinguished Centenarian Simmiah ThambimUttu
by S. Sivasubramaniam (1899-1985) Attorney-at-Law
According to Hindu shasthras and belief and also in accordance with other religious traditions, length of life has been considered a great boon vouchsafed by God to mankind.
There have been in our midst some persons who have had the privilege of a long life. It is said that it has been stated in the Vedas, the holy book of the Hindus, that the age of 126 ought to constitute the normal life of a person. Y
No less a person than Mahatma Gandhi had wished this consummation for himself. Among us in Ceylon there had been a few individuals who had attained the 100th anniversary of their birth and in some cases even lived longer.
One such instance is the late Mr. Sinniah Thambimuttu of Tirunelveli North, Jaffna, known to an earlier generation as "Thauke" Thambimuttu who departed from our midst on October 28, 1972, two years after he attained his blessed centenary. The expression "Thauke" means a fabulously wealthy person in the language of the people of Malaya, in which country Mr. Thambimuttu had spent a large portion of his life like many of his distinguished countrymen.
His contemporaries and friends like Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sir W. Duraiswamy, Adigar Naganathan and Dr. S. Subramaniam (retired P. S.) are no more in the land of the living.

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1594 Politics and Life ir 1 COLLI r Tires
IT APPEARS APPROPRIATE AND DESRABLE TO RECALL TO THE MIND OF THE PUBLIC THE SUCCESSFUL CAREER OF AN ELDERLY GENTLEMAN, WHO IN HIS DAYS ATTAINED FAME AND DID SERVICE TO THE COUNTRY IN MANY WALKS OF LIFE. COMING FROM A DISTINGUISHED FAMILY, WELL KNOWN THROUGHOUT JAFFNA, MR. THAMBIMUTTUSTUDIED IN HIS WILLAGE SCHOOL AND THEREAFTER ATST.JOHN'S COLLEGE, CHUNDUKULY, JAFFNA. AFTER COMPLETING HIS EDUCATION HE TOOK TO BUSINESS AND STRUCK OFF A NEW WENTURE. HE ESTABLISHED A REGULAR STAGE-COACH SERVICE BETWEEN AFFNA AND MATALE. THOSE DAYS THERE WAS NO RALWAY CONNECTION BETWEEN COLOMBO AND AFFNA. A HIGH BRITISH OFFICIAL DISMISSING THE PROPOSAL OF A RALWAY TO JAFFNAAS ARAILWAY TO THE MOON. WALUABLE SERVICES WERE RENDERED BY MR. THAMBMUTTU BY ESTABLISHING THE STAGECOACHSERVICE WHICH WAS RUN WITH HORSES BETWEENJAFFNA AND MATALE. ALONG WITH THE COACH SERVICE HE CARRIED ON BUSNESS AND TRADE OFVARIOUSKIMIDS.
-
Sirrah fhāTTbir TILL f871 - 1972 Nationalist and Philanthropist
The stage coach was a vehicle thal formerly carried passengers and to song extent goods. It was drawn by two, four or even more horses, and had seats inside and outside with a boot for the luggage. It appeared in the 17th Century in England, but its most prosperous period was the early 18th Century, and just before it was superseded by railways. The horses were changed at the end of each stage on the route. The stages were about 10 milds from each other.
 
 
 

Distinguished Centenarian - Siririah Thar birTuttu 1895
It appears appropriate and desirable to recall to the mind of the public the successful career of an elderly gentleman, who in his days attained fame and did service to the country in Thany walks of life. Coming from a distinguished family, well known throughout Jaffna, Mr. Thar Tibimuttu studied in his village school and thereafter at St. John's College, Chundukuly, Jafna,
After completing his education he took to business and struck off a new venture, He established a regular stage-coach service between Jaffna and Matale, like the late Mr. Asaipillai. Those days there was no railway connection between Colombo and Jaffna. A high British official dismissing the proposal of a railway to Jaffna as a railway to the moon. Waluable services were rendered by Mr. Thambimuttu by establishing the stage-coach service which was run with horses between Jaffna and Matale. Along with the coach service he carried on business and trade of various kinds,
It may be mentioned that he was associated with the foundation of the Jaffna Hindu College, along with the other leaders of those times. Thereafter he left Sri Lanka for Malaya.
In Malaya he did not seek a regular eTiployment under the Government of the country. He took to business and was a well known figure in the private sector, Great Wealth was the reward for his efforts. His work included, among other things, laying of roads, building of bridges, diverting courses of rivers and construction of buildings at the request of and in compliance with Government requirements.
When in Malaya, he and his wife, Madam Thangannah were considered a hospitable couple whose doors were open for Tanils and non-Tar Tils.
On his return from Malaya about the 1920s, while doing general business, he took an important part in what was then known as the Karachchi Scheme for the development of agriculture, paddy cultivation and gardening along with persons like the late Sir Ambalavanar Kamagasabai, Messrs W. Casipillai, A. Mylwaganam, T. C. Sangarapillai and James Heisman,

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1695 Politics and Life in Our Trris
WHEN IN MALAYA, HE AND HIS WIFE, MADAM THANGAMMAH WERE CONSIDEREDA, HOSPTABLE COUPLE WHOSE DOORS WERE OPEN FOR TAMILS ANO NON-TAMILS, THANGAMMAH WAS THE DAUGHTER OF P. WALLIPURAM WHO WASA FARMER OF TIRUNELVELINORTH, JAFFNA. THE MAN BRUNT OF THE FARMINGWAS BORNEBY HIM WITH THE HELP AND ASSISTANCE OF HIS RELATIONS. HE GAWE IN MARRAGE HIS DAUGHTER THANGAMMAHTO THAMBIMUTTU, ARELATION AND FROM THE SAME WILLAGE, WHO WASDOINGAFLOURSHING BUSINESS IN MALAYA.
Mrs. Thangari) rrah Tharmbirnultu †888 -- ፲9ፖ3
On Hospitality - The whole design of living in the domestic state and laying up (property) is (to be able) to exercise the benevolence of hospitality. It is not fit that one should wish his guests to be outside (his house) even though he were eating the food of immortality. The family of the man that daily entertains the guests who come to him shall not suffer by powerty. Goddess Lakshmi with joyous mind shall dwell in the house of that man who, with cheerful Countenance, entertains the good as guests. Is it necessary to Sow seed in the field of the man who, having feasted his guests, eats what may remain
- TruLukkLura, The Tarrniil Wadas.
 
 
 

Distinguished Carī ferrariar? — Sin, Jiah TatarTbirim)Luftu 1697
He played a leading part in local government politics and was elected Chairman of the Nallur Willage Council for a number of years. He was deeply interested in the Khaddar mowerment, which was initiated by Mahatma Gandhi when he visited Jaffna in 1927, and actively worked for the cause,
Among his children are to be found some prominent men in the Tamil community. His son, Mr. T. Duraisingan, J. P., U. M., proctor and notary, is one of the most prominent and indefatigable leaders of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, and is known not only in our country but also in international circles.
One of Mr. Thambimuttu's sons-in-law is Mr. A. C. Nadaraja, a well-known and respected personality among political, social and legal circles in Color Tibo, and by profession an advocate. Another son-in-law, Mr. S. R. Paramjothy, who was agent for the Ceylon Government in Kerala for the toba CCO trade, is now retired and is well-known for his great public spiritedness and sturdy independence. A third son-in-law is Mr. S. Ponniah, a leading advocate and an indefatigable political and Social Worker in Jaffna,
Mr. Thambimuttu departed from this world peacefully and with dignity. As he was dying he listened consciously and devotedly to his favourite religious songs which his daughter, Srimathi Nageswary Ponniah, recited. It was a rainy day, However, the weather cleared and the sui was shining at the time of the funeral obsequies, which were conducted by Siwa Sri Kalyana Krishna Kur Lukal Avergal.
The funeral pyre was lit by Mr. Duraisingam, the son of the departed elder. Thus passed away from our midst a respected and important figure.
Courtesy:"The Times", Colombo, December, 1972,

Page 310
Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century
by K. Arumainayagam
The caste system continued to hold sway over the economic, social and religious life of the people. The number of divisions varied. The main caste that played prominent role in Society was the high caste Vellala. The slaves were castes Kovia, Pallar and Nala War and the Kudimakkal castes of Barber, Washerman, Blacksmith, Carpenter, and Grave digger (Pariah).
All these were endogamous groups. There was no commensality or connubium. These factors reflected themselves in the religious outlook and the Gods each caste worshipped, in the Cryptic Symbols of the animals they reared, in mode of dress and even in such matters as taking oaths.
PORTUGUESE & DUTCH PERIOD (1505-1796)
The Portuguese and the Dutch did not interfere with this aspect of the life of the people. In fact during the rule of the latter the system became more and more stratified and rigid. The Dutch Codified all that was once a tradition, clearly demarcating each group's functions and services to the state and behaviour of the lower classes towards upper classes, notably towards Vellalas.
Instruction given to the Udayars (Dissawes) of Jaffna and the Placaats will demonstrate this. For example, a Placaat issued by Lauren Pyl, a Dutch Governor of Ceylon said "It must be also seen that the lower castes observe the rules with regard to their Costumes, etc., they do not wear their dress in the proper way, do not cut their hair and do not wear any golden ring in the ears, so that they can be distinguished from caste people". Such a Placaat certainly would not have helped the low castes to take shelter under the Western attire.

Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century 1699
Caste groupings were recognised by the rules and it was included in the letters of appointment. An example of such instance is as follows. "Welala Welayrer Joan Ramenden, resident of Manipay was appointed as 1st Cannecappel, (Shroff or Cashier) of Mannar. Colombo 10th August, 1761".
That partiality was shown in matters of justice to members of the high castes could be evidenced from instructions given to governors. The judicial administrators were given specific instructions to treat members of the high castes with due consideration.
The main interest of the Portuguese and Dutch in Ceylon was revenue, and so long as the system brought dividends, they interfered little. They tolerated such practices even in their churches. Efficient administration and collection of revenue depended heavily on the continuation of the system. Besides they also relied on the native officials - who had been mostly high caste to administer the Country. Any interference to denounce and degrade their status would have been detrimental to their interests and endangered their position in Ceylon. Instances are not rare when Vellalas conspired and rebelled when members of the "madapally" caste were appointed to positions of responsibility over looking their claims for such appointments.
Thus the Portuguese and Dutch inherited a tradition which they fostered and nurtured, gave legal sanction and passed on to their successors the English. The concept of 'white man's burden' of civilising the "natives" was to come much later, not even during the early part of the British rule in Ceylon.
EARLY BRITISH PERIOD
The Britishers accepted and continued the system as the only sound and prudent diplomatic move to satisfy the people. Their regulations were equally zealous in safeguarding the interests of the high castes and perpetuating the caste system. When there were disturbances caused by low castes in Jaffna at the early part of their rule, they promptly issued an Ordinance to ensure that low castes

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17OO Politics and Life in Our Times
showed obeisance to the high castes. Ordinance No. 10 of 1806 decreed that "all persons of the lower castes shall show to all persons of the higher castes, such marks of respect as they are by ancient customs entitled to receive.
"All questions that relate to those rights and privileges which subsist in the said provinces between higher castes on the one hand and particularly the Coviar, Nalavar and Pallar on the other shall be decided according to the said customs and usages of the province".
Again an acceptance and legal recognition of the system of slavery and caste. Also continued the practice of entering castes of the officers in public documents and designed different kind of uniforms to officers of the different castes. The Mudaliyars were appointed on caste basis and in this sphere as Colebrooke commented generally the Government "had favoured the pretensions of the higher castes especially the Velala."
The first quarter of the 19th century at the same time saw the emergence of new philosophies in England. Humanitarian and Evangelical Schools of thoughts began to question the validity of the continuation of institutions which Owed their eXisten Ce tO traditiOn but not to any reason or logic. Such attacks were directed against slavery in the British Empire, against Sutte, Thuggism, widow remarriage in India. This period therefore saw the gradual erosion of the system of slavery and its final abolition in 1844.
It was much easier to abolish slavery in Ceylon particularly in Jaffna. High castes did not bother and offer any serious opposition to the abolition. Unlike the West Indies, there was no British vested interest in Jaffna. Nor was there any other cultivation to get upset over the abolition of slavery in Jaffna. Besides by tradition the emancipated slave castes have to depend on the Vellalas and other high Castes for their sustenance. Due to these reasons the abolition of slavery in Ceylon had little social and economic effects on the Slave Castes.

Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century 1701
Among the Kudimakkal castes which were eighteen in number, an important place was assigned to the Dhoby and Barber castes. For all practical purposes there cannot be any ceremony, auspicious or otherwise, in the house of a Vellala without the presence of these two castes. Without their presence a marriage was considered to be illegal. In two cases (Case Nos. 1,180 & 1,103) decided by the Provincial Court of Jaffnapatam in the 1820s it was held that the attendance of barbers and washers at wedding ceremonies was a requirement meant to make the wedding legal.
In another case Venayagar Cander VS Venayagar Moorugar, a plaint was filed by the former to clear his caste. The Court devoted time to listen and dismissed certain remarks made as quite unintentional. Such was the force of thesavalamai (the customs of Jaffna) that courts were compelled to take cognisance of the existence of Caste.
LATTER PART OF 9TH CENTURY
But in the latter half of the 19th century the Government attitude took entirely a different line. And this was motivated by the current economic and social thinking. The Government was bent on creating a capitalist Society. Caste taboos and traditional prohibitions on the movements of various castes proved to be an obstacle to the easy mobilisation of labour and the development of a laissez-faire state. In matters of appointments to Government posts, Colebrooke was certainly against the adoption of a caste basis. As far as the employment of Ceylonese were concerned Colebrooke argued that it should "depend principally on the extent to which they had availed themselves of those opportunities of instruction which would be open to them". Secondly the degree to which they showed themselves to be emancipated from the "prejudices of the people" and thirdly the extent to which they would be willing to "Co-operate with the Government on its views for the ultimate abolition of all unnecessary and invidious distinction of Castes".

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This shows to the extent to which British Government in Ceylon was preparing itself to depart from what had been followed hitherto. As Such the Government decided to ignore it and was unreceptive to claims based on caste. With the abolition of Rajakariya all Government Connections were severed and an opportunity was created for the free movement of lower Castes.
The courts questioned the validity of the claims based on Customary obligations. Courts looked at caste issues purely from a legal angle. They began to view cases of such nature in the light of the Concept of Contract. This position was clearly stated in the case of Tawasey Canthen vs Vyraven Canthen and others. The defendents who were his domestic servants (a barber and a dhoby) very unlawfully refused to attend a ceremony while the former made preparations to wear earings on his daughter. In the absence of the above two Kudimakkal, his friends and relations went away without eating or making presents to him. He Sustained a damage of £1.4s. The accused were found guilty and asked to pay the damages.
On reference to Supreme Court it was held that the findings of the District Judge were not acceptable. The Supreme Court quashed the judgement saying that "it does not appear that the defendents were obliged to attend the ceremony under any special contract. However, the presents being voluntary are not recoverable at law, and the defendents were not liable to render any compensation". Such athinking was certainly a departure from the view held hitherto.
Unlike the Dutch, the English Government Agents began to ignore the caste system. P. A. Dyke who had been a Government Agent for alongtime required the Village Headman to furnish him with reports pertaining to problems arising on account of caste differences.
UNLIKE THER PREDECESSORS
The Roman Catholics and Lutherans, the Protestant missionaries of the 19th Century refused to tolerate the caste system in any form. "The caste system was regarded" by the Protestant Christian missionaries as a denial of the belief in the potential spiritual and material development of the individual contained in the protestant

Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century 1703
ethic and the Americans and Weslyans, particularly the former adopted the view "that the struggle against castes was one of the most important tasks that Confronted them" in Jaffna.
The missionaries attempts at conversion was also thwarted by the existence of caste system. Though at the start they were compelled to give into the pressure of high caste, very soon they made it clear that they will not tolerate it for long. The American Missionaries for a time had a separate Cookhouse for high caste students outside their school premises at Batticotta. But very soon they brought it within the school premises.
This problem was not confined to the Tamil districts alone.The missionaries in the South faced similar problems. The people of Jaffna Considered even the beef-eating missionary as an outcaste. Their efforts will be appreciated only when one realizes the fact that Catholic missions and the Lutherans were reluctant to take a stand on caste issue. Both Were Socially Conservative. They mostly concerned themselves, as in Europe, in church matters and were the quietest in social and political reforms.
As such during the Portuguese and Dutch period one witnessess the Church tolerating caste system. In fact they built and assigned Separate Churches for different castes. Dutch settled various Castes in different localities.
The Protestant Missionaries of the 19th Century, through the medium of English Education and the Bible, appealed to the "intellect" of the local population. By this means they expected automatic conversion to Christianity. Though they did not request the converts to renounce caste as the Serampore missionaries did, yet as a matter of policy they insisted children attending their schools to sit in one common class, drink Water in Common Wells and partake in common meals.
There was to be no discrimination in seating accomodation provided for students. Such attempts appeared to be and in fact were revolutionary at that period of time. As a reaction the Hindu parents withdrew their children from mission schools, students themselves boycotted Schools. In fact "native" teachers too joined the students and in one instance they tried to set up a rival School.

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1704 Politics and Life in Our Tinnes
The missionaries did not yield to these pressures. Such protests could not be carried for long. Students very soon returned. Because they were now not in a mood to fight social prejudices and if they persisted in their demand they would have denied themselves, the opportunity afforded by the missionaries to learn English. In Jaffna, unlike in India, there were at first no Government or "native" schools Where children could obtain a good English education. Thus the higher castes for the first time in their history learned to sacrifice caste consciousness outside their homes and put up with caste inConveniences.
HINDU ATTTUDE
The significance of the contribution made by the missionaries will be appreciated only when it is realised that nothing parallel or rather comparable has hitherto been undertaken by the "men of the soil", lower caste or higher caste. Nor did they extend their support.
In India high caste leaders like Raj Ramohan Raj, through his Brahma Samaj, and Baba Padmanji and Dadoba Padurang, through their secret Society, Paramahamsa Sabha, not only extended their support but themselves engaged in the fight against caste prejudices. The Hindu Religious movements of Jaffna were not broadbased like the Indian religious movements. Indian movements were not concerned with the religious matters alone. They extended their support to the reconstruction of the social institutions such as Caste hierarchy, sex inequality and untouchability. They felt these practices flourished because of the sanction and blessings of the Hindu Religion.
Such thinking was totally absent among the Hindu reformers of Jaffna. They in their turn not only criticised the missionaries for violating caste rules, but also ridiculed and held in contempt those parents who sent their children to missionary schools to acquire English Education. In their estimate whoever sent his children to be educated in such an atmosphere could not claim to belong to the high caste and not worthy in their estimate.

Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century 1705
It is difficult to imagine the plight of these low caste children, if at all they were admitted in Hindu schools when they were opened at the close of the century. Even as late as 1930's of the present century the Hindus refused to provide equal seating facilities to lower caste children in their schools. Even teachers opposed such move when the 1929 Education Code stipulated that all schools receiving Government aid to provide equal seating arrangements to students irrespective of caste or other differences. As a protest nearly 15 schools were burnt down and the number on roll dropped in several schools when parents withdrew their children. They even set up unaided schools.
Even men like Sir P. Arunachalam firmly believed, that "caste cannot be abolished" because its badges of connubium (intermarriage) and commensality (eating together) are matters of private concern in which a Government could not interfere. That nothing was done to abolish caste was also evidenced from the fact the Tamil Representative appointed - to the Legislative Council till 1898 - when Dr. Rockwood was appointed- had been always a Vellala. It was rumoured that caste too had its place in the election of the Educated Ceylonese memberto the Legislative Council.
There were other indirect forces to bring about change. By the later half of the 19th century the Government tried its best not to discriminate against people on caste grounds in matters of public appointments. Abolition of slavery and Ooliyam gave the assertive lower castes an opportunity to seek employment elsewhere. They abandoned their traditional occupations and took up to occupations which provided them with good wages. Increased demand for labour in Government public Works like road Construction, building up of missionary Schools, etc. drew men of lower caste. The wages they received increased by fifty percent. Nothing happened to counterbalance this increase in principal agricultural products of the peninsula. Even Craftsmen, potters, blacksmiths and goldsmiths began to sell their goods for money. Hence, the total dependence on the Vellalas, to an extent, eased and they became men of some means and wealth. This kindled in them a feeling of independence and assertiveness.

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Changes could be witnessed in the Tode of dress and Ceremonies conducted during Weddings and funerals of the castes: especially the attempt of the lower castes to conduct their funeral processions with tom-torn beaters and cremate their dead, irritated the high castes. They reacted with force. Due to these causes serious breaches of peace and riots occured at the close of the century, And they constituted one of the difficulties of administration in the north. Reports of Government Agents at the close of the 19th century and even upto the mid 20th century, drew attention to this aspect of continuing Caste oppression,
As observed earlier, changes occurred in the type of OCCupations performed by various low caste people. Pariahs no longer performed the Work of grave digging and burning Corpses. This had now been performed by Nalawas, Pallas and Kovias. By tradition the masons caste was responsible for all buildings. But when there was a demand for Such OCCupations with attractive wages, Kovias, Nala was and Pallas readily took the work up. But none of the high castes took up occupations that have been traditionally performed by other castes. They took up to Professions and Government clerical jobs.
It was the pious hope of many that with the progress of civilization and education, the caste system will wither away, The Christian missionaries strongly believed in that maxim. That it failed to materialise does not in any way minimise the importance of their efforts, They were sincere. But their diagnosis of the system was wrong. Their attempt to mitigate the evils of caste prejudices failed to draw any widespread support among the local population,
And this happened in a placa where western education was Cornplete in is impact. This only proved, as Vivekananda said, that Caste was not a part of religion. Rabels against the system from Gautaria Buddha to Raj Ranmohan Roy (perhaps this could be extended to include Christian missionaries) made a mistaka in thinking Caste as part of religion. The Christian converts themselves were among the greatest Sticklers for caste. Even among the Buddhists where it is least expected the systern Erevails, though with less prejudices and abuses.

Caste 7 Jaffna in ha 1 97 Carty 1707
LLLLLLL LL LL LLLLLLL LLLLLLLLS G LL LLH LKS LL LLaG LLLLLLLL LLLLL LL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLLL LLL LLL LLLL LaLaLLLLL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLLLSLLLSELLLLLLL LLLLLLLLLL LLLLLLLLL LLLLLaLLLLLLLLLLLLLL LLLLLL OF THE SOULCONTINUING THROUGHREPEATED INCARNATIONS UNTIL THEATTAINMENT OF THE SUPREME BLISS OF NYFWANA, WHICH AGAINIS ERRONEOUSLY SUPPOSED TO MEAN ANNHLATION
L-F. T. Durasslrgarn, Wer. AshUrasya srderatre, Wen, Dr. Madagama Wajirarara ard Rev. M. Wipulasara Thero.
At Moscow, May 1982, at the World Corference of Religious Workers for saving
LL CLGLLLLL LLLE LLLL LLLL LLL LLLLLLuLLLk LLLLLLLLS
By the elevation of its morality, its rejection of caste and proclamation of the brotherhood of man, Buddhism made rapid progress and reached the height of its influence under Emperor Asoka (272 - 232 B, C.), but later Hinduism regained its ascendancy, and Buddhism now hardly exists in the Indian peninsula. It has retained its hold in Ceylon, Farther India and Japan, and also has numerous adherents in China, in Tibet it has developed into the remarkable system of Larnaism, which is highly Sacerdotal and ritualistic.

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The Caste system was kept up by a pre-capitalist feudal economy based on social gradation. The changes that occured in the 19th century did not basically change the economic structures and thinking of the people of the peninsula. It was true Government Service had become a major industry for the Jaffna man. But the trend was not towards the amelioration of Circumstances but to establish and stabilize the newly acquired status. They concentrated their attention in imitating the life of Europeans. With money and Status intermarriages and social mingling could have taken place. But Jaffna was too small a place to witness any such occurence. The family ties were very strong and a rebel against the system Would have been Ostracised and turned into another OutCaste. It is true high castes were compelled to travel with other castes when they left Jaffna. But back at home they stuck to their tradition.
Jaffna was yet to see "modernisation". There was no influx of foreigners as it happened in the Kandyan provinces to distrurb the Social life, nor was there any urban development Worth speaking about. From Federated Malaya and Strait Settlements, Burma and India and from Metropolitan Colombo, the Jaffna man returned to his village, which was his stronghold of social discrimination and found his caste bearing and status.
The low castes, though they made occasional protests, have not yet started organising themselves to abolish caste discrimination - i.e. they have not set themselves against the higher castes.
However a serious dent has been made on the system and had become more flexible. And this view was sufficiently supported by the statement of Sir P. Arunachalam. Writing on caste in his 1901 census report, he warned the Vellalas for not realizing the potent forces behind the struggle of the low castes. "Political disturbances" said Aristotle "may arise out of small matters but are not therefore about Small matters".

Caste in Jaffna in the 19th Century 1709
The true ideal of caste should be impressed on the people and they should be made to see that the raison d'etre of a high caste is that it has higher ideals, higher spiritual and intellectual culture, higher devotion to duty, than other castes, and the doom of a privileged caste is not far off when it is no longer able to adapt itself to changing circumstances and loses the resolution
"To build not boast, a glorious race No tenth transmitter of a foolish face".
The situation at the end of the century was aptly summarised by a writer on the subject in the "Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon". "The latter day Jaffna is a very different place to the Jaffna of even a few years ago. Wealth is circulating and diffusing a spirit of independence amongst the masses". The matter is touched upon in this passage from a recent administration report of the Government Agent. "Great changes are going on in Jaffna native society, which are bitterly resented by the conservative part of the population. The (so called) "low castes' are becoming more rich, and having acquired property, most of them naturally decline to follow old customs, by which they were prohibited from wearing jewels, riding in carriages, using tom-toms for marriages, and other social functions. Many of the lower-caste Nalavas and Kovias become converts to Christianity, and the Vellalas know that the next step in the progress of the converts will be that of wearing jewellery and assuming Vellala customs. Hence arises petty persecutions and squabbles and cases in Court and demand for police prosecution and often real riots and blooshed".
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, May 8, 1976.

Page 316
Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century
by K.Arumainayagam
in the early years of the twentieth century Caste issues became much more clear and attempts were made by enlightened high caste Hindus and low castes to eradicate the observance of some of the evil practices. Depressed classes wanted to enjoy equal rights and privileges, to cremate their dead bodies to the accompaniment of tomtom beaters; to have equal seating accomodation for their children in schools; access to inner precincts of the temples for worship and adopt modern attire.
ROTS
Most of the disputes arose and riots occured between Vellalas and low castes. In 1914 Vellalas had trouble with Carpenters at Pandaterruppu; Goldsmiths at Tannakkarakurichchi; Pallas at Kerudavil, Pallas and NalaWas at Varani. In 1922 With Pallas at Urumpiray and Dhobies at Chiviateru. In 1926 with Nalawas at Moolay and again in 1933 with Nalawas in Jaffna. In most of these cases, the troubles arose, with regard to cremation of dead bodies of the Pallas or Nalawas. In 1931 Chandars of Pirampattai attempted to prevent the cremation of a Palla and there was a riot. In the same year there was a repetition of the incident and Police were stationed for three months. Riots broke out in 1933 when a Roman Catholic man of the Pariah caste wore a shoe. Several people were killed and the high castes burnt down the houses of Pariahs at Pungudutivu.
RELIGIOUS CONVERSIONS
These type of caste riots provided enough fodder for a native Catholic missionary to converta large number of Pallas and Nalawas to his religious fold. The action of the missonary further wounded the pride of the high castes and they reacted still more violently. Commenting on this type of Conversions, a Catholic writer recently

Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century 1711
wrote "Because these slave caste communities were harassed by others the missionary perhaps capitalised this situation. That they came "en-masse" to embrace Christianity for the ideal it presented or to attribute exclusive zeal to the missionary, is to over simplify matters. Gnanapragasar found the ground fertile for emancipating them socially, economically and educationally, provided they embraced Catholicism. Figures of such converts estimated over 3,000 are quoted, but statistics of those who had lapsed are conveniently absent and some actually did". Gnanapragasar founded 37 churches and of this only one was for Vellalas. Of the balance 36, 12 for Nallawas, 10 for Pallas, 4 for Thurumpars, 4 for mixed, 3 common, for Kurukular and 2 for Pariahs.
Regarding temple entry issue, too, the age-old usages were given sanction by the courts. In India the dhobies were not allowed to enter temples belonging to high castes while barbers were allowed entry. On the other hand in Jaffna the dhobies were allowed and not the barbers. When the barber caste challenged the temple managers at Palali in 1910, the Supreme Court held that "where according to the Hindu religion and custom, persons of the barber caste have no right to enter a particular temple, the managers of the temple have a right to prevent their entry and the court may grant an injunction for that purpose".
INDIAN INFLUENCE
While the afore-mentioned developments were taking place, a gradual change of heart also came about among the high caste educated Hindus. This was partly spontaneous and partly influenced by developments that took place in the neighbouring subcontinent of India. The Indian national movement under the able guidance of Mahatma Gandhi, was converted into a mass movement. Mahatma Gandhi would not have easily succeeded in bringing the low castes into the main stream of national life without the promise of social emancipation. Gandhi, and so were the local reformers, great admirers of Ranade. Ranade had always emphasised that freedom means a

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1712 Politics and Life in Our Times
perfect harmony of all inter-related affairs of men. He admonished thus, "you cannot have a good social system when you find yourself low in the scale of political rights; how can you befit to exercise political rights and privileges unless your social system is based on reason and justice. You cannot have a good economic system when your Social arrangements are imperfect. If your religious ideas are low and are grovelling you cannot succeed in economic or social sphere. This inter dependence is not an accident but is the law of nature".
Convinced by such noble ideals Gandhi and his band of reformers began their fight against casteism. Net result of their agitations was the relaxation of Temple entry rules of the high classes. Leading Brahmins like Rajagopalachariyar and Dr. T. S. S. Rajan were responsible for passing the Temple Entry Bill in Madras State; and another Brahmin Sri A. Vaidyanatha Iyer was responsible for leading Harijans for Dharsanam into the famous Meenakshi temple at Madurai. Such happenings really awakened the conscience of the educated classes in the peninsula. Besides these, Indian periodicals widely read in Ceylon - Indian Review, Modern Review, Sutesamitran and poems of Subramania Bharati exerted tremendous influence over the local elite. It is in this back-ground one has to seek answers for the awakening of social consciousness among the Jaffnese. Local novelists and poets too began to incorporate caste issues in their Works.
Y. M. H. A. AND CASTE
Finding that the caste riots, and as a consequence of it, Christianity spreading fast, the Hindu youths raised a note of alarm to their co-religionists. They emphasised that low castes cannot any longer be neglected and their interests must receive the attention of the high castes, especially their education. Through the means of education they hoped to effect improvement among the low castes. Their arguments are worth quoting: "the education of the Panchama classes ought to engage the serious attention of those who are really

Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century 1713
intent on the advancement of the Saiva Community. If we fail to make immediate and adequate provision for their secular and religious education we should not grumble if Christian missions undertake the task and make additions to their fold of Converts. If We have not the strength to face the question and attempt a solution, commonsense at least demands that we should standby and watch if other religionists offer facilities for the education and upliftment of the Panchama classes. We should not merely tolerate their endeavours but even welcome them. We feel that our question may be revolting to some of our leaders, but we must trust they will bear in mind that the World is marching at a pace which makes it dangerous to pursue the dog-inthe-manger policy in this or other public questions. If we would move with the World We should shake off the Crude, laissez-faire or "Wait and see attitude of viewing things".
Such thinking on the question of caste was very revealing and more sensible than what was followed in the previous century. There was the open confession and acknowledgement of the Services rendered by the Christian missonaries, whether the services rendered by the Christian missionaries elevated them to higher social status is entirely a different matter. The Young Men Hindu Association (Y.M.H.A) achieved its ambition when it opened a school on 9th July, 1919 at Anaipanthiady for the Depressed classes.
They were also critical of some of the funeral customs prevailing in Jaffna, which were just the reverse of those obtaining in India. As an illustration of this they pointed out that "the low castes in India are given the privilege of tom-toming as much as they like at funerals, the Vellalas consider it disgraceful to employ that accompaniment. Out here, the Vellalas claim the right of use of tomtom as their peculiar privilege and go to the extent of knocking on the heads of those who aspire to such honours. We invite Saiva Vellalas to consider the propriety of the practice". The agitation of the Young Men Hindu Association formed in 1916-1917 fell on deaf ears. Widespread support in the form of finance or otherwise was not readily forthcoming to put their idea into practice. The Social Reformer, a .

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quarterly published in Jaffna, expressed its satisfaction of the Work undertaken by the Y. M. H. A. and undertook to train panchamas by holding lecture classes on Sanitation, Public health, Temperance and Morality. However, a feeling that "something" should be done to uplift the depressed classes had been admitted.
SCHOOL & ECUAL SEATING
At the close of the 19th century and the first two decades of the 20th century, schools both vernacular and English, were opened up in Jaffna to cater to the Saivite Community. But all these 'schools were not open to children of the depressed classes. School Managers, and teachers opposed any such move. The attempts of Jaffna Saiva Paripalana Sabai and Hindu Board of Education to persuade Hindu Managers to admit depressed class children were not received with any favour. In his Presidential address at a conference of the Head Masters, and local managers of the Hindu Board Schools, held in August 1, 1926, Sir P. Ramanathan pointed out "education is the only lever by which we may hope to raise them (depressed classes) in the social scale" and emphasised that "to place them any longer in their present low social condition is surely nothing less than a blot on our civilization". Even in those schools where low caste children were lucky to find admission they were not given equal seating accomodation. Contemporary evidence will show that they were either kept away from the other children and not allowed to sit and if allowed to be seated they were to sit on the floor.
In 1929, Director of Education issued a fiat insisting that all Government Schools and Grant-in-aid Schools should give equal seating accomodation to children attending schools regardless of race, caste, nationality or creed. This was vehemently opposed by Managers, Teachers and Village Committees in Jaffna. However, the Hindu Board of Education, Jaffna, came in support of the Government fiat and issued a circular to teachers "urging co-operation" in the matter. As the Government refused to yield to these pressures and opposition, the

Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century 1715
Vellala parents reacted violently. The period between 1929-1932 was a period of high social and political tension in Jaffna. The entire attention of the administrators was for a moment directed to Jaffna. In Some areas the parents withdrew their children - Vellala parents as an objection to the fiat and low-caste for fear of reprisals. In 1930, fifteen schools were set on fire and the incendiarism was only checked by the stationing of punitive police at Tunnalai and Urumpirai. Puttur offered vehement opposition.
As such, low-caste parents, sought admissions in Schools where their children were permitted to sit on the floor. The low caste were too weak in number and financailly to go to courts over this issue. In 1932, though there was a marked improvement, yet at Sirupiddy, the Management and staff of a school threatened the low caste children. After an inquiry into the matter by the Government Agent and Inspector of Schools, the registration of the school was cancelled. The tension also could be judged by the number of prosecutions entered for irregular attendance of children. In 1932, there were 14,286 prosecutions for irregular attendance of children, against 8,098 in 1931, 9,447 in 1930 and 5,376 in 1929. The Government Agent of the Northern Province, commenting on this irregular attendance wrote that "the abnormal increase in prosecutions in 1930 is due to the fiat issued by the Education Department in 1929 enforcing equal seating and Consequent resentment of the high caste people shown by withdrawing their children and preventing by threats the children of low Caste attending".
Though the Government appears to have been satisfied with the report saying that no discrimination was shown, still the problem remained intact in most of the Hindu Schools till the mid 1940s. The experience of C. Subramaniam and S. H. Perinpanayagam, two of the prime movers and stalwarts of the Jaffna Youth Congress, will illustrate how they found the problem still lying low, years after they campaigned against it in the prime of their youth. Mr. S. H. Perinpanayagam's comments and description of an

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interview they faced for the principalship of Skandavarodaya College for C. Subramaniam will illustrate this point. The Founder-Manager of the school Kandiah Upathiyayar "was a well known embodiment of Social Conservatism. Subramaniam's radicalism Was notorious and the Upathiyayar was apprehensive that the new Principal would practice his radical social Philosophy at Skanda. My presence could not have assuaged his fears. Very politely and in soothingtone he asked whether the new Principal would admit Harijan children to the school and create headache all round. We both had an uncomfortable ten minutes. Of course we wanted the Principalship for Subramaniam but we did not want to repudiate our convictions. We assured him that Subramaniam would not initiate any major changes without fully discussing the matter with him. But before long, the social values of Jaffna had changed so much, and Subramaniam had won the confidence of the Upathiyayar to such an extent, that Harijan children were admitted in large numbers with his blessings and encouragement without any repercussions from the community".
The agitation for social changes received an added impetus with the emergence of the radical youth movement in the North. This movement, popularly known as the Jaffna Youth Congress, was one of the most misunderstood movements of recent years.
The movement composed chiefly of "teachers and students" was perhaps the first organisation of its kind in Sri Lanka, to have a Comprehensive programme of action. On the national level they agitated for complete swarajlike the Indian National Congress, racial harmony, revival of ancient traditions and literature and eradication of Social abuses like the Caste system.
At the inaugural meeting itself the guideline for action was defined. Mr. J. V. Chelliah, Vice-Principal of Jaffna College, who presided over the sessions in the course of his speech, said "Just imagine what this country would be, if for instance, they unitedly made up their minds that the shameful system of caste and dowry should go, that a cleaner political and social life must Come into being,

Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century 1717
and that the mutual animosities and jealousies of various Communities and races and Creeds must give place to national unity". Inspired by such noble thoughts and intoxicated by Indian national movements the Youth Congress set up their plan of action. They invited men of the Indian National Congress, like Mahatma Gandhi, Rajagopalachariyar, Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyaya, and along with other matters, got them to preach against casteism in Sri Lanka. Gandhi during his visit made it a point to attack the caste system in all his addresses and praised the Christian schools for abandoning it in their schools.
Besides doing verbal propaganda, Youth Congress organised inter-dining sessions immediately after their meetings. They had interdining at Kankesanthurai, Thirunelvely and at Tellipalai. Of these the inter-dining at Thirunelvely was noteworthy because it was held under the Chairmanship of S. Sivapathasundaram, noted exponent of Saiva Siddhanta Philosophy. These events were not free of troubles. High caste and scheming politicians whipped up caste feeling and set fire to the pandals (sheds) put up for the Congress meetings. When the inter-dining was planned at Thirunelvely, the high castes polluted all the wells in the vicinity of the Training College overnight and in the morning encircled the Training College compound and pelted stones. It was the timely intervention of the Police that brought the situation under control and saved those who participated in the Conference. in 1931, under the influence of the Youth Congress, Jaffna boycotted the first general elections held under the Donoughmore Constitution. Though the main reason for the boycott was that Donoughmore Constitution fell short of Complete Swaraj, there were some who attributed it to the prevalence of Caste issues. A correspondent in the Indian Review wrote: "Briefly it is suggested that caste rivalry and the clashing of accompanied interest rendered it impossible for any degree of political unity to be achieved and that as a compromise was impossible, the electors preferred to refrain from taking part in a ballot, that could only result in the election of a

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"JUST IMAGINE WHAT THIS COUNTRY WOULD BE, IF FOR INSTANCE, THEY UNITEDLY MADE UPTHEIRMINDS THAT THE SHAMEFUL SYSTEM OF CASTE AND DOWRY SHOULD GO, THAT ACLEANERPOLITICAL AND SOCIAL LIFE MUST COME INTO BEING AND THAT THE MUTUAL ANIMOSITIES AND JEALOUSESOF WARIOUS COMMUNITIES ANDRACES AND CREEDS MUSTGIVE PLACE TONATIONAL UNITY". INSPIRED BY SUCH NOBLE THOUGHTSANDINTOXICATED BY INDIAN NATIONAL MOVEMENTS THE YOUTHCOMGRESS SETUPTHEIR PLAN OF ACTION. THEY INVITED MEN OF THE INDIAN NATIONAL CONGRESS, LIKE MAHATMA GANDHI, RAJAGOPALACHARIYAR. KALYANASUNDARA MUDALIYAR, KAMALADEW CHATTOPADHYAYA, AND ALONG WITHOTHERMATTERS, GOT THEM TO PREACH AGAINST CASTEISMIN SRI LANKA. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK T. DURAISINGAM, IS ANORIGINAL MEMBER OF THE JAFFNA YOUTH CONGRESS AND WAS ASSOCIATED WITH ITSLEADERSHIPINALL THESE ACTIVITIES HE WAS AGAINST LOW CASTE OPPRESSION AND HAD IN OTHER PLACESLIKE THE WEERASINGAM HALLDELIWERED LECTURES FOR THE ENTRY OF ALL CASTES INTO HINDU TEMPLES. AT THE WEERASINGAM HALLMEETING HELDIN 1968, HE REPRESENTED THE ALL CEYLONHINDUCONGRESS AND CONDEMNED THE PROHIBITION OF THE HARIJAN M
LL LaL LEE LLLL LLL LLLLHuSLLLLS LLLLLLLLL H LLLLLS aL LLLkLL LLL LL kGLOLSS T. Duraisingan, fourth from left, being received by the Kazakhstan branch of
FE Cofrr:Lurrist Party of fra Sayfa Llr forl7 r) f'962.
Caste is a word derived from the Portuguese cassa, Theaning breed, race, kind and refers to an exclusive social group. The system prevails in India where the Hindu population is divided into a number of groups or Castes, No member of one of these groups may marry outside it, while its rules may also regulate his occupation and awan his diet. A caste is, therefore, a grouping of families bearing a common name, usually associated with a particular occupation and living socially quite apart from other Castas.
 

Califa ir affirma li the 2C Cer7 fLry 1719
candidate who represented but a minor section of the community". J. G. Wall, author of "Britain's Folly" said, the high Caste Candidates considered it, below their dignity to canvass the Wotes of the low-castes. Though these statements were far from the truth yet it shows how caste issues coloured the vision of the people.
Freedom of worship in Hindu Temples engaged the attention of the enlightended Hindus and low castes for a long time. In fact Saiwaparipalana Sabai as early as 1928/29 openly Canvassed Hindu Managers of temples to throw open their temples to the low Castes. Happenings in India further induced them to carpaign wigorously for temple entry. They pointed out that when the famous temples of India like Thiruchendur, Sri Meenakshi Amman and others, and in Sri Lanka, Kataragama were open to all classes, there is no reason to restrict this to temples of the Peninsula.
The Government nor the private individuals could nake any headway as the temples were considered to be private properties, Even the Hindu Temporalities were not properly managed. The opinion in favour of a thorough reorganisation of Temporalities of Hindu temples and agitation for temple entry became very persistent in the third and fourth decades of this century. But, as observed earlier the English Government and since independence the Government of Sri Lanka felt that a draft legislation to control Hindu Temporalities should be the Work of the Hindus,
The Hindu Conference held at Jaffna Hindu College grounds on April 12, 1948 resolved to request the Hindu members of the Jaffna Urban Council and Saiva Paripalana Sabai, to take necessary steps to prepare public opinion so as to facilitate the entry of Harijans into Hindu Temples. Colombo Wivekananda Society took a decision to negotiate with the Saiva Paripalana Sabai, to provide the necessary education and enlightenTent to the Harijans in order to realise early the object of granting them equal opportunities for Worship in all Hindu Temples. In July 1948, Mr. S. M. Subbiah First M. P. for Badulla, gave a notice of a notion in the House of Representatives

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1720 Ft-alificig ar litri Life Iri (CBLIr TITrigg,
to Urge all the Trustees and Custodians of Hindu Temples to throw open their temples to worshippers without distinction. The Hindu Organ, the prestigious spokesman for the Hindu public opinion, demanded that any Ordinance enacted to Control and administer Hindu Temples should include a provision to enable Harijans to enter Hindu Temples.
All this necessitated the appointment of a Special Committee of Hindu Members of Parliament under the chairmanship of Mr. K. Kanagaratnam M. P. for Waddukodai to report on the Hindu Temporalities and Endowments, animal sacrifice and freedom of worship. The terms of reference was issued to the committee by the Minister of Home Affairs and Rural Development on September 30, 1949. The Hindu members of Parliament also willingly took up the matter and went into the problem in details. Their report on the Freedom of Worship was very exhaustive and they appeared to have considered the problem of Freedom of Worship more important than others. To quote their own words, "A new and dangerous inroad is now being made into our religion and society, and a new panacea has been actively canvassed by a great leader of the Harijan movement in India for the restoration of human rights and dignity to his down-trodden community. The visit of this leader to our Country in recent times has already had its repercussions. For the first time in the history of the Hindu Religion in this country, mass conversions with the blessings of this Harijan leader are reported to have taken place to the Buddhist faith.
"This is the inevitable result of the present tempo of the Orthodox Hindus and if that tempo does not change, such mass conversions will Continue. One local correspondent from the depressed classes has appealed in utter desperation to his Commu nity through the Press to beCOThe Sinhalese as triere was no use of their being Tamils and being down-trodden by them". The special committee submitted its report on November 16, 1950 and it was published as Sessional Paper No.W - 1951.
Another important feature of this period was that low-castes organised themselvesto agitate for better social status. Besides the regional Caste organisation in places like Chunnakam, Wathiri, they had Organisations like the Minority Tamils Progressive Union and All

Caste fri saffna i'r ffe 20th Cernury 1721
RENDITION OF SRI LANKAN'DESHIYA, SANGEETHA - A MUCH NEEDED "TONIC"TOSRI LANKANS LIVING IN THENORTHERN HEMISPHERE-WAS AMPLY EXHIBITED BY WISHARDANANDAMALINION BTH APRIL 2000, IN JAKOSBERG, SWEDEN. THE OCCASION WAS THE "NANDA MALIN GEETHAWALIE" PRESENTED AT THE NIBBLESKOLAN AUDITORIUM, JAKOSBERG, SWEDEN, A PUBLIC SHOW ORGANISED IN AID OF THE STOCKHOLMEUDDHIST WHARA-SPONSORED BYSRI LANKANAIRLINES. WISHARDANANDAMALINIWAS SUPPORTED BY TWOOTHERMUSICANS ATULA KUMARA EDIRISINGHE, WHO PRODUCED SOME SCINTILLATING ACCOMPANIMENTSONTHE WOLIN REMINISCENT OFSRI LANKAS FAMOUS WIOLINIST THE LATE ROCKSAMY AND BEAUTIFULLY SUPPORTED BY THE WETERANTABLIST-KARUNARATNE JAYASINGHE WITHEQUAL GRACE,
WiSharola Narda Maliri
Music is the melody of harmony; a tone or tones having any or all of the features of Telody, rhythm, or consonance. The first idea of music was that it was any art over which the muses presided, but after a time it was narrowed down by the exclusion of poetry, dancing and other arts, although music was still closely associated with them. Among the Greeks music was generally subordinate to verse and was rather limited in the direction of expression, because the instruments used, chiefly lyre and flute, were simple. Nevertheless, it set up the diatonic scale or Thodes and the rudiments of key relationships, There had been music before the time of the Greeks, indeed from the very beginning of human life, but it was of the same simple kind. Among the Jews, however, as detailed in the Bible, the use of musical instruments seems to hawe been somewhat more advanced. Music played a greal part in their religious and other ceremonids, as it did in the festivals of Greece. With the 20th century, the outstanding development of music has been the widespread use of the gramophone and other mechanical devices for reproducing it and its transmission by wireless.

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Ceylon Minority Tamils Maha Sabha. In fact, the latter Organisations presented themselves before the Soulbury Commission and first Delimitation Commission and asked for special representation and Constituencies. The Soulbury Commission, in fact recommended the creation of a multi-member constituency in the penisula of Jaffna for the purpose of giving the under privileged a strong voice. The first Delimitation Commission of 1946 gave a careful consideration but came to the conclusion that as they were scattered all over the pennisula, it was difficult to allocate any single multi-member constituency for them.
Thus in the mid twentieth century there had been a marked improvement in the attitude hitherto held. A close scrutiny, except for the Temple Managers and priests, the consensus of opinion of others had been in favour of Temple Entry.
This period, especially the fourth and fifth decades of the century also saw the gradual conversion of low caste persons to leftist politics. While the educated opinion among the high castes were motivated by Gandhian ideals, low-caste philosophy came to be increasingly influenced by the leftist movement and it was no surprising matter. This is also one of the reasons for the unpopularity of the leftist parties in Jaffna at the early stages.
Among the low castes who received education in the missionary Schools a good number began to occupy Government posts like the high castes. Thereafter, dhobies and barbers, began to set up laundries and saloons respectively and began to conduct their guild jobs in a professional manner. Instead of the monthly or fortnightly visits of the dhobies and barbers to the houses of the high caste people, high castes, compelled by necessity, began to patronise laundries and Saloons. In towns and Semi-towns it almost became a practise to patronise saloons and laundries. But they too having set. up "Shops", served only their "former" masters. They steadfastly refused to perform for unknown persons. In Jaffna, especially low Castes themselves avoided Such embarrassments.

Caste in Jaffna in the 20th Century 1723
However, the idea of Kudimakan concept lingered on but that was more for formality sake. The development of public transport, and the necessity for travel completely put a stop to segregation in matters of travel. Thus by the end of the period, one finds only the empty vestiges of customs being zealously guarded, and high castes shorn of all power clinged on to the system more for prestige sake than for anything else. Wherever the low castes were economically weak they too meekly submitted to the assertions of the high castes.
in South Sri Lanka, among the Sinhalese too, Caste System lingers on. Though the Delimitation Commission of 1946, could not recommend separate or multi-member constituencies in the north, yet in South Sri Lanka, it just could not ignore the existence of Caste. The Creation of two-member Constituencies of Ambalangoda-Balapitiya and Kadugannawa was done primarily to give an opportunity for certain castes to be assured of a member of their own caste. In carving out the constituencies of Gampaha, Kegalle, Gampola, Kurunegala and Bingiriya, the Commissioners as far as possible kept the castes undivided within the electoral district to give the caste groups a greater voice in the election of representatives than they have hitherto possessed. Though Buddhism preached egalitarian way of life, still the Buddhist priest-hood could not overcome the sectarian differences among them. The Siam Nikaya continued to be monopolised by monks belonging to the Goigama castes, while Amarapura Nikaya continued with monks belonging to the Karava, Salagama and Durava castes.
During the course of this century, Jaffnese have had migrated to various parts of the Island, most of them choosing Colombo. But wherever they went they carried with them their caste prestige and when Contracting marriages, they always traced their ancestry to Jaffna. However a certain amount of fusion has had taken place among the high castes-Vellalas, Chetties and Madapallys. There had been intermarriages among them while the position of the Kovias too improved and there had been instances of conscious and unconscious marriage contracts between the Vellalas and Kovias.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, August 14, 1976.

Page 323
Hindu Religious Life 1847 - 1880
by K. Arumainayagam
Saivism suffered from many draw backs. In the wake of renewed religious enthusiasm, certain abuses crept into the body politic of Saivism which filled the atmosphere with so much of stench, that some Saivites themselves began to despise their own religion, particularly practices like nautch-dancing, fireworks, music, provocative nude pictures hung during the temple festivals, polluted the sanctity of the temple festivals and the atmosphere.
Some of these practices like natuch dancing were meant to draw people. It was undertaken due to a mistaken belief that they could be substituted for the traditional Devadasis Who Served in the temples of glory in the past. But these Devadasis or Rudrakanigaiyar of this period did not resemble their namesakes of the past. According to "the Saiva Agamas" the woman devotees known as "Rudra Kanigaiyar" are only those who abstain from flesh eating, put on ascetic garb and are noted for "Siva Bakthi".
Contrary to this, a Devadasi of the 19th century presented herself before the people in dress consisting of a robe of spangled muslin which partially covered the left breast but exposed the right; this was confined round the waist by a massive zone of pure gold of three inches in width, and resplendent with pearls and precious stones, chiefly diamonds, emeralds, rubies and saphires. Splendid jewels of similar materials ornamented their ears, nostrils (descending over the mouth and chin), fingers, arms, ankles and toes". There was not any piety among them and they ate flesh. Few were used and kept for immoral purposes.
Such decorations of their persons and acts undoubtedly drew Crowds but not for religious purposes. The festivals presented a Social problem as they continued late into the night. Festivals and these type of dancers spoilt the youngsters; they neglected their studies.

Hindu Religious Life, 1847 - 1880 1725
The fireworks and accidents that followed caused danger to person and property. As a result the entire festival admosphere appeared to be very offensive in the eyes of the foreigners and orthodox Saivites.
A fair share of blame could be also placed on the Saivite priesthood for such ignorance among the Saivites. While admitting that they "kept up" the religion through "thick and thin" during the Portuguese and Dutch period by ministering the rituals secretly.
They assumed the role of priesthood by virture of having born into a Brahmin caste or other priesthood. As it is well known they need not have any educational or religious qualification to be priests. Some of them have not even taken Siva Theeksha. They ignored the study of Sanskrit and Agamas. The study of English had given place to Sanskrit and the little Sanskrit that the Brahman knew was used only for ritualistic purposes.
Some saivites were converted easily by other religionists due to the ignorance of their own religion. With few exceptions, the Saivite clergy which should have taken upon itself the task of explaining the religious tenets had not made any attempt. Priesthood was an occupation and not a vocation for many of them. The Christian missionaries too observed this weakness that prevailed among the Saivite Priesthood. It should be said to the credit of the Christian priesthood that they were sent out on their missions only after gaining sufficient standard to preach their religion and to meet other religionists in religious debates. They studied the local language, literature and were also well versed in maths, logic, grammar, geography, etc.
Arumuka Navalar went to the extent of criticising some of these Brahmins for not being in a position to differentiate between Thevaram and Thiruvasakam. This is to be expected. Because in the absence of any educational organisation to prepare teachers like the Christian and Buddhist clergy it was bound to face such difficulties.

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The priests who officiated in Saiva Temples were compelled to depend only on the contributions made in temple Poojas, Poorva and Apara Kiriyas performed out side the temples. There was no organisation to free them from pecuniary embarassments. As such they were at times, forced by necessity to perform poojas and minister even to nominal Christians. And also undertook to serve in temples where Agamic principles have not been followed.
Except for a few individual priests, as a whole they did not organise themselves to arrest the tendency of the Saivities to become Christians. Following the Christian missionaries who insisted that Saivites should shed all religious marks when they entered Christian Schools, Saivite priests could have refused to perform poojas and other rituals for nominal Hindus and thus enforcing strict religious code for nominal Christians. But no such attempt was made by the Hindu Clergy and they became a target of attack and ridicule.
However the priests connected with the Maviddapuram Temple appear to have been sticklers to Agamic principles. They conducted religious classes in the temple and re-converted some Christians by ministering "Siva Deeksha". Orthodox saivites condemned the priests for performing funeral obsequies and wedding ceremonies for Vellalas who did not conform to pure religious principles. Navalar queried in one of his pamphlets "Some men of the climber class have given up toddy drinking and pulayas have given up beef eating and have mended themselves. On the other hand somebate-for-headed Vellalas eat beef and drink arrack in the company of Christians and there are Saiva priests and Brahmin priests who perform funeral obsequies and wedding ceremonies for them. Who are more respectable the former or the latter?"
There appears to have been more religious rigidity among the Hindus of India than in Jaffna. In India, Hindus do not intermingle with Christians. When a person becomes a convert to Christianity all family connections are severed and he is virtually expelled from the family. Even among the low castes of India, once one of their

Hindu Religious Life, 1847 - 1880 1727
kith and kin becomes a Christian, parents and brothers do not interdine with such person nor would they accommodate him in their houses. Even a "Kaddai Kanny" (traditional domestic servant like the "Kudimahan" of Jaffna) will not serve at the house of a Christian. Jaffna tolerated such converts, had marriage relations and allowed them to enter Saivite temples and perform poojas. Family ties have not been broken on account of such conversions. Besides in religious matters there was so much of hypocrisy in Jaffna; it almost became a habit in Jaffna to change religion to suit the time and rulers. Such frequent changes brought them economic benefits in the form of government jobs and other favours. A certificate from a Christian missionary was a sure passport to a Government job. As such they changed their religions as frequently as they changed their habiliments. Such acts encouraged a sort of opportunism and hypocrisy which was really a bane on the social, moral and religious progress of any society.
Temples in Jaffna were mostly built and endowed by wealthy individuals and Brahmins. Since they were opened to public worship, people from all walks of life contributed to the improvement of the temples in cash and kind. Also they contributed to the performance of various rituals and poojas conducted in temples. These contributions were made at the managers house or to the officiating priests.
But no proper account of such contributions were maintained by the temple authorities. Most of them were squandered away by the managers. Temples remained without any improvements. Since the temples were considered as private properties of the temple managers, the public as such could not have any control over the accounts. Then there is the firm belief, almost religious, that such contributions and offerings should not be subject of discussion because the real purposes of such benefactions will be lost in obtaining merits from God to donors. Government did not show any interest in such matters.

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Temple Tanagement had been a frequent source of friction between lay managers and temple priests and often they resorted to Courts, TerTiple was a source of revenue to lay Thanagers and priests and their survival depended on the share of temple profits.
Much smaller terTiples were "kept up" solely for periodical festivals like animal slaughtering which in turn brought good income for the managers of the temples.
The Revival Mowerment of this period had two ends in Wiaw. In the first place it was an outright protest against the growth of Christian influence, Secondly, it aimed at restoring Saiwa Agamic principles. The first ever serious opposition to Christian Tissionary activity and other religions abuses may be said to have Commenced with the religious activities of Arumuka Nawalar of Nallur,
Before Nawalar, except for the isolated dialogues and debates between the Christian missionaries and Brahmins there was no definite plan of action to contain the Christian missionary activity. No attempt was made to purify the religion and present it to the people in its true form. There were plenty of abuses, ambiguous rituals which neither the missionary nor an illiterate Saivite could understand. The Christial missionaries thrived on those, while the religious life degenerated into ritualism devoid of any philosophical backing.
Navalar, through his association with Rev. P. Percival, the Weslyan missionary, was able to study the Bible and the Commentaries written on the Bible. This he did for the purpose of assisting Rev. Percival in translating the Bible into Tamil. His experience as a student and teacher at the Weslyan mission school gawe ar insight into the Working of the Christian churches and the methods employed to propagate Christianity and convert other religionists,
Navalar set before himself the task of redeeming the Saivites who had already been converted to Christianity. He wanted to expose the fallacies and the true nature of Christianity, purify his own religion and give it a sort of organisation on the Methodist model. His name is associated with every movement of this period. He alone among the Saivities had a comprehensive programme of action.

Hindu Faliğious Life, 1847 - 1380 1729
THE LATE SIVAMAN SER KANDIAH WAITH ANATHAN, A FORMER PRESIDENT OF ALLCEYLON HINDU CONGRESS, IS REMEMBERED As ONE OF THE GREAT HINDUS AFTER SRI LA SRIARUMUGA NAVALAR AND SIR PON. RAMA NATHAN. HE WAS A DEWOUT HINDU ANDA KEEN STUDENT OF ALL DEWOTIONAL LITERATURE AND THE SAWA SIDDHANTHA. AMIDSTHIS MULTIFARIOUS OFFICIAL DUTIES ASA CIVIL SERVANT AND LATER ASA MINISTER HE FOUND THE TIME TOSPREAD AND STABILISE THE HINDUFAITH IN THE MINDS OF PEOPLE.
Sri La Sri AriffTaka Wawasar
Trg affodox Hiirdu Sawa Sasť
The history of Shiva worship is as old as the existence of man on the continent of Asia, including the parts like Laerturia, which according to geologists now lies under the Indian Ocean. The proto-mediterranean culture extending from Mexico through Wales, Malta, Crete, Mesopotamia into India is mot unconnected with the Saiva Culture of the early Dravidian people. The discoveries at Harappa and Mohenjodaro are only connecting links of comparatively recent times, The concluding werses of Thiruwilayadal Puranam where reference is made to Lord Shiva himself disappearing into the Siva Lingam erected by Saga Agashlar, raises an astronomical speculation regarding the time of Agasthiar, If the description of Agasthiar as the Sage of Zodiacal sign of Khumba could be related to the precision of equinox, when the aquinox fall within that Ցlgm, the age of Agasthias Thay go into astronomical figures of time! This is an interesting piece of poetic speculation and may be followed as fancy leads.
- Sir Kaff, Waff,

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1730 Politics and Life in Our Times
Navalar expounded no new methods. He applied the Christian method of propaganda. He and his associates, Karthigesa lyer, Sankara Pandithar at the early part, Ponnampalapillai, Sathasivapillai, Senthynatha lyer, Nadarasa lyer who joined him in the latter part addressed adult populations through religious discourses, the children through the Vernacular schools and infant Readers and Catechisms; and educated men and Christians through their polemical writings.
Navalar found the Christian missionaries method of explaining their religion in simple language in the churches, in open places and wherever people gathered was much more appealing to the people than the Hindu form of dreary expositions. Navalar developed his own style on this line and his Prasangams became very popular. It was delivered in simple and lucid style bearing in mind the subjects taken up for discussions. As observed earlier Saivites had got into the habit of observing certain rituals merely as a matter of routine and priests too performed them as a matter of routine. The real significance of the rituals were not understood by the performer and the followers. Puranas were read in temples. But the real religious significance of the underlying principles were not explained to the audience. Such defects Navalar set about to remedy. The Main Centre of this activity was the Sivan Temple at Vannarponnai. A feeling of uneasiness about the way in which Christianity was progressing was there even as early as 1842. But nobody was prepared to give serious vent to this feeling till Navalar with his trusted friend, Karthigesulyer, took up the challenge. Saivites of the period must have felt that such an opposition to the Christian missionary activity might hurt the feelings of the Government which sympathised with the cause of Christianity. And this feeling and fear were natural and justified in the light of the experience they had during the two previous regimes of the Portuguese and the Dutch.
But Navalar knew that such a situation had changed under the new rulers and that there was scope of re-vitalizing the Saivite religion.

Hindu Religious Life, 1847 - 1880 1731
Arumuka Navalar was anti-Christian, an Orthodox saint but not anti-government. He faithfully trusted the Brithsh Government to show impartiality in religious matters. The outcome of this feeling were the Saivite discourses conducted at the above mentioned temple. The First discourses was held on the 31st December, 1847. This type of discourses were later extended to other places like Manipay and Chunnakam. The subjects chosen for the discourses were meant to explain the various aspects of Saivism and some moral and Cultural principles.
It is said between Feb. 14th, 1848 to Nov. 17th, 1848 twenty nine discourses were delivered at the Vannarponni Sivan Kovil alone. Subjects of the discussions were initiatory prayer, the Holy Necklace, the Lover of Siva, the Sacred Writings, Taking the life of Animals, (2 lectures), the Public Worship of Siva, the Mortality of the Body, the Leading Doctrines of Saivism, the Duties of women, impartial Judgement, Earthly and Heavenly Treasure, Adultery, Charity, Sacrilege (2 lectures), Drunkenness (3 lectures), Gratitude, Almsgiving, Education, Unity and God, Veneration due to cows (2 lectures), Imitating the Wise and Good, Vanity of Earthly Pleasures and Credulity. These subjects were later incorporated in his Bala Paadams and formed a daily code for the clergy as well as the laity. Uninformed people and the Christians often gave superficial interpretation to the Puranas and held them to be subject of ridicule and contempt. Pamphlets issued by them were meant to expose these. But Navalar and his contemporaries attempted to place the Puranas on the correct perspective, thereby they instilled in the minds of the audience the true religious significance underlying them.
Contemporary accounts bear testimony to this. This relates to a discourse on a position of Thiruvilayadal Puranam held at Kayilaya Pillayar Kovil. "The portion the other day contained an account of God Siva's marriage with Thadakay, an idea ridiculous in the sight of a Christian but Navalar presented the subject in Such a clear manner as to (bring about the real significance of the episode). He inculcated in the minds of the hearers taking care to show why

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1732 Politics and Life in Our Times
God is represented to have subjected himself to the passions of carnal propensities and chosen to assume the form of a husband and wife....". "He always endeavours to place before the public a correct view of the Puranic accounts which are often made the subject of Christian censure as incompatible with perfection of the Supreme being" (written by a Hindu in the Jaffna Freeman, 10.02.1863).
Such attempts appear to have had their desired effects. And many had begun to follow and act in accordance with what was told in those discourses.
Criticism was levelled against the worship of the various deities as part of the saivite pantheon. Refuting the idea that these deities are "Various Gods", it was maintained that Saivism was the religion of those people who worship Saiva Deities such as Vinayagar, Subramaniyar, Vairava, Virabhadra, who are really various manifestations of Siva. But the worship of deities like Kadan Madan, Sudalai Madan, Katteri, Mathurai Veeran, Karuppan, Pattineddampaddi Karuppan, Sankili Karuppan, Periya Tambiran, Muni, Kannaki, Peyychi, were chosen deities.
There is no place for such worship in the Saiva Agamas. The worshippers of those deities were branded as "heathens". Animal Sacrifice offered to their deities, and in other places before the Car festival was also condemned. In this sphere, Navalar seems to have made little headway. Because the figures taken as late as the 1950s show that the peninsula had a very large number of temples where animal sacrifice was offered. "Lesser folks" firmly believed in the efficacy of offering 'sacrifice to Gods, especially to their "Ishta Devatas" (chosen deities). Attacks and agitations against the worship of the above deities were revolutionary. For majority of the people, rural folks especially, believed and worshipped such chosen deities. The main idea behind the reformers was to rationalize and modernize the religion and to that extent it was reformative in character. This feature was common among all the revival movements of the 19th century. The Buddhist revival also involved a demythologising of

Hindu Religious Life, 1847 - 1880 1733
peasants beliefs and a rationalization of peasant cults. These attempts were meant to remove the vulgar qualities and make them much more respectable in the eyes of the people. Thus the Saivite "reformers" of this period preferred the Saiva Agamic way of worship to the rural way of worship.
Navalar and others were not satisfied with expounding the true virtues of Saivism. The Christian pamphlets like Mummoorly, Ladshanam, Kuruddu Vali, Thurasara Viruthantham Condemned the Saivite religion in the most "obscene" language. In order to counteract this movement Navalar and the gentry at Vannarpannai founded a society known as Saivaprakasa Samajam in 1853. The sole purpose was to reject Christianity and to establish Saivism. Pamphlets like Subrabodham and Saivadhushana Pariharam (Rejoinder to the caluminators of the Saiva Religion) were issued. Of these two the latter which was issued in 1854 caused a stir among the missionaries. The American missionaries got Carol Visuvanathapillai to write Supirathipam.
In the Saivadhusana Pariharam Navalar adopted a new technique and strategy to meet the arguments advanced against the saivites. Saivism was ably defended by Navalar in this pamphlet. The Methodist missionary commentary on this book shows the uneasiness created by this book. "He undertakes to prove that every one of the distinctive activities of Saivite belief and observance has its parallel and warrant in the credenda and ceremonies of Jehovahs ancient people and closely resembled those of Saivism, and were neither more or less divine in their original and profitable in their entertainment and pursuit. The notion of merit held by the Hindus, their practices of penance, pilgrimage and lingam worship, their ablutions, invocations and other observance and rites, are Cunningly defended on the authority of the 'Sacred writings of the Christians'. This book did much damage to Christianity and turned the tide in favour of Saivism. Methodists themselves admitted the effect it had On the Christians.

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1734 Politics and Life in Our Times
Navalar carried on a ceaseless Campaign against nautch dancing, attendant evils, fireworks and other practices that were performed in the name of religion during festivals. His two pamphlets on Nallur Kandasamy Kovil, "Yalpana Samaya Nilai" (State of Religion in Jaffna) contain a mine of information about his zeal for reforming some of the age-old practices. He introduced." Othuvars" instead of the dancing girls to follow the Ter (chariot car) and sing devarams in keeping with the spirit of the occasions. But this did not last long. He also attacked the practice of offering animal sacrifice before the Ter was taken round. He pointed out that cars of massive size safely go round the temple of Tiruvarurand Tiruvidaimarutoor in South India without any animal sacrifice. And even huge ships sail and return unscathed without any such sacrifice.
The neglected state of many of the ancient temples might be considered to be an index to the lack of piety and decay of the Saivite religion. Ofcourse, the loss of royal patronage was one of the main reasons for this. Temples such as Keerimalai Sivan Kovil and Thiruketeswaram lay abandoned and were in ruins. Navalar kindled the idea of renovating these temples and the idea was given shape after the demise of Navalar. The interest created by these new band of Hindu teachers might also have arrested Conversions. In fact there is evidence to show that Navalar prevented certain persons from receiving baptism and was responsible for re-converting a few. Prominent among them were Carol Visuvanathapillai and C. W. Thamotharampillai. Of these two, the former was a great defender of Christianity and was used by American missionaries to help them with pamphlets against the Saivites. He also wrote "Supra Thipam" to counter the arguments advanced in Navalar's Saiva Dhusana Pariharam". But later became convinced of the Saiva faith and repented for what he did. As a penance it is said he went to Chidamparam, cauterized histongue with a heated goldpin and became a faithful follower of Navalar. "it is impossible thatre-thinking movements can develop without Charismatic leaders to unite Collective unrest with faith in the achievement of better future". Such a leadership was provided by Arumuka Navalar and he was supported by leading orthodox elite of this period.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, September 4th, 1976.

Hindu Educational MOVement
in the North, 1840 - 1880
by K. Arumainayagam
An attempt was made to contain the educational activities of the Christian Missionaries as early as 1842. In that year, the gentry of Vannarpannai resolved to establish a school for the defence and propagation of the Saiva religion. The men who interested themselves in Hindu religious activity of this period were Wytilinga Chettiar, Mootoovelue Chettiar, Shroff Cooronader Mudaliyar and Ragunader Mudaliyar.
Quite contrary to the popular belief that Arumuga Navalar's religious activity commenced in and around the year 1847, it should be remembered that he also associated himself in the religious upsurge of the year 1842. This school was opened on Saturday, the 22nd Oct., 1842. But they faced a difficulty in finding a qualified teacher to conduct classes in Saiva Agamas and Shastras. They got down a teacher from South India but, they could not make much headway in the attempt. This experimental institution ultimately "metamorphosed by its patrons into a school exclusively for Tamil studies". Another attempt was made by one Kootdepully to set up a school for study of English and Tamil. But this attempt also failed.
Any serious attempt to contain the Christian Missionary Educational activity may be said to have commenced with the religious activities of Arumuga Navalar. He may be said to be the pioneer of the Hindu Educational Movement in Jaffna. His personal experience taught him the futility of continuing the traditional school system of the Hindus and the merits of the Christian School system. He also found it to be very effective to do religious propaganda. His first venture in this field was his Saiva Prakasa Vidyasalaiestablished at Vannarpannai in 1848.

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The main reason for opening the school was the Social and religious attitudes held by the Christian Missionaries on the one hand, and the reluctance entertained by the Saiva parents to send their children to Mission Schools. The Hindu parents felt that the instruction needed for their children to qualify for a useful and profitable career should not involve their alienation from the traditional Culture and environment. This School had 8 classes and the Curriculum of studies at the start included texts on Religion, Tamil Literature, Grammar, Arithmetic and Logic. The books used in this school were either written or published by Navalar. His infant Readers, known as Bala Padam, three in number, contained the essence of Hindu religion and other moral and useful subjects. All educationists of South India and Ceylon praised Navalar's readers to be better than the texts used by Christian Missionaries.
From the Commencement, this School faced Severe financial difficulties. The Savites had an implicit faith in the religious neutrality of the English Government. They held a meeting decided to apply for government grant-in-aid to run the school, because the government gave financial aid of £500 to Protestant Schools and it was recently that they permitted the Roman Catholics to open Schools and favoured them £150 as grant-in-aid. The circumstances under which Catholics appealed to the Government for aid to their Schools was not dissimilar to that of the Hindus.
Two Catholic English Schools, one for boys and the other for girls were established in Jaffna Town in January 1850. "From the Commencement of the Jaffna Catholic English Schools, application seems to have been made to the School Commission for Government Aid but without success. Hence, in March 1850 the leading Catholics of Jaffna addressed a memorial to Lord Torrington, the then Governor of Ceylon on the subject. In that Memorial they pointed out that since one of the indispensable rules of the schools run by the Protestant Missionaries in the North was "that the members of the said Schools

Hindu Educational Movement in the North, 1840 - 188O 1737
should learn the Protestant Catechism and attend Divine Service in the Protestant Churches', they had been compelled to avoid sending their children to Protestant Schools. Since Bishop Bettachini had recently established two English Schools - one English School for the boys with two teachers, one of whom is an Englishman, and one English School for girls under the direction of an English mistress "they appealed to the Governor to direct the School Commission to allocate government grant to these schools also according to the proportion of Catholics living in the Northern Province". And they succeeded in getting a grant of £150.
In 1852 Arumuga Navalar and the Jaffna National Educational Society, believing that the government might extend similar grant to them appealed for financial support. The reasons given by Arumuga Navalar was not different from that of the Catholics. "The petitioner (Arumuga Navalar) is equally bound to acknowledge that by the labours of the different missionaries in the Northern Province the state of Society has been considerably improved. It would however be disingenuous on his part were he to hesitate respectfully and with deference to express his own conviction, that had the influence in the Missionary Schools been less exacting in the renunciation of the conscientious attachment to the religious predilection entertained by the Tamil youths instructed therein, the latter would have derived morally greater advantages from the tuition imparted to them. The desire to acquire a competent knowledge of the English Language and other information afforded in those Seminaries induced many to conform for a time to the rules to which however they paid little regard after the completion of their studies".
But the School Commission which was dominated by the Christian Missionaries and the European Officials did not view it with favour. They refused grant on the ground that the system of education proposed to be given by that body was of a character not consistent

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with the objects of their institution. It should be borne in mind that at that time Saivites sought the support of the government, the Church Missionaries had 29 schools, Weslyans 8 schools and the American Missionaries 95 Schools in the Jaffna Peninsula alone.
Secondly, the Christian Missionaries themselves did not view such developments with favour. At the start, they criticised the institution for excluding the Bible, English and Western Science from the curriculum as a retrograde step which will not bring any benefit to the Hindu population. In fact, the Morning Star, a publication of the American Missionaries Criticised this School and its Curriculum in five installments entitled "Native Education". (See Morning Star issues of May 12, 26, June 23, July 28, and August 11 of 1853).
It argued against the contention that the enlightened policies of the British Government was to support and encourage education irrespective of religious truths. One of the editorials said that "the regulations of government generally relating to education, and more especially the fundamental principles on which the special School Commission was organised, as well as the manner in which it had hitherto been conducted, came to show that the British Government both in theory and practice, did regard the Christian element, as contained in the revelation of God, as a primary and indispensable importance in every education whether for natives or Europeans".
All these five installments were reviewed by a Hindu and this was published in the same paper with the editorial comments. The reviewer apparently a Saivite, admitted the benefit derived from the study of the English Language, Literature and Science introduced by the Western World. However, he refused to concede to the Christian Missionaries the exclusive right to conduct the education of other religionists. He commented that the Saivites "repudiate all description of exclusiveness. Still they insist on their privilege of thinking, judging and acting for themselves, but concurrence and assimilation have their legitimate limits. Individuality is indestructible whether applied to person or communities or nations or races.

Hindu Educational Movement in the North, 1840 - 1880 1739
Whether it be just, fair and reasonable for one party to assume the right to insist that another party shall confirm implicitly to the views, opinions and usages of the claimants, that a total abrogation of self and social bonds held conscientiously sacred by the persons from whom such concessions are expected, may safely be left to the verdict of the enlightened and impartial public either British or Hindu". Undaunted by the failure to obtain government grant, the organisers of the school carried on the activities of the school with voluntary contributions they mostly received in the form of free rice. Later, the expenses of the school were met out of the income derived from the Sale of Navalar's books and endowments. This school received government grant only in 1870 after 22 years of existence and that too after the introduction of the Bible as a text for English and the good offices exerted by the then Government Agent of the Northern Province, Mr. Russel. Though English was taught as a Subject, yet this School was registered as a vernacular School. In that year, this was the largest Swabasha School in the island which had 260 students and received the highest grant among the SWabasha Schools. The children received education free and the teachers, mostly Navalar's friends and his pupils, taught gratis.
As their finances were inadequate to set up rival private schools to match the Christian Schools the Saivites agitated the Government to set up more Government Schools in Jaffna, because since the grant-in-aid system came into operation, the government closed its schools and entrusted the education of Jaffna to the Christian Missionaries. As the demand for more and more English educated men in Government and other enterprises increased, the people of Jaffna realised the value of English education. Therefore they pressed the Government to open more schools. By about 1855, due to financial reasons and others, most of the missionaries were forced to close down a number of these schools. (Batticotta Seminary was closed in 1855 and reopened in 1872). This caused almost a panic among the Hindus who reaped the benefit of English education.

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At the same time, the Christian Missionaries also increased the school fees. Because some of the missionaries relinquished Government grant in aid as Government placed restrictions on scriptural instructions. The missionaries were disappointed with their own performance in matters of conversion and were reprimanded by the home authorities for not doing enough religious propaganda and conversions. They realised and they were justified in their conclusions that more and more Hindus patronised the Christian Schools not to become Christians but to acquire a sound English education. As such, the Christian Schools placed a high premium for obtaining such education. To overcome these restrictions, the Hindus could do nothing but to appeal to the government. But the reply of the government was typical of its attitude. The Governor of the day said that "fees should be high enough to arrest that too easy acquisition of English, which fills every Government Office with noisy applicants for work, and strips the fields of that labour which is the Source of Wealth".
Besides this, the missionaries themselves were not very happy to allow the Government to enter a field which was virtually a monopoly Of theirs Since their arrival in Jaffna. The American Missionaries Were very adamant and did not tolerate the interference of the government. In a reply to the Sub-Committee of the Legislative Council on Education appointed in 1867, one of the American Missionaries said as follows: "I understand that Our Jaffna Saivites claim for a Government College where Heathenism with all its abominations may be patronised by Government. Such a step would prove positively that Victoria is not only a defender of our faith, but a defender, promoter and patroness of Saivism.......
"Honour to whom honour is due and help those who help you. How many native agents now in Government service has Siva educated? How many Budda educated? How many Mohamed educated? How many Catholic educated? I do not ask how many Saivites, Buddhists, Mohamedans or Roman Catholics are in

Hindu Educational Movement in the North, 1840 - 1880 1741
Government Service. But I ask who educated them? Then in all fairness and honesty - help those who really help the government. Are these four classes friends and helpers or enemies to Protestant Governments and to education? It is surely not necessary to dodge facts, whether here or in India or in Europe".
Even public opinion favoured the establishment of a Government School in Jaffna and the government was almost Convinced that it was necessary to put up a school in Jaffna. Though by 1869, the Director was convinced that a model school should be set up, yet nothing came out of it. This was clearly expressed by the following letter which appeared in the Ceylon Overland By-Monthly Examiner of 5th May, 1869:
"We (the Jaffna Freeman) sincerely hope that the report is true that Mr. Lawrie has resolved upon inducing the government to establish a Government School in Jaffna to impart education of a higher standard than what can be obtained in the present grants-in-aid schools. Since the shutting up of the American Seminary at Batticotta, the want of a superior school is much felt, and petition after petition was sent to the late School Commission to supply the want; but that unwieldy body was powerless to effect any reform. The generality of parents in Jaffna could not afford the luxury of Colombo education. The expense is enormous. Hence the great rush to India. For the fiftieth time, we warn the Government of Ceylon that Madras is fast draining the flower of the native community from Jaffna and while the really efficient and able do not find sufficient inducement to return to their native nook of earth', the riff-raff and refuse will be left behind. When will our government open its eyes to the baneful tendency of this course? When will the sons of Jaffna be trained in their own schools and render service to their own country?"
Thus the Hindus could not arrest the forward march of the Christian Schools. In the period 1851-1870 Navalar had been away in India for more than 9 years. When he finally returned to Ceylon in

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1 የፈ12 Politics artd Lifga ir Curt Tirrings
DON DAVIDHEWAWITHAFANAWAS FROMAN EDUCATED ANDRESPECTED FAMILY OF MATARA, WHOLATER CHANGED HIS NAME TODHARMAPALA. HE TOOK TO THE BRAMACHARI (CELIBATE) LIFE AND BECAME BETTER KNOWNASANAGARKADHARMAPALA HE WASOFTENSEEN ATRALWAY STATIONS, ESPLANADES, AND ATPOYADAY GATHERINGS FEARLESSLY ADDRESSINGSINHALA BUDDHISTS, REMINDING THEM THAT THEY WERE ALL EUAL F NOT SUPERIOR TO THE BRITISH COLONIAL R.A. HE LAUGHEDATHIS OWN FRIENDS WHO APED THE ENGLISHWAY OF LIFE, WEARING LONG TROUSERS AND TOP HATS. DHARMAPALAWAS BORN ON SEPTEMBER 17, 1864, AND DIED SIXTYNINE YEARSLATER ON APRIL 29, 1933, ATSARANATH NEAR BENARES, WHERE SAKYAMUN GOTHAMA BUDDHAPREACHED HIS FIRST SERMON, THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, WISITEDSARANATH IN 1962, WHEN HE STAYEDASAGUEST AT MAHA BODHI SOCIETY BRANCH AT SARANATH.
*霹魯
| || :ே
Anagark Dharmapala 709. 1854 – 29.04.1933
The founder of the Maha Bodhi Society
Buddhism is the philosophico-religious system based on the teaching of Gautama Buddha (563-483 B.C.) with the fundamental tenet that salvation from the suffering inherent in existence and the continual round of rebirths (Transmigration) can be attained through enlightenment reached by following the Eightfold Path (right views, motive, speech, action, way of life, effort, mindfulness and concentration) which leads to Nirvana. In its first 1000 years Buddhism spread peacefully throughout East Asia; it soon differentiated into two main schools, each with a separate collection of sacred writings, many of which hawe been translated into English, Mahayanals found in China, Japan, and Tibet (Dalai Lama). More social in outlook, the ideal being the Bodhisattva, who seeks enlightenment for others' sake. Mahayana is divided into numerous schools, including Zen. Theravada (Hinayana) is found in Thailand (Siam), Ceylon and Burma; the ideal is the Arhat, who finds the truth for himself.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

LLLLLL LLLLLLaLLLL LLLLCCTLT L LLL LLLLLSS SE0L SS SS 000 1743
1870 he must have found to his utter dismay the growth of Christian Schools. The Wesleyan Missionaries had 13 Boys' Tamil Schools, | Boarding School for Girls, 9 other Schools for Girls, and 6 Boys English Schools.
The American Missionaries had 2 Girls Schools, Training School for Teachers, I Medical School and 53 other schools. The Church Missionaries had 2 Boarding Schools - one for the Boys and the other for Girls, I Training College and 30 Tamil Schools. The Catholics had 6 English Schools, 2 Mixed Schools and 30 Tamil Schools.
As against this, the Saivites had only one recognised school, viz., Navalar's Saiva Prakasa Widyasalai. And in 1872, when Navalar published his Yalpara Sarma ya Nilai Which was a review and reflection of the State of Saivism in Jaffna, the American Missionaries alone had 5 Anglo-vernacular and 78 Wernacular schools in the peninsula. As the Christian Missionaries had their Schools at every wantage point, the Saivites could not set up their schools as they could not conform to the Government's area rule. Wher Nawalar found that Saiwites of Jaffna We Te not responding to his call and the Government was unsympathetic he exhorted Saivites to send their children to Madras and Kumbakonart in South India where they could obtain a better education without having to undergo any religious or caste embarassments, For in India, there were a number of Schools managed by Indians offering good education. There Missionaries could not insist on the removal of caste or religious symbols. If they insisted the children had no alternative but to choose Hindu or Government schools. In fact, men of means had already started sending their children to India, where they graduated in Madras and Calcutta Universities and found employment in India and Burma, as High Court Judges, Advocates, Excise Commissioners, Teachers and in hosts of other fields.

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The same or almost similar sentiment was expressed by Anagarika Dharmapala nearly a half a century later. In this message to the Sinhala Buddhists in 1922, he advised them to migrate to India to have a good education. Because the education provided in Ceylon was "bastard education without any solid foundation". It made them not men but "ill paid clerks".
Saivites of Jaffna could have easily obtained qualified teachers from India, as they did in later times, but could not do so as their finances were poor. The main reason for sending their children to Christian Schools appears to have been that those schools were staffed with qualified teachers - either Europeans or Ceylonese who had their training in missionary Training Schools. The schools opened at Kopay, Puloly, Colombogam, Kandarmadam and Inuvil, due to the initiative taken by Navalar and others were all Vernacular schools.
Navalar attempted to establish an English School by the name of Saiva Angila Vidyasalai. This was a sequal to a dismissal of students in 1871 from a Weslyan School at Vannarpannai where students refused to remove sacred ashes and other religious symbols from their persons. Their parents and students themselves persuaded Navalar to open an English School. This was again a target of attack as were his Hindu Vernacular Schools. Navalar found it difficult to manage this school without sufficient funds. The Government did not approve this school for a Government grant, as there was already a Christian School in the close vicinity. The students themselves left this school lest they may be deprived of the opportunity of appearing for Government Examinations. Thus this school had only a brief existence from 1872 - 1876.
It will not be inappropriate to mention the contribution of Navalar's publications. Navalar had been an indefatigable writer. He established Printing Presses at Vannarpannai and Madras. He is credited with sixty complete publications and twenty four

Hindu Educational Movement in the North, 1840 - 1880 1745
incomplete works. Most of them concern religious texts and were edited and printed for the first time. Navalar, besides editing them, also wrote Commentaries On them.
By rendering them in easy prose he made it possible for the educated people to read and understand them without the help of experts on the subjects. In fact his greatest contribution is that he brought them within the reach of all those who were interested. His Catechisms and Bala Padams are really novel attempts in Tamil. Through these works, for the first time, he brought out in simple prose all the truths of Saiva philosophy and religion. Nothing comparable to these works had ever been attempted even in South India.
To sum up, the Hindu Revival movement of this period i.e. 1840 - 1880 was led by men who belonged to the traditional Elite. They were very orthodox in their religious and social outlook. Evidence is meagre to say whether they functioned as an organisation. Most of them were vernacular educated, and their emphasis was mostly religious and literary. It is a fact that Navalar tried his best to widen the scope of the curriculum to suit the new requirements, but he could not succeed in his attempt. His attention too was divided. He did not concentrate in one place. He had his eyes on Chidamparam and Madras. His pupils and others too followed his example.
Since the Christian Schools Catered well for the new requirements, Hindus preferred Christian Schools to Hindu Schools. Those who could afford 'the luxury of Indian Education sent their children to India to qualify for higher degrees.
Hindu schools were ill-staffed and did not have any welltrained teachers. On the contrary, Christian Schools, had their own Training Colleges to train teachers. Besides, they also could draw teachers from their parent bodies in England and America.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, October 30th, 1976.

Page 334
A Quranic injunction Zakat Or Islam's POOr Rate
by Dr. M. C. M. Kaleel
There is need today, as never before, to clarify to the Muslim public this third Fundamental Principal of Islam, because there seems to be so much misunderstanding and confusion on the subject at the present moment. The Quranic injunction "Keep up prayer and pay the poor rate" recurs frequently in the Holy Book. It means that man's duty to his creator is closely linked with his duty to his fellow men. A Muslim, therefore, cannot become a religious recluse to the exclusion of his services to his fellow men, nor Could he devote all his time to the Service of his fellow men to the exclusion of his religious functions.
Zakat is Compulsory on every adult Muslim who is sane and free, provided he is possessed of wealth above a certain limit called the "Nisab". Nisab means a specifically defined minimum exemption limit for every kind of wealth on which Zakat becomes due. Only when the amount exceeds this limit the Zakat is payable.
it must be clearly understood that Zakat is not a levy on income nor on business turn-overnor on capital that is regularly in use in business or industries, but is a levy on surplus money or hoarded wealth that had remained in one's possession for one whole year. It is payable to a central fund called Bait-ul-Mal. It is improper for any person to transfer any of his Wealth temporarily, in order to avoid paying Zakat. It is essential for the person who pays his Zakat to declare his intention to fulfil his "Farih" or religious obligation, and secondly to see that at least some of the persons who are entitled to, do receive their share. Otherwise it will pass off as Sadaqa or charity which is voluntary and unlimited, whereas Zakat is compulsory and limited by strict rules.
Zakat is payable in gold, silver and paper money which has now taken the place of gold and silver. The amount payable is generally 1/40th or 2%% of the wealth that had remained in one's hand for a whole year. Zakat is also payable on cattle, sheep and goats almost in the same proportion. e.g. in the case of cattle the owner has to give away a two year old heifer

A Quranic lnjunction - Zakat or Islam's Poor Rate 1747
for every 40 animals owned by him. In similar proportion so too for goats and sheep. In the Case of agricultural produce the Owner is required to give away 1/10 of the produce if the land is irrigated naturally, by a river, lake or tank; but if the land is to be irrigated artificially, then only half of it is due.
Zakat must directly benefit the recipient. Where the recipient cannot be made owner of the money orthe payment in kind, it is not recognised as Zakat. Zakat cannot be spent on a funeral or in the payment of the debts of a dead perSonorin the Construction of a mosque or supplying water or otheramenities to a mosque. All these would come under Sadaqaormeritorious acts.
SADAQA
Zakat also cannot be distributed among one's family, such as wife, children, father, mother, and brothers. The Holy Prophet has forbidden Zakat for himself and his family and their descendents - the Seyyeds.
The Quran mentions certain categories of persons to whom Zakat becomes payable: "Alms are for the poor and the needy and those employed to administer the funds. For those whose hearts have been recently reconciled (to Truth) for those in bondage and in debt; in the cause ofAllah and the Wayfarer". These categories are furtherexhaustively analysed and explained by the Imaams and those who had made a special study of Islamic Law - (The Fukara).
SOCIALIST ORIENTED
Zakat is meant to solve the problems of the poor and to prevent the accumulation of wealth in the hands of a few – the rich becoming richer and richer, and the poor, poorer and poorer.
By the 'Poor and the needy are not meant those who stand up and beg for charity and are satisfied with amorselor two, but those who do not find Weath to make them free from Want. It is for this reason that Islam forbids usury orthelending of money on interest. There can neverbea Shylockwithin the fold of Islam. Zakat makes wealth to circulate by taking from the hoarders and passing it on to those in need. A great deal of the unrest in the present world is dueto economic problems. There is clash between capitaland labour, land-lords and tenants, producers and consumers, money-lenders and debtors, causing much of the class-hatred and even revolutions.

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1748 Politics and Life in Our Times
What is the solution to these problems? Islam has found the solution by the compulsory levy and equitable distribution of Zakat as explained earlier.
SPIRIT
The spirit of Zakat was strictly observed during the time of the Holy Prophet and his companions. Caliph Omar Farouque, the Second Caliph after the Prophet, used to go about the city to find out himself who were in need and what their needs were, and forthwith send aid from the Baith-ul-Mal. It is said that at one stage when the Muslim empire had spread far and wide, and the Baith-ul-Mal was overflowing, no one came for Zakat because there was no poverty among the people.
Later, when the Democratic Republics of Islam turned into kingdoms or sultanates with hereditary succession, the Baith-ul-Mal became part of the royal treasury and was not only used for public purposes but also for the private use of the rulers and their courtiers who spent vast sums of money on building palaces and fortresses and for luxurious living, leaving the poor and the needy to fend for themselves.
Decay and decadence set in, till finally the Muslim states themselves lost their freedom. It was Mustapha Ataturk who won back some respect for the once powerful Turkish empire, and abolished the caliphate stating that it had been a hot-bed of corruption and intrigue and was subsumed by the people. And so did the Baith-ul-Mall
OBLIGATION
However, Zakat being a religious injunction it cannot be ignored by Muslims. The obligation has to be met in some form or another.
if there is no organization to collect and distribute Zakat, still it must be paid to those as prescribed in the Quran.
if Muslims would have regular organizations, in each town and village for the collection of Zakatand if it is managed by a commitee selected by those who pay Zakat themselves, much of the problems of the community Could be Solved and Muslims Could find Sufficient funds to Combat at least the heavy odds that are against them, particularly in the developing countries.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, February 18th, 1983.

Coomaraswamy Directed His Great Gifts to Draw Humanity Together
by Wilfred M. Gunasekara
The Cultural Survival Trust of Sri Lanka in association with the Taj Samudra of Colombo held a public meeting commemorating the 112th birth anniversary of the savant, Dr. Ananda Coomaraswany at the Samudra Ballroom of Taj Samudral
On August 22, 1877, 112 years ago to be exact, a son was born to Elizabeth Clay Beeby, an English lady from Kent, at Rhineland Place, Kollupitiya, where once stood a stately mansion the residence of Sir Muttu and Lady Coomaraswamy. They also lived in the sprawling mansion in Rajagiriya, later owned and occupied by Sir Donald Obeyesekere.
The son was Ananda Kentish Coomaraswamy to give his full name. His distinguished father Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy, who is said to have been the first Knight in Asia and who certainly was the first Hindu to be called to the Bar in London. Sir Muttu Was an erudite Scholar and translated the "Dathavamsa" (the history of the Tooth Relic) from Pali into English, the first Paliwork to be so translated. He was evidently a well known figure in London Society during Queen Victoria's reign, on intimate terms of friendship with many eminent men among whom was Disraeli, who introduced him as Kusinara into One of his novels, posthumously published in 1905.
ACTIVE WORKER
When the son was barely an year and half old, Lady Coomaraswamy left for England with him, as the tropical climate here was taxing her health. Sir Muttu was to follow later, but he died in May 1879 on the very day he was to set sail for England.

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1750 Politics and IG TIT LI" fr7735
ON AUGUST 22, 1877, ASON WAS BORN TOELIZABETHCLAYBEEBY, AN ENGLISH LADY FROM KENT, ATRHINELAND PLACE, KOLLUPITIYA, COLOMBO, IN SRI LANKA, WHERE ONCE STOODA STATELY MANSION, THE RESIDENCE OF SIRMUTTU AND LADY COOMARASWAMY THE SON WAS ANANDAKENTISHCOOMARASWAMY TO GIVEHIS FULLNAME. HIS DISTINGUISHED FATHER SIR MUTTU COOMARASWAMY WHOISSAID TO HAVE BEEN THE FIRST KNIGHT INASA AND WHO CERTAINLY WAS THE FIRST HINDU TO BE CALLED TO THE BAR IN LONDON. SIRMUTTU WAS ANERUDITE SCHOLAR AND TRANSLATED THE "DATHAWAMSA" (THE HISTORY OF THE TooTH RELIC) FROMPAL INTO ENGLISH, THE FIRST PAL WORKTOBESO TRANSLATED, WHEN THE SONWAS BARELY ANYEAR AND HALFOLD, LADY COOMARASWAMYLEFT FOR ENGLAND WITH HIM, AS THE TROPICAL CLIMATE HERE WAS TAXINGHER HEALTH,
Dr. Ananda Kermiish Coomaraswamy
ਸੁ - A Scholar Wha wrofgon a wide range of Subjects,
Ananda Coomaraswartly studied first at Wycliffe College at Stonehouse in Gloucestershire and the at the University of London, graduating in botany and geology. He returned to Sri Lanka when he was twenty years of age and his age was no bar to his first appointment as the Director of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon. There are few scholars anywhere in the World whose publications cover a wider range than those of Dr. Ananda Coomaraswarty. His researches embrace philosophy, metaphysics, religion and iconography, Indian Literature and art, Islamic art, medieval art, music, geology and Đspecially the place of art in Society, Møre aslounding than the shẹer quantity of his publications are their extraordinary profundity and originality throughout his career, and their deep influence on the spiritually awakened scholars and layman alike, allower the World. There are indeed few scholars who like him are able to go straight to original sources, and at the same timo havo the ability and Courage to hand on a clear-Cut uncompromising message of what they have seen, heard and learned.
 
 

Coomaraswary Directed His Great Gifts to Draw Hurranity Together 1751
Ananda Coomaraswamy studied first at Wycliffe College at Stonehouse in Gloucestershire and then at the University of London, graduating in botany and geology. He returned to Sri Lanka when he was twenty years of age and his age was no bar to his first appointment as the Director of the Mineralogical Survey of Ceylon.
Dr. Coomaraswamy remained three years in Sri Lanka, during which time he founded the Ceylon Social Refort in Society and became an active worker in the Ceylon University Movement. In 1906 he obtained the degree of DSc of London University, and at the end of the year he proceeded to India on a three months' tour during which he appeared to have developed an intense interest in Indian art and literature, since it is from this formative period that he gave up his career in geology and mineralogy and devoted himself to a study of the arts of Indian and South Eastern Asia.
In 1910 he mlade an extended tOur of Northern dia artid acquired a remarkable collection of the nicest examples of Indian paintings and drawings. While in Calcutta he gave a brilliant lecture on "Moghal and Rajput Painting' at the Indian Society of Oriental Art.
In 1911 he came to England and was one of the original founders of the India Society of London, which has now become as we all know and are proud to think, the Royal India, Pakistan and Ceylon Society. It would have given him special pleasure to know that Sri Lanka has been incorporated in our title. Its first President was Dr. Rhys Davids, the famous Pali scholar and Dr. Coomaraswamy was a member of the original Executive Committee,
DNNER IN HISHONOUR
He lived to celebrate his 70th birthday and a dinner was held in Boston in his honour, while in Sri Lanka his portait was unveiled by Sir Charles Collins, late of the Ceylon Civil Service in King George's Hall of the Ceylon University which he had done so much to found.
On this occasion Sir Charles Collins read the following message from the Governor, Sir Henry Moore - "for many years now Dr.Coomaraswamy has lived out of Ceylon, but his writings have kept before men's minds the cultural heritage of Ceylon and I am sure, have inspired Ceylonese to appreciate more deeply and intensely their own

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traditions. Dr. Coomaraswamy is a world figure in the realm of scholarship. It is fitting that when Ceylon is about to attain her full political stature she should express pride in her sons who have brought her glory in their own spheres of activity.
"Comaraswamy stands out among the sons of Ceylon. He has directed his great gifts to drawing humanity together by showing them the affinities of their culture, and has thus helped in promoting peace and understanding among the peoples of the World. May he live long to continue his good work for the benefit of mankind".
Such briefly is the story of the principal stages in Dr. Coomaraswamy's career.
I shall now attempt to give an idea of his vast output of his literary creations. In the introduction to his bibliography, Mr. Rajasingham quoted Dr. Richard Ettinghausen of Washington as Saying:
"There are few scholars anywhere in the world whose publications cover a wider range than those of Dr. Ananda COOmaraswamy. His researches embrace philosophy, metaphysics, religion and iconography, Indian Literature and art, Islamic art, medieval art, music, geology and especially the place of art in Society. More astounding than the sheer quantity of his publications are their extra-ordinary profundity and originality throughout his career, and their deep influence on the spiritually awakened scholars and laymen alike, all Over the World. There are indeed few Scholars who like him are able to go straight to original sources, and at the same time have the ability and Courage to hand on a clear-cut uncompromising message of what they have seen, heard and learned"
NO MEAN PRAISE
This is no mean praise, must say. I confirm that I believe every word of it to be true. Hence, I feel the best thing to do is to give my readers an outline of his major works. A perusal of this will no doubt enable you to judge both of the scope of his mind and of the type of subject which attracted him most.

Coomaraswamy Directed His Great Gifts to Draw Humanity Together 1753
Meanwhile, out of his unbounded energy he found time to write in 1923 an "introduction to Indian Art' in the Asia Library Series of the Theosophical Publishing House, Madras; secondly, Les Arts et Metiers de l'Inde et de Ceylon' published by Vromannt of Paris in 1924, thirdly anotherwork in French Pour Comprendro l'Art Hindu’issued by Bossard of Paris; fourthly one of his most important works, "The History of Indian and Indonesian Art" published in 1927 by Wayhe of New York, E. Goldston of London, and Karl Hiersemann of Leipzig and fifthly, Les Ministures Orientales de la Collection Golouben' at the Museum of Fine ArtS in "Les Editions G. Van Dest of Paris, in 1929. In addition to these he issued in 1927 in the American Art Bulletin his challenging thesis on "the Origin of the Buddha Image'.
From the foregoing it is clear that his whole being and mind was trying to bring home to man the vital necessity for art in life. The last book before his death was "Time and Eternity' (1947). That his position unparalled to any is amply vouched by the words of Eric Gill. Here they are:
COMBINATION OF GIFTS
"There was one person to whom I think William Rothenstein indroduced me, whom might have not met otherwise and to whose influence, I am deeply grateful. I mean the philosopher and theologian Ananda Comaraswamy. Others have written the truth about life and religion and man's work. Others have written good clear English. Others have had the gift to witty exposition. Others have understood the metaphysics of Hinduism and Buddhism. Others have understood the true significance of erotic drawings and sculptures. Others have seen the relationships of the true and the good and the beautiful. Others have had apparently unlimited learning. Others have love; others have been kind and generous. But know of no one else in whom all these gifts and all these powers have been Combined. I dare not confess myself his disciple, that would only embarrass him, and I can only say that I believe that no other living writer has written the truth in matters of art and life and religion and piety with such wisdom and understanding".
Courtesy: "The Sunday Observer", Colombo, August 20th, 1989.

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Ayodhya: a View from Moscow
by S. Strokan
The Passions which flared up over the temple in Ayodhya are politically, not religiously motivated, Alexander Senkevich, a prominent Soviet Indologist and leading researcher at the USSR Academy of Sciences Institute of World Literature, believes.
He said in an express poll held by Novosti that Indian history has known a number of precedents, whereby religious symbols, capable of organizing large forces, were used by the nationalists for instigating inter-tribal confrontation. As we know, religion has always been a powerful integrating force in any society, especially in Indian society. Skillful manipulation of the believers' national feelings has always provoked bloody clashes, he said.
Unlike thousands of true Hinduists, who take bricks to the place of Rama's birth, the politicians struggling their way to power on the wave of Hinduist chauvinism are hardly seriously concerned about where the temple should stand. It is not the centuries-old legendabout Rama, but pragmatic political considerations of the nationalist forces that determine the scenario in Ayodhya and in other regions of india engulfed by the flames of chauvinism, the scholar believes.
The events in Ayodhya acquire a special meaning in the context of the political strife in India, said Doctor of Philology Igor Serebryakov, a laureate of the Jawaharlal Nehru Prize. In their struggle against V. P. Singh, who had to resign, the BJP and the VHPadroitly used legendary Rama who crushed Rawana, he says.
Analysing the events in Ayodhya one can see again what a delicate sphere inter-tribal and inter-ethnic relations are, says Professor Alexei Litman of the Academy of Sciences' Institute of Oriental Studies, also a winner of the Jawaharlal Nehru Prize. Something of this kind did and still occurs in the Soviet Union. Suffice it to recall clashes between Russians and Kazakhs, Azerbaijanians and Armenians, Uzbeks and Kirghiz. I think all nationalities must act more tactfully and flexibly in relation to each other. This conclusion has very much to do with what is happening in India and in the USSR, he said.

Ayodhya: a View from Moscow 1755
Among the causes of the bloody clashes in Ayodhya is the loss of the Vedic knowledge and disregard of Our Lord's commandment, saying: "I am not the body, I am the Soul", say representatives of the International Krishna Consciousness Society in Moscow. Vyacheslav Rudenko and Olga Kiselyova who assumed the names of Vakta and Primavathi. This commandment points to the fact that our Lord's temple is not material. It is neither the earth, nor stones, nor iron. It is inside everyone, Vakta said. In his opinion, not a single true Hindu, repeating the mantras and thinking of God will ever encroach on something that does not belong to him, even though he thinks that it may be his own.
The escalation of violence and frequent outbursts of inter-ethnic and inter-tribal rivalry not only in India, but in other countries, as well, including the Soviet Union, point to the arrival of the most gloomy era in the history of mankind - the era of Kali-Yuga leading to the decline of virtue and the triumph of evil, said Primavathi. The events in Ayodhya are strongly reminiscent of what is happening in Soviet republics. Therefore, the call for restraint is particularly important today. The dark and furious Crowd can retreat only when it has acquired the lofty spiritual knowledge. People must embark on the road of self-perfection and not on the path of fierce struggle for material values, she said.
Courtesy: "News and Views from the Soviet Union", Moscow, November 19th, 1990.
Ramayana is one of the Sanskrit epics of India which took its present form towards the 3rd century B. C. It recounts the adventures of Rama, 7th avatar (incarnation) of the God Vishnu. It is the story in the form of legend and allegory of the spread of the Aryans into southern India around 800 B. C. It deals with the tender and intimate aspects of family life and loyalties and has always had more popular appeal in India than the longer and more austere Mahabharata.

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Princess Diana With Mother Teresa
New York - Mother Teresa met privately for 40 minutes with Princess Diana, and told reporters outside the Bronx convent she found that Diana felt good.
A nun, who identified herself as Sister Sapita, told reporters that royal visit to the Sisters Missionaries of Charity, which runs a soup kitchen and homeless shelter in the Bronx, along with 500 other facilities for the poor around the world was not unusual.
"We're accustomed to these kinds of visits", she said. "This is not the first visit by the Princess. Many people come to visit Mother Teresa".
Sister Sapita said she did not know what Mother Teresa and the princess talked about. "We left them alone", she said.
Mother Teresa emerged from the visit holding hands with Diana, who helped the 86-year-old nun down some steps and along the sidewalk. The two embraced, with Mother Teresa clasping her hands toward the princess and a crowd gathered outside the convent. She kissed Princess Diana, who left in a diplomatic vehicle.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, July 15th, 1997.
Convent is an assembly of persons gathered together in retirement from the world, and also the building housing them. A convent is now a Christian nunnery where devout women spend their lives in prayer and works of charity and education.

Message of Greetings to the World Hindu Conference
by A. C. Nadaraja
The Vivekananda Society, which was founded on 13th July 1902, sent messages of greetings to the World Hindu Conference, held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, from 21.04.1982 to 25.04.1982. Given here is the message of greetings from A. C. Nadaraja, President, Vivekananda Society (Colombo).]
It is with pleasure that I send this message as the President of the Vivekananda Society which was inaugurated in 1902, the year of Swami Vivekananda's death, by some of his admirers in Ceylon. it was Swami Vivekananda who, for the first time opened the eyes of the world to the great truths enshrined in the Hindu religion in 1893 at the Chicago Conference of World Religions. He referred to Hinduism as the mother of all religions, and quoted liberally from the ancient Upanishads. A fundamental truth which he pronounced was that religion is the manifestation of the divinity in man. He said his ideal was to make man to manifest this divinity in him.
The present World Conference is an unique event, and it is our good fortune to have it taking place in Sri Lanka, which in the opinion of Sir William Gregory (Governor of Ceylon from 1872 to 1877) is "the loveliest island in the whole world". The time too is opportune, for this age has seen a wonderful development of science, which development has pushed into the background religion as something which clings to matters and ideas that are unscientific and therefore not fit to be adopted by intelligent people. These people rarely stop to think that matters which the scientist deals with are of the outside world while religion deals With the World Within US.

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1758 Fortic: Érd Life Jr) (Lir TITTE3
A HINDUSAINTPUT IT CLEARLY WHEN HEASKEDUSTO DEVELOPTHE INNER WISION OF THE SELFASA CORRECTWE TO THE OUTER WISION OF THE SCIENTIST. ACCORDING TO HM THE SCIENTISTASKS "WHAT IS THAT." THE SANTASKS "WHAT IS THIS." THE SCIENTIST DEPENDS ONYANTHRA,THE INSTRUMENT, MACHINE THE SAINT DEPENDS ON MANTHRA, THE MYSTIC FORMULA THE KEY TO THE MYSTERIOUS WORKING OF THE MIND, THE LAMP THAT CANILLUMINATE THE DARK CAWERNS OF THE SUBCONCOUS. THE SCIENTISTSEEKSKNOWLEDGE
Advocate A. C. Nadaraja
804, SO2 - 6, 2994 President, Vivekananda Society Color Ed.
Tens of thousands of devotional songs have been sung by Saivasaints expressing their yearning for His grace, for the blessedness of final disenlanglement from all embodiments. Most Hindus fulfil their spiritual needs by worshipping in temples. Not everyone can evoke for his contemplation a mental image of God, hence external Worship is performed at the concrete image in the temple. Dr. G. U. Pope, a great Saiwa Siddhanta scholar, says: "It is sorTalirties thought and Said Ihat the idols are meresigns representingas symbolsthe Divine Being and some of His Works and attributes. This is not altogether an adequate statement of the Case. Each image by a peculiar servica, which is called awaharian', becomes the abcde of an in-dwelling deity and is itself divine. Devout and Cnthusiastic worshippers, amid the glare of the lamps and the smoke of the incense, seemed to be carried away so as to entirely identify the invisible object of their thought with that which is presented before their gyas",
 
 

Massage of Greatings to the World Hindu Conference 1759
A Hindu saint put it clearly when he asked us to develop the inner wision of the self as a Corrective to the Outer vision of the Scientist, According to him the scientist asks "What is that?" The saint asks "What is this?" The scientist depends on yanthra, the instrument, machine. The saint depends on manthra, the mystic formula, the key to the mysterious Working of the mind, the la Tip that can illuminate the dark caverns of the subconcious. The scientist seeks knowledge and power. The saint seeks peace and bliss,
Hinduist folds Within itself Wonderfu truthS, Which are presented to us through the Wedas, Upanishads, Aga TaS, Puranas, the Thirumurais, the Maha Bharatha, Ramayana, Thirukkural, etc. Which are not as well-known to the World as they should be. These are immortal works. A conference of this type can and should create a desire to read and understand these immortal Works and gain spiritual progress and knowledgetherefrom. There is only one God, and each religion attempts to reach Him in its own way, but the goal is the same. A Correct understanding of the Hindu religion develops a sense of Self-reliance, self-reverence and self-sufficiency which is spoken of as the corner Stole of the Edifice of life. Wish the Conference SuCCESS.
Colombo, 21st April, 1982.
On Perseverance in spite of Difficulties
If troubles come, laugh; there is nothing like thal, to press upon and drive away sorrow. A flood of troubles will be overcome by the (courageous) thought which the minds of the wise will entertain, even in ST They give sorrow, to morrow who in Sorrow do not suffer ST. Troubles will wanish before the man, who (struggles against difficultids) as a buffalo (drawing a cart) through daap mirge, The troubles of that Tal Will be troubled (and disappear) who, however thickly they may come upon him, does not abandon (his purpose).
- Trkkā, Tari Vegas,

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The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple
by Nirmala Ramachandran
Lord Muruga is the embodiment of valour and is highly venerated in Sri Lanka and Tamil Nadu. According to mythology he is the chief warrior of the Hindu Pantheon and the purpose of his creation by Lord Shiva was to liberate the Devas from extreme humiliation endured by them at the hands of Soorapadman and the Asuras. The legend states that Soorapadman through prayer and penance obtained from Lord Shiva the boon that he could not be destroyed except by someone excelling Lord Shiva. His boon of evading death rather than rebirth made him egoistical and he started committing a number of atrocities. To put an end to the activities of Soorapadman and the Asuras, Lord Shiva chose to procreate himself in a superior form. This resulted in the creation of Lord Muruga from the sparks that emanated from the Lord's third eye. In order to confer on Lord Muruga a superior status than himself, Lord Shiva elevated him to a position of his Guru who initiated him into the "Pranava Mantram". Hence Lord Muruga is also known as Sivaguru and Swaminathan. In the ensuing battle with Soorapadman and the Asuras, Lord Muruga destroyed all of them except Soorapadman. He finally cleft Soorapadman in two with his 'Vel", and the halves took the form of a peacock and a Cockerel who surrendered to the Lord and begged his pardon. The peacock became Lord Muruga's vehicle or 'vahanam' and the Cockerel adorned his banner.
Temples constitute a rich heritage. The tenacity of the Hindu Culture rests upon the stable base of our temples which have been the traditional centres for fostering the growth of Art, Music and Literature. Many temples in Sri Lanka dedicated to Lord Muruga have provided the Hindus this stability and been a powerful force in moulding character through devotion and spiritual discipline. The Nallur Kandaswamy temple situated in the outskirts of Jaffna has emerged as one of the foremost shrines in the northern peninsula.

The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple 1761
The origin of the temple is shrouded in controversy. According to the Yalpana Vaipava Malai (a garland of Jaffna history) written by Mailvagana Pullevar, the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple was built in the 13th century by Puveneya Vaku, a minister to Kulangai Arya Chakravarti. Another surmise is that it was built in the 15th century by Sempahap Perumal later Buveneka Bahu, which may be evidenced by the inclusion of his name in the daily recitations (Katiyams) at the temple. Other Writers have expressed diverse views on the origin of this historic temple.
With the advent of the Portuguese, cities, villages, and temples were plundered and destroyed. The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple did not escape this catastrophe, and in 1620 Philip de Oliviera on defeating Sangili razed this temple to the ground leaving no trace of even its foundation. It was only during the Dutch occupation that Don Juan Mappana Mudaliyar, a shroff at the Kachcheri, using his influence obtained approval in 1734 to erect a madam, at the present site of the temple, for the worship of Lord Muruga. Since then, the hereditary Custodians of the temple have been the descendants of Don Juan Mappana Mudaliyar. Like Phoenix rising from the ashes the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple rose again, literally and metaphorically. With the turn of the century this temple which was of modest proportions grew to its present form due to the untiring efforts of the custodians, namely Sangarapillai Mappana Mudaliyar, Ragunatha Mappana Mudaliyar, Shanmugadas Mappana Mudaliyar, and Kumaradas Mappana Mudaliyar. An important milestone in the history of the temple during the stewardship of Shamugadas Mappana Mudaliyar, occurred in the late 1950s when the doors of the temple were opened to the so called 'depressed classes' of Jaffna.
Worship at the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple is pervaded with joy and reverberates with music and happiness. The inner walls depict paintings of Lord Muruga and stories from the puranas. At this temple everyday is a festive day. The annual festivals provide great occasions for religious fervour. "Nothing is more certain than the value of a succession of festivals in making and preserving popular Hinduism as a living religion to the masses"- A. C. Bouquet. These festivals which

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1762 Politics and Life irr Chuur Tirnos
denonstrate the solid achievement of unity in diversity are held at various times throughout the year. They give an opportunity for Hindus to express with dignity and fervour their affection and allegiance to Lord Muruga. Most festivals commemorate events in Thythology which symbolises the destruction of the forces of evil. To many Hindus myths and symbols are the foundation of their reality.
The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple is renowned for the beauty, artistry, and precision of its festivals. In a changing world this temple keeps pace with modern times without sacrificing any of its age old rituals. The high festival in the temple cafendar takes place in July August each year, commencing with the flag hoisting ceremony and continues for twenty-five days. The daily festivals, like gems in a necklace are each a work of art, indicating painstaking effort. The beauty of adornment of the icons of the Wei and Lord Muruga and his consorts are so exquisite that they bring joy to the thousands of devotees who throng the temple precincts, resulting in the presiding deity of this temple being known as "Alankara Kanthan" (Lord of exquisite adornment) even beyond the shores of Sri Lanka. However, the highlight of the year is the "Ther" (Car) festival. From early morning the temple bells ring out their message and a sense of joy pervades the whole area. The majestic statue of Lord Shanmuga seated on a silver throne with his Consorts Walli and Deiveyani is indeed a vision of beauty and radiance. As the Lord leaves the entrance of the temple to proceed to the "Ther" one sees, but a sea of hands uplifted insalutation and shouts of "Haro Hara" reverberates throughout. This is an unforgettable moment of Darshan to the thousands of devotees gathered in every nook and corner including every wantage point outside the main entrance of the temple.
The "Ther" is taken round the outer prakara of the temple by hundreds of devotees and accompanied by beautiful Nathaswara music and devotional songs. In the early evening Lord Muruga and his Consorts adorned only in green, showers his blessings and fulfils the wishes of his devotees whilst returning to the temple, The festivals end with the water cutting ceremony which symbolises the cutting of the knots of Worldly attachment by devotees.

The Nalur Kandaswany Templa 1763
WORSHIP AT THENALLURKANDASWAMY TEMPLE IS PERWADED WITH JOY AND REVERBERATES WITH MUSIC AND HAPPINESS. THE INNER WALLS DEPICT PANTINGS OF LORD MURUGA AND STORIES FROM THE PURANAS. AT THIS TEMPLEEWERYDAY ISAFESTIVE DAY. THE ANNUAL FESTWALS PROWIDE GREAT (OCCASIONS FOR RELIGIOUS FERWOUR. "NOTHING IS MORE CERTAIN THAN THE WALUE OF A SUCCESSION OF FESTIVALS IN MAKING AND PRESERWING POPULAR HINDUSM ASA LIVING RELIGION TO THE MASSES" – A. C. BOUGUET. THESEFESTWALSWHICH DEMONSTRATE THE SOLD ACHIEWEMENTOF UNITY IN DIVERSITY ARE HELD AT WARIOUS TIMES THROUGHOUT THE YEAR. THEY GIVE AN OPPORTUNITY FOR HINDUS TO EXPRESS WITH DIGNITY AND FERWOURTHER AFFECTION AND ALLEGIANCE TO LORD MURUGA MOST FESTIVALS COMMEMORATE EVENTS IN MYTHOLOGY WHICH SYMBOLSES THE DESTRUCTION OF THE FORCES OF EVIL TOMANY HINDUSMYTHS ANDSYMBOLSARE THE FOUNDATION OF THER REALITY.
Front view of Natur Kan7das warty Temple Lord Muruga initiated Lord Shiva as Sivaguru with the "Prarawa Mantrarn"
Noordinary mortal has seen or known what is on the other side of the curtain except of course some Holy men who had become one with Murugan in Holy Communion and that too not with the naked eyes but through the eyes of their heart. They Worship Murugan as the ultimate reality transcending all categories and attributes. The transcendent nature of divinity is underlined by the absence of any image, form or symbol in this shrine. Yet the Lord of Kathirgamam does evoke awe and fear, reverence and love, inspiration and intuition among people of all walks of life and from all types of background who visit this abode of Murugan for peace and Solace, He resides every where, He is in everything, He is everything,
- Hor. Justicg C. W. Wignes Warar),

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1764 Politics and Life in Our Times
Among the major festivals during the 25 days are the Manjam, Karthigai festival, Kailasavahanam, Vel Vimanam, Thandayuthapani festival, and Sapparam which are interspaced between the other daily festivals. These are followed by the lowering of the flag and the Thirukalyanam festival.
A unique feature in all Murugan temples is devotees arriving with Kavadies.
On the last two days of the festivals pilgrims carrying Kavadies converge on the precincts of the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple. Several varieties of Kavadies were developed from time to time and quite a number of devotees have their tongues and cheeks pierced with "vels' while carrying the Kavady. The hanging Kavady is a recent development. The mythology of the origin of the Kavady states that the sage Agasthiyar requested his most devoted disciple laumban to bring him the twin mountain peaks of Sivagiri and Saktigiri given to him by Lord Shiva. ldumban detached the two peaks from Mt. Kailash, tied them to the ends of a pole which he placed across his shoulders and started his journey to earth. On the way idumban was overcome with pride in his own strength and imagined that he was even greater than his own Guru Agasthiyar. In order to teach him humility Lord Muruga assumed the form of a six year old boy who hid in one of the peaks while dumban rested. When he awoke and tried to lift the peaks he was unable to do so. He spotted the child and a fight ensued which resulted in ldumban being mortally wounded. On the intercession of sage Agasthiyar, he was restored to life, and laumban prayed to Lord Muruga that he be given the honour of serving him and stand guard before his temple forever. Idumban vowed that he would help all devotees who carry the Kavady in honour of Lord Muruga to relieve them of their troubles. Thus began the sacred practice of carrying the Kavady which is a semicircular yoke placed across the shoulders.
Important festivals among others celebrated at the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple are Skanthasashti, Thaipoosam and Vaikasi Visakam. Skanthasashti is grandly celebrated in honour of Lord Muruga and his defeat of Soorapadman and the Asuras. It is a solemn festival in that devotees fast for six days and worship him. In a wider Context this festival signifies the truth that the soul receives supreme wisdom

The Nallur Kandaswamy Temple 1765
from Lord Shiva's grace and with that is able to overcome ignorance. Taipoosam is celebrated in all Murugan temples as theasterism Poosam is considered to be auspicious and sacred. An elaborate festival is held at the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple on Vaikasi Visakam day. The asterism Visakam is considered to be the natal star of Lord Muruga and hence a celebration in all His temples.
Kumaradas Mappana Mudaliyar is the present hereditary custodian of the temple. The yeoman service rendered by him since his stewardship commenced in 1965, has witnessed a growth and expansion of the temple unmatched during any other period of the temple's history. During a span of over 30 years he has been responsible for enlarging most beautifully the sanctum sanctorum of the temple where the "Vel' is enshrined, and the sanctums of Lords Shanmuga and Muthucumaraswamy, the Vasantha Mandapam, and the Maha Mandapam. Smaller gopurams (towers) were built to enhance the main one which faces east at the entrance to the temple. Several bells were installed in their respective towers which pealed in unison with the original bell during festivals and auspicious occasions making a joyful Sound. The inner and outer prakaras of the temple were widened and remodelled. The temple has now become a large religious arena by the incorporation of the Theertha Kerni (pond) and the shrine of Thandayuthapaniand spreads over several acres. It is to his Credit that today the Nallur Kandaswamy Temple stands as a beacon to all Hindus in Sri Lanka. To the people of Jaffna its stability has been a refuge and sanctuary in their lives. It has been their joy and solace and brought a deeper meaning to the old adage "More things are Wrought by prayer than this World dreams of".
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, August 19th, 1997.
Prehistoric Tamils
Tamilaham was among the richest havens of Early Man. A prolific and vivid industry flourished in and around the Kortallaiyar and Arani rivers during the Early Stone Age times. The Early Stone Age man chipped his tools from quartz and quartzite.
- Dr. B. K. Gururaja Rao.

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Sri Aurobindo and his Cosmic Vision
by V. Murugesu
Today is the 124th birth anniversary of Sri Aurobindo. Commencing today, for a period of 12 months, the Sri Aurobindo Ashram at Pondicherry and the centres and branches throughout india and the world propose to celebrate and intensify their activities to culminate on his 125th birth anniversary falling next year on August 15.
This great sage, the harbinger of the integral Yoga and one who worked to bring the Supramental into the earth's atmosphere for the regeneration of man and society, was no doubt a human who became divine. This is his realisation as envisioned in two lines in "Savitri", that unparalleled spiritual epic written from his Yogic consciousness:
"We are the Sons of God and must be even as he His human portion made divine".
Rabindranath Tagore met Sri Aurobindo on two occasions - once in 1907 when he addressed a poem to Sri Aurobindo before his arrest and incarceration in the Alipore jail and again 21 years later, in 1928, when Sri Aurobindo was in Pondicherry, then a French colony, and had retired into silence. What Tagore recorded in his second visit is significant. He wrote:
"At the very first sight I could realise that he had been seeking for the Soul and had gained it, and through this long process of realisation has accumulated within him a silent power of inspiration. His face was radiant with an inner light and his serene presence made it evident to me that his soul was not crippled and cramped to the measure of some tyrannical doctrine, which takes delight in inflicting wounds upon life.
"I felt that the utterance of the ancient Hindu Rishi spoke from him of that equanimity which gives the human soul its freedom of entrance into the All. I said to him, "You have the Word and we are waiting to accept it from you. India will speakthrough your voice to the world. Hearken to me!".

Sri Aurobindo and his Cosmic Vision 1767
There were two principal matters, apart from his spritual writings and the message he gave humanity, that engaged the earnest attention of Sri Aurobindo. One was the fate of his own country and the other was the state of the World.
India was under foreign domination. She could never grow to any stature while in a state of subjection. So after he finished his education in England he returned to the land of his birth and threw himself into the cauldron of political life and whipped up the patriotic passion of his people for independence. It was he who laid the foundation for India's ultimate liberation. With that work over, after his acquittal in the Alipore Bomb Case, he went to Pondicherry to begin the inner quest and the liberation of man from the fetters of an unillumined material life. This was his global Work.
India's Day of Independence coincided with his birth anniversary on August 15, 1947. In his broadcast message relayed over the All India Radio he said:
"August 15, 1947 is the birthday of free India. It marks for her the end of an old era, the beginning of a new age. But we can also make it by our life and acts as a free nation, an important date in a new age opening for the whole world, for the political, social, cultural and spiritual future of humanity.
"August 15th is my own birthday and it is naturally gratifying to me that it should have assumed this vast significance. take this Coincidence, not as a fortuitous accident, but as the Sanction and Seal of the Divine Force that guides my steps on the work with which began life, the beginning of its full fruition. Indeed, on this day I can watch all the world's movements which I hoped to see fulfilled in my lifetime, though then they looked like impracticable dreams, arriving at fruition or on their way to achievement. In all these movements free india may Well play a large part and take a leading position".
He expanded on the "dreams" he visioned and these may be briefly enumerated as stated by him -
1. A revolutionary movement which would create a free and united Indiaidrdia today is free but she has not achieved unity.

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1768 Politics and Life irn Our Tirrings
2. The resurgence and liberation of the peoples of Asia and her return to the great role in the progress of human Civilisation.
3. A world-union forming the outer basis of a fairer, brighter
and robler life for a mankind.
4. The spiritual gift of India to the world which has already begun. India's spirituality is entering Europe and America in an ever-increasing measure.
5. Finally, a step in evolution which would raiser Tan to a higher and larger consciousness and begin the solution of the problems which hawe perplexed and vexed him since he first began to think and to dream of individual perfection and a perfect Society.
But Sri Aurobindo did not confine himself only to the solution of India's political life. He had a COSI Thic wision, a World wiew both from the outer and inner planes of consciousness. He was known to converse with his disciples on a vast range of subjects. A disciple wrote: "We wondered at his enor Inous knowledge in so Thany fields. Considering the shortness of the period which he lived in strenuous contact with the external World one would be tempted to ask, how much of this knowledge was the outcome of his practical Worldly experience, and how much a result of yoga".
His contact with the external world after he returned from England was for only about ten years. The yoga practised by Sri Aurobindo opened to his vision "thoughts that wander through eternity". He became the possessor of infinite knowledge secular as well as spiritual,
Let us turn to World War II in which he participated actively by the use of his Yogic Force. It is this divine force that gawe him a cosmic vision. He says it is not a personal property of this body or mind. It is a higher force used by or acting through him. He wrote in a letter to a disciple: "The invisible Force producing tangible results both inward and outward is the whole meaning of the Yogic consciousness... If we had not thousands of the experiences showing that the Power within could alter the mind, develop its powers, add new ones, bring in new

Sri Aurotirida and his Costic Wilsior 1769
INDA, WAS UNDER FOREIGN DOMINATION. SHE COULD NEWERGROWTO ANY STATURE WHILE IN A STATE OF SUBJECTION. SO AFTERSR AUROBINDO FINISHED HIS EDUCATION IN ENGLAND HE RETURNED TO THE LAND OF HIS BRTH AND THREW HMSELFINTO THE CALLDRON OF POLITICAL LIFE AND WHIPPEDUPTHE PATRIOTICPASSION OF HIS PEOPLE FOR INDEPENDENCE. TWASHE WHOLAID THE FOUNDATION FOR INDIAS ULTIMATE LIBERATION.WITH THAT WORKOWER, AFTER HIS ACQUITTAL INTHEALPORE BOMB CASE, HE WENT TOPONDICHERRY TO BEGINTHE INNER QUESTAND THE LIBERATION OF MAN FROM THE FETTERS OF AN UNILLUMINEDMATERAL LIFE, THIS WASHIS GLOBAL WORK,
醬闇蠶 ... " . .
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Tha author of this boak, T. Duraisingan, is addressing a "Wawaraihir" LLLLLLLLuuuuuLLL LGGLGT G u 00sL uu LLL a LLLLuLLLCLL LLLCLLL Luu LTCLmLGMS
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In the March of civilization down the aggs, from the wery dawn of history, Tian in his searchings felt the Presence of a Power that permeated this univers. The ancient Rishis fron the Wedic Age sung the praises of this Reality and invoked the powers it possessed, and this torch of Truth has over the years been revealed, expounded and explained by Awatars, seers, Sages and Sainls. This has been the unique tradition of the Hindu Dharma, the Eternal Religion. In the Twentieth Century, in the line of this perennial tradition, in our own land, there appeared a mystic and seer in the person of Siwa Yogaswarti, the Seer of Lankapuri who sang the hyThis of the Divine Reality containd in his Natchinihanai. His life and teachings are a source of enlighten Tiant to US frail mortals groping our way through life in our search for Light,

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1770 Politics and Life in Our Times
ranges of knowledge, master the vital movements, change the character, influence men and things, control the conditions and functionings of the body, work as a concrete dynamic force on other forces, modify events, etc. etc., We Would not speak of it as We do".
He has further explained and elaborated on this thus: "Certainly, my force is not limited to the Ashram and its conditions. As you know it is being largely used for helping the right development of the war and of change in the human world. It is also used for individual purpose outside the scope of the Ashram and the practice of Yoga; but that of course is silently done and mainly by aspiritual action. The Ashram, however, remains at the Centre of the work and without the practice of Yoga the work would not exist and could not have any meaning or fruition".
Although he has left his physical frame his Force is still acting and is available even more intensely. We have to open ourselves to it.
The level from which he acted regard to the war reflects the vision he possessed and the need to be involved in the fate of the war while in his room in the Ashram at Pondicherry. He was not a world-shunning Yogi immersed in his own 'Sadhana' unconcerned about the fate of the WOrld that was gripped in a war which was to shape the destiny of the world.
Sri Aurobindo himself had declared from his Yogic vision what the significance was behind the war. In a letterto one of his disciples he wrote: "I affirm again to you most strongly that this is The Mother's war. You should not interpret it as a fight for certain nations against others or even for India, it is a struggle for an ideal that has to establish itselfon earth in the life of humanity for a truth that has yet to realise itself fully and against a darkness and falsehood that are trying to overwhelm the earth and mankind in the immediate future. K
It is the forces behind the battle that have to be seen and not this Or that Superficial circumstance. It is no use concentrating on the defects and mistakes of nations; all have defects and Commit serious mistakes, but what matters is on what side they have ranged themselves in the Struggle. It is a struggle for the liberty of mankind to develop, for Conditions in which men have freedom and room to think and act according to the light in them and grow in the Truth, grow in the Spirit".
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, August 15th, 1996.

Natyam in Natya-Sastra
by KalaSOOri VasugyJegatheeSWaran
Natya-Sastra, a treatise on drama and dramatics and allied subjects, is attributed to one Bharata or Bharatamunias he is more often Called in Our tradition.
Though Bharata is honoured as the first writeron dramatics, nothing is known about him or the time he lived in or any other such personal details. The word 'Bharata' is the name of the son of the famous King Dushyanta; the word also means 'an actor.
Natya-Sastra is neither the work of one man nor of one time. Subjects like Music and Dancing are given so much importance that it is strange the book is called "Natya-Sastra". On the other hand, it seems Someone, later on, tried to bring in One volume all the available information on the various arts. Actually, Natya-Sastra contains knowledge of Craft, lore, art, technique and activity.
The Natya-Sastra begins with the description of how drama originated. The trinity of Brahma, Vishnu and Rudramanages the world by a sort of division of labour; thus Brahma Creates, Vishnu nourishes and Shiva destroys. So Brahma created the drama also.
Probably before Bharata, there was no "nataka'as defined by him. The stage shows were called 'roopaka'.
Bharata, in obedience to God Brahma, accepted the task of producing a play and started coaching his sons. Words, movements and actions were also rehearsed. At this stage, Brahma Suggested that Music and Dance be also introduced. Brahma created Apsaras women to play the female role. Brahma explained the nature of the play; the object is first to entertain and then to instruct. A play shows your actions and emotions. Neither Gods nor demons are depicted as always good or always evil. Actually, the ways of the World are represented. It gives you good advice, it gives a person enlightenment and also entertainment. It providespeace of mind to those who are afflicted with sorrow, grief or fatigue.

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1772 Polífics ard Life fr7 Our Tirres
DANCE FULFILS THE DANCER AT SEVERAL LEVELS; IT IS A WITAL MECHANISMFOR HER IN HERSEARCHFOR BEAUTY, BEAUTY OF THE BODY AST CARVES SPACE AND BEAUTY OF THE MINDASITSEEKS SERENITY. BHARATANATYAMENABLESHERTOFIND BOTH EXTERNALAND INTERNAL SOLACE, THIS DANCE IS A BEAUTIFUL BRIDGE BETWEEN PAST AND PRESENT, TSLICES THROUGHTIME, TENABLES THE DANCERTO CREATE,
:
Kala,500 mi Wa54 gy Jagalhaeswararn A top-ranking Bharatanatya Performer
The history of art is fascinating to see how a particular motif is transformad by each successive civilization to yield a meaning and value which reflects the personality and vision of that particular culture. There is in the history of every great motif in art a ceaseless state of spiritual and physical "metempsychosis" - a cycle of rebirth and rejuvenation from one form into another with each rebirth being the unfolding of a new facet in the nature of that motif. This phenomenon is demonstrated with striking clarity in the history of the female motif in European art. We have seen how the classical artist discovered the beauty of the human body and in Tured it in stone, so Tuch S0, that hê de humanizoid it and Tobbed it of its sensuous and Spiritual witality, Christian civilization swung to the other extreme of resuscitating the soul and restoring her spiritual nature which had been fundatiental to the portrayal of the female in pre-classical art but it overlooked the body. It was left to the Renaissance to effect a union of the two Worlds - the classical and medieval, the pagan and Christian, the mythological and the allegorical, the profane and the sacred. The Renaissance woman was the child of this unior which is so symbolically portrayed in Botte celli's "Birth of Wenus",
- W. W. E.
 

Natyan in Natya-Sastra 1773
Bharata feels that theatre is important for a play. Secondly, he feels that women should be given certain roles to play, particularly gestures, motions and emotions can be properly done by Women. Then the nature and purpose of dance. Bharata standardised classical form of drama. He gave it status and dignity, a form and an objective and finally a technique. Once, Bharata was asked to produce a play called AmrtaManthana by God Brahma and he suggested that the play be shown to God Shiva. God Shiva was pleased and said that from his own experience of dancing he thought dancing could be used with good effect during the purwaranga. Till now, purvaranga was Welcoming the audience. Purvaranga in due course has become an elaborate ritual. Originally it was, Sabhapuja or worship of the audience. It is called purvaranga because it comes before the performance.
The suggestions of God Shiva turned out very useful since Dance and Music could keep the audience interested. Earlier, Shiva asks Tandu to demonstrate and this demonstration, known as Tandava was introduced. Later, purvaranga was revised by Shiva, Tandu's dance and Nandi's Tusic were included. Nandiwas also a character like Tandu who belonged to the tribe led by Shiva. Nandi according to Natya-Sastra, invokesgods, wishes well to the twice-born, proclaims loyalty and victory to the ruling king, hopes prosperity to the kingdom and fulfillment of the ambition of the stage, wishes dharma to the spectator and fame to the author. Shiva also gives the time of the day when a play should be performed.
"That which is pleasing to the ears and deals with the praise of good behaviour should be performed in the first part of the day". "That which deals with noble characters, full of sounds and full with noble or heroic deeds should be performed during the afternoons", "A play with music and dance and orchestra and dealing with a lowe story should be performed in the evening". "One which deals with greatness of character, with pathos as the Tain sentiment, should be performed in the early mornings", "A play should not be performed at noon or midnight nor during the twilight hours or dinner time".

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1774 Politics and Life in Our Times
The Wordabhinaya'has a very wide meaning in Natya-Sastra, a meaning that includes not only what we understand by 'acting' but other things which go to make up the medium of expression. According to Bharata that which carries the meaning to the audience is abhinaya and there are four kinds of abhinaya:
(a) Angika
(b) Vacika
(c) Ahanya
(d) Sattvika
Angika is that which is derived from anga, i.e. the body. Bodily acting would include many modes from simple gestures to deliberate postures and artistic movements.
Vacika means belonging to speech. Vacika actually represents spoken language to begin with, SO in a drama Speech language is of four varieties and it varies according to the social standing of the character on the one hand and the part of the country to which that character belongs.
Aharya is simply defined as that which is produced through nepathya which associates with green-room or make up. This also includes other make up like beard and mustache as well as costumes and everything else that goes to give the character in the play.
The Natya-Sastra explains elaborately the dresses, make up for male and female characters according to the part of the country and age of the character.
Sattvika means the expression in a graceful orcharming manner, the various bhavas or feelings. Grace or charm excludes improper gestures, looks and movements. The sattva or the grace comes both in Speaking and in gestures and movements.
Bharata Confesses "it is not possible to form rules for acting or Conveying the various actions and objects of the world".
Natya-Sastra also explains the stage-craft, i.e., the elementother than the author's story, and actor's acting that gives an artistic individuality and leads to one total effect of the performance. Bharata selected a story which was Well-knownto his audience or it was one of which, the audience, themselves being actors, were expected to feel interested. Even the disturbance created by demons was a compliment to Bharata. It meant

Natyam in Natya-Sastra 1775
that his play was not only understood but felt, re-experienced by his audience. That is why he did not drop the idea of producing dramas but rather devised a way in which dramas could be performed undisturbed.
Bharata evolved the theory of rasa. Though the rasa theory is more associated with poetry, it originated first in relation to drama only and Bharata is credited with its origin.
The name rasa is applied because this is something which can be relished like the taste of food. The facial expressions and exclamations give the different tastes individually.
Rasa, as Bharata explains, is the final state of relish or Satisfaction and proceeding to the ultimate satisfaction, are called bhavas. Bhava is what expresses a reaction, be it by bodily gestures or by words. The concept of bhava is analysed by using the four words vibhava, anubhava, Vyabhicharibhava and finally sthayibhava.
The Nayta-Sastra recognises eightsthayibhavas:
Rati Or Ove
Hasya or humour
Karuna or compassion
Rudra or horror
Vira or heroic
Bhayanaka or fearful
BibhatSa OraWeSome
Adbhuta or Wonder
There is one more rasa called santa or content or peace.
In a drama only the first eight rasas have a place and are recognised. The success of a performance is determined by the extent of the audience relishing the particular rasa of the play. It has been said that drama is meant for persons of different tastes. For this reason, Bharata desires more than one rasa. The more the merrier so to say, in a play. But always only one rasa must be predominant and others subordinate to it.
Colombo, November 2nd, 1996.

Page 349
Woman in Art The Primordial Source of Artistic inspiration
by V. M. B.
Of all the objects, which have inflamed the human imagination throughout the ages and evoked the consistent admiration of mankind, none can surely compare with the position which the human female has occupied in art and literature. Woman has, as it were, been the cynosure of art in all Society. It is the common altar at which artists have worshipped and art and literature are but offerings and eternal tributes in her honour. It can even be Said that Woman was the primordial source of artistic inspiration, which kindled the first aesthetic instincts in the human Soul.
The reason for this phenomenon, if one needs to ask for a reason, lies in the first place in the nature of woman herself, "that Cunningst pattern of excelling nature", as Shakespeare described her is by common acclaim the very height of divine workmanship. Nothing in nature can compare with her natural beauty of countenance and form, enhanced by her inward charm and blandishments, of which woman is an accomplished and Consummate exponent. Clearly the role of woman in art, is part of Nature's own design.
The conception of woman differed with each society. Each Society had its own vision of her, which reflects its larger vision of life. In addition, each civilization specialized in a particular aspect of Woman. In fact these individual visions add up like bits of a jig-saw puzzle to form a total portrait of the many-sided facets of Woman. To Some extent it can be said, that the history of art is the story of woman Writ large. In this survey, we will consider the individual conceptions of women which were mirrored in the major civilizations of history.

Woman in Art - The Primordial Source of Artistic Inspiration 1777
in the early civilizations of South East Asia, the conception of Woman is a mixture of the Sublime and the Sensuous. On the One hand, we have the noblest conception of woman known to any culture and on the other hand, a portrayal of woman which is the furthest in sensuousness. The spiritual side of woman is symbolized in the great women of the Indian Epics, Sita and Draupadi, who represent what is elevating in woman. The filial and domestic virtues, her attributes as daughter, wife and mother, are personified in them to such an extent that they are held up, as the very ideal of Indian womanhood. The same may be said of the women associated with the life of Buddha, who are portrayed in Buddhist literature. Few other civilizations afford a vision, which can compare with the grandeur and nobility of the conception of woman, as mirrored in the great epics and religious literature. It is significant that under the influence perhaps of scruples about the visual portrayal of sacred subjects, these Women, were not the subjects of visual representation. They were confined primarily to literature.
The sensuous side of women is the theme in the depiction of which the artists, painters, and architects have revelled - to the point of licentiousness. They have created an unending profusion of Women in every conceivable posture of sensuousness and eroticism, as apsaras, devadasis, dancing girls, goddesses, nymphs. Their figurines are depicted with the accent on the anatomically sensuous side of their bodies. It is their frankly erotic pursuits which have shocked subsequent generations into regarding them as some orgiastic revels. The truth is that without denying their carnal nature, they represent certain aspects of ancient Hindu thought on sex and Sexual union, which are Contained in the Kanna Sutra. The ancient Indian conception of woman therefore oscillated between two extremes of sensuousness amounting to eroticism and virtues at its highest level. Their Hindu artist represented woman as a source of life and source of pleasure. Together they convey an insight into Woman, the like of which is to be found in few other civilizations.

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1778 Politics and Life in Our Times
The early Near Eastern civilizations were not notable for sculptural or visual depiction of woman, for their own sake. For the most part their creations were architectural and exist in the form of massive temples, public works, statues, funerary tombs, mausoleums. Representations of Women are to be found in the mural and frescos, on walls of the tomb, but these figures are in Work-a-day Context and stylized in character.
The classical civilization of Greece and Rome is the golden age of the female figure in its naked simplicity and beauty. Their sculpture was a positive cult of the body beautiful. The celebrated examples like Aphrodite of Crides and Venus de Milo are unsurpassed for their sheer personality in displaying the grace, the poise, the serenity yet nobility of the Countenance, the anatomical harmony.
On the other hand, in contrast to Hindu civilization the Greeks had no interest either with the soul or with the carnal pleasures of the body. Greek Sculpture although it may be sexually stimulating to some beholders are asexual in their disciplined concentration on anatomical perfection and harmony. The body was to some extent dehumanized. It was as cold and detached as the marble on which it was wrought.
The medieval European vision of women was essentially a religious one. It was based on the image of the Virgin Mary, as the Mother of God. This was the vision which in the great age of Christian art and church building was projected throughout the length and breadth of Christendom and expressed in a million ways, in statutory, in stainedglass windows, icons. The representations of woman were however confined to sacred subjects almost exclusively. Forportrayals of secular women, we have to turn to the literature of medieval Europe, where we find an image that is all too familiar. This image was to some extent moulded by the institution of Knighterrantry, which was one of the unique features of medieval Christendom.
The heroine of the Middle Ages can best be described as an idealized version of feminine purity. She was depicted as afragile creature, who had to be protected from evil, and worldly dangers - whether in the form of a dragon or an orgulous husband. The protection of woman became a sacred responsibility which called forth the knighterrant. The

Woman in Art - The Primordial Source of Artistic Inspiration 1779
oddly platonic character of the relationship between the knight and his lady-love is a puzzle which has baffled many. It was an impersonal, semispiritual conception because, though it was essentially romantic in nature, the element of physical desire was conspicuously absent. In fact carnal love was regarded as sacrilegious in the context. Also desire seemed to grow in proportion to the distance away from the beloved. Woman became a source of spiritual and poetic inspiration, which spurred the knight errantry of Christendom to feats of valour, rather than an object of physical passion. This attitude is central to the lays and epics of medieval literature. it was exhalted into the form of Christian mysticism which is found in the legends of the Round Table, in Parsifal. In the middle ages, therefore, under the influence of Christianity, the image of Woman underwent a great transfiguration from the anatomical perfection of classical sculpture to the spiritually Immaculate Virgin of medievallegends.
In studying the history of art it is fascinating to see how a particular motif is transformed by each successive civilization to yield a meaning and value which reflects the personality and vision of that particular culture. There is in the history of every great motif in art a ceaseless state of spiritual and physical "metempsychosis"-acycle of rebirth and rejuvenation from one form into another with each rebirth being the unfolding of a new facet in the nature of that motif. This phenomenon is demonstrated with striking clarity in the history of the female motif in European art. We have seen how the classical artist discovered the beauty of the human body and immured it in stone, so much So, that he dehumanized it and robbed it of its SenSUOUS and spiritual vitality. Christian civilization swung to the other extreme of resuscitating the soul and restoring her spiritual nature which had been fundamental to the portrayal of the female in pre-classical art but it overlooked the body. It was left to the Renaissance to effect a union of the two worlds - the classical and medieval, the pagan and Christian, the mythological and the allegorical, the profane and the sacred. The Renaissance woman was the child of this union which is so symbolically portrayed in Bottecelli's "Birth of Venus".

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1780 PosiffCSS af 7d Lisg i'r COr 7777Os
INTHE EARLY CIVILIZATION OF SOUTHEASTASA,THE CONCEPTION OF WOMENS AMIXTURE OF THE SUBLIME AND THE SENSUOUS, ON THE ONE HAND WE HAVE THE NOBLEST CONCEPTION OF WOMENKNOWN TO ANY CULTURE AND ON THE OTHER HAND, A PORTRAYAL OF WOMAN WHICH IS THE FURTHEST INSENSUOUSNESS. THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF WOMANIS SYMBOLIZED IN THE GREAT WOMEN OF THE INDIAN EPICS, SITA AND DRAUPADI, WHO REPRESENT WHAT IS ELEWATING IN WOMEN. THE FILIAL AND DOMESTIC VIRTUES, HERATTRIBUTES ASDAUGHTER, WIFE AND MOTHER, ARE PERSONIFIED IN THEM TO SUCH AN EXTENT THAT THEY ARE HELDUPAS THE WERY IDEAL OF INDIAN WOMANHOOD, THE SAME MAYBESAID OF THE WOMENASSOCATED WITH THE LIFE OF BUDDHA, WHO AREPORTRAYEDINBUDDHISTLITERATURE.
of the Natya Kala Marildir
Natya-Sastra is neither the work of one man nor of one time, Subjects like Music and Dancing are given so much importance that it is strange the book is called "Natya-Sastra". On the other hand, it seems someone, later on, tried to bring in one volume all the available information on the various arts. Actually, Natya-Sastra contains knowledge of craft, lore, art, technique and activity.The Natya-Sastra begins with the description of how drama originated, The trinity of Brahma, Wishnu and Rudramanages the world by a sort of division of labour, thus Brahma creates, Wishnu nourishes and Shiva destroys. So Brahma created the drama also. Probably before Bharata, there was no "nataka'as defined by him. The stage shows wera Called 'roapaka“,
 
 

Woman in Art - The Primordial Source of Artistic Inspiration 1781
The Renaissance artist drew his inspirations from two Sources from classical mythology and Christian allegory, but he interpreted them in new terms, using the new power placed at his Command by the medium of the canvas, with magnificent results, The achieve Tent of the renaissance artist is that he breathed life into his art and made his creations appear and behave like their counterparts in life, Realist in art Was born. The female form was forewer liberated from stereotyped stylization from its marble imprisonment and its medieval cerements. The Women who are depicted in the canvasses of the Renaissance masters retain the classical beauty of form and exquisiteness of expression, but they are infused with a vitality of spirit and a zest, which when taken against the lushness of setting and riotous profusion of Colour, present a vision of loveliness, such as had never before been seen by human eyes. The Renaissance was the enthronement of woman-her for n and majesty at its peak. Her history since then been a progressive democratization.
The treatment of Woman in modern art is too close to Our experience to require any lengthy discussion here. The vast social, economic and political changes, which have convulsed the World, and made this age unlike any one before it, have revolutionized all traditional conceptions of art. The technological advances made by science, the new dimensions, which have been revealed by the study of psychology, sociology and new medical discoveries have given a new insight into man and his essential nature and this has produced an entirely new outlook in society andman's place in it. Traditional ideas have wilted under the burning glass of these ideas and the female figure is one of the chief casualties.
The trend called realism, which began as a desire to depict nature as it Was in reality, has since proceeded to the wildest extremes of distortion of the actual form and the negation of the whole idea of outward form. The modern artist is closer to a surgeon or a psychiatrist intent on probing into the innermost secrets of the human personality and depicting his art in terms of his discoveries. Modern art is being attuned to the intellectual and moral values of this modern age - to the new awakening, which science has Tade possible, which in turn reflects the political and social wake-up of modern society.

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1782 Politics and Life in Our Times
The glorified and idealized image of woman, which has persisted throughout over 2,000 years of civilization, has crumbled under the iconoclastic assults of Science and psychology. In truth it may be that with modern art, the long reign of woman in art, has come to a close.
We have seen in the course of our journey into the history of the female motif, how the image of the female has changed with each of the various cultures which we have examined. Although the female continued to hold a central place in the artistic and literary life of each of their societies still its particular conception, the aspects which received emphasis were diverse. Each culture was an essay on aparticular facet of woman. What an inexhaustible and rich gallery of pictures they makel From the symbolic earthly representations of the Mother Goddess to the form divine of the Greeks, the spiritual aura of the medieval vision, resplendent trappings of the Renaissance, the erotic concupiscence of Khajurao, the langurous hours of Gehenna and the hexagonal dissections of modern art. Whatever the variations, they were each in its way acknowledgements of the all-conquering sway of the female in the realm of human art and her agelessness as a symbol.
Courtesy: Souvenir of Silamboli & Exhibition Fair, Colombo, February 28th, 1983.
Ascertaining each other's intentions
* A single stolen glance of her eyes is more than half the
pleasure (of sexual embrace). * She has looked at me and stooped (her head); and that
(sign) waters as it were (the corn of) our love. * When I look she looks down; when I do not, she looks and
smiles gently. * When I look, the pitying maid looks in return and smiles
gently; and that is a comforting sign for me. * The words of the mouths are of no use whatever, when
there is perfect agreement between the eyes (of lovers).
- Tirukkural, Tamil Vedas.

Kavindra, the God of Poets
by Evgeny Chelyshev Corresponding Member U. S. S. R. Academy of Sciences
There is hardly another individual in India's long history whose dedicated contribution to the development of his people's culture and art, in fact, to its entire spiritual life has been so great and multifaceted as Rabindranath Tagore.
When the word outstanding is applied to Tagore, the 125th anniversary of whose birth is being celebrated worldwide this year (1986), it sounds like an understatement. He was a great lyric poet (in India he is called "kavindra" - "God of poets"), a writer of realist prose and a dramatist.
The father of modern Indian literature, his Creative endeavour facilitated the artistic and ideological renewal and cohesion of literature in all the languages of India.
Tagore is the author of about a thousand verses and almost two thousand songs, twelve novels, over a hundred stories and thirty plays. In them he sung the "divinity of life", the greatness of Man and of his deeds and labours, and the immortality of his spirit. His song "The Soul of the People" became the national anthem of the Republic of India, while another of his songs, "Golden Bengal", is the national anthem of the Republic of Bangladesh. In 1913 he became the first cultural figure in the East to be awarded a Nobel Prize.
But Tagore was also an artist, Composer, musician, actor and producer. He was a profoundly original philosopher and teacher. He prophetically predicted that Indians would cast off the foreign yoke and become masters of their destiny. Rabindranath Tagore was the conscience and voice of the people and expressed the interests of democratic Sections of Society.
Tagore's calls for peace and frinendship among nations, his angry Condemnation of war and aggression, Colonialism, imperialism and fascism in all their forms and manifestations are fully relevant today when the world faces the threat of atomic catastrophe. In 1934, together with progressive Writers from other Countries, Tagore signed an appeal to the World Conference in Defence of Peace that was being held in Brussels. And one of the last poems by this great Indian can be considered as his testament: "Before bidding you farewell appeal to all people in all parts of the world to fight the forces of barbarism".

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Page 354
Synopsis of the Saiva Siddhanta by Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy
The author Was borm im Colombo om 23rd January, 1834. He was the only son of Raja Wasa Mudaliyar Arumugam Coomaraswamy who was a Tember of the first Legislative Council established by the British in 1833, Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy was educated at the Colombo Academy, the precursor of the Royal College. In 1856 he was called to the Bar as an Advocate of the Supreme Court of Ceylon. In 1863 he was admitted to the English Bar. In 1874 he was knighted by Queen Wictoria.
This article is based on a lecture delivered by him before the Royal Asiatic Society (Ceylon Branch) in 1857 and was published in the Journal of the Royal Asiatic Society, No. 10 of 1856-58. The Saiva Siddhanta philosophy is the distinctive philosophy of Ta Til Saivism, and has been described by a learned Christian Missionary, Rev. G.U. Pope, as being "the most elaborate, influentical and undoubtedly the Thost intrinsically valuable of all the religions of India", Sir Muttu's publications include "A richandra - The Martyr of Truth"; "Thayumanawar". "Dathawansa" and the "Sutta Nipata".
In 1875 he married an English Lady by whom he had one child Ananda K. Coomaraswamy, renowned scholar and philosopher. Dr. Coor Taraswathy remaind three years in Sri Lanka, during which time he founded the Ceylon Social Reform Society and became an active worker in the Ceylon University Movement. In 1906 he obtained the degree of D Sc of London University, and at the end of the year he proceeded to India on a three months' tour during which he appeared to hawe de Weloped an intense interest in Indian art and liturature, since it is from this formative period that he gave up his career in geology and mineralogy and devoted himself to a study of the arts of Indian and South Eastern Asia. Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy died on 4th May, 1879 at the age of 45.

Synapsis of the Saiva Siddharta by Sir Mutu Coanaraswany 1787
THE AUTHOR, SIRMUTTUCOOMARASWAMY, WAS BORNIN COLOMBO ON 23RD JANUARY, 1834. HE WAS THE ONLY SON OF RAJA WASA MUDA LIYARARUMUGAM COOMARASWAMY, WHO WAS A MEMBER OF THE FIRST LEGISLATIVE COUNCIL ESTABLISHED BY THE BRITISHN 1833, SR MUTTUCOOMARASWAMY WAS EDUCATEDAT THE COLOMBO ACADEMY, THE PRECURSOR OF THE ROYAL COLLEGE, IN 1856 HE WASCALLED TO THE BARAS ANACWOCATE OF THE SUPREME COURT OFCEYLON IN 1863 HE WAS ADMITTED TO THE ENGLISH BAR. IN 1874. HE WAS KNIGHTED BY UEEN VICTORIA. IN 1875. HE MARRIED AN ENGLISH LADY BY WHOM HE HAD ONE CHILD ANANDA K. COOMARASWAMY RENOWNED SCHOLAR AND PHILOSOPHER. SIR MUTTUCOOMARASWAMY DIED ON 4TH MAY, 1879 AT THE AGE OF 45.
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Sir Mutu Coormaraswarty 23, Off B34 - 4.05.7879
Cueen Wictoria of the United Kingdom of Great Britai and reland and Empress of India was the only child of Edward, Duke of Kent (fourth son of George Ill), and was born in Kensington Place on May 24th, 1819, She succeeded William |Won June 20th, 1837 and married her cousin, Prince Albert of Saxe-CoburgGotha, in 1840. Her long reign saw more changes - political, social, industrial, scientific - than any other in British history. The Empire was considerably enlarged; the greater Colonies achieved self-government; successive reform bills extended 體 franchise; the Corn Laws were repealed and Free Trade was adopted. Education was made compulsory; extraordinary advances were made in all domains of science; railways, telegraph and telephone came into being, penny postage was inaugurated; and many measures for irTprovement in Working class conditions were passed, Among the queen's prime ministers were Melbourne, Peel, Palmerston, Disrafi, Gladstone and Salisbury. Though as a constitutional Tonarch she followed the policy indicated by them, she made her influence felt in the political sphere, as well as in social and religious affairs. She celebrated her Diamond Jubilee in 1897. She died on January 22nd, 1901.

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望_
திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்
பர சிவ வணக்கம்
அங்கிங் கெனாதபடி எங்கும் பிரகாசமாய்
ஆனந்த பூர்த்தியாகி அருளொடு நிறைந்த தெது; தன்னருள் வெளிக்குளே
அகிலாண்ட கோடியெல்லாந் தங்கும் படிக்கிச்சை வைத்துயிர்க் குயிராய்த்
தழைத்ததெது; மன வாக்கினில் தட்டாமல் நின்றதெது; சமயகோ டிகளெலாம்
தந்தெய்வம் எந்தெய்வமென்று எங்குந் தொடர்ந்தெதிர் வழங்கிடவும் நின்றதெது;
எங்கணும் பெருவழக்காய் யாதினும் வல்லவொரு சித்தாகி இன்பமாய்
என்றைக்கு முள்ளதெது; மேல் கங்குல் பகலற நின்ற எல்லையுள தெது; அது கருத்திற் கிசைந்ததுவே , கண்டவெலா மோன வுருவெளியதாகவுங்
கருதி அஞ்சலி செய்குவாம்!
- தாயுமானவர்.
திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்.

Synopsis of the Saiva Siddhanta by Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy 1789
@
திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்
Para SiVa Vanakkam
What is that which, unconfined to this
or that spot, but in splendour, full of
joy and grace, pervadeth all space? What is that which, willing entire millions of
Worlds, to rest in the space of its Grace,
exists as the life of life? What is that which is beyond the reach
of thought and words? What is that which Stands unaffected
Whilst myriads of religions
contending claim it to be "Our God", "Their God"? What is that which Whilst this Contention
spread everywhere, exists as a spirit
all powerful, happy, eternal? again, What is that which has for its abode
the region where neither light
nor darkness is found? That - that alone is agreeable to the mind,
let us, viewing all that we see as the display of the form of the unspeakable MAVNAM
make Obeisance to it.
Translation by Sir Muttu
திருச்சிற்றம்பலம்.

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The Saiva Siddantam A Synopsis
Of the various systems of philosophy in which Hindu literature abounds one of the most important is Saiva Siddantam. Although the doctrines which it propounds are strictly esoteric, and calculated for the comprehension and enlightenment only of those who have been intiated into its mysteries, yet it is this system which forms the groundwork whereon the huge fabric of Hindu popular theology is based. It thus becomes the fountain head whence the religious creed of millions of Hindus in India and Ceylon is derived. As such, it is worthy of the attention of the public. The subject, however, is too extensive to be dealt with in all its ramifications, within the limits of this contribution, and this Crude attempt will therefore be confined to a rough pencilling out of the most prominent features of this vast panorama of literary and metaphysical grandeur,
it aspires to a divine origin, and assumes the authority of a direct revelation from God, it being asserted that "Sivan (God), through his chamberlain Nanti, revealed to Sanatkumaran, in consequence of his high devotion, the system of sacred science, called Raurava Agamam". This Agamam is the principal authority on this subject; but the matter Contained in it has likewise furnished the theses of innumerable treatises of extensive learning and research, written by Some of the most highly gifted men of genius of both ancient and modern Hindustan. The Tamilliterati of Southern India have been particularly active in this department of human knowledge; and the results of their labours have been handed down to posterity in works clothed in the best, but the most difficult, strains of the rich and lofty Shen Tamil. Amongst these, Siva Gnana Potham, by Meykanda Nayanar, Siva Gnana Sittiyar by Arunanti Nayanar, and Sivapprakasam by Umapathi Asaryar, are held in the highest esteem. Our information will be drawn chiefly from these sources.

The Synopsis of the Saiva Siddantam 1791
The style of these writings is didactic, and they contain the best examples of Hindu dialectics, which, en passant, are considered by some to be at least an expansion of the syllogism of Aristotle, if not the origin thereof. It is no easy task, even for the learned amongst the Tamils, to understand fully, and expound clearly and correctly, these elaborate treatises, and it must be confessed, that the effort to reproduce the ideas and sentiments contained in them in an English garb, and in a manner acceptable and interesting to all, is not less difficult.
Saiva Siddantam professes to treat of -
i. Pathi — GOCd. ii. Pasu - Soul. iii. Pasam. *
An accurate and Complete knowledge of the nature and bearings of these three subjects denominated otherwise Tripathartham, is of essential Consequence, in the eyes of Hindu savants, for the attainment of the only true object of this life - the Mutti, or heavenly bliss in the other.
God, Soul, and Pasam, are the three eternal and imperishable entities, whence the universe and all its chequered phenomena have sprung forth into existence, and whereinto all and every one of them will be ultimately resolved.
Attention will be directed to each of them in their order.
I. PATHI — GOD
Pathi is but one of the many names by which the supreme God is known to the Hindus. He is also called Brahm, Parabrahm, Para Sivam. The last term gives the characteristic name to the school of Indian philosophy under notice.
The existence of such a being as the Creator of the World, is proved by means of various arguments. One of these happens to be identical with the argument which was first advanced by Socrates, but afterwards fully expounded in Paley's memorable work on Natural Theology. It is comprised in the following stanza from Siva Gnana Sittiyar.
Lit fetter, chain, that which keeps the soul originally in a state of bondage and ignorance. This will be more fully explained hereafter,

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"As the whole world which is known under the designations of He, She and it, comes into existence (without having existed previously), exists, and is destroyed, in an orderly manner, (it follows) that there is One who is the Creator of this world, and who is the beginning and end in himself. His existence is permanent, and he is in the form of a spirit freed from (Pasam) evil from eternity".
This stanza admits also a Construction from which Some commentators raise a fresh argument to the necessity of a creator of the universe. The reasoning is to the following effect:
1. The world is not eternal: consequenter, 2. It had a commencement, and did not exist before such
commencement: ergo, 3. it could not have created itself; it requires some cause other
than itself to bring it into existence. The nature of God is to the following effect: "Though God pervades the whole world, yet he is other than the world for he is spiritual and the world is material.
"AS Sound and the tune, So God and the World. AS Sound is to the tune, filling all its notes, so God is to the world, pervading all its forms.
"AS the fruit and the flavour, So God and the World. AS flavour pervades all parts of the fruit, so God pervades the world from the first. "He is in intimate union with the Soul, yet he is other than the Soul. "He is eternal, pure, has no equals or superiors. "He has neither qualities nor names; is omnipotent; is omniscient; is the source of understanding to innumerable souls; is illimitable in his nature; exists in the shape of Gnanam (divine wisdom); is the form of happiness; is difficult of access to unstable Worshippers, but is easily approached by those who worship in the regular course; and shines as the least of the little and the greatest of the great".
The proof for the existence of a Creator, and the refutation of the tenets of Lokayuthers (the Indian Epicurean philosophers), and of other sects who maintain atheism, and attribute the World to chance, Occupy many stanzas teeming with apt illustrations and ingenious arguments in Sittiyar. The next subject in order is -

The Synopsis of the Saiva Siddantam 1793
|. PASU - SOUL.
The existence of a soul within the human organism, and as different from the "mortal coil" is established by what is called "Olivu", the rule of exception, in Hindu logic. The argument on this subject is as follows :-
A man says "This thing is mine", "That thing is not mine". Here it is evident that there is a thing owned or not owned, and a man owning or not owning. In the same manner, it is often said, "This is my body". "This is my face". "This is my hand". Here it is obvious that there exists something apart from the body, the face, and the hand, and owning them. This is the Soul. Again, it is usual to say: "I thought so", "I did so", "I said so". Here also there exists something other than the thought, the deed, and the saying. This something is the Soul.
There are also other arguments given for the existence of the human soul. These are based chiefly on the phenomena of Death and Sleep. They are to the following effect:-
1. At Death, all animation becomes extinct, though the human
frame is left entire; consequenter, 2. Animation must be traced to Some other Source than the
human frame,
3. This source is the Human Soul.
AS to the nature of the Soul; it is not God, nor an emanation from God, as the Vedantists hold. It is an individual being; an eternal one being uncreated and immortal. Souls are not one in essence, as some maintain; but are manifold and imperishable. In their primordial state they are not only unintelligent but even unconscious.
The third head of inquiry is -
III. PASAM — (FETTER, CHAIN)
This Pasam is that which as it were binds the soul to a state of bondage, unconsciousness, and ignorance, in its original state. It is subdivided into three parts. These are -

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SNNAH THAMBMUTTU ANDHIS WIFE THANGAMMAH WERESTAUNCH FOLLOWERS OF SAWA SIDDHANTASYSTEM OF HINDU PHILOSOPHY, ACCORDING TO HINDU SHASTHRAS AND BELIEF AND ALSO IN ACCORDANCE WITHOTHER RELIGIOUSTRADITIONS, LENGTH OF LIFE HAS BEEN CONSIDERED AGREAT BOON WOUCHSAFED BY GOD TO MANKIND, THERE HAVE BEEN IN OUR MIDST SOME PERSONS WHO HAWE HAD THE PRIWLEGE OF A LONG LIFE. ONE SUCH INSTANCE IS THE LATEMR.SINNIAH THAMBIMUTTU OF TRUNELVELINORTH, JAFFNA, SRI LANKA, KNOWN TO AN EARLIER GENERATION AS "THAUKE" THAMBIMUTTU, WHO DEPARTED FROM OUR MIDST ON OCTOBER 28, 1972, TWO YEARSAFTER HEATTAFNEDHSBLESSEDCENTENARY. THE EXPRESSION "THAKE" MEANSA FABULOUSLY WEALTHYPERSON IN THE LANGUAGE OF THE PEOPLE OF MALAYA IN WHICH COUNTRY MR. THAMBIMUTTUHAD SPENTALARGE PORTION OF HIS LIFE LIKE MANY OF HISDISTINGUISHED COUNTRYMEN. T.MAYBE MENTIONED THAT HE WAS ASSOCATED WITH THE FOUNDATION OF THE JAFFNAHINDU COLLEGE, ALONG WITH THE OTHER LEADERS OF THOSE TIMES.
Thainbimuttu and of his wife Thangammah
Photo taken in 193ĩ in the garden of Thambimutlu, at Tirunelveli, Jaffna. Here is seen in the background the vegetation, the well and the Thula (well-sweep) and the dressing room. Standing . Duraisingam, seated (L-R) Puvarasway, Maheswary and Parameswary, Seafaid down (L.-R.): Rajalingam and Nagaswary,
Of the various systems of philosophy in which Hindu literature abounds one of the most important is Saiwa Siddhantam. It aspires to a divine origin, and assumes the authority of a direct revelation from God, it being asserted that "Siwan (God), through his chamberlain Nanti, revealed to Sanatkumaran, in Consequence of his high devotion, the system of sacred science, called Raurawa Agaman". This Agamam is the principal authority on this subject; but the matter contained in it has likewise furnished the theses of innumerable treatises of extensive learning and research, Written by some of the most highly gifted men of genius of both ancient and Todern Hindustan. The Tamil literati of Southern India have been particularly active in this department of hurThanknowledge; and the results of their labours have been handed down to posterity in works clothed in the best, but the most difficult, strains of the rich and lofty Shen Tamil. Amongst these, Siva Gnana Potham, by Moykanda Nayarlar, Siwa (Gnana Sittiyar by Arunanti Nayanar, and Siwapprakasam by Umapathi Asaryar, are held in highest esteem.
 
 

Thg Syrmopsis of thig Saiva Siddanfarn 1795
1. Anawa - Malam 2. Maya -- Malam 3. Kama - Malan
Ana wa Malam is the source of unconsciousness and ignorarice to the soul,
Maya Malam is that which operates in the removal of the unconsciousness and ignorance of the soul, by becoming the material basis of the universe and Man,
Karma Malar I is the accurTalation of merit and demerit acquired by the Souls in their previous states of development in organized for S.
The terri Malam means rust or dirt the three Malams forming the rust or dirt of the soul in its original state of non-development.
Pasant exists from eternity and is imperishable, except so far as Maya Malam and Kamma Malam are concerned. When the two latter are removed froTn the Soul, and Anawa Malam ||oses its strength, then the soul will be liberated from the grasp of Pasam, and be ripe for attaining Mutti or heaven.
|W. THE RELATION BETWEEN GOD, SOULAND PASAM
God exists from eternity, alone, by himself, apart from the Soul and Pasa T. But the two latter are linked in intimate union with each other - Pasam enveloping the Soul. This abnormal condition of the soul is from eternity. It is unaccountable. It is a mystery, Here the Soul lies in a state of bondage, denuded even of thought. In consequence, it is Tiiserable and unhappy, This relation of Pasam to the Soul is analogous to that which subsists between the husk of the paddy and the rice which it envelopes, or between the rusty coating and the copper which it conceals.
This link og tween the Soul and PasarTn fis not ho We Wer, indissoluble, The chain will be severed - the soul will gain its freedom, It will ultimately be drawn away from the grasp of the Archangel of Evil - Pasarth- and be received into the bosom of the SLLIT torur

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God. It will then shine in its true and resplendent glory in the august presence of the King of the Universe - even in mystic union with Parabrahm. This is Mutti. Here the soul does not lose its individuality, nor is it annihilated. But it exists in attuvetham- unity in duality. This is called sayucchiya- the heaven of the Saiva Siddantists, as Nirwana is that of the Vedantists and Buddhists.
V. MAN
To break through its thraldom the soul had not the power. But God, who is "an Ocean of mercy", pitied the soul in its distress. He willed that the Soul should be freed from the clutches of Pasam; and simultaneously with the will the fiat went forth that the soul should be developed in human organism, or in other worlds, that man should be created. In this manner the Soul descends to this universe, for it is here that the course lies where the Soul is to run its race from the goal of evil- Pasam - to the goal of good - God. Creation is not one of "the beautiful sports of God". It is pregnant with a serious purport. Its object is the deliverance of the soul; for Pasam, before it will relax its hold on the Soul, demands satisfaction for the OSS it sustains in parting with it. The demand has been met by summoning this world and man into existence. And here, when he shall have "balanced off his demerit by his merit" - his evil deeds by his good deeds - he will then, and then alone, stand in a position fit for liberation.
The development of the soul in the human organism is according to this system of philosophy, curious, if not interesting. It views man as a microcosm. All the essential constituents of the boundless universe are coiled up likewise proportionately in puny man. And as God is the King of the universe, so is the Soul the King of the miniature universe - man.
Man is said to be composed of ninety-six Tattuvams - a word which, like many other technical terms of this school, does not admit of being rendered in English, although the words "category", "principle", "power", "organ", "property", approximate to it in meaning.

The Synopsis of the Saiva Siddantam m 1797
The order in which the Tattuvams are evolved from Pathi and Pasam, their names and their characteristic properties, and the parts which they are intended to play in the human organism, are given with great minuteness in the Works above mentioned. But notice Wilhere be taken of only the principal Tattuvams.
By the grace of Pathithere was developed from Suttamayeipure elemental matter which was united with deity from eternity - Natham, the male energy of Pathi. From Natham was evolved Vintu the female energy of Pathi. And from Vintu, Sathakkiyam, in which both the male and female energies inhere : from Sathakkiyam, Isuran, the obscuring God; and from him, Rudra, the destroying God. These divine developments are associated with the soul with a view of prompting it on towards final deliverance.
For the use of these developments, and for the purpose of drawing the soul out from its state of unconsciousness, as it exists imbedded in Pasam, into a state of intelligence and activity, there are evolved from the above mentioned Vintu, the four Vakku, which may be translated as organic bases of intelligence. These are -
1. Sukkumei
2. Peisanti
3. Veikari
4. Mattimei
All these were unfolded from pure elemental matter, and by the agency of Pathi. The productions that follow were drawn out of Pasam - impure elemental matter - and by the instrumentality of the divine developments detailed above.
By the grace of Sathakkiyam, there are evolved from Asutta Mayei, impure elemental matter
1. Kalam - Time 2. Niyathi - Fate 3. Kalei -- Continency
Kalam attaches to souls the results of past time, the fruit of the present time, and whatever is new in future time. Niyathi will make sure to souls their respective Kanmam, i.e. the due meed for their good and bad deeds. Kalei operates to a certain extent in the removal of Pasam. From Kalei are developed

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1. Vittei - the power of thought, And from Vittei, 2. Rakam- the desire to relish as pleasures of sense, which was necessary to make the souls eat the fruits of merit and demerit. Again, by the grace of Rudra, Pracriti is evolved from Kalei. From Pracriti, which is the material basis of the subsequent productions, spring the Mukkunam, the three moral properties, viz1. Sattvikam (lit. goodness) - this prompts the soul to divine
Wisdom; to truth and love. 2. Rasatham (lit. passion) Here lie the propensities to pride
and Selfishness. 3. Tamatham (lit. darkness) cause of laziness, stupidity,
drOWSineSS. The position of the three moral qualities, as they exist undeveloped in Pracriti, is called Avyaktam. From this is evolved -
1. Sittam - the thinking principle. From Sittam, 2. Putti- judgment. And from Putti, 3. Akangaram - This is the individualizing principle.
This Akangaram is threefold, viz -
1. Teisatha - akangaram, Wherefrom manam (mind), the understanding and the five perceptive organs are evolved.
2. Veikari - akangaram, wherefrom "the five organs of action" are evolved. These are the mouth, the feet, the hands, and the excretory organs.
3. Puthathi - akangaram, wherefrom the five rudimental elements are evolved. These are Sound, Touch, Form, Taste, Smell - these are called Tanmattirei.
From Sound is evolved ether; from Touch - air; from form - fire; from Taste - Water; from Smell - earth.
These are the essential items that make upman, and from those above enumerated Tattuvams, many other subsidiary ones are evolved to make up the ninety-six Tattuvams. This part of the Saiva Siddantam often proves difficult to many, and an incipient Hindu philosopher devotes the first months of his study to an investigation of it.

The Synopsis of the Saiva Siddantam 1799
The intelligent and active state of the soul is called Sakkiram, when all the ninety six Tattuvams are in full vigour and play, and when the soul takes its seat in the forehead between the eyebrows. Soppanam is the state of a man when asleep. Here all but twenty-four of the Tattuvams are fulled into inactivity, and the soul descends to a seat in the neck. It experiences here only what it had seen in Sakkiram. This is the phenomenon of dreams. Sulutti is the stage below Soppanum. Here the soul exists in the heart in company with only two Tattuvams - the will and the vital principle. The soul is incapable of distinguishing anything here. From this, the soul drops down into the navel, and exists in the state called Turiyam, in union with the vital principle alone. Here it ceases to think. Next below is the Turiyathitham, where the soul descends deprived of even the vital principle. This is Death.
The polar star of life is then according to this philosophy, the deliverance of the PaSu from the Pasam. But PaSu SOOn lOSeS sight of this object. The soul once set in motion in the hurman organism revolves on from life to death - from deah to life - from birth to birth - from age to age - ever bounding away from God, and never rebounding towards him; as if it were a planet of the solar system actuated by some chance or other by the centrifugal force alone, without the co-operation of the centripetal force likewise, until its wayward course is arrested and a new direction given to it towards the centre of the orbit - even Pathi- "the Sun of wisdom". This takes place at last when the soul's merit and demerit (kanmam) have been cancelled and there is no residue left to be eaten up at future births. Then there will be a cessation of births, and the soul will be ripe for liberation. The state of a man who has arrived at this phase of existence is called Tivira Sattinipatham. It is thus described in Sivapprakasam : "For such a man this world will possess no charm. He will ignore it. He will loathe his own body in the same manner in which the bearers of a worm-eaten corpse will detest it, when on their way to the burial

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ground, the worms fall on them. When he finds himself in union with the warring mental faculties within his bosom, he will feel like an elephant in the paws of a lion. When he sees that he is in co-operation with the organs of sense and the organs of action, he will cry out like a frog in a snake's mouth. The way in which he will fear the influence of his family and friends, and leave them, is like that in which one, who has lain down to rest without knowing that there was a snake in his bed, will, on awaking and seeing the snake, hasten away with terror; or like that in which a person whose house is on fire leaves his goods and hastens to escape by any way which he sees".
The following stanza, from Siva Gnana Sittiyar, describes with great pathos and beauty(which are, however, lost in a translation) the manner in which God will reclaim the lost Soul :-
"As a king, whose son had strayed away from him and lived in ignorance of his father amongst the Veddahs (wild men), will, on discovering the son, exclaim to him: 'Come to me,O, thou darling child of mine!" and make him a participator of the happiness that he (the king) himself enjoys; so even will the Supreme God present himself before the soul when in distress, from being enmeshed in the net of the five Veddahs - senses, and severing the soul from Pasam, will assimilate it to himself and bless it with his holy feet".
Courtesy: Publication No. 15, Ealaththu Thiruneri Thamil Manram, January 23rd, 1995.
Buddha said that there are two extremes to be avoided : on the one hand, habitual devotion to the passions, to the pleasures of sensual things, which are ignoble and unprofitable; on the other, habitual devotion to Self-mortification which is also painful, unprofitable and ignoble.

Realization of God through Yoga Marca
by M. Nagarathinam, J. P., U. M., Chairman of Committees, Vivekananda Society, Colombo.
There are Four steps set out by the ancient rishis for realization of God. They are Sariyai, Kiriyai, Yoga and Gnana. It is also said that the aspirants who follow the said fourfold paths will realize the fourfold states namely Saloka, Samipa, Sarupa and Sayuchiya respectively. In this article we are dealing only with realization of God through Yoga.
in Raja-Yoga famous ancient sages like Patanjali, Thirumoolar and in the latter part of 19th century Swami Vivekananda had told us that there are eightsteps to be observed and practised in order to attain realization of God. They are Yama, Niyama, Asana, Pranayama, Pratyahara, Dharana and Samadhi or super consciousness. In this article we are confining ourselves to the first three steps, namely Yama, Niyama and Asana. The first two deal with normal training. No practice of Yoga will SUCCeed unless the aspirant leads a virtuous life; with this view in mind it is incumbent on every aspirant to observe Yama and Niyama. The third step Asana too is important since without a proper posture none of these steps could be practised successfully.
The first is Yama which means the aspirants abstaining from killing, causing injury to another life, uttering falsehood, stealing, taking alcoholic drinks, greed, lust and receiving gifts from others. It is appropriate here to quote a stanza from Saint Thirumoolar's Thirumanthiram, which is relevant to Yama.
கொல்லான் பொய் கூறான் களவிலான் எண்குணன் நல்லான் அடக்கமுடையான் நடுச்செய்ய வல்லான் பகுந்துண்பான் மாசிலான் கட்காமம் இல்லான் இயமத் திடைநின்றானே.

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The second step is "niyama" which means Tapas, austerity, prayer, repeating Manthras, with the aid of string of Uruthracha beads, fasting, reading or sistening to Thirumurais, Saiva Siddhanta Shastras, Gita, Upanishads and other allied religious writings, feeding the poor, performing Siva-podja, chanting and Contemplating inwardly on "OM" and the five Sacred letters "NA, MA, SI, WA YA".
In this context it Tay be mentioned that prayer can be outward or inward. Whichever way it may be, one is comple Tentary of the other and not excluding the other. God is everywhere within and without. When you pray to an image with incense, camphor, flowers and other offerings accompanied by music and the gong of the bell, all your five senses and mind are directed outwardly to the well adorned image with the attendant music, Manthra, fragrance, the camphor fight and the gong of the temple bell, There is duality in this kind of prayer and hence it leads a devotee to Saloka. One may thereby be admitted to the Kingdom of God, but one may not be with God.
Cn the other hand when One recites the "OM" and the five letters "NA-MA-Si-WA-YA" only to be heard by oneself inwardly, the five senses heart and Thind are withdrawn from the outer World and made to function inwardly within oneself - the ear listening to the recital, the Thind understanding the Teaning and the significance of the Manthras and the heart emanating love with faith and devotion. This practice may help a devotee to minimise the duality that exists between God and devotee in the said outward prayer and helps one to come to the proximity of God - Sameepam.
Incidentally it may be stated that if these Manthras are uttered, audible to others, then the effect is less than when they are recited inwardly to be heard only by the reciter.
The best Way of reciting these Manthras is to do it mentally, without the mouth and tongue taking part in it at all. This kind of practice will eventually help the aspirant to come to meditation early. In this context it will be helpful to cite a verse from Thirumoolar's "Thirunanthiram" which is relevent to Niyama.
தவஞ்செபஞ் சந்தோடம் ஆத்திகந் தானஞ் சிவன்றன் விரதமே சித்தாந்தக் கேள்வி பகஞ்சிவ பூசையொண் மதிசொல்லிர் ஐந்து நிவம்பல செய்யின் நியமத்தனாமே,

Realization of God through Yoga Marca 1BUB
ANIMPORTANTSTEPIN YOGAISASANA WHICH MEANSRIGHT POSTURE, IT IS ESSENTIAL TO HAWEA RIGHT POSTURE BEFORE PRACTISING PRANAYAMA. IN THE FIRST INSTANCE THE ASPIRANT SHOULD HAWE A MEDITATION ROOM WITH GOOD VENTILATION. THEREAFTER ONE SHOULD STONA DEERORTIGERSKINORAMATORACLEAN WHITESHEETSPREAD OUT BEFORECNEASSUMES THE POSTURE THATS CONVENIENT TOONE TO RETAIN LONG IN YOGA PRACTICE THE MAN PART OF THE ACTIVITY WILL BE ALONG THE SPINAL COLUMN. THEREFOREITSNECESSARYTHAT INTHE POSTURE CHOSEN BY THE ASPIRANT THE SPINAL COLUMN MUST BEERECT AND FREE - CHEST, NECK AND HEAD IN A STRAIGHTLINE. HATHA YOGIS PRACTSE MANY DIFFERENT POSTURES
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After Buddha breathed his last, his disciples undertook the task of spreading his teachings for the benefit of mankind. Various monasteries and monuments speak volumes about the devotion of his followers. The stupas at Sanchi and Sarnah and the sculptural extravaganzas at the caves of Ajanta, Udayagiri and Khandagiristand out as symbols of their dedication and resolve to spread the faith. King Ashoka's Conversion to Buddhism was extremely instrumental in spreading this faith even beyond the boundaries of India. His son Mahedra and daughter Sanghmitra became a Thonk and a num respectively, and ook Buddhism to Sri Lanka, It also spread to Cambodia, Thailand, Japan and China due to the zeal of its followers.

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The Third step is Asana which means right posture. it is essential to have a right posture before practising Pranayama and the rest enumerated above. In the first instance the aspirant should have a meditation room with good ventilation. Thereafter one should sit on a deer or tigerskin or a mat or a clean white sheet spread out before one assumes the posture that is convenient to one to retain long. In Yoga practice the main part of the activity will be along the spinal column. Therefore it is necessary that in the posture chosen by the aspirant the Spinal Column must be erect and free - chest, neck and head in a straight line. Hatha Yogis practise many different postures. All are not necessary for us.
The common posture Yogis adoptare Padmasana, Pathirasana and Swathikasana. In Padmasana one sits erect crosslegged and places the feet on alternate thigh sole upwards. Thereafter one places one's palms facing upward on the soles. In Pathirasana one sits erect with his left leg under the right thigh and places one's right leg on the left thigh. Thereafter places one's palms on the knees facing upward. In Swathikasana one sits erect cross legged and places one's legs and feet under alternate thighs. This posture is the easiest of the three postures as this is how one sits normally on the ground.
It is relevent here to quote two verses from Saint Thirumooler's Thirumanthiram as regard the first two postures.
ஒரணை யப்பத முருவின் மேலேறிட் டமர வலித்ததன் மேல்வைத் தழகுறச் சீர்திகழ் கைகள் அதனைத்தன் மேல்வைக்கப் பார்திகழ் பத்மா சனமென லாகுமே.
துரிசில் வலக்காலைத் தோன்றவே மேல்வைத்து அரிய முழந்தாளி லங்கையை நீட்டி உருசியொடுமுடல் செவ்வேயிருத்திப் பரிசு பெறுமது பத்திரா சனமே.
Courtesy: "Vivekanandan", Colombo, November 18th, 1992.

The Marvel of Angkor Wat in Kampuchea
by Vladimir Godyna
The monumental work carried out by restorers on this huge Buddhist temple is equal only, perhaps, to that of those who created it. Processing hundreds of thousands of stone slabs is no joke. Each had to be removed, numbered, rubbed clean, polished and coated with a film of herbicidal Solution. Detailed information on each slab - its registration number, width, length, thickness, weight, state of disrepair, and location - was fed into computer storage. All the components detached from the structure were computer-indexed.
The temple in question is not Kampuchea's Angkor (of which later) but Boro Budur, a monument of Indonesian architecture on the Island of Java. It is to be hoped, however, that Angkor- unduestionably a wonder of the world and the symbol of Kampuchea - will also be restored to its original splendour with international assistance and UNESCO's co-operation.
The temples and palaces of this huge complex are an inspired poem in stone composed by ancient Khmer Craftsmen - sculptors, masons and carvers whose work is akin to the jeweller's art. Walking along the gallery which girdles Angkor Wat, the largest temple of these, is like leafing through ancient books. Graceful apsaras, mythical dancers, attendants of the gods, are visible all along the way.
Keam Kosal, chief of the international relations department of Siemreap Province people's revolutionary committee, who volunteered to be our guide, explained that nearly 1,700 apsaras are depicted on the gallery walls.
"Just think of all the dramatic events they have witnessed" he said. "It took 37 years - from 1113 to 1150-to build these temples and palaces in the tropical jungle. Foreign invaders destroyed them much faster than that. Siamese conquerors plundered Angkor Wat's altars and libraries on many occasions. The first raid was in the mid-thirteenth century, and they were repeated over the ages"

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As if under a curse, Angkor Wat, once famous and prosperous, has had more than its share of decline and oblivion.
Early this century, Thailand returned Angkor Wat and several Cambodian provinces to the people who built this miracle in stone, and it seemed that Angkor Wat's worst times were over. The French who ruled Indo-China then decided to make Angkor a tourist attraction and Started restOration work. In the Sixties the well-known French historian and restorer Bernard Groslier was commissioned to supervise work on the monuments. At that time the world public awoke to Cambodia and its unique culture, of which Angkor Wat (universally recognized as Angkor's most majestic and beautiful relic) is the pride. More and more foreign tourists trod its flagstone floors.
But Angkor had not left its misfortunes behind it in the Dark Ages. The worst was still to come. On a spring day in 1973, an American B-52 bomber executed a precise target run and opened its bomb hatch right above the temple - a Buddhist sanctuary and part of man's historic heritage. I saw the havoc caused by the attack. Nothing the Siamese invaders had ever done could match it.
Memories of the Crime are still fresh in the mind of Peat Krem, the museum curator. A grey-haired man of almost seventy, he bubbles with enviable youthful energy.
"The American act of vandalism can compare only with the outrages committed by Pol Pot's followers, who caused so much destruction to our country and so much suffering to our people", Peat Krem said, "They did not spare Angkor, either. Although the 'Red Khmers' came to power in April 1975, they had damaged the local temples in 1972 when they shelled Angkor Wat with 105-mm guns. "Look", Peat Krem pointed to mutilated frescoes. "These apsaras were shot at by Pol Pot's people".
"And where are hundreds upon hundreds of sculptures of the Buddha?" he went on after a brief pause. "What happened to them under Pol Pot? This used to be the Gallery of a Thousand Buddhas Now there are only twenty or thirty left. Just think of it: Pol Pot's men had the temple flagstonestowed away and used for utilitarian purposes".

The Marvel of Angkor Wat in Kampuchea 1807
EARLY THIS CENTURY, THAILAND RETURNED ANGKOR WAT AND SEVERAL CAMBODAN PROVINCES TO THE PEOPLE WHO BUILT THIS MIRACLE IN STONE, AND IT SEEMED THAT ANGKOR WAT’S WORST TEMES WERE OVER. THE FRENCHWHORULED INDO-CHINATHENDECIDED TOMAKE ANGKORA TOURISTATTRACTIONAND STARTED RESTORATION WORK. IN THE SIXTIES THE WELL-KNOWN FRENCH HISTORIAN AND RESTORER BERNARD GROSLER WASCOMMISSIONED TOSUPERWISE WORKONTHE MONUMENTS. AT THAT TIME THE WORLD PUBLICAWOKE TO CAMBODA ANDTS UNIQUE CULTURE, OF WHICH ANGKOR WAT (UNIVERSALLY RECOGNIZED AS ANGKOR'S MOST MAJESTIC AND BEAUTIFUL RELIC) IS THE PRIDE. MORE AND MORE FOREIGN TOURISTSTRODITS FLAGSTONE FLOORS.
Delegates to the AAPSO Presidium Committee Meeting on Asian Security held at Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on August 16 and 17, 1985, having refreshments in Kampuchea, before going to visit the Marval of Angkor Wat in Kampuchea. The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, is seen here on the left in the 6th seat.
Buddha delivered his first sermon, Dhamachakra Pravantana (Setting in Motion the Wheel of Law) at the deer park of Sarnath near Varanasi(Benares). He described "desire" as the root cause of all suffering. He preached the eight-fold path to bring "desire" under control. This noble middle path involves right speech, right work or action, right livelihood, right training, right awareness and right concentration. Neither extreme penance nor excessive self-indulgence is approved of. As more and more people understood and embraced Buddhism, his teachings spread far and wide. He asked his followers to travel around and spread the faith. The Buddha himself travelled to Urutiva, near Gaya, where he preached the famous "Burning Fire" sermon. From Gaya the Enlightened one travelled to Magadh, where the king offered him and his followers a bamboo grove that became their refuge for the raining season. Buddha's travels also took him to Kapilavastu, his father's Kingdom. Upon hearing his sermon, his father and wife embraced Buddhism. His son Rahul, too, joined the Sangha (Monasticfederation) and became amonk. For the next forty years Buddha travelled all over the Country, visiting places like Vaishali, Sravasti, Kushinagar, and Rajgriha. He had a deep influence on his audience every where. The placidity on his face and the strength in his words attracted many to Buddhism. He radiated tranquility and peace and had a halo around him. Buddha breathed his last at Kushinagar. His last rites were carried out with honour befitting a universal monarch in the presence of the kings of all the states of the Gangetic plains. His ashes were divided into eight parts, one part for each king, who then constructed stupas in their kingdoms to preserve them.
— Pooja Thakur.

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looked at the battered Angkor Wat and thought that now, over a decade since they sowed death and destruction in Vietnam, Laos and Cambodia, the Americans might try, at least, to make amends to these three Countries of Indo-China which have won their right to a life in peace, by helping them in their effort for development. All the more So as under Article 21 of the Paris accords the U. S. was to have contributed to the postwar rehabilitation of Kampuchea, Vietnam and Laos.
But Washington has never lived up to its promises and legal Commitments to these Countries. The current U. S. Administration is keeping the situation in Southeast Asia tense, compelling the countries of Indo-China to divert their manpower and material resources from peaceful construction to self-defence. It supports the Pol Pot's men exiled from Kampuchea and funds the upkeep of the Khmer reactionaries' military camps.
Under the circumstances, how can one expect the U. S. to give Indo-China assistance in, for instance, restoring its architectural monuments?
But let us return to my conversation with Keam Kosal in Angkor Wat. "We are doing our utmost", he told me," to restore the palaces and temples of Angkor to their original beauty. But we fall far short of what we need to accomplish this task. So we are counting on international assistance......".
India, the Soviet Union and Poland are already providing this assistance. Our country is a member of the Angkor Aid Association set up on Poland's initiative. We were told at the Union of the Soviet Societies for Friendship and Cultural Relations with Foreign Countries, that the Friends of Angkor Society had been established in the U. S. S. R. late last December.
Courtesy: "New Times", Moscow, February 1987.

Vedic Gayatri Mantra A Judgment on Secularism
by Shyam Sunder
A writ petition was filed in the Madras High Court challenging the issue of Deepavaligreeting cards carrying the Gayatri Mantra. The greeting card was issued by a State-owned Corporation and the petitioner contended that ours being a Secular State no State funds could be issued for the propagation of any religion, the religious Gayatri Mantra in instant case.
Mr. Justice J. Raju, dismissing the writ petition, has gone deep into the question of secularism and religion, as reported in 1992 MLJ (1). Firstly, he says that secularism does not mean irreligion or anything anti-religious. Taking a positive view he holds, "Secularism merely implies 'sarva dharmasambhava', that is a believer in secularism while remaining an ardent follower of his own religion looks upon all other religions as different path ways to the same goal - God. Thus in substance, it is only a modern term for the old phrase "religious tolerance' or 'sarvamathasammathee'. So far as the 'State' is concerned, it implies that our State does not identify itself "with any particular Religion".
Secondly, he says, countering some American decisions cited by the petitioner, the concept of American or Western Secularism-that State should have nothing to do with religion at all and there should be a total non-association owes itself to the peculiar historical reasons of those nations and the renaissance in religion in the form of a fight against the authoritarianism of the Church transcending even political boundaries. Oursisa land of Thyaga, Punya, Yoga, Sathya and Gnana with great heights and level of philosophical achievements and we have for us a modern India - with a hoary and glorious, cultural and spiritual heritage of ancient India which preach, teach and help to practise the righteous way of living. They evolve a moral, healthy and peaceful code of conduct. Neither the founding fathers of our Constitution of India nor any of the provisions enshrined in the said document could be imputed with having done away with the philosophical and spiritual ideologies and high values of life which is the core of the Indian polity and culture".

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Thus he refuses to toe the line of thinking of American courts on secularism and affirms that in our country secularism has to be interpreted against the background of our own Culture and heritage which is different from that of America.
Thirdly, he holds that the Gayatri Mantra is not a religious instruction at all. "The Gayatri Mantra is said to be "Shabda Brahman" and is said to appear in the Rig Veda, as the tenth mantra in the sixtieth sutra of the third mandala. It is considered to be all pervasive, synonymous with divinity and valued as an universal prayer which does not ask for any mercy or pardon but seeks for a clear intellect so that truth may be reflected therein without distortion. It therefore, is supposed to purify, rescue or protect the chanter who contemplates the glory of light that illuminates the three Worlds or the regions of experience as they are called, with a prayer for final liberation through the awakening of the innate intelligence that pervades the universe as light. As one having its origin in Vedas and Vedic times, it will be anachronistic for anyone to contend that it signifies or relates to any particular religion. Gayatri Mantra is the key to Vedic wisdom. The Vedas have been in existence long before any of the present day organized religions came into being. They do not preach any religion nor are concerned with propagating religion. The Vedas have been always considered to belong to all mankind and are not limited to any one particular religion, race, caste or community". He has also quoted the renowned Scientist J. B. S. Haldane, "The Gayatri Mantra should be carved on the doors of every laboratory in the world".
Futher, the learned judge refers to Sri Aurobindo's explanation of the mystic language and words used in the Vedas. The Vedas have been, in fact, given a ritualistic interpretation by many for long, thus Creating an impression of Vedic religion. But if the esoteric interpretation is adopted, the Vedas become revelation of the eternal universal Truth beyond religions.
It has also been held that the funds of the State-owned Corporation are not the funds of the State. However, here we are not concerned with this incidental point. On the vexed question of the meaning of "Secular State" the Judgment is expected to be a trend-setter.
Courtesy: Sri Aurobindo's Action, December 1992.

Sri AurobindO and Indian Independence
By C. Shanmuganayagam, Life member, India-Sri Lanka Society and Joint Secretary, Sri Aurobindo Society of Sri Lanka.
"Freedom at Midnight' for Mother India while the rest of the world was asleep was the stirring slogan with which Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru ushered in the Independence of India 50 years ago, as the clock chimed the midnight hour on August 15th, 1947. We are celebrating the fiftieth anniversary of India's Independence today.
It is a remarkable coincidence that the date for the grant of Independence to India was re-fixed by Lord Mountbatten for August 15, 1947, the birth date of Sri Aurobindo, the Sage of Pondichery, after an initial decision to have it in July of that year. There were probably occult reasons for the change, of which Lord Mountbatten may have become intuitively aware.
The writer of this article recalls an episode that an associate of his in the field of spiritual research in the early years, the late Dr. A. Kanakaratnam, Principal of the Ceylon Ayurvedic College, related to him. Dr. Kanakaratnam, was a keen follower of Sri Aurobindo's teachings and used to visit the Pondichery Ashram almost regularly every year in the forties to have the Darshan of Sri Aurobindo and the Mother on the 15th of August, the birthday of the Sage. On his visit to the Asharam in August 1946, while he was proceeding towards the Darshan chamber, he saw a writing on the wall (literally on a banner hanging on the wall) the words: "On this day next year India will become free".

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He said he had a vivid recollection of the experience which might well have been a vision that he was vouchsafed by the Mother, who was an adept at spiritual and psychic materialisations, in view of his interest in occult phenomena. He also mentioned to the writer that, as a student of Indian policies at that time he could not believe that this prediction would come true, as the British Government was then not contemplating the dissolution of the British Empire. As every one learnt later, the turn of events thereafter was sudden and unexpected with Prime Minister Attlee and Lord Mountbatten racing against time to complete the handover of India and Pakistan to their political heirs.
"BANDE MATARAM"
Sri Aurobindo himself had stated in his writings in the 1920s after he gave up his editorship of the fire brand journal'Bande Mataram' where he had advocated a sustained political struggle for the freedom of India, that he had a spiritual vision that Mother India would become free Some decades later and that his task thereafter WaS to follow the path of peace and usher in this freedom that has already been destined by the higher powers.
AGAINST
it is significant to note that both Mahatma Gandhi and Sri Aurobindo were against the partitioning of India and the Mahatma at one stage offered the premiership of a united India to Mr. Jinnah in preference to partitioning. Sri Aurobindo too, it is learnt, communicated with Jawaharlal Nehru advising against the partition, as he would have foreseen psychically the holocaust that arose from the partitioning that was to cost a million lives. But his advice was not accepted by Nehru, on the ground of impracticality. It would appear that Sri Aurobindo responded sadly by mentioning to some of his aides that if partition occurs there will nevertheless be a reunification of Mother India by the 21st century leading to a still larger confederation of States both in the East and in the West and finally to the formation of a World Government.

Sri Aurobindo and Indian Independence 1813
Sri Aurobindo's role in world politics, apart from being an enlightened Sage, is epitomised in the famous words addressed to Court by C. R. Das, the brilliant lawyer who defended Sri Aurobindo in the treason law-suit filed against him by the British Government in his early days of political agitation and in which he was acquitted: 'My appeal to you is this, that long after this controversy will be hushed in silence...long after he (the accused) is dead and gone, he will be looked upon as the poet of patriotism, as the prophet of nationalism, and the lover of humanity. His words will be echoed and re-echoed, not only in India but across distant Seas and lands'.
SPIRITUAL MOOD
It is also reported that Sri Aurobindo was in a deep spiritual mood while the case was being conducted and had the Universal vision of beholding Lord Krishna functioning in each of the roles in the Court drama, as the Judge, the prosecutor and the witnesses.
The writer of this article had the good fortune to meet the Mother of the Ashram at Pondichery in the year 1961 and receive her personal blessings at that time.
May the 50th year of Independence of India to be followed closely by the Golden Jubilee of our own independence of Sri Lanka bring peace and harmony and reconciliation to all the people of this erstwhile Island Paradise.
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, August 15th, 1997.
Gravitation is the Law relating to the attractive force between material bodies. It was defined by Newton in the statement that everybody attracts or tends to approach every other body with a force proportional to the masses and inversely as the square of the distance. This applies equally to the planets as to the smallest particle of matter. As an outcome of gravitation, we have weight as a property of matter, giving the tendency of a body to fall towards the earth. Gravitation also accounts for the orbital movements of the planets round the sun, and the movements of satellites round the planets.

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Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma
Uttarpara Speech by Sri Aurobindo
When I was asked to speak to you at the annual meeting of your Sabha, it was my intention to say a few words about the subject chosen for today, the subject of the Hindu religion. I do not know now whether shall fulfil that intention; for as I sat here, there came into my mind a Word that have to speak to you, a word that have to speak to the whole of the Indian Nation. It was spoken first to myself in jail and
have come out of jail to speak it to my people.
It was more than a year ago that I came here last. When I came I was not alone; one of the mightiest prophets of Nationalism sat by my side. It was he who then came out of the seclusion to which God had sent him, so that in the silence and solitude of his cell he might hear the word that He had to say. It was he that you came in your hundreds to welcome. Now he is far away, separated from us by thousands of miles. Others whom I was accustomed to find Working beside me are absent. The storm that swept over the country has scattered them far and wide. It is this time who have spent one year in seclusion, and now that I come out find all changed. One who always sat by my side and was associated in my work is a prisoner in Burma; another is in the north rotting in detention. I looked round when I came out, I looked round for those to whom had been accustomed to look for Counsel and inspiration. I did not find them. There was more than that. When I went to jail the whole country was alive with the cry of Bande Mataram, alive with the hope of a nation, the hope of millions of men who had newly risen out of degradation. When I came out of jail listened for that cry, but there was instead a silence. A hush had fallen on the country and men seemed bewildered; for instead of God's bright heaven full of the vision of the future that had been before us, there seemed to be overhead a leaden sky from which human thunders and lightnings rained. No man seemed to know which way to move, and from all sides

Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma 1815
came the question, "What shall we do next? What is there that we can do?" I too did not know which way to move, too did not know what was next to be done. But one thing I knew, that as it was the Almighty Power of God which had raised that cry, that hope, so it was the same Power which had sent down that silence. He who was in the shouting and the movement was also in the pause and the hush. He has sent it upon us, so that the nation might draw back for a moment and look into itself and know His will. I have not been disheartened by that silence, because had been made familiar with silence in my prison and because knew it was in the pause and the hush that I had myself learned this lesson through the long year of my detention. When Bepin Chandra Pal came out of jail, he came with a message, and it was an inspired message. remember the speech he made here. It was a speech not so much political as religious in its bearing and intention. He spoke of his realisation in jail, of God within us all, of the Lord within the nation, and in his subsequent speeches also he spoke of a greater than ordinary force in the movement and a greater than ordinary purpose before it. Now also meet you again, also come out of jail, and again it is you of Uttarpara who are the first to welcome me, not at a political meeting but at a meeting of a society for the protection of our religion. That message which Bepin Chandra Pal received in Buxar jail, God gave to me in Alipore. That knowledge He gave to me day after day during my twelve months of imprisonment and it is that which He has commanded me to speak to you now that I have come out.
I knew I would come out. The year of detention was meant only for a year of seclusion and of training. How could anyone hold me in jail longer than was necessary for God's purpose? He had given me a word to speak and a work to do, and until that word was spoken knew that no human power could hush me, until that work was done no human power could stop God's instrument, however weak that instrument might be or however small. Now that I have come out even in these few minutes, a word has been suggested to me which had no wish to speak. The thing I had in my mind He has thrown from it and what I speak is under an impulse and a compulsion.

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When I was arrested and hurried to the Lal Bazar hajat I was shaken in faith for a while, for I could not look into the heart of His intention. Therefore faltered for a moment and cried out in my heart to Him, "What is this that has happened to me? I believed that had a mission to work for the people of my country and until that work was done, I should have Thy protection. Why then am here and on such a charge?" A day passed and a second day and a third, when a voice came to me from within, "Wait and see". Then grew calm and waited, I was taken from Lal Bazar to Alipore and was placed for one month in a solitary cell apart from men. There waited day and night for the voice of God within me, to know what He had to say to me, to learn what I had to do. In this seclusion the earliest realisation, the first lesson came to me. remembered then that a month or more before my arrest, a call had come to me to put aside all activity, to go into seclusion and to look into myself, so that might enter into closer communion with Him. was weak and could not accept the call. My work was very dear to me and in the pride of my heart thought that unless I was there, it would suffer or even fail and cease; therefore I would not leave it. It seemed to me that He spoke to me again and said, "The bonds you had not the strength to break, I have broken for you, because it is not my will nor was it ever my intention that that should continue. I have had another thing for you to do and it is for that I have brought you here, to teach you what you could not learn for yourself and to train you for my work". Then He placed the Gita in my hands. His strength entered into me and was able to do the sadhana of the Gita. I was not only to understand intellectually but to realise what Sri Krishna demanded of Arjuna and what He demands of those who aspire to do His work, to be free from repulsion and desire, to do work for Him without the demand for fruit, to renounce self-will and become a passive and faithful instrument in His hands, to have an equal heart for high and low, friend and opponent, success and failure, yet not to do His work negligently. I realised what the Hindu religion meant. We speak often of the Hindu religion, of the Sanatan Dharma, but few of us

Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma 1817
really know what that religion is. Other religions are preponderatingly religions of faith and profession, but the Sanatan Dharma is life itself; it is a thing that has not so much to be believed as lived. This is the Dharma that for the salvation of humanity was cherished in the seclusion of this peninsula from of old. It is to give this religion that India is rising. She does not rise as other countries do, for self or when she is strong, to trample on the weak. She is rising to shed the eternal light entrusted to her over the world. India has always existed for humanity and not for herself and it is for humanity and not for herself that she must be great.
Therefore this was the next thing He pointed out to me, - He made me realise the central truth of the Hindu religion. He turned the hearts of my jailors to me and they spoke to the Englishman in charge of the jail, "He is suffering in his confinement; let him at least walk outside his cell for half an hour in the morning and in the evening". So it was arranged, and it was while was walking that His strength again entered into me. I looked at the jail that secluded me from men and it was no longer by its high walls that I was imprisoned; no, it was Vasudeva who surrounded me. I walked under the branches of the tree in front of my cell but it was not the tree, I knew it was Vasudeva, it was SriKrishna whom saw standing there and holding over me his shade. I looked at the bars of my cell, the very grating that did duty for a door and again saw Vasudeva. It was Narayana who was guarding and standing sentry over me. Or lay on the coarse blankets that were given me for a couch and felt the arms of Sri Krishna around me, the arms of my Friend and Lover. This was the first use of the deeper vision. He gave me. I looked at the prisoners in the jail, the thieves, the murderers, the swindlers, and as I looked at them I saw Vasudeva, it was Narayana whom found in these darkened souls and misused bodies. Amongst these thieves and dacoits there were many who put me to shame by their sympathy, their kindness, the humanity triumphant over such adverse circumstances. One I saw among them especially, who seemed to me a saint, a peasant of my nation who did not know how to read

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and Write, an alleged dacoit sentenced to ten years' rigorous imprisonment, one of those whom we look down upon in our Pharisaical pride of class as Chhotalok. Once more He spoke to me and said, "Behold the people among whom have sent you to do a little of my work. This is the nature of the nation fam raising up and the reason why I raise them".
When the case opened in the lower court and we were brought before the Magistrate was followed by the same insight. He said to me, "When you were cast into jail, did not your heart fail and did you not cry out to me, where is Thy protection? Look now at the Magistrate, look now at the Prosecuting Counsel". I looked and it was not the Magistrate whom saw, it was Vasudeva, it was Narayana who was sitting there on the bench. I looked at the Prosecuting Counsel and it was not the Counsel for the prosecution that I saw; it was Sri Krishna who sat there, it was my Lover and Friend who sat there and smiled. "Now do you fear?" He said, "I am in all men and I overrule their actions and their words. My protection is still with you and you shall not fear. This case which is brought against you, leave it in my hand. It is not for you. It was not for the trial that I brought you here but for something else. The case itself is only a means for my work and nothing more". Afterwards when the trial opened in the Sessions Court, I began to write many instructions for my Counsel as to what was false in the evidence against me and on what points the witnesses might be cross-examined. Then something happened which I had not expected. The arrangements which had been made for my defence were suddenly changed and another Counsel stood there to defend me. He came unexpectedly, a friend of mine, but I did not know he was coming. You have all heard the name of the man who put away from him all other thoughts and abandoned all his practice, who sat up half the night, day after day for months and broke his health to save me, - Srijut Chittaranjan Das. When I saw him, I was satisfied, but I still thought it necessary to write instructions. Then all that was put away from me and had

Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma 1819
the message from within, "This is the man who will save you from the snares put around your feet. Put aside those papers. It is not you who will instruct him. I will instruct him". From that time I did not of myself speak a word to my Counsel about the case or give a single instruction, and if ever I was asked a question, I always found that my answer did not help the case. I had left it to him and he took it entirely into his hands, with what result you know. I knew all along what He meant for me, for heard it again and again, always listened to the voice within; "I am guiding, therefore fear not. Turn to your own work for which I have brought you to jail and when you come out, remember never to fear, never to hesitate. Remember that it is who am doing this, not you nor any other. Therefore whatever clouds may come, whatever dangers and sufferings, whatever difficulties, whatever impossibilities, there is nothing impossible, nothing difficult. I am in the nation and its uprising and I am Vasudeva, I am Narayana, and what I will, shall be, not what others will. What
choose to bring about, no human power can stay".
Meanwhile He had brought me out of solitude and placed me among those who had been accused along with me. You have spoken much today of myself-sacrifice and devotion to my country. I have heard that kind of speech ever since I came out of jail, but hear it with embarrassment, with something of pain. For know my weakness, I am a prey to my own faults and backslidings. I was not blind to them before and when they all rose up against me in seclusion, I felt them utterly. I knew then that the man was a mass of weakness, a faulty and imperfect instrument, strong only when a higher strength entered into me. Then I found myself among these young men and in many of them discovered a mighty courage, a power of self-effacement in comparison with which I was simply nothing. I saw one or two who were not only superior to me in force and character, - very many were that, - but in the promise of that intellectual ability on which prided myself. He said to me, "This is the young generation, the new and mighty nation that is arising at

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182O Politics and Lifeg ir1 CLAr TArras
SRIAUROBINDOWAS BORN IN CALCUTTA. ON 15TH AUGUST, 1872. AT THEAGE OF SEVEN HE WASSENT TO ENGLAND, WHERE HEATTENDED ST. PAULS SCHOOL, LONDON AND THEN WENT ON A SENIOR CLASSICAL SCHOLARSHIP TOKING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE, AFTER OBTAININGA FIRST IN THE TRIPOSINCLASSICS, HE PASSED THE INDIAN CIVIL SERVICE EXAMINATION WITH DISTINCTION, BUT FELT NO CALL FOR THE I. C. S. HE HAD ACCUIRED MASTERY OWER ENGLISH AND PROFICIENCY IN FRENCH, GREEKANDLATIN, BESIDESACQUAINTANCE WITH GERMAN, ITALIAN ANDSPANISH. HECAMEBACK TOINDIA AFTER 14 YEARS IN 1893, HE PASSED SOME YEARS IN THE BARODA STATE SERVICE AS AN ADMINISTRATOR AND A PROFESSOR. IN 1906 SR AUROBINDORESIGNED HIS POSITION AND PLUNGED INTOPOLITICAL ACTIVITY FOR THE LIBERATION OF THE MOTHER-LAND. HIS DALY NEWSPAPER "BANDE MATARAM" CUICKLY BECAME THE MOST POWERFUL WOICE OF THE INDIAN NATIONALIST MOVEMENT.
T
Sri Aurobido 18.872 - . 12.50 The Patriot Saint of Pandicherry
We speak often of the Hindu religion, of the Sanatan Dharma, but low of us really know what that religion is. Other religions are preponderatingly religions of faith and profession, but the Sanalan Dharma is life itself; it is a thing that has not so much lo be believed as lived. This is the Dharma that for the salvation of humanity was cherished in the seclusion of this peninsula from of old. It is to give this religion that India is rising. She does not rise as other countries do, for self or when she is strong, to trample on the weak. She is rising to shed the eternal light entrusted to her over the world. India has always existed for humanity and not for herself and it is for humanity and not for herself that she must be great. There is a nighty law of life, a great principle of hutan evolution, a body of spiritual knowledge and experience of which India has always been destined to be guardian, exemplar and missionary. This is the Saratana Dharma, the eternal religion.
 

Sri Aurobirdo 07 Salaan PfaffTā 1B21
my command. They are greater than yourself. What have you to fear? If you stood aside or slept, the work would still be done. If you were cast aside tomorrow, here are the young men who will take up your work and do it more mightily than you have ever done, You have only got some strength from me to speak a word to this nation which will help to raise it". This was the next thing He told me,
Then a thing happened suddenly and in a moment I was hurried away to the seclusion of a solitary cell. What happened to me during that period annot impelled to say, but only this that day after day, He showed me His wonders and made me realise the utter truth of the Hindu religion. I had had many doubts before, was brought up in EnglandaTongst foreign ideas and an atmosphere entirely foreign. About many things in Hinduism I had once been inclined to believe that they were imaginations, that there was much of dream in it, much that was delusion and Maya. But now day after day I realised in the mind, I realised in the heart, I realised in the body the truths of the Hindu religion. They became living experiences to me, and things were opened to me which no material science could explain. When first approached Hirt, it was not entirely in the spirit of the Bhakta, it was not entirely in the spirit of the Jnani. came to Him long ago in Baroda some years before the Swadeshi began and I was drawn into the public field.
When approached God at that time, hardly had a living faith in Him. The agnostic was in me, the atheist was in me, the sceptic was in me and I was not absolutely sure that there was a God at all. I did not feel His presence, Yet something drew me to the truth of the Wedas, the truth of the Gita, the truth of the Hindu religion. I felt there must be a mighty truth somewhere in this Yoga, a mighty truth in this religion based on the Vedanta. So when turned to the Yoga and resolved to practise it and find out if my idea was right, I did it in this spirit and with this prayer to Him, "If Thou art, then Thou knowest my heart. Thou know est that I do not ask for Mukti, I do not ask for anything which others ask for, ask only for

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strength to uplift this nation, ask only to be allowed to live and work for this people whom I love and to whom pray that I may devote my life". I strove long for the realisation of Yoga and at last to some extent had it, but in what most desired was not satisfied. Then in the seclusion of the jail, of the solitary cell asked for it again. I said, "Give me Thy Adesh. I do not know what work to do or how to do it. Give me a message". In the communion of Yoga two messages came. The first message said, "I have given you a work and it is to help to uplift this nation. Before long the time will come when you will have to go out of jail; for it is not my will that this time either you should be convicted or that you should pass the time, as others have to do, in suffering for their Country. I have called you to work, and that is the Adesh for which you have asked. I give you the Adesh to go forth and do my work". The second message came and it said, "Something has been shown to you in this year of seclusion, something about which you had your doubts and it is the truth of the Hindu religion. It is this religion that I am raising up before the world, it is this that I have perfected and developed through the Rishis, saints and Avatars, and now it is going forth to do my work among the nations. I am raising up this nation to send forth my word. This is the Sanatan Dharma, this is the eternal religion which you did not really know before, but which I have now revealed to you. The agnostic and the sceptic in you have been answered, for have given you proofs within and without you, physical and subjective, which have satisfied you. When you go forth, speak to your nation always this word, that it is for the Sanatan Dharma that they arise, it is for the world and not for themselves that they arise. I am giving them freedom for the Service of the World. When therefore it is said that India shall rise, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall rise. When it is said that India shall be great, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall be great. When it is said that India shall expand and extend herself, it is the Sanatan Dharma that shall expand and extend itself over the world. It is for the Dharma and by the Dharma that India exists. To

Sri Aurobindo on Sanatan Dharma 1823
magnify the religion means to magnify the country. I have shown you that I am everywhere and in all men and in all things, that I am in this movement and I am not only working in those who are striving for the country but I am working also in those who oppose them and stand in their path. I am working in everybody and whatever men may think or do, they can do nothing but help in my purpose. They also are doing my work, they are not my enemies but my instruments. In all your actions you are moving forward without knowing which way you move. You mean to do one thing and you do another. You aim at a result and your efforts subserve one that is different or contrary. It is Shakti that has gone forth and entered into the people. Since long ago I have been preparing this uprising and now the time has come and it is who will lead it to its fulfilment".
This then is what I have to say to you. The name of your society is "Society for the Protection of Religion". Well, the protection of the religion, the protection and upraising before the world of the Hindu religion, that is the work before us. But what is the Hindu religion? What is this religion which we call Sanatan, eternal? It is the Hindu religion only because the Hindu nation has kept it, because in this Peninsula it grew up in the seclusion of the sea and the Himalayas, because in this sacred and ancient land it was given as a charge to the Aryan race to preserve through the ages. But it is not circumscribed by the confines of a single country, it does not belong peculiarly and for ever to a bounded part of the world. That which we call the Hindu religion is really the eternal religion, because it is the universal religion which embraces all others. If a religion is not universal, it cannot be eternal. A narrow religion, a sectarian religion, an exclusive religion can live only for a limited time and a limited purpose. This is the one religion that can triumph over materialism by including and anticipating the discoveries of Science and the speculations of philosophy. It is the one religion which impresses on mankind the closeness of God to us and embraces in its compass all the possible means by which man can approach God. It is the one religion which insists every moment on the truth

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which all religions acknowledge that He is in all men and all things and that in Him we move and have our being. It is the one religion which enables us not only to understand and believe this truth but to realise it with every part of our being. It is the one religion which shows the world what the world is, that it is the Lila of Vasudeva. It is the one religion which shows us how we can best play our part in that Lila, its subtlest laws and its noblest rules. It is the one religion which does not separate life in any smallest detail from religion, which knows what immortality is and has utterly removed from us the reality of death.
This is the word that has been put into my mouth to speak to you today. What intended to speak has been put away from me, and beyond what is given to me I have nothing to say. It is only the word that is put into me that I can speak to you. That word is now finished. I spoke once before with this force in me and I said then that this movement is not a political movement and that nationalism is not politics but a religion, a Creed, a faith. I say it again today, but I put it in another way. I say no longer that nationalism is a creed, a religion, a faith; I say that it is the Sanatan Dharma which for us is nationalism. This Hindu nati On WaS bOrn with the Sanatan Dharma, with it it moves and with it it grows. When the Sanatan Dharma declines, then the nation declines, and if the Sanatan Dharma were capable of perishing, with the Sanatan Dharma it would perish. The Sanatan Dharma, that is nationalism. This is the message that I have to speak to you.
Courtesy: Sri Aurobindo Ashram Trust, Pondicherry, S. India, 1910.

Bharatha Natyam and Vaznu VOOr Ramian Pila
by Natya Kalashikamani Subhashini Pathmanathan Founder of the Vimalothaya Classical Bharatha Natya Centre, Colombo.
Bharatha Natyam is widely acclaimed and appreciated as an exquisite dance form. No other dance form has received such wide recognition. Even in India, home to so many dance forms, like Kathak, Kathakali, Manipuri, Kuchipudy, and Oddisi, Bharatha Natyam is perhaps the best known dance form.
Bharatha Natyam evolved from temple dances and in the time of Maratha rulers, these temple dances were called Sathir(nautch).
It was danced in temples by the Devadasis, the handmaidens of the Lord, who dedicated themselves to the Service of the Lord. When the Devadasi system was abolished in India, devadasis and the Natuwanars, the traditional gurus remained the repositories of these dance traditions.
In latter times Bharatha Natyam moved from the temples to the Princely Courts, and has arrived today in the concert halls.
The Bharatha Natyam of today was evolved in the last hundred and fifty years. The dance tradition existed even in ancient times, as there are references to these dances in works like Tholkapiyam, Silapathykaram and Manimekalai.
The ancient Tamil kings and later day Marathi rulers were great patrons of dance, and fostered Bharatha Natyam. The paintings, and sculptures in the temples of Tamil Nadu, depict dance poses and is a testimony to the royal patronage.
In the late 18th century and early 19th century the four sons of Subarayapillai Natuwanar, a court musician of Marathiking Raja Thuloja, Ponniahpillai, Chinnayapillai, Sivanandampillai and Vadivelupillai, collectively called Tanjavore quartet made many changes in the techniques of Bharatha Natyam, its format and styles of presentation.

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1826 Politics irid Life jir) CIL ir Tiras
NATYA KA LASHI KAMANI SUBHASHIN PATH MANATHAN IS THE DAUGHTER OF ADWOCATE NATA RAJA PATHMANATHAN, SHE IS A GRADUATE OF CHANDIGARH UNIVERSITY OF PUNJAB DSTRICT IN INDIA AND WAS TRAINED IN BHARATHA NATYAM BY WAZHUWOOR RAMIAH PILLA. IN THE EARLY CIVILIZATION OF SOUTHEAST ASIA, THE CONCEPTION OF WOMANIS A MIXTURE OF THE SUBLIME AND THE SENSUOUS. ON THE ONE HAND, WE HAWE THE NOBLEST CONCEPTION OF WOMAN KNOWN TO ANY CULTURE AND ON THE OTHER HAND, A PORTRAYAL OF WOMAN WHICH IS THE FURTHEST IN SENSUOUSNESS. THE SPIRITUAL SIDE OF WOMANISSYMBOLIZED IN THE GREAT WOMEN OF THE INDIAN EPICS, SITA AND DRAU PADI WHO REPRESENT WHAT ISELEWATING IN WOMAN.
Natya Kalashikaman. Subhashini Pathanathari Subhashini Pathmanathan in one of her dance poses,
Mahabharata is an Indian epic of gnomous length (100,000 couplets), in its classical Sanskrit form apparently dating to about 300 A.D. and based on earlier tales or ballads. It doals With thig strise betwem the Kalurawas the 100 SOTS of tha blind King Dhritarashtra) and the Pandawas (the five sons of his brother Pandu); thic Pandavas, in a game of dice, lose to the Kauravas everything they possess, retire for 12 years to the Karnyaka forest, and then return to claim their own. In a great war, all the Kauravas were finally slain and the Pandavas won back their kingdom. Then, after some years, the five brothers and their joint wife Draupadi renounce their kingdom, make a pilgrimage to mount Maru, and ascend to heaven. Wower around this central story are many other episodes, tales, myths, and legends constituting an oncyclopaedia of Indian ideas on religion, morality, history and other subjects. Most famous of the didactic and religious accretions is the Bhagavad Gita, song of the Lord, in which Krishna reveals to the warrior prince Arjuna the doctrine of Karma and the relation between illusion and reality,
 

Bharasha Natyarrard Wazhuvoor Raria Pilla 1827
As the dance became popular there grew up different styles. Though the different styles did not depart from the basic principles of Bharatha Natyam, different gurus embellished the dance with their own Creative ideas, There were four schools (styles) namely Pandanalur, Wazu woor, Tanjawore and Kamchipura Tn. But today only Pandama||ur and Waz LWoor have the most followers.
In the closing years of the last century Bharatha Natyam suffered eclipse, as the repution of the Dewadasis suffered, and this brought the dance itself into disrepute.
It was Krishna Iyer and Rukmanidevi, in the early years of this Century, who by their dedication to the art put it back, and it soon gained recognition and popularity,
In Sri Lanka, it is not known for certain whether Bharatha Natyam, for that matter Sathir, existed in the time of the Sinhala kings. There is no hard evidence of this. But it was found and developed in the TaTil regions, especially in the Jaffna peninsula.
In the Jaffna peninsula in the Hindu temples there were dances popularly known as Sathir. But these dances were not part of religious rituals. These dances were performed by nautch girls who in Jaffna were known in Tamil as "Dewadiya" (Devadasis), And they were not attached to any particular temple, but belonged to troupes, which performed in different temples. These dances existed even in the time of the Tamil kings. And there is evidence that these dances were performed even in the Nallur Kandasamy temple in the time of the kings of Jaffna.
Although the devadasi system was abolished in India, Sathir continued in Jaffna, where it was popularly called "Sinna Melam". It existed even in mid 20th century,
The Bharatha Natyam in the form We see it today, came to Sri Lanka in the mid twentieth century. Now it is being taught in various dance Schools in the Tamil areas, in the capital of Colombo, and in the upcountry. The University of Jaffna has its own fine arts faculty where Bharatha Natyam is taught. Batticaloa has a prestigious dance school. Carnatic music has flourished in the Tamil areas, and is being influenced by South Indian musical traditions.
There are many Warieties of folk dances in Sri Lanka, and they are confined to particular regions and has existed from ancient times,
Among the Sinhala dances Kandyan dance is best known. The others, such as Ruhunu dance, and Sabaragamuwa dance are regional dances. The Ruhunu dance is well known for mask dances. The Sinhala dan Ces hawe also ewolwed from ancient times.
Colorobo, 79th Jurje, 1997.

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The 'Harappa' Culture Antecedents, Efflorescence and Metamorphosis
by K. V. Soundararajan
The oldest, and in a sense the parental civilization of India goes by the popular name of the Indus civilization - a direct sequel to the discovery and identification of the metropolitan centres at Harappa and Mohenjo Daro, both in the indus Valley. Archaeologists call it also by an alternative label of 'Harappa Culture' from the earliest and most completely excavated site of this civilization. Since the original discovery of this sudden flowering of urban traits in the matrix of Indian culture in the protohistoric periods, around the twenties of this century, the horizon of this century, the horizon of our knowledge about the antecedents, efflorescence, extent, metamorphosis and especially the authors of this mother-Civilization of this sub-continent has been energetically widened by many scholars, mainly of the Archaeological Survey of India and the State Archaeological Department of Gujarat and correspondingly in Pakistan as well. These investigations have served, by and large, as a corrective to a possible arbitrary belief that this civilization was a coherent summation, in the urban elements it incorporated in its fabric, respectively in its ceramics, architecture, metallurgy, minor crafts, fine arts and the technology itself and of its perfected civic transactions, of one single homogeneous community. We are thus to be advisedly cautious in running to conclusions, about its authors and oversimplifying the transmutations of these progenitor communities participating in the Indus civilization, in the Subsequent Indian scene, spatially and chronologically.

The 'Harappa' Culture - Antecedents, Eflorescence..... 1829
ANTECEDENTS
Till not long ago, it was well nigh impossible to assert the character of the context of inception of the Indus civilization; but We know now, particularly from the excavations at Kalibangan (Rajasthan, India) and Kot Diji (Sind, Pakistan), that a cultural substratum existed at and before the advent of the Harappa Culture in full urban array into the Indus valley and its environs. Doubtless, this substratum was not as sophisticated in its outfit as the latter, nor so well systematised or regimented either. It is more tempting, to visualise from the primarily heterogeneous character of pre-Harappan Community types excavated at the above two areas, that there was a 'critical" momentum - apparently derived from West Asian direction - that imparted a new and purposeful spurt to the blossoming of a highly disciplined Social structure, in the Indus valley and around, sternly enforced, and seemingly under an almost autocratic socio-political phalanx bent on shaping out a typically Indian 'norm' of civilized living and Vogue, advantageously comparable to that of the Egyptian or the Sumerian or the Chinese. Once the Culture-standardisation was achieved, it was carried, almost as a badge, wherever members of the 'Harappan' communities trafficked, as at Rangpur and Lothal, or Rupar and Alamgirpur, thus producing outwardly the semblance of a unitary social group, although it could not be averred that these units subscribed socio-culturally to a unitary genre. It is only on this basis that We can appreciate the sharp variations of temporal Context as seen at Lothal, Rangpur, Rozadi and Desalpur in Gujarat; Rupar, Kotila Nihang, and Bara in the Punjab; Sothi and Kalibangan in Rajasthan; and Alamgirpur and Ambkheri in West Uttar Pradesh; at each of which places, the Harappan regimen - in progressive, regressive or truncated glory variously - has been specifically isolated.
On the basis of the Co datings available for Kot Diji and Kalibangan, it would be possible to state that the pre-Harappan phase antedates the second quarter of the 3rd millennium B. C., for an indeterminate but short span, but was structurally and ethnically as far as we know yet, not directly related to the civic groups constituting the

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1830 Poliť iCS arld Lifg in OLľr Tiry 795
MOTHER TAMIL PLAYING THE "YARL" WHICH IS THE SYMBOL
OF DRAWIDIAN CLLITUR
Ligare Music rā
Tamil is the name of the language and of the Drawidian people of South India. The Tamils are relatively small and intelligent, and for in a merchant and working class. The Tamil language is spoken in South India and Ceylon. It is the richest and most progressive of the South Indian tongues, and owes less to Sanskrit than Kanarase and Telugu. The literature is of high antiquity.
 
 
 

The 'Harappa' Culture - Alacadents, Effiorescence. 831
bulk of the succeeding Harappa Culture phase - which latter, again on the basic of C determinations so far known, appears to have had a span of finite existence of well nigh three quarters of a Tillennium, before the oligopoly was completely broken up and superseded by independent regional bodi es of more homogengous Cultural 77ilieu, which were encompassing an infinitely wider geographical terrain almost up to the lower Deccan to the south and the Bengal to the east. In the heyday of the 'Harappa' culture, its proselytising influence and impact were felt as far south as Bhagatrao in Narmada estuary in Mid-West India, Rupar in cis-Himalayan Punjab, and Alamgirpur on the Hindon river in West Uttar Pradesh. Thus, by and large, it was yet out of bounds in the Gangetic walley - the hub of the latter day urban polity - and its epicentre was well and truly in the Indus valley and Indus-Jumna doab, in rather north-easterly strike.
The pre-Harappan occupation both at Harappa (Pakistan) and Kot Diji (Pakistan) and Kalibangan (India) was, in relation to India, effectively observable mainly at the last mentioned site, where it was seen to possess in its mudbrick walls an orientation of house-laying diverse from that of the Harappan uniformity, and on the ceramic side, had both geometrical and naturalistic designs in its painted varieties, of lighter and thinner fabric of red-to-pinkish colour of rusticated, incised and impressed skin in the unpainted types. The sturdy and typically 'Harappan" fabric was also one among the varieties of fabric of which six-labelled by the excavators (Lal & Thapar) for Convenience tentatively as fabricS A to F - lave been identified. Tg earligStinhabitats there carried their difference further from the Harappan successors, in the absence of seals, terracota 'cake" types, long chert blades specimens all such characteristic diagnostic elements of the true Harappan stage. Significant mention would be merited by the Co-occurrence of the preHarappan and Harappan pottery sets in the same site and even perhaps in the same dwellings. It is in this context that the occurrence of certain, now evidently pre-Harappan, class of pottery found by Ghosh in 1950-53 at 'Sothi' and elsewhere in the dried up Drishadwati walley of Rajasthan is to be noted and this 'Sothi’ community was a clear

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indication of the localised Semi-urban Settlements, before the 'Harappan' culture-bearers matured and blazed a new, a revolutionary Culture-trail in the patterns of civic life and activities, and it is seen that this 'Sothi' facet is more or less analogous to the pre-Harappan (Periano Ghundaipottery) at Harappa, and the early phase at Kotdiji- separated from the upper Harappan by a burnt layer not-withstanding continuance of early pottery in some of the upper (Harappan) stages also. This entrenched provenance for the pre-Harappan in northwest India recalls in its ceramic assemblage and design-elements the BaluchistanAfghanistan sites like Kili-Ghul-Mohammad, Kechi Beg, Quetta, Jangal, Sur-Jangal (Ill) and Mahi-Nandara. Even the as yet water-logged and uncertain lowest levels of Mohenjo Daro had produced pottery remains which have a similar visible affinity with Quetta, Sur-Jangal and Sothi wares. A proto-Harappan phase within the frontiers of Indo-Pakistan has thus been well vindicated. But we are not yet within the knowledge of the immediate cause of the spectacular advent of the mature 'Harappan' city-states, though this was doubtless the sequel to the precocity of the Harappan technocrafts of far-reaching vision.
EFFLORESCIENCE
The mature Indus civilization, as perceived at Mohenjo Daro, Harappa, Kalibangan and Lothal is best represented by the citadel of massive character, built of mud bricks with burnt brick revetments, with an inner or upper (Acropolis) town and an Outer, lower town, apparently of the humbler or peasant population. The high-lights of the upper city itself are the granaries, the very complicated drainage system of over and underground channels and vaults of burnt brick, and the 'great bath' or tanks. The streets were laid in grind pattern with distinction between lanes and roads. Most of the houses Were independent blocks, complete with front court, inner rooms, kitchen and bath. Large platforms on the parallelogram-shaped citadels of the Harappans have sometimes been considered of ritual use. The activities of all types of artisans have been attested to by end-products or tools or both. Characteristic of the Culture in Ceramics, however,

The Harappa' Culture - Antecedents, Eflorescence..... 1833
are the pale pinkish brown slipped sturdy pottery with paintings executed in black pigment. The design repertoire is considerable, and animal, vegetal and bird motifs were all in it. The outstanding shares were the famous dish-on stand, the beaker, the gobblet of fine as well as slipless rough and ready fabrics, colander jars with perforations all over (probably for burning incense), cups with loop-handle, and lids with Central knob, apart from large storage jars, all extensively painted on the exterior. The art of the lapidary, bead-making, the making of copper bangles and rings, of the unique Copper razers and pinheads of ornate character, apart from the sturdy form-and-forging implements like axes, chisels, bar-Celts, arrow-heads, fish-hooks etc., of bronze and copper indeed testify to the sophisticated, well-ordered and multifarious vocations and disposition of the Harappan citizenry. Equally marvellous from the point of view of planned prosperity were the serried hutments of Workers, the de-husking platforms, and the grain-storage chambers provided carefully with airducts, under and alongside, for preventing decomposition of grains by dampness; chariots, art-forms and cattle of different types which, on the basis of terracotta models, give us an insight into their vehicles of locomotion. The character of the remarkable structure called the 'great bath' seen at Harappa, Mohenjo Daro (and in a lesser form at Lothalaiso) would seem to have according to some, a ritual significance. It would perhaps not be too speculative to surmise a theocratic super-group controlling and coordinating the fully expanded civic programmes. There was an assured plenty of grain produce and an acknowledged standardisation of tool-kit and craft differentiae. The ceramic prolixity and above all the pictographic seals of steatite and sealings of terracotta - some of which have been found at far off Akkad in Mesopotamia, attached to cotton bales - conjure up an enchanting flash-back of the thriving maritime trade and contacts with West Asia. Not withstanding the still unsolved import or meaning of the script of the seals whose individual letters and caseending strokes have been empirically all too apparent, there is a distinct feasibility of their not having been true alphabets used for documentation, but rather of their being idiograms with their basic and

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1834 Politics and Life ir ČOur Tres
applied walues. They are newer employed in more than three or four lines of limited stretch. They are quite unlike either the Egyptian hieroglyphics or the Sumerian Cuneiform clay-tablet records. They have certainly a Connotation, but were more likely abbreviations than alphabets. The wery technique of the preparation of the seals with incised devices on the bears a high watermark of perfection. Gold ornaments were duly in fashion. Statuettes of bronze and stone, like the male and female torsos, or the bearded priests with ornate upper cloth and forehead ornament, show the remarkable level of excellence reached in plastic arts, while the folk-medium of terracotta figurines of Cult-objects, animals, (especially the bull for IT), birds etc. also well sustains this ean, by its sensitivity and clarity of presentation and closeness of observation.
The Harappan sites always had their own separate necropolis, usually to the south of the habitation site, where the burial was in extended and full form in pits lined with clay and occasionally by reed mats as found at Harappa. Urn burials of fractional and secondary and even post-cremation character were also met with simultaneously and in late Harappan contexts.
METAMORPHOSIS
With all this and more, it is almost enigmatic that the civilization decayed almost as phenomenally as it rose, by the close of the first quarter of the second Tillennium B. C. after about three quarters of a millennium of peak-performance, In its hey-day, it extended its impact and influence outside the Indian sub-continent west, upto the stone-fortified Sutkagen-Dor on the Dasth, close to the Arabian sea and the Iranian border. Daparkot on the North Baluchi foot hills; Las Bela in South Bast Baluchistan, and in Sind itself, Kot Diji and Judeirjo-daro; and within India, as already outlined, up to cis-Himalayan Punjab, West Uttar Pradesh and Gujarat-Kutch. But except at Gujarat, the impluses and occupational werve and st3, III: Were SorTe What rediocre and half-hearted.

The Harappa"Čulture - Artecedins, Efrescence. 1835
PARENTS-TEACHERS COUNCIL OF COLOMEO GAVE A DINNER TO THEIR PRESIDENT, T. DURAISINGAM, TO CONGRATULATE HIMONTHE OCCASION OF HIS HAVING BEEN APPOINTED A JUSTICE OF THE PEACE AND UNOFFICIAL MAGISTRATE ONNOVEMBER 11TH, 1971.
Har7. Peter keurternan is Sogn flere addrassing the guests, fri English, with Radhakrishnan translating his speach info Tarnil.
Front Row: L.-R. D. Diwakaran, Mrs, C. Balasubramaniam, K. Jaganathan,
S. P. Madarajah, D, Bhagirathan and S. Mahesan,
Back Row; L.-R. A. K. Subramaniam, Mrs. S. DuraisingaT, T. DuraisingarT
and C. Balasubramaniam.
Justice of the Peace is in Great Britain a man or worthan appointed to keep the peace and often called magistrate. These justices are appointed by the Lord Chancellor for the Warious counties and such cities and boroughs as have a commission of the peace, Their duties include holding Police Courts, where minor offenders are tried, and forming in the counties the courts of quarter sessions. Oaths and depositions can also be taken before then and they can sign warrants. The justices first appeared in the 13th Century and since 1919 Women have been eligible. Mayors and chairman of urban district councils are justices by virture of their office. All others are appointed for life,

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1836 Politics and Life in Our Times
The degeneration of this far-flung culture situation is attributed to internal and physical causes, such as desiccation and Spread of desert (with deforestation of the countryside as its cause), silt deposition by incessant floods and the resultant blocking of the estuary leaving at least Mohenjo Daro in an isolated hinterland. But none of these reasons would seem to be universally applicable. On the other hand, economic and social break-up due to a variety of evolutionary causes might answer better for the decay, since the civilization appeared, from available data of its uppermost levels, as having spent itself. Where, however, it was possible to transmute itself by vicarious identification with and influence on a local culture, they dragged on in impoverished state, as in Gujarat, in the post-Harappan scene. From a virile civilization with far-flung maritime links, it straggled into the IndoGangetic doab and virtually became landlocked and merged with the discrete regional strands of Indian culture, slowly getting involved in a synthesis in that region.
THE MEN
The most vexatious aspect of the Indus civilization is the lack of any uniformity or homogeneity about the racial content of Harappan population which, on all accounts, was certainly Cosmopolitan in quality. The outstanding skeletal material from the Harappan sites are from Cemetery R-37 and Cemetery H (stratum ll) of Harappa (the latter being late and post-Harappan), and these are found by recent study to be having a cranial index of 71 and taken as Indo-Caspians, akin to those of Tepe Hissar land Il of Iran. The skeletal remains of Cemetery H-pot burials, show a cranial index of 76 and are also considered Indo-Caspians and akin to people of Tepe Hissar lll. An important further conclusion arrived as regards sometometric characteristics of the Harappan cranial studies recently from Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Lothal, is that these have, respectively for their regions, close similarities with the present day people of Sind, Punjab and Gujarat. Certain further generalisations include the observation that the populations of these three places possessed rather broad noses

The Harappa' Culture - Antecedents, Eflorescence..... 1837
and the last mentioned place, relatively to others, had broader heads also, while it was homogeneous with others in regard to head shape, nose shape and stature which were broad-nosed, tall and long-headed. It would seem to be basically helpful, if we could keep clear the distinction between 'Harappan' people and the origin of 'Harappa' culture. Thus, there is no reason to believe, On the one hand, that there was more than one discrete racial population in the group in each of these places. It would perhaps be legitimate to hold (from the data available) that the 'Harappan' population descended from earlier populations in each of the regions, and archaeology would also seem to uphold this hypothesis.
As regards the racial labels for these, it is the view of some anthropologists that what have been called as 'Australoid" morphological traits, as forming an important part of the skeletons of Harappa could truly be called 'Caucasic", since these are found in certain Bronze Age human remains in Europe also. The population of Mohenjo Daro, Harappa and Lothal are perhaps more to be grouped with traits of the people of South Western Asia.
Suggested reading :
1. Dales Jr. G. F., 1962 Civilizations in Desertlands; 1964,
Expedition, VI, 3, 36-43.
2. Ghosh, A., 1965, The Indus Civilization: Its origins, authors,
extent and chronology, Indian Prehistory (1964), Poona.
3. Sarkar, S. S., 1964, Ancient Races of Baluchistan, Punjab
& Sind, Calcutta.
4. Sen, D. K., 1967 - Ancient Races of India and Pakistan - A study of Methods, 'Ancient India', Nos. 20 & 21 (1964 & 1965), 178-205.
Courtesy: Hand Book of the Second Conference of the International Association of Tamil Research, Madras, India, 1968.

Page 380
A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka
by Desabandu Reggie Candappa
The Writer was awarded the title of "Kalapathy" (Master of Arts) by the Ceylon Society of Arts for his Contribution to Art and Culture in Sri Lanka. He was also conferred the
lational honour of DeSabandu by His Excellency the President for his outstanding contribution to Media and Advertising. He is a Trustee of the George Keyt Foundation, to foster the arts in Sri Lanka with particular emphasis on young artists.
A brief article of this nature has its limitations. It cannot do justice to the history of art and all the artists in the country. But a monumental compendium like this publication covering the impact of political, social, economic and cultural events, both local and international on Sri Lanka in the 20th Century is not complete without a chapter on the subject of art,
I am approaching this subject with trepidity as I am not a historian or an art critic, but a practicing artist, Many of the artists mentioned in this article are my personal friends and Tiany others I am acquainted with, while I am familiar with the work of most others. If | hawe Comitted Sonne names, it is not intentional,
Sri Lanka has a rich tradition of art down the ages like the rest of Asia and Europe. The earliest works of art in Sri Lanka are by anonymous artists and sculptors. Even if they were known in their times, their names are obliterated by the passage of time,

A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka 1839
REGGIE CANDAPPA, NOW THE CHAIRMAN OF GRANTS ADVERTISING, ONE OF THE BESTADWERTISING FIRMSIN SRI LANKA, WAS IN HIS EARLY TWENTIES A YOUNG ARTIST WHO WAS STRUGGLING TO CATCH THE ATTENTION OF THERESE, HIS FUTURE WIFE, SERENADED ALONG THE ROAD ON A BICYCLEBY THESIDE OFHER HOUSE TO CATCH GLIMPSES OF HER THROUGH THE WINDOW. UPANDDOWNPAST THE WINDOWHE RODEON THE CYCLE, BUT TO AWOD BEING NOTICED AND CAUSING EMBARRASSMENT, HE AT TIMES TOOK THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, ASA FRIEND, TO ACCOMPANY HIMONTHE AUTHOR'S OWN BICYCLE.
His Grace the Archbishop, Nicholas Marcus Fernando, officiating at the Arriversary Mass celebration on 4th August, 7997 of Reggie and Therase Candappa on their Golden Jubilee of marital bliss,
The modern concept of painting came with the invasion of the island by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. There is no particular evidence of Portuguese and Dutch influence in painting in Sri Lanka as such. Although the Dutch left behind a rich legacy in many other fields like irrigation, canal systems, furniture, impressive buildings such as the Forts and Churches, there is little in the form of art. There were Dutch artists who recorded the wisual impression of this exotic land for the benefit of the home country. Some of these engravings and water colour studies are lavishly reproduced in R. K. de Silva and W. G. M. Breumer's book "Illustrations and Wigws of Dutch Ceylon, 1602-1796". The hall Tarks left behind by the British, Sri Lanka's most recent Conquerors are most widely seen in the language, dress, music and art, besides the judicial, administrative and economic systems which hawe become part and parcel of the life of the country, The impact of the Portuguese and Dutch influences has rapidly receded into the past.

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1840 Politics and Life in Our Tires
The temples and monasteries in Sri Lanka are replete with paintings, sculpture and decorative Totifs paying homage to Lord Buddha and episodes illustrating his life and re-births narrated down the ages in the numerous Jataka Tales. This is no different to the murals in early Christian churches depicting episodes from the bible,
The earliest examples of secular paintings in Sri Lanka are the Sigiriya Frescoes painted in the 5th Century AD. The beautiful maidens, thought by some scholars to be portraits of the members in the royal household of King Kasyappa. There is an unending controversy as to who these beautiful maidens are, Are they apsaras or mythical damsels of the heavens? There is an ethereal quality about these frescoes. Their beauty has been recorded by admirers down the ages in the well preserved graffiti on the mirror finish walls of the rock palace of Kasyappa.
The rock abode of King Kasyappa was a palace of exquisite taste. The beautiful water gardens at the base of the rock are one of the earliest of its kind in the world and preserved as a world heritage site by the International Council of Monuments and Sites.
The 7th and 8th Century saw a resurgence of art and sculpture in Anuradhapura. The glorious dagobas like the Ruwanweli Seya were erected during this period. Several invasions from South India ravaged and mutilated the majestic Buddhist monuments. One of the most magnificent works of art left undamaged is the colossal statue of the Buddha at Aukana 12 metres tall. It is considered one of the world's art treasures and a heritage site to be preserved for future generations.
Much later in the years 1187-96, Polonnaruwa emerged as a major city, Under the rule of Nissanka Malla it reached the zenith of its development with splendid architectural buildings rivaling that of Anuradhapura. The colossal group of Buddha statues carved out of a single granite wall rank as one of the masterpieces of sculpture in the world. The reclining Buddha measures 14 metres (46 feet) and his favourite diciple Ananda standing beside is 7 metres high (23 feet). The sculptures were originally enclosed in a temple known as the Ga Wilhare.

A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka 1841
THE GROUP 43 WAS FORMED AS A PROTEST AGAINST WHAT THESE GIFTED ARTISTS CONSIDERED AS THE DECADENT, STERILE AND ACADEMIC PAINTINGS ACCEPTED AND EXHIBITED BY THE CEYLON SOCIETY OF ARTS. THE ARTISTS IN THE ORIGINAL GROUP A3 WERE GEOFFREY BELING, AUBREY COLLETTE, RALPHCLAESSEN, JUSTIN DARANIYAGALA, RICHARD GABRIEL, S.R.KANAGASABA, GEORGE KEYT, MANJUSRI THERO, IWAN PERIES AND HARRY PIERES. THREE OTHER ARTISTS WHO LATER EXHIBITED WITH THE GROUP WERE WAN M. FERNANDO, REGGIE CANDAPPA ANDEDMUND BLACKER. SOME OF THE FAMOUS ARTISTS WHO FORMED THIS GROUP HAD THEIR PANTINGS RE.JECTED FOR EXHIBITION BY THE CEYLON SOCIETY OF ARTS,AS THEY DID NOT CONFORM TO THE ACADEMIC NORMS OF PAINTING. GEORGE KEYT AND JUSTIN DARANIYAGALATONAME A COUPLE OF ARTISTS, WHO ARE HAILED TODAY AS TWO OF THE GREATEST ARTISTS IN SRI LANKA, HAD THE IGNOMY OF REJECTION BYPHILISTINES WHO HELD OFFICE AT THE CEYLONSOCIETY OF ARTS.
Fada Kris/hr), George Keayt, TE HCIE. Lof Crisikke VS.
The sensuous side of women is the theme in the depiction of which the artists, painters and architects have revelled - to the point of licentiousness, They have created an unending profusion of WorTan in every conceivable posture of SenSuO Lusress and eroticism, as apsa, TaS, de Wadasis, dari Cir1g girls, goddesses, nymphs. Their figurines are depicted with the accent on the anatomically sensuous side of their bodies. It is their frankly erotic pursuits which have shocked subsequent generations into regarding them as Sortle orgiastic revels. The truth is that without denying their carnal nature, they represent certain aspects of ancient Hindu thought or sex and sexual unior, which are contained in the Kama Sutra. The ancient India conception of Women therefore oscillated between two extremes of Sensuousness amounting to eroticism and wirtues at its highest level. Their Hindu artist represented woman as a source of life and source of pleasure. Together they conveyan insight into women, the like of which is to be found in few other civilizations,
- V. M. E.

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1542 Politics arnd Life ir Our Tirres
The history of art in Sri Lanka down the centuries is closely linked to the devotion and weleration of the Buddha and his teachings. During the period of South Indian invasions, the influence of Hinduism mingled with native art forms. Folk art developed particularly in the Southern region.
Many of the temples in remote areas which contained valuable paintings were either neglected or abandoned. Some of these paintings have been recorded due to the painstaking efforts of artist L. I. P. Manjusri who originally was a monk and had knowledge and access to these temples,
The scholar and Connoisseur of Oriental art, Dr.Ananda Coomaraswamy was concerned with the preservation of Sri Lankan Art. He drew attention to the neglect of temples built in the 16th and 17th Century housing these paintings in the Kandyan district. He drew attention in particular to the uninitiated monks who repainted these earlier temple paintings with bright colours and ill conceived efforts of realism. The original paintings were limited to earth Colours (mainly red, yellow, greyish green and white) and devoid of perspective, This was an accepted traditional style of paintings which they mutilated with gay abandon.
The modern concept of painting came with the invasion of the island by the Portuguese, Dutch and the British. There is no particular evidence of Portuguese and Dutch influence in painting in Sri Lanka as such. Although the Dutch left behind a rich legacy in Tiany other fields like irrigation, canal systems, furniture, impressive buildings such as the Forts and Churches, there is little in the form of art. There were Dutch artists who recorded the visual impression of this exotic land for the benefit of the home country, Some of these engravings and water colour studies are lavishly reproduced in R. K. de Silva and W. G. M. Breumer's book "Illustrations and views of Dutch Ceylon, 1B02-1796".
The hallmarks left behind by the British, Sri Lanka's most recent Conquerors are most widely seen in the language, dress, music and art, besides the judicial, administrative and economic systems which have become part and parcel of the life of the country. The impact of the Portuguese and Dutch influences has rapidly receded into the past,

A Briar History of Art in Sri Lanka 1843
OF THE CONTEMPORARW ARTISTS THE MOST SUCCESSFUL ANO LLLLLLL LLLL LLLLLLL aLLLLLLLLLLL LLLL LLLLLLaL LL LLLLL LLaLLLLLLLE LLL H BLOSSOMED INTO A HIGHLY ACCLAIMED ADULTARTIST. HE HAS HELD NEARLY OO ONE-MAN EXHIBITIONS IN E COUNTRIES ONE OF HIS PANTINGSADORNS THE UNITEDNATIONSBUILDINGINNEW YORKAT THE ENTRANCE TO THE MAN CONFERENCE CHAMBER. THE ONLY OTHER TWO PAINTINGS ADORNING THE UN BUILDING ARE BY MARC CHAGALLAND FERNAND LEGER, MANY MUSEUMS AND PUBLIC EBULONGS THE WORLD OWER DISPLAW SENAKA'S WORK
Woman and Elephant, Seraka Serraria yake. Serraka Ser7a7a yake, Who Was a criad Frodigy, bossarred info a highly acclaimed adult artist,
The elephant belongs to the genus of mammals, comprising the largest existing quadruped. They are sometimes 8 to 11 ft, in height, The nose forms a flexible, double-barreled proboscis or trunk, often 4 to 5ft, in length, the sensitive fingerlike tip of which can pick up small objects. The teeth include, in both sexes, uptured upper incisors or tusks, the Source of ivory. Large tusks may measure up to 9 ft. and weigh 90 or 100 lbs. The two living species of elephants are the Asiatic Of Indian, with Concave forehead and Small ears, and the taller Africal species with Convex forehead and large flapping ears. A dwarf race, standing 5% ft. Occurs in French Congo, Tamed Asiatic elephants serve forceremonial, timber and other transport; they rarely breed in captivity. The African elephant has as yet prowed untameable. White elephants are albirds. The elephant is herbivorous, and Cornweys foŪd and Water lo its TICLuth by ils trurlık; adults brows the grgatar part of the day. They have a life of upto 60 years. Most circus elephants are Indian, but the most famous, Jumbo, was African and weighed six tors.

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1844 Politics and Life in Our Times
We are Concerned in this article about the influence of the British in the field of art. They brought in the Royal Academy style of easel painting. The Colombo Drawing Club was the first club of artists. It was formed in 1880. Its members met in each others' homes and discussed their work and voted for the best painting of the month. The first exhibition of paintings was held to celebrate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in August 1887. The second exhibition heralded the formation of the Ceylon Society of Arts in 1892. It was inaugurated under the auspices of Sri Arthur Havelock, Governor of Ceylon.
The Ceylon Society of Arts fostered the ideals and taste of the middle-class English. The paintings of this period in Sri Lanka reflected this. The doyen of art was Gate Mudaliyar A. C. G. S. Amarasekera. He lived for 100 years. In his heyday he was the most celebrated painter. He had an atelier where he taught the academic style in painting. His water colour paintings had a touch of brilliance in its technique. But in later years his work degenerated into photographic realism which influenced his pupils. But nonetheless his fame is perpetuated by the street where he lived na Ted after hin.
Three outstanding artists closely associated with the Ceylon Society of Arts were Gate Mudaliyar Tudor Rajapakse, who excelled in portrait painting. David Paynter, who studied at the Royal Academy and had several of his paintings hung at the Royal Academy Exhibitions, which was no mean achievement. Only paintings of the highest standards rendered in academic style were accepted for hanging. David Paynter was an exceptional landscape artist and portraitist. He is best remembered for the exquisite murals he painted in the chapel at Trinity College, Kandy.
J.D.A. Perera was the third artist, also a famous portrait painter. He headed the school of drawing and paintings at the Technical College, Colombo. A school eatablished in the late nineteenth century based on the British Polytechnic Art Schools. Both David Paynter and Stanley Abeysinghe taught at Tech incal College.

A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka 1845
THE CEYLONSOCIETY OF ARTS FOSTERED THEIDEALS AND TASTE OF THE MIDDLE-CLASSENGLISH. THE PAINTINGS OF THIS PERIOD IN SRI LANKA REFLECTED THIS. THE DOYEN OF ART WAS GATE MUDALIYAR A. C. G.S. AMARASEKERA. HE LIVED FOR1OOYEARS. IN HISHEYDAY HE WAS THE MOST CELEBRATEDPAINTER. HE HADANATELER WHERE HE TAUGHT THE ACADEMIC STYLE IN PANTING. HIS WATER COLOUR PANTINGS HADA TOUCH OF BRILLIANCE IN TSTECHNICUE. BUT IN LATERYEARSHIS WORKDEGENERATED INTO PHOTOGRAPHICREALISM WHICH INFLUENCED HIS PUPILS. BUT NONETHELESS HIS FAMES PERPETUATED BY THE STREET WHERE HE LIVED NAMED AFTER HIM.
Tig WIS, Wär) Pere5. Ivar Peries, an Artist who was in The Original Group 43.
Painting is one of the fine arts, it dates back to Palaeolithic times when early Than Thade remarkable drawings on the walls of caves in flax tints and brillian polychrome fresco, using as pigments warious earthy substances. In later times in Egypt and Greece mineral and some organic pigments were used With gum as the usual medium. In mediaeval Italy the artists painted in fresco and TerTipera, but the early Work was flat, ther with the Renaissance came the study of light and shade, and the beginnings of perspective, the pioneer artists being Masacclo, Uccello, Mantagna and Leonardo. With the Wan Dycks in the Netherland, originaled oil paintings, later carried to a high level of excellance by the Dutch and Flemish schools under Rubens, Rembrandt, Hals and others. In Italy the now method was taken up by Leonardo, Perugino and other great artists, and used by the Wenetian School under Tintoretto and Weronese. From these times onwards, great progress in oil painting has been made in France, Spain and England, as represented by the Works of many great masters. A further development came with the rise of water-colour painting in England during the 18th Century. This is now an important branch of the art.

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1846 Politics ard Life irħi Our Tirreas
An important step in Art education was the establishment of the Government School of Fine Arts, Sculpture, Music and Dancing. This was an achievement by J. D.A. Perera who worked tirelessly to establish this institution. But the objects visualized by its founder were never fully achieved due to the heavy hand of bureaucracy which was inevitable due to political meddling.
The early principals of this institution were Stanley Abeysinghe and Tissa Ranasinghe who followed J.D.A. Perera, Stanley Abeysinghe was a master draftsman and achieved distinction as a painter of renown. So did Tissa Ranasinghe who earned international fame as a sculptor, They both had art education at famous institutions in Europe.
The University of Kelaniya has a faculty to teach art and sculpture under the aegis of the Institute of Aesthetic Studies. Albert Dharmasiri, a very talented artist heads this institution. He was elected to the Executive Committee of UNESCO (Internatinal Association of Arts) at its General Assembly held at Helsinki. He is also Chairman of the Panel for Painting and Sculpture of the Arts Council of Sri Lanka.
In August 1943 there was a significant event in the World of artin Sri Lanka, when a group of highly creative artists resolved to form their own association. It was named Group 43, after the year in which the association was constituted. They met at the home of Lionel Wendt, a true afecianado of the arts. Wendt was a photographer, art critic, literateur and a genuine patron of the arts. He had independent means to pursue his interests at leisure. He was a barrister, who hardly practiced his profession. Lionel Wendt was the prime mower in the formation of Group 43. He died very early in life and bequeathed his home to a trust to foster art. The Art Gallery and Theatre which is named after him at Guildford Crescent, Colombo 7, is a fitting tribute to a genuine patron of the arts.
Some of the famous artists who formed this group had their paintings rejected for exhibition by the Ceylon Society of Arts, as they did not conform to the academic norms of painting. George Keyt and Justin Daraniyagala, to name a couple of artists, who are hailed today as two of the greatestartists in Sri Lanka, had the ignomy of rejection by Philistines who held office at the Ceylon Society of Arts,

A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka 184了
SRI LANKA. HAS ARICHTRADITION OF ARTDOWN THE AGESLIKE THE REST OFASA ANDEUROPE. THE EARLIST WORKSOFARTIN SRI LANKA AREBY ANONYMOUSARTISTS AND SCULPTORS. EVEN IF THEY WERE KNOWN IN THEIR TIMES, THEIR NAMES ARE OBLITERATED BY THE PASSAGE OF TIME. THE TEMPLES AND MONASTERIES IN SRI LANKA ARE REPLETE WITHPAINTINGS, SCULPTURE AND DECORATIVE MOTIFS PAYING HOMAGE TO LORD BUDOHA AND EPISODESLLUSTRATINGHS LIFE AND REBRTHSNARRATED DOWN THE AGES IN THE NUMEROUS JATAKA TALES. THIS IS NO DIFFERENT TO THE MURALS IN EARLY CHRISTIAN CHURCHES DEPICTINGEPISODES FROM THE BIBLE,
The Fish Justin Daranyagala Justin Daraniyagala is one of the original members of Group 43.
Life is the state of activity peculiar to animals and plants in which an organism act upon its environment which in turn reacts upon it. The physical basis of life is protoplasm, a complex mixture of compounds of carbon, hydrogen, oxygen and nitrogen, with usually some Sulphur and phosphorus. These compounds consist of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, Tineral salts and about 75 per cent. of water, Protoplasm is an unstable structure as it is subject to constant physical and chemical changes (metabolism) by which the organism grows, These Tmetabolic processes comprise those that build up (anabolism) and those that break down the protoplasm (katabolism). The living activities are expressed in movement, nutrition, growth, sensation and reproduction, and in all these activities a supply of energy in required, set free, in most cases, by oxidation of the protoplasm, the intake and use of oxygen being known as respiration. In the death of an organism, its unity is lost and the protoplast breaks up to form new compounds. The origin of the earliest living organisms is a mystery.

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1848 Politics ard Life İrı Our Tir795
The Group 43 was formed as a protest against what these gifted artists considered as the decadent, sterile and academic paintings accepted and exhibited by the Ceylon Society of Arts. The artists in the original Group 43 were Geoffrey Beling, Aubrey Collette, Ralph Claessen, Justin Daraniyagala, Richard Gabriel, S.R.Kanagasabai, George Keyt, Manjusri Thero, Iwan Peries and Harry Pieres. Three other artists who later exhibited with the Group were Ivan M.Fernando, Reggie Candappa ad EdrTLund Blacker.
The Ceylon Society of Arts which was a powerful body influenced the press to heap redicule at the work of these artists when they exhibited their work originally. Modern art suffered the same fate in Europe before Picasso, Cezame, Renoir, Manet, Degas, Gaugin and other greats were recognised for their genius. Today George Keyt is celebrated and Venerated for his masterpieces not only in Sir Lanka but in the whole of Asia.
One of Keyt's monumental work is the murals he painted at the Gothami Vihare in Borella depicting the life of the Buddha. The modern rendering of these murals is the fusion of the East and the West - a combination of Piccasso and Ajanta. Keyt was deeply influenced by Hindu literature and mythology and this for Ted the subject of many of his paintings.
The Gothami Vihare murals are in contrast to the Work of another lesser known Sri Lankan master who painted the life of the Buddha at the Kelaniya Temple. The artist Soliyas Mendis rendered them in soft earth colours with lyrical beauty. He was a pupil of Tagore's School at Santaniketan. Both are works of art of outstanding merit and reflect the personalities of the two artists. Keyt was awarded a Honorary Doctorate of Dr. Litt by the University of Sri Lanka for his contribution to Art. Soliyas Mendis died as a farmer tilling his paddy fields unheard, unsung.
Todaya Foundation has been set up in Keyt's name to foster the arts, specially to promote up and coming artists in the country. The George Keyt. Foundation is the only institution of its kind to conduct regular exhibitions of budding artists. One of the very successful promotions was a street exhibition on a Sunday called "Kala Pola" to exhibit and sell the Work of talented young artists, Lowers of art flocked to purchase

A Brief History of Art in Sri Lanka 1849
THE SCHOLAR AND CONNOISSEUR OF ORIENTAL ART, DR. ANANDA COOMARASWAMY WASCONCERNED WITH THE PRESERVATION OFSR LANKAN ART, HE DREW ATTENTION TO THE NEGLECT OF TEMPLES BUILT IN THE 16TH AND 19TH CENTURY HOUSING THESE PAINTINGSIN THE KANDYAN DISTRICT. HEDREWATTENTION INPARTICULAR TO THE UNINITIATED MONKS WHO REPAINTED THESE EARLIER TEMPLE PANTINGS WITH BRIGHT COLOURS AND LL CONCEIVED EFFORTS OF REALISM. THE ORIGINAL PAINTINGS WERE LIMITED TO EARTH COLOURS (MAINLY RED, YELLOW, GREYISH GREEN AND WHITE) AND DEWOD OF PERSPECTIVE THIS WAS AN ACCEPTED TRADITIONAL STYLE OF PAINTINGS WHICH THEY MUTIILATED WITH GAYABANDON. THE HALLMARKS LEFT BEHIND BY THE BRITISH, SRI LANKA'S MOST RECENT CONCUERORS ARE MOST WIDELY SEEN IN THE LANGUAGE, DRESS, MUSIC AND ART, BESIDES THE JUDICIAL ADMINISTRATIVE AND ECONOMICSYSTEMS WHICH HAVE BECOME PARTAND PARCELOF THE LIFE OF THE COUNTRY. THE IMPACT OF THE PORTUGUESE AND DUTCH NFLUENCES HASRAPIDLY RECEDED INTO THE PAST.
gais క్ల్లో
Bea Scare. Reggie Candappa Reggie Candappa started as a book cover designer and now is an accomplished Artist,
Air in natural motion is called wind. Winds are caused by differences of atmospheric pressure, in turn produced by temperature differences. Air flows to a low pressure region from one where a higher pressure exists. Wind force is measured according to the Beaufort scale. Trade wind is persistent wind. Always blowing in certain latitudes, in the northern hemisphere blows towards the Equator from the North-East, in the southern from the South-East. In the days of sailing ships it was of the greatest importance to trade, hence the name. It prevails in the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans, and has considerable influence upon rainfall and climatic conditions generally.

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1850 Politics and Life in Our Tinnes
these paintings. The exhibition received wide TV coverage and press Write-ups. The ultimate aim of the Foundation is to build an Art Gallery in the memory of George Keyt. Sri Lanka lacks a proper Art Gallery like those in more developed countries.
Besides the artists featured so far in this article, there are many others who have made their contribution like Ivor Bapist, a landscape artist, Donald Ramanyake, another verytalented artist, Terry de Neise, a portrait painter. These artists taught their skills to many young artists who have achieved success and fame today like Marie Alles Fernando, fromi Wijewardene, two very gifted artists who have built names for themselves.
Of the contemporary artists the most successful and famous is Senaka Senanayake who was a child prodigy and blossomed into a highly acclaimed adult artist. He has held nearly 100 one-man exhibitions in 18 Countries. One of his paintings adorns the United Nations Building in New York at the entrance to the main conference chamber. The only other two paintings adorning the UN building are by Marc Chagall and Fernand Leger. Many museums and public buildings the world over display Senaka's work.
Stanley Kiride is another talented artist whose work is exceptional, particularly his illustrations for books. Another young artist who was cut off in the prime of life was young Sanjeeva Mendis. He too was a child prodigy and showed great promise. Sri Lanka is fortunate to have many gifted artists judging from the spate of art exhibitions held practically every day of the week in some gallery or other. But artists can't flourish without the economic means to support them and without the interaction of art societies where they can meet other artists and exchange ideas, without the exposure to the work of great masters, if not from original paintings at least from reproductions in books. These are not readily available like in other developed countries. Even art schools we have are Sadly lacking in teachers, art material and mostly atmosphere and environment. But with all these drawbacks we have produced some great artists. That is in itself a great achievement.
Colombo, 1997.

CHAPTER 19
Anti-Imperialist Movement
The Gall Oya Project Failure
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe
The Gal Oya project is perhaps the biggest fraud against this Country. It was claimed to be a multi-purpose scheme. That claim has turned out to be false. To vested plantation interests, it has served as a clever diversion from initiating multi-purpose projects by harnessing the rivers flowing through their estates. To the American contractors it was a unique opportunity to collect the maximum profit. The American expert who planned it could not have heard of the Tennessee Valley project in his own Country.
The services of an Americanfim (Morrison Knudson International Ltd.) were obtained on the ground that they had experience of their own Tennessee Valley (TV) scheme. If they had any such knowledge, they must have forgotten all of it when they arrived in Ceylon. The Gal Oya project shows complete ignorance of any scientific principles. It is illConceived, wasteful and gravely prejudicial to the needs of the people of the basin.
The main purpose of the scheme was the storage of water for the irrigation of the maximum amount of land. To accomplish this, one would expect that, first, several small dams would be built in the upper reaches of the main river and its tributaries so that the lands in these areas Could be irrigated, providing at the same time more electric power, and Second, Several more Small dams would be built in the lower basin Which Would receive water from the reservoirs above and that these dams would in turn provide water for irrigating the lower basin, generating cheap electricity at the same time. Such a scheme could have been constructed with Smaller construction machinery. It would have irrigated land at all levels, bringing under cultivation more than 200,000 acres.
Instead, the American advisers planned at Gal Oya a single dam and a single reservoir, built at a cost of over 100 million rupees. This dam was built at Inginiyagala, more than half way down the river, at a point which leaves 380 square miles above the dam and 320 square miles below. The results have been disastrous in the extreme. First, all the land

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1852 Politics and Life in Our Times
above the dam is unirrigated. Second, the scheme as Completed irrigates only 60,000 acres for two crops. Already before the present Scheme, in the same area, 4 tanks and 14 anicuts irrigated 33,000 acres. This means that the net increase in the irrigated area after the completion of this most expensive scheme, is only 27,000 acres. Third, in the Words of the ubiquitous Mr. Kahawita, "this scheme would impound the entire flow from a drainage area of 380 square miles (i.e. 234,000 acres) to irrigate 60,000 acres with crops". The danger is that any extensive cultivation in this vast area above will promote erosion and the sitting of the reservoir below. (At present, only 6% of the catchment area of 234,000 acres is cultivated). So it is necessary to keep this vastarea uncultivated in order to irrigate a mere 60,000 acres from the reservoir. Fourth, Dr. Gorrie, the soilerosion expert, warned about this danger, of erosion and silting. The present writer drew the attention of the people and the Government to just this danger, in his pamphlet "Gal Oya and the crisis in agriculture". Mr. Kahawita stated in reply thus: "With such a large extent of the watershed under vegetation, the sceptics who foresee doom shall be converted". The doom has come much sooner than the present writer had feared. The Gal Oya Board in its latest report admits the need for measures to prevent sitting as a vital problem. The Board proposes to restrict the cultivation of even the 6% of the land now cultivated in the catchment area. The cultivators in Medagama Wasama, Nikeweti Korale, Nilgala Wasama, and Dambagalla Korale are now prohibited from continuing their traditional chena cultivation, which they are compelled by circumstancestoresort to because of lack of irrigation water. About 5,000 inhabitants in the villages of this region are now threatened with eviction and persecution.
All this effort was to irrigate a mere 60,000 acres for two crops. For efficient completion of this work, the grateful U.N. P. government paid a bonus to these American ContractorS.
It is to be hoped that, when a peoples' government comes into power, a public inquiry will be conducted on the following charges. The Country must know who were responsible for this planned, large-scale fraud called the Gal Oya project. The investigation must examine:
1. Why there was disregard of the elementary and fundamental Consideration of the maximum welfare of the entire river basin -- namely, 380 square miles above, and 320 square miles below the dam.
2. Why the harnessing of all rivers connected with the watershed of the Gal Oya Valley namely, Kumbukkan Oya, Kirindi Ganga, Badulu Oya, Madura Oya, Andella Oya, and Heda Oya, was not considered. Such

The Gal Oya Project Failure 1853
a scheme would have meant the development of the region extending from Badulla Highlands to the south-eastern sea coast, covering a very fertile area studded with hills and in extent over 2 million acres and lying between the Mahaweli Ganga plain and the basins of the Walawe Ganga and Kirindi Ganga.
3. Who was responsible for wasting public funds to construct four chambers for four turbines and an enormous steel surge chamber, when the volume of water in the reservoir was sufficient for operating only one turbine.
4. Whether the purpose of the Inginiyagala dam could not have been better served by building several small dams and whether such a Scheme Would not have been far more economical and built without SO much imported machinery and specialists from abroad.
5. Why the American 'experts' were not directed to follow their own Tennessee Valley project, and build several dams across the main river and the tributaries, beginning in the upper areas, thereby using the large volume of water to irrigate the upper and middle catchment areas before the same water is utilised in the coastal plains of Pattipola area, that is, the present Gal Oya scheme area.
6. Whether a bigger output of hydro-electricity was not possible at a much lower cost along the river valley by making the same water pass through several turbines at different levels.
7. Why flood protection and drainage of the lower basin were not considered as integral parts of the scheme, although it was originally advertised as a multi-purpose Scheme providing flood-protection as well. For such a purpose detention reservoirs should have been built in the upper catchment areas of the many tributaries that flow into the river below the Inginiyagala dam.
These tributaries and the main river should have been deepened in order to provide adequate discharge channels for flood water, and in order to provide for water transport. In addition such measures would have made drainage of lagoons and marshy lands feasible. Such a scheme would have prevented the recent disastrous floods in this area. On the contrary these American experts have encouraged the silting of the main river below the dam, thereby aggravating the flood menace and causing unprecedented damage to rice CropS and dwelling houses.
8. Whether it was due to inefficiency or corruption that a decision was taken to divert water from the Gal Oya catchment area to the Andella Oya and Navakiri Aru basins, when the water in the reservoir was not

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1854 Politics and Life irn COLLI r Tirres
P. KANDIAH, WAS A SANSKRIT SCHOLAR AND WAS STUDYING AT THE CEYLON UNIVERSITY COLLEGE DURING THE EARLY 193OS. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, WAS STUDYING AT THIS UNIVERSITY COLLEGE FROM 1930 ONWARDS. HE HAD COME TO KNOW KANDIAH WHEN BOTH OF THEM WERE STUDYING IN JAFFNA, THE LATTER AT JAFFNA HINDU COLLEGE AND THIS AUTHOR AT PARAMESHWARA COLLEGE AT THE UNIVERSITY COLLEGE KANDIAH AND THIS AUTHORMOWED VERY CLOSELY. AFTER HE GRADUATED HE WAS GIVEN A SCHOLARSHIP AND HE JOINED THE CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY AND COMPLETED HIS STUDIES THERE SUCCESSFULLY.
f912 — 1961 Founder Trem|7ber of the CormirTTLJinist Party of Sri Lanka. LLS K LE LKLLL LLLLLLLT GLLLL 00LLLS LLaLLS
In this article "The Gal Oya Project Failure", Kandiah collected material, arranged the text and Thade valuable suggestions to the author of this article, Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe. The Gal Oya project is perhaps the biggest fraud against this country. It was claimed to be a multi-purpose scheme. That claim has turned out to be false. To Wested plantation interests, it has served as a clever diversion from initiating multi-purpose projects by airessing the rivers flowing through their gstates. To the American Contractors it was a unique opportunity to collect the maximum profit. The American expert who planned it could not have heard of the Tennessee Walley project in his own country. The services of an American firm (Morrison Knudson International Ltd.) were obtained on the ground that they had experience of their own Tennessee Walley scheme. If they had any such knowledge, they must have forgotten all of it when they arrived in Ceylon, The Gal Oya project shows complete ignorance of any scientific principles. It is ill-Conceived, wasteful and gravely prejudicial to the needs of the people of the basin,
 

The Gall Oya Project Failure 1855
sufficient to operate the four turbines and irrigate the Gal Oya basin for two crops. Whether the contract for Rs.30 million to the same American company to cut this channel across the 60 foot Uhana Ridge in order to divert the water, was a deliberate plan for profiteering at the expense of our people.
The Andella COya and Nawakiri Aru basins could have been irrigated by Constructing detention reservoirs in the upper catchment areas of these two riversata cost of about 2 million rupees. This would have in addition provided flood protection to the Kalmunai area,
9. The necessity to suspend forth with the execution of the plans now under Contemplation to build reservoirs in the lower basins of the Heda Oya, Pallang Oya and Nama Oya. These schemes are basically unsound and will create additional hardships for the people living in the upper catchment areas of these rivers.
10. Whether adequate investigations were made regarding Mr. Kennedy's scheme to irrigate 50 thousand acres in this same Pattipola aru regionata cost of about 6 million rupees. This scheme was abandoned infavour of the American project which provided only an extra 25thousand acres for the extra cost of Rs. 29.4 million. This involved the additional problem of prohibiting cultivation in the upper catchment areas,
11. The advisability of scrapping the Gal Oya Development Board in view of the fact that the Board has taken under its authority 300 square miles of Wellassa. This Board is planning to forcibly depopulate this region by persecuting the villagers in a way that amounts to savagery. It has been clearly established that the activities of this Board have been carried out with complete disregard for the Welfare of the people of Kalmunai and Akkaraipattu areas. The policy of the Board has resulted in an alarming decrease in the number of head of cattle thereby creating a grave situation for the peasants of these poverty stricken areas.
The Gal Oya project is a typical example of the extravagance and waste of public funds incurred by the UNP Government in the many economic projects it has so far undertaken. Such waste is perhaps unknown in the history of modern irrigation. Such a gross deception of the people by a foreign Company in order to extract maximum profits for themselves had never before been attempted in our country.
(An extract from "The Way Ahead" in which book Dr. S. A. Wickreisinghe,
the author, acknowledged that his colleague, P. Kandah, collected
Taterial, arranged the text, and made valuable suggestions).
Courtesy: "The Way Ahead", June 1955.

Page 389
Dangers involved in Mahaweli ACCeleration
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe
Introduction of an irrigation system within five years in an area of 10,000 square miles can create such changes in the ecological balance which can result in complicated unforeseen problems.
One and a half million acres are under the mandate of the Mahaveli Scheme, 900,000 acres of which are for cultivation by 300,000 households in 3 acres blocks. The project area covers 39% of the entire Country. Each household with an average of 6.9 persons will add up to a total population of about two million people. An experienced Director of Agriculture, Dr. E. Abeyratne, has focussed the attention of the thinking public to the tragedy facing the Purana villagers now living in the phase One of the Mahaveli Scheme.
He also warns the government regarding problems of agronomy Such as defective drainage, water-logging, salination, limitations of flood irrigation, absence of drip or sprinkler irrigation and danger of soilerosion. He poses the serious question as to whether the Purana village units Cannot be remodelled to meet the new Social and economic demands without imposing new settlements and uprooting the Puranagoviyas with their permanent and seasonal crops. Even without new settlements, deforestation has reached alarming proportions even in the sparsely Cultivated Mahavelidry zone.
An expert in sociology has drawn our attention to the danger of population explosion which often follows such settlements inspite of family planning propaganda. In the Ministers own words the acceleration of the development programme is a drastic measure that is taken to prevent the unemployed from spiralling to choke this land in seething discontent. A more meaningful and lasting solution to the grave national Crisis is to have a scientifically planned out alternative integrated scheme of several industrial and agricultural projects in order to solve the economic Crisis in 5 to 6 years. The country no doubt is in the midst of a grave economic crisis, unemployment is increasing on a massive scale, under

Dangers involved in Mahaweli Acceleration 1857
nourishment both among children and adults is alarmingly high, cost of living is rocketting and is out of control. Foreign debt and unfavourable trade balances are a Severe drain on the national income.
The Mahavelimasterplanneed not have been disjointed in orderto perform the impossible task of absorbing the entire balance of the unemployed. Acceleration of such a vast and complicated agricultural development project involves not only the timefactor but also changes in the agro-technical methods involved in the development processes and plans.
In modern agricultural economy, the development of agroindustrial complexes with maximum mechanisation to increase not only the yield per acre but also the per capita output is the accepted policy both in socialist and capitalist countries, even in those capitalist countries that approve our accelerated Mahaweli development policy. The Only method for the rapid improvement of living standards is to create maximum surplus for investment on national development and for accumulating social funds for welfare services. Besides, this is the only known effective inducement for voluntary lowering of the birth rate.
With the Galoya experience the government ought to be well aware of the grave dangers that accompany acceleration of Construction of large national development schemes. Aprivate American engineering corporation was given the contract to construct the dam across the Pattipola area for development of the Galoya valley. In the name of accelerated development no tenders were called for. The basis of payment was a fee, namely cost plus 11% of the target. All machinery for the project was imported at our expense. The costly engineering equipments were used round-the-clock without proper servicing and were almost cannibalised. The official target was 52 months but was completed in 32 months. The American contractors collected massive bonuses and fees from our taxpayers. But maximum speed was achieved although the design of the Galoya reservoir was faulty. In the very first year of operation two big floods devastated the entire valley. Water cannot be stored in the rainy season for fear of overtopping the spill, and in the dry season water is insufficient for irrigation and the operation of 10 megawatt turbines. In spite of over 1,000 million rupees spent on capital expenditure and maintenance without an adequate income for over a decade, Galoya project has only made a negative impact on the national economy.

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858 Politics and Life in Our Times
The use of bulldozers and tree dozers and heavy anchor chains not only cleared the forest very rapidly but disturbed and destroyed permanently the richtop soil as well-harvester combines were introduced to Galoya, but the Liyaddas were not big enough to operate them so they were abandoned, to be piled up in the open as scrap. The one redeeming feature in the Galoya Valley Scheme was the decision not to disturb the Purana villages.
The only settlements that give an income to government today are these Purana settlements. The sugarcane plantation is in a water logged area and the quality of cane is very poor, the Sugar mill is running much below capacity and the main product is not sugar but rectified Spirits for conversion into liquor for the State Distilleries. A massive rice mill was setup. Also a wood working complex, mechanical brick and tile kilns, retreading tyre factory, heavy machine repair and maintenance shops, mechanical barges fortransport of goods produced by lagoon to the railway station.
But today all these enterprises display a ghastly spectacle of gross inefficiency, bad planning, extravagant waste and are in various stages of neglect and decay. During the next decade Concentration in the Mahaveliproject should be the completion of the phase one and selected projects like hydropower schemes of phase two and also engage in preparing blueprints for projects like large scale mechanised dairy farming with fodder production. Also obtain expert advice on several industrial projects to provide the necessary impact on the national economy. On agricultural production modern methods of sprinkler and drip irrigation, large scale and intensive agricultural methods now practiced in developed and developing countries must be studied and introduced. The partitioning of 900,000 acres of arable state lands into 300,000 settlements Completely blocks the possibilities for the application of some of the modern advanced methods for increased output with minimum cost of production. With the advice of reactionary foreign experts, modern methods of agricultural development have been rejected out of hand by our governments.
Both the President and the Minister of irrigation are dissatisfied with the UNDP/FAO team for the slow pace of progress of the scheme and the consequent marginal impact on the national economy.
The story has not been told of the USOM role in delaying the Mahaveli project. In 1958 the USOM intervened on behalf of the same American private Corporation that extorted inordinate profits from the badly designed Galoyaproject. Until 1964 USOM attempted to pressurise

Dangers involved in Mahaweli Acceleration 1859
the Ceylon government with the collusion of the Minister C. P. de Silva, into acceptance of USOM Mahavelidiversion scheme. As similar situations can arise in the future it will be of interest to have a general idea of the USOM Mahaveli project. The scheme was published by the USOM as the Ceylon government committed programme for diversion in 1960 and the Director of USOM pressed for its inclusion in the 1959-60 budget. The scheme was for partial diversion of Mahaveli by a weir near Peradeniya and carry this water by an open concrete canal 24 feet wide 13 feet deep up to Vavuniya, a distance of 124 miles. The cost of the canal would have been prohibitive. It involved 266 complicated principal concrete structures - about 48 bridges, 74 culverts, conduits, tunnels, siphons, etc. The damage to developed property along the track would have been very heavy. The total installed hydropower capacity of Mahaveli was only 240 megawatts according to USOM estimates. This includes power generation of Kotmala reservoir too. The right bank of Mahaveli with all its tributaries and the Maduru Oya basin were considered unsuitable for development owing to unfavourable to photography. The Rotalawala dam and Kandakadu barrage were considered unnecessary as the soil in the delta and lower left bank region were considered not sufficiently fertile for development with irrigation and flood protection, USOM total Mahaveli irrigation potential was 34,000 acres.
A favourable cost benefit ratio was shown with manipulated figures to justify the acceptance of the scheme. With bulldozers, giant metal crushers, earth moving machinery and other implements of modern technology the scheme would have been completed long before 1970. Speed would have been achieved but at the expense of a national disaster 1000 times more tragic than the Galoyafiasco. In contrast the UNDP/FAO scheme will produce 500 mw of hydropower and irrigate 500,000 acres.
The danger was averted only by exposure in parliament and compelling the Minister to give an undertaking that the Scheme will also be referred to the United Nations experts for their approval before approval by the government. The UNDP/FAO rejected the USOM scheme and came to an agreement with the government to make a comprehensive survey of the Mahaveli only in 1964 and in 1968 this comprehensive survey was completed. From 1958 to 1964 no progress was possible due to USOM interference.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, July 22nd, 1978.

Page 391
Nilwala Ganga - Disaster Ahead
by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe
A flood protection scheme suggested by French experts from Paris estimated to cost 2 W, billion rupees will bring doubtful benefits to about 12,000 acres of paddy fields in production today.
Our local experts appear to hawe approved this scheme, the implementation of which will result in irretrievable damage to the river basin and colossal wasteful expenditure both for Capital Construction and for Taintenance thereafter. The scheme is intended to protect from flood damage some 12,000 acres of paddy fields now yielding about 150,000 tons of paddy in spite of periodical floods.
The tota|Cost of the Schere is estimated at Rs. 2,565,000,000 and maintenance to cost annually Rs.36,866,000. The Cost of power to operate 14,000 Kw of installed capacity is Rs.8,737,000, The foreign share of the cost is 74% of the total; pumping equipment alone will Cost Rs.500,000,000 which involves 16 pumping stations and 57 pumping units to pump outflood waters from the paddy fields to the river over the flood bunds,
The low yields in Matara district and in all the other rain-fed cultivation areas are not due to flood damage but due to lack of Water during the cultivation seasons. The remedy is to provide irrigation Water through water conservation and water control which in turn would eliminate the tendency for floods and soil erosion. The French experts appear to work on the hypothesis that flood waters are a major evil and that modern technology must be harnessed to drain all the flood Waters and the displaced alluvial soil, as rapidly as possible, to the Sea.
This Franch plan includes: - (a) deepening and broadening the river bed for about 20 miles; (b) construction of 15 miles of high flood bunds to prevent the river from overflowing the banks; (c) mechanised pumping of flood water over the banks into the river; (d) constructing a by-pass channel near the river mouth about half a mile long, 150 ft. broad and 10 ft. deep. This channel through Pallimula and Kotuwagoda will displace a large number of families. About half the floodwolume is expected to flow through this channel to the seathereby preventing floodlewels upstream from rising to dangerous levels, for example to ten feet in Akuressa town; (e)a rock-fill Weirto divert water to the by-pass; (ii)Sea Works to build a jetty at the mouth to prevent sand-bar formation; (g) readjustment of the river bed, starting from the Weir and extending upstream for about 3 miles, and regular dredging and checking every 2 years in order to prevent blocking of the flood outlets to the Indian Ocean by large scale erosion and deposits at the mouth.

Niwala Garga - Disaster Ahead 1861
IN MODERN AGRICULTURAL ECONOMY. THE DEVELOPMENT OF A GROINDUSTRIAL COMPLEXES WITH MAXIMUM MECHANIS ATION TO INCREASE NOT ONLY THE YELD PER ACREBUT ALSO THE PER CAPITA OUTPUT IS THE ACCEPTED POLICY BOTH IN SOCIALISTAND CAPITALIST COUNTRIES, EVENIN THOSE CAPITALIST COUNTRIES THAT APPROVE OUR ACCELERATED MAHAWEL DEVELOPMENT POLICY. THE ONLY METHOD FOR THE RAPIDIMPROVEMENT OF LIVING STANDARDS STO CREATE MAXIMUM SURPLUS FOR INVESTMENTON NATIONAL DEVELOPMENT AND FOR A CCUMULATING SOCIAL FUNDS FOR WELFARE SERVICES. BESIDES, THIS IS THE ONLY KNOWN EFFECTIVE INDUCEMENT FOR WOLUNTARY LOWERING OF THE BRTHRATE,
॥" リ三*
A Hindu Wedding at Colorbo,
Marriage is the union between man and woman recognised by law or Custom. It arose at a very larly stage in hurrian society, as without something of the kind it was impossible to fix or enforce the responsibilities of parentage. It was also necessary in the interests of the woman and for determining the ownership of property, Marriage may be monogamous or polygamous. Among thany primitive people polygamy was, and is, recognised. But in Christendort monogamy was gradually established, and today the laws of all Christian countries forbid polygamy. Another form of early Tharriage was the group marriage, a union of men and women indiscriminately, but only within a certain circle. Polyandry, the union of one Woman with two or moro Then, is also known to have existed in certain early Societies, The customs which attend Tarriage are extremely old and varied, Among many peoples there is a pretence that the Woman is captured. In other cases she is purchased and payment is inade for her to her father or other relative. On the other hand, in some Cases money or property is given with her. In almost all states of society her legal position is inferior to that of her husband and in quite a number she is regarded merely as his property. From this idea even the most advanced Communities hawe only broken away in recent years,
ú..ùWùùያr FFIùካጋ

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1862 Politics and Life in Our Times
The French experts envisage the grave possibility of heavy erosion and deposit formation when attempts are made to increase the volume and velocity of discharge of floodwater. The only way to prevent obstruction is to encourage the discharge of displaced soil to the Indian Ocean. This process of erosion and deposit formation and dredging will continue indefinitely adding to the already existing washing away of Soil by wave action round the entire sea coast. The proposed elaborate and prohibitively extravagant flood protection scheme with bunds and a by-pass will not effectively increase paddy yields. The determining factor for poor yields is the lack of irrigation facilities during the cultivation season.
The ideal solution is the damming of the main river and Hulanda Ganga at Bimhamara for hydro-power, irrigation and partial elimination of i floods. With dams across the DigiliGanga and Kirama Aru the elimination of floods will be complete. The government has obviously rejected this proposal because of the problem of the catchment area that will beinundated by the reservoir. In the circumstances the alternative method to increase paddy yields is not flood bunds but reservoirs on all the 4 tributaries and also on the main river at a higher elevation, where the inundation will make much less displacement of settlement. With such an alternative the hydropower potential will be very much reduced but irrigation facilities can be improved and uncertainties of rain-fed cultivation will be eliminated and flood damage effectively reduced.
Surveys were carried out on Siyambalaganga, Hulandaganga and DigiliGanga several years ago. It is very strange that the Kirama Aru has escaped the attention of both foreign and local experts in the past, although this tributary drains nearly half of the catchment area of the entire river basin. Nilwala Ganga basin has 45,000 acres of paddy fields and the average yield is about 57,000 metrictons per year. The yield can be doubled by improving cultivation practices. This is possible only by providing water Control through proper irrigation facilities.
The ideal solution with maximum benefit to the national power Supply is the Binhamara Damacross the Nilwala Ganga and Hulandaganga which will yield about 50,000 kilowatts of electric power. With the harnessing of Kirama Aru and Digiliganga, flood damage will be completely eliminated. The decision to inundate Teldeniya for the Victoria High dam has set the example for others to follow. Maskeli Oya and Mahaveli Scheme have demonstrated that flood waters are the greatest national asset provided they are harnessed for hydropower generation and irrigation. It is criminal to allow flood water to flow into the sea untapped for human Welfare.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, December 13th, 1980.

The Janasaviya Program Let's Face the Facts
by Dr. Mervyn D. de Silva M.P
Former Senior Researcher in the Ministry of Planning
have been baffled as to why a government that idolises the Singaporean model of development did not adopt the strict planning methodologies followed by that country. Perhaps, it does not know that central planning, which is an anathemato the UNP, is practised in Singapore. The Ministry of Policy Planning may do well to read the article by Professor lan MacDonald entitled "How Singapore makes Central Planning Work", which appears in the journal, Long Range Planning, Vol. 19, No. 1, 1986.
Honourable Chairman, before present my main observations on the Janasaviya program, lowe a word of explanation in regard to the origin of the word Janasaviya and the movement itself.
The Janasaviya is nota new concept created by this government just as much as poverty alleviation was not originally conceived by Dr. Rasaputra and his team of officials. It is a World Bank strategy and the World Bank has been in the poverty business for quite some time.
it was as far back as 1982 that a people's movement called Janasaviya took root in the Chilaw and Galle districts. A dedicated band of grass root level workers led by two succeeding Directors of the Socio Economic Development Centre in Colombo, namely Frs. Vincent Dep and Peter Charles Fernando were the originators of the Janasaviya concept of Integral Human Development. In fact, the Socio Economic Development Centre made the Janasaviya movement the main plank of its activities. shall now quote page 15 of the annual report of the centre for the year 1987.
"During the year under review, SEDEC made greater effort to promote grassroot level peoples Organizations called Janasaviya under our development education program. The central objective was to give the people a model organisation to promote their own welfare.
"The Janasaviyas are small groups of families of 20-25 within a given area of a village, organised on the basis of self-help and mutual help. Its primary objective is to organise people to pool their individual resources and talents for their own development according to their own needs and the needs of the village, for the participants, of the participants and run by the participants".

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1864 Politics ard Life irti COur Tirrings
Today many organisations do concentrate on organising the people at village level, not excluding the public authorities. The main difference between the Janasaviya approach and others lies in the factories, former are not rubber stamp organisations to implement or endorse other people's opinions, to fight for that cause or this cause, but are organisations of the beneficiaries to promote social and economic Services to themselves as a Collective effort - one of the basic dimensions of development - the man to man relationship, first in the individual; the second collectively.
As for the term Janasawiya, it was coined by a trained teacher from Mahawewa by the name of W. Basil Fernando who had received many cultural awards.
Janasawiya as few may know is an acronym for a beautiful concept. I shall now quote from a booklet on the movement put out by the pioneегs.
Ja stands for Janatha meaning people, Na stands for na niya meaning adaptable, flexible, Sastands for sampath meaning resources; Vistands for Visarjanaya meaning sharing and spreading; and Yastands for mower lent or process.
The authentic Janasawiya then, must mean not a mere doling out of money but a movement comprising of people, who are adaptable and flexible and are capable of sharing their resources and skills for meaningful human development; and then join in the on-going struggle for justice and liberation from all forms of oppressive structures,
Since, this is the intellectual property of Mr. Fernando, think he should be given credit, both for his contribution towards the movement and for neologising a word which has become a household word in this Country today. -
I do not think anyone will grudge the use of the concept or the name, particularly when it is for the good of the people, especially the poor people; but there is the fear that the core values in this concept may suffer distortion.
Honorable Mr. Chairman, poverty, powerlessness, and oppression among people had been the centre-piece of SLFP policies since 1956, and I am grateful that this Ministry will concern itself with the poor, after having left them in the limbo of forgotten things for 11 long years. During this period the monthly money income of Rs.300- of food stamp receipients lost its purchasing power by 61.3%,

The Jarasavya Program - Let's Face the Facts 1885
C. W. GOONERATINE ENTERED PARLIAMENT IN 1989. HE WAS THE ONLY OPPOSITION MEMBER WHO HAD RAISED MOST NUMBER OF ADJOURNMENT OUESTIONS, HIS WIFE SHAYAM WALKED WITH HIM THROUGHOUTHIS LIFE UNTIL BOTH OF THEMMET WITH A TRAGICEND. HE WAS THE SON OF L.W. GOONERATNE, ONE-TIME MAYOR OF DEHWELAMT. LAWINIA. C. W. WASA MAN OF HIGHINTEGRITY, ADEEPLY RELIGIOUS ROMAN CATHOLIC, HAVING PERSONAL CHARMAND COMMANDING PHYSICAL STATURE. C. W. PULLED NO PUNCHES IN HISUNTRINGEFFORTS TO PROWE WHAT A BLIGHT THE UNP GOVERNMENTS REALLY WERE IN THE 1977-1994 PERIOD. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK T DURAISINGAM, WHOIS THE TREASURER AND ANOFFICIAL OF THEAFRO-ASIANSOLIDARITY ASSOCATION OFSRI LANKA CAME TO KNOW C. W. GOONERATNEWERY WELL WHO WASALONG STANDING ACTIVE MEMBER OF THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE AFRO-ASIAN SOLIDARITY ASSOCATION.
Čerť WWC for Gerarse fĖS, 04.7 935 - 07 MÉS.20) Minister of Industrial Development. Member of the Central Cormittee and an Assistant Secretary of the Sri Lanka Fraadon Party.
Jesus Christ is the personal marTe of the central figure of Christianity. Jesus is the Greek form of the Hebrew Joshua Teaning "Jehovah Saves". Christ is a Greek title, "anointed", representing the Hebrew Messiah, the promised national deliverer.
When 30 years old Jesus entered upon His life work, He was baptised by a relative, John, in the Jordan, and passed 40 days in retirement in the wilderness, where. He wasterTipted by the devil. He then gathered around him twelve followers or disciples and spent nearly three years teaching and preaching as the little band wandered about from place to place. Of His utterances many take the for IT of parables, but the longest recorded is the one known as the Sermon on the Mount. He performed many miracles, mainly deeds of healing, during His ministry, He continually attacked the official classes, known as the Scribes and Pharisees, but the common people heard him gladly. His teaching is fragmentary, but it lays stress upon the love of God to man and contains sayings of Infinite wisdom and universal application. He claims for himself, without any hesitation, the position of the Son of God and the interpreter to man of the divine will, After nearly three years of aang the officials decided to stop His activities. He was at Jerusalem and had just taken His last supper with His disciples, when through the agency of one of the twelve disciples, Judas Iscariot, He was seized and tried before Pontius Pilate. He bore himself with dignity and after some hesitation, Pilate senterced him to death. He was then crucified on a hill called Calvary between two thieves, dying on a day since commemorated as Good Friday,

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1866 Politics and Life in Our Times
However, in my view the Ministry has taken avery simplistic view of the problem of poverty. If poverty was so simple to tackle, surely, many Countries would have banished it from their societies long years ago.
But, poverty is a very complex problem with a multiplicity of causes and a multiplicity of interlocking strands. But worse, it is embedded in our political, economic, social and even religious structures that are hard to penetrate.
Because poverty has a multiplicity of causes, We have to identify all these causes and find appropriate solutions for all of them. This would mean that there must be a multiplicity of specific and diverse solutions. This fact was recognised by Madam Bandaranaike as back as 1971 when she stated in her foreword to the 5-year plan, I quote:
"The government realises and the people too must realise that we cannot expect today's crisis to be overcome by policies of self deception. We cannot afford to consume today all that we produce without making provision for the future. That was a policy of the past and that policy clearly failed. We cannot merely continue to alleviate poverty without taking steps to attack its causes".
Nineteen years ago we tried scientifically to alleviate poverty by going into their causes. The UNP scoffed at us, and today, 19 years later they are trying to implement some of those policies withoutmaking the required structural changes.
While I am glad the government has woken up to the agonies of the poor, I am constrained to think that like the old trickle down theory, integrated rural development, and the bottom up approach, poverty alleviation too will end up as a fad that will resound in national and international fora, while the system and structures that inherently promote poverty, continue. −
Let us be honest and see the reality why people are poor, and then answer the question - is poverty the real problem? I would like to answer that question with apositive no. No, poverty is not the real problem. The real problem, is that mankind is divided into rich and poor withinnations and between nations. The reality and depth of this problem arises from the fact that the man who is rich has power over the man who is poor, and similarly the nation that is rich has power over the policies of those that are not rich. But, more importantly, our economic, Social, and political systems nationally and internationally support these divisions and constantly increase them.

The Janasaviya Program - Let's Face the Facts 1867
We have to face this reality, accept it, and innovate policy decisions to tackle it. This then is where the problem lies. And, this is where any serious poverty program must surely begin.
Mr. Chairman, if the Janasaviya is to have even a semblance of success, the Ministry of Policy Planning would have to come up with immediate policies to bring in appropriate structural and institutional changes and adjustment nationally, by which the levers of economic, political and administrative power are within the reach of the poor themselves. It is only by providing the poor accessibility to the corridors of power in that manner, that the Janasaviya can become a reality and a true antidote for all subversion in our country.
In the name of the poor in this country, I demand that the Ministry brings in this fundamental structural and institutional changes, and then make the Janasaviya a success.
The point I am making is clearly brought out in the resolution of the 4th UNCTAD Conference held in Nairobi in 1986, which I shall quote.
"The struggles of the poor and oppressed is not merely food and other necessities, but also freedom, creativity, and participation in the decision making that affects their lives. Because poverty has its roots in unjust systems and structures, the poor are obliged to subsidise the rich - the development process inevitably involves efforts aimed at systematic changes at local and international level".
Finally, Sir, for more than a decade the policies of the preceeding UNP government, kept this country under the spell of a crude form of bandit capitalism that entrenched these systems, and now, in the face of resultant disillusionment, discontent, and national disintegration.
Disillusionment not merely with the economic, social, and political system but also the democratic and electoral processes that have heen tampered with, corrupted and brutalised. The Ministry of Policy Planning and Implementation is attempting to alleviate poverty, without the required policies to bring about structural changes and adjustments, with the right policies.
(Extract from the Budget speech of Dr. Mervyn D. de Silva, SLFP MP)
Courtesy: "Lanka Guardian", Colombo, May 1, 1989.

Page 395
Environmental Protection and Common Security in the Mediterranean Region
by Dr. Judit Balazs Academy of Sciences, Hungary
The concept of common security is a complex one: it embraces the community of nation states whose existence is ensured under the physical and psychological Conditions of national Security. . In the last third of the twentieth century it has become increasingly obvious that no single nation state can safeguard its security in a lasting way merely as a result of national security efforts and military decisions.
For a long while the creation of national security meant the establishment of a system of defense that provided reliable protection against possible external attack. This concept of security barely means more than guaranteeing physical existence which in cases could be supplemented by the psychological element of the sense of security.
However, in our interdependent world, security over the long term exists only as common security. And this follows inevitably not only from the growing globalization of the social and economic processes but also from mutual dependency.
For centuries, security policy was regarded as identical with military policy. However, in recent decades military policy has become only one element of security policy, while the non-military factors have come to the fore. The effect of this is two-fold: for one, the role of military policy - in the optimal case - declines, and for another the non-military sphere-the economy, ideology-acquires a security policy dimensiono.
Economic security which is prominent among the non-military factors of security is itself a complex concept, applying not merely to economic stability, the capacity to function and security of supply, which also assumes the presence of a stable system of international economic relations arising from mutual dependency.
It is now a fact that Societies and economies have COme into being whose "proper" functioning is also accompanied by a Constant increase in the range of threats and potential sources of threat which eclipse the actual military threat.

Environmental Protection and Common Security in the Mediterranean Region 1869
At the same time there is an increase in the importance of the questions of economic security, including that of environmental protection, requiring just as complex an approach as does the whole issue.
However, before dealing with a few aspects of the interrelationship between environmental protection and common security as they apply to the Mediterranean region, I would like to approach the question of environmental protection using the categories of political economics, pointing out a few relevant inter-relationships of environmental protection and economics.
ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION VERSUS ECONOMIC GROWTH
"Earlier, it was mainly the influence of development on the environment that was observed. However, we now know that in a growing number of areas destruction of the environment Canhat Or reverse the possibility of economic development".
In the course of the sixties and seventies the rapid expansion of production in the developed countries quite clearly took place in consideration of the factors in conformity with the market. Although the phenomena of destruction of the environment could be seen by thenand in fact they had already been foreshadowed in the 1920s and 1930s - the disruption of the ecological equilibrium did not yet appear as an immediate danger. The destruction of the environment appeared in relatively isolated, Smaller regions and the environmental hazards were not existent on a global scale.
The processes of environmental destruction that grew increasingly strong in the sixties and seventies were primarily due to the fact that the qualitatively new and quantitatively vast mass of commodities generated by the first wave of the scientific and technological revolution were created according to the rules of the traditional capitalist market. However, the social interest attached to protection of the environment remained within the scope of this market or of the production serving this market: highly polluting technology was introducedo. The inordinately expanded production generated vast demand for raw materials and energy, a large amount of waste arose in the course of production and, what is more serious, part of the products had a short life-time and under natural conditions the product itself becomes non-degradable waste.

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1870 Politics and Life in Our Tinnes
Under such conditions, the earlier, seemingly harmonious, unity between society and nature - with the exception of a few regions in a Special situation-broke down, and Our planet set out on the path leading to ecological Crisis. The growing expansion of Commodity production brought to the surface the inherent contradictions in the unity of nature and society.
All this arises from the fundamentally market-oriented nature of production, that is, the activity of the producing economic units is subordinated to profit and not to the long-term interests of society. The Contradiction is thus the contradiction between value and use value, since for a long while the primary consideration of production was sales, while use value appeared only as a condition for the realization of the value. Nature as a use value is a given factor and in this system of production it is forced into the background and does not appear even as an abstract value since it is not the product of human creative activity. We said above that the growing contradiction between society and environment is the result of the subordination of production to market interests. However, this statement gives the false impression that environmental destruction is a characteristic solely of the advanced capitalist societies. In reality the link between society and environment and environmental protection are not a category linked to some kind of social commitment. They are far more a concentrated expression of the level of organization and development of an economy. If we examine the economic policy of the socialist countries in the fifties and sixties and even more in the Seventies, it is obvious that the extensive economic policy pursued to overcome the economic backwardness caused enormous harm to the environment. Indeed, the gigantic projects carried out in the Soviet Union under the slogan of "man conquers nature" have caused unforeseeable environmental harm.
Thus, if, when deciding the priorities of economic development only those considerations which are in conformity with the market or. which directly generate growth are taken into account and the sectoral and product structure of the economy is shaped accordingly, the result can easily be decisions which may subsequently become limits to further growth, precisely because of their effect in destroying the environment, and in the past the majority of such decisions were of this type. If we think only in production unit categories and calculate on a basis of input and profits, the resulting investments may be of a type that should actually be restrained because of their harmful effect on the environment.

Environmental Protection and Common Security in the Mediterranean Region 1871
In reality, when we speak of the harmful effect of production on the environment, we should take into account not only the harm done to the environment in the course of the actual production cycle-pollution of the atmosphere and water, etc. - but also the production structure that shaped a given pattern of Consumption. If we regard the considerations of environmental protection as primordial, or at least as of fundamental importance, then it is principally from the side of production that we must shape an environment-friendly pattern of consumption.
At the same time, environmental protection is not only merely a part of production, but is also an integral part of reproduction. In the Course of the Successive production cycles it is not only the expanded reproduction of material goods which must be achieved; in the same Way there is also a need for the reproduction of the natural resources that have been utilized from the environment.
However, reproduction of the environment is a cost based on capital that has not yet appeared, but which must be returned through the product. The return on capital that also takes into account investments for the protection of the environment is thus reduced accordingly. But in countries applying a policy of environmental protection, ways have been found how to balance the increase or reduction in value of producing capital caused by the difference in the return on capital. (The most frequently used method is the taxation system). This is possible within a national framework. However, a policy extending beyond national borders is required for environmental protection: a balance must be achieved on the international level between the satisfaction of human needs and the limitations of an ecological nature, and this must be attained through co-ordinated, harmonized development. However, the "traditional" environmental protection is not sufficient for this, since it operates largely only in the phase of emission; the whole of the production cycle, including also consumption, must be shaped in the light of environmental protection considerations.
HOW LONG WILL THE MEDITERRANEAN SURVIVE?
According to a survey conducted in the mid-eighties, the countries around the Mediterranean discharge 90 per cent of their waste waters into the sea withoutpurification, although the water in the Mediterranean is renewed only every 180 years through the Gibraltar Straits. In addition, there are the industrial effluents and the atmospheric precipitations. 360,000 tons of phosphorous and 1 million tons of nitrogen a year enter

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1872 Polics and life in Our Tiras
the Mediterranean with the household and agricultural waste waters, According to calculations, 1 g of phosphorus is sufficient to nourish the growth of 100 g of algae, the subsequent breakdown of which removes 150g of oxygen from the water. The entry of plant nutrients into the water on a massive Scale is sufficient for the ocean to become gradually eutrophized under normal circunstances. However, the Mediterranean has natural properties that are capable of slowing down this process". At the same time, precisely because of these properties, it is capable of "exporting"the polluting agents that enter it. One of thematerials entering the ocean currents is posidonia", an extremely important kind of Tarine alga, the "green lungs" of the Mediterranean.
A single square meter of posidonia is capable of releasing 14 litres of oxygen in the space of a single day. However, the pollution entering the Mediterranean, principally certain constituent elements of synthetic detergents" are condemning the posidonia to extinction. The posidonia play a key role in maintaining the ecological equilibrium. What is most Worrying is that their living conditions are found precisely where the coastline is most strongly affected by urbanization and mass tourism. In addition, around 30% of the posidonia developing in the Mediterranean enter the Atlantic where they ensure a supply of nutrient in areas of the ocean that Would otherwise be dead because of their very low plankton density.
It can be seen that preserving the ecological balance and natural state of the Mediterranean in reality affects not only the conditions for life around the shores of the Mediterranean, but also influences the security of the natural environment in areas outside the region.
The Mediterranean region is exposed to enormous environmental hazards. Nevertheless, experts dealing with environmental protection of the Mediterranean hawe concentrated almost exclusively on problems that threatened to reduce the attractiveness of the region as a resort area'.
Protection of the environment affects the whole of our planet. The processes giving rise to environmental hazards are gradually affecting ever greater areas and regions. At the same time, the tasks for the protection of the environment are global and cannot be wholly Separated into national parts. It is at this point that national interests appear to come into conflict. Under the present conditions of production - which may not necessarily remain unchanged over the longer termthe renewal of our environment in the course of production cycles now in Wolves substantial additional costs, since a constant "return" on capital

LLLCLLLLLLLLLLLkLLLCMGLLLGlLLLLLa 0LttGLGGL GLa LtLLLLLuLCLCCE LLLLLM S0L0
THE CONCEPT OFCOMMON SECURITYISACOMPLEX ONE,TEMBRACES THE COMMUNITY OF NATION STATES WHOSE EXISTENCE IS ENSURED UNDER THE PHYSICAL AND PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS OF NATIONAL SECURITY IN THE LAST THIRD OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY IT HAS BECOME INCREASINGLY OBVIOUS THAT NO SINGLE NATION STATE CAN SAFEGUARDITSSECURITY INALASTINGWAYMERELY ASARESULT OF NATIONAL SECURITY EFFORTS AND MILITARY DECISIONS. FOR ALONG WHILE THE CREATION OF NATIONAL SECURITY MEANT THE ESTABLISHMENT OFASYSTEM OF DEFENSE THAT PROVIDED RELIABLE PROTECTION AGAINST POSSIBLE EXTERNAL ATTACK.
蔷 : ඝඨි.''}} * .الفيلم
Seated in the contre is the author of this book, T. Duraisinga II, and standing by his side is . Arya warsa.
S LLLLLLOOLOLOLS TeeGGGOuL CLLCLLLCLL LL uu T LLTLMLL LLLLL LLLLLLLLu LMML LLk 00 years, speaking at "79 Miwokararfra Maha Wadyalayam Parer-Teachers Association) LL 00SS C LL LeL eLeLseLsLL GLLL Y LLLLLLLOMMMG LLLLLL CCLHkOOLLLLL LLLS SS LL
Teaching as a Career in England. The work of leaching offers an attractive career for both men and women. The salary is reasonably good, the hours are not over long, the holidays are longer than in most occupations, and teachers who work in schools aided or maintained from public funds are entitled to a pension at the age of sixty, provided they have spent not less than thirty years in teaching. The best preliminary preparation is a good secondary education, followed by a University course. An intending teacher is eligible for a government grant which will pay the cost of tuition and provide a contribution towards maintenance and lodging. After a degree is obtained a further year is spent in professional training, either in a university department of education or a training college. Another plan is to enter one of the training colleges provided by municipal authorities or by such bodies as the church of England or the Wesleyans. Here the student lakes a two-year course aided by government grants, and prepares for an examination conducted by university examining bodies, but not leading to a degree. Success in this examination entitles the student to rank as a certified teacher, Usually the holder of a degree may hope for employment in a secondary school. He must be able to give special instruction in one or more subjects of the school curriculum, while being ready to take part also in the general work of the school, The great public schools usually recruit their staffs from University graduates of goodstanding and in Schools for boys some athletic prowess is an advantage,

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1874 Politics and Life in Our Times
that was thought to be given, has ended. As a result, the return of capital measured on the national level for production and consumption that protects the environment is lower than in countries where tasks for protection of the environment are not taken into account or where, due to their geographical endowments, they can in part be passed on to other countries'. However, shaping an environment-friendly national production and consumption structure cannot be allowed to generate processes of international differentiation.
In this way a narrow-sighted policy can lead to a clash between national and international interests. It is at this point, I feel, that international interests must be given priority over the assertion of national "interests". Numerous national programs, conceptions and declarations have been adopted defining the tasks of environmental protection at the national level.
would refer here to an environmental protection decree issued in Italy' in 1984 regulating preservation of the purity of certain sections of the coast and of the shores of rivers and lakes. But I could also mention the 140 or so central laws for protection of the environment in Yugoslavia' or the Bulgarian investment regulation specifying the considerations for protection of the environment in industrial investments. -
On the international level, links of a new kind are being formed between the global economy and global ecology. in the recent past Countries have had to face the rapid expansion of their trade and economic dependence on each other. We must now become accustomed to the steadily growing ecological dependency of the nations. The economy and the ecology-locally, nationally and globally - are becoming intertwined in more and more ways into a single fabric of causes and consequences'. It would be important to achieve cooperation in environmental protection for the Mediterranean region, but also with a wider reach, along the lines of the European Economic Community'. In this connection, I would like to outline the Hungarian efforts for the creation of a "Central European Zone of Confidence and Co-operation", in view of the fact that two of the countries in the region of Concern here - Yugoslavia and Italy - would be member Countries of this Co-operation zone.
The co-operation - which at the moment is still in the preparatory phase - has set itself the following goals:

Environmental Protection and Common Security in the Mediterranean Region 1875
The elaboration of common programs for - - preservation of the ecological equilibrium; - control of the flow of sulphur, nitrogen oxides, hydrocarbons
and photochemical solvents overnational borders; - Control of the flow of atmospheric pollutants; - control of the handling and transport of chemical wastes,
harmonization of the relevant legislation; - exchange of information on environmental protection; - Co-operation in environmental protection education and the
spread of environmental protection culture; - elaboration of common proposals for international environment
protection councils.
Today there are 18 states around the Mediterranean with a total of 350 million inhabitants. These Countries are at different levels of developments of the economy and the productive forces. There are monarchies and republics, capitalist Countries and countries belonging to the "Third World", non-aligned countries and NATO member countries. There is a considerable number of sharp contradictions between them, old "historic" grievances and more recent suspicions.
But they are all united by the water of the Mediterranean. And today this means much more than a concept of geographical unity. Ensuring the ecological equilibrium of the Mediterranean is not the mathematical Sum of the interests of the individual Countries, but far more than that, it is part of common security.
Footnotes
(1) Dunay, Pál: Hungary's security policy (In Hungarian), in: Konflictus és
együttmüködés. Budapest, 1988. (2) I feel we can rightly claim that the days of the autarkic economies based solely on self-reliance are over. Historical examples show that, measured in historical categories, artificially created economic isolation can only be maintained for a short while, during which the economy suffers serious harm. (3) "Our Common Future", Oxford, New York: Oxford University Press, 1987. The quotation is from the report of the World Commission on Environment and Development. (4) I would refer here to "The Economics of Welfare" by A. C. Pigon (London 1932) which, to the best of my knowledge, was a pioneering work in this field. (5) Szlávik, János: Some economic aspects of environmental protection (In
Hungarian), in: Társadalmi Szemle. XLIII, May, p.44.

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1876 Politics and Life in Our Times
(6) (7)
(8) (9)
(10)
(11)
(12)
(13)
(14)
(15) (16)
(17)
Szlávik, János: op.Cit, p.43.
have in mind here, for example, the "diversion of rivers", flowing into the Aral Sea and the Caspian Sea which has started the drying up of both lakes. Their water level is now falling by several meters a year. The data are from the FRG daily "Vorwärts", 3 October 1985. Cascading water movements in the Mediterranean are much more frequent than the upwelling currents. For this reason, plant nutrients are rarely found in the upper regions where the alga could use them. The water flowing in from the Atlantic has a much lower salt content than that of the Mediterranean; consequently it remains on the surface and is exposed to much stronger evaporation. The masses of water leaving the sea have approximately the same salt content as the Mediterranean but contain three times as much phosphorus as the waters of the Atlantic Ocean. Posidonia occurs in only two places in the world: in the Mediterranean and at the southern tip of Australia. According to calculations, 60,000-70,000 tons of synthetic detergents a year enter the Mediterranean. According to tests made when authorizing the sale of detergents, 90% of their substances are biodegradable. However, the tests were conducted under fresh water conditions, where the values obtained were considerably more favorable. In the Mediterranean, the biological disintegration of the constituent elements of synthetic detergents can take as long as five months. Pollution of the different types of shellfish and crabs, the lead that builds up in fish, oil pollution on the beaches, etc.
have in mind here, for example, the case of Romania where industrial effluents are presumably discharged into the rivers which are practically dead when they enter the territory of Yugoslavia, or the chemical plant located in a border zone discharging pollution into the atmosphere that is carried over to the territory of Bulgaria. Carbone, F:Tutto il verde melle tue mani, in: Panorama, 19 November, 1984, pp. 234-243. Environmental Policy in Yugoslavia, in: OECD Observer, No. 142, 1986. Láng, István: Problems of environmental protection in our age (in Hungarian), in: Külpolitika, 1988/2. The European Economic Community adopted a resolution in 1986 according to which co-operation is to be extended to the field of environmental protection too with its transformation into the European Economic Community and Environmental Protiection Community.
Courtesy: "Peace and the Sciences", Prague, November 4th, 1990.

CHAPTER 20
The Soviet Union
The October Revolution
by John Reed
John Reed, graduate from top-drawer Harvard and correspondent of the American Socialist press, was lucky enough to arrive in Russia in autumn of 1917, just before the October Socialist Revolution. He found himself right in the middle of revolutionary events and great social upheavals in Russia.
Without any reservations, John Reed hailed the October Revolution as the revolution which was the first in history to give power to the workers and the toiling peasants, and Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, its leader, as a strange popular leader. Reed had often met Lenin. All that John Reed saw in Petrograd and other places, and all his thoughts he later put down in his book Ten Days That Shook The World, in pamphlets and in numerous articles.
Here is what John Reed writes in the book Ten Days That Shook The World about the session of the All-Russia Congress of Soviets, which adopted the Decree on Peace, written by Lenin, on November 8 (October 26, according to the old calendar), 1917:
"It was just 8.40 when athundering wave of cheers announced the entrance of the presidium, with Lenin-great Lenin - among them. A short, stocky figure, with a big head set down in his shoulders, bald and bulging. Little eyes, a Snubbish nose, wide, generous mouth, and heavy chin; cleanshaven now, but already beginning to bristle with the well-known beard of his past and future. Dressed in shabby clothes, his trousers much too long for him. Unimpressive, to be the idol of a mob, loved and revered as perhaps few leaders in history have been. A strange popular leader- a leaderpurely by virtue of intellect; colourless, humourless, uncompromising and detached, without picturesque idiosyncrasies - but with the power of explaining profound ideas in simple terms, of analysing a concrete situation. And Combined with shrewdness, the greatest intellectual audacity".
The Report of the actions of the Military Revolutionary Committee - abolition of capital punishment in the Army, restoration of the free right of propaganda, release of officers and soldiers arrested for political Crimes, orders to arrest Kerensky and confiscation of food supplies in private store-houses - was read out at the session to tremendous applause.

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1878 PosofiCS af Life ir ČOur Tres
"Now Lenin, gripping the edge of the reading stand", Reed goes on, "letting his little winking eyes travel over the crowd as he stood there waiting, apparently oblivious to the long-rolling ovation, which lasted several minutes. When it finished, he said simply, "We shall now proceed to construct the Socialist order!" Again that overwhelming human roar.
"The first thing is the adoption of practical measures to realize реасе...... We shall offer peace to the peoples of all the belligerent countries upon the basis of the Soviet terms - no annexations, no indemnities, and the right of self-determination of peoples. At the same time, according to our promise, we shall publish and repudiate the secret treaties..... The question of War and Peace is so clear that I think that I may, without preamble, read the project of a Proclamation to the Peoples of All the Belligerent Countries.....".
(Here John Reed speaks about the draft Decree on Peace, written by Lenin).
"His great mouth", Reed further writes, "seeming to smile, opened wide as he spoke; his voice was hoarse - not unpleasantly so, but as if it had hardened that way after years and years of speaking and went on monotonously, with the effect of being able to go on forever..... For emphasis he bent forward slightly. No gestures. And before him, a thousand simple faces looking up in intent adoration..... "When the grave thunder of applause had died away, Lenin spoke again:
"We propose to the Congress to ratify this declaration. We address ourselves to the Governments as Well as to the peoples, for a declaration which would be addressed only to the peoples of the belligerent countries might delay the conclusion of peace. In fixing the duration of the armistice at three months, we desire to give to the peoples as long a rest as possible after this bloodly extermination, and ample time for them to elect their representatives. This proposal of peace will meet with resistance on the part of the imperialist governments — We don't fool oursel wes om that score,...,
"The revolution of November 6th and 7th", he ended, "has opened the era of the Social Revolution. The labour movement, in the name of peace and Socialism, shall win and fulfil its destiny.......
"There was something quiet and powerful in all this, which stirred the souls of men, it was understandable why people believed When Lenin spoke.....".

T PE for PG was for 1879
THE CRUISER "AURORA" IS PERMANENTLY MOORED ON THE NEWA IN LENINGRADANDIS NOW USEDASA MUSEUM. THE AUTHOROF THIS BOOK, T. DURASINGAM, WISTED IN 1962 THIS MUSEUMAND WAS TAKEN AROUND T. ON THE DAY FOLLOWING THE VICTORY OF THE GREAT OCTOBER REVOLUTION, THAT IS ON 8TH NOVEMBER, 1917, LENIN READ OUT THE TEXT OF THE "DECREE ON PEACE". THEREUPON THE TELEGRAPHIST OF THE CRUISER AURORA BROADCAST THE TEXT OF THE DECREE THE DECREE GAWE CONCRETE EXPRESSION TO THE TWO FUNDAMENTAL LENNIST CONCEPTS - PROLETARIAN INTERNATIONALISM AND THE PEACEFULCO-EXISTENCE OFSTATESWITHDIFFERENTSOCIAL SYSTEMS.
The Cruiser "Aurora" The cruiser "Aurora" is permanently moored on the Neva in Leningrad.
What is Soviet power ? What is the essence of this new power, which people in most countries still will not, or cannot, understand? The nature of this power, which is attracting larger and larger numbers of workers in every country, is the following: in the past the country was, in one way or another governed by the rich, or by the capitalists, but now, for the first time, the country is being governed by the classes, and moreover, by the masses of those classes, which capitalism formerly oppressed. Even in the most democratic and freest republics, as long as capital rules and the land remains private property the government will always be in the hands of a small minority, nine-tenths of which consist of capitalists, or rich Ten.
- W. I. Lerlin

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1880 Politics and Life in Our Times
Delegates spoke one after another amid rising enthusiasm. "Something was kindled in these men," Reed writies. "One spoke of the 'coming World Revolution', of which we are the advance guard"; another of "the new age of brotherhood, when all the peoples will become one great family.....'. An individual member claimed the floor. There is contradiction here,' he said. "First you offer peace without annexations and indemnities, and then you say you will consider all peace offers. To consider means to accept......".
"Lenin was on his feet. "We want a just peace, but we are not afraid of a revolutionary war....... Probably the imperialist Governments will not answer our appeal - but we shall not issue an ultimatum to which it will be easy to say no....... If the German proletariat realizes that we are ready to consider all offers of peace, that will perhaps be the last drop which overflows the bowl – revolution will break out in Germany.......
"We consent to examine all conditions of peace, but that does not mean that we shall accept them...... For Some of Our terms We shall fight to the end - but possibly for others we will find it impossible to Continue the war...... Above all, We Want to finish the War....... I.
It was exactly 10.35 when the chairman asked all in favour of the proclamation to the peoples and governments of all the belligerent counties to hold up their cards. The talks on just and democratic peace were to begin immediately.
"One delegate dared to raise his hand against", John Reed writes "but the sudden sharp outburst around him brought it swiftly down....... Unanimous.
"Suddenly, by common impulse, we found ourselves on our feet, mumbling together into the smooth lilting unison of the Internationale. A grizzled old soldier was sobbing like a child. Alexandra Kolontai rapidly winked the tears back. The immense sound rolled through the hall, burst windows and doors and seared into the quiet sky. The war is ended The war is ended, said a young workman near me, his face shining. And when it was over, as we stood there in a kind of awkward hush, Someone in the back of the room shouted, "Comrades! Let us remember those who have died for liberty! So we began to sing the Funeral March, that slow, melancholy and yet triumphant chant, so Russian and so moving......
"Lenin was reading the Decree on Land......".
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, November 30th, 1974.

The House in ROS mead Place
by Yevgany Menkes
it stands in a green lane in the centre of Colombo and is very popular with the city population. In the evenings it is filled with students, factory workers, office employees and intellectuals. Number 103, Rosmead Place is the headquarters of the Lanka-Soviet Friendship League, which was founded during the war.
In 1975 the League's activities were marked with exceptional enthusiasm. Firstly, because it was the 30th anniversary of the Soviet people's Victory over fascism.
"In 1942", said T. Duraisingam, a veteran activist, member of the World Peace Council and a member of the leadership of the Sri Lanka Peace Council and the Sri Lanka Afro-Asian Solidarity Association, "Communists, factory workers and all the Singhalese working people waited for news from World War Two fronts, most of all from the Eastern Front. We well realized that in the hard and bloody war waged by the Soviet Army against the nazi hordes, not only the destiny of the USSR and many European peoples was at stake, but the future of the Whole of mankind.
"The Society of Friends of the Soviet Union was established at that time", T. Duraisingam continued, "and prominent members of the left movement in the country became its activists, such as Pieter Keuneman, Suriya Wickremasinghe, A. Aziz, and others. Our militant programme proposed the holding of a large-scale Solidarity campaign with the Soviet peoples' heroic struggle, to render them all possible help.
"The Society raised funds which were sent to the Soviet Union to provide medical aid to wounded Soviet servicemen. It tried to expedite cargo shipments to the USSR, held meetings devoted to anniversaries of the Great October Socialist Revolution, arranged the first Soviet photo exhibition, and founded the magazine Lanka-Soviet. This work was carried out, despite the fact that the country was a British colony at the time. The colonial authorities disapproved of the Society's activities, but did not dare to ban them.
"A few years after the end of the war the Society was reorganized, and the Lanka-Soviet Friendship League was set up".

Page 402
1882 Puff: a) Life ir Lil' f'T72753
A NATIONAL CONGRESS OF THE LANKA-SOWET FRIENDSHIP LEAGUE HELD IN COLOMBOIN THE SUMMER OF 1975 WASA, MAJOREVENT IN THE LIFE OF THE LEAGUE. IT WAS PRECEDED BY MEETINGS AND CONFERENCES OF REGIONAL ORGANIZATIONS WHICH DISCUSSED THEIR WORK, MAPPEDOUTPLANS AND ELECTED DELEGATESTO THE CONGRESS. THE CONGRESS SUMMARIZED THE RESULTS OF THE LEAGUE'S WORK OWER THE PAST PERIOD AND CAME OUT FORCEFULLY IN FAWOUR OF FURTHER CONSOLIDATING FRIENDLY RELATIONSBETWEEN THE SOVIET UNION AND THE REPUBLIC OF SRI LANKA, "OUR FRIENDSHIP WITH THE SOVIET UNION HAS DEEPENED AND INTENSIFIED SINCE THE LEAGUE'S LAST, TTH CONGRESS" SAD GEORGE RAJAPAKSE, MINISTER OF FISHERIES AND PRESIDENT OF THE LEAGUE, IN HIS SPEECHAT THE CONGRESS
臀 , : : : ,
リ
་་་་ ་་་་།། ་་་་་ ་་་
Thg Palaco Square frTL977/rlgrad. Thig Patriotic Feyolufiantary Red Army marchgd in 1942 foi fho front from thes Palaca Square în Legningrad.
The Russian masses were resolute to end the War at any cost. The limit of Russian endurance was reached. Mutinies broke out in the Russian armies and particularly upon the northern front, and on November 7, 1917, Korensky's government was overthrown, and power was seized by the Soviets dominaled by the Bolshevik Socialists under Lenin, and pledged to make peace regardless of the Western Powers. On March 2, 1918, a separate peace between Russia and Germany was signed at Brest-Litovsk, it speedily became evident that these Bolshevik socialists were man of a very different quality from the rhetorical constitutionists and revolutionaries of the Kerensky phase. They were fanatical Marxist Communists. They believed that their accession to power in Russia was only the opening of a world-wide social revolution, and they set abuut changing the social and economic order with the thoroughness of perfect faith.
— F. G. MWEGS
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The House ir Fostead Place 1883
A national Congress held in Colombo in the summer of 1975 was a major event in the life of the League. It was preceded by meetings and Conferences of regional organizations which discussed their work, mapped outplans and elected delegates to the Congress. The Congress summarized the results of the League's work over the past period and came out forcefully in favour of further consolidating friendly relations between the Soviet Union and the Republic of Sri Lanka. "Our friendship with the Soviet Union has deepened and intensified since the League's last, 7th Congress", said George Rajapakse, Minister of Fisheries and President of the League, in his speech at the Congress.
The building in Rosmead Place, is particularly crowded in October and November. At this time the country holds its traditional Lanka-Soviet Friendship Month devoted to the anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and the League becomes its headquarters. From year to year the Month attracts the increasing attention of the Sri Lanka public. Its meetings and other functions are attended by workers and farmers, teachers and lawyers, Ministers and MPs, students and School children.
"The agenda of the Month includes dozens of different functions" said Barbara Seneviratne, the League's Executive Secretary. "Meetings, social functions lectures concerts and anniversary exhibitions are also arranged. Apart from Colombo, extensive progra Times are held in all cities and towns which have branches of the League",
"Acquainting the Sri Lanka public with the achievements of the USSR in building a socialist society, we pay particular attention to explaining the essence of the peaceful foreign policy of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and the Soviet state, and the steps taken by the Soviet Union recently to implement it", stressed Peter Jaya sekera, the League's Secretary-General during o Lur talk. "The main thing is the USSR's constructive role in ensuring the success of the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe and the two new important proposals submitted by the Soviet Union to the 30th Session of the UN General Assembly.
"The movement for friendship with the Soviet Union is an important part of our country's life. It is the task of our League to expand and Consolidate this novement", said Peter Jaya sekera in Conclusion.
Courtesy: "Moscow News", Moscow, July, 1975.

Page 403
Twentieth Anniversary of Lanka Soviet Diplomatic Relations
by V Baidakov
This Year the Soviet and Lankan people are marking a significant event in their life. Twenty years ago government delegations of the Soviet Union and Sri Lanka, during talks held in Moscow from August 26 to September 1, 1956, reached agreement in principle on the establishment of diplomatic relations between their two countries, and on the development of trade, economic and cultural co-operation. Following this agreement, on February 19, 1957, full diplomatic relations were established between the two states at ambassadorial level.
The Moscow talks of August-September 1956 were a starting point in the development of official Soviet-Lanka relations. They marked the beginning of fruitful co-operation between our states, which later enabled us to not only broaden our bilateral friendly ties, but also view with greater confidence the future of that co-operation.
But it would certainly be wrong to say that this date marked the beginning of contacts between our peoples and Countries. There are many glorious chapters in the history of our friendly relations testifying to their long standing traditions. News about Sri Lanka first reached Russia back in the 15th century, and this, together with the subsequent establishment of trade contacts, laid the foundation for cultural exchanges between our peoples. These exchanges were greatly facilitated by prominent Russian orientalists, among them I. Minayev, the author of "Stories of Ceylon" and "Buddhism: Research and Information", published in 1878 and 1887, respectively, and S. Oldenburg, who in 1894, published "Buddhist Legends" his major work, and a number of textbooks of the Pali Language. Many representatives of Russia's progressive intelligentsia, including the writers A. P. Chekhov and I. A. Bunin, and a talented painter V. Watagin, visited Sri Lanka, which contributed greatly to the establishment of friendly relations between our peoples.

Twentieth Anniversary of Lanka-Soviet Diplomatic Relations 1885
Following the victory in Russia of the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917, relations between our peoples entered a qualitatively new stage, which was stressed by Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike of Sri Lanka during her official visit to the Soviet Union in November 1974. She said that the Great October Socialist Revolution had been a major event not only in the history of the Soviet Union, "it was an important landmark in the history of all mankind. It had a deep impact in the countries which were languishing under the colonial yoke, and started liberation movements in many countries, including Sri Lanka. The teaching of the founder of the Soviet State, Vladimir Lenin," she went on, "had deeply affected the political revolution in Sri Lanka". One of the most convincing proofs of this was the massive campaign of solidarity with the Soviet people, who bore the main brunt of the war and who played a decisive role in routing Hitler Germany, and militarist Japan. This campaign of support was launched in the country while it was still under British rule.
The campaign of solidarity and support for the Soviet people in their hard and selfless struggle against fascism was initiated and inspired by "The Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union" society, set up in March 1942. Its members were workers, peasants, clergymen, teachers, trade union functionaries and journalists, all representing the most different strata of the country's population. The main task the society set itself, as was stressed in its manifesto published at that time, was "to study the USSR and enlighten the public in general about it, to give as direct and practical aid as conditions allowed to the Soviet people in their fight against fascism and reaction, and to work for full and friendly relations between the peoples of Ceylon and those of the Soviet Union".
In the initial stage of its noble work the society encountered tremendous difficulties as there was no material Whatsoever about the Soviet Union - neither literature, nor photographs, nor even films to give the true picture of Soviet reality. Only by word of mouth could the broad segments of Lanka's, population learn the truth about the Soviet Union. Representatives of the country's progressive intelligentsia, including the present leaders of the Communist Party, Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe and Pieter Keuneman,

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1886 Politics 57 s 7C, Life Fr) (Jur lfrogs
delivered lectures about the Soviet Union and supervised the work of study circles about the life and history of the Soviet people. They were the authors of the first booklets about the state and its political structure, about the culture and the system of education in the Soviet Union, "The Soviet Way" by Pieter Keuneman was the first edition of this Series about the Sowiet Union. Published in Sinhale se and English, it became wery popular among broad segments of the public.
"The Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union" society, among whose leaders were the well known figures such as P. de S. Kularatne, President of the Ceylon National Congress, Anagarika Dharmapriya, General Secretary of All-Ceylon Peasants Congress, Cora Abraham, the Principal of the St. Paul's School in Colombo, A. Aziz, President of the Ceylon Indian Congress, and many others, conducted active Work not only in Colombo, but also in other regions of Sri Lanka. There local branches of the society sprang up one after the other. The scope of activity of the society continued to be broadened. At their mass meetings the people urgently demanded that the British Government open a Second Front in Europe, as soon as possible. In May 1943 the society launched a country wide money-raising campaign for the "Medical Aid to Soviet Russia" Fund, which was actively supported, especially by the working people.
|n CCtOber 1943 t W0 reTittan C8S Of £ 100 each Wore Sent to the Soviet Ambassador in London, which was a rather big sum for that time. On November 6, 1943, another E 100 remittance was forwarded, together with congratulations to the Soviet people on the occasion of the 26th anniversary of the Great October Socialist Revolution, and wished for the Red Army's speediest victory over Hitler's hordes.
"The Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union" society widely marked memorable events in the life of the Soviet people. The "Soviet Week" sponsored by it to mark the 26th anniversary of the Great October Revolution was observed in 11 towns from November 1 to 7, 1943, with thousands of Ceylonese taking part,

Twentieth Anniversary of Larka-Soviet Diplomatic Relations 1887
PETER KEUNEMANGOTINTERESTED IN POLITICS BY READING ABOOK FROM HIS FATHER, JUSTICE KEUNEMAN"S LIB RARY, ENTITLED "IMPERIALISM, THE HIGHEST STAGE OF CAPITALISM" BY W. I. LENIN. HE COMMENCED HISPOLITICAL LIFE WHEN HE WASAN UNDERGRADUATE AT CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY, HE JOINED THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF GREAT BRITAIN IN 1937, WHEN HE WASJUST 20 YEARS OLD, AT THAT TIME WE,THE COMMUNISTS IN SRI LANKA, RECEIVED WITHENTHUSIASM AND PRIDE THE NEWSOF HIS ACTIVITIESIN BRITAIN, WHERE HE TOOKA LEADING PART IN THE ANT-IMPERIALIST MOVEMENT. WE EAGERLY AWAITED THE DAYWHEN HE WOULD ARRIVE IN SRI LANKAAND JOIN US |NOUR POLITICAL WORK. WHILE IN CAMBRIDGE, HE DECIDED TOJOIN THE WOLUNTEER INTERNATIONAL BRIGADE AND HELP THE SPANISH REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT IN THE SPANISH CIVIL WAR, 1936-39.
Pieter Keuner an - A Principled Politician 3, 7,797 - 23, , 997
Pieter Keungman was in Spain for a short period during the Civil War, But later, though he tried his best to go over to Spainto help the loyalists, risking his life, he could not do so as the French authorities would not permit hit to go over to Spain through France, "The Soviet Way" by Pieter Keungman was published in 1942. The first book on the Soviet Union written and published in Sri Lanka, it described in detail the guiding philosophy, social outlook and achievements of the World's first socialist stato, its consistont pre-Warfight for peace and disarmament, its unwavering attempts to block the rise of fascism, its heroic resistance to the Nazi invaders, and its socially progressive war ains. At a time when the mood of dospondency was rife in progressive circles in Sri Lanka, the book showed why Hitler would be defeated and what could result from victory over fascism. Subsequent events have prowed his predictions right.

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1888 Politics and Life in Our Times
Starting from November 1, 1943, "The Ceylon Friends of the Soviet Union" society regularly published the Lanka Soviet Journal, its organ, which carried articles and essays about the heroic struggle of the Red Army and the selfless work of the Soviet people in the rear, as well as stories exposing the monstrosities perpetrated by the German occupation troops on Soviet soil. The journal gave wide coverage to memorable events in the history of the Soviet people, and provided comprehensive information about the Soviet way of life. The journal printed not only material about the Soviet Union. It gave a detailed account of the activities conducted in Sri Lanka in Support of the struggle of the Soviet people against fascist invaders, and called on the working people of Lanka to step up their campaign of solidarity with the Soviet Union and to resolutely expose the design of local reaction which was denigrating that country.
"We in Lanka owe the Soviet people a great debt", wrote the first issue of the Lanka Soviet Journal. "By holding fast and repulsing the Hitlerites at Moscow in 1941 and Stalingrad in 1943, the valiant resistance at Leningrad the Soviet people saved our Country from fascist conquest by preventing the Germans from bursting through into Asia and thus disorganising the predatory plans of Japs against Lanka. May we make every patriot in our Country realise and repay the debt we owe to the Soviet Union". This call of the journal was enthusiastically supported by the Lankan people, particularly by the country's working class.
The Lanka press often wrote that the workers spared no effort in meeting the orders for the USSR. "When an order for the Soviet Union came on", the newspaper Janasakhtiya wrote in mid 1943, "the All Ceylon Tea and Rubber Workers' Union, which is today one of the largest unions in Colombo, covering over 80 percent of the workers in this industry, called its members to increase production and to finish up the order well ahead of Schedule. Singing songs in their own languages about the Soviet Union, the Workers increased production by 50 percent and finished the order in record time. They put into each bale of tea intended for the U. S. S. R. a leaflet in English containing greetings to the workers

Twentieth Anniversary of Lanka-Soviet Diplomatic Relations 1889
of Soviet Russia, and to the Red Army. There were plenty of similar examples of solidarity of the working class of Sri Lanka with the Soviet people. "It is a proud thought, not merely to the workers but to the peoples of our country", stated the Lanka Soviet Journal on May 22, 1944," that today the Soviet armoured cars and lorries are running on tyres made of rubber from Ceylon and that the Red Army man in his trench is revived by a cup of the best Ceylon tea".
The Heroic Struggle of the Soviet people against fascism was also highly praised by many statesmen of Sri Lanka. "The truly remarkable mannar in which Russia has stood the terrible test Of this war has proved that the spirits of the Soviet people have been lifted with new courage and hope - courage for overcoming inconceivable difficulties in the hope of achieving mankind's true heritage". So said Solomon Bandaranaike, then Minister for Local Administration, at the end of 1944. There is yet another statement made by the Minister of Health, Geo. E. de Silva, in December 1944: " If one looks to Russia's achievements during the short period of 27 years, one cannot help but admire the heroism of the Soviet people, which has made possible the stupen dous advancement in every sphere of human activity. When Hitler attacked the Soviet Union many wrongly thought that the Red Army would not be able to survive against the might of German arms. Today the Soviet Union has demonstrated to an astonished world, what a united people can achieve in defence of freedom and liberty. It is no wonder then, that the whole of freedom-loving humanity is looking to the Soviet Union for inspiration and guidance in the struggle against world reaction".
The international solidarity with the Soviet Union's courageous struggle against fascism, for peace and socialism, that was demonstrated by the Lanka patriots in the most difficult conditions of a colonial regime, will, no doubt, remain in the memory of the peoples as one of the most remarkable pages in the history of Soviet-Lanka friendship written by our peoples, in the name of peace and happiness on Earth.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, February 26th, 1977.

Page 406
The Style is The Man
by K. P. S. Menon
The Style is the Man. I heard this saying first when I was a student at the Madras Christian College during the First World War. Dr. Pittendrigh, our English professor, explained its meaning to us. lf, on the contrary, he was given to loose thinking, his style would also be loose. If he was inclined to beat about the bush his style was apt to be diffuse. And so on.
Two weeks later, Dr. Pittendrightold us that he had just met a man whose speech was a perfect example of the saying, "The style is the man". That was none other than Mahatma Gandhi who made his first appearance in Madras, which was also one of his first appearances in India after his long exile in South Africa. Gandhi's style, said Dr. Pittendrigh, was characterized by a simple grandeur. Lenin's speeches too were characterized by a simple grandeur. "There was no striving after eloquent phrases", wrote Maxim Gorky, "but every word was uttered distinctly and its meaning was marvellously plain. It is very difficult to pass on to the reader the unusual impression he made...... The unity, complete, new, directness and strength of his speech, his whole appearance in the pulpit - it was an essay in classical art. Everything was there and yet there was nothing superfluous, nothing embellishing; and if there were any, they were as natural and inevitable as two eyes in a face or five fingers in a hand".
Lenin was a master of words. He never allowed Words to master him. He coined a good word for those who allowed themselves to be slaves to words. He called them word-spinners. In his view, left socialist revolutionaries were specially prone to be word-Spinners. "They do not realize", said Lenin, "that revolution is a difficult and complex science. For them it is a question of words. The histories of revolutionaries are full of word-spinning, and what remains of them? Only smoke and a bad smell".

The Style ls The Man 1891
Lenin exercised the utmost economy in words. Sometimes, he could conjure a whole scene or portray a whole character with a single sentence. What could be a better description of Trotsky than Lenin's words: "He is with us, not of us". Trotsky was indeed with Lenin on the outbreak of the Revolution and continued to remain with him in peace and war. But there was a kink in him which set him apart and which developed more and more as years passed, so much so that Trotskyism has now become an anathema. If Lenin was Concise, he could also be precise. No lawyer could have given a better definition of aggression than Lenin has done in his decree on self-determination, which was passed within a few hours of the Revolution. "The government," said Lenin, "conceives the annexation and seizure of foreign lands to mean the incorporation of a small or weak nation into a large and powerful state without the precisely clearly and voluntarily expressed wish of that nation, irrespective of the time when such forcible incorporation took place, irrespective also of the degree of development or backwardness of the nation forcibly within her borders, and irrespective finally, of whether this nation is in Europe or in distant overseas territories".
Another quality of Lenin's style was the delicious irony. He directed it specially against his comrades who swore by principles but never knew how to put them into effect. "By your side", said Lenin, "there is the capitalist guy, going about his business of being a robber and making profits, but he knows his job. You have correct principles, excellent ideals - they are written large on you-you are holy men who will enterparadise alive - but do you know your business?"
An article, which Lenin wrote in the Pravda on 13 July, 1912 on the 5th International Congress which was held in London for the suppression of white slave traffic (Prostitution) bristles with irony. "Duchesses, Countesses, Bishops, Priests, Rabbis, palace officials and all sorts of bourgeois philanthropists", said Lenin, "met solemnly in order to consider the problem of prostitution and came to the conclusion that the only antidotes were religion and the police. When the German Empress visited amaternity hospital in London, the authorities placed rings on the fingers of the mothers of the illegitimate children lest the august lady should have been shocked by the sight of unmarried mothers. The dignitaries assembled in London had no idea of the social causes of prostitution, or that it is poverty that drives women to it".

Page 407
1892 Politics and Life in Our Times
K. P. S. MENON WASAN INDIAN CIVIL SERVANT, WHOJOINED THE INDIAN OPLOMATIC SERVICE. HE MARRIED ANUJEE IN 1923. HE WAS THE HIGH COMMISSIONERFOR INDIANCEYLONDURING THE 1930s. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, WAS INVITED BY HIMFORLUNCH WITH OTHER MEMBERS OF THE HINDUSTUDENTS MOVEMENT. THIS GAVE THE OPPORTUNITY TO THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK TO BECOME ACORUANTED WITH MENON. K. P. S. MENON WAS THE CHAIRMAN OF THE UNITED NATIONS COMMISSION ON KOREAANDSUBMITTED HIS REPORT AT THE U. N. IN NEW YORK IN 1948. HE WAS THE AMBASSADOR FOR INDIA IN THE SOVET UNION FOR A PERIOD OF TIME IN THE 1970s. HE WAS AWARDED THE LENINPEACE PRIZE IN AUGUST 1979.
K. P. S. Menon and his wife Anujee in 1947.
Indian Civil Service is the service that carried on the work of governing India. It was open to Britishers and Indians alike, and to enter it candidates must be successful in a competitive examination held every summer. For this the age limits are 21 and 24. The successful candidates must pass one or two years in study in England, and pass a further examination before they take up an appointment in India. The pay begins at about £720 a year and candidates can secure high positions as judges and administrators. After 25 years of service a pension of not less than £1000 a year is given. Full particulars of the examination could be obtained from the Civil Service Commission, Burlington Gardens, London, W.I., until India achieved its independence in 1947
 

The Style ls The Man 1893
How correct Lenin was Not long ago, I read in the memoirs of Peleologue, French Ambassador to Russia during the First World War, that in Nevsky street, in St. Petersburg (now Leningrad) one of the most beautiful streets in the World, there were no less than ten thousand prostitutes. Now Strain your eyes as you might, you cannot find one of that most ancient profession in Nevsky street. This shows the transformation that has come Over the economic Conditions of Women in the Soviet Union.
Lenin never posed as a literary man. Yet he had a keen appreciation of literature. He was conscious of its social objectives and insisted on them. "Ours will be a free literature", said Lenin "because it will serve, not some satiated heroine, not the bored upper ten thousand suffering from gatty degeneration but tens of millions of workers - the flower of the country, her "strength and her future".
Lenin was against the imposition of undue restraints on writers. "Literature" said Lenin, "is least of all subject to mechanical adjustment or levelling to the rule of the majority over the minority: there is no question that in this field greater scope must be allowed for personal initiative, form, content, inclination, thought and fancy". His judgement of writers was impeccable. At a time when all Moscow seemed to go mad over that exuberant revolutionary Mayakovsky, Lenin had no hesitation to say that he preferred Pushkin. Lenin did not share Leo Tolstoy's philosophical views and yet he admitted him as a great artist. "What a colossus!" exclaimed Lenin. "What a marvellously developed brain? Here's a true artist for you. And do you know something more amazing? You won't find a genuine muzhik until this Count came on the scene".
Lenin's appreciation of literature reflected this sense of history. In this respect his attitude was the reverse of the psychology underlying the so-called "cultural revolution" in China. "Abolish everything ancient and foreign" was the motto of the cultural revolution; and young hooligans, prodded by older ones, proceeded to consign to the flames many of the treasured classics in Chinese and world literature. What did classics matter to them, who were of the same mind as Bazurov in Turgenev's Fathers and Sons, who said that "A pair of shoes is worth more than all the plays of Shakespeare!" But Lenin knew that Shakespeare and shoes do not belong to the same order of things and cannot be weighed in the same balance.
Couse":"ssdáist World Pérspsjöu', "Tribune", Colombo, May 10th, 1980.

Page 408
Doing Away With A 'Scaffold For Humanity'
by A. Lazarev, Novosti Analyst
During his recent meeting with Nikolai Ryzhkov, Chairman of the USSR Council of Ministers, Prime Minister Robert Hawke of Australia made this sombre assessment of the build-up of nuclear weapons: "over the last 40 years the World has slowly and steadily built for itself a nuclear scaffold. If for any reason humanity should ewer hawe to stand on that scaffold and look its executioner in the face, We WOuld See OLIFSelWES",
Unfortunately, the Australian Prime Minister is only too right, By now 50,000 nuclear warheads have been accumulated in the World. Their aggregate destructive power equals that of one million Hiroshimatype atomic bombs, There is the equivalent of 15 tons of high explosives per every inhabitant of the World, including old people, children and women. It would be wrong to think that lethally dangerous, nuclear weapons quietly sit in their storage facilities. Even in peacetime they constitute a threat to human life and to ecological Security.
Nuclear weapon tests conducted by the US and France in the Pacific lead to radioactive contamination of soil, Water and the air. They also cause hunal casualties (as Was the Case 36 years ago during the test of an American bomb on Bikini). Furthermore, some experts link the destructive earthquakes of recent years in Chile, Equador, Peru and Mexico with the seismic impact of explosions staged at Pacific Nuclear test ranges,
Test explosions are not the only factor having an adverse impact on the environment. Inevitable accidents and mishaps (and they are inevitable in view of the great number of nuclear Weapons already stockpiled) have the same effect, ACCOrding to Current estimates about 50 lost nuclear weapons and nine nuclear reactors rest on the sea bed and ocean floor. Out of 1,276 accidents registered by Greenpeace, the International Organisation of Environmentalists, 318 accidents occured in the pacific and 34 in the Indian Ocean.

Doing Away. With A Scaffold For Humanity' 1895
ARUMUGAM SIWANESASELWAN HAILS FROM TELLI PALAI IN JAFFNA, SRI LANKAHE WAS BORNON28THMARCH, 1942. HE HADHIS EARLYEDUCATION ATMAHAJANACOLLEGE,TELLIPALA, AND LATER FOLLOWED THE SPECIAL DEGREE COURSE IN TAMILAT THE UNIVERSITY OFCEYLON, PERADENIYA, ANDOBTAINEDHSSPECIALDEGREENTAMILIN1969, AND THE MASTER OF ARTS INTAMIL (JOURNALISM), FROM THE SAME UNIVERSITY IN 1976, IN 1982 HE OBTAINED A FIRST CLASSIN BACHELOR OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE FROM THE UNIVERSITY OF MYSORE AND IN 1983 WAS AWARDEDAFIRST CLASSINMASTER OF LIBRARY AND INFORMATION SCIENCE FROM THESAME UNIVERSITY IN 1984, HEBECAME THE EDITOR-INCHIEF OF THE WIRA KESARI AND MTHRIAN NEWSPAPERS OF COLOMBO 14, AND WAS THERE AS SUCH FOR 14 YEARS, HE MARRIED IN 1973 PUNITHAWATHY THE DAUGHTER OF PONNIAHAPPADURAI, AND HASTHREE CHILDREN, PRIYATHARSHIN, WASUGANDSUGIRTHA.
"
ÁruTugarr SívarasaSesVar)
THD foLrdsr arid (SEcstor-s-Chief Ostheosopular Tartıll Nalorial Welwspaper "Thİrlak kural"
Journalism is the profession or trade of writing and preparing material for newspapers and other periodicals. Something of the kind has existed in most civilised Countries since the invertion of printing, but Todern journalism Osly dates from the 19th century, when the mass of the people learned to read, although Defoe has been called the first journalist, it is now an important and influential profession. In Great Britain societies exist to protect the Interests of the journalist, They are the Institute of Journalists, which was established in 1884, and the National Union of Journalists. There is also a Society of Worther Journalists in London, The universities of London and Bristol provide courses in journalism and there is a School of Jou TallisriTi at Columbia University, New York. The Press Club is a Juralisti centra in Lorid, and ir 1931 steps War taker to forma Lorld livery company for those connected with newspapers. It is nearly always necessary to have short-hand in the early stages of Journalism. Practical experience provides the best, and indood the only adequate training for a successful career in journalism.

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1896 Politics and Life in Our Times
Such a situation cannot but give rise to utmost concern. It is quite understandable why the campaign against nuclear weapon tests, against the nuclear arms build-up and the presence of nuclear-armed foreign ships in the region, and for the establishment of nuclear weapon-free zones in Asia is mounting in the Asia Pacific region. Specific steps in this direction are being taken there: a number of Countries situated in the Indian Ocean are working for turning it into a "Zone of Peace". The thirteen states which signed the Rarotonga Treaty proclaimed the South Pacific a nuclear weapon-free zone. Attempts are being made to give ASEAN a non-nuclear status. In countries, where for some or other reasons there exist obstacles holding back the transformation of the entire territory into a nuclear weapon-free ZOne, Such Zones are established in individual cities and even villages. For instance, sixteen provinces, 12 cities and 22 populated areas in the Philippines became nuclear weapon-free Zones. A similar campaign is gathering momentum in Japan.
Soviet people welcome such peacemaking moves and whole-heartedly support them. From the very first days of the " nuclear era" the Soviet Union has consistently advocated the prohibition of nuclear weapons. The anti-nuclear orientation of Soviet diplomacy showed itself especially clearly in the past few years. Moscow is prepared to work consistently and use every chance to make progress towards a nuclear weapon-free and nonviolent world. The USSR urged the international community to eliminate nuclear weapons altogether by the year 2000. The Soviet Union made specific steps to demonstrate its readiness to do so - by instituting a moratorium on nuclear explosions and pledging to stop them altogether, should the US do the same, terminating the output of weapon-grade uranium in 1989, giving up the deployment of new strategic arms in 1990 on condition that the US complies with the 1972 ABM treaty, and by destroying 436 intermediate and shorter-range missiles in the Asian part of the USSR under the INF Treaty.

Doing Away With A Scaffold For Humanity' 1897
In my opinion, another Asian member of the "nuclear club'- the People's Republic of China assumed a rather constructive position on that matter. China assured the world public that it would never be the first to use nuclear weapons. Chinese diplomats signed the protocol to the Rarotonga Treaty, thus expressing the striving of their country for broadening nuclear weapon-free Zones and for nuclear disarmament.
The campaign for reducing nuclear arsenals could be more efficient if the west also set forth more positive proposals. For the time being, however, one has to acknowledge that waves of military detente have not yet reached the Asia-Pacific region.
Sea-based nuclear systems (they are not included in the disarmament process) continue to play their destablising role. No wonder that in such circumstances, people in many Asian countries only have to guess the yield of nuclear weapons concealed in the arsenals of US aircraft carriers, cruisers and submarines calling at their countries' ports.
believe, that the west's position on that issue is a factor preventing the positive process of nuclear disarmament from spreading to the Asia-Pacific region. This is all the more regrettable in view of the fact that there are grounds for nuclear disarmament in that region. The way toward that aim was paved by the Soviet-US INF Treaty and an agreement on a 50 per cent reduction of strategic arms of both countries, now in the making.
Expressing satisfaction at the joint measures taken by the USSR and the US to reduce their nuclear arsenals Robert Hawke said that humanity was living in a safer world as a result.
"The Scaffold is far from dismantled, to be sure, but we now have greater confidence it will not be used", he stressed.
The memory of Hiroshima, Nagasaki and Bikini, the memory of thousands of victims of the nuclear arms race demands that this terrible scaffold be dismantled as soon as possible.
Courtesy :"News and Views from the Soviet Union", Moscow, March 6th, 1990.

Page 410
Perestroika is Revealing a New Lenin
Speech by Mikhail Gorbachev President of the Soviet Union
COMRADES,
Humanity needs a genius at all times, and every era presents his new features to us. This is how a genius differs from ordinary people. Perestroika is revealing a new Lenin to us. It has once again placed his personality and his political and theoretical legacy into the vortex of political and ideological struggle, where the socialist Content of Perestroika is at Stake.
Lenin made a unique contribution to the development and practical implementation of the socialist idea - an idea which marches on through all the trials and tribulations of this dramatic century. If not for Lenin and the October Revolution, we would be unable now to give a new treatment to the global questions of the criteria of progress and of human beings as values unto themselves.
The world of Lenin is boundless and spreads into all spheres of human life, of the human community in all its manifestations. It involves the situations, roles and destinies of all Social classes and strata - workers, farmers, intellectuals, women, the youth. Nothing is alien to his world, from everyday cares to vital political issues, from basic morals to law and order in a state, from political tactics to the philosophical treatment of global processes.
Whatever features of this world choose to highlight in this address, it will be only a partial analysis of a vast matter.
Now we see that the tremendous wealth of Lenin's heritage requires comprehensive, not selective studies.
The method of his ratiocination, has dialectical approach to all issues, and the turning points of his historic activity have an eternal purport and are especially important to us today.
Endowed with a vast knowledge of his time, Lenin penetrated the secret workings of social patterns. He, the greatest thinker of the 20th century, is with us.

Perestroika is Revealing a New Lenin 1899
He is with us as an exemplary politician, who never used his power in the interests of a group, let alone to his own selfish ends. Whatever turn the political and other events took, he never forgot the interests of the people - the thing that mattered most.
He is with us, a revolutionary Capable of resolute steps in incredibly difficult situations - when a Country is on the threshold of revolution, and hesitates to Cross that threshold, when the mammoth grassroots force is Coming to the Surface, and may reveal its creative potential to enrich history or, on the contrary, may act as a destructive element.
Lenin precisely evaluated the motive forces of history. His policies pursued both distant and immediate goals. This is why he influenced history.
His dialectical potential in politics and theory was of special value intransition periods, when situations changed apace. He saw all factors, With their mutual Contradictions, and discerned the main trend behind them. Heforesaw all possible developments and drew up effective policies on their basis. This was a sublime art which we must study.
We are celebrating the 120th anniversary of his birth at a critical stage in Perestroika, when change has brought our community to a Crucial point.
Perestroikahas become our life. It madeus reappraisemanythings in our past and present. We are looking back to the sources of our great revolution to realise what kind of society has emerged from it and why we need another revolution of no less importance for our country and the World. Now it is essential to make these points clear, when Perestroika is entering the history of the 20th century as an event to which the standards of major social revolutions are to be applied.
However, as the historical impact and social essence of Perestroika are being evaluated, destructive approaches to Lenin have Come into the foreground. These trends are dangerous because they are simplistic and use the methods of the "Concise history of the Communist Party" though for a contrasting purpose. They are aimed at identifying Lenin with Stalin and can paint all Soviet history black to portray the October Revolution and the ensuing events as errors and even worse, as crimes against the nation and humanity.

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1900 Politics and Life in Our Times
Such attacks on Lenin strengthen conservative trends in the Communist Party and society, as the overt and Covert enemies of Perestroika make use of the chance to pose as defenders of Leninism - the way they see it.
True, we must reappraise Lenin's theoretical and politicallegacy, put an end to idolatry and discard misrepresentations. We must draw a dividing line in his legacy between what wholly belongs to the past and what shall remain in the intellectual and cultural treasury of our community to spur on its progress.
But disrespect is out of place here. Philistine slander of Lenin as man is immoral, and attempts to cast aspersions on his noble goals and aspirations are absurd.
It is high time to put an end to the absurd idolization of Lenin. Now we know its aim too well. But we are resolutely up against the desecration of his memory, whatever form it takes in this country or abroad.
The sooner we discard simplistic attitudes to Lenin, the better we shall see his grandeur and the extent to which his legacy is topical and essential for us. This is a difficult task, because decades were spent making an idol of Lenin - we know for what policy and ideology. But to give up the true image of Lenin under the pretext of shattering the idol means to rob the hearts and minds of the coming generations and undermine the very basis of our state and community.
To defend Lenin does not mean to make a religious cult. As we defend him, we defendour achievements, our questandour Socialist future. Lenin's era, with its storms, antagonisms, heroism and drama, has receded into the past. Now we must study it, free from lies and myths. It is edifying knowledge, necessary to form the political and ethical culture of our community, to imbue it with genuine patriotism and internationalism based on education and Conviction.
Lenin detested highflown talk about patriotism. He left use unsurpassed political and moral examples of true patriotism and internationalism going hand in hand. He was dead set against national arrogance and chauvinism. When he felt it was necessary, he wrote his famous article about the national pride of great Russians (collected works, Vol. 21, pp. 102 - 106).

Perestroika is Revealing a New Lenin 1901
An intellectual of noble birth, Lenin was part of the people. He never saw the working people as clay from which anything could be sculptured, nor as objects of philanthropy, revolution and socialism, the way he saw them, arose due to the creativity of the masses.
This was Lenin's fundamental idea. We see its import with particular clarity today, as we seek to implement it, as perestroika arroused the entire Community from its slumber. New Social patterns are taking shape, and ever new problems come to the fore. Oldpatterns can no longer solve them.
Still we hear reproaches: the Party launched Perestroika without a detailed long-term plan. Some say that our order of priorities is wrong. Others are nostalgic for the old ways, when reality was squeezed into schemes imposed on the people, and never mind the hard facts.
We had enough of these ways, and we know their fruit only too well. Social reality was squeezed into the proCrustean bed of theoretical schemes, and what was too big for them to hold was severed as alien and hostile. Our social organism suffocated infetters. Ideas and Social mentality were deformed.
Having embarked on the course of Perestroika, we should remember this lesson very well and not yield to the temptation of looking ourselves in our offices in order to ponder over ways of healing our Society. We are much too used to relying on ready-made solutions.
By and large, one can understanda nostalgic feeling about the times when every step was planned well in advance: after so prolonged a domination of the bureaucratic system of administrative management it is very difficult for us to overcome the ailment of dependence on directives and the habit of sticking to a certain pattern of thought and acting only on someone's instructions.
Socialism is being Created by the masses. Let us think what this famous phrase actually means. The creative efforts of the masses are varied and unpredictable. They cannot be forced in advance into a certain pattern. "....... the minds of tens of millions of those who are doing things create something infinitely loftier than the greatest genius can foresee", Lenin said. (Vol. 26, p.474).
Perestroika gives all of us a chance to be ourselves and to take part in Creating history. Herein ties its mission of emancipation and a great chance for the entire country to utilize its vast potential at last.

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1902 Politics ard Life ir Our Tirres
LENIN MADE A UNIUE CONTRIBUTION TO THE DEVELOPMENT AND PRACTICALIMPLEMENTATION OF THE SOCIALIST IDEA - AN IDEA. WHICH MARCHES ON THROUGH ALL THE TRIALS AND TRIBULATIONS OF THIS DRAMATICCENTURY. IFNOT FORLENINAND THE OCTOBER REVOLUTION, WEWOULDBE UNABLE NOW TOGWEA NEW TREATMENT TO THE GLOBAL QUESTIONS OF THE CRITERA OF PROGRESS AND OF HUMAN BEINGSAS WALUES UNTO THEMSELVES. THE WORLD OF LENNIS BOUNDLESSAND SPREADS INTO ALLSPHERESOF HUMAN LIFE, CFTHE HUMAN COMMUNITY INALL TS MANIFESTATIONS. IT INVOLVES THE STUATIONS, ROLES AND DESTINIES OF ALL SOCIAL CLASSES AND STRATA - WORKERS, FARMERS, INTELLECTUALS, WOMEN, THE YOUTH, NOTHING ISALIENTOHIS WORLD, FROM EVERYDAYCARESTO WITALPOLITICALISSUES, FROM BASICMORALS TO LAW AND ORDER IN A STATE, FROM POLITICAL TACTICS TO THE PHILOSOPHICAL TREATMENT OF GLOBAL PROCESSES.
Lenin making, in 1977, his famous speech in front of the Finland Railway Station in Petrograd.
"Leninism" as a terTemerged in the Menshevik milieu long before 1917, as a way of just opposing the ideas of Lenin's to those of Marx, in the early 1920, this concept was borrowed by Lenin's supporters to define a new stage in Marxism. Lenin protested against that not only out of modesty, but rather because he had newer claimed to be the founder of a special integral theoretical and philosophical system. He sincerely considered himself to be Marx's follower and viewed his contribution to theory as part of Marxissin, One should be extremely cautious in discussing such a theoretical and political category as Leninism, without which a correct understanding of progress in the 20th century is just unthinkable. And one should not yield to pressure from nihilists and those who are ignorant of history and theory,
 

Perestroika is Hawealing a New Lanin 1903
We do need plans and projects. There is no need to prove what in Tense importance Lenin attached to them. But he considered a plan or a project viable and effective only if it was the result of the theoretical comprehension of real processes and the activities of the
TBSSES
Lenin Constantly urged the Party to measure its intensions and programmes against the expectations and sentinents of the people. Otherwise, any policy, even if it is theoretically correct, can prove inconsistent. He warned that "millions of people will newer listen to the advice of parties if that advice does not fall in with their own experience" (Vol. 24, p. 495).
What is the connection between today's state of affairs and the Leninist party tradition? It is, primarily, the dependence of the Party's development processes on the objectively changed situation in the country and the world; the 10th Congress of the RCP(b), which we usually remember only in connection with the resolution on the Party's structure. The resolution refuted the existence of the "absolutely correct form of the Party's organisation, applicable to all stages of the revolutionary process, as well as methods of its work. On the contrary, the form of organisation and methods of work are fully dependent on the peculiaries of the specific historical situation and the tasks which directly arise from the situation". (see "CPSU in Resolution", ninth Russian edition, W. 2, p., 323).
With the commencement of the peaceful period following the Conclusion of the civil War, the Party's evolution into a new state was especially painful. This was only natural, because the Party had been integrated in the systern and state power, based as it was on the dictatorship of the proletariat. The time was pregnant with danger when, to quote the resolution, the "centralisation (in the party) has given rise to the trend of its becoming a bureaucracy divorced from the Tasses" (Ibid., p. 325), when the Party during the civil War had the monopoly to power and got the Knack of commanding everything and anything Commissar style when "the necessary privileges were becoming the basis of misuse of office of all kinds", and when the "Party's spiritual life" was waning. There were symptoms of moral degeneration,

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1904 Politics and Life in Our Times
The Congress saw the way out in the enhancement of the Party democracy - we know from Lenin's last works of his intense quest for ways to stop the negative trends and impart to the Party a new image in line with the new situation in the country by way of the broad involvement of the mass of communists, of the Party grass roots.
Regrettably, he was not thereto implement his ideas. The changes in the Party, long over ripe at the turn of the 1920, were taken up by Stalin, which spelled disaster for the Party, society and socialism. Over a short period of time, the Party was actually made a component part, a tool of the administration - by command system, with all the far reaching consequences felt to this day.
The conclusion is today, the restoration of the Leninist norms of Party life alone is not nearly enough. The drive for Perestroika of the whole Country has set a far more formidable task.
Our Society needs a vanguard party of the socialist choice, acting by exclusively democratic methods in the conditions of Glasnost, law-based state, and plurality of political views. Having obtained the knack for working in these new conditions, the Party will be able to lead the majority of the people, rallying all Social strata and nationalities in the effort for a humane, democratic SOCialliSm.
The CPSU has the great tradition of persuading the masses that it is right. In 1917, it took it only several months to win the sympathies and Support of the broadmasses. The people followed the Bolsheviks, said Lenin, not because "their propaganda was more skilful. No, the matter is that their propaganda was more truthful" (V. 40, p. 69). The wave of the February revolution brought to the surface amass of false politicians and demagogues, for whom their personal ambition and striving to make a career in politics were supreme to the country's plight. Millions of high-flown words hailing "his excellence the people" and "the liberator people" avalanched on the Workers, peasants and Soldiers, causing quite a few heads to spin.
Lenin rejected abuse of the masses' political backwardness and their open manipulation through deception, flattery, promises by the million and petty sops (V. 24, p. 64). "We are not charlatans", he said. "Talk, flattery of the revolutionary people is the only thing that has ruined all revolutions. The whole of Marxism teaches us not to SuCCumb to revolutionary phrases, particularly at a time when they have the greatest currency" (V. 36, pp. 436,439).

Perestroika is Revealing a New Lenin 1905
And so? from February to October, in the absolute freedom of choice and in the midst of sharp inter-party rivalry, the bolsheviks grew from a party of tens of thousands to hundreds of thousands, leading tens of millions along.
From the point of view of the ability to campaign for the support of the masses, the current turning point in the life of our country demands no less political activity from the Party. We must revive the Bolshevik art of conviction in competition with any rival, and no one should complain of "having remained without support" or "having been left to the mercy of the crowd, unprotected from the informal movements", etc. Concurrently, we must be ready to form political coalitions, to make compromises and to work together with various public movements.
Giving up its managerial functions, the CPSU does not relieve itself of the responsibility for the situation in the country. The people will judge the Party not only by its slogans, platforms, resolutions and calls, but first and foremost by the results and quality of communists' activity in their work places and in society's political, cultural, administrative and economic spheres.
Comrades, the Current discussion has embraced the theoretical and ideological principles of the Party, naturally including the question of Leninism. Moreover, some are advancing their arguments from nihilistic, I would even say, aggressive positions.
The inadmissibility of the dogmatic utilization of this concept in the form inherited from Stalin is obvious, for it has engendered a speculative and sometimes cynical attitude to Leninism. And most people, poorly versed in theory, perceive it as a kind of religion which they did not take pains to understand.
"Leninism" as a term emerged in the Menshevik milieu long before 1917, as a way of just opposing the ideas of Lenin's to those of Marx. In the early 1920, this concept was borrowed by Lenin's supporters to define a new stage in Marxism. Lenin protested against that not only out of modesty, but rather because he had never claimed to be the founder of a special integral theoretical and philosophical system. He sincerely considered himself to be Marx's follower and viewed his contribution to theory as part of Marxism.

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1906 Politics and Life in Our Times
One should be extremely cautious in discussing such a theoretical and political category as Leninism, without which a correct understanding of progress in the 20th century is just unthinkable. And one should not yield to pressure from nihilists and those who are ignorant of history and theory.
Forus Leninism remains a live and active theoretical, ideological and moral force. Now we are restoring the genuine meaning of Lenin's heritage and we are trying to do this job in earnest. It is not going to be easy. AS Perestroika Continues and as we deal with emergencies we are actively involved in this work. We have done a great deal, but we are to do stillmore during the preparations for the 28th Congress of the CPSU, at the Congress itself and during the drafting of a new Party programme.
Guided by the intransient ideas of Lenin's heritage and by modern knowledge, and mastering the latest achievements in the Science of man and society, we shall be seeking our own ways of dealing with the problems and challenges of our time.
Comrades, Our Society has no reasonable alternative to Socialist restructuring, for it is a complicated, but inevitable way of tackling difficulties which will lead us to real progress. Advancing along this way, we cannot do without Lenin's heritage, enriched with the experience and lessons of our own and world history.
The success of Perestroika will mark an unprecedented stage in the development of civilization and the beginning of an epoch of grandiose transformation, even revolutions, whose nonviolent and democratic methods and results may bring the world, as Lenin dreamed, to the very essence of man's existence on earth. (applause).
(Speech made at the Gala meeting dedicated to the 120th Anniversary of the Birth of Vladimir Lenin).
Courtesy: "News and Views from Soviet Union", Moscow, April 24th, 1990.

S a NuClear-Free World POSSible?
by Yevgeni Tarabrin
As many as 15,000 wars, both big and small, were fought between peoples and nations during the past 55 centuries, historians believe. They lasted from a few days to a hundred years. There were only 292 years of Complete peace on Our planet during this period. Material values were destroyed in armed Conflicts, and the casualties were incalculable. Some 50 million people died in the Second World War alone. Another 20 million lives were lost in more than 140 post-war regional conflicts.
Today, given the existence of nuclear missiles and highly accurate means of mass destruction, any act of military violence may easily turn into a global catastrophe, leading to the annihilation of human civilisation. All Sober-minded people now realise this far from mythical menace. It can be prevented only by building a nuclear-free and non-violent world. Important, though only initial steps have already been made in this direction. They include, primarily, the conclusion and practical implementation of the SovietAmerican INF Treaty. We are apparently about to conclude an agreement on the restriction and reduction of strategic offensive weapons.
But the new political thinking callis for a substantial and radical improvement of the international climate in order to promote world! development. Creation of a nuclear-free world, including the developing nations, is becoming very important in this light.
No developing nation possesses nuclear weapons So far, and hopefully, this situation will not change. Yet forthese states, accounting for two-thirds of the world's population, the problem is just as vital as for all the othernations. This is why all the recent forums of the Afro-Asian Peoples' Solidarity Organization, the Non-Aligned Movement, the Organization of African Unity and other associations of developing countries have paid particular attention to this issue.
Of Course, the nuclear problem can be solved only stage by stage. The stages should include the reduction of nuclear weapons, discontinuation of their tests, non-proliferation and, finally, a completebanon and liquidation of such armaments. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and establishment of nuclear-freezones are important elements of this process, directly concerning developing countries.

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1908 Politics and Life in Our Times
The 1963 Non-Proliferation Treaty has so far been signed by 130 states. The countries that failed to sign it include two nuclear powers (China and France) and several countries which can and may enter the nuclear club soon (India, Israel, Pakistan, Brazil, Argentina and South Africa) as well as a number of others, including such African nations as Algeria, Mozambique, Angola, Niger, Nigeria, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe. This shows that the states which
refused to join the treaty are in the minority but they account for 45
per cent of the world population.
It would also be wrong to overlook the fact that there are only five nuclear powers so far, but their nuclear stockpiles, Command stations, control and communication facilities and other elements of nuclear war infrastructure are deployed in 62 countries, including many developing states. Furthermore, there are quite a few reports showing that fissionable materials, i.e. raw materials for manufacturing nuclear weapons, are being secretly moved across many countries or even from country to country. It was reported in the press that a "black market" of weapon-grade uranium and plutonium was discovered and eliminated in Khartoum, the Sudan. This shows that the problem of the possible acquisition of nuclear weapons by some developing countries is not at all academic. Experts claim that today a primitive atomic bomb can be manufactured in a lab, without any industrial facilities. Moreover, such a bomb needs no experimental blasts.
There is yet another noteworthy aspect of the non-proliferation problem, particularly in Africa - the continent's role in the development of nuclear weapons throughout the world, their stockpiling in non-nuclear states and transit through their territories. Africa accounts for more than a third of the world's proven uranium deposits. Such substantial resources, if the necessary technology is developed (or bought), may tempt some people to organize their own production of nuclear weapons or to supply uranium to states which have not signed the Non-Proliferation Treaty. And, last but not least, the appearance of nuclear weapons even in one African state, either home-made or imported, may set off a chain reaction of their proliferation, considering the continent's strategic importance.

ls a Nuclear-Free World POSSible? 1909
Therefore, declaring Africa a nuclear-weapon free zone is important not only for that continent, but also for the whole world. It would contribute to the worldwide elimination of nuclear weapons. It is relevant to note that the principles stipulated by the Non-Proliferation Treaty, and the further strengthening of the international regime of nuclear weapons, non-proliferation in developing countries would be an appreciable contribution to the safeguarding of peace and security. Non-proliferation of nuclear weapons is of vital interest for developing nations. The achievement of this Treaty's goals could provide a model for their co-operation.
The developing countries, their governments and public organizations could do the following in order to prevent any further proliferation of nuclear weapons and secure their complete prohibition and elimination:
- exert efforts, relying on the assistance of the United Nations, Organization of African Unity, League of Arab States, Organization of American States, Non-Aligned Movement and the International Atomic Energy Agency, to get the Non-Proliferation Treaty provisions extended at the 1990 Conference of its signatories to all countries, including South Africa and Israel, as well as to some other states with advanced nuclear research programmes that constitute a potential threat to world Security;
- exert efforts to establish nuclear-weapon free zones in Africa and other regions; s
- press for beginning, without delay, multilateral talks on the complete liquidation of nuclear weapons with a view to completing them by 1995 and signing a relevant agreement on the elimination of nuclear weapons, throughout the world not later than 2000. In this case it would effectively supersede the existing Non-Proliferation Treaty. Of course, there is an alternative - to prolong the Treaty;
- take measures to reduce the movement of fissionable Weapon-grade materials in the world and thereby strengthen the nonproliferation regime. It is also advisable to consider a moratorium of the building of enrichment factories, with a simultaneous commitment of nuclear powers to supply nuclear fuel at reasonable prices to Countries possessing nuclear reactors or planning to build them.

Page 416
1910 Postics and Life in Our Trias
VIVEKANANDA SOCIETY WAS FOUNDED ON 13TH JULY, 1902, THE YEAR OF SWAMI WWEKANANDA'S DEATH, BY SOME OF HIS ADMIRERS IN CEYLON. IT WAS SWAMI WWEKANANDA WHO, FOR THE FIRST TIME OPENED THE EYES OF THE WORLD TO THE GREAT TRUTHS ENSHRINED IN THE HINDURELIGION AT THE CHICAGO CONFERENCE OF WORLD RELIGIONS IN 1893. HE REFERRED TO HINDUSM AS THE MOTHER OF ALL RELIGIONS, AND QUOTEDLIBERALLY FROM THEANCIENTUPANISHADS. A FUNDAMENTAL TRUTHWHICHHE PRONOUNCED WAS THATRELIGIONS THE MANIFESTATION OF THEDWINITY IN MAN. HESAID HISDEAL WASTO MAKEMANTOMANIFEST THISDIVINITYINHIM. THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURASINGAM, ISA MEMBER OF THE WORLDPEACE COUNCILAND THE TREASURER OF THE AFRO-ASIANSOLIDARITY ASSOCATION OFSRLANKA
-- YSYSSSeAeASASSiSSZSTSASYSS Extracted from the Group Photograph saken after the operning af hig New Hall of the Colombo, Vivekananda Society or 14th Novgrabgr, 1972, OffsıEG ČCCLIII] MerbgrS for 7972/73,
1st Row Sealed: L.-R. W. Appiah, T. Duraisingam, R. M. Rengana Pillai,
K. Weeragathy (Hon. Treasuer).
2nd Row Standing : L.-R.: S. K. Velayuthar (Recording Secretary)
K. Ehamparan, N. T. Thurairajah.
Hinduism enfolds within itself wonderful truths, which are presented to us through the Wedas, Upanishads, Agamas, Pluranas, thig Thirumurais, the Maha Bharatha, Ramayana, Thirukkural, etc. which are not as well-known to the World as they should be. These are immortal works. We can and should create a desire to read and understand these immortal works and gain spiritual progress and knowledgetherefrom. There is only one God, and each religion attempts to reach Him in its own way, but the goal is the same. A correct understanding of the Hindu religion develops a sense of self-reliance, self-reverence and self-sufficiency which is spoken of as the corner stone of the edifice of life,
— A. Č. Madaraja
 
 
 

Is a Nuclear-Free World Possible? 1911
Addressing the 43rd Session of the UN General Assembly on December 7, 1988, President Mikhail Gorbachev suggested that the World should become not only nuclear-free but also non-violent, as stipulated in the Delhi Declaration. This means the elimination of the use of military or any forms of force from international relations, transition to political and legal methods of resolving contradictions and Conflicts.
The Commitment of states to refrain front the threat or use of force has been included in Thany bilateral agreements and treaties, as well as in the Final Act of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe and in the Final Document of the Wienna Meeting of CSCE nations. It is high time to resolve this problem on a worldwide scale. This necessity arises from the new views on the nature and criteria of Thankind's progress, from the cardinally changed balance of world social forces and from the opportunity, offered by the new thinking to resolve by political means the tasks that previously appeared to be irl80ublé.
The World situation would be changed radically in case of the elimination of military, forcible Tethods from international relations. This would form a key element of the universal system of international security.
First, this would enable us to formalize the principle of peaceful co-existence as a solid basis of relations among all states without exception. Second, this would paralyse the sabre rattling urge of potential aggressors. Third, all countries and peoples would become more confident in their security and peaceful future, their complete freedom of choice, Fourth, this would contribute to development throughout the world on the basis of trust and equality, to mutually advantageous cooperation among states and peoples in the spheres of economy, science, technology and culture, to what can be called co-creativity and co-development in mankind's common interests, I'd like to note that the attainment of these goals is not linked with the notorious "antagonism" between the two World systems - socialism and capitalism. As a matter of fact, the recent Wars, for instance between Ethiopia and Somalia, Iraq and Iran, as well as the Mideastern conflict and the Israeli-Palestinian confrontation have nothing to do with this antagonism.

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If the elimination of all forcible actions from relations among peoples and states were formalized in international law, it would logically lead to the ending of the arms race and at least partial disarmament to the level of defensive sufficiency. Why have excessive forces, if they cannot be used? This reasoning is of particular importance for developing countries. Simple estimates show that annual global military spendings today exceed more than 40-fold the
total economic aid of industrially developed nations to the entire Third
World and are approximately equal to its total foreign debt.
Discontinuation of the arms race and reduction by all states of their military budgets and armed forces, as the Soviet Union and other socialist nations are doing, could in the foreseeable future at least double the aid given to Third World countries, and on easy terms.
The complete elimination of a threat or use of force in international relations would allow the developing states, too, to do without military spending and to use their financial resources for development. Today, however, the Third World's military appropriations are formidable. In the case of African states, for instance, they are almost equal to their entire foreign debt. A sort of chain reaction ensues: armaments are purchased primarily by the regimes which, in fact, are not threatened.
HOW can all violence be excluded from international relations? The new political thinking provides an answer to this question. This involves, first and foremost, recognition of the contemporary world's diversity as a factor of mutual enrichment and attraction. Then this calls for a universal consensus, or, in other words, generally acceptable compromises in settling disputes without infringing upon anybody's vital interests. And, finally, this requires recognition of the world's pluralism, which is only natural today, and, consequently, of selfrestriction, tolerance and unbiased attitude in international policy.
The problem of building a nuclear-weapon-free and non-violent World Sets difficult, but feasible tasks, the more SO since there is no alternative. Progress is possible only on the basis of universal human interests. Any threat or use of force, much less of nuclear weapons, is incompatible with them.
Courtesy: "Asia and Africa Today", Moscow, July, 1990.

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies
by Prof. Dr. J. David Singer, Department of Political Science, University of Michigan
When traditional scholars and practitioners think about national security, they typically consider those factors that are supposed to deter, and if need be, defeat a potential opponent. And the standard requirements usually turn out to be military capabilities, Credibility in their threats to use these capabilities, and the industrial and demographic resources on which such capabilities must rest. A Somewhat more complex calculus might extend to national morale, Support for the regime and its policies, and perhaps the capacity of the regime to extract the essential resources.
This outlook rests, necessarily, on one or both of two assumptions. One is that material capabilities translate reasonably well into political influence; the other is that superiority in those capabilities will normally serve to deter a rival state, and if not, to defeat that rival in the crucible of war. Unfortunately for this traditional view, the historical evidence is somewhere between mixed and contradictory. With considerable frequency, war is initiated by a state that is weaker than its enemy, and worse yet, the weaker party even emerges victorious in a fair fraction of such cases (Singer, 1985). This is not only unfortunate for the Conventional doctrine, but also for the citizens of the affected states, untold millions have fought, suffered, and died as a result of this touching faith in the deterrent and war-preventing efficacy of military Superiority.
But the story may be sadder still, given the historical evidence. That is, rivalries between states do not necessarily end in war, but they are more likely to do so if: (a) they continue long enough to experience several military confrontations (Leng, 1983); or (b) the rivalry is accompanied by an arms race (Wallace, 1979; Diehl, 1985). While the systematic evidence to date stops here, we can certainly see a Connection between the above Conclusions and the extent to which the societies in an armed rivalry have become militarized. Without going as far as Lasswell's (1941) garrison state or more recently

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Melman's (1985) permanent war economy, we can nevertheless recognize that the greater the influence of those who benefit (or believe that they benefit) from the continuation of an armed rivalry, the greater the probability that it will continue. And while, as noted, all rivalries need not culminate in war, the number is sufficiently high that we dare not ignore the role that socio-political and economic militarization has played, and continues to play, in shaping that outcome.
This connection should be fairly evident: national security elites in most societies, especially the major powers, do not operate in a political vacuum, attending only to matters of realpolitikin pursuit of some abstract national interest. To the contrary, there are not only interagency rivalries, but interest groups, factions, sectors, and of course, constituencies, and the impact of these elements on the policy process will be determined as much by their relative power as by the logic and evidence brought to bear. These effects need not be thought of as irrational, but to the extent that they are driven by more parochial concerns than the security and well being of the larger Society, we might accurately identify them as extra-rational.
What might these extra-rational considerations do to national security policy if sufficiently potent? If we bear in mind that the road to war has many exits, blocking or camouflaging such exits or at least discouraging the search for them could lead us to pass up important opportunities to mitigate or terminate the rivalry. For example, members of the military establishment (in or out of uniform) itself typically have good reasons - psychic as well as material - to perpetuate an armed rivalry. Similarly, it comes as no surprise that many of the Corporate managers as well as the leaders of organized labour, along with the constituents of each, typically find perpetuation of the rivalry attractive on balance, and might well anticipate its mitigation with some alarm.
The general point here is that inter-state rivalries - and Certainly the Soviet-American one - while often arising out of bona fide clashes of interest and incompatible preferences, are regularly aggravated, amplified, and perpetuated by such extra-rational interests. It thus behooves us to understand them better, identify their sources, and measure their impact on the policy process. And at no

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1915
point in history has this been more essential. Thanks to an extraordinary Concatenation of events and conditions throughout the globe, today's East-West rivalry shows some modest signs of amelioration. But despite certain improvements in the political climate, the winding down of armed conflict in Asia and Africa, and a diminution of military expenditures by the major protagonists, there still remains a number of volatile trouble Spots in various regions. Moreover, the weapon systems that have SO menaced the northern hemisphere remain largely in place, as do the doctrines that determine their deployment and possible use. Further, despite some discernible progress in arms control and arms reduction, both Superpowers continue to develop and deploy new weapon systems, often under the rubric of "modernization".
More alarming, there remain powerful voices on both sides urging prudence, caution, and skepticism - Words that have a reasonable ring to them, yet translate into policies of continuing belligerence, recalcitrance, and temporizing, as if time were indeed on the side of the human race.
This state of affairs is not only a source of concern in that it helps to delay movement toward a less war-prone world, but might even effect a reversal in these weak but hopeful tendencies. It is also alarming in terms of the cumulative damage that the East-West armed rivalry will continue to inflict on the economies of the world-industrial, developing, and deteriorating - on our biosphere, and on the material and psychic well-being of a large fraction of the human race (Gillis, 1989). At one and the same time, many social problems remain unattended to, and others are becoming more pronounced, all of them partially hostage to the military preparedness programs that promise security in one sense, while undermining security in many other senses of the word. What is needed, then, is a better comprehension of: (a) those factors that stand in the way of a concerted effort to make the global village fit for human habitation; (b) the ways in which those factors impinge deleteriously on the policies and programs of governmental institutions at the local, national, and international levels; (c) the conditions and events that have produced these barriers to more effective policies; and (d) the ways in which these barriers might be reduced Or eliminated.

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THE PROPOSAL IN BRIEF
The research proposed here has, however, a more modest focus. First, rather than attempt to examine such questions for all of the nations of the World, We will limit ourselves to one or both of the two superpowers in the period since World War II, given the dominant role of the USA and the USSR and the dramatic effects of their interactions with one another as Well as with the rest of the World. Second, rather than address all four of these general questions, we will begin here with only two of them: (a) try to identify and measure four of the more potent factors that help to perpetuate the armed rivalry; (b) examine the reciprocal links between the militarization of the society and the militarization of its foreign politicies; and (c) consider the ways in which a Socio-political conversion program might try to ameliorate those effects.
The research program will consist of two stages. In the first, the idea is to ascertain the extent to which the putative conditions do empirically obtain. That is, in this proposal we will merely surmise and Summarize, identifying those factors that: (a) seem to exist With some regularity in the U. S., and (b) are thought to impinge on national Security policies in a manner that is detrimental to the rational pursuit of such security. This effort will involve a systematic search of the Scientific literature, SOThe secondary analyses, and an effort to integrate the disparate and scattered research findings into a set of rigorous, consistent erTipirical generalizations. In that phase, of course, we will Seek neither to account for those observed patterns and regularities nor to examine their effects on the foreign policy decision process.
In the second, and more critical stage, however, the latter will be Our Central focus. That is, having established the extent to which these allegedly deleterious factors really exist, we then turn to their impact on the policy process. This is, of course, a much more demanding task, and We will turn to the details in the proposed research design. In summarizing some of the variables that we surmise to be helping to block the exits that might permit us to get off the road to war, We should note that arried rivalry embraces more than merely the strategic arms race and the conventional forces confrontation in Europe, also involved are the efforts of the superpowers to enhance their respective degrees of influence outside of Europe.

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1917
WHEN TRADITIONAL SCHOLARS AND PRACTITIONERS THINK ABOUT NATIONAL SECURITY THEY TYPECALLY CONSIDER THOSE FACTORS THAT ARESUPPOSED TODETER, ANDIFNEEDBE, DEFEATA POTENTIAL OPPONENT. AND THE STANDARD REQUIREMENTSUSUALLY TURNOUT TO BEMILITARY CAPABILITIES, CREDIBILITY INTHER THREATS TOUSE THESE CAPABILITIES, AND THE INDUSTRIAL AND DEMOGRAPHIC RESOURCES ON WHICHSUCHCAPABILITIES MUSTREST. ASOME WHAT MORE COMPLEX CALCULUS MIGHT EXTEND TO NATIONAL MORALE, SUPPORT FOR THE REGIME AND ITS POLICIES, AND PERHAPS THE CAPACITY OF THE REGIME TO EXTRACT THE ESSENTIAL RESOURCES,
ya Ehrenburg A Sovial writer who showed great diversity of thana and genre.
Ilya Ehrenburg was born in 1891 into the family of a Moscow manufacturer, At the age of fifteen he joined the revolutionary movement. He was expelled from the gyrasfurn for distributing Bolshevik leaflets, was arrested and served more than a year in prison. From 1909 to 1917 he was a resident of Paris and did nuch travelling throughout Europe. It was at this time that he look to writing poetry, which he printed in Russia and other countries. In 1917 he returned to his native country. In 1921 he again left for France, and lived in Paris, making frequent trips to the Soviet Union. Soon his first prose work appeared, JLlo Jurasito, a rowel which took the public by storm. It was translated into several languages. Since then over half a hundred books of his hawa been published, Ningteen-forty found him permanointly domiciled at Moscow, This gifted writer and journalist has turned his splendid capacity for work to good account in the cause of consolidating peace.

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Turning, then, to the question of identifying the Critical elements/ factors, let me identify those four that seem especially potent, without suggesting any rank order or the priority in which we need to address them. The first, it would seem, is that of job security and general prosperity; without the conviction that armed rivalry is economically desirable, and that its amelioration might jeopardize profits and jobs, a good many citizens would find the arguments of strategic deterrence Somewhat less Credible.
Shifting from the material needs/interests of American (and perhaps Russian) citizens, we turn to a second key factor: the psychic needs. Here, we need to attend to the unattractive reality that many/ most human beings desire, and feel comfortable with, the sense that they belong to a well-defined group that is locked in struggle with a differentiable out-group. While most of us have little need for hostility or combat, we typically do have a need for identification with one or more human groups, and the sharper the line between "us" and "them", the more powerful the sense of group identity.
Yet a third major obstacle to moving away from East-West armed rivalry is that of the popular media, and as might be surmised, this problem is not unrelated to the first two. That is, the career (and profit) incentives encourage media people to simplify, ignore, and distort, and the westhey syndrome leaves the citizenry all too satisfied with that"informational"fare. That symbiotic relationship, in turn, creates and perpetuates constantly a climate of opinion in which political elites have an easy time of generating support for their policies and the resources that such policies require.
Yet a fourth institution that does little to reverse, and a considerable amount to perpetuate the armed rivalry, is that of the major American universities and foundations. There may have been a time when the university itself was relatively distant from government, and if anything, provided a countervailing force vis-a-vis the dominant views and practises of the day. But the reversal of roles is all too evident, and as the great increase of interdependence between the halls of academe and the corridors of power has continued, there has been little opportunity or incentive to play a self-correcting, negative feedback role; whether as teachers, researchers, Consultants, or public figures, professors who stand against the militarization of higher education soon experience the hard facts of relative deprivation.

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1919
What is proposed here, then, is a research program intended to do three things. First, we seek to measure the extent to which "militarization" has progressed within the four selected sectors of the United States over the past four decades, the idea is to develop several indicators in each of the sectors such that we can operationally trace the flow and ebb (if any) of the militarization process. Second, we plan to examine the extent to which such militarization of the society has manifested itself in the militarization of its foreign policies. How accurate is it, in other words, to postulate that as post World War II policies became more militarized, so did key sectors of the society, and that as these sectors became more militarized, it was less likely that the policies would become less confrontational, more prudent, andless dependent on the military instrument?
As already intimated, what is proposed here is not merely "recreational research", designed to satisfy our Curiosity or to advance ourtheoretical knowledge in the field of world politics and foreign policy. in the project at hand, the aspiration is to generate sufficient knowledge and evaluate certain models and their associated hypotheses such that we will appreciate the policy implications. Bluntly stated, we truly seek to ascertain the extent, and deleterious consequences of militarization in the superpowers with an eye to the possibilities of beginning the process of demilitarizing both the societies and the foreign policies that they pursue.
THE EXTRA-RATIONAL FACTORS EXPLORED
Having explored the reasoning behind the proposed investigation, outlined the possible role of certain extrarational factors in the foreign and military policies of the United States and perhaps the Soviet Union, and suggested the connections between such factors and these policies, let us now examine the former in greater detail.
PROSPERITY AND JOBSECURITY
One of the quickest ways to dampen enthusiasm for an arms reduction measure is to warn of the number of job layoffs that might be implied. And on the other side of the coin is the promise of work that is rewarding, monetarily and psychologically, to generate support for a new weapon system. One instance of the latter was the frequency with

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which engineers and physicists spoken with disapproval of the strategic defense initiative on policy grounds, yet were nevertheless loathe to oppose it, as more than one of them intimated, it may Well be a harebrained idea, but it sure offers some "sweet research problems". For less skilled workers, there may not be the intellectual attraction, but the possibility of attaining or retaining well-paid jobs certainly helps to explain blue-collar support for more militant national Security policies. And in the American context, the Democratic Party's need for support from the industrial workers and their union leadership illuminates that Party's acquiescence in a confrontational foreign policy and general support for high military spending over the past four decades. When presented with a reasoned argument for more conciliatory policies and more prudent military (aka "defense") spending, party stalwarts merely point to the McGovern route in his bid for the Presidency. In the Soviet Context, the dramatic demise of Khruschev and Some of the current resistance to the Gorbachev reforms may be an approximate analogy. What is called for here, then, is a two-pronged study. First, we need to ascertain the extent to which the above interpretation is empirically well-founded. How regularly have working class districts supported the more pro-armament candidates in primaries and general elections, and how much have arms reduction proponents been consistently harmed by this issue? What sort of evidence do we have regarding the electoral success of high vs. low military spenders in those districts with high dependence on military spending, and those with low dependence? Less crude might be to control for constituencies that have had access to competent and/or Credible impact statements as distinct from more politically motivated or ideological / demagogic predictions. Similarly, a few districts and regions have witnessed considerable educational efforts by such groups as "Jobs with Peace", and a smaller number have actually experienced job retraining programs instituted by local governments, peace groups, and local corporations, and it would be worthwhile to ascertain the impact of those efforts on the attitudes and electoral behavior of their citizens. Finally, an increasing number of state and local governments have Consciously sought to replace military installations and weapon production facilities with civilian-oriented firms, often those associated with more labour-intensive industries.

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1921
In any event, one of the more likely prospects when it comes to the extra-rational domestic factors that may help to perpetuate national security policies whose effectiveness is increasingly in question, is that of the fear of unemployment. Our task here, then, is to carefully review what appears to be a large and diverse body of research on the attitudes of workers, labour leaders, corporate managers, and public officials towards the economic importance of maintaining or increasing military preparedness programs, and conversely, the dangers of any diminution in these efforts. Closely related to such opinion surveys is electoral behavior itself, and once again, there appears to be a voluminous literature, both speculative and reproducably empirical.
Similarly, we need to remember that the economic rubric is Considerably broader than just the issue of unemployment and underemployment in the industrial work force. There are also the concerns of the managerial and investment sectors of the economy, and the belief in some circles that certain industries might be sufficiently dependent upon continuing high levels of military spending that the managers, owners, and major stockholders could also oppose arms reductions on grounds of self-interest. This question has already received some research attention, including a special volume of the Norwegian Bulletin of Peace Proposals (Dumas, 1988). Also worth noting is that these economic factors will not necessarily be equally relevant in the Soviet or the more centralized systems, but that will depend on the extent to which any restructuring moves away from Central planning and toward arrangements that are perhaps more market-directed.
PSYCHO-SYMBOLIC DENTIFICATION
Shifting abruptly from the tangible to the intangible, both the diagnosis and the treatment may well be more elusive. Whereas economic research indicates not only the extent to which fuller employment depends upon military spending in a system such as the American, but also some of the alternatives to that dependence; this is far less true of the psychic "dependency". Psychologists, anthropologists, and even biologists, have provided a general insight into the sources of this syndrome (Shar and Wong, 1989), but the evidence regarding its etiology is weak. Nor have political scientists gone

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much beyond recognizing the existence and importance of parochialism and nationalism, largely treating it as a given, to be praised or condemned depending on the problem focus at the moment. That is, we applaud this powerful ingroup vs, outgroup outlook when the forces of light are standing firm against the forces of darkness, but condemnit when national political elities exploit and/or respond to it when faced with the obvious need for stronger supra-national institutions.
What seems to be called for here, in the context of dismantling certain elements of the garrison state, is first a fuller understanding of the evolutionary role of kinship recognition-identification (Johnson, 1986) and the conditions under which this identification become stronger or weaker; it seems tomanifest an appreciable range of intensity. Second, we need to look more systematically at the mechanisms that convert the general predisposition into more specific tendencies toward subspeciation (Erikson, 1950). By this is meant not merely the recognition of ingroup-outgroup differences but the belief that the outgroup is substantially inferior, and therefore a legitimate target of behavior that Would be unacceptable vis-a-vis of the ingroup.
The plan, thus, is to survey the large, if inchoate, literature on these issues, and then go on to consider and evaluate those policies and institutions that perpetuatemaladaptively high levels of nationalism and often aggravate those predispositions to levels so menacing as to bring the public to a fewer pitch and a clamoring for war. Among those institutions might be youth organizations, veterans groups, patriotic associations, the schools (from first grade through university), sports and other entertainment, election campaigns, and of course, the print and electronic media,
THE MEDIA AS PERPETUATOR
The above considerations bring us, then, to the ways in which the media in America (and elsewhere) stand as a force that discourages greater autonomy and diversity in elite and mass attitudes toward the Cold War, the enemy of the noment, and world affairs in general. To Some extent, the media in every society tend to serve - as Lenin suggested - as a transmission belt by which elite perspectives are inflicted on the reading public. But in the U.S., the problem seems more pointed.

Obstacles to Pruders Foreign Policies 1923
THE GENERAL POINT HERE IS THAT INTER-STATE RIVALRIES - AND CERTAINLY THE SOVIET-AMERICANONE - WHILE OF TEN ARISING OUT OF BONA FIDE CLASHES OF INTEREST AND INCOMPATIBLE PREFERENCES, ARE REGULARLY AGGRAWATED, AMPLIFIED, AND PERPETUATED BY SUCH EXTRA-RATIONAL INTERESTS. IT THUS BEHOOVES US TO UNDERSTAND THEM BETTER, IDENTIFY THEIR SOURCES, AND MEASURE THEIR IMPACTONTHE POLICYPROCESS, AND ATNOPOINT IN HISTORY HAS THIS BEEN MORE ESSENTIAL THANKS TO AN EXTRAORDNARY CONCATENATION OF EVENTS AND CONDITIONS THROUGHOUT THE GLOBE, TODAY'SEAST-WESTRIVALRY SHOWSSOME MODEST SIGNS OF AMELORATION, BUT DESPITE CERTAIN IMPROVEMENTS IN THE POLITICAL CLIMATE, THE WINDING DOWN OF ARMED CONFLCTINASA AND AFRICA, AND ADIMINUTION OF MILITARY EXPENDITURES BY THE MAJOR PROTAGONISTS, THERESTILL REMAINS A NUMBER OF WOLATILE TROUBLE SPOTS IN WARIOUS REGIONS.
GELS LGGMCCLLLL LLLLGLLCCLGLLYLLL LL LC LLGlLLaL LuLLLLL LLLLLL Woman Prime Minister, Here she is seen declaring open on 8th January 7977, the 7gwly re-bit Bandaranaka International Airpori.
In 1970, the SLFP Government of Prime Minister Siri flavo Bandaranaike put an and to UNP rule of 1965-70. Mrs. Bandaranaike had her first experience as the leader of the Country froT 1960-65 and as the World's first woman prime minister, two years after the assassination of her husband, Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. The Non-Aligned Movement had high regard for her. She became an international leader and a woman of destiny,

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One element is the lack of diversity. While it is true that there are hundreds of small newspapers, newsletters, and magazines, each of these not only has a very small circulation, but also is read almost exclusively by those who are already sympathetic with its perspective. From the Liberty Lobby Spotlight to the Progressive, and from the National Interest to Defense and Disarmament, the readership is both small and favorably predisposed. Then, in contrast to many other Societies, we do not have large circulation dailies published either by relatively divergent political parties or by publishers with appreciably different ideologies.
What we find in the U.S. is, rather, a remarkably homogeneous newspaper, news magazine, and television industry. This homogeniety stems from several factors in addition to the fairly similar social class identification of the publishers. A major one is, of course, the fact that they are commercial enterprises, dedicated to producing profits for owner and shareholder alike. Those profits are, in turn, highly dependent on circulation, whose size determines the advertising rates they can command. The larger the readership, the higher the income from advertising, and a large readership is best obtained by pitching the contents and style of the medium to the largest and most conventional sector of the potential audience. This not only means infrequent presentation of unpopular perspectives, but excessive simplification as well; the contented reader is the comfortable reader. He or she finds a compatible perspective, essentially familiar contents, and certainly not an abundance of complex or confusing interpretations of World affairs.
But the problem is not only a "demand side" conducive to a ShoW business/entertainment/reassurance Orientation. There is an equally deleterious "supply side"factor as well. I refer to the relationship between the journalists (including publishers and editors) and their Sources of information, rumour and disinformation. Their success is, among other things, highly dependent on the frequency of "being there" first with the most recent or most sensitive story, and one's sources in government or industry are not likely to give that inside information to the journalist who fails to report things in a friendly fashion. One

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1925
establishes strong contacts with key people in Congress, Defence, State, CIA, etc. by presenting their ideas, arguments, and doings in a favorable light. Here is another sector in which the self-correcting mechanism is distressingly weak, regardless of the private views of those who "gather the news" (Dorman and Farhang, 1987).
THE UNIVERSITIES AND FOUNDATIONS
Whereas a good many observers have noted and examined the often pernicious role of the mass media in U.S. foreign and military policy, the university has seldom been similarly perceived. To the contrary, the American university, and higher education in general, have traditionally been celebrated as a source of independent thought, typically understood as playing a constructive and countervailing role in the face of widespread political foolishness. The same has been true of foundations, offering both mature guidance in the form of independent investigative Commissions and the funding of research and education programs of a progressive, forward-looking, and autonomy-supporting nature.
What grounds have we for suggesting otherwise? Looking first at the public university, the incentives and constraints are relatively selfevident. As is well-known, these institutions have rarely been financially independent, able to survive on the basis of student tuition alone. Additional support has, until the post-World War II era, largely come from the state legislatures or municipal governments along with alumni contributions and an occasional major gift from industry or a philanthropist. But today's picture is quite different, with the decline in funding from state and local government, and with tuition-despite steady increases - covering a smaller fraction of the annual budget, even as costs have risen dramatically. For example, deans, department chairs, legal counsels, public relations officers, and other administrators now receive salaries well above regular faculty (often more than twice the sum) and worse yet, their numbers and their staffs have multiplied as much as their salaries. In the past four decades, then, the universities have become far more dependent on federal funding, much of it from the Defense Department. The story is told that a major university department of biology voted to refuse doing any further research on

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biochemical warfare, at which point the Provost suggested that they would therefore no longer require their expensive laboratories. That unpatriotic vote was quickly rescinded. Thus, in addition to this sort of pressure on - and from - university administrators, there is the more familiar pressure from regents, trustees, alumni, and corporations, augmented increasingly by the major foundations. This combined leverage is nearly irresistible, especially if other universities are "behaving Well" politically and being rewarded appropriately.
What is the effect on faculties? In one direction, we are encouraged to pursue research grants, gifts, and program Support from these Outside Sources, and to design research and teaching programs. that will please our patrons and yield high income. That income is used, in turn, to augment faculty salaries, buy released time from teaching, finance graduate students who might otherwise go elsewhere for their educations, recruit and reward additional faculty in the right fields, and initiate teaching programs that meet the interests of these funding institutions. In the other direction, there is the "chilling" effect of the need to avoid political embarrassment by faculty (and even students). Those whose research, teaching, and public statements might offend or disappoint the Pentagon, congressional committees and staff, corporate givers, private donors, and foundations are given to understand that they need to mend their ways. Those who resist often become pariahs and are pushed to the margins in terms of perquisites, salaries, influence, and legitimacy, while those who conform are duly appreciated and rewarded. One less well-known practice is to bring the deserving faculty member and the donors together, with the administrators endorsing, legitimizing, and facilitating fund-raising, while freezing out those who fail to conform. This sort of thing not only corrupts faculty research and teaching - in the Social Sciences as well as physics, biology, etc. - but also helps to Corrupt their graduate students. As a World politics student put it, he had planned to study with one professor but concluded that he'd better study with those "who pay his tuition and board". This is not only not conducive to a "level playing field", but deprives the student of a more Complete education, and encourage him/her to go with the conventional wisdom of the moment. All along the line, then, it is little wonder that the university does little to provide a self-correcting force, and much to generate a self-amplifying force, in the perpetuation of America's foreign and military policies (Krinsky, 1988).

Obstacles to Prudent Foreign Policies 1927
SUMMARY
Having summarized some of the factors that help to perpetuate and reinforce the more militaristic policies of one of the superpowers, the plan is to examine these conditions and processes in greater detail and in a much more thorough fashion. By articulating these four sets of hypotheses, and developing the relevant indicators, we should be able to measure the direction and rates of change in these institutional and psychological forces, and estimate the extent to which they are indeed at work in inhibiting American efforts to break away from this still menacing armed rivalry with the Soviet Union.
Once that descriptive and analytic research is successfully under way, We can then move on to examine the alternative strategies by which the necessary socio-political-economic Conversion processes might be initiated and augmented. To reiterate, we already see some modest signs of progress in the U.S. but the tendencies remain rather weak and thus all too easily reversed on relatively short notice. The garrison state remains, today, largely intact.
Finally, this discussion has necessarily attended to the
circumstances in the United States and has virtually ignored the approximately comparable circumstances in the U.S.S.R.Thus, this memorandum will shortly be circulated to social science colleagues there, and to those scholars with similar research expertise in several other of the relevant societies, East and West. It will, in addition, be circulated for Comments to some of the key people in the United Nations Secretariat and other appropriate international organizations.
While important research into the more immediately relevant problems of foreign policy, arms control, and disarmament goes on, there is a genuine need for a two-pronged strategy. If, despite the sensible and prudent case for less confrontational and hostile policies, these indirect and less visible obstructions remain largely untouched, the emerging transformation in East-West relations may come too slowly, or worse yet, might well be stopped dead in its tracks.
Courtesy: "Peace and the Sciences", Vol. 1, 1990, Vienna, Austria.

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Lenin's Unique Role in Human History
by Dudley Senanayake Prime Minister of Ceylon
Lenin Created a new era in history. The forces he set in motion in 1917, in leading the Russian Revolution, are to-date making their impact on the World at large. In 1917, the Czarist Empire was on the verge of collapse. Lenin, with a comparatively small number of followers, the Bolsheviks, captured power and created the Soviets, experimenting with the political philosophy of Karl Marx. The Revolution he led hasthrough the years, inspired the struggle of Colonial peoples for national independence.
it is irrelevanthere to discuss the political philosophy that emerged out of Marx's original thinking and Lenin's practical realisation of that ideology. What did happen in history to other great thinkers did also happen to Marxism-Leninism. Sects, schisms, different interpretations of the original thoughts, as was the fate of other great religious and political thought. Nevertheless, the impact of Marxism-Leninism has influenced a great part of humanity today. Even continents are directly under systems of government that owe their ideologies to Marx and Lenin. It is not necessary to agree with Leninist thought to appreciate Lenin's greatness or to give him credit for the unique role he played in human history. Tomy mind, Lenin and Gandhi in the 20th century, although their methods were opposed to each other - violence against non-violence - did most to kindle in Asia and Africa the flame of freedom.
if we look at the two superpowers of today, the Soviet Union and the United States of America, we see that their material Wealth and prosperity had been created on the basis of two diametrically opposed dogmas. While the Soviets achieved their goal on the basis of state Ownership of the means of production, the United States achieved their material well-being with free enterprise as the corner-stone of their economy. Obviously, neither was a historical accident. It was the historical realities that produced the two systems. , for one, think that a synthesis of the two is better suited for my own country.

Lenin's Unique Role in Human History 1929
Lenin's experiment with history has interesting lessons for all students of history. When Lenin took on a political philosopher's thoughts, that of Marx, and Sought to practise these theories, one sees him, in the face of reality, adapting abstract theories to suit the particular conditions of his own country. His New Economic Policy is one such instance. Then again, followers of Marx thought that the fruitful ground to realise their Socialist dream would be an industrially advanced society, but the Revolution broke outfirst in a backward, oppressed Country that the followers of Lenin succeeded in building a super-power.
Whatever views one has about Marxism as such, there is no denying that the modern Welfare State, where the Working population is assured of decent living conditions, came into being as a consequence of socialist thinking and its resolvement of the antagonism present in various strata of society.
Lenin died young, in his early fifties. This creator of a new epoch in history will be remembered by posterity for his achievement, which is comparable to that of any other hero of history.
Courtesy: Lenin's Birth Centenary Souvenir, Colombo, April, 22, 1970.
The Leninist Peace Policy The Decree on Peace stated: The workers' and peasants' government, created by the Revolution of October 24-25, 1917 and basing itself on the Soviets of Workers', Soldiers' and Peasants' Deputies, calls on all the belligerent peoples and their governments to start immediate negotiations for a just, democratic peace. By a just or democratic peace, for which the overwhelming majority of the working class and other working people of all the belligerent countries, exhausted, tormented and racked by the war, are craving - a peace that has been most definitely and insistently demanded by the Russian workers and peasants ever since the overthrow of the tsarist monarchy - by Such a peace the government means an immediate peace without annexations (i. e., without the seizure of foreign lands, without the forcible incorporation of foreign nations) and without indemnities.

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The Difference between SOViet and American Foreign Policies
Soong Ching Ling (Madame Sun Yat-sen) Vice Chairman of the Central People's Government
Chairman Mao Tse-tung, in his now historic speech on July 1, 1949, pronounced that the new China, the Chinese People's Republic, would lean to one side in all matters, foreign and domestic. That is the side led by the great Soviet Union under the leadership of the mighty Stalin. That is the side of peace and construction. That is the path joyously followed and ardently studied by the overwhelming masses of the Chinese people.
Events in the World have proven, and are everyday verifying, that this is the only side to which progressive countries can lean. For there are merely two choices at hand. One is the Soviet Union. The other is represented mainly by the United States, Great Britain and France. As we have contact with these two sides, through their foreign policies, we quickly see that they are as different as day is from night. One has all the brightness of day and all the warmth of the sun. That is the socialist Soviet Union. The other is as forbidding as a wintry night with all its coldness. This is the imperialist bandled by the United States.
By comparing these two choices, it is easy to see why, in actuality, survival and revival of oppressed nations necessitates leaning to the side of the Soviet Union.
What do the imperialists offer?
First, they offer Marshall Plan "aid". Their method is to "educate" you on how good it will be for you. This is done in typical, high-pressure, American advertising style. The sales talk is directed to all those who are floundering in the high seas of unplanned economies and who fear changes which use the strength of the people. The American Wall Streeters hold up their concoction as the newest thing in life-savers. "It

The Difference between Soviet and American Foreign Policies 1931
is streamlined", they say. "It will pull you through any situation". Some governments have fallen for this line and have had the "life saver" tossed at them. From their experience, it is now history that this highly publicised contraption turns out to be but a strait-jacket. It is filled with lead and bound to sink anyone who attempts to use it.
Recent news dispatchestellus that Marshall Plan "aid" is being rushed to Indonesia under terms of an old agreement between the United States and Holland to help the latter's Colonies. It is obvious that the American government feels it can fully rely on those, both Dutch and Indonesian, to whom they dictated the Hague documents creating the new puppet state. Therefore, they rush supplies to these suffering islands. However, we can safely say that history is about to repeat itself. We Can determine now what will be the results of this "aid".
For the few Indonesians in high position who have sold out their country to imperialism, it will mean that their power will be propped up for a little longer. This "aid" will enable them to suppress and keep at bay, for the moment, the rising tide of the people's might.
For the Common men and Women of Indonesia, it will mean something entirely different. It will mean prolonged civil war, with all its destruction and bitterness. Witness Marshall Plan "aid" to China and Greece in the past years.
It will mean further an intensified exploitation of the country's raw materials, to the detriment of the people's present welfare and their future Constructive efforts. Witness Western Germany today as it serves Wall Street in full colonial capacity. Coal, timber, scrap metal and other raw and semi-finished materials are pouring out of the country into British and American factories. In return, this highly industrialized part of Germany is being made into an importer of finished products. The result is that their manufacturing industry is rapidly deteriorating and they have accumulated a debt of Over three billion dollars to the United States.
Marshall Plan "aid" will further mean then long lines of unemployed workers and shrinking standards of living for their families as factory after factory suffers the smothering of home markets by American goods. Witness Italy, where 2,500,000 workers sit idle, while

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1932 Po/WWCG and Life ir 7 (O " Tir ES
THE WHITE-HARED GIRL. - THIS OPERAWAS STAGED THROUGHOUT THE COUNTRY AFTER THE CHINESE PEOPLE WON THE WAR OF RESISTANCE AGAINST JAPAN AND THE WAR OF LIBERATION. IT PLAYED AROLE IN "UNTING AND EDUCATING THE PEOPLE AND ALLLLLLLLGLLLELaL LLLL LLLLLGELLL LLLL LLLLLLLLYYEEGS LL LLLL LLLLLLLHH LLLLLLL MOVEMENTSOME OPERATROUPES PERFORMED THE WHTTE-HAIRED GRL TO AROUSE THE MASSES. THE CRUEL CLASS OPPRESSION EXPOSED IN THE OPERA GREATLY EDUCATED THE MASSES AND PUSHED FORWARD THE LAND REFORMMOVEMENT.
Premier Chou En-lai and Comrade Terry Ying-chao saw the performance and recoved Warg un arīd Ku a-ying (bafi perforning, lsi-erh) and fer ac for S ar ld a Cireg 5,595,
The story of The White-Haired Girl" Yang Pai-lao, a tenant peasant and his daughter Hsi-crh are suffering cruel exploitation and oppression by a diaspotic land-lord Huang Shih-jen. Yang is driven to suicide and Hsi-orth is forced to become a servant in the Huangfamily. She is subjected to all kinds of mistreatment. With the help of Aunt Chang, another servant, Hsi-erh makes her escape and takes refuge in the mountains living on wild herbs and bark. After three years of suffering, her hair turns grey. She longs for revenge, The Eighth Route Army led by the Communist Party of China comes to Hsi-erh's home willage. Hsi-erh is found in a mountain cava. Huang Shih-jen is sentenced to death in accordance with Law, Hsi-erh together with the poor peasants Colebrate their cmancipation.
 

The Difference betwoor Soviet and American Foreign Policias 1933
the Italian Government statistical institute informs us that nearly half of the families are living on a standard below the necessary minimum. Witness France, where the purchasing power of the people has dropped more than 20% in the past year and devaluation of the franc further cut into their livelihood, Witness Britain, where the people suffer because the critically affected foreign export trade is diverted to the West, which does not want it, instead of being allowed to exchange goods and services with the wast expanse from Czechoslovakia to China.
Finally, this gracious "aid" will mean for Indonesia Continued harassment by nature, Witness China's case once again, where the important bulk of the funds and energies were used to fight the people instead of preventing natural disasters. That is why until this time, floods lawe ruined Tillions of acres of land and Tillions of tons of food and the number of faming-sufferers runs into tens of millions,
The record is clear. Marshall Plans will help neither Indonesia nor any other Country. They are not instigated for that purpose. There is another intent.
It has become clear once again that ArTerica's capitalistic systein is a humpty-dumpty which has fallen off the wall of history, It is cracked, and severely so. Therefore, the monopolists on Wall Street try to put it together again. They use the very expensive Marshall Plan, while the American people, and all peoples upon who in it is imposed, are made to pay for it. But even this astronomical expenditure is not enough to mend the broken egg. The situation gets urgent, and then degenerates to the frantic stage. Measures of fear are then applied,
These measures are the preparations for War, as expressed in terms of the Atlantic Pact, the promised Southeast Asia Alliance and similar malicious attempts. These are strait-jackets of another sort for those who participate. It is in addition to the Marshall Plan and entails further obligations, this time the entirely non-creative spending of money on arms and munitions, according to American standards, from American factories, at American prices, paid for in American dollars. Not one of the contracting parties, including the United States, can afford such waste, But economic and political pressure of every Wariety is

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1934 Politics and Life in Our Times
exerted by the American Government and its Wall Street jockeys until their objectives are reached: super-profits at home, control of the markets abroad. The national sovereignty of others means nothing to them. They tread upon the people's livelihoods with arrogance.
It is a truism: those who keep freedom from others are not free themselves. It follows: those who cause impoverishment will themselves soon be reduced to that state. It is precisely to this position that the American people are being steadily pushed.
Unemployment in the United States is reaching into figures like six million, with ten million workers only partially employed. This occurs when the cost of living rises to 180 (with year 1939 as 100) and real wages actually drop below the 1939 level. According to the Chief of Reports and Analysis of the United States Bureau of Employment Security, there is no relief in sight for this situation. In fact, according to this official organization's calculation, there are 600,000 more people looking for jobs every year. The casual remark at the end of this report was that if this condition continues, it will mean something is Wrong with the economy.
We can say now that something is wrong, for the people of the United States. But for the few financial groupings operating out of the darkness of Wall Street, things are quite right. Their profits are bursting out all over. In 1947 they hit the record of 17 billion dollars. Through further exploitation of the world, in 1948 they gathered unto themselves the gigantic sum of 21 billions. It is plain for all to see. Into these greedy hands falls the Marshall Plan money. The funds required for the execution of the Atlantic Pact also find their way here. And woe to anything or anyone who tries to stop this game of gamble and garner. The bigger the profits they get, the more the people in the United States are suppressed. Civil rights are beaten down and discarded. The police actively show they are mere tools of the vested interests. They protect only the hand that feeds them sop, rather than the people, as was demonstrated in the Peekskill incident. Educational Standards are constantly attacked through the intimidation and firing of teachers and professors who object to the fascisation that is taking place. Science

The Difference between Soviet and American Foreign Policies 1935
is closeted and put under lock and key, the latter in the hands of the financial wizards who control everything else. They do not even allow their imperialist partners to take a peek, as we have seen from the recent breakdown of atomic energy Conferences held in Canada between the United States and Great Britain.
This brought out into the open but one of the contradictions which exists between imperialist countries. The American Government attempted to put all research and development of the important source of atomic energy into their own hands and exclude Britain and Canada from this field. They failed in this case, just as they met with a rebuff in the bargaining concerning the delivery of arms for the Atlantic Pact requirements. Historical analysis proves that such contradictions will ever be present and will become increasingly important. However, the American Government will treat its satellites as it treats its own people in due time. For how long can Britain, for example, keep up her resistance when she is so dependent upon United States funds to keep herself from the brink of bankruptcy? The answer is if Britain continues her present anit-Soviet policies, she cannot last very much longer, and sooner or later, the United States will have its way completely.
That is the picture the imperialist group presents. Now, let us examine the policies and practices of the Soviet Union as they appear on the world scene.
To date, this socialist land has made trade arrangements with the following People's Democracies: Czechoslovakia, Rumania, Bulgaria, Albania, Hungary, Poland, Mongolia and China. All of these agreements were made with one, and only one, purpose in mind - to sincerely aid in the development of these countries. There was no pretense, no bait, no "education". There was only one question asked: "What do you need?" Here are a few practical examples of how this Worked Out.
China, in its liberation, was faced with tremendous problems concerning rail transportation. The reactionary Kuomintang armies had destroyed bridges by the hundreds. The equally reactionary administrations had allowed equipment to be wasted and ill-used, and

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1936 Politics and Life in Our Times
the roadbeds were in urgent need of maintenance. This had to be remedied immediately, since so much depended on moving supplies from the countryside to the newly captured cities, and in moving the People's Liberation Army to positions for the final stroke against the American-supported Chiang Kai-shek.
Among the very first arrivals in China from the Soviet Union were railway technicians. They worked at the complicated questions and rendered support that put the restoration of our rail system months ahead of schedule. They came without benefit of fanfare. They did their job and not one single thing was asked in return.
Likewise, this past summer, the North-eastern provinces of China suffered an epidemic of the plague. We did not have enough doctors and technicians to stem this dangerous disease, so we called on our great neighbour. The medical teams we required were soon on the scene. They came, they gave their help and when they were finished, they went home. There were not even thoughts of repayment or concessions to be sought. They did not ask the right to do anything, except to serve the Chinese people.
Bulgaria offers another example. This country chronically suffers from drought. Inspired by the Stalin plan for remaking nature through afforestation and forming bodies of water, Bulgarian organs made a plan of their own. To implement this plan, the Soviet Union has given technical assistance, machinery, equipment for power stations, transmission lines to carry the power; made locks for irrigation dams and provided other essential materials, just to assure success in this vital project.
This spirit of co-operation is now the working principle among all the People's Democracies.
Courtesy: "People's China", January 16th, 1950.

Communists Urge Russians to Strike and Join Party
MOSCOW, Sunday (Reuter)
Russia's Communist Party on Saturday (21.06. 1997) urged people across the country to go on Strike in protest against the government, dig out their Soviet-era party cards and rejoin the political fray, news agencies said.
"Slogans at the protest should call for President Boris Yeltsin to resign, reject a disastrous political and economic course and demand the setting up of a government of national trust", Interfax news agency quoted the party as saying.
"The Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Russian Federation called on the citizens of Russia to 'seriously prepare for a Russia-wide protest strike'", interfax said.
The Communists, who dominate the State Duma, lower house of parliament, but are overshadowed by Yeltsin's executive powers, did not spell out exactly when the strike should take place.
It was not the first time they had called for such action but the appeal came amid Duma debates on whether to accept, reject or seek to water down the government's proposed tough budget cuts. The Duma is scheduled to vote on the matter on Monday.
itar-Tass news agency said the Communists were expected to discuss the budget vote on Saturday. But there was no news from the meeting on how the Communists would act.
A government spokesman, Igor Shabdurasulov, said Prime Minister Viktor Chernomyrdin had dismissed the Communists' strike call as "populist and divorced from reality".
The party's Central Committee, meeting on the outskirts of Moscow, also expressed outrage at Yeltsin's proposed referendum on whether to move Soviet state founder Vladimir Lenin's embalmed body from its Red Square mausoleum and bury it in St. Petersburg.

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1938 Politics and Life in Our Times
"The Lenin Mausoleum is a monument of not only national but also world history", interfax quoted the party as saying. The Communists described the plan as "immoral and outrageous".
A Central Committee resolution urged Russian Communists "and those who remain CommunistS in their hearts Or Who Still have their party cards from the Communist Party of the Soviet Union to unite in party ranks".
This year is the 80th anniversary of the 1917 October Revolution that led to the founding of the Soviet state.
The Soviet Union, and its all-powerful party, disintegrated in 1991. The Russian party subsequently emerged from the ruins but its leader, Gennady Zyuganov, failed in his attempt to replace Yeltsin in last year's presidential election.
Courtesy: 'Daily News', Colombo, June 23rd, 1997.
The Earth as itls
The earth, as everybody knows nowadays, is a spheroid, asphere slightly compressed, orange fashion, with a diameter of nearly 8,000 miles. Its spherical shape has been known at least to a limited number of intelligent people for nearly 2,500 years, but before that time it was supposed to be flat and various ideas which now seem fantastic Were entertained about its relations to the sky and the stars and planets. We know now that it rotates upon its axis (which is about twenty-four miles shorter than its equatorial diameter) every twenty-four hours, and that this is the cause of the alternations of day and night, that it circles about the Sun in a slightly distorted and slowly variable oval path in a year. Its distance from the sun varies between ninety-one and a half million, at its nearest, and ninety-four and a half million miles. About the earth circles a small sphere, the moon, at an average distance of 23,900 miles. Earth and moon are not the only bodies to travel round the sun. There are also others including the planets, Mercury and Venus, at distances of thirty
six and sixty-seven millions of miles.
- H. G. Wells.

Lankan Undergraduate Amazed at Leningrad's Courage and Phoenix like Rise from Ashes
by V. Kulik-Remezova
Bhagirathan was a schoolboy when his elder sister Shyamala became a student of the First Leningrad Medical Institute. She wrote ecstatic letters home describing the beautiful city on the Neva. When Shyamala came home for holidays, many people would come to listen to her stories about that wonderful city and the Soviet Union.
"Though our Sri Lanka is far away from Leningrad", Bhagirathan says, "it seemed to me that the time would come for me to see it. Much later heard a Soviet Song about a fairy tale Coming true. This was exactly what happened to me. The day when I was told that Would go to Leningrad to study was the happiest in my life".
But Bhagirathan did not get to Leningrad straight away. At first he was sent to the preparatory department of the Rostov University (in the South of Russia) to learn the Russian language. It was only a year later that he came to Leningrad at last. He became a student of the medical institute where he met his sister who was just about to graduate.
"Striken with Leningrad's beauty", continues the young man, "I spent all my free time out in its streets. Every house there is a monument to a certain historical period. I remembered my sister's stories and followed in her steps when visiting the Hermitage, the best world collection of paintings, and other museums. also grew fond of the theatre and frequented ballet performances. I found it hard to combine all that with intense Studies at the institute. Could not be a bad student, especially because among our lecturers there were many World-famous medical specialists".
Now Bhgirathan is a fourth-year student who is to attend both the lectures at the institute and the practicals at various city clinics.
"We are entrusted with a patient", Bhagirathan continues," and we are to observe his symptoms, conduct his case history and help him recover. At hospitals happened to meet with people who had survived the siege of Leningrad during the war with Nazis. It is hard to imagine that the city was besieged for 900 days, shelled and bombed daily. Food storages were destroyed by fire, and for a longtime Leningraders were given only 125 grammes of bread a day, nothing else.

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1940 Positios ard Life ir 7 (Our frle:S
BHAGRATHAN WAS A SCHOOL BOY WHEN HIS ELDERSISTER SHYAMALABECAMEA STUDENT OF THE FIRST LENINGRADMEDICAL NSTITUTE. SHE WROTEECSTATICLETTERSHOME DESCRIB ING THE BEAUTIFUL CITY ON THE NEWA. WHEN SHYAMALA CAME HOME FOR HOLIDAYS, MANY PEOPLE WOULD COME TO LISTENTO HERSTORIES ABOUT THAT WONDERFUL CITY AND ET UNION.
Dr. Duraisingarri Bhagirathan
Arnazada Leningrad's courage and phoenix like rise from Ashes,
A University is a community of teachers and scholars. Salerno founded in the 9th century for the study of medicine, was the first European University; the revival of legal studies in the 12th century led to the foundation of Bologna, Padua and others, and the schools of dialectic in Paris developed in the 13th century into the Sorbonne. The universities of central and Morthern Europe, including Prague, Heidelberg, Louvain and the first Scottish foundation at St. Andrews, were founded in the 14th and 15th centuries. The earliest English universities were Oxford and Cambridge, in the 12th and 13th centuries, and here Colleges were first established as places of residence for students. Trinity College, Dublin, was founded in 1591. In response to modern needs many other English universities were founded in the 19th and early 20th centuries, London, Manchester and Liverpool being the first. Teaching consists of lectures, seminars (discussion groups of 10 to 20 students) conducted by lecturers, individual tutorials and directed reading; and whore appropriate practical work in laboratories, workshops, or hospitals.
 

Lankan Undergraduate Amazed at Leningrad's Courage...... 1 g 41
"You know, Son", my patient Anna Malowa told me, "I saw my husband and my two children dying of hunger. That winter was sewere and there was no heating in any city houses, to say nothing of electricity or running Water. But, believeme, the more we suffered the more we hated the fascists. Ignoring hunger, cold and sorrows, we went to factories and plants to work for our husbands and brothers fighting at thB front",
After that incident Bhagirathan often thought of the beautiful city's siege days,
"You know", he says, "every time met middle-aged people I asked them how they had managed to survive the siege horrors. The answer was always the same: they had done it for Leningrad's sake, for their homeland's sake. I admire the Leningraders' courage. Of course, the enemy shells caused a great damage to the city. Many valuable architectural monuments were destroyed or hit by bombs. At present the majority of them have been rebuilt, which makes it wery hard to imagine how painstakingly Leningraders worked to restore all this beauty. Thus, the pearl of Leningrad suburbs, Petrodworets, a town of fountains and palaces, situated on the Coast of the Gulf of Finland on the Baltic Sea, was turned into ruins, saw the photographs of them with my own eyes. Now Petrodworets has risen from ashes like the mythical Phoenix, strikingly magnificent".
Shaking hands, Bhagirathan said: "Soon I will graduate and return home to be a doctor there, but Leningrad's courage and beauty will stay in Tly memory fore wer",
Courtesy: "Soviet Newsletter", April 1985,
MEdicie M. Practitioner of the healing art and kindred mysteries in primitive Cultura. The term, displacing the colder "Wilch-doctor", Conventionally denotes the professional exerciser of Tagical powers in Cultural stages up to and including the shaman of N. Asia beyond which leech-craft and priest-craft diverge, Usually set apart by long initiation, carrying his mysteries in a medicine-bag, Wearing a distinctive dress, and sor Tetimes operating in a medicine hut, he combines with primitive Tagic empirical Cures and crude surgery, in Africa, A Terica and Malaresia.

Page 432
Lenin's ideas Will live for Ever
by Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike
All progressive mankind will celebrate the birth centenary of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin in April 1970. The progressive forces in Ceylon too will join in these celebrations marking this historic event.
Lenin was one of the greatest revolutionaries of all times, the Leader of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and of the Great October Socialist Revolution, the founder of the Soviet state, one of the noblest personalities of our age whose inspiration and influence spread far beyond the borders of the land that gave him birth. Certainly, no other leader of the twentieth century has made so profound an impact on the entire course of world development as Vladimir Lenin did.
Lenin elaborated and developed the fundamental tenets of the doctrine propounded by Karl Marx and applied them creatively to the Conditions that prevailed in Tsarist Russia. His genius lay not only in his brilliant theorising but also in his ability to apply his philosophy as a guide to action, leading the oppressed masses against Tsarist rule, Overthrowing the government of the capitalists and landlords and setting up the World's first socialist state, one sixth of the land surface of the globe.
Amidst untold hardships, the Soviet people under Lenin's leadership defeated the wars of intervention launched by fourteen states, restored the devastated economy and set about the task of laying the foundation for a new type of state free from the exploitation of man by man. Thanks to Lenin's inspiring guidance, they performed this task With Credit.
Even during those difficult early years, Lenin true internationalist that he was never lost sight of the other oppressed peoples throughout the World, especially the peoples of the East, struggling against colonialism for their independence. He not only devoted a good part of his time and energies to theorising and writing on the problems of the

Lenin's lodeas will live for Ever 1943
national liberation movement in the East and its interConnection with the consolidation and growth of the Soviet state, but he also gave considerable material and moral assistance to these peoples fighting against tremendous odds against imperialism and colonialism.
Lenin's untimely death caused by the bullets of an assassin at the relatively early age of 54, was an irreparable loss not only to the Soviet peoples but to all peoples fighting for national emancipation and Social justice.
But though Lenin is dead, his ideas will live forever. These ideas live not only in the numerous books that he found the time to write amidst his manifold activities, they found living embodiment in the Soviet State that he founded.
Courtesy: "Lenin's Birth Centenary Souvenir", Colombo, April 22, 1970.
important elements of Lenin's Teachings Of paramount importance for the framing of the policy, strategy and tactics of the Communist parties of the world are the following elements of Lenin's teachings: (a) his thorough and comprehensive analysis of imperialism as the highest stage of capitalism on the threshold of the socialist revolution; (b) his characterisation of the struggle between the two opposing
systems - capitalism and socialism - and of the transition fro capitalism to socialism in the new age; (c) his scientific substantiation of the general trends in and characteristic features of the world socialist revolution in the age of imperialism; his conclusion that the victory of Socialism in just one country was possible; his theses about the bourgeois democratic revolution evolving towards a socialist revolution, about the proletariat's allies at different stages of the revolution, and about the significance of the national liberation movement for the development of the world proletarian revolution; (d) his definition and concretisation of the general laws governing the transition from capitalism to socialism, his substantiation of the role of the proletarian state in the transitional period and its different forms and his analysis of the essence of the proletarian dictatorship, its mechanism, and the content and historical significance of socialist democracy.

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Lenin - Greatest Man of the Twentieth Century
by Few, Kalu wa modera Siri Wiwasa
"What is important above all is humanity', so runs a saying, it can be said that more than anyone else Lenin had this great quality in large measure.
He beca The the CD Tarder-in-Chief of the World's first SOCialist rewolution the leader of the World's first socialist state, the pilot of the first socialist society. As a result he received the honour of Tankind in a Way that no god or goddess has ever received, Ewen today tens of thousands of people look. Lupon him as their own liberator. Yet he newer cast a halo round himself, He newer attempted to claim godhead for himself. He remained a man. Truly as the poet Mayakowski said, he possessed the highest wirtues of any man who has lived among men.
His huTanity was seen at best in the affection with which he held the suffering, toiling and working peasants. Unlike those who are in the habit of mechanically saying "May all beings be happy", he displayed an honest, reallowg and compassion. It was this great and boundless Compassion in him that mowed him to dedicate his Whole life to end the exploitation of man by man, That is the greatest expression of humanism,
He was an incomparable leader. Yet he moved with the Common masses easily. If he spoke to an ordinary worker or a peasant he was able in a moment to generate in them trust and confidence. Lenin had this remarkable ability to win over the hearts of anybody With his great charm. Mo other statesman in the World has despised the Cult of personality the way Lenin did. His greatness lies in the fact that while retaining an incomparable leader he was also able to move on an equal footing with the workers and the peasants,
In the full meaning of the word, Lenin was a great respector of discipline. He scorned indiscipline and anarchism. His strong sense of discipline he first applied to himself before anyone else. In the course of the evolution of human society, it is to Lenin that has fallen the honour of being the hero who overthrew the exploitation of

Lerrt - Greatesť Mar) of the Twer? fieff, Century 1945
LENN WAS AN INCOMPARABLE LEADER, YET HE MOVED WITH THE COMMON MASSESEASILY. FHE SPOKE TO ANORDINARY WORKER OR APEASANTHE WASABLE IN A MOMENT TO GENERATE IN THEMTRUST AND CONFIDENCE. LENINHAD THIS REMARKABLEABILITY TO WINOWER THE HEARTS OF ANYBODY WITH HIS GREAT CHARM, NO OTHER STATESMAN IN THE WORLD HAS DESPSED THE CULT OF PERSONALITY THE WAY LENINDID, HIS GREATNESS LES IN THE FACT THAT WHILE REMAINING AN INCOMPARABLE LEADER HE WAS ALSO ABLE TO MOVE ON AN ECUAL FOOTING WITH THE WORKERS AND THE PEASANTS.
og og 醫 Lenin having discussion with his cartiradas a Srriory, where the Russian Revolution was organized.
In the political field, Lenin proposed the transition froT a parliamentary republic to a republic of Soviets. This was an important step forward in the theory and practice of Marxism. Hithereto, Marxist theoreticians had regarded the parliamentary republic as the best political form of transition to socialism. Now Lenin proposed to replace the parliamentary republic by a Soviet republic as the most suitable form of political organization of society in the period of transition from capitalist to socialism.

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1946 Politics and Life in Our Times
man by man. As a result, in the history of humanism, the name of Lenin will always be associated with the birth of a new age. For the first time in the history of mankind, Lenin made it possible for workers to live as human beings. If this was his only achievement that alone would suffice to make him the greatest man of the twentieth century. Whenever the course of history has to make a great leap or to make a great change, it is said that history also gives birth to the hero who could effect this great revolution. Lenin was such a creation of history. Accordingly his illustrious name will continue to shine for ever. By reading the life of this greatman and studying the political doctrines he respected, it would be possible to bring fruitful results to the working masses in our country too.
Courtesy: "Lenin's Birth Centenary Souvenir", Colombo, April 22, 1970.
Bhagavad-gitá This Life within all living things, my Prince Hides beyond harm; scorn thou to suffer, then, For that which cannot suffer. Do thy part Be mindful of thy name, and tremble not Nought better can betide a martial soul Than lawful war; happy the warrior To whom comes joy of battle - comes, as now, Glorious and fair, unsought; opening for him A gateway unto Heav'n. But, if thou shunn'st This honourable field - a Kshattriya - lf, knowing thy duty and thy task, thou bidd'st Duty and task go by - that shall be sin And those to come shall speak thee infamy From age to age; but infamy is worse For men of noble blood to bear than death The chiefs upon their battle-chariots Will deem't was fear that drove thee from the fray. Of those who held thee mighty-souled the scorn Thou must abide, while all thine enemies Will scatter bitter speech of thee, to mock The valour which thou hadst; what fate could fall More grievously than this? Either - being killed - Thou wilt win Swarga's safety, or - alive And victor - thou wilt reign an earthly king. Therefore, arise, thou Son of Kuntil brace Thine arm for conflicts, nerve thy heart to meet - As things alike to thee - pleasure or pain, Profit or ruin, victory or defeat: So minded, gird thee to the fight, for so
Thou shalt not sin !
. Sir Edwin Arnold.

CHAPTER 21
Anti-limperialist Movement
The Glory that was Lanka
Speech by Kunasekaram Nesaiah at the Jaffna Youth Congress
It is with feelings of great joy that extend to you all a cordial welcome to the Seventh Annual Session of our Congress. It is a great occasion, this Seventh Congress, as the re-christening ceremony will take place in the course of the Session; the erstwhile Students' Congress attains youth and will be re-named the Youth Congress. In particular, to the noble lady who has kindly agreed to act as God-mother at the re-christening and to preside over the Session, offer a hearty welcome to this island of ours and to its Northern Capital.
Srimathi Kamaladevi is thrice welcome to US. First, We Welcome her as one of the leading women of modern India, a social reformer, an authority on Women's education and one who was in the forefront of the recent struggle as President of the Bombay War Council and thus earned for Indian women a name for patriotism and courage. In the second place, we welcome her as the wife of the talented Harrindranath whose poems and songs captured our hearts last year. Lastly, we welcome her as a follower of Mahatma Gandhi, the philosopher-statesman of India. She has sat at the feet of the master, learned his lessons, practised his commands and earned his praise. We offer you revered lady a welcome that springs from the depth of our hearts.
This I think is the first time in Ceylon when a woman has been called upon to preside overagathering of this nature. But the event is very significant. It marks the new role our women are called upon to play. It is a challenge to the women of Ceylon to serve their country in the manner their Indian sisters are doing. The day cannot be far off when Ceylon too may boast of many Kamaladevis.
in bidding you welcome, I think it is also my duty to tell you Something of Our Country and the problems that face her.
This beautiful island of Ceylon is one of the most interesting places in the World. Nature has given her ample beauty making the whole land a lovely garden. But the people of Ceylon are even more interesting. Many races of mankind have found a common home in the Island; and it is too

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194: Pofficis aard Liffe fr7 ČLur Ti"7Tas
the meeting-place of the four great religions of the World. The Weddhas, the Sinhalese and the Tamils, the Moors and the Malays, the Indians, the Portuguese and the Dutch Burghers, the Europeans and Eurasians, all live side by side and are proud to call themselves Ceylonese, Likewise, the Buddhists and the Hindus, the Christians and the Muslints worship side by side and Consider each other as brotherS.
The history of Ceylon is the story of the coming in, one by One, of these races and religions. It is the romantic story of a long procession of peoples and faiths. As this grand historical procession moves great kings rise; cities appear allower the Island; Hindu temples and Buddhist wiharas, Muslim Tosques and Christian churches are erected, religious dagobas are raised and royal tombs are built; poets are composed and books are written, tanks are Constructed and Canals are Cut, and the whole land smiles with abundant wealth and happy men.
The first historical event is the arrival of Sinhalese ColonistS in the sixth century before Christ. The Tamils came in some time later. There were centuries of struggle between the two races. But in the meantime the two peoples settled down side by side; Sinhalese kings employed Tamil builders to erect those Wonderful buildings at Anuradhapura and Polonnaruwa, whose wery ruins Compel the admiration of foreign visitors; there was a fusion of the two Cultures; and presently the two races Tingled. But at every stage of Our national history India has contributed to our culture. Indeed India, is the fountain source of our national culture; We Owe to India more than what England owes to Greece and Rome. Ceylon is India Writ Small,
The early Sinhalese, like the Tamils were Hindus. But, due to the evangelical efforts of India's great Emperor-Saint, Asoka, the Buddhist Religion was brought into the Island during the reign of the pious Dewanampiya Tissa. The new religion met with such great acceptance in the island that when afterwards Buddhism disappeared from the land of its birth, Ceylon became practically the holy land of Buddhism; the purest tradition of Buddhist teachings was preserved by the monks of Ceylon, the Tost powerful Tonarchs spent their wealth in raising numerous dagobas and viharas to the honour of him who preached the Middle Way, and Lanka became a place of pilgrimage for followers of the Buddha in India and Burma, Java and Siam, China and Japan,
Religious ideals predominated in moulding the Island's history; but economic prosperity was not lost sight of. The kings saw that on its oxen and its husbandmen a country's strength was laid. The greatest of these kings was Parakranta Bahu the Great, himself a symbol of

The Glory that was Laka 1949
THISBEAUTIFULISLANDOFCEYLONISONE OF THE MOST INTERESTING PLACES IN THE WORLD, NATURE HAS GIVEN HER AMPLE BEAUTY MAKING THE WHOLE LANDO A LOWELWY GARDEN. BUT THE PEOPLE OF CEYLONARE EVEN MORE INTERESTING MANY RACES OF MANKIND HAVE FOUND A COMMON HOME IN THE ISLAND; AND IT IS TOO THE MEETING-PLACE OF THE FOUR GREAT RELIGIONS OF THE WORLD, THE WEDDHAS, THE SINHALESE AND THE TAMILS, THE MOORS AND THE MALAYS, THE INDIANS, THE PORTUGUESE AND THE DUTCHBURGHERS, THE EUROPEANS AND EURASIANS, ALL LIVE SIDE BY SIDE AND ARE PROUDTO CALL THEMSELVESCEYLONESE. LIKEWISE, THE BUDDHISTS AND THE HINDUS, THE CHRISTIANS AND THE MUSLIMS WORSHIPSIDE BYSIDE AND CONSIDER EACHOTHER AS BROTHERS,
Dr. D. Bhagirathan's Wedding - 08.17, 1987 L-R. K. P. K. Balasingan, Wijaya Kumaratunga, Mrs, Shanti Bhagirathan,
Dr. Duraisingam Bhagīrathan.
Let us first look at our main national industry, agriculture. It is the irony of history that where in the past thousands of pretty willages surrounded by smiling paddy fields covered the fertile plains, while the hillsidas were overgrown with forest; now in modern times these forests have disappeared from the hills which are studded with rubber trees and tea shrubs; while the greater part of these plains has been abandoned to wild jungle, and the Talarial mosquito is now busy where once the farmer drove his plough.

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1950 Politics and Life in Our Times
Sinhalese-Tamil unity. His royal care preserved his people from foreign harm; his tanks and canals converted the island into a smiling garden every acre of it bearing rich corn or mellow fruit; his ships carried the surplus produce to distant lands. Those were the great days of Ceylon. But Ceylon's wealth in the soil and subsoil and her position as a centre of trade attracted foreign nations. They came here seeking commerce. The conditions in the island made conquest also easy.The Portuguese occupied the coastal districts in the sixteenth century; the Dutch took over the Portuguese possessions during the following century; finally at the end of the eighteenth century the British became masters of the Island. They re-united the country and gave it peace; they introduced the Colonial type of government; they constructed roads and railways; there was indeed a measure of material progress.
THE BRITISH CONNECTION
The British connection has been the cardinal fact in our history during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Mr. Gokhale once calculated the annual cost to India of England's political domination at 20 Crores of rupees, and the loss on account of industrial domination at 10 crores. If we too undertook a statistical study we shall then be able to estimate in money the direct or political cost and the indirect or industrial cost of our connection with Britain. Our sterling expenditure roughly measures the price of our political connection. The salaries of European officials; the earnings of European merchants and professional men, who occupy a position of advantage as members of the ruling race; pensions and other "home" charges; the cost of the military; interest on foreign debt; money spent in the purchase of foreign stores, and generally most of the public expenditure incurred outside the island. These items will feature largely on the debit side when the balance sheet of the British connection comes to be drawn up. To be fair, we must acknowledge that there are some items on the credit side as well: schools, jails, roads, railways and such like. There have been some compensating advantages in the political aspect of British rule.
But, there has been no compensating advantage in the economic domination which has indirectly resulted from the British connection. Mr. Justice Ranade observed long ago: "The political domination of one country by another attracts far more attention than the more formidable, though unfelt domination, which the capital, enterprise and skill of one country excercise over the trade and

The Glory that was Lanka 1951
manufactures of another. This latter domination has an insidious influence which paralyses the springs of all the varied activities, which together make up the life of a nation". Quite recently, Mr. D. S. Senanayake estimated that two-thirds of our national income went to the Credit of persons from abroad and only one-third was earned by Ceylonese, while the non-Ceylonese contributed about two-sevenths of the Tax Revenue and the Ceylonese the other five-sevenths.
Let us first look at our main national industry, agriculture. It is the irony of history that where in the past thousands of pretty villages surrounded by smiling paddy fields covered the fertile plains, while the hillsides were overgrown with forest; now in modern times these forests have disappeared from the hills which are studded with rubber trees and tea shrubs; while the greater part of these plains has been abandoned to wild jungle, and the malarial mosquito is now busy where once the farmer drove his plough.
Only one quarter of the Island is cultivated. Much of the best Soil is in European hands, Cultivated with European capital and European skill. The steady decay of the Ceylonese farmer, owning a little land and possessing little capital, Working hard and obtaining poor returns, is the saddest commentary on the economic aspect of foreign rule. No Wonder that though nature has made Ceylon a rich country, the mass of the people are steeped in poverty.
Let us now examine the position of our national trade. We have a wealth of raw materials. We export them and buy back foreign manufactures and other goods. We have a fertile soil lying waste; but we spend over a hundred million rupees every year on foreign rice. There are large tracts of land suitable for cotton cultivation; but we buy annually thirty million rupees worth of cotton goods. We grow excellent tobacco; but we have a large cigarette bill abroad. Our religions forbid us to drink; but our foreign liquor bill alone amounts to thirteen million rupees. Our forests contain every description of wood; but we import five million rupees Worth of boxes and chests because We do not know how to put six pieces of Wood together to make a box. It does not seem to be anyone's concern that these things are so. We have no national policy of fostering home industries, no fiscal policy of protective tariffs. We have yet to set up manufactures aided by Ceylonese capital, directed by Ceylonese management and employing Ceylonese labour. The structure of national industry can only be built on the foundation of fiscal policy.

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The big scale of our national income and expenditure and the large salaries paid to public servants in Ceylon are likely to give an impression to the stranger that we are a well-to-do people. But these are the very causes that are tending to increase our national poverty. Our public finance is adversely affecting our national well being. For example, indirect taxation and big salaries directly affect the small farmer. He has to pocket out the money in the shape of various taxes. Then, What remains to him becomes of less value because a Scale of salaries out of all proportion to the wealth of the country, has tended to increase the price of articles for the farmer. Thus, behind the apparent Wealth of Ceylon a steady process of declining prosperity is going on. Those who are making money out of the present system are blind to the fact that their prosperity is being built up on the growing poverty of a people. No wonder when the proposed income Tax threatened to restore some justice, foreign exploiters and native exploiters joined forces to prevent the reform.
Economic exploitation is however not the worst result of the British connection. Economic slavery pinches our stomach; political slavery wounds our self-respect; but the slavery of the mind kills the Soul of the race. And to this last result our system of education has Contributed in no small measure. Any system of education, in order to be successful, must stamp national culture upon the growing generation. In Ceylon we have attempted to plant an alien Culture in unnatural surroundings. It was a foregone conclusion that this kind of hot-house culture must inevitably fail. Both in the subject-matter of our teaching and in the medium of instruction our educational policy has been unscientific and unpractical. Though we had with us four highly developed languages, Sinhalese and Pali, Tamil and Sanscrit, and a copious literature in each; though there was splendid material for study in oriental history and philosophy; in religion and art, we have failed to make use of these recorded achievements of our race gained during thousands of years of progress. In spite of the Wealth of our national Culture, we have starved our children. Instead of grafting Western knowledge on to the eastern stem, we have attempted to plant that branch in our soil. But it has produced no fruit; it has withered. It has not raised up a race of patriotic citizens seeking to serve their country. It has failed to call forth original contributions in poetry or art, science or industry. It has failed to fill the young mind with a burning desire for noble effort and Successful achievement.

The Glory that was Lanka 1953
OUR AMS AND ASPIRATIONS
But the Time-Spirit has awakened us from our slumber and a Voice reached us from India reminding the Youth of their duty. The Youth are up. The march has begun. Let our leaders join our ranks or we leave them behind. The Youth Congress is the bugle call to the nation.
It now remains for me to mention some features of the policy which this Congress has advocated in the past as that may help us to decide our future programme. National Culture, economic prosperity, Social unity and self-government have been the four pillars of the Congress.
NATIONAL CULTURE
We may not expect a Gandhi in this unphilosophic land; but no Tagore or Sarojini, or Bose or Ray, or Malawiya or Radhakrishnan, or Motilal Or Jawaharlal has yet appeared; We are in eager expectation of such leaders and probably we may not have to wait long; and along with signs of their approach we see thin streaks of light across the sky that announce a coming Renaissance in Ceylon. We should prepare for the new age by a national system of education and a university that will Serve as a fountain of national Culture. The national dress is a symbol of nationalism. For, dress is not so unimportant forman as we may think. The King in purple thinks royally; the Judge in wig and gown thinks judicially; the Priest in robes thinks ecclesiastically; the soldier or policeman acts more bravely when he is in his uniform. Dress has a twofold function: it reveals us to the World and it reminds us of our high calling. The national dress gives the wearer a feeling of national self-respect and, if universally adopted, will go a great way towards national unity. Of course certain occupations will require modifications of this dress. But for general wear and for most occupations this dress will be the best for the majority of people.
ECONOMIC PROSPERITY
The Congress stands for the economic uplift of the masses, the encouragement of local industry, a national fiscal policy, an equitable System of taxation and the expenditure of public money upon nation-building services. It will always fight against poverty and ignorance and drink.

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SOCAL UNITY
National progress will be impossible without national unity. Progress will be possible only if there is co-operation between the different communities and equal opportunities for all sections of every community.
SELF-GOVERNMENT
A country without a free government is like a people without a God. Good government is no substitute for self-government; nor is good government possible, in the long run, unless it be government of the people, government by the people and government for the people. There are some Cosmopolitan persons amongst us who would put internationalism against nationalism. I have never believed them. It has been said that a bad neighbour will not make a good citizen; we may go further and say that one who is not loyal to his own Country is not likely to show much devotion to mankind. We only want Ceylon to take her place in the comity of nations. There are others who advise self-government by stages pleading that we may learn little and little by experience. But statecraft can never be studied at the school of slavery. Swarajmust be its own education.
To the land of our birth, the land of Our fathers, and the land of Our children we the youth of Ceylon have consecrated our lives.
What shall do for thee, Lanka, my Lanka? What is that I would not do, Lanka my own? Says Mother Lanka: "Give me Freedom, my son. Serve me with thy life".
will not cease from fight, will not rest; Till I have got thy freedom back, Till have served thee with my life.
(Reception Committee Chairman's address at Annual Session of the Youth Congress, Jaffna, held in Jaffna Town on April 23-25, 1931.)

1955
The Jaffna Boycott of the Legislative Council
it is notinopportune at this point to say something about the boycott, about which there are a number of misapprehensions in some quarters. One is that the Youth Congress boycotted the Council. No! The Youth Congress undoubtedly gave the inspiration and the others including the candidates joined in willingly. Another is, because the boycott turned out to be ineffective the general policy of the Youth Congress is wrong. Now, the political programme of a subject nation is necessarily twofold: (1) it must rouse the spirit and Consciousness of the people and instill in them selfconfidence and an active desire to struggle for freedom, (2) it must use the methods of struggle that would bring success. Of this the first is the more difficult and by far the more important especially in a country like Ceylon where political consciousness is at avery low stage. Once the consciousness of the people is aroused, even if one method fails another can be soon adopted and success attained. But if the people are apathetic no amount of paper tactics will avail to take us to the desired goal. Therefore a political action should be judged in reference to both the above requirements. Even if an action fails in its immediate purpose, it might succeed in rousing the patriotism of the people, in enabling themtocastoff their fearand in cementing their unity. There are innumerable instances in history where apolitical action though immediately ineffective has given a great impetus to the forward movement of acountry. It was only with abandof about 200 men that Michael Collins the Irish Nationalist Leader enacted the famous rising in Dublin. This attempt was foredoomed to failure for what could a handful of 200 men do against the might of the British Empire. The rebellion was instantly and ruthlessly suppressed. But this act of singular bravery and patriotic zeal of those men and the Consequent cruel treatment meted out to them by the Britishers, soroused the nationalism and indignation of the Irish people that before long Michael Collins was able to gather 100,000 volunteers - a formidable force with which he successfully fought for the freedom of his Country. Michael Collin's movement could not evoke any sympathy in the Country until this abortive rising, which converted the movement into a national One. Thus what was a foolish act in reference to its immediate effects, was of deep significance in developing the national movement. Mahatma Gandhi's civil disobedience movement itself has been poor in its immediate results. It has failed to achieve the independence of India which it aimed at. But, by

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1956 Politics and Life in Our Times
Converting a nation of Cowards into a nation of heroes, it has laid the sure foundation for the future progress of the country. The consciousness of the people has been roused and it is only a matter of time for freedom to be achieved. Mahatma Gandhi himself admits that he has committed "himalayan blunders" in politics. But somehow even these blunders have helped the movement. Further, even if a political action by a party fails in its immediate objective as well as in rousing the nation, still it is nota serious matter. Forby Such action, even if it failed the party Would gainexperience, Confidence and capacity for action, which in more favourable circumstances would succeed. The failure might be due to unavoidable circumstances or unpredictable events.This is a risk which we have to run in most of Our affairs in life. Or at the most the failure would mean that the party has miscalculated. And it is only those who act and make an effort that commit mistakes; even the best of men have committed mistakes. It is only those who make no effort that can avoid making mistakes. If one is afraid to make mistakes, one cannot act and hence cannot progress.
Now coming to the boycott, the Youth Congress decided to boycott the elections as a means of protesting and creating public sentiment against the Donoughmore Constitution, which was regarded by the Youth Congress as falling far short of the ideal for which it stood. But surprisingly others also joined the boycott and it was a hundred per cent Success as far as Jaffna was concerned. This was expected to rally the other part of the country to effect a complete boycott. But this did not happen. This was largely due to the suspicion of the Sinhalese that the real reason for many of the Tamils boycotting might be the dissatisfaction with the abolition of communal representation and partly due to the political backwardness of the country. Also the boycott was sudden, and enough time was not given for the whole Country to prepare for the boycott. Thus in its immediate effects the boycott was not much of a success. But it did not fail to have an effect in rousing the country. One of its concrete results was the formation of Youth Leagues in South Ceylon which also preached the slogan of boycott of the Council and for national independence. The elements that formed these Youth Leagues are now organised in the Sama Samaja Party. Thus the boycott, though its beneficial effect was spoilt by communal suspicions that were a heritage from the Manning Constitution, did have atoning effect on the politics of the country, and also created a worthy tradition for the Youth Congress. Nevertheless it must be said that the country ought to have been politically more educated, prepared and Organised on amass basis before such direct action was attempted.

The Jaffna Boycott of the Legislative Council 1957
We were saying that when the Tamils seemed to accept the abolition of the Communal representation in the Donoughmore Scheme, it looked as if there was a possibility of all communities rising above considerations of race and community in public affairs. This was not to be for long. Soon the monster of communalism raised its ugly head and some who wanted to enter the Council raised the cry of Sinhalese ill treatment and the demand for more seats. They entered Council in 1933 itself. A section of the Tamils submitted a memorandum to Sir Samuel Wilson the Under Secretary of State in which they stated:
"The powers vested in the Governor under the new Constitution Constitutes the only guarantee of stable government at the present moment. No reform of the constitution will be acceptable to the Tamil community unless it provides for protection of the interests of the minorities in the Island....................The Tamils have aimed at the maintenance of a Certain measure of balance of power calculated to prevent one community from dominating all others....................... No other form of safeguards can be effective".
The Tamils also attempted to form a minority alliance. In February 1934 Mr. K. Balasingam wrote in A Letter to the Tamils of Jaffna
"The attempt on the part of some Tamils to form a minority alliance can only have the effect of welding together the divided sections of the Sirhalese and of inducing them to form a racial bloc".
Also he wrote, "Some Tamils met in conference in Colombo on September 30, to Speak about Sinhalese domination and resolve to invite the other minority Communities to forman alliance to avert this common danger. Immediately repurcussions are felt in Balangoda where the old time vandalism and present day hostility of the "Demios' become election Cries. The election cries are further quoted as further proof of Sinhalese desire to dominate. Then the secret conference of certain members of minority communities is held and later on 16th December they publicly resolve to "demand an immediate amendment of the Order-in-Council to ensure a correct political balance between the different Communities in the Island".
Thus mutual reCriminations and antagonism had begun between the minorities and the Sinhalese as early as 1933,
Extract from "Communalism or Nationalism" by Youth Congress, Jaffna, 1939.

Page 440
Class Struggle, Revolution, Socialism and Communism
by Chairman Mao Zedong
Classes struggle, some classes triumph, others are eliminated. Such is history, such is the history of civilizations for thousands of years. To interpret history from this viewpoint is historical materialism; standing in opposition to this viewpoint is historical idealism.
In class society everyone lives as a member of a particular class, and every kind of thinking, without exception, is stamped with the brand of a class.
Changes in society are due chiefly to the development of the internal contradictions in society, that is, the contradiction between the productive forces and the relations of production, the contradiction between classes and the Contradiction between the old and the new; it is the development of these contradictions that pushes society forward and gives the impetus for the supercession of the old society by the neW.
The ruthless economic exploitation and political oppression of the peasants by the landlord class, forced them into numerous uprisings against its rule............ It was the class struggles of the peasants, the peasant uprisings and peasant wars, that constituted the real motive force of historical development in Chinese feudal society.
In the final analysis, national struggle is a matter of class struggle. Among the whites in the United States it is only the reactionary ruling circles who oppress the black people. They can innoway represent the workers, farmers, revolutionary intellectuals and other enlightened persons who comprise the overwhelming majority of the white people.
It is up to us to organize the people. As for the reactionaries in China, it is up to us to organize the people to overthrow them. Everything reactionary is the same; if you don't hit it, it won't fall. This is also like Sweeping the floor; as a rule, where the broom does not reach, the dust will not vanish of itself.

Class Struggle, Revolution, Socialism and Communism 1959
The enemy will not perish of himself. Neither the Chinese reactionaries nor the aggressive forces of U.S. imperialism in China will step down from the stage of history of their own accord.
A revolution is not a dinner party, or writing an essay, or painting a picture, or doing embroidery; it cannot be so refined, so leisurely and gentle, so temperate, kind, courteous, restrained and magnanimous. A revolution is an insurrection, an act of violence by which one class OverthroWS another.
Who are our enemies? Who are our friends? This is a question of the first importance for the revolution. The basic reason why all previous revolutionary struggles in China achieved so little was their failure to unite with real friends in Order to attack real enemies. A revolutionary party is the guide of the masses, and no revolution ever succeeds when the revolutionary party leads them astray. To ensure that we will definitely achieve success in our revolution and will not lead the masses astray, we must pay attention to uniting with our real friends in order to attack our real enemies.To distinguish real friends from real enemies, we must make a general analysis of the economic status of the various classes in Chinese society and of their respective attitudes towards the revolution.
Our enemies are all those in league with imperialism - the warlords, the bureaucrats, the Comprador class, the big landlord class and the reactionary section of the intelligentsia attached to them. The leading force in our revolution is the industrial proletariat. Our closest friends are the entire semi-proletariat and petty bourgeoisie. As for the vacillating middle bourgeoisie, their right-wing may become our enemy and their left-wing may become our friend - but we must be Constantly on our guard and not let them create confusion within our rankS.
Whoever sides with the revolutionary people is a revolutionary. Whoever sides with imperialism, feudalism and bureaucrat-capitalism is a counter-revolutionary. Whoeversides with the revolutionary people in Words only but acts otherwise is a revolutionary in speech. Whoever sides with the revolutionary people in deed as well as in word is a revolutionary in the full sense.

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1960 Politics arid Life ir Our Tirtings
IN CLASS SOCIETY EVERY ONE LIVES ASA MEMBER OF A PARTICULAR CLASS, AND EVERY KIND OF THINKING, WITHOUTEXCEPTION, ISSTAMPED WITH THE BRAND OF ACLASS. CHANGESIN SOCIETY ARE DUE CHIEFLY TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE INTERNAL CONTRADICTIONS IN SOCIETY, THATIS, THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE PRODUCTIVE FORCES AND THE RELATIONS OF PRODUCTION, THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN CLASSES AND THE CONTRADICTION BETWEEN THE OLD AND THE NEW; IT IS THE DEVELOPMENT OF THESE CONTRADICTIONS THAT PUSHES SOCIETY FORWARD AND GIVES THE IMPETUS FOR THE SUPERCESSION OF THE OLD SOCIETY BY THE NEW,
Спајглап мао zedong 26. 2, 1893 - 909, 97 The Graaf leader of the Chinese People.
The extent of China is about 4.3 million sq. miles incorporating inner Mongolia, Yunnan, Manchuria, Sinkiang, and Tibet), Pop. 656.6m. Cap, Peking, Rel. Buddhism, Confucianism, Taoism, A people's republic; the solg legislative authority is the National People's Congress, with a permanent Standing Committee as effective administrative organ. Chairman (President) of the Republic, Liu Shao-chi; Chief of Council (Prime Minister), Chou En-lai; Chairman of Standing Committee, General Chu-Teh; Chairman of Communist Party Central Committee, Mao Tse-tung (Mao Zedong). The Chinese People's Republic is recognized by a majority of countries, but U.S.A, regards Chiang Kai-shek's former government as rightful, refuses to recognize the Republic, and blocked China's applications for admission to the United Nations,
Information as of 1965).
 
 
 

Class Struggle, Rewolufïo'r 7, Socialis T1 ard Corrir 777īsim? 1961
Communis T1 is at once a complete system of proletarian ideology and a new social system. It is different from any other ideological and social system, and is the most complete, progressive, revolutionary and rational system in human history, The ideological and social system of feudalism has a place only in the museum of history, The ideological and social system of capitalist has also become a museum piece in one part of the world (in the Soviet Union), while in other countries it resembles "a dying person who is sinking fast, like the sun setting beyond the Western hills", and will soon be relegated to the museum. The communist ideological and social system alone is full of youth and vitality, sweeping the World with the rm1OrT1entLunT1 Of ar1 a Walarnchng and the fCorCe Cof a thurnderbolt,
The socialist system will eventually replace the capitalist system; this is an objective law independent of man's will. However much the reactionaries try to hold back the wheel of history, sooner or later revolution will take place and will inevitably triumph,
We Communists newer conceal our political views. Definitely and beyond all doubt, our future or maximum programme is to carry China forward to socialism and CorTrTunism, Both the name of Our Party and Our Marxist World outlook unequivocally point to this supreme ideal of the future, a future of incomparable brightness and splendour. Taken as a whole, the Chinese revolutionary movement led by the Communist Party embraces the two stages, that is, the democratic and the socialist revolutions, which are two essentially different revolutionary processes, and the second process can be carried through only after the first has been completed. The democratic revolution is the necessary preparation for the socialist revolution, and the socialist revolution is the inevitable sequel to the democratic revolution. The ultimate aim for which all communists strive is to bring about a socialist and Communist society,
Socialist revolution aims at liberating the productive forces. The change-ower from individual to socialist, Collective ownership in agriculture and handicrafts and from capitalist to socialist ownership

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1962 Politics and Life in Our Times
in private industry and commerce, is bound to bring about a tremendous liberation of the productive forces. Thus the social conditions are being Created for a tremendous expansion of industrial and agricultural production.
We are now carrying out a revolution not only in the social system, the change from private to public ownership, but also in technology, the change from handicraft to large-scale modern machine production, and the two revolutions are inter-connected. In agriculture, with Conditions as they are in our country co-operation must precede the use of big machinery (in capitalist countries agriculture develops in a Capitalist way). Therefore we must on no account regard industry and agriculture, socialist industrialization and the socialist transformation of agriculture as two separate and isolated things, and on no account must we emphasize the one and play down the other. The new social system has only just been established and requires time for its consolidation. It must not be assumed that the new system can be completely consolidated the moment it is established, for that is impossible. It has to be consolidated step by step. To achieve its ultimate consolidation, it is necessary not only to bring about the socialist industrialization of the country and persevere in the Socialist revolution on the economic front, but to carry on constant and arduous socialist revolutionary struggles and socialist education on the political and ideological fronts. Moreover, various contributory international factors are required.
In China the struggle to consolidate the socialist system, the struggle to decide whether socialism or capitalism will prevail, will still take a long historical period. But we should all realize that the new system of socialism will unquestionably be consolidated. We can assuredly build a socialist state with modern industry, modern agriculture, and modern science and culture.
Selections from Mao Zedong's Writings, November 6th, 1957.

Sun Yat-Sen and The Revolution of 1911
In the Wake of the surging railway agitation in Hupeh, Hunan, Kwangtung and Szechuan provinces, the bourgeois revolutionaries in Hupeh began actively to prepare an armed uprising. Their energetic work made the triple city of Wuhan an important breakthrough point for the 1911 Revolution.
Around the time of the founding of the China Revolutionary League in 1905, capitalist industry and commerce were developing to a certain degree and the struggle between new and old ideas was sharp in Kwangtung, Hupeh, Hunan and provinces along the lower Yangtze. Activities by revolutionaries quickly made these areas into centres of bourgeois-democratic revolution. Wuhan was a very important one.
Wuhan's importance was due to objective conditions there and the Subjective efforts of the revolutionaries.
The objective conditions were: class and national contradictions were sharp and the mass base for the revolution was strong.
At the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century, the imperialists extended their forces of aggression to the interior of China. Wuhan was one of the centres from which they carried on plunder. Statistics show that the value of foreign trade through Hankow rose from 50 million Ounces of Silver in 1898 to 100 million in 1902 and 150 million in 1910-trebling in 12 years and making it the country's largest trading port after Shanghai. Through this place, imperialist countries dumped their goods and frenziedly grabbed low-cost raw materials, bringing endless suffering upon the people of inland China.
With the deepening of imperialist aggression, the feudal rulers turned more rapidly into compradore lackeys of foreign interests. When Chang Chih-tung became Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan in 1889, he turned Hupeh into a centre for launching his "Westernization" or "learn from foreigners" movement, setting up munition and other industries in this province. Chang admitted that in the enterprises he founded, "everything was imported" - not only all the machinery and technical personnel, but "even the iron frames of factory buildings, iron pillars,

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foundations, furnace bases, cement, fire-clay and so on". Part of the capital was also borrowed from abroad. So from the very beginning, these enterprises were controlled by foreign countries, and appendages to foreign monopoly capital. "Bringing the wolf into the house", Chang Chih-tung and his like threw open the gates to imperialist economic, political and cultural penetration, pushing the people of inland China ever deeper into the abyss of semi-colonialism.
The broad masses of the peasantry were the first victims of this close Collusion between reactionaries at home and abroad. Chen Kuei-lung, who succeeded Chang Chih-tung as Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan in 1909, wrote in a memorial to the emperor, "Recently with the imperial court's efforts at self-strengthening, public expenditure has multiplied many times". By "self-strengthening" he meant carrying out "Westernization" or "reforms". And the "multiplied expenditure", converted into a variety of taxes, finally fell on the shoulders of the people in town and country and especially of the peasant masses.
With the disintegration of the natural economy, many big landlords in Hupeh took up trade or opened money houses, which became a part of the imperialist network of commercial usury. Through land rent they robbed the peasants of over half of their produce, and by buying cheap, selling dear and extending pre-harvest loans they plundered raw materials for the imperialists, battening on the sweat and blood of the poor and lower-middle peasants, whom they plunged into destitution. All this seriously undermined the productive forces in the Countryside. Early in the 20th century, because Water Conservancy works in Hupeh Province had fallen into disrepair, flood and famine OCCurred there yearly. The affected districts became a watery expanse, without a human habitation for many kilometers. Refugees thronged into the cities - Over 200,000- Came to HankoW on One OCCasion alone, Swelling its army of unemployed. The authorities could not maintain their reactionary "law and order". On the eve of the 1911 Revolution the triple city of Wuhan, the Crossroads of nine provinces, was Smouldering with revolutionary moods, stimulated by the storm of anti-hunger movement and riots in the Yangtze River valley, and of railway agitation in neighbouring provinces. The spark of revolution was liable to flame up at any moment under the noses of the rulers in Hupeh. That the revolution broke out in Wuchang was no accident.

Sun Yat-sen and The Revolution of 1911 1965
Besides the objective conditions, an important factor for the Wuchang Uprising was the subjective effort made by the revolutionaries, and in particular, their effective work for a decade and more in units of Ching New Army stationed in Hupeh.
Wu Lu-chen, a revolutionary from Hupeh studying in Japan, had returned to Wuhan in the winter of 1902 and been appointed by Chang Chih-tung as deputy director of the department of military affairs in the province. Utilizing Chang Chih-tung's trust in him, and under cover of his legal status, he spread revolutionary ideas among the Ching troops and the educated youth. Though later transferred to Peking, he laid the ideological ground for the subsequent revolutionary movement in Hupeh.
From 1903 on, the Kuang Fu Hui (Society for the Restoration of China), the Hua Hsing Hui (Society for the Revival of the Chinese Nation) and other revolutionary organizations were set up. Influenced by revolutionary ideas, a section of the educated youth in Hupeh realized that "if you want to make revolution you must win over the ranks of the army; if you want to win over the ranks of the army you must join the army yourself". They enlisted in the New Army, distributed revolutionary magazines and books among soldiers in their units, propagated revolutionary thinking and collected forces for the revolution. In June 1904, an organization called Ko Hsueh Pu Hsi Suo (Institute for Sparetime Scientific Studies) was set up formally at Wuchang, ostensibly for the study of science, but in fact to prepare revolution. In November, it was suppressed by the Ching government, when about to respond to the Changsha Uprisingled by Huang Hsing. Its principal leaders fled Wuhan, so it automatically dissolved.
In 1905, however, some of its original members exhibited revolutionary magazines and books in a reading room in Wuchang, to attract revolutionaries. The name of this reading-room, the Jih Chih Hui (Daily Knowledge Society), was also adopted by the revolutionary organization they set up in March 1906. It expanded quickly, and at one point claimed 10,000 members. At meetings and lectures every week, they discussed the world situation, China's crisis and ways of saving the nation, influencing people from all walks of life. The Jih Chih Hui had already grown into a fairly strong revolutionary organization by August 1905, when the China Revolutionary League was founded in Japan.

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19B8 Politics and Life in Cur Tir TITies
AFTER FORCING ACROSSING AT THE TATURIVER IN EARLY JUNE, 1935, THE CENTRAL RED ARMY BROKE THE ENEMYS BLOCKADE AND CONTINUED ITS MARCH TOWARDS NORTHWESTERN SZE-CHUAN. THEY SCALED THE FIRST SNOW-CROWNED PEAK, CHACHIN, AND JOINED FORCES WITH 4TH FRONT ARMY IN MID-JUNE AT TAWE, THIS WASYET ANOTHER WICTORY FOR THE RED ARMY ON TSLONG MARCH.
Ma Tang-hung (Tibetan), orice a guide of the Red Army, fels the P. L. A. man
about the heroic fears of their predecessors. This epic of revolution encouraged the fighters of 5th Company. They said that they were determined to take up the path traversed by the Red Army and be successors to the revolution, During the exercise they studied assiduously Chairman Mao's important instruction on the question of theory and Marx's, Engel's and Lenin's theories on the dictatorship of the proletariat. They were resolved to bring into full play the revolutionary heroism of the Rod Army and, like them, withstand extreme hardships, grip their guns firmly and staunchly defond the dictatorship of the proletariat.
 
 

LCCT LLLSLLLkCK aaE LGL LLGLYLLLLLLLa LLLL L00aL 1967
Soon after establishing the League, Sun Yat-sen learned the existence and strength of this society in Wuhan. He sent men back to China for organizational contact and so gawe leadership) to the revolutionary activities in Hupeh,
In the winter of 1906 when the big uprisings broke out in Pinghsiang, Liuyang and Liling in Hunan Province, the Jih Chih Hui prepared to respond. But almost all its leaders, betrayed by a renegade, were arrested. So for over a year no large-scale revolutionary activities could be undertaken. However, a revolutionary organization known as the Kung Chin Hui ( Society for Mutual Progress), an offshoot of the League, extended its influence to Hupeh, It became a leading centre of the revolutionary movement in the province,
In the meantine, Some revolutionaries from the Old Jih Chih Hui were preparing to re-establish that body. In the summer of 1908 they set up the Chun Tui Tung Meng Hui (the Army's China Revolutionary League) and, after some setbacks, resumed activity in the New Army under the names of Chun Chih Hsueh Sheh (Study Society for Democratic Government) and Chen Wu Hsueh Sheh (Study Society for Promoting Military Affairs). In 1910 Li Yuan-hung, Commander of the 21st Mixed Brigade of the Ching army in Hupeh, uncovered the revolutionary character of the Chen Wu Hsueh Sheh and launched a persecution of its leaders. But in early 1911 the revolutionaries reorganized it as the Wen Hsueh Sheh (Literary Association) and selected Chiang Yi-Wu as leader to continue work. Within half a year, they had recruited over 3,000 members from the New Army.
At this juncture, there was a split in the China Revolutionary League. Sung Chiao-jen, Tan Jen-feng and some other League members from the provinces along the Yangtze, disagreed with the League headquarters for concentrating its efforts too long on south China. In July 1911, they established "The Headquarters of the Central China Revolutionary League" in Shanghai. Setting up a branch in Hupeh, they took a direct part in leading the revolutionary movement there.
Deep-rooted local sectarianism had long hindered close cooperation between the two revolutionary organizations in Hupeh, the Wen Hsueh Sheh and the Kung Chin Hui, However, to meet the needs of the armed uprising, negotiations for unity were begun in the spring of 1911 with certain members of the Headquarters of the Central China Revolutionary League acting as mediators. In late September it was

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agreed to set up a united leading organ. Liu Kung, leader of the Kung Chin Hui, was elected tsungli (director-general) of the future military government. Chiang Yi-wu, leader of the Wen Hsueh Sheh, was chosen as commander-in-chief and Sun Wu, another Kung Chin Hui leader, as chief-of-staff of the uprising. Other important positions were distributed among leaders of the two organizations. The long discussions and debates brought unification, but did not resolve the contradictions. Rumour had it that Liu Kung was made tsungli instead of tutuh (military governor) to limit his power and give him no say in military affairs.
On October 8, as the uprising's chief-of-staff Sun Wu was making bombs in Hankow's Russian concession, an explosion occurred. Tsarist police rushed to the Scene and seized all banners, insignia, documents and seals that had been prepared. Next day, the secret headquarters for the uprising in Wuchang was raided by the Ching gendarmes and police. Liu Yao-cheng, Peng Chu-fan and other revolutionaries were arrested; Chiang Yi-Wu narrowly escaped. Other leaders fled or went into hiding. Yang Hung-sheng was seized when transporting ammunition. Some 20 other revolutionaries fell into the enemy's hands. Juicheng, Viceroy of Hupeh and Hunan, ordered the execution of all those arrested and tightly Cordoned off the New Army barracks. Martial law was declared throughout Wuchang. All secret centres of the revolutionary organisations were raided. Juicheng was elated, thinking that the leading organs of the revolution had been wiped out, all revolutionaries in the New Army locked up in their barracks and the flame of the revolution extinguished. He wired the Ching government reporting "success" in nipping the revolution in the bud. But even before the Ching government had telegraphed back its commendation, the armed uprising that was to overthrow it broke out.
The time was the evening of October 10. First to rise were revolutionaries in the Eighth Engineering Battalion of the New Army. They killed the acting battalion commander, company commander and platoon leader sent to arrest them, then charged out of their barracks to seize rifles and ammunition at the Chuwangtai arsenal. Revolutionaries in its garrison threw open the gate. When the soldiers of the infantry, artillery and supplies corps and students of a military academy heard the firing, they too joined the uprising and assembled at Chuwangtai. The insurgents elected a company commander, a former member of the Jih Chih Hui (Daily Knowledge Society), astemporary commander

Sun Yat-sen and The Revolution of 1911 1969
and attacked the viceroy's yamen. Of the 22 army battalions stationed in Wuhan, five rose up, while the other 17 still obeyed their Ching commanders. The reactionary troops were more than thrice as strong as the revolutionary forces in terms of battalions. But actually the revolutionaries' underground work had won over 5,000 of the 15,000 soldiers in the Hupeh New Army - a third of all its men. Therefore the uprising paralysed the Ching Command, with only a few battalions offering resistance. After stiff encounters, these were utterly routed. Juicheng and other reactionary officials, along with their families, broke through the back wall of the viceroy's yamen and fled to the gunboat Chuyu anchored on the Yangtze. By that night, the insurgent troops held Wuchang. On the night of the 11th and the morning of the 12th, the New Army soldiers stationed at Hankow and Hanyang joined the uprising, completely freeing the triple city of Wuhan from Ching rule. Several days later, revolutionaries launched uprisings at Yunglungho and Hanchuan, took over the counties of Tien men, Chienli and Chienchiang-all in Hupeh - and captured over 30 vessels of the Ching government's Yangtze fleet. The situation around Wuhan was gradually stabilized.The revolution advanced with lightning speed,
The successful uprising raised the revolutionary spirit of the people in the Wuhan area. Tremendous was the rejoicing of the masses at being rid of the long dark feudal rule, and the enthusiasm with which they joined the revolution. On October 12, hearing that the revolutionary army was forming four new brigades, workers, peasants and revolutionary intellectuals flocked to enlist, making up the required number in five days. On October 16, the revolutionary army attacked Ching troops who had retreated to Liuchiamiao outside Hankow. Though without military experience, the new soldiers were brimming with revolutionary enthusiasm, and quickly captured it. Two days later they dealt head-on blows to the Ching suppression force coming down from the north. Railway workers and peasants used their tools and hoes to pursue and destroy the fleeing enemy, helping win the battle of annihilation.
The victorious Wuchang Uprising made a yawning breach in the reactionary Ching rule, and precipitated an immediate country-wide upsurge. Revolutionaries in many places rallied soldiers of the Ching New Army and members of the secret societies to join the fray. Workers, peasants and urban residents rose to reinforce the revolutionary struggle against imperialism and feudalism.

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Hunan was the first other province to respond. On October 22, the revolutionaries Chiao Ta-feng and Chen Tso-hsin led insurgents in the New Army and secret Societies in a drive on Changsha, killing Huang Chunghao, the garrison Commander, and driving out the provincial governor Yu Cheng-ko. Victory in Hunan removed threats to Wuchang from the rear. Shensi, Kiangsi, Shansi, Shanghai, Chekiang and Kwangtung rose up next. On November 22, revolutionaries in Chungking, Szechuan Province, led an uprising which spread over 57 sub-prefectures and counties in southeastern Szechuan. Three days later, other revolutionaries in that province, together with soldiers of the Hupeh New Army who had been sent there for Suppression, revolted at Tzechow. They killed Tuanfang, who had been sent to Crush the popular movement for the defence of railway rights. By then, the provinces of Yunnan, Kweichow, Kwangsi, Anhwei and Fukien had either risen in revolt or declared their independence of the Ching government. From October 10 to late November, 14 out of China's 24 provinces and regions renounced their allegiance to Ching rule.
In the provinces which had not yet declared independence, there was a rapid succession of uprisings in the New Army, stimulated by the revolutionaries, and spontaneous armed struggles of the workers and peasants. Militia units, formed by railway Workers and peasants, appeared along the Peking-Hankow Railway around Hisinyang, Honan. In November, by switching or removing the tracks they derailed or overturned trains carrying Ching troops. They also attacked grainstorage depots, ammunition dumps and military supply trains, giving tremendous support to the revolutionary warfare around Wuchang. Peasant uprisings in Shantung and Liaoning had a wide impact. Even in Chihli Province, the vital centre of Ching rule, revolutionaries agitated the New Army at Luanchow and Paoting to march on Peking. Incoming reportspanicked the Ching rulers.
These lightning developments mounted to the third high tide of revolution in modern Chinese history - succeeding the Taiping revolution of 1851-64 and the Yi Ho Tuan Movement of 1900-01. lt swept away the reactionary Ching rule. With the Wuchang Uprising as landmark and led by the revolutionaries headed by Sun Yat-sen, it became known as the ReVOlution of 1911.
Courtesy: Extract from "The Revolution of 1911" by the Compilation Group for the "History of Modern China" Series, Peking, 1976.

President Ho Chi Minh The Spirit of Vietnam
by Anamika
In this world where people have become power grasping puppets, where individualism is exalted to such heights as to exclude all thoughts of others, it is essential to remember a man Whose life was a personification of struggle, a man who understood the essence of the science of revolution and applied it to achieve the liberation of his own people, and the oppressed peoples the WOrld O Ver.
President Ho Chi Minh born on May 19, 1890, was nota mere political figurehead, isolated from his people. He is the spirit of Vietnam. Each man, woman and child identifies himself or herself with this greatman who was an integrated part of his people: "Uncle Ho is not dead. He will live for ever with our mountains and Our rivers, in our revolutionary cause and in the hearts of our people". Not only is he in the hearts of the people of Vietnam, but in the hearts of the oppressed peoples in other parts of the world, fighting for national liberation.
Ho Chi Minh came to France as a young patriot in search of a revolutionary road to liberate his fellow countrymen from the French colonial yoke. During this time, he also visited Europe, Africa and the Americas. It is during these years that he became deeply aware of the injustices and cruelties of the capitalist society, and was grievously shocked by the destitute life of the working class and the labouring poor. Hence, he clearly realised that "our friends were the working class and our enemy was imperialism, wherever it may be". This was a great turning point in Ho Chi Minh's thinking.
Gradually, he educated his people and made them distinguish between friends and foes. It was in the midst of his activities in France that the Russian Revolution broke out. The Great October Revolution had a decisive influence on Ho Chi Minh's militant life. He was determined to follow the road of the October Fevolution.

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1972 Politics and Life in Cour Tirre5
The Wersäises Cor 7ferer de in 1913 led hir to another important conclusion - in order to gain independence and freedom, the people must first and fore most rely on their own strength; the Wietnamese must liberate themselves through their own efforts. Having begun his career as a Vietnamese patriot longing for his country's liberation from foreign enslavement, Ho Chi Minh steadily moved towards Socialism, grasping immortal Lenin's teachings: "Step by step, along the struggle, by studying Marxism-Leninism parallel with participation in practical activities, gradually came upon the fact that only Socialism and Communism can liberate the oppressed nations and the working people".
President Ho Chi Minh paid special attention to the ideological cultural revolution aimed at educating the labouring masses. He said: "In order to build Socialism, Communism, it is necessary to produce Socialist, Communist men". He taught the people of Wietnam that they must resolutely struggle against individualism, cultivate the spirit of collective labour, display industry and practise thrift to build the country and maintain close contact with the masses and whole heartedly serve the supreme interests of the revolution.
It is this spirit which gave an individual enough courage to arm himself with grenades and mines and throw himself on an Anerican tank. It is this spirit, instilled in every man, woman and child which enabled then to reconstruct a blown-up bridge within six hours, by substituting human shoulders when the steel stays were missing. It is this spirit which enabled his people to study under the most grim circumstances. Each one, Teach one-was a living inspiration, not an empty slogan. Families were torn away, great sacrifices were called for-all done with the same selfless undaunted spirit.
Honesty, humanity, loyalty, Wilf-power, courage, were essential to him. He disliked formalities and empty talks, and set great store by practical deeds. "For, deeds should match your words", The people of Vietnam inspired by his words, have made a firm resolve to perforт ргасtical services for the country and the people, all their life, every nonent of their life. It would be well for our own people fo heed ther77 and learr fror therm.

Prgsiden Ho Chri Min) – Tre Spirit of VietnaT1 1973
THE WERSALLES CONFERENCE IN 1918 LED HIM TO ANOTHER IMPORTANT CONCLUSION - NORDER TO GAIN INDEPENDENCE AND FREEDOM, THE PEOPLE MUST FIRST AND FOREMOST RELY ON THEIR OWN STRENGTH; THE WIETNAMESE MUST LIBERATE THEMSELVES THROUGH THEIROWN EFFORTS. HAVING BEGUN HS CAREER ASA WETNAMESE PATRIOT LONGING FOR HSCOUNTRYSLIBERATION FROM FOREIGN ENSLAVEMENT HO CHIMINH STEADILY MOVED TOWARDS SOCIALISM, GRASPING IMMORTAL LENIN'STEACHINGS: "STEPBYSTEP, ALONG THE STRUGGLE, BYSTUDYING MARXISM-LENINISM PARALLEL WITH PARTICIPATION IN PRACTICAL ACTIVITIES, GRADUALLY CAME UPONTHE FACT THATONLYSOCIALISMAND.COMMUNISMCAN LIBERATE
!
A Vietnarrase Leader addressing the meeting of the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation held in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, on August 76th and 17th, 1985. On the left of the speaker is seated Madame Binh and Aziz. The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, and A, Aziz were the delegates for this international meeting from the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Sri Lanka,
President Ho Chi Minh and his party, known earlier as the Communist Party of Indo-China and later the Wietnam Workers Party and now the Communist Party of Vietnam, attached great importance to the founding of various organisations to rally the Tlasses and give full play to the strength and creativeness of the masses in the revolutionary struggle. Like Lenin, he had boundless faith in the masses. "Without the people, even the easiest work cannot be done; with the people even the hardest work can be done". He took great care over the ideological education of the cadres. He launched a movement againstilliteracy, advised the people to get rid of backward ideas and customs left by the colonial feudal systerT1, He told children to study well so as to take part in the building up of the country. He had great faith in the unity of his people,

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President Ho Chi Minh and his party, known earlier as the Communist Party of Indo-china and later the Vietnam Workers Party and now the Communist Party of Vietnam, attached great importance to the founding of various organisations to rally the masses and give full play to the strength and creativeness of the masses in the revolutionary struggle. Like Lenin, he had boundless faith in the masses. "Without the people, even the easiest work cannot be done; with the people even the hardest work can be done".
He took great care over the ideological education of the cadres. He launched a movement against illiteracy, advised the people to get rid of backward ideas and customs left by the colonial feudal system. He told children to study well so as to take part in the building up of the Country. He had great faith in the unity of his people.
Our mountains will always be, Our rivers will always be, Our people will always be, The American invaders defeated, We will re-build our land ten times more beautiful.
There was unity between his momentous revolutionary activities and his very simple life and modesty. His meals were frugal, never a morsel wasted. He never asked for help for anything he could do by himself. His plain living was in complete harmony with the highest, most beautiful thoughts, feelings and spiritual values. He was no ascetic; but living the grim life of his people, he shared their life with equanimity and calm.
Ho Chi Minh was a poet philosopher, in the great Asian tradition. "A man who would wander the grim mountains of South China, ford its rivers, slump exhausted in mice ridden huts", and yet
Warmth fills the heart of man and life rea Wakens, Bitterness now makes way for happiness.
Another poem bids goodbye to a tooth?
You are hard and proud, my friend, not soft and long like the tongue, Together we have shared all kinds of bitterness and sweetness, But now you must go West while I go East.

President Ho Chi Minh - The Spirit of Vietnam 1975
Yet, again, the dark dungeons of Kuomintang inspired him to Write:
When you enter the jail, You are charged a lighting fee, Six Kwaysi Yuan per person, Thus, in the domain of darkness Light is worth six Yuans.
His journey to jail and captivity gave rise to another reflection:
Along the way we travel, the guards are carrying pigs, Pigs travel on guard's shoulders, While men are dragged in irons. Once a man is forced to Surrender, The value of man is less than that of a pig.
Ho Chi Minh's mind was not confined merely to national issues. "The revolutionary cause of our people is an integral part of the world revolution. Our victory is a great contribution to the victory of the World revolution. This contribution consists in fighting and defeating imperialism, essentially US imperialism, leading to the formation of a world people's front, in support of Vietnam against US aggression".
In 1921, Ho Chi Minh had set up the Union of Oppressed Peoples to co-ordinate the international liberation fighters. It comprised the representatives of Korea, Indonesia, India, China and Malaya. He drew his inspiration from the peoples of the Soviet Union and China.
The people of Vietnam will celebrate his eighty-seventh birth anniversary on May 19, 1977. They are a people, a nation, who can celebrate, for they have not deterred from the path shown by their uncle Ho. They are fighting, Working, studying, becoming undaunted revolutionaries in the struggle to uphold the freedom of their motherland, for the happiness of their people, and carrying out their international duties.
While in many countries the masses are living in misery and poverty, victims of the whims of political leaders who, in their selfish egoism and ignorance, are letting the country waste, a people unified, courageous, undaunted are building a nation"Ten times more beautiful" under the inspiration of their beloved leader Uncle Ho.
Courtesy: "Mainstream", "Tribune", Colombo, June 11, 1977.

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Western Manoeuvres in Africa
by Julius Nyerere
This statement by Tanzanian President, Julius Nyerere, made early in June 1978, about the situation in Africa after the French-Belgian military intervention in Zaire and after President Carter's many verbal onslaughts on alleged "Soviet and Cuban penetration in Africa" reflects front-line African nationalist logic. This statement will also explain the attitude and policies of the African states.)
have been very concerned indeed about World reactions to recent events in Africa and it seems to me to be necessary that should make Tanzania's position clear. For the events of the past few weeks have once again demonstrated that although our legal independence is officially recognised, our need and our right to develop our countries and our continent in our own interests has not yet been conceded in practice. The habit of regarding Africa as an appendage of Western Europe has not yet been broken.
In Angola the MPLA did almost all the fighting against the Portuguese colonialists. As independence approached after the revolution in Portugal, various Western countries led by the United States of America decided to try to prevent the establishment of an MPLA government in that country. They conspired with South Africa, and gave under cover finance and arms to rival nationalist movements which had previously been almost inactive. Faced with this conspiracy and the consequent attacks on Angola from South Africa and across the Zaire border, the MPLA government sought help from those who had given support to the movement during the independence struggle. Cuba and the Soviet Union responded to those requests. With their help the Angolan government overcame the immediate military threat to its existence, pushed South African troops back across the border into Namibia, and pushed the FNLA troops back to where they had come from - Zaire.
Cuban troops are still in Angola and the Soviet Union Continues to give military assistance to Angola. The Angolan government is forced to ask for this assistance to be continued because the threat to the integrity of Angola still exists. Only last month South African troops entered Southern Angola again, and

Western Manoeuvres in Africa 1977
inflicted heavy casualties upon Namibian refugees. Unita continues to get outside support. There have been continual attacks made across the Angolan-Zaire border by FNLA troops, who are financed and supplied with Weapons by external forces and who operate with the active or tacit support of the Zaire government. That all this is happening, is known to the Secret Services of South Africa, and of USA, France and some other Western Countries. It would not be happening without their connivance and their involvement. It would be incredible if the governments of those countries did not know What their agencies were doing.
The history of the ex-Katangese gendarmes predates the independence of Angola. It was not actions of the MPLA which took them to Angola, nor were they trained by MPLA. They are a living reminder to Africa of the determined and shameless attempt by the West to dismember the former Congo (Leopoldville) in their own economic interest. When that attempt was defeated, some of these gendarmes moved into Angola and remained there as refugees. Now things have changed, the West has a different view of Zaire and is using it to de-stabilise Angola. It would therefore not be surprising if Angola felt forced to withdraw the restraints it had been imposing on those Zairean refugees in Northern Angola. Whether such a policy of retaliation is corrector wise is a matter of judgement; it is nevertheless understandable.
But one thing is clear. There is no evidence of Cuban or Soviet involvement in this retaliation. The US State Department was at one time reported to have said as much, the Cubans have persisted and convincingly repudiated such allegations.
So Cuba and the Soviet Union went into Angola and are still in Angola for understandable reasons, at the request of the Angolan government. There is no evidence at all that they have been involved directly or indirectly, in any fighting in Zaire.
Cuban and Soviet forces are also in Ethiopia, at the request of the Ethiopian government. The reasons for their presence are well-known. They have helped the Ethiopian to defend their country against external aggression. They have not, and nor has the Ethiopian government engaged in any fighting outside Ethiopia's borders. And there is some evidence to suggest that the Cuban government at any rate makes a distinction between the fighting in the Ogaden and the fighting in Eritrea.

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Apart from those two countries, where else in Africa are there Soviet or Cuban forces? There are a few Cuban and Soviet nationals and a few Chinese nationals helping to train the freedom fighters of Southern Africa in the use of weapons. Africa gets help from communist countries for the liberation struggle in Rhodesia and Namibia. Apart from vague generalities, and rumours based on the jackets people wear, there is no serious suggestion that these forces are operating or stationed any where else in Africa.
It is, then, on the basis of Soviet and Cuban forces in two African countries that there is a great furore in the West about a so called Soviet penetration of Africa. And those forces are in those two countries at the request of the legitimate and recognised governments of the countries concerned, and for reasons which are well-known and completely understandable to all reasonable people. Yet Western countries are objecting, and are holding meetings ostensibly about how to defend the freedom of Africa against what they call Soviet penetration.
Let me make it quite clear. Tanzania does not want anyone from outside to govern Africa. We regret, even while we recognise, the occasional necessity for an African government to ask for military assistance from a non-African country when it is faced with an external threat to its national integrity. We know that a response to such a request by any of the big powers is determined by what that big power sees as its own interests. We have been forced to recognise, that most of the countries acknowledged as world powers, do not find it beneath their dignity to exacerbate existing and genuine African problems and conflicts when they believe they can benefit by doing so.
We in Tanzania believe that African countries, separately and through the OAU, need to guard against such actions. But we need to guard Africa against being used by any other nation or group of nations. The danger to Africa does not come just from nations in the Eastern bloc. The West still considers Africa to be within its sphere of influence and acts accordingly. Current developments show that the greater immediate dangerto Africa's freedom comes from nations in that Western bloc.
It might be a good thing if the OAU was sufficiently united to establish an African High Command and a Pan-African Security Force. If having done so, the OAU then decided to ask for external

Western Manoeuvres in Africa 1979
support for this force, no one could legitimately object. But the OAU has made no such decision. It is highly unlikely that the OAU Meeting in Khartoum will be able to agree unanimously on the creation of such a military force, or - if it did - that it would be able to agree unanimously on which countries to askfor support, if that was needed. Yet until Africa, at the OAU has made such a decision, there can be no Pan-African Security Force which will uphold the freedom of Africa. it is the height of arrogance for anyone else to talk of establishing a Pan-African force to defend Africa. It is quite obvious, moreover, that those who have put forward this idea, and those who seek to initiate such a force, are not interested in the freedom of Africa. They are interested in the domination of Africa.
It was from Paris that this talk of a Pan-African Security Force has emanated. It is in Paris, and later in Brussels that there is to be a meeting to discuss this and related matters pertaining to the "freedom" of Africa. The OAU meets in Khartoum in July, but we are told that African freedom and its defence is being discussed in Paris and Brussels in June.
There is only one reason why the idea of Europe setting up, or initiating a Pan-African Security Force - does not meet amazement and consternation. It is the continual assumption that Africa, is, and must always remain, part of the West European "sphere of influence". This assumption is hardly being questioned yet. Even some African States take it for granted. We all know the facts of power in the world. But we cannot all be expected to accept without question this new insult to Africa and to Africans. We may be weak but we are human, we do know when we are being deliberately provoked and insulted.
The French have troops in many countries of Africa. In West Sahara, in Mauritania and now also in Zaire, French forces are engaged in combat against Africans. France continues to occupy Mayotte. But there are no meetings in Washington, even in Moscow to discuss the threat to Africa's freedom by the French penetration of Africa. Nor should there be. But not even Africans, in Africa discuss the question. The reason is very simple. It is the continued assumption that it is natural for French troops or Belgian troops, or British troops, to be in Africa, but it is a threat for troops from any non-member of the Western bloc to be in Africa. A threat to whorn? To African

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1980 Politics and Life in Our Times
freedom, or to the domination of Africa by ex-colonial powers and their allies, operated now through more subtle means and with the help of an African fifth column? The answers to those questions are very obvious. There have been continued incursions by South Africa and Rhodesia into Angola, Botswana, Zambia and Mozambique. The West has not shown much concern about these, nor have their new found surrogates in Africa.
When the U.S.S.R. sent its troops into Czechoslovakia in 1968, Tanzania was one of the many countries which protested. Is it expected that we should not protest when Western powers send their troops into an African country? These "rescue operations" almost always seem to result in the death of a lot of innocent people and the rescue of a government. But that is apparently not regarded in Europe as interference in African affairs. Instead the same country which initiated the military expedition then calls a meeting to discuss, they say, the freedom of Africa. There should be no mistakes. Whatever the official agenda, the Paris and Brussels meetings are not discussing the freedom of Africa. They are discussing the continued domination of Africa, and the continued use of Africa by Western powers. They are intended to be, taken together, a Second Berlin Conference.
The real agenda inside and outside the formal sessions of these meetings will be concerned with two things. It will be concerned with neo-colonialism in Africa for economic purpose-the real control of Africa and African States. That will be led by the French. It will be Concerned also with the use of African in the East-West conflict. That will be led by the Americans. These two purposes will be co-ordinated so that they are mutually supportive and the appointment of the expected benefits and costs will be worked out. It is at that point-the division of the spoils - that disputes are most likely to occur.
But the costs may also be higher than what the participants anticipated. Tanzania is not the only nationalist country in Africa. There are nationalists everywhere. Sooner or later and for so long as necessary, Africa will fight against neo-Colonialism as it has fought against colonialism. And eventually it will win. Western bloc countries which try to resist the struggle against neo-colonialism need to recognise that it will not only be African countries which will suffer in the process.

Western Manoeuvres in Africa 1981
Nor will the whole of Africa acquiesce in being used in the East-West confrontation. We are weak, but our Countries have before now caused a great deal of embarrassment and some difficulty for big powers, if the West wants to prove, either to the Russians or to their own people, that they are not soft on communism they should direct their attention to where the Soviet tanks are, and the Soviet front-line is. They should not invent an excuse to bring the EastWest conflict into Africa. For if they succeed in doing that Africa will suffer, and African freedom will suffer, but it may also turn out to be very expensive for those who choose Africa as another site for EastWest Confrontation.
The African people have the same desire as every other people to be free and to pursue their own benefit. They have the same determination to work and to struggle to that end. They know that no one else is interested in their freedom. This talk in Europe about a Pan-African Security Force is an insult to Africa and a derogation of African freedom.
It makes little difference if the European initiators of this plan find African to do their fighting for them. There were Africans who fought with the colonial invaders; there were Africans who assisted in the enslavement of fellow Africans; and there are Africans who fought against the freedom movements. But we ask those African governments which may have agreed to participate in this plan to consider well before they go further. We have the OAU with all its faults and its incapacities, it is the only Pan-African Organisation which exists and which is Concerned with African freedom. Do not let us split it - and Africa-between those who are militant and allied with the West, and those who may in consequence find themselves forced to seek assistance from elsewhere against African-assisted neo-Colonialism.
We do not deny the principle that any African State has the right to ask for assistance, either military or economic, from the country of its choice. On the contrary, we assert that right. Angola, Ethiopia, Chad, Zaire, and all of us, have that right. It is not for the West to object when Angola asks assistance from the USSR. It is not for the East to object when Djibouti ask for assistance from France. And the requested country always has the right to decide whether to give that assistance.

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1982 Folitics and Life 1 CALLI r TirtTie5
THE GREAT OCTOBER SOCIALIST REVOLUTION MARKED ARADICAL TURNING POINT IN WORLD HISTORY. THE WORLD'S FINEST MINDS, EXPRESSING THE ASPIRATIONS OF THE MASSES, HADDREAMED FOR CENTURIES OF A GOLDEN AGE, A BETTER SOCIAL ORDER OF THE FUTURE. THE WAYS AND MEANS BY WHICH THIS BETTER SOCIAL ORDER COULDBE CREATED WERE POINTED OUT BY THE GENIUS OF LENINAND STALIN; THEY DEVELOPED THE GREAT IDEAS EXPOUNDED BY MARX AND ENGELS IN THEIR THEORY OF SCIENTIFIC COMMUNISM AND EVOLVED THEMINTO ACOGENT AND INVINCIBLE DOCTRINE AND GUIDE TO ACTION - THE DOCTRINE O
: వ్లో
The October uprising in Moscow on November 7th, 1977
The revolution was a gigantic leap forward in the history of Russia. The Bolshevik Parly not only saved Russia from the loss of her national independence. It emancipated Russia's millions, her nurnarous nationalities, from bourgeois and feudal exploitation, from police tyranny and national-colonial oppression, from patriarchal rule and political debasement, and led them into the high road of historical progress, into the road of socialist development, thus elevatingham to the position of the wanguard of progressive Thankind. A new era in the history of the peoples of Russia was ushered in. The epochal victories achieved in the field of socialist construction followed by the Soviet Union's great mission of liberation in the Second World War, increased the significance of the U.S. S. R. as a mighty bulwark against the sinister forces of aggression and World reaction, The U.S. S. R. became the guiding light and the hope of all tha opprossed and the Cexploilled,
 
 
 

Wgsfert Marlogu'WrgS În Africa 1983
We do not deny either that all African governments can be threatened by a few malcontents, possibly financed by external elements, even while they are fully supported by the mass of the people. In such circumstances a government is surely justified in seeking assistance to overcome a temporary Crisis, and the donor country should not be accused of neo-colonialism for responding. Other governments in Africa have inherited situations and need longer term support, while they genuinely try to bring peace to their people and to develop their country in the interests of those people. But we must reject the principle that external powers have the right to maintain in power African governments which are universally recognised to be corrupt, or incompetent or a bunch of murderers when their peoples try to make a change. Africa cannot have its present governments frozen into position for all time by neo-colonialism, or because there are cold War or ideological conflicts between Big Powers. The peoples of an individual African Country have as much right to change their corrupt government in the last half of the twentieth century, as in the past, the British, French and Russian people had to overthrow their own rotten regimes. The people of China waged a long, historic, and exemplary struggle against the lackeys and running dogs of imperialism in so-called independent China. Are African peoples to be denied that same right?
Under which category any particular African government crisis falls may be a matter of genuine difference of opinion. But when the same government constantly needs to make recourse to external assistance to maintain its control over the country, most people would begin to question whether it really has the backing of its citizens. Those foreign powers which are really interested in the freedom of Africa, and not in dominating it, will then decide that the time has come to call a halt. And if they do not do so, they must not be surprised if the rest of Africa interprets their interwention as an expression of neo-colonialist domination and as being intended to maintain their control over that part of Africa,
Western Europe and the United States of America are interested in having continued access to the minerals of Africa to Sustain their own economics. But that access is not ensured by

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corruption, or support for corruption. It is endangered by such support. That access is not dependent either upon the ideology espoused by particular African governments. The present realities of African politics and economics force all African countries to sell their minerals where they can get the best prices for them, and where they can get in exchange the goods they themselves need. There is much evidence of both those propositions.
The purpose of this statement is to make it clear that we reject the West European countries to dominate Africa, just as much as we would reject attempts by Eastern Bloc countries to dominate Africa. In particular, we want it to be clear that Tanzania resents the arrogance and the contempt of those who purport to set up a PanAfrican Security Force. Either Africa will do that for itself, or there will be no Pan-African Force defending the freedom of Africa, only something calling itself by some such name which is an instrument for renewed foreign domination of this continent.
Tanzania repudiates the claim that African Freedom can be defended by a Security Force organised or initiated by European powers. We shall regard such a force is an instrument of neocolonialism in our Continent.
The purpose of Africa's independence struggle was the freedom of Africa and of Africans. Our independence and governments must not become the instruments through which foreign domination is maintained in a new form. Rather, they must be the instruments through which the peoples of Africa develop themselves and their Countries, and enlarge their freedom until it means a life of dignity for every individual. We have a long way to go - all of us - in every African nation. But Tanzania will resist every attempt to circumscribe our development and to prevent it moving in that direction. It will resist any attempt to reassert and strengthen the domination of Africa under cover of a pretence to defend Africa.
Courtesy: "Tribune", Colombo, July 29th, 1978.

SARC - it's Birth and Development
by Manohar Trakru
Representatives from the seven South Asian countries who met in Thimphu, the picturesque capital of Bhutan, from the 10th to the 14th May, 1985, could not have asked for a more congenial location for their deliberations. While most of the region outside was passing through the rigours of a hot summer, Thimphu, traversed by the ice-cold waters of the river Wangchu and boasting an elevation of 7,500 feet, was pleasantly cool. The atmosphere was placid, unspoilt and serene; the people ever-smiling and friendly and the hurly-burly of a metropolitan city just non-existent. It was only the sirens of the newly-acquired Japanese escort cars piloting the Specially imported limousines of the delegates that occasionally broke the all pervading quiet and solitude. All in all an atmosphere that would soothe the most frayed temper.
RESILIENCE
Given such blissful surroundings, it was no wonder that the delegates managed to pile up a great deal to show for their labours, despite a rather shaky start to their deliberations because of Sri Lanka's absence from the Foreign Secretaries' meeting on the 10th and 11th May, 1985. Colombo decided to stay away because of bilateral differences with another member state, India. But the way this problem was eventually tackled is a measure of the maturity and resilience of the seven member nations of SARC. After top level interventions by several members, including a telephonic talk between the Prime Minister Shri Rajiv Gandhi and the Sri Lanka President, Mr. Jayawardene, Colombo eventually decided to send a delegation for the Ministerial level meeting held on the 13th and 14th of May. With that came to a neat end this episode which had cast a shadow on the proceedings. It is a cardinal principle of SARC that bilateral affairs be kept out, and this is embodied in the Declaration adopted in New Delhi by the Foreign Ministers of the seven nations in 1983.

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1986 POMICS ard Life ir ČOLI 777.gs
it was the spirit of understanding and accommodation that marked the proceedings of both the meetings - the Foreign Secretaries who constitute the Standing Committee of SARC, and the Foreign Ministers. Differences were ironed out and practically all points resolved satisfactorily. As a result, the decks are now cleared for the first ever Summit of the SARC nations, which will be held in Dhaka. On the 7th and 8th of December, 1985. The summit is expected to provide the necessary under-pinning to this multilateral concept and give it the final shape and direction. The process of Tutual co-operation upon which these seven nations, representing between them a quarter of the worlds population, have embarked will receive a new impetus towards achieving their goal of collective self-reliance. At Thimphu, the Foreign Ministers approved the draft of the document to be adopted by the Heads of State and Government when they Teet in Dhaka. The document is expected to be a charter, incorporating the provisions of the SARC Declaration issued in New Delhi in 1983. The draft has also a preamble, which will stress the principles of the UN Charter, non-alignment, nonuse of force and other basic principles of international conduct. In other Words, the political aspect of co-operation among the Seven nations will be underlined and the all too vital and inseparable link between political and economic co-operation recognised. In a different context, the same was the Case with the Well-known doctrine of Panchsheel.
NSTITUTIONAL FRAMEWORK
The Summit is expected to endorse the proposal for an institutional framework with a ministerial Council at the top as the main policy making body, Sri Lanka had some reservations on this provision but uncertainty on this score was set at rest by Mr. Esmond Wickramasinghe, the Special Adviser to President Jayawardene who supported the idea in principle and merely wanted further consultations on the modalities. There is also a proposal for a secretariat, but the general consensus at Thimphu was to think of it only at a later stage when some kind of a framework is already established. The Summit will have some other questions and proposals also before it. One of these is that the existing arrangement should be described as an "Association", i.e. South Asian Association for Regional Co-operation, SAARC. The other is the symbol it should be represented by — that question, however, has, for the present, been put before a panel of judges competent to decide such matters, and its report will be placed before the Summit.

SARC - Ir's Birth and Davasoprian 1987
COLOMBO DECDED TO STAY AWAY BECAUSE OF BLATERAL DIFFERENCES WITH ANOTHER MEMBER STATE, INDIA. BUT THE WAY THIS PROBLEMWAS EVENTUALLY TACKLEDSA MEASURE OF THE MATURITY AND RESLIENCE OF THE SEVEN MEMBERNATIONS OF SARC. AFTERTOPLEWELINTERVENTIONS BY SEVERALMEMBERS, INCLUDING A TELEPHONCTALK BETWEEN THE PRIME MINISTER SHR RAJW GANDH AND THE SRI LANKA. PRESIDENT, MR. JAYAWARDENE, COLOMBO EVENTUALLY DECIDED TO SEND A DELEGATION FOR THE MINISTERAL LEWEL MEETING HELD ON THE 13TH AND 14TH OF MAY, 1985. WITH THAT CAME TO ANEATEND THIS EPISODE WHICH HAD CASTA SHADOW ON THE PROCEEDINGS. TS A CARDINAL PRINCIPLE OFSARC THATBLATERALAFFAIRS BE KEPT OUT. AND THIS ISEMBODIED IN THE DECLARATION ADOPTED IN NEW DELHBY THE FOREIGN MINISTERS OF THE SEWENNATIONS IN 1983.
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1944 - 1EE1 7"PTg Prjr77eg MWir7isğfogr" of f7ffaq
Osmosis is the term applied to the process of diffusion of two liquids of different density through a permeable but non-porous membrane, the pressure controlling this diffusion being known as osmotic pressure. To illustrate this, a bladder filled with strong sugar solution is suspended in a Wessel of water, and it is found that the water rapidly passes through the membrane into the bladder (endosmosis), and a small quantity of the syrup diffuses outwards (exossinosis) Osmosis is an important factor in the root absorption of plants, in plants, osmosis permits the absorption of water through the roots; in animals, dissolved foodstuffs are absorbed into the blood stream by the same process.

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1988 Politics and Life in Our Times
THE SUMMIT
It has taken five years to decide upon a Summit, since the idea of regional co-operation was first mooted by the late General Zia-urRahman of Bangladesh in 1980. But given the complexity of relationships among the seven nations involved, this is something to be happy about. The idea has now taken deep root and the heads of government of these seven nations meeting to discuss avenues of multilateral Cooperation is in itself a matter of far-reaching significance for the region as a whole. For, far too long have these nations been suffering from inhibitions, the inhibitions which King Jigme Singye Wangchuk of Bhutan fervently urged them to drop. The King, who inaugurated the Foreign Ministers' Conference, looked forward-like the leaders of other nations as well- to the Dhaka Summit creating a climate of trust and confidence in the region and generating the necessary political will to give a new impetus to regional co-operation in South Asia.
In this connection the King of Bhutan welcomed India's recent initiative to strengthen relations with its neighbours which took the Foreign Secretary Shri Romesh Bhandarito Bangladesh, Pakistan, Afghanistan, Nepal and Sri Lanka, besides Bhutan, itself. These visits covered all the SARC nations except Maldives, which too Mr. Bhandarivisited some time ago. The Minister of State for External Affairs, Mr. Khurshid Alam Khan, spun avery realistic home truth when he observed in his address that it is inevitable that some problems should arise when relations are as close as Ours. But what has to be realised is that common concerns are more important than individual differences. If that is adopted as the guiding principles of SAARC, it will go a long way to improve the quality of life of the people in this part of the world.
The kingpin of this entire co-operation effort is what is known as the "integrated programme of action". It is an ambitious programme, covering nine areas of vital importance to the member nations, and was drawn up after elaborate studies by various technical Committees. These are agriculture, rural development, telecommunications, meteorology, health and population activities, postal services, transport, scientific and technological co-operation and sports, art and culture. The main task of the Standing Committee is to review the progress in the implementation of this programme of action, and Co-ordinate and monitor the related activities. One of the more important upshots of the Thimphu deliberations was the decision to put greater emphasis now on the formulation and execution of specific projects in the agreed areas of co-operation.

SARC- it's Birth and Development 1989
The Technical Committees are to give greater attention to operational activities so that regional co-operation becomes more beneficial in practical terms. The "Calendar of Activities" will be restricted to managable proportions to ensure effective participation, especially by smaller nations who lack the infrastructure to take on too many activities at this stage. In drawing up the calendar, high priority has been given to activities which are of greater practical value. For the remaining seven months of this year, as many as twenty one items have been approved. Even a cursory glance at them indicates their practical utility and also the wide spectrum that the SARC activities cover. There will, for instance, be meetings of scientists to discuss growing potatoes (in Bhutan), rice (in Bangladesh), post harvest food technology (in India), a seminar on data transmission (in Pakistan) and one on digital switching (in Nepal), a workshop on planning for the rural poor (in Sri Lanka) and a coaching camp in Badminton-to be held in the Maldives. That more than half of these workshops, seminars and training courses will be held in India is only a reflection of the level of infra-structure available in this country for such activities. The other six nations too have their share of activities, depending largely upon what they have to offer to other members by way of expertise in a particular field.
LARGEST CONTRIBUTOR
Resource-wise too, India is the largest contributor to the SARC finances during 1985-86, with a pledge of 10 million rupees. The pledges by others are: Bangladesh: 7.5 million Taka, Bhutan: 1.5 million Nguitrum, Maldives: 84,000 Rufiyya, Nepal: 2.5 million rupees, Pakistan: 10 million rupees, and Sri Lanka: 3 million rupees. Obviously in recognition of the rapid progress the SARC concept has made, it has received several offers of external assistance, notably from the EEC, the ITU and the FAO. The seven nations are now firmly launched upon their voyage of mutual co-operation. But they can sail smoothly if they co-operate and make a conscious effort to usher in a new era of confidence and friendship for their mutual benefit.
Courtesy: "Indian & Foreign Review", New Delhi, June 15th, 1985.

Page 456
Regional Co-operation in Education, Culture and Technology - The SAARC Experience
by Dr. Premadasa Udagama
The Consultative meeting of SAARC country AAPSO national committees and the International Conference on the theme, "Towards Regional Co-operation and Economic Integration", was held in Colombo, Sri Lanka, on 26-29 November, 1993. Delegates from Bangaladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka attended. Dr. Norad Ghaleb, President, AAPSO, graced the Conference by his presence. Mr. E. A. Vidyasekera from the Permanent Secretariat was also present. Given here is an abridged form of the contribution of Dr. Premadasa Udagama of Sri Lanka. Permit me to quote a leading educationist of the former Soviet Union, V. Sukhomlinsky (1977). He observed that
"Education in the widest sense is a many faceted process of Constant spiritual enrichment and renewal both for those being educated and those who educate".
We in the SAARC region are engaged in such aspiritual journey, which began from a common cultural foundation from prehistoric times. Our journey is a continuation of a long, inspiring, and rewarding process of learning through great institutions of learning, centres of Culture and high technology before the 19th century, when Europe began to influence, plunder and oppress Asia.
The Taxilas, Nalandas, Mahaviharas, the first universities of mankind, do not seem to inspire us now. From about the 19th century our spiritual journey was mandated to derive spiritual sustenance from Europe, and this mandate is conspicuous in the modern educational institutions from Khatmandu to Colombo and from Karachito Dakkha. These institutions within a few decades of political independence are "Constrained to some degree to maintaining the styles, structures, organizations, standards and assumptions of the European institutions" as was observed in the case of African Universities (Aidoo, 1977).
The schools, too, in spite of their ancient origin in Hinduism, Buddhism, Jainism and Islam, still mimic the missionary secondary school or the British public school. Each SAARC country has its own imitation and adaptation of the high styled model, but anachronous British type of public School, perpetuated in spite of populist movements in

Regional Co-operation in Education, Culture and Technology 1991
education. These schools for over a century have been the great champions of a new civilization in our region. Of course the consequences of this civilization have been disastrous to the masses of South Asia.
The elitist power brokers in all our countries nurtured in Oxbridge, American Ivy League and the European Prestigious Universities espouse nothing but elitist models of education even in educating the masses. Inspite of Gandhi, our schools continue to have rigid structures, curricula and organisations both in urban and rural areas. The school systems promote schooling for capitalism, and elitism inspite of some constitutions which have "socialist" appendages somewhere in these majestic documents of great intent. Our region and every individual country big or small has vast disparities in education opportunities and achievements. This is the major historical burden of our region. We have two systems of education, one private and efitist and the other public and poor. We perpetuate another dichotomy formal education supported by the state and non-formal education propagated by local and international NGOs.
Our region, believe, is the World's largest reservoir of poverty, illiteracy and social and political deprivation. Our leaders and the dominant political Culture groups foster democracy, Cultural pluralism, religious tolerance and an open economy. How our societies are to achieve these objectives without even a schooled, not necessarily an educated population, is difficult to imagine. As an aspect of the development process, some intellectuals, social workers and NGOs with external aid, do Continue to Work in areas of adult and non-formal education for literacy, empowerment of marginalised groups, women, peasants and workers, as well as for Sustainable development, environment conservation, and also for rural development.
Knowledge, like wealth, is poorly distributed in our Societies. We have pockets of expert knowledge and high education in Oceans of ill educated and illiterate populations. Education also allocates social status roles in our societies. Even where education is more openly available as in Sri Lanka the 'Secret' and the 'hidden" Curricula do not empower the marginalised groups. The Consequence, at least in Sri Lanka, was the eruption of youth violence, twice within two decades. Education can enlighten vast populations in the political, economic and cultural spheres of their societies. But education can also create frustration, anomie and unrealistic goals and ambitions in the youth population. Education for clerks may not Create entrepreneural skills needed in open economies.

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1992 Poffos arīOf Life ir 7 () ut Tirrlags
DR. PREMADASA UDAGAMA, WAS BORN IN THE KANDY DISTRICT IN CEYLON IN 1921. HEATENDED FIRST THE RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOLAT MENIMHINNE AND LATTER HE JOINED THE ST. ANTHONY'S COLLEGE, KANDY AND ANANDA COLLEGE, COLOMBO, HE STUDIED IN FOUR UNIVERSITIES: UNIVERSITY OF CEYLON (COLOMBO), UNIVERSITY OF CALCUTTA, LONDON SCHOOLOFECONOMICS(LONDON UNIVERSITY), AND THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, U.S. A. HETAUGHT IN THE UNIVERSITIES OF RANGCON (MYANMA), PERADENIYA AND THE SOUTH PACIFICFJ), HE WASSECRETARY AND DIRECTOR GENERAL, MINISTRY OF EDUCATION, SRI LANKA (1970-77); DIRECTOR, BANDARANAJKE CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL STUDIES (1980-82); DIRECTOR GENERAL, NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF EDUCATION (1994-97); SECRETARY GENERAL, SRI LANKA NATIONAL COMMISSION FOR UNESCO (1997-99).
Dr. Prer 7 Tadasa Lalagarma
Education is the term in general use for mental and to some extent physical training, especially of the young. It comes from a Latin word, meaning to draw out. There was some education in the ancient civilisations, but it was rever general and was almost certainly under priestly direction, The growing importance of education in modern societies has strengthened interest in educational theory, philosophers discuss and clarify aims and purposes, sociologists and economists consider policy in relation to social and economic structure, psychologists suggest improvements in the toaching process, students of comparative education compare and evaluate the systems of different countries. In all new and underdeveloped countries, interest in education is intense; those in charge see in it the best instrument available for social and economic improvement, and greal efforts are made to build, equip, and staff schools and colleges. Between 1950 and 1960 China doubled her school population; similar achievements are recorded in other pats Asia ard in Latin Arīca.
 

Regional Co-operatian in Education, Cultura and Technology 1993
| may have Created So far a sense of failure and inadequacy of our education systems. But our regional education systems have many and significant achievements, of which we can certainly Congratulate ourselves. The "War on ignorance", Jeffersonian phrase, has been waged by every government in the region, some with rer Tarkable victories and others with some success. The opening up of primary schooling in rural areas, the all round increase in enrollment at all levels of education and specially at the tertiary level and the development of centres of excellence for promoting research and learning, the democratization of higher education by our open universities, are no mean achievements in the last three to four decades. The expressed concern for educating the girl child and schooling all children by 2000 are high watermarks of the Colombo summit in 1991, The NGO activities in adult non-formal education are also notable for developing their own momentum with or without state patronage to bring education to the masses in the region,
We have to truly educate our children and youth and not select them for societal roles as we have been doing so long. We need to nurture creative institutions, without blindly replicating western educational institutions and concepts. Imported concepts, values and Content in education seem to be dissonant with Our Cultures, Social systems and traditional values, There were times, inspite of Gandhi, Tagore, Ananda Coomarasamy, Iqbal and Radhakrishnan, that traditional Walues Were considered obstructive in modernization. SAARC as a formal organisation is only eight years old and still in its formative stage, but we can learn from other regional organisations as the EC and ASEAN. They have organised collective research and studies for necessary innovations in education, delivery systems and content. SAARC may have to organize their educational futures in regional terms for the good of each society and the whole region and even for mankind, of which we form nearly a fifth.
The development of the concept of SAARC so far has been left to the politicians and bureaucrats. The intellectual groups hawe not thrown in their expertise, knowledge and wisdom to strengthen and clarify SAARC as a regional concept. The common people in the region needs to make SAARC their own region, conceptualized and supported by them as has happened in the EC and ASEAN.
SAARC organisation now hold Teetings of officials in education, Cultural and in other areas. The title is now opportune for intellectuals, professionals and others to meet together to deliberate on regional issues that affect the South Asian community. As a region

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1994 Politics and Life in Our Times
in which the majority of the people are poor and illiterate we should by now be the world's experts in literacy education and in the education of the poor and under privileged. But we still seem to be importing experts in this field from international organisations.
Raja Roy Singh (1991) has presented our educational needs in a future Scenario:
"The future-oriented education approach compels a Continuous scrutiny and appraisal of the existing educating systems and institutions and calls for the development of new kinds of educational institutions as well as new ways of educating. One of the key areas of educational innovation is institutional reform and renewal; without such renewal, the institutional systems become a drag on educational development".
South Asia as a cultural realm is unique in the ancient world. No other culture has so deeply and introspectively searched for the 'inner' man as in Our Cultures.
The Contribution of Hinduism, Jainism, Buddhism, Islam and other religions seem to be neglected in the fields of science, technology, art, music, dance, drama, literature and learning. Such a lacuna is detrimental to the development of endogeneous learning and Scholarship.
If cultural pluralism of the region is to be appreciated by all the people living in the region, we have to undertake much more learning, mass propaganda and aesthetic activities than were available in the past. Our educational institutions should encourage basic cultural learning relevant to SAARC, and needs to be studied by every adult, youth and child in the region. Mostly our value systems need to be appraised in facing Cultural invasions from outside, and value education will be central in future in this Survival game of our Cultures.
But for all these ideas to materialise, our prime need now is to evolve mature political and regional relationships. So far SAARC has been only a mild political exercise orchestrated mainly by politicians and bureaucrats. The intellectuals in the region have yet to develop acceptable concepts and goals for the region for all the people to participate in an emerging regional Community.
Colombo, 26th November, 1993.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga calls for informalTalks Among SAARC States to Ease Tension
by Jayatilleke de Silva from Male
The ninth summit of SAARC concluded its sessions successfully today, in Dharubaage, Male. President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, Chairman of the Summit said that good progress was made in Male in carrying forward the aims and objectives of SAARC.
it was decided to hold the next Summit in Colombo in 1998, to coincide with the 50th anniversary of Sri Lankan independence.
President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga proposed the Vote of Thanks. She specially thanked Nepal and Pakistan for graciously agreeing to allow Sri Lanka to host the 10th Summit.
The Declaration of the Ninth Summit touched on all the decisions taken at the Summit and reiterated its commitment to earlier decisions. Among the noteworthy decisions were -
At the designation of 1997 as the "SAARC Year of participatory
Government"; at the creation of the SAFTA by 2001 (Earlier, it was decided to
create it by 2005); to initiate a process of informal political consultations to foster good neighbourly relations, relieving tensions and building Confidence. The South Asian leaders also reiterated their support for the Ongoing restructuring process of the United Nations and laid particular emphasis on the principle of sovereign equality of states and equal geographical representation in increasing the security council.
They expressed concern at the set back to the Middle East peace process and expressed their conviction that the peace process should be Continued by honouring previous commitments made by all parties.
The following is the text of the Vote of Thanks by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga :
As we approach the concluding phase of our deliberations today, it gives me great pleasure to speak a few words on behalf of my colleagues and my own delegation. Our deep appreciation goes to the government of India whose period of Chairmanship took SAARC forward, especially in the core area of regional economic co-operation.

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There is no doubt that the Male Summit is an important milestone in the evolution of SAARC. This is the first Summit in the Second decade of SAARC. It has given impetus to a new vision charted for the Association by its members in New Delhi in December 1995. This Summit has made a number of significant and far-reaching decisions in the vital core area of regional co-operation, including the reaffirmation of the commitment by SAARC leaders to pragmatic regional co-operation.
The Male Summit will be remembered for two historic decisions. We have decided that the South Asian FreeTrade Association (SAFTA) will be established by the year 2001. At the New Delhi Summit we had set the year 2005 as our deadline for the creation of SAFTA.
We have advanced that deadline, and have thereby signalled to our peoples and to the World, our determination and our firm commitment, to liberalise and galvanise our economies in the new millennium.
I cannot let this moment pass without acknowledging, on behalf of all the other SAARC nations, our gratitude to India, and especially to His Excellency Prime Minister Gujral, for having so readily indicated its willingness, indeed its keen desire, to accelerate our move towards the Creation of a free trade area in our region.
The other historic decision we have made is the recognition of the need to encourage a process of political consultation among ourselves. We will henceforth discuss freely and frankly, and in a spirit of trust and confidence, all those matters which impede the integration of our peoples and their march to security and prosperity.
We particularly welcome the timely proposal by the Prime Minister of Pakistan to effect a re-appraisal of our Association, in order that we strengthen it to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
We have witnessed at Male the recommencement of a dialogue after many years, at the highest level, between India and Pakistan.
We, the neighbours of these two great nations, hope and pray that they will in the months ahead succeed inforging a new understanding, amity and lasting friendship. Their success will surely be ours. They will carry with them our sincere and heartfelt good wishes as they leave Male. it is my firm belief that these developments have been facilitated by the wise and effective leadership of His Excellency Maumoon Abdul Gayoom and the firm determination of all our colleagues to improve the condition and the quality of life of the people of South Asia. A renewed sense of vigour has been instilled into our Association, and Male will Continue to inspire and guide South Asian leaders in their efforts to move into new and innovative areas of regional co-operation.

President Chandrika Kumaratunga calls for informal Talks Among ..... 1997
The Chairmanship of Maldives, Mr. Chairman, has generated a congenial ambience for such a prospect. During our meetings over the last three days, whether informal session or in informal encounters, we have all come to appreciate your mature and effective leadership and the quietly efficient manner in which you have conducted the Summit. The amicable resolution of many issues affecting our countries, which initially appeared to be eluding consensus, owes much to your devotion to the highest ideals of SAARC, your long experience and proven diplomatic skills. It is our belief that your leadership has come at a very critical and demanding moment of SAARC's history.
May take this opportunity to thank Your Excellency, the government and the people of the Maldives for the warm and generous hospitality extended to all delegations and for the excellent arrangements made for our meetings.
Finally, I wish also to express my deepest gratitude to all my colleagues who have conferred on me the great privilege of chairing the Association in the coming year to coincide with the 50th anniversary of the Independence of Sri Lanka. In this regard, Sri Lanka is particularly indebted to Nepal and Pakistan which generously, most graciously, agreed to my government's request to host the 10th Summit in 1998. Their gesture fully reflects the SAARC spirit of accommodation and friendship. As the host of the next Summit, we are encouraged that Sri Lanka would inherit from Maldives, a strengthened and re-vitalized Association next year.
I would be failing in my duty if I do not express on behalf of all of us, our appreciation to the Secretary-General and his staff who have helped us in our work during the Summit and all the meetings preceding it.
Mr. Chairman, "We shall carry with us the fondest memories of the Maldives and the friendship of its people as we leave your shores. Once more, our deepest, most sincere thanks". President Kumaratunga in her response to the toast at the banquet said:
"it is a very great honour for me, Mr. Chairman, to say a few words in response to your welcoming remarks, on behalf of the Heads of State and Government present here who are Your Excellency's very contented guests tonight, around this table. For me, personally, it has been a special pleasure to return to the Maldives, in that my first visit outside the shores of Sri Lanka on my election to office as President was to the Maldives, wheremy family and enjoyed the hospitality and warmth that is legendary in South Asia.

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This morning, in Your Excellency's KeynoteAddress you chartered a course for SAARC to followina Wolatile and turbulent world. You spoke of the rich but as yet undeveloped potential of the region and proposed steps to realise that potential in good measure for the benefit of our people.
YourExcellency talked of the vital importance of apolitical dialogue among members of SAARC. This morning we were all delighted to see that all Heads of State and Government are agreed that such a dialogue Tust be developed.
We are all certain that the ship of SAARC under your astute, experiericed captaincy will sail forth to prosperity from this summit.
South Asia and SAARC are unique in many ways. The population of India for example is almost one billion (94.8 million), while that of Maldives is around two hundred and fifty thousand. Yet in SAARC, we acknowledge, accept and are proud of the sovereign equality of every one of the seven States that form our Association. The people of SAARC speak a myriad languages. Yet, there is a basic understanding which transcends our differences. Our people belong to a diversity of religions, many of which have indeed had their origin in this region. We are all heirs to rich and varied Cultural legacies that stretch back millennia to what are probably common Wellsprings of inspiration. Although borders and national boundaries now define our nations, there has been, Over the Centuries, Wast movements of people, of ideas, of commerce and trade, in rich and fruitful exchange. This historic interaction, despite the asymmetry of our Countries, enables our people to share a great deal and value much in Common.
Today, with speedier communications, there are unprecedented opportunities to appreciate and build on these commonalities.
recall a section in the Bhagaval Geata which seeks to describe the essence of knowledge as follows:
"When one sees eternity in things that passaway and infinity infinite things, one has true knowledge. But if one merely sees the diversity of things with all their divisions and limitations, then one has imperfect knowledge".
We would of course be less than honest if we did not acknowledge at the same time, those unfortunate aspects of our history and Our past which hawe sometimes splintered the image of unity which we would all like to sustain. These need to be addressed not with rancourand bitterness but rather with frankness and understanding. These difficulties need to be confronted outside the glare of political publicity in quiet dialogue to help build confidence, There is no better ambience than here, in these peaceful idyllic islands, to engage in such exchanges,

President Chandrika Kumarafunga calls for Informal Tasks Arnong...., 1999
PRESIDENT CHANDRIKAKUMARATUNGA, SAID : "WE PARTICULARLY WELCOMETHE TIMELY PROPOSAL BY THE PRIMEMINISTER OF PAKSTAN TOEFFECT ARE-APPRAISAL OF OUR ASSOCATION, INORDER THATWE STRENGTHENIT TO MEET THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY. WE HAWE WITNESSED AT MALETHE RECOMMENCEMENT OF A DIALOGUE AFTER MANY YEARS, AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL, BETWEEN INDIA AND PAKISTAN. WE, THE NEIGHBOURS OF THESE TWO GREAT NATIONS, HOPE AND PRAY. THAT THEY WILLIN THE MONTHSAHEADSUCCEED IN FORGING A NEW UNDERSTANDING, AMITY AND LASTING FRIENDSHIP THERSUCCESS WILLSURELY BEOURS. THEY WILL CARRY WITH THEM OUR SINCERE AND HEARTFELT GOOD WISHES AS THEY LEAVE MALE".
President Maurnoon Abdul Gayoorn at the President's Office, Male.
It is my firm belief that these developments have been facilitated by the wise and effective leadership of His Excellency MauToon Abdul Gayoor and the firT determination of all our colleagues to improve the condition and the quality of life of the people of South Asia. The Chairmanship of Maldives, Mr. Chairman, has generated a congenial ambiance for such a prospect. During our meetings over the last three days, whether informal session or in informal encounters, We have all corne to appreciate your mature and effective leadership and the quielly efficientmanner in which you hawe conducted the Summit, The arnicable resolution of many issues affecting our countries, which initially appeared to be eluding consensus, owes much to your devotion to the highest ideals of SAARC, your long experience and proven diplomatic skills, it is our belief that your leadership has come at a very critical and demanding Toment of SAARC's history.

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I believe that the political atmosphere in our region is particularly propitious now for easing what tensions have held back the full development Of SAARC.
South Asia has been the cradle of some of the noblest religions and other philosophies ever created by mankind. They all extol the greatness of the human mind and the spirit of man. The Vedas, the Holy Quaran, the Buddhistscriptures all tellus that disputes overland and rivers shouldfade away from importance when compared with the larger vistas that are open to us, vistas of peace and brotherhood among men, of prosperity, of the most exquisite of human Creations in the fields of art, science and technology. Drawing inspiration from this great common traditions of our past, let us Commit ourselvestoresolve our lesser problems in order that we reach out together for stars.
Never before have the two big nations in our region been so close to forging lasting and friendly relations. I take this opportunity to heartily congratulate both leaders and their governments for their visionary efforts. Sri Lanka urges that this propitious moment be seized by us to seriously embark on the process of regional political consultation on matters of Common interest.
Male has a historic role to play at this time and you,YourExcellency, as Chairman of SAARC with your long experience in the Association, and the excellent relations that the Maldives enjoys with each of its memberstates, are specially suited to help the region to build a truly co-operative framework for development. We wish you well, and support you fully, as you steer our association in the vital months to come.
My Colleagues - the heads of government of Nepal and Pakistan-have very graciously agreed to permit Sri Lankato host the 10th SAARC Summit in Colombo in 1998 which is the 50th anniversary of our independence. It reflects the spirit of amity that inspires our Association. offer them our deep and warmest gratitude. I hope and we will certainly endeavour to be worthy host of SAARC next year.
Your Majesty, Your Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen May I request you now to rise to a Toast to the good health and prosperity of His Excellency the President, the government and the people of Maldives to deeper relations among the nations of SAARC and peace and prosperity for all people of South Asia.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, May 15th, 1997.

2001
Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace
by A. Aziz Vice President of AAPSO and Secretary General of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Sri Lanka.
The following paper was presented by Mr. A. Aziz, at the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation (AAPSO) Conference held in Dares Salaam, from 1st to 5th July, 1985, on the occasion of the 30th anniversary of the Great Bandung Conference, on the "Elimination of imperialist military presence, blocks and bases & for turning the Indian Ocean and the Gulf into a Zone of Peace")
The late Prime Minister of India, Mrs. Indira Gandhi in her message to the World Conference on the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, held in New Delhi in 1982, said as follows:
"Virtually all countries abutting the Indian Ocean are of the view that it should be azone of peace. However, against their expressed wishes, the region has been militarized, with an ever increasing presence of warships and submarines, and the building of bases. For the time being we may seem to be helpless, but the will of peaceable peoples must prevailand We cannot refrain from giving expression to our deeply-held beliefs".
The above message encompasses the entire problem. Firstly, all countries which are littoral to the Indian Ocean want this Ocean to be a ZOne of peace.
Secondly, against the expressed wishes of the people of this region, it has been militarized with warships, submarines and Naval, Air, Military and Nuclear bases.
Thirdly, according to Mrs. Gandhi's message, the people in the region for the time being seem to be helpless.
Fourthly, she sounds a happy note, that the will of the peace-loving people not only in the region but also in the World must prevail.
Fifthly, she expresses determination not only of herself but of the entire peace-loving peoples of the World not to refrain from giving expression of peoples deeply-held beliefs.

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Thus Mrs. Gandhi as the Spokesman of the Non-Aligned and in fact of the entire 3rd World had summarised the problem of Taking Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.
In commencing to Write about the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, I consider it pertinent to quote George Kennen who wrote in his "American Diplomacy 1900-1950". He said, "sometimes Wonder whether American democracy is not uncomfortably similar to one of those prehistoric monsters with a body as large as this room and a brain the size of a pin....... Once he grasps (that his interests are being disturbed) he lays about him with such blind determination that he not only destroys his adversary but largely wrecks his native habitat".
Denzil Peiris, a Sri Lankan, in his article "Back to the big stick" says, "In the ten months since it took office, the Reagan administration has acted with a blind determination to protect what it sees as its interests. Military power is to be built up to make the US the unchallengeable super power. The unilateral decision to produce the neutron bomb signalled that the US will not give its Nato allies a veto on its ambitions. With US $ 1.3 trillion worth of nuclear bombs and technologically sophisticated weaponry to backup its ambition to be "Number 1", Kennan's apocalyptic prophecy of global disaster from a feckless use of US strength may not be far-fetched.
"The shooting down of two Libyan planes in the Gulf of Sirte was awaming to the Third World that the Reagan administration will not tolerate any obstruction to its purposes of hegemony. In evidence before the US Senate foreign relations committee, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, Chester Crocker, accused President Gadafi of "unprecedented obstruction to our own interests and objectives........... Gadafi has tried in every Way he could think of, to obstructour efforts to achieve peace in the Middle East".
The above quotation reveals the conceptual thinking of the United States administration in their efforts for domination over the littoral states of the Indian Ocean.
In the Global strategy of the United States, the 75 million sq. kilometers of the Indian Ocean occupies a special place as a target of domination of all the countries of the Indian Ocean region. The Indian

Indiari. Cearl & the Gulf a5 a Zorie of Peace 2003
THE DEFEAT OF FASCISM IN 1945 BY THE SOVIET UNION AND OTHER DEMOCRATIC FORCES OF THE WORLD, HASTENED THE COLLAPSE OF COLONIALISM, FIRST INASA AND THEREAFTER IN AFRICA. HOWEVER, THE INDEPENDENT COUNTRIES, SOON LEARNT THAT THOUGH IMPERIALISM WAS FORCED TO GIVE UPNAKED FORMS OF COLONIALISM, YETTCONTINUEDITSEXPLOITATION, BY ADOPTING CONCEALED FORMS OF COLONIALISM, CALLED NEO-COLONIALISM. IMPERIALIST CAPITAL SABLE TO SUBORDINATE AND EXPLOIT INDEPENDENT COUNTRIESAS WELL AS FORMER COLONIES, PILLAGING THEM WITHOUT MILITARY OCCUPATION, THROUGH THE MECHANISM OF THE WORLDMARKET AND OF THE SO CALLED "ECONOMICAID".
|
Saated: L-R. T. DLuraisingar, A. Aziz and Few Dr. ಕ್ಲಿಕ್ಹ Sura assa.
Standing and Speaking Khaireddin Abdul Rahman, Ambassador of the
Palestinian Liberation Organisation,
In the background. Painting of Sir Razik Fareed,
At the meeting of the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Sri Lanka, held at the Moors Islamic Cultural Home, Colombo, o f th May, 1984, in Solidarity with the Palestinian Liberator ရှို့ဖွံ့ဖြို 3. At this slage the need was felt for a solidarity organisation on the peoples level also, lo complele the liberation of the countries in these two continênts of Africa and Asia. Thus by the end of 1947 came into being the Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Organisation, The ideas and objectives of this organisation was given in the closing speech at the final session of the first Afro-Asian People's Solidarity Conference held in Cairo. The leader of the Indian delegation, Mrs. Rameshwari Nehru, in her closing speech said: "We have together given a pledge not to rest, till all of us are completely liberated. The will of the people is the ultimate force which harnessed to just, good causes is ever victorious. I have no doubt that the United voice of 1,700 million people represented at this Conference will not and cannot be ignored". The author of this book, T. Duraisingarn, has heard itsaid that brother Aziz, as a student leader, had played an important part in the Indian independence struggle,

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Ocean sweeps the shores of a large section of countries of the Nonaligned movement. Therefore, the countries of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean, being concerned about safeguarding their security and Sovereignty, have been demanding that the Indian Ocean be made a Zone of Peace. Almost from the time of the Creation of that movement, this question has been in the forefront of the Non-aligned countries.
The Indian Ocean in the pre and the post Second World War period was described as a British Lake. This was so because most of the countries of the Indian Ocean (including the region of the Gulf and the Bay of Bengal) were either British colonies or under British domination. As the British Empire began to disintegrate in the post Second World War period, the US gradually made its entry into this region and turned it into a virtual American Lake. From Simon town in South Africa, round the Cape of GoodHope, the United States spread its tentacles. Through the base in Diego-Garcia and the entirety of the coast of Africa into the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf Region the U.S. and its Nato allies have built their military naval and air bases. The dismemberment of the British Empire was taken note of by the Western powers, led by the U. S. The British Empire was successfully replaced by the U. S.
In this exercise the British as well as the Western powers, as part of the Nato Alliance, provided active support to the U.S. to effectively take over the domination of the Indian Ocean.
ECONOMIC RESOURCES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN
The economic resources of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean are immense. Because of the poverty of the Third World Nations, many of whom are in Indian Ocean Region, the United States and its Western allies are enjoying these economic resources, and are therefore interested in retaining the control of the resources through a concentration of armed forces in this region.
MARITIME SIGNIFICANCE OF THE INDIAN OCEAN
Padma Srinivasan in her article on Indian Ocean resources says "The most important "resource' of the Indian Ocean is perhaps its situation, as a middle Sea between the Atlantic and the Southwest Pacific. This has marked its maritime significance throughout the centuries.

Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2005
"Historical determinants are reaching into the Indian Ocean and to almost all parts of the world, and the influence of the region is being likewise worldwide. Interaction is not only intra regional but also between the Indian Ocean and the rest of the world. The trading pattern has remained through the centuries, predominantly extra oceanic. For this reason the entrance into the Indian Ocean from the Atlantic into (round the Cape of Goodhope or through the Mediterranean Sea) and the Pacific Ocean (through the Malacca Straits) have remained extremely important.
"The owners of nearly all the ships plying across the Indian Ocean also are not indigenous to this region. The littoral states either do not have mercantile fleets of their own or are very small relative to their trade carried in foreign ships; therefore, they are constrained to depend heavily on a World shipping industry that is mostly owned and controlled by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) countries. Though it is the smallest of the three great oceans of the world, it is almost the centre of the Orient with its ancient civilizations. Its waves have borne the ships of the Ming emperors to the coast of East Africa, of the Indonesian folk to Malagasy and the African mainland, and of the Roman merchants to South India. It washes the shores of not only the lands where the earliest civilizations flourished, but also those of the very birthplace of the human race".
MATERAL RESOURCES IN THE INDIAN OCEAN
The Indian Ocean region and the hinterland countries possess vast resources including the strategic ones. Besides world's half deposits of oil, it has two thirds of world's uranium, vast quantities of lithium, beryllium and zirconium, half its gold and virtually all its diamond deposits. From these countries, United States and other countries of Western Europe import 40 different raw materials including the strategic ones. Through the Indian Ocean pass the vital trade routes connecting Europe, Africa and the Middle and South East Asia and the Pacific. Through the Strait of Horauz the countries of Western Europe ship 60% of their crude oil purchase, Japan 90%, Australia 60% and the United States 20%.

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Thus we see the conflict of interests of two forces in the Indian Ocean. One of these forces is represented by the foreign intruders, viz. the United States and its Western Nato allies, who in their strategy of domination of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean and exploitation of the vast material resources and the geographical location of this ocean, have made it their own domain. The other force is represented by the peoples and the Governments of the littoral countries, which are engaged in a life and death struggle to protect themselves and their sovereignty and independence. In search for finding ways and means to save their resources from the undue exploitation at the hands of the industrialised Western nations, they have grouped themselves under the umbrella of the Non-aligned movement, and are carrying on a struggle of the people, to face history's unprecedented arms build up in their regions. This situation has given rise to two parallel developments diametrically opposed to each other. One is a build up for domination by the West through militarisation and escalation of land, naval and air armaments including nuclear weapons. The other is the search by the people of the littoral states to match this arms build up by building a movement of the common people of their region.
INDIAN OCEAN AND THE U.S.
The whole of the Indian Ocean today is strewn with U. S. military, Naval and Air bases. With the introduction of the New Rapid Deployment Force, which can be used againstany littoral state or for protecting reactionary regimes against the liberation movements in these countries, militarisation of the Indian Ocean by Western Imperialism has received new teeth, and the stranglehold on the littoral countries and the hinterland has assumed new and greaterthreat to the sovereignty and independence of these nations.
The U. S. has a naval task force in the indian Ocean of two aircraft-carriers, 17Escortships, 3 nuclear submarines and 180 Combat Aircrafts. The U.S. also has 3 Air bases in Oman, 1 Air base and one Naval base in Somalia, 1 Airbase in Saudi Arabia, 3 Airfields and a Port in Kenya, 1 Air field and 1 Port in Bahrain besides the Air, Naval and military base in Diego-Garcia and several other surveillance Communications and navigational installations and Radar posts in several places in the Indian Ocean.

Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2007
The U.S. has made use of the territories that had been acquired by the British, e.g.: Diego-Garcia illegally taken from Mauritius and the Islands of Aldabra and Farquhar alienated from the Seychelles. In this period United States built a low-frequency Radio station in North-West Cape and Australia, for Communications with missile submarines, and tried to "fill the Vacuum" that allegedly arose in the late 1960s, from the withdrawal of the British troops stationed East of the Suez Canal.
Not being content with this, the U.S. is also trying to draw within its military preparations, the Western European Nato allies to operate in the Indian Ocean. In the Nato circles, at the instance of the U.S., a new immoral and untenable principle has emanated and that is "security of Western Europe", so as to ensure their raw material supplies from the countries of the Indian Ocean. The U.S. has been insisting upon the other Nato allies as well as Japan, to share the burdens of its military efforts in the Indian Ocean and the Persian Gulf.
it will not be out of place to make a special reference to the situation in the Arab Peninsula, the Red Sea and the Gulf. This area, since the creation of the British Empire in the East, has always been under the control and the domination of the British. In fact, when we say that the Indian Ocean had become a British Lake, it encompasses not only the Indian Ocean but also its subsidiaries the Arabian Sea the Gulf, the area of the Arab Peninsula including the Red Sea. Even during the time of the British control over this area, the U.S. was making its own encroachments in the area, particularly after the 2nd World War. During the seventies when the British decided to withdraw its naval presence from the East of Suez, the U.S. moved in and its naval, military and air presence became an oppressive reality in the region. This presence further increased its tentacles, after the eviction of the Shah of Iran, who then was doing partial policing in the Gulf and Arab Peninsula and the surrounding seas. This situation in the Gulf and the Arab Peninsula became further militarized by the U.S. after the defeat of the Shah, and the U.S. tightened its grip on the area.
Thus the imperialist military presence in the region, in the form of military experts and advisers and military bases and fleets further increased. With the changes in the political map in favour of the National

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THE CHAIRMAN OF THE CENTRAL CONTROL COMMISSION OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OFSRI LANKAFORSEVERALDECADES, THAMBIMUTTU DURASINGAM HAS BEEN ACTIVE IN THE POLITICAL MOVEMENT OF SR LANKA FORALMOST EIGHTY YEARS. BORN ON OCTOBER 1ST, 1911, HE FIRST BECAME ACQUANTED WITH ANT-IMPERIALIST DEAS AND THE WORKERS MOVEMENT AT THE EARLY AGE OF 10 YEARS, DURINGHS TEENS, HE READ SEVERAL ANTI-IMPERIALIST AND SOCIALIST BOOKS WRITTEN BY W. KALYANASUNDARA MUDALIYAR, AS WELL AS THOSE WRITTEN BY THE FIRST COMMUNIST OF TAMIL NAD AND ONE OF THE FOUNDERS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OFINDIA, M.SINGHARAVEL, WHO WAS ASSOCATED WITH ALL PROGRESSIVE MOVEMENTS IN INDIA OF THAT TIME. WHATHE READATTRACTEDDURASINGAMMMENSELY AND BY 1927 HE BECAME CONWINCED THAT COMMUNISM PROWDED THE ONLY SOLUTION FOR THE WORLD'S ANDHISCOUNTRY"SILLS, HEISA MEMBER OF THE WORLD PEACE COUNCIL AND OF THE AFROASIAN SOLIDARITY ASSOCATION OFSRLANKAANDHASATTENDEDMANY INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCES HELD INMANY COUNTRIES,
. .. .. .. .11 11:11 Desabandu Tharr7bimustu Duraisingarn
Aeronautics - The possibility of flying was long present in the human mind, even before Leonardo da Vinci experimented with it in the 15th Century. In 1843 an Englishman named Henson flew in an aeroplane driven by a small steam engine, a successor to one built by Sir G, Cayley in 1810. Other experimenters were Otto Lilienthal, Clement Ader, Sir H. Maxim, the ATerican Langley, and then came the brothers Wright. In December 1903, the brothers Wilbur and Orville Wright rose 852 ft. in a machine driven by a petrol engine, The possibility having been prowed, ggi was rapid. In 1909 Bleriot flew across the English Channel, and Henry Farman flew 118 Tiles in three hours, The Great War led to fresh developments, and when it ended machines capable of great speeds were in existence. In 1931 a British officer travelled in a seaplane at 408.8 miles per hour in a demonstration flight, thus beating the record of 367 miles, per hour set up in the race for the Schneider Trophy in 1930. The largest aeroplanes carry 38 passengers and a considerable load and fly easily at over 100 miles, an hour, but improvements are continually being made, in 1932 a fighting biplane was built which can ascend to over 20,000 ft, and travel at over 200 miles an hour. boats and seaplanes carry heavier loads and seaplanes have developed much greator speeds,
 

Indian Oceart & the Gulf as a Zor 7e Of Para CG 2009
Liberation movements, the acceleration of the arms race was given further impetus. To go into the brief history of this development the following facts would be relevant,
There was a defence co-operation agreement signed between Saudi Arabia and the U.S. in 1951. The U.S. became the leaseholder of A1 Dhahran Base in the Eastern Part of Saudi Arabia, in return for American equipment, arms, advice and military training. Thus an American Armed Forces Engineering team commenced its activities in 1951. It built the Dhahran Air Port through which American Military supplies spread. In 1965 American-Saudi relations further developed with the conclusion of an agreement, providing for American technical aid to the Saudi Armed Forces, in return for this, Saudi Arabia shouldered all expenses of the American so-called aid. Latest 1976 figures show, that the Engineering Group of the American Army is carrying out or supervising Warious projects Worth a total of 17 billion dollars. Besides this, large number of Americansforming this Group are working in Saudi Arabia. This also involves the training of the National Guard forces.
On June 8, 1974, another agreement was concluded, to lay the basis of the Joint Defence Co-operation Committee. Its task is coordination between the two military institutions in regional security affairs and in satisfying the needs of the Saudimilitary institutions.
American military co-operation further manifests in the recent joint Defence agreements between these two countries, and in the fact that the Sauditerritory, airports and space are at the service of the American Strategy. It is common knowledge, that the U.S. stations its AWACS planes outside the Riyadh air base, and reserves this base together with its counterpart in Dhahran and Damam for flying and refueling the aircraft of the American Air Forces, in case of any military operation for intervention in the region or in Africa and Asia.
Saudi military expenditure is indeed fabulous. For instance, the recent AWACS deal costs 850 billion dollars. We are aware that this too is a part of the American strategy to dominate the whole region, and to help in the continued Israeli aggression on the Arab peoples, and also to drain the money of the peoples of the region by arms deals running into billions of dollas.ircupfet critif is saf

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2010 Politics and Life in Our Times
Bahrain is another major American Military Base in the Gulf region. Bahrain was a British colony, and in 1949 by an agreement the U.S. established its reserved naval units and a military base in Algafeer in Bahrain. The importance of Algafeer to the U. S., can be judged from the fact that it has existed as a base for more than three decades. Also related to the U.S. Mideast Force in the Bahraini Algafeer base, is the Naval office for Ship Control which extends over a twelve acre area, and offers all the logistic aspects to the Mideast Force required in its operations, which stretch from the Indian Ocean to the Arabian Sea, the Red Sea and the Gulf.
In recent times, after the fall of the Shah, it acquired still greater importance with the growing need for the Gulf oil for the markets of the U.S. and its allies.
Oman was a British colony. Though declared independent, British influence controlled the country's destiny and all aspects of life. There still exists the base of Selalla in Muscat. The army and security organs completely depended on British aid and expertise. Gradually the American expertise and forces replaced the British.
Oman offers air and naval facilities to the American forces in the Indian Ocean. It also offered the former British base of Selalla and the Museira Island as military bases. Tamrit base on the borders with Democratic Yemen is being developed. The U.S. also has the right to stockpile the weapons of the rapid deployment forces there.
The regime in Oman does not only offer the U.S. military bases, but also naval facilities. It carried out joint exercises with the American forces recently, as part of the rapid deployment forces exercise. Oman's regime is one of the staunchest champion of American presence in the region.
The U.S. forces use Al Doha port in Qatar for military purposes related to the American forces in the Indian Ocean, the Gulf and the Peninsula regium.
Since the outbreak of the Iraqi Iranian war the U.S. has deployed a massive naval force in the Gulf region. It sent the Eisenhower aircraft carrier. The nuclear operated 91,487 ton carrier has a naval crew of 3,300 men and an air crew of 3,000 men.

Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2011
U.S. later sent the 62 thousandton Midway aircraft carrier with a naval Crew of 2,615 men and a 1,800 men air Crew. It carries Some 75 sophisticated aircraft, apart from the service helicopters.
It sent a number of missile warships with ranges of 110 and 65 kilometers.
it also sent a "Coventry" destroyer with a 4,100 ton capacity, and equipped with sophisticated antimissile and antiwarship missiles and rockets, as well as antisubmarine and gunboat helicopters.
Earlier the U.S. sent AWACS planes to spot planes in all directions, and to make a comprehensive air survey within a radius of 370 kilometers. It can control 100 aircrafts through various systems of air operations.
It also sent the "Constellation" aircraft carrier to the Gulf and the Red Sea, to reinforce its fleet in the region.
All this naval military build up aims, among other things, at intimidating the people of the region, safeguarding the oil channels and guaranteeing the flow of oil to the Western and developed states.
The U.S. administration went as far as declaring the formation of the Rapid Deployment Force which includes 210 thousand soldiers. Its basic goal is direct intervention in the Gulf to preserve its own economic interests. The U.S. administration has earmarked 9 billion dollars, to meet the needs of the Rapid Deployment Force.
The U.S. has forged a variety of justifications for creating the rapid and direct deployment Forces, to intervene in the affairs of the region and to strike at the national liberation movements and the progressive national liberation movements and the progressive national regimes.
These forces carry out other tasks, related to protecting the spots of American imperialist domination in the Gulf, South West Asia and other parts of the world.
Hence, the American build up in the Gulf, the Arab Peninsula and the Red Sea region, is related to the U.S. general activity in the Indian Ocean where the Diego-Garcia strategic base lies. The U.S. is constantly developing this base, to make it accommodate all types of

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2012 Politics and Life in Our Times
aircraft and all the military tactics by the carriers of the Rapid Deployment Forces. Diego-Garcia base was deepened enough to receive all the types of the American Navy Fifth Fleet naval units in the Indian Ocean. The U. S. has also furnished it with the latest radar network, to be the backbone in controlling military action against the Gulf and particularly against the peoples of Asia and Africa.
However, all these acts by the imperialist forces in this vital region of the world, shed light on the paramount urgency of intensifying international efforts to check American rashness, SO that peace and Security may prevail in Our region.
INDIAN OCEAN AND THE OTHER ALLES OF THE U. S.
A task group of 6 British war-ships, including the Helicopter assault craftships, is stationed in the Eastern part of the Mediterranean. In 1980, the West German squadron of the missile destroyers and supply vessels, Set Sail for the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, the Red and Arabian Seas and the Indian Ocean. France too has increased its military presence in the Indian Ocean. France has 10,000 troops and 25 warships permanently in the area, between the Port of Djibouti, the Port of Mayotte, the bases of Malagasy Islands of Glorieuses, Juan de Nova, Bassas de India and Europe and the Tremelin. Besides these there is the Anzuz block which includes Australia, New Zealand and the United States. In a recent development the United States is drawing its Anzuz partners also in the military preparations in the Indian Ocean. However, in recent times, due to the enlightened policies of the new Government of New Zealand, there is seeming weakness of the Anzuz. This is a Welcome silver lining, on the otherwise dark clouds of U.S. Imperialist arms build up in the Indian Ocean.
On the other hand, the people of the littoral states who had just broken the chains of colonial bondage and had achieved political freedom, saw the neo-colonial domination by their former rulers under the leadership of the United States of America. The littoral states had no means to prevent the Indian Ocean from becoming a lake of their former rulers through the new master, the United States of America. As such, the littoral states began to consult amongst themselves. The great

Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2013
Bandung conference of 1955 led the way and the Non-aligned movement was born in 1961. At the second conference of the Non-aligned countries held in 1964 in Cairo, the question of making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace was mooted.
in 1965 at the Conference of the heads of the Common Wealth Countries in Singapore, the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka, Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, raised the question of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. Large number of countries of the Indian Ocean Zone, who were also the members of the Common Wealth of Nations, supported this move. But because of the lack of co-operation from the British Government, the concept of Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace did not move forward at the Common Wealth Conferance. At the Summit Conferance of the Non-aligned countries in 1970 in Lusaka (capital of Zambia), the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka again initiated the move of Creating the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. The echo of the Lusaka decision was raised at the United Nations in 1971 by Mrs. Bandaranaike on behalf of the Non-aligned nations.
Thus from the platform of the Non-aligned Movement, this issue moved into the world forum of the United Nations which adopted a resolution for making Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. This resolution was moved by 13 countries, viz., Burundi, India, Iran, Iraq, Kenya, Somalia, Sri Lanka, Swaziland, Tanzania, Uganda, Yemen, Yugoslavia and Zambia.
The General Assembly adopted a resolution which solemnly declared that, "the Indian Ocean, within limits to be determined, together with the air above and the ocean floor subjacent thereto, is hereby designated for all time as Zone of Peace". This document, called the Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, calls on the great powers to immediately start consultations with the littoral states here in order to stop the escalation of military presence, to dismantle all the military bases and logistic facilities in the Indian Ocean, and make it free of nuclear weaponsor other types of weapons of mass annihilation, as well as of any military presence of the great powers prompted by the rivalry between them.

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2014 PosofiCS ard Lisg i 7 CQL ir Tres
All the littoral and land-locked states of the region, as Well as the permanent members of the UN Security Council and other countries making wide use of the Indian Ocean, were urged to conduct consultations with the aim of creating a system of collective security without military alliances, Combat ships and aircraft Tust not be used to disrupt the integrity and independence of any state of the region in contravention of the objectives of the UN Charter. The resolution Censured the military alliances diverting the limited resources of the states of the Indian Ocean from the important programmes of economic and social development.
The resolution was endorsed by 61 delegates with 55 abstentions and none voting against.
The Declaration of the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace, was to ensure peace and expand co-operation on a vast territory, and contained several propositions supported by the Soviet Union and other peace-lowing states.
In 1972 at the 27th Session of the UN again this resolution was adopted, and an Ad-Hoc Co Tirmittee on the Indian Ocean was set up, including initially 15 member states, viz. Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Madagascar, Malaysia, Mauritius, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Tanzania, Zambia and Yemen,
The discussion at the Ad-Hoc Committee revealed that the littoral states were far from having a unified approach to the ways of translating the proposal into practice. The matter was complicated by the fact that at least in the initial stages, in the Words of the representative of Sri Lanka, the states in the region would not be capable topolice the Indian Ocean, even though they agree on regulations for such policing. In reporting to the 30th session of the UN General Assembly On the work done in 1975, the Ad-Hoc Committee noted that there was agreement in principle between the states of the basin on convening a Conference on the Indian Ocean.
While the discussions were going on at the United Nations, the Non-aligned Countries kept on reiterating this question. Every summit and every Conference of foreign ministers of the Non-aligned Countries persistantly stressed the need for making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.

Indian OCearr & the GLIVf aSa Zor7g Of Peace 2015
IN 1965 AT THE CONFERENCE OF THE HEADS OF THE COMMON WEALTH COUNTRIES IN SINGAPORE, THE PRIME MINISTER OF SR LANKA, MRS. SIRIMAVO BANDARANAIKE, RAISED THE QUESTION OF THE INDIAN OCEAN ASA ZONE OF PEACE, LARGE NUMBER OF COUNTRIES OF THE INDIAN OCEAN ZONE WHO WERE ALSO THE MEMBERS OF THE COMMON WEALTH OF NATIONS, SUPPORTED THIS MOVE. BUT BECAUSE OF THE LACK OF CO-OPERATION FROM THE BRITISH GOVERNMENT, THE CONCEPT OF INDIAN OCEANASA ZONE OF PEACE DO NOT MOVE FORWARD AT THE COMMON WEALTH CONFERANCE. AT THE SUMMIT CONFERANCE OF THENONALIGNED COUNTRIES IN 1970 IN LUSAKA (CAPITAL OF ZAMBIA), THE PRIME MINISTER OF SRI LANKA, AGAIN INITIATED THE MOVE OF CREATING THE INDIAN OCEANASAZONE OF PEACE. THE ECHO OF THE LUSAKA DECISION WAS RAISED AT THE UNITED NATIONS IN 1971 BY MRS. BANDARANAIKE ON BEHALF OF THENON-ALIGNEDNATIONS.
Madonna This painting is from the "Hermitage" in Leningrad, U. S. S. R.
The Italian word Madonna means "My Lady" specifically reserved to denote the Wirgin Mary when represented in art, as paintings on canvas, Wood and fresco, Works in Mosaic, or sculptures in Wood, ivory, Talalandstone.
The Non-aligned Movement is the best and the most effectivo instrument that the Peoples of the Indian Ocean Region have, It is our hope that the Echo of the Non-aligned Movement will continue to ring in the United Nations, so that the U.S. and its allies would ultimately decide to abandon not only the Militarisation of the Indian Ocean but also of the rest of the world. The AAPSO has played a significant role in the task of strengthening the Non-aligned Movement and would Continue to do so in the matter of the different objectives of the movement and particularly that of making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.

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2016 Politics and Life in Our Times
The recommendation of the UN General Assembly for holding a UN Conference on the Indian Ocean, has been continuously Stalled because of the intransigence of the US, which does not want this Conference to be held. This was due to be held in Colombo in 1982, then in 1983, then in 1984, then in 1985. But it never took place. Thus the US and its allies, are successfully thwarting the wish of the people of the littoral states and preventing joint discussions on this issue.
The US and its allies, contrary to the wishes of the Non-aligned countries and the UN, are refusing to reduce their arms build up in the Indian Ocean; on the contrary they are keeping on expanding this buildup.
in the meantime on the recommendation of the UN, joint discussions were initiated between the United States and the USSR. However, the United States unilaterally walked out of these Joint Discussions.
It is necessary to note that in all these efforts for creating the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace at the UN, Soviet Union has always expressed itself in favour of negotiations for making the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace. The Soviet Union, as much as the littoral Countries, is interested in the Zone of Peace for ensuring that its trade routes are free and open to its own far eastern territory, and to the othernations of the littoral states of the Indian Ocean as well as to Countries in the Pacific Region in the near and the far East.
it would not be out of place to mention here, that of the two superpowers of the world, the Soviet Union is committed to the demand of the littoral states to make the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. It is only the United States of America and its Western allies that are persisting in keeping the Indian Ocean as a military arsenal, which can be used at any time against any country of the Indian Ocean and its hinterland. The only way that forces of freedom and liberation in the countries of the Indian Ocean have, is to organize their people in a campaign to compel the United States and its allies to leave the Indian Ocean Region, so that the destinies of the people in the region may be in their own hands.

Indian Ocean & the Gulf as a Zone of Peace 2017
The Non-aligned Movement is the best and the most effective instrument that the Peoples of the Indian Ocean Region have. It is our hope that the Echo of the Non-aligned Movement will continue to ring in the United Nations, so that the U.S. and its allies would ultimately decide to abandon not only the Militarisation of the Indian Ocean but also of the rest of the World.
The AAPSO has played a significant role in the task of strengthening the Non-aligned Movement and would continue to do so in the matter of the different objectives of the movement and particularly that of making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.
In pursuance of its campaign for making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace, AAPSO has appointed a Presidium Committee on the Indian Ocean. Due to various reasons the meeting of this Presidium Committee has yet not been held; the AAPSO secretariat is taking all steps to hold the first meeting of this Presidium Committee. However, at almost every conference that is held under the auspices of the AAPSO, the Indian Ocean and the Gulf featured prominently in the matter of making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace. The AAPSO embraces almost all the littoral Countries of the Indian Ocean, and as such it reflects the will of the peoples of the region to make the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace.
We are conscious of the fact that the task of making the Indian Ocean a Zone of Peace is by no means an easy one, on account of the intransigence of the Western Imperialist powers led by the United States. This all the more necessitates that we keep the pressure of our campaign, so that the will of the people of the littoral countries would ultimately triumph. In this direction the AAPSO pledges to continue its untiring efforts and we have to see the Indian Ocean as a Zone of Peace at not too distant a date.
Dares Salaam, July 1st, 1985.

Page 470
NGOs Support for Palestinian PeaCe Initiative Vita
by Yasser Arafat Chairman, P.L.O.
This article underscores the importance of NGOs support for the Palestinian peace initiative. The article is based on the message sent by President Yasser Arafat to the Sixth United Nations International NGO Meeting on the Ouestion of Palestine held in the Austria Centre, Vienna, from 31 August to 1 September 1989. Published here are extracts from the message.)
Our Palestinian people are continuing their hallowed uprising, despite enormous sacrifices and harsh suffering, with ever greater determination and ever firmer resolution, in order to Secure their freedom and independence.
Developments in the uprising of our people are taking place in their daily confrontation with the Israeli occupation army and the bands of Zionist settlers who, together, are implementing the policies of the "iron fist" and the breaking of bones pursued by the Government of Israel against our struggling and unarmed people which, with the naked breasts of their sons and their hallowed stones, are confronting the most up-to-date means of oppression, tyranny and systematic State terrorism. This is particularly so since the Israeli Government has decided recently, with the failure of the plan for elections under occupation, the so-called "Shamir plan", to escalate its "iron fist" policy in order to quench the spirit of resistance among our people, stifle their revolutionary uprising, consolidate the Israeli occupation of our occupied land as a fait accompli and deny our people their inalienable right to self-determination.

NGOs Support for Palestinian Peace initiative Vital 2019
U. S. SUPPORT FOR ISRAEL'S ACTS OF REPRESSION
The Israeli Government has received unlimited support from the United States Administration despite its persistent and flagrant violations of the human rights of the Palestinians and despite its violations of international instruments and international law and custom, which have been condemned by the entire international community. This indicates that the United States Administration is adopting a double standard with respect to our just Palestinian cause. While the United States pursues the defence of human rights everywhere, it is defending the violation by the occupation authorities of the national and human rights of our people.
As a result of Savage Israeli measures of oppression, hundreds have been killed and thousands Wounded, tens of thousands of civilians detained and hundreds of homes demolished. The closure of universities, schools and kindergartens has continued for two successive years, during which time the sons of our people have been deprived of their natural right to education. The expulsion of dozens of our people's freedom-fighters also continues in the framework of the policy of collective punishments pursued by the occupation authorities. This is in addition to the economic and supply blockade, the starvation of our people and its deprivation of such basics of life as water and electricity. The material losses to our people under occupation have amounted to more than $ 2 billion, and there are losses in industry, employment, tourism and agriculture.
Despite their suffering, their torment and the enormous sacrifices they have made for their freedom and independence, our people, at the nineteenth extraordinary session of the Palestine National Council, adopted a courageous peace initiative reflecting their genuine desire to achieve peace in our Palestinian land and in our region on the basis of the resolutions of international legitimacy. The Palestinian peace initiative has called for the convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East on the basis and in the framework of the relevant United Nations resolutions and to be attended by the five permanent members of the Security Council and all parties to the conflict, including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), on an equal footing with the other parties.

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2O2) POYECs and Life. In Out Tries
WHEN MINISTER OF POSTS, TELECOMMUNICATIONS AND THE MEDIA, MANGALASAMARAWEERA, OPENEDAN INTERIMJAFFNA PUBLICLIBRARY ONTHETAMILFESTWALDAYOFTHA PONGALINJANUARY 1998, HESAID "IT S A SIGNIFICANT STEP IN CORRECTING THE HISTORIC INJUSTICE PERPETRATED ON THE TAMIL COMMUNITY". ASSOCATED WITH THIS MINISTER WAS MINISTER OF EDUCATION AND HIGHER EDUCATION RICHARD PATHIRANA. FOREIGN AFFAIRS MINISTER LAKSHMAN KADIRGAMARSENTSPECIAL INVITATIONSTO THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURAISINGAM, AND TO HIS WIFE SATHIYABAMA DURASINGAMAND SEWERAL OTHER RELIGIOUS PERSONALITIES TO AT TEND THE OPENING OF THE INTERIM. JAFFNA PUBLIC LIBRARY, HON. KADIRGAMAR MADE ALL ARRANGEMENTS FORTHSAUTHORAND OTHERSTOBETAKEN FROM THER RESIDENCES TO ATTEND THIS FUNCTION AND TO BE BROUGHT BACK THE SAME DAY - THA PONGGAL DAY -- BY LIONAR,
*
Thg darraged Jaffra Fubso Library The Jaffna Public Library as it stood in 1981 after it was torched by a mob led by senior Opposition politicians including Cabinet Ministers. The nation is paying a very high price for acts like this committed by the Opposition politicians, On June 1st, 1981 the rampaging Political goon squads torched this repository of knowledge, turning lo ashes 95,000 books among which were rare ola leas manuscripts which can never be replaced, publications which filled the shelves of a building thal was a landmark of the Jaffna landscapo and lowed by the people, The burning of the Library and the 1983, ethnic riots, two years later hawe been described by DPLP Karawai A. C. Kandasarmy as the twin events that turned the ethnic conflict into a War. The Sansoni Commission that had been set up to look into the tragedy, had not been able to identify those involved in it, but it is said the people of Jaffna knew who had torched the library. When the Interim Library was opened, book donations came in from several quarters. The author of this book donated from his library over 2,000 volumes, Among other donors of books were the Royal College and Mrs. Ouida Kauneman, wife of the late Communist Party leader Pieter Keuneman, donated his private collection of books, amounting to over 4,000 volumes,
 
 

NGOs Support for Palestinian Peace. Initia five Vital 2021
Our peace initiative has been Welcomed, supported and endorsed by the international community. It was endorsed by the Extraordinary Arab Summit Conference held at Casablanca in June (1989); the Madridsummit of the countries of the European Economic Community expressed its support and endorserThent Dn 26 June, 1989; and the summit conference of the group of socialist countries has expressed its support and backing and its full recognition of the independent Palestinian State. This is in addition to the support of the countries of the Non-aligned Movement, the Organization of African Unity and the Organization of the Islamic Conference,
The United States Administration responded to the Palestinian initiative by opening a substantive dialogue with the Palestine Liberation Organization. Despite the fact that this dialogue is essential and important, the United States nevertheless continues to pursue policies that are unhelpful for the achievement of tangible progress in the peace process. It does so by its support for the Shamirplan to hold elections in the occupied Palestinian territory under the desolation of the occupation, and by hindering the international efforts made for the speedy convening of the International Peace Conference on the Middle East,
These developments confirm the need for the concerted efforts of a popular non-governmental forces, side by side with intergovernmental efforts, in order to bring pressure to bear on the United States Administration and influence its position so that it will desist from its blind partiality for hostile Israeli policies denying the national rights of our people, primarily their right to self-determination, and will utilize its strong influence with the sraeli leaders to persuade them to return to Sense, rationality and wisdom and endeavour to ach lewe a just peace that will guarantee security and stability for all peoples of the region, including our Palestinian people within secure borders in their independent Palestinian State.
should here like to stress that your (NGOs) struggles mean much for our people, Your efforts over the past Tonths have added enormous moral momentum to the uprising of our people. You demonstrate that it is impossible, in the last decade of the twentieth century, to permit anyone to commit an all-embracing Crime against an entire people in silence and without the conscience of the World taking note and acting to expose it and halt its Commission.
Courtesy: "New Parspectives", Helsinki, Finland, January 1990.

Page 472
End Economic Dependence of Developing Countries
by Julius K. Nyerere
This article calls for devising a strategy to overcome the economic dependency of the South (developing countries) on the North (industrialised countries), while promoting self-sustainable development. The article is based on the address of Mr. Julius K. Nyerere, as Chairman of the South Commission, to the Ninth Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) held in Belgrade from 4 to 7 September 1989. The South Commission was set up in 1987 in pursuance of a decision of the Eighth Summit of NAM in Harare (1986). The Commission comprises 28 persons from the South, all acting in their individual capacity.)
Almost all the countries of the South are in deep economic and social trouble, arising in large part out of the hostile international economic and political environment in which we have to live and do business.
Primary commodity prices constantly decline in real terms; many of us carry on insupportable - and indeed an unpayable-debt servicing burden; we face increasing protectionism in the North against our manufactured or processed exports; rapid developments in science and technology give a constantly increasing productive and trade advantage to the already developed and industrialised countries; economic, political, and even military action is taken by Countries of the North against individual countries of the South. These are the circumstances in which we now have to operate and take our decisions. And nothing in the Commission's analysis suggests that these circumstances will improve; on the contrary, there is much to suggest that the international economic environment will get worse for us.
Thus, the South functions, and for the foreseeable future Will Continue to function, under a state of acute Crisis. It is this economic Crisis which makes many of our countries very vulnerable to all sorts of pressures from the North. We are held to ransom by threats of withholding credit, investment, or aid, or blocking markets for our goods and Commodities. In these circumstances of virtual dependency our

End Economic Dependence of Developing Countries 2023
freedom of action - and thus the reality of our independence - is inevitably jeopardised. Our response to this danger is of paramount importance for the future.
The South Commission has therefore started from two basic premises: first, all the countries of the South recognise that dependency is incompatible with our independence and the free determination of our own policies. Second, the South must therefore devise a strategy to over-come such dependency while promoting self-sustainable development. From those two premises we have come to four basic Conclusions, and are now working out their implications.
1. The only people responsible for the development of the South and the freedom of the South are the governments and peoples of the South.
2. Sustained development in freedom has to be based on national Self-reliance.
3. The countries of the South must practice collective selfreliance if they want to maximise their capacity for development in Conditions of freedom.
4. If the countries of the South want to gain some influence over the international economic order, they must work together in solidarity in all major dealings with the North.
These conclusions sound simple and obvious. That is not strange; basic truths are rarely complicated. But these simple conclusions will not be easy to put into practice. Building self-reliant nations and a self-reliant South, and gaining some influence on the international economic environment, will be a long and difficult process. it will be one which requires firmness of purpose, deliberate planning, the full participation of our people, hardship and sacrifice. But it would be hardship and sacrifice for an honourable purpose: the freedom of our countries and our peoples. And there will be some hope of an end to that hardship and sacrifice. At present both collectively and individually our people are Constantly being called upon to tighten their belts, to "adjust" and to sacrifice. And for what purpose? So that Northern Banks can balance their books and make a profit. There will be no end to that kind of Sacrifice,
National self-reliance requires that each country uses to the maximum its own internal capacity for development. It means shaping Our domestic economic and Social structures so as to use to the full our own resources of trained and untrained people, our own material

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2024 Polics and Life in Our Trries
resources, our own financial resources, and our own traditional Cultures of Co-operation for production and mutual support. It means shaping our development plansfor the same purposes. It means looking inward economically, socially, and culturally, before we look outward.
COLLECTIVE SELF-RELIANCE
Collective self-reliance means looking to other countries of the South to find a remedy for constraints which limit our national capacity to use our own resources to their fullest extent. For example, every year we pay the North billions of dollars in the form of consultancy and managerial fees. But the South has expertise which can serve the South: it is very rarely necessary to go to the North. So why do we do it? And every year we spend billions of dollars to sendour students for training in the North. But the South has training capacity which can serve the South much better because it is relevant to the needs of the South; why should we go to the North for less appropriate training?
Collective Self-Reliance, however, requires deliberate decision and deliberate action to give it priority in our foreign relations. And it also requires giving a higher priority and more support to the organizations for Co-operation which we hawe already established at different levels, lt means looking to the South before we look to the North,
But We cannot pretend that the North does not exist. It does, It is powerful and it makes decisions which affect the South. The market economy countries of the North increase their already great strength by meeting on a regular basis and before all major international conferences; they co-ordinate their activities and plan their cooperation; they organize themselves in the OECD and in other ways. In their dealings with the South they accept the disciplines of solidarity, and use a "divide and rule" strategy to get their way. They therefore dominate the world economy, and use its institutions to promote their OWr interests.
The world is one, technologically, economically, and environmentally. We in the South need to work with the North - both the North-West, and the North-East. But in order to do so, We Thust recognise that both parts of the North, and all their constituent Countries, will pursue their own interests; neither part will address our concerns if these are in any way inimical to its own. They have organised themselves in solidarity for this purpose,

Erd Ecorarfric Deporldsrics of Developing Countriss 2O25
ALMOST ALL THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTHARE INDEEPECONOMIC AND SOCIAL TROUBLE, ARISING INLARGE PART OUT OF THE HOSTLE INTERNATIONAL ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ENVIRONMENT IN WHICH WE HAVE TO LIVE ANDDO BUSINESS. THE SOUTH FUNCTIONS, AND FORTHE FORESEEABLE FUTURE WILLCONTINUEToFUNCTION, UNDER A STATE OF ACUTE CRISIS. ITS THISECONOMIC CRISIS WHICH MAKES MANY OF OUR COUNTRIES WERY WULNERABLE TO ALL SORTS OF PRESSURES FROM THE NORTH THE ONLY PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SOUTHAND THE FREEDOM OF THE SOUTH ARE THE GOVERNMENTS AND PEOPLES OF THE SOUTH, SUSTAINED DEVELOPMENT IN FREEDOM HAS TO BE BASED ON NATIONAL SELFRELIANCE. THE COUNTRIES OF THE SOUTH MUST PRACTICE COLLECTIVE SELF-RELIANCE IF THEY WANT TO MAXIMISE THEIR CAPACITY FOR DEVELOPMENT IN CONDITIONS OF FREEDOM,
LLLLLLLLGLL LL LLL LLLLLL LTeHMLLO OTOLLL0LLLLLLL LL LLLLLL
Fperials - Imperialism is the rule, direct and indirect, of a dominant nation Over Subject Communities. Empires e.g., Assyria and Egypt existed in very early times, when dortination of the powerful Ower the weak was taken as a flatter of Course and culminated in the long-maintained RorTan Empire, Imperialism as a conscious political concept emerged only in recent times. The younger Pitt's vision of empire gave an impetus to the administration and development of Colonial possessions, which became a feature of the latter half of the 19th century, when virtually every part of the globe hitherto independent was brought under the aegis of European Colonial powers, At the same time began the growth of anti-imperialist sentirTent amongst the liberal thinkers of the Colonial powers and an urge to independence amongst the subject peoples. The First World War, and the doctrine of Self-determination sponsored by President Wilson, brought a loosening of imperial bonds, Marxists especially Lenin, attacked Imperialist as the Tainstay of capitalism and the root cause of war. In Britain in the 20th century the concept of empire Was transfor Ted into that of a British Commonwealth of Nations, in which the Tembers are fully independent, a process which by 1964 was virtually COTiplete. The extensive French colonies have evolved on sirtilar lings.

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2026 Politics and Life in Our Times
We must do likewise. Looking at our own experience over the past thirty years, we can see that governments of the North respond to the use of Organised and carefully directed counter-power, not to appeals. Appeals will result at best in some humanitarian aid or promises of temporary alleviation for a current problem. Appeals do not, and will not, lead to any fundamental change in those structures of international economy and finance which give rise to our basic problems.
SOUTH MUST ADOPT A STRATEGY OF SOLIDARITY AND COUNTER-POWER
We in the South must adopt a strategy of solidarity in order to deal with the problems of our hungry people. The practice of the North teaches us every day; strength lies in unity. And counter-power from the South can only be collective power; we have no other. Individually even the strongest country of the South is powerless before the combined might of the Economic North.
The potential strengthening of the South will come only from deliberate and organised solidarity, co-ordination, co-operation, and unity in action in all multilateral or bilateral dealings with the North. To achieve this the countries of the South would have to accept the disciplines of solidarity and unity and organisation.
The South Commission has a profound belief that the basic strategy for Securing development and safeguarding our independence is the pursuit of self-reliance in the South. In support of the dual purpose - development and independence - we must also work out united stands on all major international questions. And we must take our own initiatives on all major international questions, not simply react to initiatives taken by the North.
Thus, for example, the international debt problem is like a coin-two-sided. The problem of the North concerns the creditor Banks and the so-called international financial system. It is in the interests of the North to devise a debt strategy which addresses that problem. In doing so the North has been highly successful, there has been no bank failure - nor will there be.
But the South's problem is the debt itself and net transfer of resources from the poor South to the rich North. Why should we expect the North to devise a strategy to deal with that problem? It is not their problem. It is our problem. I repeat, the only people responsible for the development of the South are the governments

End Economic Dependence of Developing Countries 2027
of the South and the peoples of the South. The South itself must collectively work out a debt strategy which will stop this massive and immoral transfer of resources from the poor South to the rich North, and then put it to the North.
DSUNTY OF SOUTH PERPETUATES ITS EXPLOITATION
And the Uruguay Round is a classic example of the North standing together in pursuit of purposes highly detrimental to the development prospects of the South. Non-traditional issues have been successfully forced on to the Agenda. An unsuspecting and disunited South is now finding that the North is using them to put in place a New international Economic Order which serves its Own interests even more effectively than the present one. And as the detailed and highly complex negotiations go on, the Countries of the North meet from day to day to agree on their stand. No such co-ordination takes place among the countries of the South; when our negotiators do try to co-ordinate their positions they get incompatible instructions from their national capitals. This disunity among the South is a gift to those Countries of the North which desire to dominate and exploit the South in pursuit of their OWn economic interests.
Again, OPEC represents the only serious attempt made by primary commodity producers of the South to influence prices through supply-management. Cocoa and coffee producers have failed to sink their differences at brief meetings before negotiations with the consumers; the result can be seen in the current prices - from which all producers suffer. And for most other commodities even less effort is made jointly to influence Supply or price; instead, We all try to produce more and more in the face of depressed demand! To get a fair return for our primary exports we need to Work together - despite all the difficulties inherent in doing so.
And the Group of 77 made considerable progress towards devising a common stand of the South in relation to the Transnational Corporations. But there we have stopped. Yet if we do think it is important to have an international Code of Conduct governing the activities of these Corporations in our countries, then we of the South should agree on Such a Code and apply it. We do not have to wait for the developed Countries to approve a decision We make jointly; the present Law of the Jungle on this matter suits the North quite well, so they are naturally resistant to the call for a "Code".

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And finally, the North is responding to the urgency of Environmental Protection by drawing up their proposals; these are naturally centred on their own priorities. They call meetings, we attend and discuss the Agenda the North has set - which does not include development. Why do we not work out a South Agenda for international environment discussions, which does integrate into it the necessary War against poverty and underdevelopment? Working together as the South, We can play a full part in protecting the future of the globe while still refusing to pay for the environmental damage which the North has already done to itself and to us, or to sacrifice our people's development in the interests of the North,
IMPERIALISM EXISTS AND DOMINATES
Only the countries of the South carry the responsibility of development in the South. We Thust seize control of our own future, despite the difficulties of doing so, and despite inevitable differences and disputes among ourselves. And we can determine our own future - Working together. Together We can achieve the power to determine our own policies; together we can take our own initiatives on these and other issues. We do not seek unity as an instrument of domination over others. We seek unity as an instrument of liberating ourselves, and resisting those who dominate us. The Non-aligned Movement cannot afford to forget that Imperialism is not dead.
The desire to work together has always existed in the South; the existence of the Non-aligned Movement, of the Group of 77, and the numerous Regional and Sub-regional organisations for cooperation is evidence of that. But we have not done enough; to Wage any struggle, the organisation for that struggle, must be effective, There must be effective organisation to maximise the strength of each part, and effective organisation of co-operation to maximise united strength. And in practice we are reluctant to accept the disciplines of organisation and of working together. We do not follow the logic of working together,
Thus, we usually have no national mechanism for integrating a Collective agreement into a national plan of action; Collective decisions, arrived at after hard negotiation, are therefore often not implemented. The Collective Self-reliance and the Solidarity of the South which we espouse politically, lack the support of the national organisation for SouthSouth co-operation. The nature of the national organisation required will

End Economic Dependence of Developing Countries 2029
THE WORLD IS ONE, TECHNOLOGICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, AND ENVIRONMENTALLY. WE IN THE SOUTH NEED TO WORK WITH THE NORTH - BOTH THE NORTH-WEST, AND THE NORTH-EAST BUT IN ORDER TODO SO, WE MUST RECOGNISE THAT BOTH PARTS OF THE NORTH, AND ALL THEIR CONSTITUENT COUNTRIES, WILL PURSUE THEIR OWN INTERESTS; NEITHER PART WILL ADDRESS OUR CONCERNSF THESE ARE IN ANY WAY INIMICAL TOITS OWN. THEY HAWE ORGANISED THEMSELWES IN SOLIDARITY FOR THIS PURPOSE. WE IN THE SOUTH MUST ADOPT ASTRATEGY OF SOLIDARITY IN ORDER TO DEAL WITH THE PROBLEMS OF OUR HUNGRY PEOPLE, THE PRACTICE OF THE NORTH TEACHES US EVERY DAY: STRENGTH LES IN UNITY. AND COUNTER-POWER FROM THE SOUTH CAN ONLY BE COLLECTIVE POWER; WE HAWE NO OTHER.
World Peace Council (WPC) delegation, with several delegates attending the Seminar on Science and Technology for Development, held at the Sri Lanka Foundation Institute, Colombo, on July 6-8, 1979. L-R: Hector Abhaya Wardiana, Mrs. S. Durisingan, T. Durisingami, Ray Steverson (WPC), PP Manikam, Bruno Bars (WPC) and S.P. Nadarajah.
PARISCOMMUNE, 1871– At the close of the Franco-Prussian Warthe Parisians, led by the National Guard and the officials of a suburban commune, in protest against the humiliating peace terms, refused to dismantle their artillery and formed a provisional revolutionary government including many shades of political opinion. The Thiers government co-operated with the Prussian forces in a siege of the city which lasted three months. Finally the extremists gained control in Paris; the execution of hostages lowered the commune's prestige and the people capitulated. The Wersailles and Prussian troops entered Paris and savage reprisals followed, 17,000 persons were shot in the streets during the "Week of Blood'. The events inspired Marx's most vehement polemic, The Civil War in France, the only work which he wrote in English.

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vary, depending upon the nature of our respective government structures. But in all cases there is need for structures and arrangements which involve the people generally, the bureaucracy, and the whole political system in the total struggle of the South.
Further, while the Group of 77 and the Non-aligned Movement try very hard to represent our collective interests, they remain essentially ad hoc. Effectively this Movement hardly exists between Summits. For although its Chairmen try bravely to keep them alive, they have no mechanism to make their efforts effective or to help them in securing the implementation of Summit decisions.
SOUTH MUST ORGANISE ITSELF IN DISCIPLINED WAY
These ad hoc arrangements may have been adequate in the past-i am not sure. But they will not be adequate for the tasks which will face us during the last decade of this century. Our organisations need to be strengthened if you want them to play an effective role in the current international economic and political negotiations. For the politics of the world is now the politics of economics. Only if we organise Ourselves to make the maximum use of Our joint resources and joint power can we be effective in the complex and detailed economic negotiations which are taking place all the time and which are of vital importance to our future development prospects.
SOUTHCOMMISSION'S REPORT
The Report of the South Commission will be published next year (1990). The analysis will be there. The strategy of self-reliance will be argued and proposed. We hope that practical suggestions for the implementation of the strategy and the development of our peoples and nations will also be found in it. But although, inevitably, our Report will take many pages, and go into some specific questions, the basic message will be very simple. Work together. Build Self-reliance - National Self-reliance and Collective Self-reliance.
However, the Commission has no executive power. Whether action is taken on the Report will depend upon the decisions of the governments and peoples of the South. It will depend upon whether they decide to organise themselves for self-reliant development - nationally, collectively, and for dealing with the North.
For the sake of the independence of our countries and the development of our peoples, please Work Together.
Courtesy: "New Perspectives", Helsinki, Finland, January 1990.

2O31
Cambodia: The Exquisite Irony of a Secret U.S.War
by Jeremy J. Stone President of the Federation of American Scientists (U. S. A.)
The United States is waging a secret war in Cambodia against the Hun Sen government - knowing full well that the genocidal Khmer Rouge are likely to be the ultimate beneficiaries.
Even as White House officials shed crocodile tears over signs of the growing military strength of the Khmer Rouge, they are continuing to use U.S. financial and intelligence resources to weaken the Vietnameseinstalled Hun Sen government, the only faction capable of preventing a Khmer Rouge takeover.
The administration is pressuring Thailand to refrain from pulling the rug out from under the war itself, something that Thailand - as the main conduit of arms to all the resistance forces - is uniquely able to do.
According towell-informed sources, the non-Communistresistance - composed of forces loyal to Prince Norodum Sihanouk and to a former prime minister, Son Sann - has a joint military command that makes requests for weapons, materieland aid through Thai operatives and agents of the Central intelligence Agency on the Thai border.
These requests are taken to the Cambodian Working Group - a highly secret unit in Bangkok that co-ordinates every move of the nonCommunist resistance. Working with the group are CIA operatives from the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok and officials from the highest levels of the Thai, Malaysian and Singaporean governments.
The working group is the conduit for alarms, materieland financial aid to the non-Communist resistance, except for that coming from China. It reviews battle plans, approves Specific Weapons, disburses cash payments and reimburses resistance leaders. While Thailand and Malaysian train the resistance and Thailand provides logistical support, Singapore provides the weapons through a quasi-private weapons company in Singapore. The United States pays for virtually everything.
For example, a "general offensive" launched last month (October 1989) by the non-Communist resistance was planned and organized by the working group with highly secret "need to know" rules. The United States pays $24 million a year to support the resistance, and the Son Sann group is getting $150,000 a month for operating expenses alone.
Newspaper reports even Suggest that CIA operatives are providing intelligence information from U. S. reconnaissance satellites to the non-Communist resistance.

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U. S. HELP TO KHMERROUGE
Now that these non-Communist resistance forces are beginning to fight, there can be no denying that U.S. support for them is helping the Khmer Rouge, albeit indirectly, by forcing the Hun Sen government to cope with three battlefronts rather than one.
Meanwhile, the U.S. government is intervening in Thailand's politics by backing its hard-line foreign minister, Siddhi Savetsila, against Prime Minister Chatichai Choonhavan, to keep the war going. Secret details on Thai involvement in the warshed new lighton the importance of supporting the peaceful initiatives of the Thai prime minister.Through a large Thai intelligence entity called 838, the Cambodian guerrillas receive weapons, food and other support. These officers are integrated into the daily life of the resistance bases. They provide weapons and materiel that are stored in secret warehouses well inside Thailand, and monitor everything.
Weapons for the Khmer Rouge are sent to Thailand by China, and Khmer Rouge leaders are given full freedom to travel from their jungle bases in Thailand to offices in Bangkok to deal with securing them.
Thus, Thailand has the ability to stop the war and, indeed, to determine the winner. Thailand could, by gradually reducing support, weaken the Khmer Rouge enough to prevent them from taking over Cambodia Once again. And this is exactly what Prime Minister Choonhavan woul like to do.
And why doesn't he? One major reason is that Washington currently finds his initiatives unacceptable. He is, after all, arguing for a step-by-step settlement that would relieve pressure on the Hun Sen government.
U. S. FOLLOWING THE CHINESE LINE
The administration, which says it opposes Khmer Rouge involvement in a future Cambodian government, also says - startlinglythat it will insist on such involvement so long as Prince Sihanouk insists on it. The prince, in turn, had already said he would insist on including the Khmer Rouge as long as the Chinese insist on it - leaving the United States - in effect, following the Chinese line.
In accordance with this convoluted policy, the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok is happy about the recent success of the non-Communist resistance, which adds pressure on Hun Sento accept the unacceptablea coalition with the Khmer Rouge. It regularly protests any peace initiatives by the Thai prime minister.
So the irony is exquisite. America redoubles its efforts to overthrow Hun Seneven while announcing that such a result would produce atakeover by the genocidal Khmer Rouge.
Courtesy: "New Perspectives", Helsinki, Finland, February 1990.

2033
Afghanistan in The Days Before
Leonid Mironov, Soviet Union of Journalists' Prize Winner Vladimir Spolnikov, Cand. Sc. (Hist)
Up to 1985 information about the Afghan war appeared in the Soviet press in strictly sifted doses. The advent of glasnost has altered the situation. Today, Soviet public raises the most painful questions pertaining to the Afghan events that will sooner or later have to be answered fully.
It goes without saying that documents and eyewitness accounts are necessary to get a Comprehensive picture of all the stages of the war in Afghanistan and of the decision taken ten years ago, in December 1979, to send Soviet troops into that country. Soviet documents will hardly be available to historians soon enough, because they may still affect many official establishments and active StateSnen,
However, there are also foreign sources that could shed light on the ten-year old events. It so happened that some U.S. documents have been published, covering a period from April 1978 to October 1979, i.e.from the April revolution in Afghanistan to the eve of Soviet military involvement. They include classified correspondence between the U.S. Embassy in Kabul and the State Department.
How could it happen that secret documents of the U. S. diplomatic service, the CIA and Military Intelligence have leaked out of the safes where they should have been hidden?
It happened during the anti-Shah revolution in Iran. AntiAmerican demonstrators seized the U. S. Embassy in Teheran on November 4, 1979. Anticipating the assault, embassy officials worked hard for two and a half hours destroying secret documents in special furnaces and paper-cutting machines. But they were racing against time. Many of the papers were seized by the group "Muslim Students - Adherents of Imam Khomeini's Course" which took part in the assault. They carefully sorted out, classified and restored the captured documents. As a result, 54 volumes of authentic U.S. State

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THE BRITISH NATIONSALUTED "A LONG LIFE, STILL LIVED TO THE FULL AND STILL SHARED WITHSO MANY" AT ST. PAULS CATHEDRAL ON TUESDAY, 11TH JULY, 2000, THE FIRST OF THREE PRINCIPAL OCCASIONS TO CELEBRATE THE CENTENARY OF QUEEN ELIZABETH, THE QUEEN MOTHER THE WORLD'S MOST ENDURING FIGUREHEAD. SHE WAS FLANKED BY THE QUEEN AND PRINCE PHILIP, ACCOMPANIED BY ALLHER GRANDCHILDREN AND WATCHED BY EVERY ONE FROMPRIME MINISTER TONY BLAR TO 15 FELLOW CENTENARIANSINACONGREGATION OF2,400.
--
Queen Eiabgf, the Queen Moffar The Queen Mother waves from the steps of St. Paul's Cathedral after the service of thanksgiving in honour of her footh birthday on July 11, 2000. Tho CCC CCmCT LCCC LCCCL LC GGGGCCLLLL LLLLLGH CCCCCMk LCCCCC CCCM LLLLLLL centenarians to start a north of celebrations to mark the 100th birthday of the ČLIggrl Moffer.
Partition of Africa - By 1900, in half a century, all Africa was mapped, explored, estimated, and divided between the European powers, Little head was given to the welfare of the natives in this scramble. The Arab slaver was indeed Curtood rather than expelled, but the greed for rubber, which was a wild product collected under compulsion by the natives in the Belgian Congo, agreed exacerbated by the clash of inexperienced European administrators with the native population, led to horrible atrocities. No European power has perfectly clean hands in this mattor. In a quarter of a century the partition of Africa was completed. There remained unannexed three comparatively small countries: Liberia, a settlement of liberated Negroslaves on the west coast; Morocco, under a Moslem Sultan, and Abyssinia, a barbaric country, with an ancient and peculiar form of Christianity, which had successfully maintained its independence against Italy at the Battle of Adowa in 1896.
- H. G. Wels,
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Afghanistan in The Days Before 235
Department, CIA and Military Intelligence papers were published in Teheran in 1980-1983 under the title "Documents of the Spy Lair". They include photo copies of the originals complete with translations into Persian. Two volumes are made up of documents related to Afghanistan.
DYLLCPICTURE
It is U. S. diplomatic practice to transmit copies of cables and postal Tessages, sent by each U.S. embassy to Washington, to American missions in adjoining countries of a given region, That is why documents on Afghanistan were found in the U.S. Embassy in Teheran: every coded message from the U. S. Embassy in Kabul Was automatically received by American embassies in Teheran, Islamabad, Damascus, Cairo and also Moscow.
The published cipher Thessages, reports and other documents reflect Afghan developments as they were seen by U.S. Embassy officials in Kab Lu|.
Most interesting among the 129 copies, contained in the two volumes, are documents assessing Soviet policy wis-a-vis Afghanistan, and particularly forecasts of Soviet actions in that country depending on changes in its internal political situation. Their publication allowed us to see the views of U.S. diplomatic services On the reasons and circumstances behind the dispatch of Soviet troops to Afghanistan,
The U. S. diplomatic services were hostile from the very Outset to the Afghan revolution and to the reforms carried out in the Country. They overtly gloated over the setbacks and blunders of the new Afghan leadership. That is why our analysis of these documents should be critical enough. We will deal with them in chronological order So as to get an integral and consistent picture of events.
It is pertinent to begin with the annual report of the U. S. Embassy in Kabul for 1977, sent to Washington shortly before the April revolution. It is rather lengthy, but we shall only refer to the parts dealing with Afghan events.
The Section "Afghanistan in 1977: An External Assessment", contained in the preamble of coded message No. 0820, January 30, 1978, which Ambassador Theodore L. Eliot addressed to Secretary of State Cyrus Vance, says: "During 1977, Afghanistan's

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security and independence remained undiminished, thus satisfying our foremost policy goal here. President Daoud also made significant contributions to the improvement of regional stability - thereby helping to fulfil another principal U. S. objective".
Paragraph 8 of the message contains the following assessment of Afghan-Soviet relations: "Afghanistan's most important bilateral relationship continued to be sensitive, but lucrative link with its huge northern neighbour. The Soviets avoided any appearance of meddling in Afghan internal affairs - and maintained their position as the major aid donor to Afghanistan (more than one billion dollars over the past quarter century, compared to less than one-half billion from the U.S.). Although no significant additional aid was committed by the Soviets in 1977, the two sides did hold discussions in April about uses for the outstanding $700 million of Soviet credits already committed to Afghanistan. Soviet military deliveries to Afghanistan in 1977 included a few significant new weapons, such as SA-3 and SA-7 surface-to-air missiles".
Paragraph 19 of the annual report formulates Washington's policy vis-a-vis Afghanistan in the following way: "In order to support Afghanistan's efforts to preserve the largest possible degree of independence from Soviet pressures - which is the principal U. S. policy goal here, we continue to demonstrate our friendly and tangible interest through a visible American presence in this country. The state visit we have already promised Daoud is the key item on the 1978 U. S.-Afghan agenda".
The picture was tranquil and idyllic. The U. S. ambassador was pleased with excellent U.S.-Afghan relations and the Soviet Union did not interfere at all in Afghanistan's domestic affairs. Daoud was to visit the United States. V
A TALK WITH TARAK
Unexpectedly for the United States (and for us also, to be frank) a revolution broke out in Afghanistan in April 1978. Ambassador Eliot had a meeting with the new Afghan leader Noor Muhammad Tarakion May 6, 1978. Later in the day he reported on it in a message to Vance (coded message No.3805). it revealed no trace of the American diplomat's erstwhile even temper. He behaved rather high-handedly. The King and Daoud were never addressed in such a way.

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2037
"I said", Eliot reported, "that since the British left India, it was our view that the only country that could possibly threaten Afghanistan's independence is the Soviet Union. In past times, noted, our policy had been to try to Construct blocs against Soviet expansionism, but that our approach to this problem had, in the course of time become more sophisticated. I stated we could readily understand-given Afghanistan's geographic position and economic needs - why it would want a close relationship with the Soviet Union. But, I said, we would be disturbed if Afghanistan's foreign and domestic policies were to become indistinguishable from those of the Soviet Union, because that would obliterate Afghanistan's national identity and would give rise to tensions in this part of the world which would threaten peace. I said that it is in this context that we appreciate Afghanistan's non-aligned policy. In response Taraki affirmed that Afghanistan is and desires to remain an independent country and master of its own destiny. He said he was pleased that the United States takes a more flexible view of the world and admits, for example, that it made a mistake in Vietnam. He referred to his being in Washington during the days of Senator McCarthy, and noted that the then Vice President Nixon had refused Once to Come to an Afghan Embassy reception because Afghanistan was too close to the Soviet Union. He was pleased that that is no longer the approach the United States takes towards his country".
Eliot rounded off his message by saying: "Taraki is a slim, whitehaired, professional man who looks somewhat older than 61. He has the charm and empathy that one learns to associate with Afghans. He is also clearly hard headed and exhilarated by his success. When he is particularly enthusiastic about a point he is making, his eyes assume a fierce fanatic intensity. Our Conversation was extremely COrdial and was also, think, a real dialogue".
It ought to be noted that Taraki conducted his first talk with the U. S. ambassador in a dignified manner. He made it clear that Afghanistan was an independent nation and expressed the hope that the United States would not repeat its Vietnam policy vis-a-vis his country.
The Americans were faced with the dilemma: should they regard the new Afghan administration pro-communist, which would inevitably lead to a suspension of all aid programmes, or strike a temporizing stance and continue their few aid programmes.

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In its coded massage No. 116319, the State Department inquires about the Embassy's view on this score. The reply (coded cable No. 3805 from Kabul), dated May 11, 1978, says: "We have not yet been able to determine whether or not the new Afghan government indeed qualifies as a 'communist' regime in the context of section 620 (F) of the "Foreign Assistance Act'. The Taraki government has repeatedly rejected that label- and, for that matter, has not yet even used the word 'socialist' in any of its public announcements or conversations with us. The majority of the new regime's leadership indeed possess what Could be described as a 'communist' party background (although the name 'communist' has never been used by any of the Afghan leftist parties). The new leadership undeniably came to power through violence and bloodshed, but they would claim that that was necessary in order to overthrow the 'tyrannical dictatorship' of Daoud. We believe the true intensions and policies of the new government may not be discernible for some time".
At the same time, the U. S. Embassy in Kabulwarned against an immediate discontinuation of all aid programmes, since "such a stance could impel the new Afghan regime to become totally dependent on - and aligned with the USSR, a la Cuba. By waiting too long, we risk causing the Tarakigovernment to conclude it is devoid of economic options, other than full reliance on Moscow and its satellites". And the ambassador asked for prompt instructions on this score.
In a coded cable (No. 240411), the U. S. State Department instructed Ambassador Sullivan to meet the Shah of Iran and Sound his views about the new Afghan leadership. In his reply of September 26, 1978 (a copy of it was transmitted to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul) Sullivan said: "Addressees aware that Shah has virtually from the first held private view of new Afghan government as for all intents and purposes a servant of the Soviets. He has disguised this view behind an official policy of "Wait-and-see.....". Shah made it clear to the ambassador, at the time, that he saw little to gain from "coddling' new Afghan regime, but he would go along with USA desires in the matter".
After thoroughly studying the situation in Afghanistan and analyzing the information received from Kabul and from other U. S. embassies, the State Department sent the following coded message to the embassy in Kabul on December 1, 1978 (No. 4356) : "We agree with the broad outlines of your assessment of the general

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2039
directions of developments in Afghanistan and the uncertain prospects for a return to close U.S.-Afghan relations. Nevertheless, we still find ourselves unsure about the shape of things to Come, even assuming that the present regime maintains its hold on power, and we believe we should work from the premise that a constructive U.S.-Afghan working relationship could still emerge. We wonder, if and when the situation gets a bit more, whether the DRA will become a docile camp-follower dominated by the USSR, or a radical-leftist regime on the fringe of the non-aligned movement but with peculiar Afghan characteristics and a degree of independence. The most adverse development in terms of our interests would be the introduction of Soviet combat troops in Afghanistan, which would seriously disturb the entire region. We See, as you do our regional interests as paramount in Our consideration of a proper approach to the DRA and would view an irredentist Afghanistan, especially one backed by the Soviets, as a serious threat to peace and stability in the area. We believe this is a real fear especially in Pakistan and also in Iran... One option would be for us to phase out our activities in Afghanistan, but we believe this would be very unsettling to Afghanistan's neighbours and incompatible with their policies. The DRA has not asked us to pack our bags and leave but on the Contrary has accepted our policy of maintaining our interest and presence. Closing out our efforts in Afghanistan would likely be seen as an abdication of our responsibility and would accomplish for the Soviets one of their primary objectives, namely to reduce further U.S. and Western influence in Afghanistan and the region. It would not be in our interest to give such a blank check signal to Moscow".
ASSASSINATION OF U. S. AMBASSADOR
On February 14, 1979, U.S.Ambassador Adolph Dubs, who replaced Eliot, was kidnapped by unidentified persons while driving through the streets of Kabul. They placed him in a room of Hotel Kabul and demanded ransom. He was killed by his kidnappers when the Afghan police tried to rescue him. The United States used this incident as a pretext to "reduce" (actually to discontinue) its aid programmes and to justify its hostile policy toward Afghanistan. The Director of the U. S. International Development Agency arrived in Kabul shortly afterwards. He had a series of meetings with

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2040 Polisics ard Life ir ČOLYr Tïres
RAJACOLLURE, GENERAL SECRETARY OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF SRI LANKAATTENDED AS THESRI LANKANPARTY DELEGATE, THE 4TH CONGRESS OF THE COMMUNIST PARTY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION (CPRF) HELD INMOSCOW ON 19TH AND2OTH APRIL 1997, ASITS GUEST. HERE HE ISSEEN GREETING MR. GENADYZHUGANOW, THE LEADER OF THE CPRF. M.R. ZHUGANOW WAS THE MAIN CANDIDATE AGAINST PRESIDENTYELTSN AT THE LAST PRESIDENTIAL ELECTIONS INRUSSIA AND LEADS THE COMMUNISTS IN THE RUSSIAN DUMA (PARLIAMENT). CPRFIS THE LARGEST PARTY REPRESENTED IN THE DUMA OVER ONE HUNDRED FOREIGN DELEGATES FROM OWER SEVENTY COUNTRIES REPRESENTING COMMUNIST, SOCIALIST AND OTHER DEMOCRATIC PARTIES FROMALL THE CONTINENTSATTENDED THE CPRFCONGRESS.
Gerlady Zhuganov and Raja Colure
Lenin - There is not a field of knowledge and practical effort connected with the struggle of the Working class for its emancipation that Lenin did not enrich with his great ideas. There is not a single event of any importance in the life of the nations at the close of the nineteenth and in the first quarter of the twentieth century, not a single event of any importance in the field of science and in the revolutionary struggle of the masses of the working people that Lenin did not throw a brilliant light on in his works,
 

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2041
representatives of Western states and India to explain the American decision. He also studied the reaction to U.S. steps. Counsellor of the FRGEmbassy in Kabul Hans Peter Disdorn, British Ambassador Kenneth Crook, First Secretary for development affairs at the Canadian Embassy in Islamabad. E. Yendall, who came to Kabul from Pakistan, and Indian Ambassador S. K. Singh backed the U.S. decision in principle, but called for the Agency's at least minimum co-operation with Afghanistan in order to retain U.S. presence there. The results of the meeting were reported to Washington by coded massage No. 2052 on March 19, 1979. It was signed by Bruce Amstutz, U. S. charge d'affairs in Afghanistan.
In reply to a regular request of the State Department to report on the state of Afghan-Soviet relations, the U. S. Embassy in Kabul addressed a message ( No.3626) to Washington on May 9, 1979, entitled "The Current Soviet Role in Afghanistan". Follow several most interesting excerpts from that lengthy document:
"Quantitatively, the Soviet presence in Afghanistan has not increased significantly during recent months, in spite of the deteriorating security situation throughout the country. The number of Soviet military advisors remains slightly over 1,000 - and there are probably still about 2,500 civilian advisors from the USSR in the Country.
"Some argue that the USSR would want to avoid becoming bogged down in the Vietnam-type quagmire of an Afghan civil War, While others believe that we might be at the threshold of a 1968 Czechoslovakia-type situation. The USSR might decide that it has to move because "the Afghan revolution is endangered'. In this connection, repeated Soviet charges of interference by the U. S., China, Pakistan, and other states could be intended to lay the propaganda and "legal" groundwork for such a move.
"Why would the Soviet Union decide to intervene? Afghanistan, unlike Angola, Ethiopia, or Yemen, borders on the Soviet Union itself. Indeed, this turbulent country abuts several sensitive, Muslim, Central Asian Republics of the USSR. Moscow is understandably concerned about the possibility of an unbroken band of conservative Islamic states stretching along or near its southern frontier, from Iran to Pakistan - and this could topple the Khalqi regime.

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"The Soviet Union also has enormous political prestige, economic, strategic, and military investments in Khalqi Afghanistan. Moscow would be unlikely to let these become lost without some effort to save them. On the other hand, almost any Afghan regime which might succeed the Khalqi regime would probably feel, it would have to come to terms with the geopolitical fact of the country's great northern neighbour - as have varied Afghan governments in the past sixty years".
Having received a copy of the foregoing message, the U. S. Embassy in Moscow addressed to Washington its own assessment of the Soviet Union's possible intentions vis-a-vis Afghanistan. It was expounded in a coded message (No.3083, May 24, 1979) signed by Ambassador Toon and entitled "Afghanistan: Prospects for Soviet intervention".
This document is of particular interest and this is why we are quoting it below in full:
"I. (C) Summary: We do not think that the Soviet Union under present circumstances views its options in Afghanistan as openended. In our opinion, analogies with the 1968 invasion of Czechoslovakia are faulty. We think the Soviets will continue to increase their advisory and logistical military support for the proSoviet Kabul regime. Some Soviet personnel may become involved in DRA military operations. Under foreseeable circumstances, however, Moscow will probably avoid shouldering a substantial part of the anti-insurgency combat burden in Afghanistan.
"2. (C) We agree with the main tenets of Kabul's analysis (Ref A), in particular with the conclusion that the Soviets will probably attempt to avoid plunging into what well could become a Vietnam-type trap. In fact, we would go even further in downplaying the validity of the Czech analogy.
"3. (S). Our conclusion is based on several premises: (A) Strategically, Afghanistan is in an entirely different Category from Czechoslovakia. Czechoslovakia sits astride or is near the historic invasion Corridor into Russia/the Soviet Union. It is a member of the EE "Socialist Commonwealth", the "world socialist system", as well as the Warsaw Pact. And changes in its internal system can impact relatively directly upon the USSR's internal system. (B) From the Moscow perspective, and especially in the upcoming months,

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2043
a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan would probably redound to the disadvantage of global strategic interests. It would deal a severe blow to detente with the West at a time when Moscow is increasingly pre-occupied with the growing Chinese threat in the East. Such a move would almost certainly doom SALT. It would provide excellent (and, as in the case of Czechoslovakia, longterm) grist for charges by the Chinese and others of Soviet expansionist, hegemonist objectives in the world. It would sour relation with the important Muslim World.
(C) in 1968 the Soviets calculated correctly that the Czechs would not fight. This would not happen in the case of Afghanistan. Further, the Soviet objective in Czechoslovakia was easily accomplished by occupying and pacifying urban centres. Moscow's task would be more difficult in Afghanistan where the great bulk of the population - and the resistance - are located in rural areas. It is even possible that the insurgency in Afghanistan would receive added impetus by the direct commitment of Soviet troops. (D)Just in terms of preparing militarily for such action, the Soviets would find the Afghanistan situation in some ways more complicated than that they confronted in July and August 1968. The concentration of forces necessary for a Czechoslovak-type operation in Afghanistan would probably require largescale mobilisation and redeployment of troops in the Contiguous areas, although to Some extent these problems would be obviated by also deploying airborne divisions. Stretching the point to include all of the two military districts having some common border with Afghanistan, the Soviets have eleven divisions, only three of which can be considered ready for combat without mobilization. None of the three is ideally positioned for an Afghanistan mission, and they still have to consider the Chinese border which is the major consideration of at least one of the military districts.
4. (C) it is of course not possible and would be foolish for U. S. to rule out completely the possibility of a Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in response to an appeal from beleaguered Khalqi regime. While we believe that the disincentives in terms of Moscow's calculation or its best interests at this time appear heavily to outweigh the incentives, the factors advanced by Kabul in parall Ref A are still cogent. If the political-military situation in Afghanistan continues to deteriorate, the Soviet leadership may very well be tempted to

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consider the possibility of some lesser form of direct intervention to protect its overall investment in Afghanistan. For this reason it is in our interest to continue to give occasional reminders to the Soviets of the serious view we would take of any such actions. Reminders from Western and third-world governments constitute in themselves disincentives to direct intervention.
5. (C) Short of direct, large-scale Soviet military intervention, what is the likely nature and scope of Soviet military assistance to Afghanistan? The Afghan military's absorptive capacity may well be the only limitation at this time on how far the Soviets are willing to go. We believe the number of Soviet advisers could progressively increase, and some could become involved in military operations. Some Soviet fire support could be provided, for example, in the form of helicopter gunship or tactical air support for ground operations, or the employment of Soviet personnel to operate sohpisticated military equipment. This would all be in the context, however, of Afghan and not Soviet troops shouldering the combat burden in a situation where the DRA's own capabilities to survive and expand its control - and not MOSCOW's direct intervention - will be the chief determinants of the destiny of the Afghan revolution.
6. (C) Finally, we do not consider that concern about the Muslim population of the Soviet Central Asian Republics by itself would be an important incentive for the Soviet leadership to adopt an interventionist course in Afghanistan. All the information we have been able to gather about this region indicates that Moscow has the situation well under control. Frequent visits by embassy officers to Soviet Central Asia in recent months have uncovered few signs of discontent. The Central Asian Republics have made a significant Social and economic progress under Soviet rule and enjoy a significantly higher standard of living than in neighbouring areas of Afghanistan and Iran. And, should discontent nonetheless surface in the coming months, the Soviets can be counted on to move quickly and effectively to Crush it".
This shows that the U. S. Embassy in Moscow believed, even more than American diplomats in Kabul, that moving Soviet troops into Afghanistan was impossible. And the adduced arguments were sufficiently convincing, particularly as regards disincentives. American diplomats in Moscow presumed that these disadvantages (a blow at

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2045
detente, the dooming of SALT and souring of relations with the Muslim World) would prevent the adoption of a decision to send troops into Afghanistan.
In the meantime, the military-political situation in Afghanistan continued to deteriorate. The armed opposition became more active and eager to seize power in Kabul. The U. S. Embassy in Kabul informed Washington on the military-political situation in its message No. 5244 of July 10, 1979: "Can the Khalqis hold out- or will they be forced to call in the Russians? As of early July, the Khalqi regime, though embattled, still seems able to survive with its own military and police resources, given the continuation of generous measures of Soviet materiel and advisory support. The Khalqis undoubtedly realize that to call in combat troops of what has traditionally been regarded here as the expansionist neighbour to the north would completely discredit them in the eyes of most Afghans. Therefore, the Khalqis clearly regard this course of action as a last resort. That time has not yet arrived".
it is worth noting that the U. S. Embassy then began to call the DRA leadership a "Khalqi regime". This was preceded by dramatic events within the ruling People's Democratic Party of Afghanistan (PDPA). Members of the PDPA Parchamist wing were dropped from the leadership in the summer and autumn of 1978 as a result of factional strife within the party leadership and the government, and Hafizullah Amin's criminal urge for personal power. In March 1979, Amin secured for himself the post of prime minister. In September 1979, having eliminated Taraki, he usurped the posts of General Secretary of the PDPA Central Committee and President of the Revolutionary Council, thereby becoming dictator, wielding practically undivided powers.
But let us return to the time when Taraki was yet alive, although already under Amin's influence.
Waiving the idea of a united front of all the country's progressive and democratic forces, stipulated in the PDPA programme, Amin embarked upon the erroneous course of undivided party rule. The U. S. Embassy in Kabul noted in its dispatches to Washington this disastrous tendency, jeopardizing the April revolution. It pointed out that there were forces within the PDPA that advocated the expansion of its social basis and opposed Amin's

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growing role in the country's leadership and in the party. In its message of July 22, 1979, No.5493, it reported that "Prime Minister Hafizullah Amin, in a speech published July 18, dropped some veiled hints that he may be cognizant of possible ongoing efforts to alter the makeup of this regime's leadership. Alluding to the concept of a broadened government, Amin claimed that those classes who had been overthrown by the April 1978 revolution had 'no right to participate in the political struggle' and that "to reinstate the feudal system or a puppet regime of the imperialists (would be) harmful to the revolution (and) a betrayal of the people".
PROS AND CONS
The U.S. Embassy continued to send to Washington its assessments of the military-political situation in the country, containing its conclusions and forecasts. On August 16, 1979 Bruce Amstutz, U.S. charge d'affaires in Afghanistan, reported to the State Department in his coded cable No. 6251: "An opposition 'victory' would have mixed blessings, but if all the pros and cons are weighed, it should also be welcome. An overthrow of the leftist radical regime, backed by the Soviet Union, would be largely in the interests of the United States. It would first of all show the Third World that the views of our Marxist-Leninist rivals are not always correct. We would welcome the emergence of a new, really unaligned state. Thousands of personal vendettas would probably be carried out against surviving Khalqi officials, thereby probably tarnishing a post-DRA regime's human rights record, no matter how justified retribution against some officials might appear to be. On balance, however, our larger interests, especially given DRA's extremely close ties with Moscow, this regime's almost open hostility to U. S., and the atmosphere of fear it has created throughout this country, would probably be served by the demise of the Taraki and Amin regime, despite whatever setbacks this might mean for future social and economic reforms within Afghanistan".
Thereby, the U. S. Embassy admitted that the opposition's victory in Afghanistan would bring to power obscurantists and trigger a massacre of PDPA members. But even then the U.S. would prefer a victory of the opposition, because the Khalqi regime "has extremely close ties with Moscow". Washington's reaction to the foregoing

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2047
dispatch is quite noteworthy. In its instructions to the U.S. mission in NATO on how to use the information received from the embassy in Kabul at meetings of NATO political advisers on Afghanistan, the State Department stressed on August 20, 1979: "You should not rpt not pass on Kabul's conclusions about the effects on U. S. interests or the desirability of the demise of the Taraki / Amin regime".
Quite a warning, indeed. It means that Washington, you see, knows there will be a massacre and rabid reactionaries will Come to power in Afghanistan, and welcomes it, but will the European NATO member-states Countenance all this? Furthermore, how Could this be reconciled with President Carter's campaign for human rights? All this manoeuvering took place before the Soviet limited contingent moved into Afghanistan, that is when the Americans, as they claimed, adhered to a "neutral" stand toward the DRA.
ASSESSMENT OF SOVIET INVOLVEMENT
On September 6, 1979, the U. S. Embassy in Kabul addressed a message to the U.S. Secretary of State entitled "An Assessment of Soviet influence and involvement in Afghanistan" (No. 6672). Taking up again the subject of a possible Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan, the Embassy said: "At some point, it is conceivable that the Taraki-Amin leadership might feel forced to ask for the assistance of Soviet Combat troops in order to survive. (It is known that such requests were made repeatedly by the Afghan side - Authors' note.) The Afghan leaders would presumably cite Article 4 of the new SovietAfghan Friendship Treaty of December 5, 1978. It is our belief, however, that that article, obviously drafted by clever Soviet lawyers, does not automatically commit the USSR to armed intervention, should Moscow elect to stall. Many local diplomatic observers think that the Soviets would want to avoid such involvement as long as any lesser course of action was still viable - but do not rule out the possibility that the USSR might feel itself forced to decide that it was required to send in troops "to save the revolution' and a "fraternal party'. In such a case, the initial Soviet involvement could be limited: e.g., special airborne forces "to protect installations housing Soviet citizens'. Eventually, however, the Soviet Commitment would probably expand.... in the judgement of this embassy, the time has not yet arrived for a Khalqi plea for help-nor is there yet any solid evidence that the USSR is poising itself for armed intervention in the immediate future...".

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2048 PolitioS and Lifa in Qur TFF7755
THE AUTHOR OF THIS BOOK, T. DURASINGAM, WAS INKABULIN 1984, DURING THE TIME WHEN THE SOVIETTROOPS WERENAFGHANISTAN. HE HADOCCASION TO MEET AND DISCUSS WITH THE LEADERS OF AFGHANISTAN OF THE THEN POLITICAL SITUATION THERE IT GOES WITHOUTSAYING THAT DOCUMENTS AND EYE WITNESS ACCOUNTS ARENECESSARY TO GET A COMPREHENSIVE PICTURE OF ALL THE STAGES OF THE WAR INAFGHANISTAN AND OF THE DECISION TAKEN TEN YEARS EARLIER, INDECEMBER 1979, TO SEND SOVIET TROOPS INTO THAT COUNTRY. SOWET DOCUMENTS WILL HARDLY BE AWAILABLE TO HISTORIANS, BECAUSE THEY MAY STILL AFFECT MANY OFFICIAL ESTABLISHMENTS AND ACTIVE STATESMEN.
At the function given in 1977, by the Parents Teachers Council, Colombo, Congratulating him on his being appointed J. P. L. M., T. Duraisingam, the author of this book, is seen here addressing the members, Hon. Piafer Keungman
is seased by his side.
Afghanisfan - This is a mountainous country, especially in the north-east where are the peaks of the Hindu Kush, some being over 24,000 ft. high. The main routes to India are passes through the mountains, the 'chief being the Khyber from Kabul and the Bolan from Kandahar, The chief rivers are the Amu Daria, Murghal, Hari Rud, Helmund and Kabul. In the walleys the soil is fertile and wheat, barley, rice, millet and other crops are grown, also a good deal of fruits. Many sheep are kept and Wooland skins are the chief exports, There are some minerals and a few native manufactures. The country has no railways, its trade being done by canals, but in 1932 a line was begun from the Russian to the India border. There is a regular army of about 25,000 men, recruited by a kind of conscription, and a small air force. The population is about 11,000,000.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Afghanisian in The Days Before 2O49
On September 14, 1979 Taraki was arrested and brutally killed on Amin's orders in Ark Palace. On the same day Amin fired Watanjar, Internal Affairs Minister, Masdurjar, Frontiers Affairs Minister, and Sarwari, the Afghan Security Chief. Two days later he Secured a decision of the PDPA Central Comittee and the Revolutionary Council to strip Taraki of all his state and party posts, although the man was already dead, and became head of state and PDPA leader.
It goes without saying that the U.S. Embassy was bound to Comment upon these develop Tents in its messages to Washington. Dispatch No. 6936 of September 17, 1979, signed by B. Amstutz, says: "The general impression in the diplomatic community and among acknowledgeable Afghans is that the Soviets are not happy - but probably find that they have no other choice at this time but to support the ambitious and ruthless Amin. Having once repeatedly been engaged in an effort to broaden the political base of the Kabul regime in order to counter better the insurgency, the Soviets now find that base even more narrowed - sharpened to a pencil point... Now Amin is all they have left, until some other viable option becomes available, he is the only instrument through which Moscow can defend a "fraternal party" and save a "progressive revolution"... This does not mean that the Soviets are accepting this situation with good grace, However, on September 17, a junior Soviet diplomat grumbled to an embassy officer that the Khalqists made a mistake in "trying to do too manythings too fast'. He thought the regime should have taken four or five years to effect what they tried to accomplish in a few TOT th5".
Next day, on September 18, 1979, Amstutz reported to Washington (dispatch No. 6978): "I think it must be quite evident to the dept, and addressee posts that we are witnessing a very significant political crisis in Afghanistan. In this regard, I would like to highlight some aspects and share some personal thoughts..., For 18 months now we have watched this Marxist party (PDPA) devour itself, An Afghan official last night quietly described the leadership to an embassy officer as a "bunch of scorpions biting each other to death". By way of illustration, there have been 25 cabinet changes since the original list was promulgated in April 1978. The number of Deputy Minister changes has been even more: 34, Purge after purge

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has occurred, and one can't help wonder how the regime manages to survive. Part of the answer is, of course, brutal Suppression of perceived opposition. The number of political prisoners killed may have reached 6,000, and probably more than four times that number have been in and out of political jails... I don't know what the future will bring, Amin has amazingly survived plot after plot against him. Surely the law of averages should catch up with him someday. But then Stalin died in bed. Personally, I would give him no better odds than 50 per cent to survive in power this calendar year. I would, though, lay higher odds that the party itself (PDPA) will survive in control in some form... it is interesting to be in Kabul. Let's hope nobody gets hurt".
it must be admitted that Amstutz's observations and forecasts were rather exact and perspicacious. As to the prognosis about Amin, it proved to be absolutely correct. The tone of this message differs somewhat from the usual official reports. This is largely explained, it appears, by the fact that the embassy was encircled and blocked off by tanks, and Amstutz wrote the dispatch with the "gun of a big T-62 tank aimed at him". "It is all a bit unnerving", Amstutz wrote, "but something certainly to write home to mother about".
On September 22, 1979, Secretary of State Vance sent an urgent coded message to Islamabad (No. 250373) in reply to Pakistan's request to inform it about the possibility of a Soviet military intervention in Afghanistan. Copies of this cable were transmitted also to U.S. embassies in Moscow, Kabul and Teheran. Cyrus Vance ordered the following answer to be given to the Pakistani leadership: "We have detected unusual activities north of the Oins (Amu Darya -Ed) indicative of preparation for possible movement out of garrison by Some airborne units. This could be related to developments in Afghanistan but there is no direct evidence of it. We have not observed a build up of Soviet forces north of the border.
"We have not drawn any conclusion that the Soviets intend to move any larger forces into Afghanistan at this time, but we nevertheless find this increased activity disturbing.
"initial Soviet comment on the recent changes in Kabul, including Brezhnev's congratulatory message to Amin, have been restrained. However, we believe the Soviets have little choice but to support Amin, at least in the short term. We have discussed our

Afghanistan in The Days Before 2051
views about intervention with the Soviets in the past. As for recent signs of stepped-up military activity north of the USSR-Afghan border, we are still considering what actions behind our public statement of September 10 might be effective.
"In past discussions, the Soviets have not departed from Moscow's public line that they are not intervening in Afghanistan nor participating in the firing there. Soviet assistance to Afghanistan is portrayed in the Soviet press as a fraternal response to Afghan requests".
In his coded messages Nos. 250278 and 250412 Secretary of State Vance instructed the U.S. charge d'affaires in Afghanistan to pay a brief protocol visit to Amin as new head of state.
A VISIT TO AMN
On September 27, 1979, B. Amstutz dispatched an urgent coded message (No. 7218) to the Secretary of State, describing his visit to Amin in the morning of the same day. Follows its text with a few insignificant omissions.
"I had an amicable, relaxed meeting with President Amin this morning. He was all charm and friendliness and made a pitch for better relations with the U.S. government. No really substantive issues Were discussed.....
"These last few days, ambassadors and charges have been queuing up to pay their respects to President Amin on his 'election' as new Afghan President and General Secretary of the party. I was the fifth envoy to see him this morning, and I was told a sixth would be following me this afternoon.
"Amin was relaxed, poised and outwardly friendly. There was no sign of his being wounded in the reported palace shootout of Sept. 14. In observing this genial man, it was hard to believe that it was he who has survived plot after plot and has emerged on top. As I looked at him, could not help but recall that only two years ago, in 1977, when we did one of those required periodical exercises to identify potential leaders, we didn't include Amin. It was hard to realize in talking with this friendly fellow that it was hetoothat has been directly responsible for the execution of probably 6,000 political opponents. In everything he said, he sounded reasonable and projected the image of a man you could reason with and reach understanding.

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"As the Department knows, was under two tight instructions: One to keep the meeting short; and the other to say nothing substantive other than to observe the USA desire to share Armin's oft-repeated request for friendly relations... Amin was in a loquacious mood, and let him do most of the talking. We had our pictures taken....
"Immediately after the photographers left, Amin said that he wanted it made clear to Washington that he desired "better and friendlier relations". Thank goodness, I was able to respond that Washington shared a sentiment for friendly relations....
"He also went out of his way to apologize for not having an ambassador in "many countries' (read a long these the USA), explaining that the party was desperately short of qualified people who could adequately represent the regime. As a consequence, he looked to me, he said, to be the primary conduit for bilateral relations between the U. S. and Afghanistan. Pursuing this theme, he twice said that his door was always open to receive me whenever wished to Cor Sullt hiT.
"That's about all. I think my having called on him was a wise move. I think he welcomed the opportunity to send the Department a message that he wanted better relations, and he studiously avoided any controversial subject. When I next meet with Deputy Foreign Minister Dost, plan if necessary, to refer to Amin's desire for better relations as an argument for the MFA to ease up on U. S. on the mission staffing issue.
"Bearing in mind the Department's structure that I keep the meeting short, I looked at my watch when I left and, counting the four minutes when the photographers were there, I was in Amin's reception room for 19 minutes. The timing all around was, thought, just about right".
This was practically the last dispatch from the U.S. Embassy in Kabul, included in the volumes "Documents From the Spy Lair, Afghanistan", published in Iran. We know that shortly afterwards, in November 1979, the U. S. Embassy in Iran was ransacked and the source of such documents elimir lated.

Afghanistan in The Days Bafore 2053
MAXIMGORKY 鳃 MAXIMOWICHPESHKOW WAS BORNIN 1868 IN THE OLD RUSSIAN TOWN OF NIZHNI NOWGOROD ON THE WOLGA, A TOWN WHICH HASSINCE BEEN RENAMED GORKY HIS GRANDFATHER WASAWOLGABOATMAN, HIS FATHER ACABINETMAKER; HE WASLEFT ANORPHANNEARLY CHILDHOOD AND WAS COMPELLED TO "GOOUT INTO THE WORLD"AT THE AGE OF TEN, WE SEE HIMAS A SHOPBOY, A COOKS BOY ON BOARD SHIP, A SELLER OF SONG-BIRDS,ASUPERAT THE FAIR THEATRE, BAKER, STEVEDORE AND RAILWAYMAN. IN 1892 MAXIMGORKY. AN UNKNOWN WORKER IN A RAILWAY WORKSHOP PRINTED HIS FIRST STORY, MAKAR CHUDRA, INTHETIFLIS NEWSPAPER KAWKAZ, WITH THE HELP AND ENCOURAGEMENT OF WLADIMIR KOROLENKO, ANOTEDRUSSIANWRITER, GORKYBECAMEA REGULAR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE NEWSPAPERS OF THE WOLGA TOWNS. IN 1898 HEPUBLISHED TWOWOLUMES OF HISSTORIES ANDSKETCHES WHICH BROUGHT THE YOUNGWRITER FAME AND POPULARITY.
ான f868 - 1936
Maxim Gorky completed his novel "Mother" in 1906 which has been translated into almost all western and eastern languages,
The publication of Mother and the author's open attacks on tsarism led to his persecution by the tsarist authorities. He could not return to his native land, and settled down on the Italian island of Capri. In these years the friendship between the great writer and Wladimir Ilyich Lenin, the great leader of the working class, grew stronger and turned into effective collaboration. Gorky's articles, on the struggle of progressive mankind against fascism were tremendously effective in the Patriotic War against Germany. Long before the War of 1941-45. Maxim Gorky, with unusual foresight, saw in fascism a mortal threat to hurtianity, a cancer that had formed in the World and had to be immediately removed. The engthy realized this and in 1936 fascist aggrits killed Maxim Gorky. They were, however, unable to kill the courageous, fiery and eternally living Words of the great Soviet Writer which are so carefully preserved and esteemed by the liberty-lowing peoples of the whole world.

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The quoted documents, whose authenticity is beyond doubt, shed light on the situation in Afghanistan on the eve of the day when the limited Soviet military contingent was moved into Afghanistan, as it was seen by Americans or, to be more exact, by leaders and officials of the U. S. State Department. The question may arise: how exact and competent were the assessments on which U. S. policy towards Afghanistan and our country was based?
Despite the diversity of views expressed in the documents, it ought to be admitted that American diplomacy, sounding its way through contradictory and scant information, was nevertheless moving in the right direction. It assumed, not predicted, but assumed, that at a critical moment for the DRA the Soviet Union could send its troops into the country. On the other hand, analysis of the U.S. documents showed that the information they contain is fragmentary, that they lack a sufficiently serious survey of the country's socio-economic situation, contain groundless and superfluous analogies with political developments in other regions of the world. These shortcomings, to our mind, are due to the specifics of U. S. diplomatic practices. And now, having learned about these documents, on which U. S. policy in Afghanistan was based, it is hard to get rid of a feeling that the subject is not yet Completely clear.
it only remains to hope that the time will come when it will be possible to read the documents of the Soviet Foreign Ministry and other establishments dating back to the period that preceded the introduction of Soviet troops into Afghanistan. Only this will make possible an objective assessment of the developments that occurred before the Afghan war broke out and of subsequent events, including the entry of Soviet troops into Afghanistan in December 1979 and their withdrawal by February 15, 1989, as well as of the situation in that country today when the Soviet Union is no longer directly involved in hostilities.
Courtesy: "Asia and Africa Today", Moscow, April, 1990.

End Apartheid for a Better World
by Nelson Mandela
(Peace Courier has the proud privilege of publishing this special article by Nelson Mandela, the legendary freedom fighter and deputy president of the African National Congress. Despite his hectic schedule of work after his release from the South African prison, Mandela specially wrote this article for the readers of this journal. We are grateful to him for this gesture of giving us his first article, and our readers will find the perspective presented by him very inspiring -ed.)
It is a truly great moment for me to speak to "Peace Courier" and through you to your Readers across the globe.
I Would first and foremost Wish to thank the World Peace Council (WPC) for its relentless campaign of solidarity with the struggling masses of our country. That I am able to speak through your columns to these heroes of the struggle for peace is a vivid reflection of the effectiveness of their efforts. The fact that these efforts have borne some fruit should serve as an injunction for us to keep on struggling until the apartheid system is completely eradicated. A lot more needs to be done to achieve the goal of a united, nonracial and democratic South Africa.
The World Peace Council has for many decades undertaken many actions to achieve World peace and security. It is precisely because of this conviction that the WPC has been in the front ranks of international action against racism, Colonialism and apartheid. Our movement, the African National Congress, has been one of the active members of the Council.
This has been the Case because We are Convinced, as all peace warriors are, that there can be no peace in our land without the eradication of the apartheid system. Similarly, our region, our continent and the world at large can never know peace if South African society is locked in conflict. The trail of death and destruction within our country and in the subcontinent bear testimony to this.
History has shown that an oppressor's jackboot cannot suppress a people's will to be free; neither can it stamp out the struggle for justice. in our own country, the apartheid regime's long years of imprisonment, states of emergency, detention, murder by the hundreds and other

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actions have, over the years, precipitated intensified mass and armed resistance. increasingly, the security and privileges of the white community that the apartheid state seeks to maintain and defend are being eroded as local and international campaigns intensify. If a political solution is not found, the apartheid regime faces the real prospect of being consumed by the same fires that it has itself ignited.
The more farsighted among the apartheid ruling circles seem to discern this more clearly today. We welcome this development, as well as the few bold steps taken by the government. The ANC will always encourage movement away from the obnoxious system of apartheid.
But to leave it at that would be to create a wrong and dangerous impression: that the de Klerk government is acting on its own volition and out of some new found political wisdom. This notion is wrong because it relegates the mass of anti-apartheid fighters and their Organisations to the status of passive objects and observers in the unfolding events. It is dangerous because it creates the illusion that the apartheid government is the agent for change and, therefore, that it should be appeased through the de-escalation of struggle within and outside South Africa in order to assist the process of change.
Inasmuch as the few steps taken by the government are a result of struggle, We Certainly need to intensify the struggle in order to ensure that the process of transformation bears fruit. A slave who is constantly whiplashed is certainly worse off than one not treated so harshly. Those who fight slavery cannot be blinded to the fact that one remains a slave even if the whipping stops. To reward the slaveowner for such a step would be to encourage slavery and let the slaveowner off the hook.
OurStruggle aims at the eradication of the system of apartheid, root and branch. The release of some political prisoners, the unbanning of Organisations and other measures - significant as they might be - cannot blind us to the fact of apartheid's continued existence in its harshest forms: that the overwhelming majority of the people are denied the right to vote; that there are millions dumped in rural "reserves"; that thousands of children die of malnutrition; that the education system is discriminatory, to quote but a few examples.
This is what the South African people and the overwhelming majority of mankind are fighting against. This is what has been so aptly characterised by the United Nations as a crime against humanity. We therefore cannot call off the struggle against apartheid, including the

End Apartheid for a Better World 2057
Campaign for economic sanctions, merely because of the few actions and declarations of goodwill on the part of the white minority government. To do this would be to disarm ourselves and to discourage those in power from responding reasonably to the people's demands.
The African National Congress is committed to the political resolution of South Africa's problems. Our morality and the dictates of strategy and tactics have always guided us to seek the shortest and least painful route to the goal of justice and peace. If and when conditions for such relatively peaceful transformation arise, we are prepared to respond positively.
We initiated the process that led to the unanimous adoption o the OAU (Harare) Declaration and later the UN General Assembly Declaration on South Africa because we believe that, at this juncture, as a result of struggle, a peaceful Way Out of the Crisis is not Only possible, but also achievable. But for this to be realised it requires that an atmosphere for free and normal political activity be created. The people and their organisations must have the right to operate without the restrictions, threats and other repressive actions of the apartheid state. All organisations should have the right to freely consult their members and the people in general, before actual negotiations can start.
In this regard, the ANC is calling for, among other measures, the lifting of the state of emergency in its totality and the abolition of all repressive legislation; release of all political prisoners and detainees including those on Death Row; the removal of troops out of the townships and the unconditional return of exiles. While Some of the measures such as the unbanning of organisations have been implemented, repression continues in various forms, including police and rightwing vigilante terror. In the province of Natal, lives are being lost as a result of joint efforts of the kwaZulu bantustan administration and the apartheid state to crush the democratic movement. The profound lesson from all these developments is that the formal ending of what ever repressive measures is not enough. Allanti-apartheid forces have to ensure that each gain is defended.
Once the atmosphere for free and normal political activity has been created, negotiations can start, in particular to address the question of the suspension of armed hostilities on both sides. Further agreement Will have to be reached On the transitional mechanisms towards the creation of a united non-racial and democratic South Africa. Ourposition in this respect is guided by the following basic principles:

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2O58 POWfic5 and Life in Qur 77F765
THE WORLDPEACE COUNCILHASFORMANY DECADESUNDERTAKEN MANY ACTIONS TO ACHIEVE WORLD PEACE AND SECURITY. IT IS PRECISELY BECAUSE OF THIS CONWICTION THAT THE WPCHAS BEEN INTHE FRONT RANKS OF INTERNATIONAL ACTION AGAINSTRACISM, COLONIALISMAND APARTHEID. OUR MOVEMENT, THE AFRICAN NATIONAL CONGRESS HAS BEEN ONE OF THE ACTIVE MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL. THIS HAS BEEN THE CASE BECAUSE WE ARE CONWINCED, ASALL PEACE WARRIORS ARE, THAT THERE CAN BE NO PEACE IN OUR LAND WITHOUT THE ERADICATION OF THE APARTHEID SYSTEM, SMILARLY, OURREGION, OUR CONTINENT AND THE WORLD ATLARGE CANNEWER KNOW PEACEF SOUTH AFRICAN SOCIETY IS LOCKED IN CONFLCT. THE TRAL OF DEATH AND DESTRUCTION WITHIN OUR COUNTRY AND IN THE SUBCONTINENTBEARTESTIMONY TO THIS,
On Mandala Nelson Mandala - "Fierce determination to embody black dignity". Nelson Mandela was many years in jail without wilting. There were people who Were unhinged by two or three days in the hands of the security police. Yet all the Robben Island veterans give testimony to Mandela's absolute conviction that he and they would triumph, By the mid seventies, even the warders had come to believe it, in jail Mandela learned a great deal about himself and reassessed the basis of the ANC's philosophy. He threw of the cliches and slogans, He also saw that the warders were not the masters of their fates, but the flotsam of Afrikaner lifa - many of them from broken homes and orphanages - and hig, Carmē to the Conclusion that Afrikaners Could be W01 OWêr,
 
 
 
 
 

End Aparlheld for a Bafter World 2059
Negotiations should not be above the heads or behind the backs of the people.
They should be among delegated representatives with a mandate from their constituents. The body to formulate a new Constitution should be a Constituent Assembly elected on the basis of one person, one vote in a common voters' roll.
There should be a specific time frame with in which negotiations should take place. The process must not be unduly protracted.
To supervise the transitional process there will have to be an impartial Interim Government, This cannot be done within apartheld institutions.
In pursuit of the need to create a climate for negotiations, the African National Congress met the South African government at the beginning of May. The regime undertook to implement all the minimum requirements for such a climate. But, as we indicated earlier, to ensure that this is in fact realised, requires intensified struggle and pressure. This is the only reliable guarantee against the possibility of sliding back into the dark era of confrontation.
The struggling people of our country are inspired by the current international atmosphere of relaxation of interstate tensions especially among the developed Countries. The agreements that have been reached between the Soviet Union and the United States of America constitute great advances in mankind's efforts for nuclear disarmament, world peace and security, The vision of the Soviet government and the statesmanship of President Mikhail Gorbachev as Well as other leaders of advanced Countries should be lauded and supported by all mankind.
These developments hawe afforded humanity the golden opportunity to deal with many universal problems: poverty and the debt burden in developing countries; environmental issues and many more. Apartheid and racism are among such universal problems on which humanity must act jointly, as part of the process to create a better World.
Courtesy: "Peace Courler, Helsinki, Finland, June 1990.

Page 491
The Great Escape
by Joe Segera
Ever since the Lanka Sama Samaja Party was born way back in 1935, at a meeting held at Lorenz College, Maradana, presided over by the late Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, many are the stories and anecdotes that have Surrounded it giving it what could be described as a romanticandadventurous history. Mark Anthony Bracegirdle was the young Australian Creeper or apprentice planter, who gave the party much publicity and notoriety and also of course, the "Great Escape'from the Kandy Detention Barracks.
Coming to Bracegirdle, perhaps few people know except some surviving members of the Old Guard of the LSSP about the part played by Vernon Gunasekera who died a few days ago at Kandy. Vermon for the record was, the First Secretary of the LSSP and the Party's brilliant pamphleteer. Although he was a nephew of the late Sir Oliver Goonetilleka who wore the white plumed hat, bemedelled white uniform replete with imperial regalia as Governor General, Vernon Gunasekera took a different road. To the amazement and the sheer disgust of his uncle, he became a red hot Marxist according to the Gospel of Leon Trotsky. The most wanted man during those early years of the LSSP was Bracegirdle, the young apprentice planter who was causing "havoc" in the tea plantations down Pusselawa-Nuwara Eliyaway, addressing meetings of Indian estate workers and rousing them to action to win what he called "your legitimate lawful rights". He taught them a little bit of Marxism and held aloft the banner, "Workers of the world unite". This incensed the fury of the white European planters, who petitioned the Governor to deport "trouble-maker Bracegirdle". The Governoracted fast and signed an order for the deportation of comrade Bracegirdle. Instructions were sent out to the police to arrest him on sight and put him into the first available ship. It was at this time that Vernon Gunasekera came on the Scene. He, in a big way, took over the job of keeping the Australian comrade underground. The news-paper headlines of the day were "Bracegirdle Goes Underground".
Then Vernon, a young man in his twenties, saw the importance of hitting the headline in the newspapers with the story of Bracegirdle. He wanted to show the British Governor and colonial government that the LSSP was cleverer than the colonial government or its police. In short, he wanted to show that his party knew where Bracegirdle was and was capable of producing him at anytime.

The Great Escape 2O6
So, Vernon who had many friends in the newspapers planned to produce the Scarlet Pimpernel at an exclusive undercover interview. One of his very close friends at Lake House was M. F. L. (Fred) de Silva of the "Observer". He used to meet him often at the YMCA restaurant and have tea together. So at one of those tea time meetings, he told Fred he would give him a scoop. As a reporter, Fred jumped at the idea. So Vernon made the arrangements for the interview. The condition was that he would not talk about it to anybody until the job was done and also that he would agree to be blindfolded all the way to meet Bracegirdle and during the interview. Sometime after six in the evening, so it was arranged, Fred de Silva had to stand outside the Lake House steps when a car with Vernon in the front seat would stop and call for him. The car arrived as arranged and Fred was asked to jump in. He was prormptly blindfolded and taken on a circuitous route right round the city. The car stopped somewhere and our man in Search of a SCOop was introduced to Mark Anthony Bracegirdle. "Meet Comrade Bracegirdle", said Vernon and asked Fred to fire his questions. In the course of the interview, one of the things Bracegirdle said was, "I challenge the imperialist government to arrest and deport me". So Fred de Silva got the biggest scoop of the day. Bracegirdle disappeared in another car and Fred had his blindfolds removed and dropped at Lake House. When he reached the news rooms, the "Observer' was closed and Fred walked across to the "Daily News" and related the story to Editor Herbert Hulugalle who jumped at the idea, and asked our scoopist to write the story. The front page was recast and "Bracegirdle Meets the Daily News" was the story of the day. There was no by-line, strictly following the then D. R. Wijewardene and Lake House tradition of anonymity. And as for the source of this story, which was related almost twenty-five years later, it was Fred himself and later Vernon who was then the Lobby Correspondent of the "Daily News".
As for the Bracegirdle saga it all ended as the first victory for today's much vaunted Human Rights in those far away days of the late nineteen thirties. The LSSP challenged the Governor's order in the Supreme Court presided over by the then Chief Justice, Sir Sidney Abrahams. To repeat, that was the first Human Rights case in this country. Among the lawyers who appeared for Mr. Bracegirdle were almost all the legalluminaries of the day led by R. L. Pereira (K.C.)

Page 492
2O62 Pasifics and Lsg ffy COF Tiras
PROFESSORK. KALASAPATHY WHO CARVED FOR HMSELF ANCHE IN THE HISTORY OF 20TH CENTURY TAMILLITERATURE WAS WIDELY RECOGNIZED AS AN EMINENT CRITIC AND SCHOLAR. HIS DEVOTED SERVICE IN THE FIELD OF LITERATURE COWERED THREE DECADES FROM 1953 TO 1982. HE IS ONE OF THE PROMINENT THINKERS WHO DETERMINED THE BEARINGS AND THE DIRECTIONS OF CONTEMPORARY TAMILLITERATURE THROUGHHIS WRITINGS AND HIS EXTRA-LITERARY ACT WITIES,
、
Prof. Калаgasabaрathy Kailasapathy 54,933 - 5, 2.932
Prof. Kailasapathy served as the President of the Caylor Progressive Writers Association and guided the movement for many years.
Kailasapathy was born in Kuala Lumpur on the 5th of April, 1933. His father Elaiyathamby Kanagasabapathy was working there as a draughtsman. By the end of the Second World War, Kailasapathy came to Jaffna with his mother Mrs. Thillainayaki Kanagasabapathy. His primary education started at the Victoria Institute in Kuala Lumpur and he studied up to Senior School Certificate at Jaffna Hindu College. Among the shaping influences during his school days at Jaffna Hindu College, Mr. M. Karthigesan deserves special mention, His influence was undoubtedly a contributory factor to Kailasapathy's attraction towards Marxism during his later years. From 1951 to 1953 Kailasapathy studied at Royal College, Colombo, from where he entered the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya. Kailasapathy, who specialised in Tamil at the University of Ceylon, Peradeniya, graduated with first class honours in 1957.
Coursesy : "Kalasapathy Commgmoration Wolume", Jafna, 1988.
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

The Great Escape 2063
and some young lawyers who were just finding their spurs in Huiftsdorp, Among them was J. R. Jayewardene and a young Mathematics teacher from Royal College who had given up the practice of the law after struggling without briefs at Huiftsdorp. He was none other than the great H. W. Perera (K. C.), the finest appeal lawyer this country has ever produced. At the end of the trial, Bracegirdle walked away a free man, following the sensational and historic judgement of Chief Justice, Sir Sidney Abrahams declaring the Order of the Gowermor nul| and Woid.
After Bracegirdle, came the other sensation, the jailbreak in Kandy by N.M. Perera, Phillip Gunawardena, Colvin R. de Silva and Edmund Samarakkody. They were imprisoned as enemies of the state by the colonial government after their arrest in India in about the year 1942,
About this jailbreak, much has been Written about the part that Vernon Gunasekera played but precious little has been said about the man who really let thern off. It was none other than the strapper Chief Jailor of the Prison, the late Neville de la Motte who was later the Chief Sub Editor of the "Daily News". It happened this way, Wernon Gunasekera who struck up a close friendship with Neville during his frequent visit to the prison was able to win his Confidence in a big way as a boozing buddy of his. Neville, as he used to tell us was a great admirer of NM and Philip especially for whom he had a very high regard. Wernon, the good talker who was an adept at winning friends and influencing people had arranged the night of the escape with NM and others. On that particular night, he took Chief Jailor Neville de La Motte out to drinks in town. Neville locked the cells and left the keys with his trusted guard, Solomon who, unaware to Neville had become a hero worshipper of NM, Phillip and Colvin.
When Chief Jailor de La Motte returned to the prison after his carousing with Wernon Gunesekera, he found to his consternation that all hell had been let loose. The cells were all wide open and all his Sarna Samajist friends had escaped. Wernon had done the trick and even guard Solomon had done the trick. As for Neville de la Motte, he took the rap at the inquiry that followed. The penalty, he lost his job,
Courtesy: "The Island", Colombo, 6th August, 1996.

Page 493
NM: Unacknowledged pioneer of many a struggle
by Professor Emeritus Osmund Jayaratne
Seventeen years ago Dr. N. M. Perera left our midst and passed into the great unknown. It is not strange that the first Marxist political party in this country produced a leader whose name is yet beyond the pale of popular knowledge and to whom no memorial has yet been erected. Memorials are for those who had Contributed in a minor Sense to the history of this country, but N. M.'s contribution is one that will go down in history as long as men of honesty and stature live amidst us all in this country.
To write the history of N. M. Perera is a massive task. A few years before his death he began writing an autobiography, "Thotalanga Martin", unfortunately his death interrupted this effort. M. Bandutilleke wrote in his own journalistic style a book titled "N. M. Perera' which ran into several hundred pages in Sinhala.
Dr. N. M. Perera, after his first degree in economics, pursued further studies at the London School of Economics, particularly under the guidance of men like Harold Laski. This was a period when the subsequent leaders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party were imbibing the left wing trends that were then sweeping Europe. This was a consequence of the great October Revolution which left its mark on all Countries of the World, both in the West and in the East. It was no accident that in the same period men of the calibre of Colvin R. de Silva and Leslie Goonewardena, also pursued similar studies though not in the same school of thought.
In the same period these comrades returned to their island home, then known as Ceylon. It is no coincidence that within Ceylon, movements against British imperialism had arisen both in the North and the South of the country. The anti-imperialist movement in the South was led by the Colombo South Youth League, sponsored by men like Bernard Soysa who still remains the leader of the Lanka Sama Samaja

NM: Unacknowledged pioneer of many a struggle 2065
Party. The Northern movement was led by men like Com. Tharmakulasingham who later died under mysterious circumstances. There was no question then of a Northern & Southern Ceylon. We were all united in one objective alone, namely, the eradication of British imperialism.
it was into this milieu that comrades like N. M. Perera, Leslie Goonewardena and Colvin R. de Silva returned. They joined forces with a radical movement that was then sweeping the country.
Until this time, November 11 every year was commemorated as Poppy Day, wherein replicas of the poppy flower were sold among the public. The proceeds of these sales were meant for British Servicemen who had sacrificed their lives in the First World War.
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party took up a different stand: Why only British servicemen, why not the Sri Lankan poor who had been inducted into the Seif Same War under British influence. To assist them the Lanka Sama Samaja Party formed what came to be known as the Suriya Mal Movement. The proceeds of the Suriya Mall Movement were utilized to assist the families of these destitute persons.
N. M. Perera played a vital role in the organisation of this movement, which spread far and wide among the people of this Country.
In this same period a severe economic depression had hit Europe - its consequences were felt even in countries like Ceylon. Malnutrition and the lack of essential food and medicine Were rife in the country. It was obvious that the Lanka Sama Samaja Party by itself could not solve this problem. They concentrated in areas like Yatiyantota, Ruwanwella and Kegalle (presently known as Thun Korale).
NM and his comrades visited these areas at regular intervals on behalf of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and distributed to the poverty stricken people basic food items and medicine. The Thun Korale has never forgotten the services rendered to them by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. That is why in every subsequent parliamentary election the Thun Korale has always been the preserve of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. Our friend and comrade, Tissa Abeysekera, once produced the film on the role of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in the Thun Korale. Unfortunately the powers that were, did not permit the showing of this film to the public except to a selected few.

Page 494
2066 Politics and Life9 ir7 COLUr Tirres
THE INAUGURATION OF THE ATTANAGALLA FRUIT PROCESSING FACTORY BY THE HON. PRIME MINISTER TODAY (JUNE 26, 1976). ISAN IMPORTANT LANDMARKIN THE ANNALS OF THE FRUIT INDUSTRY IN THIS COUNTRY, FOR THIS WERY REASON ITIS APPROPRIATE TO LOOK BACK ON THE ROAD WHICH HAS BEEN TRAVERSED SOFAR AND TO TAKE STOCK OF WHAT HAS BEEN ACHIEVED AND ALSO TO LOOK FORWARD TOMAP OUT THE CORRECT LINES OF DEVELOPMENT FOR THE YEARS TO COME, THERE ARE MANY USEFUL LESSONS THAT CAN BE LEARNT FROMSUCHARETROSPECT,
Naaது Warmadeva Corrissioner for Development of Marketing,
In retrospect it seems that we have not been sufficiently sensitive to the opportunities thus offered in the 1950s by the almost unlimited export markets, to think systematically of expanding and stabilizing our export production. The guaranteed price scheme for fresh fruit, operated by the Marketing Department to stimulate fruit cultivation was a step in the right direction in bringing about the much-needed connection between the fruit growers and processors, but it did not go far enough. The early fifties was still an era of free foreign exchange and one could buy IXL jams, Bachelors green peas, Heinz sauces and even Dole pineapple in any local grocely shop. It is of course ridiculous that Sri Lanka with such an abundance of fresh fruits should have imported large quantities of preserved and fresh fruit at any time.
 
 

NM: Urracknowledged pioneer of many astruggle 2O67
In the nineteen thirties a young Australian by the name of Bracegirdle arrived in the land to receive his training in the tea estates of the country. This was not looked upon kindly by the British Raj, because Bracegirdle expressed his sympathy not for British planters but for those who were victims of exploitation. They made every effort to arrest Brace gridle but failed. One celebrated day, which l wividly remember it was announced through the length and breadth of the country that Bracegirdle, who was in hiding, would appear on a platform at Galle Face Green. All the efforts of the police failed.
Bracegirdle stood on a platform to the cheers of the massive crowd and addressed a few words in English which were translated by one of our comrades into Sinhala. As secretly as he arrived he made also his exit. All this was organised by the Lanka Sama Samaja Party under the unswerving effort of N.M. Perera. Thereafter, realising that it was not a revolutionary situation, Bracegirdle handed himself over to the police. He was extradicted on his own wishes to Britain.
In the elections to the State Council initiated by the Donoughmore Commission, two of our comrades (one of whom left us many years ago) were elected, N. M. Perera was the sole representative of the downtrodden masses. Today people speak so much of "Free Education". This concept was first introduced to the country by N. M. Perera (wide his pamphlet on the case for free education). Lots of people have forgotten this fact and it was eventually C. W. W. Kannangara who at a period when our comrades were incarcerated produced the Bill for Free Education in Parliament. It is necessary to emphasise and reemphasise the fact that the architect of Free Education was not C. W. W. Kannangara but N. M. Perera himself.
Besides this, many other social reforms, including the abolition of the headmen system, which was a bulwark of British imperialism in the country, was eradicated in parliament through the efforts of men like N. M. Perera.
Politics in Sri Lanka, as it is now known through the efforts of men like N. M. Perera and Colvin R. de Silva, were emasculated by the 1977 government which headed the country having defeated the United Front Government that initiated these reforms.
As long as a working people live in Sri Lanka the name of N.M. Perera will never be forgotten.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, 74th August, 7996.

Page 495
Independence, Courtesy India
by P. K. Balachandran
IP. K. Balachandran sums up that Sri Lanka's Freedom struggle was too easy paced and procured, riding India piggyback.)
"Battle for Lanka's independence was fought in India". Seen in Contrast to the fury and clamour of India's epic struggle for freedom, the independence movement in Sri Lanka seems to have been too easy paced and genteel to merit description as a "struggle". In fact, many tend to be dismissive about it and say that the British gave independence to Sri Lanka. On a platter.
Uncharitable though this assessment is, few can deny that Sri Lanka's independence came almost as a natural Consequence of the freeing of the Indian subcontinent, just across the Palk Strait. Any indigenous struggle owed its birth and development to the larger Indian One across the 20 mile stretch of shallow Sea.
The late J. R. Jayawardane, leader of the pre-independence Ceylon National Congress (CNC) and who became the Island's President in 1977, made no bones about Lanka's debt to India. In a letter to Jawaharlal Nehru dated June 29, 1945, he said: "We in Lanka feel that our fight for freedom is being fought largely in India, and India's freedom is Lanka's freedom too".
Echoing it 52 years later, the veteran trade unionist and one of the founders of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka, T. Duraisingam, said that Sri Lanka would not have been free, if there had been no freedom struggle in India. "Don S. Senanayake and Oliver Goonetileke got us independence riding piggyback on the Indian and the Left movements", the 87 year old trade union veteran said.
In the forties, Ceylon (as Sri Lanka was then known) was wary of British moves. Wanting India's help, Jayawardene wrote to Nehru on July 20, 1940: "Is it possible that she (Ceylon) may be bartered away by a peace treaty? This is a question that is troubling many of us in Ceylon. Some of us - the number is increasing - feel that our future lies with india".
In his reply of August 1, 1940, Nehru responded favourably saying: "Ceylon is too small a political and economic unit to standby itself in the future World. I quite agree with you that there might be a danger to Ceylon under these circumstances. It might, therefore, be highly desirable to discuss the future relations of India and Ceylon". The INC agreed to receive a delegation of the CNC.

Independence, Courtesy India 2069
When he found that the resolution at the INC's Bombay Congress had not mentioned the independence of Ceylon, JR approached Gandhi and asked for its inclusion. Gandhi obliged and said: "My love for Ceylon is even greater than my love for Burma".
The links between the Indian and Lankan movements Were established in the twenties, especially with the Ceylon Tamils. In 1924, the Jaffna Students Congress, which later became the Jaffna Youth Congress (JYC) was formed. It was the Jaffna Students Congress, which invited Gandhito Ceylon and he did come in 1927.
In fact, the touch with trends in India was so close, that in 1931, within two years of the Indian National Congress (INC) demanding "Purna Swaraj", the JYC also demanded Purna Swaraj, pointed out M. Sivasithamparam, the veteran Tamil leader and now President of the TULF. He noted that the Ceylon National Congress (CNC), a larger body founded in 1926, and based in Colombo, had not sought full independence but only Dominion Status. It was only after the return of a CNC delegation from India in 1942, that the CNC demanded full freedom, according to Jayawardane.
The ties between the Indian movement and the Ceylon Tamils were exceptionally close, and emotional more than political. "During the Indian freedom struggle, there was not a house in Jaffna without a portrait of Gandhi, Nehru and other leaders of the movement. They were our heroes", Sivasithamparam said.
On the Sinhalese side, there was S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, founder leader of the Progressive Nationalist Party, a close friend of the Madras Dravidian movement leader, Dr. P. Subbarayan, who stood for Tamil/non Brahmin rights in South India. In 1926, Bandaranaike advocated federalism as the model for a free, multi-ethnic Ceylon.
The INC, especially Nehru, was close to the Indian Origin Tamils and he founded the Ceylon indian Congress (CIC), which later became the Ceylon Workers' Congress (CWC). "Sinhalese trade unionists like N. M. Perera dubbed Nehru a communalist for this, though Nehru was quite accommodating", recalled P. P. Devaraj, a sitting CWCMP. Earlier, in 1945, Jayawardene protested against INC's support for a CIC strike and sought Nehru's intervention "to save Indo-Ceylon relations".
There are, however, some in Sri Lanka, who think that the Tamils had made a mistake by throwing in their lot with the INC and, on the Indian pattern, trying to secure accommodation with the majority Sinhalese here. "We should have taken a leaf Out of Jinnah's book. Just as he fought for Pakistan, we should have fought for a separate, sovereign Tamil state here", said E. A. V. Naganathan, who writes On the Tamil-Sinhala conflict.
Courtesy: "The Hindustan Times", India, September, 1997.

Page 496
Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, Former M. S. C. Gaol for Sedition
Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, formerly a member of the State Council and recently expelled from the Sama Samaja Party, was yesterday sentenced to one year's simple imprisonment and a fine of Rs. 3,000, in default a further six months in gaol.
Bail in Rs. 8,000 was ordered in case of appeal. On the charge of endeavouring to cause disaffection among His Majesty's subjects, the District Judge of Matara, Mr. Spencer Rajaratnam, imposed the gaol sentence, the fine was for endeaouring to influence public opinion in a manner likely to prejudice the public safety and the defence of the Island, the maintenance of public order and the efficient prosecution of the war; for having published an article entitled "Governor's Knavish Utterances" on June 19th, 1940, and for having published an article entitled "Help us to fight on behalf of the public".
Mr. Rajaratnam stated that at a time when the Empire was involved in a war of such a magnitude, one could notestimate the amount of harm and damage that could be done by articles which urged people not merely to obstruct the Government but also to work against it.
Examining the first article the Judge said that in it the Government was accused of committing cold-blooded murders and Creating race hatred, and the second paragraph suggested that the Government was unjust. It referred to the war which was going on and people were incited to fight for freedom "lest the Government deprive them of the little freedom enjoyed, as the Government wanted to repeat the acts of 1915 on a larger scale".
HATE EXPRESSED
"The whole article meant to create feelings of ill-will, hatred, enmity and hostility to the Government", remarked His Honour.

Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, Former M. S. C. - Gaol for Sedition 2071
Mr. R. L. Pereira Contended, he said, that no notice should be taken of a Sinhalese newspaper published in a remote part of the island such as Matara, but in his opinion it did not matter where or by whom it was published. The circulation of the paper among the poorer classes would cause more serious damage than among the more enlightened classes.
The second article suggested that England was fighting to keep people in the bonds of slavery; the third article made a direct reference to interfering with the prosecution of the war.
He was unable to accept Mr. R. L. Pereira's view that it was an attempt to put out a scheme for the betterment of the poor. He was clearly of opinion that these articles contravened the provisions in the regulations.
He held that the accused acted as manager, editor and publisher having had Bennet Silva as nominal editor, etc.
FALSE EVIDENCE
In regard to the oral evidence he said that Andrayas Appuhamy Wickremasuriya, the Manager of the Sudharsana Press, gave false evidence. Another witness, M. J. Mendis, had tried as far as possible to shield his friend, the accused.
As for the witness Harold Pieris, the Judge said that the less said about his regard for truth the better. Pieris was about the most Untruthful Witness in the Case.
Mr. E. G. P. Jayatilleke, Solicitor General, said that the accused was a man of education and he asked that the sentence be one that would deter others from committing similar offences.
Mr. E. G. P. Jayatilleke, with Mr. T. S. Fernando instructed by Mr. G. P. Keuneman and Mr. C. N. E. Wijesuriya, A. S. P., conducted the prosecution. Mr. R. L. Pereira with Mr. A. F. Wijemane, instructed by Messrs G. Weeratunge and J. W. Wickremasinghe defended.
Courtesy: "The Times of Ceylon", Colombo, November 9th, 1940.

Page 497
A Memoire on Theja Gunawardena A Balm to a Worried Mind
by Chamaine Nissanka
July 17 marked the first anniversary of the death of Theja Gunawardena who passed away six days prior to her 79th birthday.
My association with Theja Gunawardena dates far back to mid 1950s. I was about nine years old and she was a close family friend. My parents and she shared a mutual interest in AMORC (the Rosicrucian Order) and the Co-Freemasonic Movement. My close friendship with Theja began after 1976. She encouraged all my endeavours.
In December 1975, as the ambassador for Pakistan, Theja accompanied Prime Minister Ali Bhutto on his visit to Sri Lnaka. Amid her busy schedule she found time to attend my wedding as a witness.
On several occasions she spent a few holidays with us at Matale. Each time Theja visited the Dalada Maligawa in Kandy to offer Bodhi Puja. In 1989 my family and I emigrated to New Zealand. Yet we corresponded often. During my last visit in 1993/94 we met several times to revive old memories. She was interested in the activities of the CoFreemasonic Order in New Zealand and also the indigenous culture of the native Maori people.
Much has been said and written about Theja whose personality Well matched her name. She was a scholar, diplomat, journalist, artist, and most of all a mystic humanist. Theja was a powerful thinker and a social reformer.
She was born to a wealthy family in Colombo. She was the only daughter of Manage Piyadasa, who was a member of the Ceylon National Congress. He was a Buddhistandan office bearer of the Mahabodhi and Buddhist Theosophical Societies. Theja's mother was Elizabeth PonWeera, who was a Catholic.
At a latter stage, Theja studied many other faiths and had a vast insight into the hidden mysteries of most religions.
She had her education at Clifton Girls' High School and CMS Ladies College in Colombo.

A Memoire on Theja Gunawardena - A Balm to a Womied Mind 2073
At the University of Ceylon, Intermediate of Arts London, she read English, Latin, Logic, Economics and followed a course for Bachelor of Arts majoring in English. She was also an Associate of Trinity College of Music, London.
Theja served as acting principal of Clifton Girls' High School and later as manager of the Girls Industrial School at Dematagoda.
She was a founder member of "Mahila Samithiya" in Colombo and its secretary from 1939-1945.
Theja married H. R. Gunawardena B.A., B.Sc, Diploma in Public Administration, AMICT (London), Barrister-at-Law. He was the Commercial Superintendent of Govt. Railways.
After marriage, they settled down in his hometown at Udugampola. Theja told me that they were very happy there. Udugampola is a remote area in the Gampaha district. It is a peaceful place full of tranquility.
After her retirement from diplomatic service in 1980s, Theja returned to the same place, where she spent the last 15 years. The only difference being that, what was left of the stately old house had to be demolished to build a modest house on the old foundation. This abode had a calm Serenity about it. Ideal for meditation and her literary Work, which Theja continued till the end.
in 1946 H. R. Gunawardena was the divisional superintendent of railways at Anuradhapura. Theja continued her Mahila Samithiya activities and was the president of the NCP Committee. From 1948 - 1958 she was the all island organiser of Mahila Samithiya as well as its vice president.
While bringing up a young family of three children, Shanthi, Mohan and Thilak, Theja utilised her inherited wealth, time, knowledge and talents to help the rural people in any way she could.
in the early 1950s North Central Province was in dire need of economic development. The progress of women was not a priority in an underdeveloped environment.
To speed up the red tape in bureaucracy, Theja used the mighty pen. She wrote to the Cabinet Ministers about the lack of facilities for the education and self employment of rural women. Theja followed it up by starting sewing centres in these areas. For additional income, she encouraged the production of handicrafts and traditional utility items like mats, baskets and handbags which were made of local raw materials readily available in villages. Sales outlets for these products were found through the Mahila Samithiya network.

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፰0 W4 Pils ārl Life ir Tirgs
Theja was also the editor of "Mahila", Sinhalese magazine of Lanka Mahila Samithiya. It focused on sewing, local arts and crafts, agriculture, indigenous medicine, folklore and literature,
In the 1950s, Theja channelled some of her wealth into the publication of two newspapers, "Triune" (English) and "Triyan" (Sinhalese). Among other political trivia these papers highlighted Corruption in the post independent government and among some of its high ranking officers.
In 1954, "Triune" and Theja captured the headlines of other newspapers, when defamation charges were brought against her for Criticising the activities of Sir Oliver Gunatilleka, H.H. Basnayake, as Attorney General, appeared for the prosecution. The presiding judge WaS (Chief JustİCe Sir Alla Rose.
Theja chose D, N. Prit, a renowned English lawyer, to defend her. After a trailblazing trial where even the late Hon. S. W. R. D., Bandaranaike gave evidence, Thea was acquitted.
About this time people's organisations were formed at nongOWernmental level to promote friendly links between ex-colonialand othereastern countries. Theja was proactive in launching the Afro-Asian and Latin American Solidarity Associations.
She was the founder and first president of the Ceylon-China Friendship Association. These organisations propelled Sri Lanka into a sphere hitherto unexplored. The colonies of European countries were already exposed to Western culture and literature.
Theja drew attention to the far east and their glorious histories, The focus was on Cultural awareness and exchange between associated COUtrieS.
As a later result of such endeavours, in the 1970s quality books with attractive colourful legendary pictures were printed in China, in both the Sinhalese and English languages. They were available at a low price from Aruna Prakasakayo at Maradana.
Theja Was a delegate and diplomat well respected internationally. At heart she was a true Sri Lankan. She supported local industries by using their products. I should mention that Theja always WOresaries made in Sri Lanka although she had the opportunity to buy the best from overseas. She also had a good knowledge of traditional herbs and remedies.

A Mertoire on Thea Gunawardena - A Balm to a Worried Mind 2O75
ABOUT THIS TIME PEOPLE'S ORGANISATIONSWERE FORMEDAT NONGOVERNMENTAL LEVEL TO PROMOTE FRIENDLY LINKS BETWEEN EXCOLONIAL AND OTHER EASTERN COUNTRIES. THEA WASPROACTIVE NLAUNCHING THE AFRO-ASIAN AND LATIN AMERICAN SOLIDARITY ASSOCATIONS, SHE WAS THE FOUNDER ANDFIRST PRESIDENT OF THE CEYLON-CHINA FRIENDSHIPASSOCATION. THESE ORGANISATIONS PROPELLEDSRI LANKAINTO ASPHERE HITHERTO UNEXPLORED. THE COLONIES OF EUROPEAN COUNTRIES WERE AL READY EXPOSED TO WESTERN CULTURE AND LITERATURE THEJA DREW ATTENTION TO THE FAR EAST AND THEIR GLORIOUS HISTORIES. THE FOCUS WASON CULTURAL AWARENESS AND EXCHANGE BETWEEN ASSOCATED COUNTRIES. THE AWASA DELEGATE AND DIPLOMATWELL RESPECTED INTERNATIONALLY AT HEART SHE WAS A TRUE SRI LANKAN. SHE SUPPORTEDLOCAL INDUSTRES BY USING THEIR PRODUCTS.
At an International meeting of Afro-Asian Peoples Solidarity Organisation in Bandung, Indonesia, im 1961.
L-FR.: T. Duraisingam, Theaja Gunawardena.
The Rosicrucians are supposed to be a secret society. It is represented in a book called Farna Fralerrafis des loblichen Ordnungsdes Fosankreuzes, which appeared at Cassel in 1614, as having been formed about 150 years earlier to (among other things) relieve sickness and poverty with gold manufactured by use of the philosopher's stone. Though the literature on the subject is extensive it is doubtful whether such a society existed. The word is used as the title of an order in Freemasonry.

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Theja was an analytical journalist. Her books were written as informative literature, not as means of earning a living or fame. Therefore, most of her books were distributed among interested people. A chronological list of her work portrays a very interesting pattern of thought flow. 'Vanceremus' (Cuba's struggle for freedom),"Whither India-China Relations', '1957 Peace Souvenir", "White Heart for a Green Carpet", "Never Again Will Japan', "Khrushchevism', 'Congo Survives - Operation Great Divide', 'Ravana Dynasty in Sri Lanka-Dance Drama', (Kohomba Kankariya), "Vimukthi (compositions of poetry and prose), "Mystic and Occult Christianity' and "Theosophy and Islam'. She was working on several other books.
In the early 1950s, the Rosicrucian Order of AMORC (Headquarters based in the USA) advertised their philosophical study courses, mostly in the Daily News and Sunday Observer. Several people who were interested responded to it. When the numbers increased to 40 active members, Chapter status was granted. The Colombo Pronaos Chapter in Ceylon was formed in 1955.
A few years later, three women joined the organisation which until then had a membership of only men. They were Viola Perera, Janaki Gunawardena (daughter of Dr. Bandula Gunawardena, a member) and Theja Gunawardena who has been a Theosophical Society member for over ten years.
Most of the Rosicrucians including Theja were also members of the Tri Ratna Lodge, the Co-Freemasonic Chapter in Sri Lanka. During her time she held many offices in all these organisations.
After graduation in the 1930s, Theja followed Wood carving and painting courses at the Technical College in Colombo. Painting became her hobby and relaxation.
It is just as well, Theja held her only painting exhibition two months prior to her passing away. Besides her literary contributions these paintings portray what she believed. Theja wrote to me in July 1994..."I am in the throes of inspired paintings on themes of Christianity, Buddhism, Islam, and Masters of wisdom.... to make my contribution in this new Aquarian age. "She had already Completed two paintings at that time: Vessantara Jataka and Mary Magdalene. She experimented substituting wood for canvas and had the intention of selling the paintings.

A Memoire on Theja Gunawardena - A Balm to a Worried Mind 2077
Theja had a gracious manner veiled in simplicity, a very kind voice, soothing to the ear and a balm to a worried or troubled mind. She always had a cheerful smile. Theja was tall and elegant, calm and unassuming. Hers was a rare personality. She could associate with intellectuals, simple village folk and foreign dignitaries on equal terms. She also had a marvellous sense of . humour and an infectious laugh. Time spent in her company was never easily forgotten.
Theja was always sensitive to the wants, pain and misery of others. She was a patient listener and understood issues in depth. It was this illuminating power of heart and mind that made her approachable to all people.
She reached out to the needy and helped them. On such occasions rank, gender, religion or race faded into oblivion. There was only one human race in Theja's heart and her actions were notivated by a Compassionate love.
After the mid 1950s, Theja lived in Colombo in her ancestral house at Temple Road, Colombo. She had a black Peugeot 203 and attended to her Social Work at Will.
During the past decade, her life-style was different. She faced hardships and ill health. Theja had to depend on public transport and had limited income, yet she carried on regardless, helped the needy the best way she could. When unable to do so, she sought the help of people who could. She rose above the difficulties and considered them not as setbacks but as spring boards. Theja took delight in the company of friends. Surrounded by her vast library, painting accessories and souvenirs, Theja lived her life to the fullest.
May the merits, wisdom and love Theja has gained bring her eternal happiness. offer my memories to her children, Dr. Mohan, Shanthi and Thilak.
Theja is a daughter Sri Lanka can be well proud of. Her achievements and services should be recognized in their true Context.
Courtesy: "Daily News", Colombo, 5th August, 1996.

Page 500
The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung and the idea of JUCHE
The anti-Japanese armed struggle, Organized and Carried Out under the direct command and the wise leadership of Kim Il Sung, is of profound historical importance in the long history of the revolutionary struggle of the people of Korea.
its historical significance lies in the undeniable fact that the struggle developed the anti-Japanese national liberation movement of the Korean people onto a new plane, overthrew the colonial rule of Japan in the process, and finally accomplished the historic cause of national liberation. On this issue, Kim Il Sung had said: "The antiJapanese guerrilla warfare represented an advanced form of struggle which pitted the armed forces of the revolution against those of counterrevolution. It dealt, one heavy blow after another against the Japanese imperialist aggressors, giving forceful encouragement and inspiration to all other forms of mass struggle.... it was not until the period of the anti-Japanese armed struggle that Marxism-Leninism became intertwined with the realities of our country, and the Communist movement with the revolutionary struggle of our people for national and social emancipation". (Kim Il Sung: Selected Works, Korean Edition, Vol. IV, pp. 283-284). A.
On the basis of an overall review and Scientific analysis of the prevailing situation in the country and the experiences of other revolutionary movements, Kim Il Sung laid out a revolutionary line motivated by the great idea of JUCHE. He personally organized and led the anti-Japanese armed struggle taking the idea of JUCHE as his invariable guiding compass. Armed with the idea of JUCHE, the antiJapanese guerrillas waged an indomitable struggle in the revolutionary spirit of self reliance. Speaking many years later, Kim Il Sung had this to say about the place of JUCHE in the Korean revolution: "We are making

The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung...... 2O79
the Korean revolution. As far as the Korean revolution is concerned, Koreans know about it better than anyone else. The masters of the Korean revolution are the Korean people and our own strength is the decisive factor of its victory. No foreigners can prescribe to us what to do about the Korean revolution or carry it out in our stead. In order to make the Korean revolution well, its masters, that is, the Korean people themselves, should use their own brains, solve all problems arising therefrom with their own efforts and settle them in conformity with the interests of the Korean revolution. To establish JUCHE means, in short, to live by your ownsense and your own strength without following others blindly or trying to live on the help of others, and it means to abide by the stand of tackling everything in conformity with your own actual circumstances and in the interests of the revolution of your own Country". (Kim Il Sung: Answers to the questions raised by the General Manager of Dar-elTehrir", Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, DPRK, 1969).
It is necessary to dilate further and in detail about this great idea of JUCHE which is one of the most powerful ideas to come out of the Korean revolution. It may be right to say that the history of the JUCHE idea is the history of the Korean revolution. It was in the first phase of the glorious anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle that the JUCHE idea came into practice although the idea could be fully applied in Korea only after the people assumed power. Kim Il Sung mentions how he Came to form the JUCHE idea:..." must mention two facts which witnessed while was still young. Of what I saw when I was still young, particularly when I was a student, there were two facts that I thought were most unjust. One of them was the fact that the Communists and nationalists, who professed themselves to be engaged in the national. liberation movement of Korea, were divorced from the masses, a few top-level personalities simply playing with words and quarreling, instead of arousing the masses to the actual revolutionary movement. It was essential to organize all the masses to assure success in the revolutionary movement. But those people, isolated from the masses, only scrambled for hegemony and had "theoretical" arguments with each other, claiming his own superiority. Their "theory" was not for the . advancement of the revolution... So I wondered how they could ever bring the revolution to success merely by getting together and indulging in Controversy all the time without developing a mass movement, and

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2080 Possifics ārlid Lsg i'r Our Tres
began to take a critical view of these phenomena. The masters of the revolutionary struggle are the masses, and only when they arise will it be possible to win the struggle... We pondered seriously over it... This led usto attach great importance to JUCHE, to the viewpoint that the masses themselves were the main factor in solving all questions,
"Another fact faced was that there were many factions within the Korean Communist mowerTent at that time. I am not sure Whether this was because of the mysticism of the communist movement or a scramble for power or flunkeyism. But our country had many factions then, such as the M-L group, the Tuesday group and the North Wind Association group. All these factions sent their representatives to the Communist International in their efforts to obtain its recognition. If they conducted the communist movement well, they would be recognized without taking such troubles, However, they formed their own groups by ganging up three or five persons who busied themselves in gaining the recognition of the Communist International, instead of carrying out the revolutionary movements. Each of the groups insisted that it was the only orthodox and genuine Marxist group. As a result, the Korean Communist Party was expelled from the Communist International in 1928, and was finally dissolved. We thought it a disgrace to the Korean nation, if one conducts the revolutionary movement Well, one will be recognized by others withoutgoing to all the trouble of asking for their recognition, is a Communist Party regarded as such only when it has obtained others' recognition? We need not get others' approval before starting our revolutionary movement. We carry it out if we want to. When we do so properly, what does it matter whether others give us approval or not? If only we make revolution well, others will naturally give us recognition". (Kim Il Sung Talk with the Managing Editor of Sekai, Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, DPRK, 1972).
Kim Il Sung goes on to say that it was "these two factors - the serious factional strife in the Korean national liberation and Communist movements and the leadership divorced from the masses - strongly convinced us that we must not carry out our revolution in that way. We keenly felt that we must go among the masses and rely on them in our struggle, that We must solve our problems by our own efforts, and that if we worked well, others' recognition would be out of the question. The two aspects as mentioned above had great impact on the development of

The Korgan anti-Japarrosa Armad Struggle, Kırı7 İL Sung...... 2081
THE ANT-JAPANESE GUERRELLA WAR FARE REPRESENTED AN ADVANCED FORM OFSTRUGGLE WHICH PITTED THE ARMED FORCES OF THE REWOLUTIONAGAINST THOSE OF COUNTER-REVOLUTION. IT DEALT, ONE HEAVY BLOWAFTER ANOTHER AGAINST THE JAPANESE IMPERIALIST AGGRESSORS, GIVING FORCEFUL ENCOURAGEMENT AND INSPIRATION TO ALL OTHER FORMS OF MASS STRUGGLET WAS NOT UNTIL THE PERIOD OF THE ANT-JAPANESE ARMED STRUGGLE THAT MARXSM-LENNISM BECAME INTERTWINED WITH THE REALITIES OF OUR COUNTRY AND THE COMMUNIST MOVEMENT WTH THE REWOLU TONARY STR UĞGLE OF OLUR PEOPLE FOR NATIONAL ANO SOCIAL EMANCIPATION.
疊 區 {{#ifiခြုံငုံး။"j"မ္ဗ}|| ধর্মীণী।
Tr -- {+ ''
W I. Lanin is saan saafgd in ring Carra, Lenin in 1897 with members of the St. Petersburg League of Struggle for the Emancipation of the Working Class.
The COT Tunist International, also known as the Third international in contrast to the First International, founded by Karl Marx in 1864, and the Second International, established in 1889. The Cornintern Was founded on the initiative of the Russian Communist Party in 1919 in order to rally all extreme left-wing Socialists and Communists who disliked the moderating influence of the Second International, Formany years the Comintom encouraged revolution against capitalist governments, but it was dissolved in May 1943, largely as a gesture of goodwill by the U.S.S.R. towards its allies in the Second World War. The Corninfort, 1947-56, took over some of the functions of the Cornintern but operated over a smaller area.

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2082 Politics and Life in Our Times
my revolutionarythinking. From then on we emphasized that the populace are the masters of revolution, and accordingly, we must go among them and that if we step up the revolution of our own Country with our Own efforts in a responsible manner, whether or not recognised by others, we will naturally gain sympathy, recognition and assistance from other countries. We can say that this was the starting point of our JUCHE idea". (Kim Il Sung: "Talk with the Managing Editor of Sekai", Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, DPRK, 1972).
Indeed, the great JUCHE idea gave practical form and contents to the anti-Japanese national liberation movement, and was the guiding philosophy of the anti-Japanese armed struggle. From the moment that Kim Il Sung laid down the JUCHE-motivated revolutionary line, the antiJapanese national liberation struggle in Korea developed rapidly and soon passed on to the stage of armed struggle which is the highest stage of the national liberation struggle process. In this stage, when the armed forces of the revolution meet in encounter the armed forces of COunterrevolution, armed struggle became the reliable method of the antiJapanese national liberation movement, gave forceful impetus to other mass movements in all their kinds and forms, and brought the revolutionary struggle of the Korean people as a whole to the climax of a great mass upsurge. At the same time, the JUCHE-oriented strategy and tactics that were applied by Kim Il Sung in the period of the anti-Japanese revolutionary struggle, resulted for the first time in the total application of the precepts of Marxism-Leninism to revolutionary practices. Eventually, it defeated the ferocious forces of Japanese imperialism, brilliantly accomplished the cause of national liberation, and opened up a broad avenue for the future development of the Korean revolution. In the face of this formidable array of revolutionary doctrine, theory and practice based On the idea of JUCHE and combined with the impregnable will and determination of the Korean people led under the wise leadership of Kim Il Sung, Japan could not stand the slightest chance of success. For the rest of struggling mankind, this unique organic combination of the theory and practice of the communist movement with the revolutionary struggle of the masses for national and social emancipation (that found probably its best expression during the course of the anti-Japanese armed struggle of the Korean people) stands out as a shining example and a beacon light to success.

The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung...... 2083
The historical significance of the anti-Japanese armed struggle waged by the Korean people lies next in the fact that not only the Communists but also the broad sections of the people drawn from all segments of society rallied around Kim Il Sung and thus built up firmly the subjective force of the revolution. From then onwards, the Korean people who had for long groaned in suffering under the heels of brutal repression, came to foresee the sure road ahead to national resurrection, and began to march forward in unity and with confidence in ultimate victory. And from their ranks, there arose the man - the great leader Kim Il Sung-who stood in the vanguard of the revolution, and acted as their guiding star, and who through his political Sagacity and military genius firmly imbued them with the one idea of fighting onto the end for the final victory of the revolution along the revolutionary lines put forth by him, and finally led them to victory.
In later years Kim Il Sung described the situation as follows: "Our fundamental problem was how to get more of the masses to participate in the revolutionary movement... In 1936 we organized the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland and advanced its 10-Point Programme.... At the time we presented a programme for mass unity - that the whole nation must be banded together and all the populace must be united - a programme to form an anti-imperialist, anti-feudal united front against the imperialists and traitors to the nation. This was a most appropriate slogan for our people at that time"... Kim Il Sung then goes on to describe how he continued to put these ideas formed and practiced in the course of the anti-Japanese armed struggle into effect even after liberation. He says: "In the early days after liberation we organized the Communist Party and the Young Communist League. Right after liberation, however, our country had a small working class, and only a few of its members were armed with the Communist ideology, in this situation, if we stuck to the slogans of the Communist Party or the Young Communist League, it could have split the masses and the young people into many groups. We took stock of the situation and realized that the formation of the Communist Party did not conform to the preparedness of the masses. Therefore, we promptly reorganized it into the Workers' Party. We also took the initiative

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intransforming the Young Communist League into the Democratic Youth League that embraced young men and women of all strata. The revolutionary movement and the construction of a country cannot be carried out by the efforts of a few Communists. They must be joined by many youths and progressives. Hence, we desisted from the narrowminded position and reformed our organizations to meet the demands of the realities". (Kim Il Sung: Talk with the Managing Editor of "Sekai", Foreign Languages Publishing House, Pyongyang, DPRK 1972). In a great number of people's revolutionary movements throughout the world, these ideas, emanating in the course of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, have been adopted and successfully put into operation.
The anti-Japanese armed struggle organized and led by Kim Il Sung was in fact no simple struggle for it was carried out in close interaction with and the combination of at least four factors :
(i) the struggle for the founding of the Party; (ii) the struggle for the formation and consolidation of anti
Japanese and anti-imperialist national united fronts; (iii) the adoption of various forms of the anti-Japanese struggle with the segments of the broadmasses drawn from all walks of life participating in it; and (iv) the armed struggle proper which is the highest stage of
revolution. In this process, the Korean people came to be clearly aware of the fact that only the Communists led by Kim Il Sung could become the leading force in the struggle for national independence and for the social emancipation of the Korean people. The interaction and the combination of these fourfactors eventually brought about a consolidation of the worker-peasantalliance in the revolutionary movement in Korea and a materialization of the leadership of the working class. Underthis leadership, there then emerged a united front with all segments of the anti-Japanese forces grouped togetheronacommon revolutionary platform of implacable hostility to the common foe. This was a brilliant strategy the likes of which has rarely been encountered in the annals of history.
Furthermore, the historical course of the anti-Japanese armed struggle graphically showed that the armed struggle-in which the armed forces of Counter-revolution were pitted against the revolutionary armed forces - was the only correct path enabling a determined victory in the

The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim Il Sung...... 2085
anti-imperialist national liberation struggle, and also the only correct road that could lead to the attainment of freedom and national independence. This too had far reaching results.
it laid bare in all its nakedness the real nature of the national reformists Whose efforts for the liberation of the fatherland had in the past consisted in undignified and docile submissions to the enemy; and it completely and thoroughly isolated the ogre of Japanese imperialism, and all other reactionary forces among the masses.
in this manner, the revolutionary forces that had rallied firmly around Kim Il Sung in the period of the anti-Japanese armed struggle came to prevail over the reactionary forces, and grew into a formidable force capable of attaining victorious revolution. The balance of class forces had thus turned resolutely in favour of the forces of the revolution. In addition to this, the subjective force of the revolution that was built up firmly in the period of the anti-Japanese armed struggle furnished a determined guarantee which enabled the attainment of victory in the revolution and Success in the Socialist construction of Korea after the liberation.
The historical significance of the anti-Japanese armed struggle waged by the Korean people under the leadership of Kim Il Sung lies also in the fact that the organizational and ideological foundation for building a Marxist-Leninist Party was firmly prepared in the course of the struggle. On the basis of the experience and lessons of the early communist movement in Korea in 1920s, Kim Il Sung spelt out an original line for the founding of the Korean Communist Party, and pushed it ahead in close combination with the anti-Japanese armed struggle and the anti-Japanese national united front movement. In this process, the organizational core contingents for founding the Party were firmly built up; the unity, the cohesion and the purity of the Communist ranks were ensured; and the mass foundation of the Party firmly laid. An important role in this work was performed by the Association for the Restoration of the Fatherland and its 10-Point Programme. The Programme served as the minimum platform of the Party to be founded by scientifically analysing the line of the anti-imperialist, anti-feudal democratic revolution and its tasks were based on a Marxist-Leninist view of the socio-economic situation and the co-relations among the

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2086 Politics and Life ir7 COLLI r Tirres
classes at that time in Korea. The programme provided the correct aims of the struggle and the correct strategy and tactics for the Communists thus constituting a base for identity in the lines of the Communists and their unity in ideology and action. By recruiting progressive elements of worker and peasant origin into the revolutionary organizations including the guerrilla army, and by making efforts to train them into fine Communists through ideological education and practical struggle, the preparatory organizational and ideological workfor founding a Marxist-Leninist Party could make successful progress under the difficult conditions of the armed struggle. This preparatory work constituted the roots of the Workers' Party of Korea, a revolutionary Marxist-Leninist Party, which was founded after the liberation, and was strengthened and developed in the following years.
Perhaps the factor of the greatest historical significance emerging from the anti-Japanese armed struggle waged under the leadership of Kim Il Sung is the contribution that it has made to the theory and practice of revolution. On this issue, nothing could be better than to quote from the statements of Kim Il Sung himself:
"For a revolution to take place, the subjective and objective conditions must be created for it. Each country's revolution should be carried out to suit its specific realities in which the objective revolutionary situation is created. This by no means signifies that the revolution can develop or ripen by itself. It is always the case that a revolution can be advanced and brought to maturity only through hard active struggle by revolutionaries. If, because revolution is difficult, We just wait for a favourable situation to grow and fail to struggle actively, then the revolutionary forces cannot be developed. Revolutionary forces cannot rise up spontaneously without struggle; they can be fostered and strengthened only through hard struggle. Without preparing for the decisive hour of the revolution, and preserving revolutionary forces from enemy suppression while constantly accumulatling and building them up through positive struggle, it will be impossible to succeed in the revolution, even when the objective situation has been created....Social

The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung....., 2O87
LLLLLLLL LLLLLE LLLLLL0L LLL LLLL LLLKLLLLL LLLLLLLL LLLLLLL KMIL SUNG IN THE PEROO OF THE ANTI-JAPANESE ARMEDO STRUGGLE CAME TO PREVAILOWER THE REACTIONARY FORCES, AND GREW INTO A FORMIDABLE FORCECAPABLE OF ATTAINING WICTORIOUS REVOLUTION. THE BALANCE OF CLASS FORCES HAD THUSTURNED RESOLUTELY IN FAWOUR OF THE FORCES OF THE REVOLUTION, IN ADDITION TO THIS, THE SUBJECTIVE FORCE OF THE REVOLUTION THAT LLLLLL LLLL LLLLLL LL LLL LLLLL LLLL LLLL KLLLLL LLLLLLLL0LLL KLLLL STRUGGLE FURNSHED ADETERMINED GUARANTEE WHICHENAELED THE ATTAINMENT OF WICTORY IN THE REVOLUTION ANDSUCCESSIN THE SOCIALIST CONSTRUCTION OF KOREA AFTER THE LIBERATION.
his
蠶 Mrs. Nageswary Ponniah B. A. (Hons) with her brother Desabandu T. Duraisingar, author of this book. Wice-Principal (Emeritus), Churidikuli Girls' College, Jaffna, Sri Lanka. After retirement Nageswary joined the Ramanathan Tamil Arts Academy and obtained a Diploma in Music and was given the title of "Sangeetha Ratnarn". She also obtained the Diploma in Education from the University of Peradeniya.
Holy QUR-AN, Haji (the Pilgrimage) 5Gr XXYY — S6CfYor] 3.
Allah Will at those Their garments there Who believe and work righteous deeds, Will be of Sik. To Gardens beneath which For they have been guided Rivers flow; they shall be (In this life) to the purest Adored thErgir Wilh bracglets Of spaches; thegy hawe begr Of gold and pears; and Glided to the Path of Hit
Who is Worthy of (all) Praise.

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revolution cannot be achieved as easily as going down a royal road in broad day-light or as smoothly as a boat sailing before the wind.... There may be rough thorny bushes, and turns and twists along the path of revolution, and there may be temporary setbacks and partial sacrifices. To flinch before difficulties and to hesitate in the revolution for fear of sacrifice is not the attitude befitting a revolutionary".
On the tasks of revolutionaries as it came to be defined from the experiences of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, Kim Il Sung has this to say:
"It is the task of revolutionaries of every country to define a scientific careful method of struggle on the basis of a correct assessment of the internal and external situation and a proper calculation of the balance of forces between friends and enemies. They must accumulate and build up the revolutionary forces by cultivating the nucleus and awakening the masses in the trying crucible of the revolution, by unfolding an active struggle and yet circumventing the snags and avoiding unnecessary sacrifices at ordinary times. And it is their task to make full preparations to meet the great revolutionary event. Once the revolutionary situation is created, they should seize the opportunity without hesitation and rise up in a showdown to shatter the reactionary regime".
On the forms and methods of revolutionary struggle, based on the experiences of the anti-Japanese armed struggle, Kim Il Sung has been very explicit in his views :
"The forms and methods of revolutionary struggle are determined not by the wishes of individuals but always by the prevailing subjective and objective situation created and the resistance of the reactionary ruling classes. Revolutionaries should be prepared for all forms of struggle and they should effectively advance the revolutionary movement by properly combining various forms and methods of that struggle - political, economic, violent, non-violent, legal and illegal".
And on the question of armed struggle, Kim Il Sung has Said :
"Counter-revolutionary violence is indispensable to the rule of all exploiting classes. Human history as yet knows no instance of a ruling class submissively turning over its supremacy, nor any instance of a reactionary class meekly waiving its power without resort to Counter

The Korean anti-Japanese Armed Struggle, Kim IL Sung...... 2089
revolutionary violence... Under such Conditions the liberation struggle of the oppressed peoples Cannot emerge victorious without using revolutionary violence to crush foreign imperialists and overthrow the reactionary dictatorial machinery of the domestic exploiting classes that work hand in glove with imperialism. It is imperative to meet violence with violence and Crush counter-revolutionary armed forces with revolutionary armed forces".
These then are some of the important lessons of historical significance that can be derived from the anti-Japanese armed struggle of the Korean people waged under the brilliant leadership of Kim Il Sung. The struggle proved that even a small country can defeat a powerful enemy once it establishes JUCHE, unites the masses of the people, and valiantly wages battle regardless of sacrifice. The successful outcome of the struggle established the fact that imperialism is a moribund force whose days are numbered, whereas the people's liberation struggle is a new force which aspires for the progress of mankind. There may be innumerable difficulties and obstacles in the path of the liberation struggle. But it is the inevitable law of historical development that imperialism is doomed and the liberation struggle of the people is certain of victory. The anti-Japanese armed struggle constituted the opening chapters of the Korean revolution.... a revolution that is a part of the international revolutionary movement and is developing within the orbit of the joint struggle of the peoples of the whole world for peace and democracy and for national independence and socialism. The Korean people fought to realize their causes of national liberation, and on the basis of the experiences gained in their heroic anti-Japanese armed struggle, they are today fighting to accelerate the advancement of the international revolutionary movement as a Whole.
Courtesy: "The Korean anti-Japaness armed Struggle", 1972.

Page 506
Conversion: International Aspects
by Prof. Dr. Lev Voronkov Director, International Institute for Peace, Vienna, Austria.
INTRODUCTION
The sensation of the world entering a qualitatively new era is gradually ripening. The Gulf war drew experts not only to military victory over Iraq, but also to contours and signs of a "new world order", which is emerging and replacing the Cold war confrontation. These contours are still too vague and are being interpreted very differently. Incoherence of view-points here is quite broad.
A "new world order" and its determinants will be the target of special broad-scale and time consuming research projects, which shall address varieties of multipolar, but indivisible world facing new threats and challenges of global scale. New dimensions and criteria of might and influence as well as a future role of military power in international relations should be determined. A special attention should be devoted to trends to "humanization" of both domestic and international politics and to those human values, which could be considered as universal. Full realization and fulfillment of political, social and economic human rights must become the mainstream of this "new World Order".
it will be based not on hostile competition of actors and players in international relations and in domestic politics but on propensity of them to co-operate on the basis of compromises in favor of ensuring their vital interests, entire survival and further progress of human civilization within the framework of evolutionary development of humanity.
The development in this direction will inevitably be accompanied by demilitarization of world politics, and consequently growing actuality of conversion.

Conversion: lnternational Aspects 209
CONTOURS OF A "NEW WORLD ORDER"
Some very complicated conflicts and conflict situations have been or are being successfully resolved in the course of last few years and have become a part of the past: i.e. German unification, creation of independent Namibia, the relaxation of tensions and trends to peaceful settlement of conflicts in Indo-china, Central America, Angola, South Africa, to mention only some of them. Conflicts born in the epoch of East-West confrontation are losing their momentum and gradually exhausting. Simultaneously new and old types of conflicts, which have been contained by the tough EastWest confrontation are emerging and getting, so-called, operational space. One can see these types of conflicts in Yugoslavia, the former USSR, some East European and other countries. In fact, the world is on the eve of possible transformation of the whole pattern of conflicts into a new quality.
it is hardly possible to overestimate the importance of means to be selected for the resolution and settlement of these postconfrontational Conflicts for the Course of future international relations and for the life of human society in general.
For the time being a temptation to cope with these new types of conflicts by traditional means, rooted in the confrontational powerpolicy, is quite strong.
Strict sanctions against Iraq could better serve long-term interests of the international community of states and nations and international peace and security than the undisputable military victory of allied forces, blessed by the United Nations Security Council. The resolution of the conflict through the direct use of military power could leave long-standing impact in our imaginations about the most efficient means of conflict settlement for many years to come.
We are witnessing now the explosive growth of interest in new sophisticated military technologies, which can stimulate further military technological innovations, R and D. In general, this victory can hamper efforts to consolidate mainly political, non-violent and peaceful means of conflict resolution and trends to demilitarization of world politics. Fortunately, this is not the only dimension of the Gulf War's outcome.

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THE SENSATION OF THE WORLDENTERING ACUALITATIVELY NEW ERAS GRADUALLY RIPENING THE GULF WAR DREW EXPERTS NOT ONLY TO MILITARY WICTORY OWER IRAG, BUT ALSO TO CONTOURS AND SIGNS OF A "NEW WORLD ORDER", WHICH IS EMERGING AND REPLACING THE COLD WAR CONFRONTATION THESE CONTOURS ARE STILL TO OVAGUE ANDARE BEING INTERPRETED WERY DIFFERENTLY INCOHERENCE CF VEV-POINTS HERE IS UITE EFICAD,
-
1857” - 925
Sun Yat-san was the leader of the revolutionary MowerTent in China which led to the overthrow of the Manchu dynasty. Sun Yat-sen was born in 1867 at HongSen, Kwantung Province, China, and was the son of a Christian convert. He organised the revolutionary party in 1893, and after many desperate attempts, overthrew the Manchu dynasty, which had ruled China for nearly 300 years. He became first president of the republic. In his efforts to establish a democratic form of government and to put China on a new economic foundation, Dr. Sun led his Kuomintang party incessantly against reactionaries who had once joined the revolutionaries and subsequently deserted them. He died in Peking on March 12, 1925. His most important Writings are : Plans for National Reconstructor, Fundamentals of National Reconstruction, and The thras Principles of the People.
 

Conversion: International Aspects 2093
Within the framework of opposition to Iraqi aggression against Kuwait one could also see elements of new approaches to conflict resolution. The outcome of the conflict helped to realize the importance of overcoming the confrontation and hostile competition between "super powers" and their allies in favour of their Co-operation and even partnership in removing the threat to international security and global peace on the basis of universally recognized norms of international law, not on the basis of ideologically biased approaches,
The UN Security Council and its permanent members (who are the main suppliers of military equipment to the Middle East) have demonstrated ability to reach an agreement in a very sensitive and delicate field and to follow the co-ordinated policy towards the aggressor, including military sanctions,
The declared will of the community of nations not to tolerate the use of force by one state against another has received very important reaffirmation by demonstrating the ability of this community to guarantee this approach in practice. The Gulf War has shown that international police force can work, it has important psychological and symbolic spin-offs, The only probability to be faced with military sanctions, supported and blessed by the Security Council of UN, shall force a potential aggressor to think over the move and to be reluctant to undertake it.
The international community of states and nations should consider whether it is desirable to make this kind of military-political co-operation under the auspices of the UN Security Council permanent or occasional and whether in this connection the Military Staff Committee of UN has to be transformed into a wiable organ.
Positive answers to these questions will diminish a probability of interstate conflicts in future, but cannot prevent them in principle. We have to take into account that direct military actions of the international Community of states and national Will have limited Walue for the settlement of so-called "post-confrontational" conflicts, ethnical disputes, etc.
The outcome of the Gulf war was predetermined neither by "smart weapons" and skillfulness to use them nor by professional qualities of generals, but by such powerful political factor as the unanimity of states opposing Iraq in their determination not to allow Saddam Hussein to benefit from his military action.

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Under these circumstances Iraq was doomed to fail. In fact, the scenario of the Gulf war could be quite different if it would have taken place in times of East-West military confrontation and if the desperate efforts of Iraqi leadership to break the unanimity of antiIraqi Coalition would have succeeded.
Of course, a comprehensive solution in the Middle East, on the one hand, and opposition to the concrete act of Iraqi aggression on the other hand, are problems of different scale. The lines of confrontation in the Gulf war were quite clear-cut. One could easily distinguish good and bad in this case, if one takes international law as a point of departure. To find a balance of interests of all countries and nations having vital interests in the Middle East, as well as in other areas of conflicts, is much more complicated issue, but this is the only way to a comprehensive peace and security in this as well as in other regions to go.
We have also to keep in mind that nowhere peace could be imposed or pressed on by outside forces or actors without political contacts, negotiations and agreements between all sides involved in a conflict. As a rule, the use of military force makes Conflict resolution more difficult to achieve. Only within the framework of broad political dialogue with proper respect to justified interests of all sides involved and to political, social, economic and national human rights there are hopes to find a balance of interests, which could be a reliable basis for a peaceful settlement of a conflict.
it means that procedures of conflict resolution by political, nonviolent means should be maintained and further strengthened. In fact, military and economic sanctions under the auspices of the Security Council of the UN have to be limited by tasks to force a subject of these sanctions to undertake actions which are requested by the Security Council. But they cannot be helpful for comprehensive Settlement of a Conflict. It is reasonable to believe that the role of military operations in efforts to strengthen international security and peace will in the long-term perspective decrease.
Actual efforts to resolve Conflicts in the Middle East and Indo-china constitute first and foremost political means, which are considered as the only way to achieve the goal. On the basis of experiences gained by the international community of states and nations in opposing the Iraqi aggression one can naturally come to the conclusion that the Charter of the United Nations as well as

Conversion: International Aspects 2095
mechanisms and potentials of strengthening international security and peace, contained by the UNO and other inter-governmentaland nongovernmental organizations can be efficiently used in the "post Confrontational" era, when the "Cold War" is over. More active involvement of these organizations into efforts to find political solutions of conflicts will be accompanied by processes of gradual demilitarization of international relations and by growing urgency to Convert military oriented political thinking, economic activities, technological development and understanding of security in terms of military strength and competition into alternative one, based on the philosophy of "Common Security" and new political thinking in multipolar world.
CONVERSION ON AGENDA
A Co-existence of two main approaches reflecting Contradictory philosophies of international security, i.e. the first one, based on military deterrence and Confrontation, and the Second One, based on trust and co-operation, is inevitable within the framework of a transitional period to an alternative security system. But the latter system is growing in momentum and supplanting the practice, psychology and mentality of the military model in governmental policy.
It is quite important to take into account the interdependence between declared political goals of a state, its military policy in peacetime and types of procured armaments. Military policy does not exist for itself, but serves political objectives and strategy of the country's leadership. If these goals are the subject of change the corresponding adjustment of military and military-technological policy to new objectives of the state will inevitably occur. This inter-dependence could also be of opposite nature.
The emergence of nuclear weapons and inter-continental ballistic missiles (just to mention only these breakthroughs in militarytechnological sphere) have exerted the great influence upon political goals of states and their military policy in peacetime as well. These inter-dependences stimulated arms race between East and West in general, and between the "super powers", in particular, along the principle of "action-reaction". Supremacy in the field of armaments of one side could provide another side with considerable political advantages within the framework of the "cold war" competition and Confrontation.

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The current changes in contemporary international relations connected with overcoming the "cold war" and East-West confrontation have already found certain reflection in the foreign policy of many countries of former East and West. Their political objectives are undergoing considerable transformations in favor of partnership in resolution of problems of contemporary world on a co-operative basis. Growing co-operation in resolving conflicts and global problems of humanity is already a matter of everyday practice.
New international realities promote new concepts of security, differing from those, which dominated the period of confrontation.
Military-political, economic, technological, ecological, and humanitarian aspects of international security appear to be closely interconnected and should be considered in their natural diversity. The military political fragment of the problem tends to decrease in value.
Today is more clearthan ever before that, when speaking of security it would not be appropriate to confine oneself to the analysis of the exclusively military political part of the problem. The concepts of security in terms of military power and nuclear deterrence have pushed the World to the verge of self-destruction. The accumulation of military power, which promised to strengthen security, in reality undermined security in many respects. The role of military power in ensuring security requires new approaches.
Now the safe-guarding peace and international Security in the era of interdependence is not a military or technological issue, but political one and can be achieved only by non-violent means.
Almost all goals which in former times could be achieved by the use of military power, are now available by other, non-violent, less expensive and more efficient means, namely by export of capital, economic and political integration and by political means. In this situation, the character and functions of military forces and politics are being transformed. Of course, the military will also play a certain role, but it will probably be limited to what is sufficient for non-offensive tasks, for participation in international peace-keeping operations of the Security Council of UN and, possibly of different regional or even subregional intergovernmental bodies, for police and humanitarian work within and Outside separate states, including functions of flexible response forces in cases of natural disasters and industrial accidents.Taking into account the emergence of new national states (and this process will most probably continue) the creation of their armed forces as an integral part and a manifestation of their sovereignty will inevitably occur.

Conversion: International Aspects 2097
The world is now entering the first stage of diverse and comprehensive process of "converting" the traditionally militaryoriented mentality in international politics and the corresponding institutions, including the entire industrial, scientific, technological and human potential of defence industry and armed forces into new structures which are aimed lo satisfy needs of a civil society. This Conversion will supposedly be accompanied by rearmament of retaining military forces with new types of military ammunition and equipment, adjusted to their new functions.
The bilateral and multilateral negotiations in the field of arms control and disarmament are important elements of a more general process of changing the peace time military policy of different states. A more open Conduct of military activities by separate states a policy of non-offensive defense in military doctrines and a corresponding transformation of military forces and postures should all help to create a favourable atmosphere of genuine trust and encourage mutual and verifiable disarmament. This development is not only desirable, but also necessary and feasible. In fact, this kind of peacetime military policy can be one of the key elements of a more comprehensive process of confidence and security building during the transitional period to a future new world order.
Vienna negotiations on CSBMs and CFE promote increased transparency of military activities and predictability of military policy of major military powers. In times of confrontation one of the most important tasks of different governments for the sake of security of their states was to deter "the enemy" by demonstrating the ability to destroy and defeat rivals. Now the former adversaries are eager to show each other that they do not have any aggressive intentions. "Deterrence" philosophy is gradually being supplanted by increasing transparency of military activities in peacetime, non-offensive doctrines and widening of confidence and security-building measures. These trends have practical implications for interstate relations and are resulted in different agreements in the field of arms control and disarmament, as well as in effort of leading military powers to lessen the burden of arms race (SALT-1, SALT-Il, START, ABM agreements, NPT and INF Treaties, CFE-1, etc. and unilateral reductions of armed forces, military budgets, closure of military bases). There are Solid reasons to believe that chemical Weapons will be soon prohibited and eliminated. All these measures rise the actuality and practical importance of conversion.

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A ''NEW WORLD ORDER" AND ITS DETERMINANTS WILL BE THE TARGET OF SPECIAL BROAD-SCALE AND TIME CONSUMING RESEARCH PROJECTS, WHICH SHALL ADDRESS WARIETIES OF MULTIPOLAR, BUT INDIVISIBLE WORLD FACING NEW THREATS AND CHALLENGES OF GLOBAL SCALE NEW DMENSIONS AND CRITERA OF MIGHT AND INFLUENCE ASWELLASA FUTURE ROLE OF MILITARY POWER IN INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS SHOULD BE DETERMINED. A SPECIAL ATTENTION SHOULD BE DEWOTED TO TRENDS TO "HUMANIZATION" OF BOTH DOMESTIC AND INTERNATIONAL POLITICS AND TO THOSE HUMAN VALUES, WHICH COULD BECONSIDEREDAS UNIVERSAL, FULL REALIZATION AND FULFILLMENT OF POLITICAL SOCAL AND ECONOMIC HUMAN RIGHTS MUST BECOME THE MAINSTREAM OF THIS "NEW WORLD ORDER".
.r | , "י "הש{A Hi *** Group photograph taken of President Sun Yat-sen
with his revolutionary comrades in the year 1920,
After the revolution of 1911, Sun Yat-sen formed the Kuomintang Party; later, as Communism became a rising force, the right wing split away under Chiang Kaishek in 1927, while Mao Tse-tung organized and led the left-wing marxists, but when Japan invaded China in 1937, the two factions agreed to a trucepending victory over the invaders. After Japan's defeat in the Second World War in 1945, and in China 1946, Civil war broke out; despite Soviet recognition and substantial aid from U. S. A. the Kuomintang Iost ground to the communists. Mao Tse-tungset up the People's Republic in 1949, and Chiang Kai-shek sought refuge in 1950 in Taiwan (Formosa), whence his party continues to claim authority,
 

Cor 7 versorT. Integrafio la Aspects 2099
Taking into account the interplay between military technological innovations and political aims of different states it is now wery important to prevent breakthroughs in the military-technological sphere, which could have a destabilizing effect on contemporary international relations and create considerable obstacles to further development towards demilitarization of World politics, Some official representatives of delegations to the conference on Security and Confidence-Building Measures emphasized the importance of the new weapons and arms procurement control to be included in the agenda of future CSBMs negotiations." In this connection the problem of converting military research and development to civil purposes is getting to be more actual. Ways of overcoming unjustified secrecy barriers in the technology exchange between military and civilian spheres, dual purpose technologies, maintaining quality of civilian production in Converted enterprises, Ways of stimulating non-military research at military-industrial companies, opportunities for expanding and improving the use of "spin-offs" mechanisms in the process of conversion - here are only a small part of problems to be addressed within the framework of conversion of military oriented R and D into more civilian Oriented.
Taking into account what has been said above one can conclude that already now we can see quite clear moves towards demilitarization of world politics and politicalization of military activities. These trends, if further developed, will make the problem of Conversion of increased importance on the global level as well as on the level of concrete enterprises, labs, companies, institutions, local communities, etc.
A prominent feature of the second half of the 1980s - beginning of the 1990s - was an increased interest in conversion. The progress achieved at talks on nuclear and conventional Weapons reductions, disarmament measures undertaken unilaterally and multilaterally by a number of Countries and the good prospects for new agreements in the field of arts control have raised the need, nationally and internationally, to extend Conversion studies and to provide action-oriented di SCLussion on the practical aspects of Conversion.
The International Institute for Peace (IIP) in Wienna has initiated the international research project "Conversion; new challenges and experiences" in 1990. Within the framework of the project the IPseeks to compile and Compare national conversion experiences and thus to

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promote both the international exchange of knowledge and to encourage new international and national Conversion measures. It is also essential to analyze the initial economic, social and political Consequences of the Conversion process as well as medium and long-term effects.
THEORY AND PRACTICE OF CONVERSION
There are a broad variety of Conceptual approaches to conversion: e.g. from strict economic approaches interms of adjustment of economic activities to the changing conditions on the market to concepts of conversion as overal process of demilitarization of international and domestic politics in context of comprehensive transformation of contemporary human society into a civilian one.
Conversion is neither technical, organizational nor ideologically biased problem. It is now one of the basic problems of human society, be it post communist or capitalist, as well as of international community of states and nations gradually transforming into multipolar world facing with global challenges.
But one cannot ignore that this problem is being manifested differently in countries with market economy in comparison with those countries which bear burden of traditions of centrally-planned economy. One can hardly neglect peculiarities of countries having highly developed military industrial complexes in comparison with those which do not possess this disadvantage. There are also lots of differences between countries belonging to military-political alliances (now or informer times) and neutral and non-allied Countries, between industrialized Countries in comparison with the less industrially developed or the "Third World" Countries. Military policy of states is very much dependent on types of political regimes, levels of development of democracy and democratic institutions, on the role of military establishment in decision-making procedures, etc. The real existing interdependences between states is manifested also in quite deep integration of civilian branches of economy of States not possessing highly developed military-industrial Complexes into international networks of armaments production. One could refer in this connection to dependence of American producers of armaments On Japanese deliveries of electronic spareparts, which have been very clearly demonstrated during the Gulf war. But inspite of lots of differences between countries in respect of conversion, there are also similarities of these processes as well as some international aspects of conversion, which are equally important for all countries.

Conversion: International Aspects 2101
in times of East-West Confrontation Conversion Was more theoretical than practical option. Discussions on Conversion took the form of ideologically biased approaches with the aim to demonstrate advantages of One social system in comparison with another. In fact, these theoretical Concepts of conversion were apart of global ideological warfare, lacking practical value (with some exceptions) as far as conversion itself was concerned. The dominating idea of these concepts, proposed by experts both from states with centrally-planned economies and from states with market economies, is constituted by the possibility to have quite smooth and problem-free conversion under conditions of corresponding social order.
Representatives of states with centrally planned economy tried to convince public opinion in the West that the system of central planning and distribution of financial, natural and other resources would transform the process of Conversion into reallocation of available resources by the central authorities. It should reform militarily-oriented economy into civilian one because under conditions of socialist society all kinds of goods could be produced only in accordance to the state plan. Theoretically, this kind of conception could look like reasonable and feasible, but this simplified Conceptual design does not work in practice. Representatives of countries with market economies tended to believe that economic adjustment of enterprises to changing economic environment is an everyday practice of economic life under conditions of competition on the market and that is why conversion would also follow this practice and would not constitute any special problem. These theories do not, take into account that the market of armaments differs considerably from the market of civilian goods. This specific market experiences considerable influence of military-political decisions taken by national and international authorities. Not only pure economic competition, but also different laws, adopted by national parliaments, fluctuations of military-political situation in the world as well as other political factors could leave the mark on the conjuncture in the market of armaments. It means that the struggle for "a place under the sun" on the market of armaments involves different instruments and means in Comparison with Competition of civilian goods on the market.
Under these conditions it is not enough to speak about conversion in terms of only economic adjustment to the changing conditions on the market. The disadvantages of such approach should be taken into account by authorities of former socialist countries while elaborating programs of conversion on the basis of transformation of the centrally planned economy through privatization to the market economy,

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lf we would like to address problems of conversion in an efficient way we must deal with Concrete sets of problems which are emerging in practice.
Problems of Conversion seem to be different in Scale and substance informer socialist countries, on the one hand, and capitalist Societies, on the other. But there is also much in Common as far as the nature of problems they are faced with is concerned. Let me mention only some of them:
Security considerations as a problem or obstacle for the Current processes of Conversion; Stabilizing and destabilizing impact of conversion on overall economic processes; Economic distortions and disproportions caused by a militarized economy and thereby normalizing the functioning of both national and international economic affairs;
the economy; Redistribution of financial, human and material resources between the civilian and military spheres; Social, financial and other problems related to a reduction in the size of the armed forces and the manufacture of armaments; Feasibility of military to civil technological transfer and conversion of arms production equipment; Different principles and factors of organization and operation of military and civilian markets; Placing military plants on a market footing; Specific features of conversion, at the factory level (the choice of alternative products, assessment of required investments, restructuring of co-operative links, etc.); Correlation between centralized and decentralized elements in implementation of Conversion; Correlation between national and international efforts in conversion processes, etc.
The human society is now faced with the need to convert military Oriented entities into civilian Ones. It will OCCur earlier or later, but the price of conversion in terms of social, economic, ecological, technological, political and moral losses and disadvantages could vary

Conversion: International Aspects 2103
considerably. It means that we need to find the most efficient and effective ways of developing and maintaining conversion processes. Sharing experiences gained by different countries in the field of conversion should be an integral part of these processes.
Taking into account the deep impact of political and military political factors on the market of armaments the internationally coOrdinated efforts to facilitate Conversion should be also elaborated. Conversion must be the object of domestic policy of national governments correlated with the actions of the international community of states and nations promoting conversion.
INTERNATIONAL CO-OPERATION IN CONVERSON
it is clear that failure of conversion programmes could be resulted in negative social, economic, technological and other Consequences, which in their turn will incite public opinion against arms control and disarmament and complicate the process of demilitarization of world politics. Such an outcome could have longstanding impact on the further development of contemporary international relations.
Under existing conditions separate countries are trying to resolve quite complicated and costly problems of conversion by means of national domestic policy. But we should recognize that the real roots of these problems lie in the field of international relations. That is why international co-operation in promoting and facilitating conversion must become the indivisible element of the move towards demilitarization of world politics. The first signs of the emerging international cooperation in this field could be seen in bilateral agreements of some East-European countries and the USSR with the United States, France, Germany and other countries on promoting conversion.
it is clear that further improvement of political atmosphere and confidence, enlargement of transparency of military activities on multilateral basis and reconstruction of military doctrines in the direction of non-offensive defence with corresponding changes of armaments procurement and other political and military-political measures of international nature are necessary preconditions for Successful Conversion.
It is hardly possible to succeed in this field if the problems of arms trade and armaments transfer to the "third World" Countries will not be included in the framework and addressed in a proper way.

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Problems of conversion should become the target of international negotiations not only on bilateral but also on multilateral levels. It Will be a clear indication of the successful move front arms Control and disarmament talks of the confrontational era, connected With accumulated heritage of distrust and suspicion, towards a new type of negotiations, based on co-operative efforts in the spirit of trust and Common security to resolve Jointly problems following from the processes of destilitarization. In fact, the decision of ATerican administration of George Bush to use part of the USA's military budget for the assistance to the former USSR in eliminating nuclear weapons, as well as participation of NATO in providing humanitarian assistance to the republics of the former Soviet Union are clear indication, that the time is already ripe to the change of the character of negotiations in the field of news control and disarmanent.
All participating states should be interested in lessening the burden of arms race, extracting so-called "peace dividend" and using it efficiently. But until now international talks in the field of arts control and disarmament as well as the existing agreements on the matter do include neither problems nor provisions, connected with conversion, Internationally accepted programs or projects in this field could be supplementary to national efforts, pro vilding them with additional opportunities of Conversion and with possibilities to make it more efficient, One can point out, for example, international projects in the wital fields of ecology, Communications, space exploration, energy, information, just to mention some of them, which could give alternative employment for the people working in the military-oriented labs and projects,
Provisions, concerning conversion, if being included in agreements Or arts Control and disarmament, could be correlated with Verification, schedule of arms reduction, arms procurement and production, etc.
Conversion could become a new field for confidence and Security-building measures providing additional opportunities to Overcorne unnecessary elements of secrecy and to use militarytechnological achievements in civilian economy, if it will become a part of day-to-day practice the COCOM regulations will not any more be an obstacle to further development of international co-operation in the economic field.

Conversion. International Aspects 2105
THE DECLARED WILL OF THE COMMUNITY OF NATIONS NOT TO TOLERATE THE USE OF FORCEBY ONESTATE AGAINSTANOTHER HAS RECEIVED VERY IMPORTANTREAFFIRMATION BY DEMONSTRATING THE ABILITY OF THIS COMMUNITY TO GUARANTEE THIS APPROACH IN PRACTICE. THE GULF WARHAS SHOWN THAT INTERNATIONAL POLICE FORCE CAN WORK. IT HAS IMPORTANT PSYCHOLOGICAL ANO SYMBOLIC SPIN-OFFS. THE ONLY PROBABILITY TO BE FACED WITH MILITARY SANCTIONS, SUPPORTED AND BLESSED BY THE SECURITY COUNCIL OF UN, SHALL FORCE A POTENTIALAGGRESSOR TO THINK OWER THE MOVE AND TO BERELUCTANT TOUNDERTAKET.
WWA PWOW 849 - 1935 The Great Russian Scientist and Physiologist
During the last thirty-five years of his life Pavlov's work centered almost oxclusively around higher nervous activity (behaviour) and the conditioned reflexes which he developed as a method of scientific investigation. The theory of conditional reflexes gave a material aspect to the whole problem of the brain and the psychic problem; it brought them within the field of experimental investigation. Man, who was proud of his knowledge of nature and of her physical, chemical and even organic Tanifestations, paled before the endless complexity of phenomena revealed to him when he approached the problem of mental activity. There is no reason to doubt the truth of Pavlov's statement to the effect that the human brain is the most intricate structure in the World.

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intensification of co-operation in different vital fields between East and West could create additional opportunities for alternative employment of materials and human resources involved now in activities of military-industrial complexes.
There are also quite broad possibilities to support and promote national efforts in conversion on international level. One can mention, for example, such measures as exchanges of national experiences on conversion on bilateral and multilateral levels in the national, regional and local framework, creation of informational netWorks and banks of information in the field of Conversion, international and national research projects supported or initiated by international governmental and non-governmental organizations, elaboration of programs for promotion of conversion within the framework of regional and global economic entities like IMF, EBRD, European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, etc.
Such topics as the impact of conversion on third world nations and on terrorist activities Worldwide and other related matters should be addressed too.
The conversion of military-oriented economic enterprises, security thinking and conflict resolution is not only and exclusively a matter of separate states, governments within the framework of their domestic policy, but the challenges to the international community of states and nations. It must become a target for international co-operation on the way to a "new world order".
Footnotes:
1. "Peace and the Sciences", June 1991, pp 7-8.
2. The outline of the project is published in the quarterly "Peace and the Sciences",
March 1991, pp.39-42, issued by the iP.
3. "Peace and the Sciences", December 1990, pp. 44-46 and July 1990, pp. 29-31.
4. "Peace and the Sciences", December 1990, pp. 44-46.
Courtesy: "Peace and the Sciences", Vienna, Austria, December, 1991.

CHAPTER 22
Some Articles on Spiritual Matters
Time is God
by Bhagavan Sathya Sai Baba
"Time is God. You should not waste time. Fill your time with good thoughts and good actions", observed Bhagavan Baba, in His New Year message to a vast gathering of devotees On January 1, 1991. Bhagavan said that there was no meaning in listening to discourses if, as a result, there was no change in their lives.
Bhagavan, who delivered His discourse in the Prasanthi Mandir, began with a poem on the power of Time.
All things happen according to the dictates of Time, Both good and bad depend on Time, Prosperity and poverty likewise depend on Time, Time is the determinant of all things, There is none who is not subject to Time, In this entire world; that's the Truth.
Enbodiments of the Divine Atnal
Time is the embodiment of God. Hence, Time is called "Samvatsara" (year). The sages have described God as "Kaalaroopaaya" (the embodiment of Time).
by God. Hence, God is characterised as "Kaalagarbha" (the One who holds Time in the womb). Sages have also described Him as "Dheerothama" (Supreme among the valiant). The term "Dheera" should not be understood as meaning one who is a great intellectual or highly intelligent person. "Dheera" is the appellation given by the Vedato a man who turns his intelligence ("Dhee") towards God.
The word "Kaalam" (Time) is derived from Kaa + alam. This means that God, embodiment of Time, is the One who rewards people according to their deserts. God does not submit to Worldly offerings, worldly authority or worldly power. He responds only to spiritual aspirations.

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In the world, we are continually experiencing the same round of days and nights. You perform the same ablutions and indulge in the same process of filling the stomach. Thus you go on from year to year. But what efforts are you making to lead a purposeful and ennobling life? You are going through the same mill of experiences again and again, doing the same things again and again. If you go on in this way, what is the worth of your life? What is the goal of life? What is its primary purpose? Few care to enquire into this basic question.
Hence what we have to examine is how can we lead an ideal, bliss-filled, spiritually-oriented life which will serve as an example to others. People are engaged in spiritual exercises (sadhana). But when the outcome of these exercises is examined, it is found to be without meaning. All these exercises are purely designed to provide some sort of mental satisfaction and nothing
Ore.
in my view, neither Sadhana (spiritual endeavour) nor Sadhyam (fulfilment) exists independently and apart from each other. Sadhana and Sadhyam are one and the same. It is a trick of the mind to make Sadhana as the means to Sadhyam (the Goal). True Sadhana consists in giving up the "anaatma bhava" (the idea that one is not the Spirit but the physical body). To turn the vision from the physical to the spiritual constitutes real Sadhana.
Today, we have knowledge of many sorts in the world. All these categories of knowledge do not constitute what is regarded as Jnana (in Vedantic parlance). "Atmajnana" (knowledge of the Spirit) alone is true knowledge. Ordinary knowledge may be knowledge of material objects, sensory knowledge, or any other kind of knowledge acquired by investigation. But none of these can be Atmajnana (Self-knowledge). In the highest sense "Atma" (the Spirit) and "Jnana" are not two different things. They are one and the same. That is why the Vedas declared: "Sathyam, Jnanam, Anantham Brahma". (Brahmam is Truth, Jnana, the Infinite). Truth, Jnana, Infinity and Brahmam are all different names for the OmniSelf (Paramatma). They are synonymous. They are not different from each other.

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JNANA AND BHAKT
What is "Jnana"? The awareness of One's real nature ("Swaswaroopa") is true knowledge. Devotion is the means to achieve oneness with this knowledge (when Self-knowledge becomes one with the Self). Jnana implies freedom from all thoughts. The Jnana Marga (the path of Knowledge) calls for the Control of thoughts by appropriate efforts.
Whether one takes to the Jnana-Marga (the path of Knowledge) or the Bhakti Marga (the path of Devotion), the resulting illumination is the same. For instance, the light of the sun is reflected by the moon. The light from the sun is warm and effulgent. When the same light is radiated by the moon, it is cool and soothing. It is the same light that is present in the sun and the moon. The principle that illumines both the sun and the moon is the Spirit (Atma-tatwa). The sun's light has been compared to Jnana and the moon's light to Bhakti. Jnana is effulgent, while Bhakti (Devotion) is blissful. Thus Bhakti and Jnana are the beginning and the end of the same process.
In the phenomenal world, we recognise three entities, the doer, the act of doing and the goal of the action (Kartha, Karma, Kriya). This is characteristic of devotion. The Sadhaka (spiritual aspirant) is the Kartha (doer). The Sadhana (spiritual exercise) is the Karma (what he does). Getting the vision of the Divine is the goal ("Kriya"). The same process is described as Jnana (knowledge), Jneya (that which is to be known) and Jnatha (the knower). In the highest sense all these are one. They appear in three different forms at different stages.
People are carried away by what they imagine are their spiritual experiences in their Sadhana. But what they should really seek is the giving up of the attachment to the non-spiritual ("Anaatmabhaava"). You should not rely on the power and pelf of the world. God accepts only what comes from a pure heart. He does not yield to any mundane offerings. There is a historical illustration for this.
PARVATHl'SPENANCE
Both in the Vishnupurana and the Sivapurana, Parvathi is described as the most beautiful goddess. Conscious of her own exceptional charms, Parvathi desired to win Siva as her spouse. But all her efforts proved fruitless. Learning a lesson from this experience and

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MANIFEST THE POWER THAT LIES INSELF-EXERTONI DO NOT RESORT TO THE WEAKSTRATAGEM OF IMITATING OTHERS, INSTEAD, ABSORB THE GOOD CUALITIES THATOTHERS MAYPOSSESS, WE PLANTA SEED IN THE SOIL THEN, WESUPPLY IT WITH THE INGREDIENTST NEEDS - WATER, AIR MANURE. THE SEEDSPROUTS: TGROWSINTO ASAPLING;ITBECOMES ATLAST A HUGE TREE, YOU WILL NOTICE THAT T DOES NOT BECOME EITHER SOIL, OR MANURE ORAIR, ORWATER. THESE IT MAKESUSE OF; BUT, IT STICKS TOTS OWN NATURE AND GR
鹦
T Bhagavan Sri Sathya Sai Baba LaLCO L aH HLGLLLLL LLLLL a HMGLCLLLLS SLLLLL Y LLeLL amCH Love along can win the Grace of God and marge in man. Parwath's Penance: "What is the inner Teaning of this episode? Nature is symbolic of Parvathi. It is exceptionally beautiful. Feeling proud about its charms, it seeks to attract everybody. As it succeeds in its attractions its ego rows, Man who is a child of Nature, also develops the ego and leads a life illed with egoism. The ego gets puffed up on the basis of knowledge, physical strength, power and position, handsome looks and such other accomplishments. Even the pride of scholarship takes one away from God. Persons filled with such conceit can newer realise God. Only those free from self-conceil can be God-realised souls. Walmiki, Nanda, Kuchela, Sabari, Widura, and Hanuman are examples of devotees who realised God, but who could boast of no great lineage, wealth or scholarship. Their supreme quality was freedom from ego. Hanuman, for instance, was content to describe himself as a servant of Rama, despite his great prowess and knowledge", Sa Baba
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shedding her ego, she embarked on a severe penance, Facing the rigours of heat and cold, wind and rain, she allowed her body to waste away by her penance. Her mind was solely concentrated on Siwa. Seeing that she had completely got rid of her ego, Siva agreed to accept Parwathias one half of himself ("Ardhaangini").
What is the inner meaning of this episode? Nature is symbolic of Parvathi. It is exceptionally beautiful. Feeling proud about its charms, it seeks to attract everybody. As it succeeds in its attractions its ego grows, Man who is a child of Nature, also develops the ego and leads a life filled with egoism. The ego gets puffed up on the basis of knowledge, physical strength, power and position, handsome looks and such other accomplishments. Even the pride of scholarship takes one away from God. Persons filled with such conceit can never realise God. Only those free from self-conceit can be God-realised souls. Walmiki, Nanda, Kuchela, Sabari, Widura, and Hanuman are examples of devotees who realised God, but who could boast of no great lineage, Wealth or scholarship. Their supre The quality was freedom from ego. Hanuman, for instance, was content to describe himself as a servant of Rama, despite his great prowess and knowledge.
All the accomplishments and acquisitions in this world are transient and impermanent; lured by them, men get inflated and ultimately court ruin. Hence, giving up the notions of one's own doership, man must regard God alone as the doer. He is the giver, He is the recipient and He is also the object that is given.
ACTIONS AND RESULTS
Time is the very form of God. Birth and death are encompassed by Time. Everyone, therefore, should regard Time as Divine and utilise it for performing sacred actions. You should not waste a single moment. Time wasted is life Wasted,
The fruits of your actions are determined by Time, All your experiences are the results of your actions, whether it is happiness or Sorrow, affluence or poverty, Hence, good and bad depend on what you do. As are your actions, so are the fruits thereof. The way you utilise your title determines the Outcome.

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GOD AND THE YUGAS
Hence, this new year, which is a form of the Divine, should be put to right use. You have heard about the four aeons called Krita Yuga, Tretaa Yuga, Dwaapara Yuga and Kali Yuga. These are not distinct from each other. The divisions are based on experiences. Whether it be Kritayuga or Kaliyuga, it has no separate form. According to the Conduct of the people at the time, the name is given for the Yuga. Even during Kritayugathere were people filled with attachments and aversions. There are even in Kaliyuga people wedded to truth and leading virtuous and peaceful lives. For all Yugas, God is the origin. Hence one of the names bestowed on God . is "Yugaadi" (One from whom the Yuga begins). The Yugaadi festival is celebrated for this reason. Everything is a manifestation of the Divine. Not realising this, man becomes elated when he gets something and feels depressed when he loses something. You should develop the state of equanimity which leaves you unaffected by gain or loss.
WHTE AND BLACK
Once a King summoned an assembly to find out who is the most intelligent person. He posed a question before the gathering: What is the whitest thing in the world? What is the blackest? There were varied replies from the intellectuals in the assembly. One said, it is milk, another cotton, yet another the sky, and so on. There was one great devotee in that gathering. When questioned by the King, he said, "I am not a learned or intelligent person. Whatever little intelligence possess is a gift from God. All the intelligence that every person has, comes from God. There are some who misuse that intelligence and others who make good use of it". Then, after offering a prayer to God, he declared: "The day is whiter than all things, the night is blacker than all other things. This is what is evident in this world. Day is white, night is black. All our lives are passed through this procession of days and nights, of white and black. Who is the one who has overcome this cycle of days and nights? Only God. The combination of white and black is described as one day. The one who has conquered this cycle is God. The difference between day (dinamu) and God (daivamu) is that for God there is neither day nor night while they exist for the world". He concluded: "Only God can give men the grace by which they can transcend day and night".

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All the Scholars present in the assembly felt outraged by the impudence of an unlettered man coming forth to give an answer to the King's question. Arrogance of other types can be subdued, but the arrogance of scholars (Pandits) cannot be easily put down. This is the basic malady of scholars. They study any number of books and are steeped in bookish knowledge. But they do not practise even a fraction of what they know, with the result that only their ego gets inflated. The scholars approached the King and said: "You should not take this illiterate man at his word. He must be asked to furnish the proof for his statement. In the world today, proof is required for anything in any field".
The King thereupon asked the devotee to provide the proof for his statement. The latter asked for one day's interval to furnish the proof. He also stipulated that during that period, no one should question or oppose anything he did or restrain his movements in any way. The King granted him his two requests and announced that no one should interfere with the movement or actions of the devotee in the palace or elsewhere. The next day, the King was resting in the palace after lunch. The devotee filled a cup with milk and placed it at the threshold of the King's bed-chamber. He then brought a sucking infant near the door and went on beating it, thereby making it cry so loud that the King's nap was disturbed. The King got up in a rage and came out of the door to ascertain who had the temerity to disturb his siesta. As he stepped out, he knocked down the cup of milk. He could not see the milk-Cup.
The devotee told the King: "Because the day is brighter and whiter than the milk, you could not see the milk. Oh King, if milk is the whitest object, how is it you could not see it? The whiteness of the milk is less than that of the day. Daylight is whiter than milk. You have to accept this fact". The devotee added: "The stars are present in the sky during daytime also. But they cannot be seen because of the powerful light of the day. When night descends, the stars become visible".
The whiteness of day represents Jnana (the higher knowledge). The darkness of night represents Ajnana (ignorance). Divinity transcends both knowledge and ignorance. Forgetting the Divine, people are immersed in the experience of the things of the world. The Divine can be experienced only through the Divine.

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God is described as "Sat-Chit-Ananda". "Sat" is truth."Chit" is supreme knowledge (Paripurna Jnana). When Sat and Chit come together, there is Ananda, Divine Bliss. If you separate Truth and Knowledge, you cannot experience Bliss. Truth may be compared to sugar. "Chit" (Jnana) may be Compared to Water. As long as Sugar remains Sugar and water as water, you don't experience anything Special. But When the two are brought together you have a syrup, an enjoyable Sweet drink (paanakam). Likewise, only when "Sat" and "Chit" come together Ananda (bliss) is experienced. Truth (Sat) can be attained only through Truth. Knowledge (Chit) can only be acquired through knowledge. Bliss can be experienced only through bliss. The Divine as the embodiment of knowledge can only be realised through Jnana (the path of Knowledge). What is Jnana (the Supreme Knowledge or Wisdom)? It is to know your own true self. That is true knowledge. Self-knowledge is Self-realisation. Constant contemplation on the Self is the means of experiencing the direct vision of God. What is the Self? That is the Atma. When you refer to the "I", that is the Self. Who is this "I"? Is it the body? Or is it the mind? Or the intellect (Buddhi)? Or the Atma (Indwelling spirit)? When you enquire into this question, you realise that the Atma alone is "I".
Wherefrom has the Atma come? The word "Nara" (man) means Atma. It is the Atma that permeates the sky and everything else. Hence, the sky and other basic elements were called "naaraas" (Naaramulu). The one who is the source of these elements is described as Narayana. The man who is constituted by the five elements is Divine (Narayana). "Atma" means that which is filled with biss. You cannot Secure this bliss from the things of the world. All the pleasures you experience are fleeting.
STATES OF CONSCIOUSNESS
You can experience bliss only when you have overcome the processes of the mind. When is this possible? it is in the Sushupti(deepsleep) state. "Sushupti" is described as the causal form ("Kaaranaswaroopa"). Jagrata (the waking state ) is the bodily form. Swapna (the dream state) is the subtle (Sookshma) form. Sushupti (deepsleep state) is the causal form. When the reasons for action and the actual actions are forgotten, the causal body alone exists. These states of Consciousness have to be grasped only through enquiry. If you want to Control the mind, you have to engage yourself in good deeds. As you go

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on doing good deeds, you develop good thoughts, and feelings. "As you think, so you become". When you have good thoughts, you acquire true understanding of the real. The reflections may change, but the object itself does not change.As for instance, the sun's reflections in a moving stream, or a still lake, or amuddy pond may vary, but the Sun itself remains the same. Your body is like a vessel. Your mind is the fluid in it. The Atma that is reflected in it is an image. The image is clear, unsteady or muddy according to the state of the mind. Most people cannot easily understand these spiritual truths.
MOVING AND UNMOVING
Vedanta, for instance, has declared: "Acharam charameva cha" ("The One who is non-moving is also moving"). This means that He is both unmoving and the moving object. How is one who is non-moving to be described as moving? And how is one who is moving to be described as unmoving? There is an apparent contradiction in this statement: "God is unmoving; He is also moving". The Vedanta has given a beautiful explanation for this. In the dream state, we experience ourselves in all kinds of movements. But the body that is seen in the dream as moving is in fact lying motionless on the bed. The physical body is motionless. The body in the dream is moving. Both the bodies are one and the same. In one state of Consciousness it is still and in another it is moving.
Vedanta declares that in the physical state, there is movement but in the Brahmic state, there is steadiness. Hence, the purpose of Dhyana (meditation) is to achieve the Brahmic state of steadiness. Vedanta has revealed many such profound truths. For instance, when aperson is asked, what is his dwelling place, he may give a particular address in a particular area. But aCCOrding to Vedanta, the true dwelling place of everyone is God. Likewise, people may describe themselves in terms of their caste or community. But all these are only worldly attributes, useful for worldly purposes. All the physical distinctions are not fundamental. The basic reality is the Atma in everyone. The Vedas have described all as "children of Immortality". People talk about the spirit, but behave in a mannar that belies their belief. There should be unity in thought, word and deed. To achieve this triple unity, one has to understand the truth about the Spirit (Atma).

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INTHE EASTERNCOAST OFSRI LANKALIES THE TOWN OF TRINCOMALEE WITH ITS HARBOUR THE FIFTH LARGEST IN THE WORLD CAPABLE OF BERTHINGA HUNDRED SHIPS. THE NAME TRINCOMALEE IS DERIVED FROM THETAMIL NAMETHIRUKONAMALA, AS THE TRINCOMALEETOWN ISSURROUNDED BY THREE HILLS, WHICH LOCATION IS THE THREE CORNERS OF A TRIANGLE (THIRIKONAMINTAMIL). ONE OF THE HILLS IS THE KONESAR MALAI, (SWAMY RocK). ON THIS HILL LIES THE HISTORICALHINDUTEMPLE OF GODSIWA - THEKONESWARAMTAMPLE,
Koreas wara Terriple (Swartiny Rack - Trincon77alog)
ACCording to ancient stone inscriptions which were preserved at the Portugese museum in Lisbon, the original temple was built by the King "Manurajah" or Manikarajah in 1300 B.C., who ruled Ceylon during that period. Before the original KOneSWara TnTemple was destroyed by the Portugese Captain Constantine Tissa in 1624 the Portugese hawe taken a drawing of the temple which has been preserved in the Lisbon Museum. This drawing was procured by Dr. Balendra who was taking a very keen and devoted interest in the temple and its activities during the 1950s. The present Temple which you see in this photographic picture Was completed in 1981 with the inauguration of the Kumbapishekam Ceremony during the Maha Siwarathiri. After 1983 a lapse of 17 years the Maha Siwarathiri Festival was celebrated during the month of early March 2000.
- ATIrlaling Shiplr,
 

FTE 5 GDI 2117
This Atma is Time and Time is God. Therefore, you should not waste time. Fill your time with good actions. There is no greater Sadhana tham this, Sanctify the time given to you by g00[] thoughts and g00d actions. For this, you need to cultivate the company of the good, which will in due course lead you to liberation. Fill your mind With thoughts of God. Engage yourself in godly actions. This is true sadhana.
People claim to spend hours in meditation. But of what use is it if there is no concentration of mind? It is better if you engage yourself in your regular duties or render social service or participate in bhajans. By these means try to bring the mind under control. Also, such Work will be transformed into worship. Dedicate all your thoughts and actions to God. "Sarwa Karma Bhagavatprityartham" ("All actions are done to please God"). Then your acts get purified.
If you Want to experience God, you hawe to do it through your duties and actions, This is not so easy. You have been listening to me for Thany years. You take down notes and listen to tape records. Has there been the slightest change in you? Such is your life. Only when some change takes place in you, that alone is the fruit of your sadhana, You go on spending your days and nights in the same routine, but are you making any efforts to sublimate your life? Endeavour to lead an ideal life. In the absence of any change for the better in your daily conduct, all your so-called sadhanas (spiritual practices) will be futile.
Jmana (knowledge) is God: Jnana is Atma, Prakriti (Nature) is Jneyam (the thing to be known). Man is a combination of Jnana (God) and Jneyam (Nature). The Bhagawad Gita says that the Kshetra (the field, namely the body) and the Kshetrajna (the knower of the field, namely the Atma) together constitute the human personality. Similarly, the scriptures refer to the human body as the temple and the indWelling Spirit as the God installed in that temple. Even a mere intellectual understanding of this fact will make us happy. But we shall be Tuch more happy when we put this understanding into practice in our daily lives. However, it is a pity that we content ourselves with pious resolutions in such matters, without a strong deter Tiination to put the IT into actual practice. Here is a story relevant in this connection.
Once upon a time all the deer in a forest met together in a conference.They arrived at a consensus, that they were Superior to the dogs in several respects, they could run faster and jump higher than dogs, they ate satwic food unlike the dogs which ate Rajasic food. Therefore they passed a unanimous resolution amidst loud cheers that

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thereafter they should never be afraid of the dogs. They had hardly finished passing the resolution when they heard the loud barking of a dog in the forest. They lost no time in running away for their lives; their resolution was gone with the wind; not a single deer remained at the site of the conference. Similar is the fate of the Conferences and resolutions made by the so-called sadhakas (spiritual aspirants). Without the courage offirm conviction and strong determination, no purpose is served by routine sadhanas undertaken by aspirants who oscillate from moment to moment like the pendulum of a clock. On the contrary, a person who never swerves from his determination even under trying circumstances is called a "Dheera" (a hero) and such a one wins the grace of the Lord.
We should try to seek fulfilment in our day-to-day life by basing our mundane activities on spiritual values. As I have been telling you of and on, you must have your hands in the society and head in the forest. That is to say, whatever be the activities with which you are preoccupied in society, you must be steadfast in holding on to the spiritual ideal. This alone is the true sadhana which will bestow lasting peace on you. Whatever may be the change in the various reflections (Pratibimba), there will be no change whatsoever in the Original (Bimba). Remember that you are that changeless original-the Atma. All your sadhanas should be directed towards establishing yourself in this firm conviction and unwavering faith, culminating in your life's fulfilment.
All your sense organs should be sanctified by offering all the actions performed through them as dedication to God. This is true Bhajan. "BHA" means that which is Bhavyam (sacredor holy). What is Bhavyam? The Atma Tatwa (principle of Atma) which is Divyam (Self-effulgent). The letter"Ja" in the word "Bhajan" connotes Japa (chanting the Lord's Name). Thus Bhajan and Japa are one and the same. There is a Japa (which means constant remembrance of God) that goes on incessantly and automatically within you in the breathing process, whatever be the work in which you are engaged. And that is "Soham". This is the real Sadhana, because it goes on without any conscious effort on your part, in the same manner as the process of breathing, beating of your heart and circulation of blood within you, which take place without any Sadhana or effort by you. These are all natural processes which go on without any volition on your part. In contrast to this there are some activites which also become involuntary or automatic but because of prolonged practice. For example,

Time is God 21 9
the fingers of one who is in the habit of taking snuff, will unconsciously be moving towards his nose. Similarly, because of habit, some people will be engaged unconsciously in Japa, with their minds wandering somewhere. This is not real Japa. That alone is real Japa which goes on in the SuperConscious (but not unconscious) state of mind. Do not entertain any doubt about your ability to reach that stage. You can Surely attain that state beyond the shadow of doubt, provided you have a strong determination. Unfortunately, you do notevince such a firm determination and tenacity of purpose in respect of spiritual matters, as you do for the sake of mundane things. Man is prepared to put forth any amount of effort to undertake a journey of millions of miles into outer space but he hardly ever endeavours to go even an inch into his own inner Self. What is the use of all your intelligence and all your worldly acquisitions when they cannot give you Atma Santhi (the untrammeled peace of the Atma or Spirit). God alone can confer such enduring peace on man. Therefore, O Embodiments of Divine lovel recognise that the new year (Samvatsara) connotes God who bears several appellations relating to Time. Sanctify the new year by engaging your selves in pure Selfless and ennobling activities. As far as possible, avoid causing harm or pain to others. As you Sow, so you reap. Whenever you feel disturbed by a sense of anger, envy, pride, jealousy and the like, be alert and resort to the Contemplation of the Lord.
Manifest the power that lies in self-exertion! Do not resort to the weak stratagem of imitating others. Instead, absorb the good qualities that others may possess. We plant a seed in the soil. Then, we supply it with the ingredients it needs - water, air, manure. The seedsprouts; it grows into a sapling; it becomes at last a huge tree. You will notice that it does not become either soil, or manure, or air, or Water. These it makes use of but, it sticks to its own nature and grows into a tree.
- BABA
Courtesy: Sri Sathya Sai Books and Publications Trust, Prasanthi Nilayam, Puttaparthi, India.

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The New Testament - St. Matthew
CHAPTER 5
The Sernon on the nount Sayings of Jesus Christ
And seeing the multitudes, he went up into a mountain:and when he was set, his disciples came unto him: and he opened his mouth, and taught them, saying, Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are they that mourn: for they shall be comforted. Blessed are the meek: for they shall inherit the earth. Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled. Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy. Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God. Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God. Blessed are they which are persecuted for righteousness' sake: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, for my sake. Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven: for so persecuted they the prophets which were before you. TYe are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be Cast Out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house. Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven. Think not that I am come to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfil.

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For verily say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one title shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoevertherefore shall break One of these least Commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but Whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven. For say unto you, That except your righteousness shall exceed the righteousness of the scribes and Pharisees, ye shall in no case enter into the kingdom of heaven.
Ye have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not kill; and whosoever shallkill shall be in danger of the judgment: But say unto you, That whosoever is angry with his brother without a cause shall be in danger of the judgment: and whosoever shall say to his brother, Raca, shall be in danger of the council: but whosoever shall say, Thou fool, shall be in danger of hellfire. Therefore if thou bring thy gift to the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath aught against thee, Leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy way; first be reconciled to thy brother, and then come and offer thy gift. Agree with thine adversary quickly, while thou art in the way with him; lest at any time the adversary deliver thee to the judge, and the judge deliver thee to the officer, and thou be cast into prison. Verily say unto thee, Thou shalt by no means come out thence, till thou hast paid the uttermost farthing. TYe have heard that it was said by them of old time, Thou shalt not commit adultery: But I say unto you, That whosoever looketh on a woman to lust after her hath committed adultery with her already in his heart. And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. And if thyright hand offend thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell. it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a writing of divorcement:

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2122 Polifos ard Life ir? Or Trings
H. H. POPE PIUS XI WAS BORN ON MAY 31, 1875, AND WAS CHOOSEN POPE IN 1922, ON THE DEATH OF BENEDICT XV. THE NOTABLE ACHIEVEMENT OF HIS PONTIFICATE WAS THE ENDING OF THE ANOMALOUS CONDITION BETWEENSTATE AND CHURCHEXISTINGSINCE 1870, AND THE RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF THE TEMPORAL POWER OF THE PAPACY IN 1929, WHICH INVOLVED THE CREATION OF THE WATICAN CITY ASA STATE RULED BY THE PONTIFF, AN ENTHUSASTIC MOUNTAINEER INEARLIER YEARS, HIS CLIMBS ON ALPINE PEAKSAPPEARED IN 1923,
*電壓.獸 H. H. Pope PFLuis XI, 875 - 1939
H. H. Pope Pius XII was responsible, in 7929, for the creator 7 of the Wallican City as a stafe, ruled by the Porff,
To the Roman Catholic Church, H. H. the Pope Is the successor of St. Pater as the Vicar of Christ; elected by the College of Cardinals, he holds office till death, as Bishop of Rome, ruler of the Vatican, and patriarch of the Western Church (apart from the Eastern Orthodox and the various Protestant Churches). Since the Middle Ages every Pope (except the Dutchman Adrian VI, 1522-3) has been Italian; Pope Paul VI, elected in 1963, is the 264th, The General Council of 1870 made papal infallibility a dogma by declaring any pronouncement on faith and morals made by a Pope ex cathedra (from his Throne, i.e. by virtue of his office) to be infallible and therefore binding upon all Roman Catholics.
 
 
 
 

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But I say unto you, That whosoever shall put away his wife, saving for the cause of fornication, causeth her to commit adultery: and whosoever shall marry her that is divorced committeth adultery.
Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord third Oaths: But I Say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool; neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King, Neither shalt thou SWear by thy head, because thoucanst not make One hair white or black, Butlet your communication be, Year yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever Is Tore than these Corleath of ewil. “TYe hawe heard that it hath been said, An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth: But I say unto you, That ye resist not evil: but whosoever shall Smite thee On thy right cheek, turn to him the other also. And if any man will sue thee at the law, and take away thy coat, let him have thy cloak also. And whosoever shall compel thee to go a mile, go with him twain, Give to him that asketh thee, and from hit that would borrow of thee turn not thou aWay.
43 Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shaft love thy neighbour,
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and hate thine enemy. But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you; That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust. For if ye love them which love you, what reward have ye? do not even the publicans the same? And if ye salute your brethren only, what do ye more than others? do not even the publicans so? Beye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect,

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CHAPTER 6.
Of alms, prayer, fasting and undue anxiety
Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven. Therefore when thou doest thine aims, do not sound a trumpet before thee, as the hypocrites do in the synagogues and in the streets, that they may have glory of men. Verily say unto you, They have their reward. But when thou doest alms, let not thy left hand know what thy right hand doeth: That thine alms may be in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret himself shall reward thee openly.
And when thou prayest, thou shalt not be as the hypocrites are: for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and in the corners of the streets, that they may be seen of men. Verily say unto you, They have their reward. But thou, when thou prayest, enter into thy closet, and when thou hast shut thy door, pray to thy Father which is in secret; and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee openly. But when ye pray, use not vain repetitions, as the heathen do: for they think that they shall be heard for their much speaking. Be not ye therefore like unto them: for your Father, knoweth what things ye have need of, before ye ask him. After this manner therefore pray ye: Our Father which artin heaven, Hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come. Thy will be done in earth, as it is in heaven. Give us this day our daily bread. And forgive us our debts, as We forgive our debtors. And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil: For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory, for ever. Amen. For it ye forgive men their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you: But if ye forgive not men their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.

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Moreover when ye fast, be not, as the hypocrites, of a sad countenance: for they disfigure their faces, that they may appear unto men to fast. Verily say unto you, They have their reward. But thou when thou fastest, anoint thine head, and wash thy face; That thou appear not unto men to fast, but unto thy Father which is in secret: and thy Father which seeth in secret shall reward thee Openly. T Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt, and where thieves breakthrough and steal: But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth corrupt, and where thieves do not breakthrough nor Steal:
For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also. The light of the body is the eye: if therefore thine eye be single, thy whole body shall be full of light. But if thine eye be evil, thy whole body shall be full of darkness. If therefore the light that is in thee be darkness, how great is that darkness
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the One, and love the other: or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye Cannot serve God and mammon. Therefore I say unto you, Take no thought for your life, what ye shall eat, or what ye shall drink; nor yet for your body, what ye shall put on. is not the life more than meat, and the body than raiment? Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they? Which of you by taking thought can add one cubit unto his stature? And why takeye thought for raiment? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow; they toil not, neither do they spin: And yet say unto you, That even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. Wherefore, if God so clothe the grass of the field, which to-day is, and to-morrow is cast into the oven, Shall he not much more clothe you, O ye of little faith? Therefore take no thought, saying, What shall we eat? or, What shall we drink? Or, Wherewithal shall we be clothed?

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(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knoweth that ye have need of all these things. But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you. Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow shall take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof.
CHAPTER 7
The strait gate. The solid foundation. Judge not, that ye be not judged. For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged: and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again. And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother's eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye? Or how wilt thou say to thy brother, Let me pull out the mote out of thine eye, and, behold, a beam is in thine own eye? Thou hypocrite, first cast out the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast out the mote out of thy brother's eye.
Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearis before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you: For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. Or what man is there of you, whom if his son ask bread, will he give him a Stone? Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent? lf ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him? Therefore all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them: for this is the law and the prophets.
Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:

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Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.
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but inwardly they are ravening wolves. Ye shall know them by their fruits. Domen gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles? Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit, but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit. A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither can a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit. Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.
Wherefore by their fruits ye shall know them. TNot every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven. Many will say to me in that day Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name? and in thy name have cast out devils? and in thy name done many Wonderful Works. And then will profess unto them, I never knew you: depart from me, ye that work iniquity.
Therefore whosoever heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, which built his house upon a rock. And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house, and it fell not: for it was founded upon a rock. And every one that heareth these sayings of mine, and doeth them not, shall be likened unto a foolish man, which built his house upon the Sand: And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell: and great was the fall of it. And it came to pass, when Jesus had ended these sayings, the people were astonished at his doctrine: For he taught them as one having authority, and not as the scribes.
End of Sermon on the mount.

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The Three Supreme Mantras
by T. Duraisingam
In the beginning was the sound or word A-U-M (OM). The Hindus believe that the most sacred and most potent of all the mantras (devotional incantations) given in the Vedas, the most sacred and most potent of all ancient Hindu scriptures, is the mantra A-U-M (OM). Many learned treatises have been written on the various mystic meanings of A-U-M (OM), also called the "Pranava". But for the purpose of this article, shall limit myself to giving here, only the most important mystic meanings that have been given to this sacred sound or word. 'OM' is the first cosmic Word thought to have been uttered and has the power of expressing various ideas and qualities of the supreme Brahman.'OM' is Considered the most powerful word-symbol used for meditation. Brahman is the ultimate Reality sought by all spiritual practitioners. But it is not something you can perceive with your sense organs. Nor is it an emotion that you Can feel with your mind. Nor a concept you can comprehend with your intellect. Brahman is the ideal unknown to you. You need a known idol to reach the unknown ideal. An idol takes you to the ideal. Sound is the subtlest of all idols. The word'OM'has the advantages of both the articulate and inarticulate, alphabetical and intonational. It has a deep philosophical Significance. Besides, the chant of "OM" has an extraordinary effect on human beings. It produces harmony, peace and bliss to one and all. "OM" brings the individual being in perfect attunement with the eternal being. The properwayto write 'OM'is A-U-M. Accordingto Sanscritgrammar, Aand Uwhen Connected togethercoalesce into O. Anyone can easily produce the sounds of A-U-M.A is the sound produced emanating from the base of the throat. U is the sound produced by the impulse rolling forward in the mouth. M is the sound produced by closing the lips. There is no sound beyond these two extremities, namely, throat and lips. Thus'OM'covers the full range of Sounds. It represents the entire phenomenon of sound.
The symbol of 'OM'standsforthe pure consciousness which pervades the three states of waking, dream and deep-sleep. It is also called "Pranava", that is Something that pervades life or runs through prana or breath.
RESULTS
This mantra"OM"uttered regularly, correctly and in depth, brings to the Spiritual practitioner who chants this mantraalone, all the desired results, that is to bring the individual being in perfect attunement with Brahman, the eternal being, and leads him to the ultimate goal of self-realisation. This mantra 'OM' is also chanted with other mantras and prayers, like the other two suprememantras, the Gayatri Mantra and the Maha Mrityunjaya Mantra.

The Three Supreme Mantras 229
Gayatri is the mantra that is given to the boy at his spiritual initiation called 'upanayanam". "Upanayanam' is the thread ceremony performed to Suitable Hindu boys, at a very early age, generally between 6 and 8 years. The Guru, the Hindu spiritual teacher, initiates the boy to spiritual study by uttering to him the sacred Gayatrimantra. The boy is then considered'dwijah', which means twice born. The first birth of the gross personality is when the physical body emerges from the mother's womb. The second birth now is that of the subtle body, when the mind and intellectarefully grown and ready to receive the knowledge of the supreme Reality. I was given my spiritual initiation, 'upanayanam' at Tirunelveli in Jaffna, at the age of 12, by an Indian Guru who had then visited Jaffna. still recite the mantras regularly and am a Vice President of the Colombo Divine Life Society. This Society has regular collective prayers, when the thousands of years old Vedicmantrasarechanted in the same way as they were done of yore.
THE GAYATR MANTRA
OM Bhuir Bhu Vah SWah Tat Savitur Varenyam Bhargo Devasya Dheemahi Dhiyo Yo Nah Pracho Dayat.
The prayer is directed to the Sun (savitur). "We meditate upon the adorable effulgence of the divine Sun. May that unfold our intellect".
The above is the purport of the Gayatri Mantra. I shall now give here amore detailed explanation. The one-lettered word symbol'OM' has already been explained in this article. The meanings of the words of the mantra are now given below.
Bhur Bhuvah Suvah - three worlds universe; Tat - that; Savitur - Sun; Varenyam - most excellent; Bhargo - effulgence (radiance, splendour); Devasya-divine, Dheemahi- (we) meditate upon; Dhiyo - buddhi, intellect; Yo - who, Nah- our; Prachodayat-unfolds.
Bhur Bhuvah Suvah represent the three worlds experienced by man. It could be taken in the subjective sense as the waking, dream and deep sleep states of consciousness or in the objective sense as the higher (heaven), middle (earth) and the lower (hell) worlds. In either case it is meant to represent the whole universe.
STRUCTURE
The structure of the Gayatri has three distinct parts. The first part is the first line and its purpose is to prepare the mind for prayer, meditation and realisation. The second part consists of the second and third lines, which is directed to intensify the aspirant's determination to reach the goal of realisation and to develop an intense desire for

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213) POWELS är Life fir1 ) ir Tras
IT MAY BE MENTIONED THAT PRAYER CAN BE OUTWARD COR INWARD. WHICHEVER WAY IT MAYBE, ONE IS COMPLEMENTARY OF THE OTHER AND NOT EXCLUDING THE OTHER... GOD IS EVERYWHERE WITHIN AND WITHOUT. WHEN YOU PRAY TO ANIMAGE WITH INCENSE, CAMPHOR, FLOWERS AND OTHER OFFERINGSACCOMPANIED BY MUSIC AND THE GONG OF THE BELLALL YOUR FIVE SENSES AND MINDAREDIRECTED OUTWARDLY TO THE WELL ADORNED IMAGE WITH THE ATTENDANT MUSIC, MANTHRA, FRAGRANCE, THE CAMPHORLIGHT AND THE GONG OF THE TEMPLE BELL THERE IS DUALITY IN THIS KIND OF PRAYER AND HENCE IT LEADS A DEWOITEE TO SA LOKA. ONE MAY THEREBY BE ADMITTED TO THE KINGDOM OF GOD, BUT ONE MAY NOT BE WITH GOD.
Dë5abandu 7. Duraisingan J. F., L. M. The author of this book reciting the Marthras Tantasy without the I770Lith and forgue taking partir) État al),
When One recites the "OM" and the five letters "NA-MA-SI-WA-YA" only to ba heard by one self inwardly, the five senses heart and mind are withdrawn from the outer world and made to function inwardly within one self- the earlistening to the recital, the mind understanding the meaning and the significance of the Manthras and the heart emanating love with faith and devotion. This practice Tay help a devotee to Tinirtise the duality that exists between God and devotee in the said outward prayer and helps one to come to the proximity of God - Sameopam, Incidentally it may be stated that if these Manthras are utterod audible to others, then the effect is less than when they are recited inwardly to be heard only by the racitar, The best way of reciting those Manthras is to do it mentally, without the mouth and tongue taking part in it at al.
– M. Nagarafrast) Presidan, Colomba Divine Life Society.
 

The Three Suprerne. Marifras 213"
liberation, The first two parts involve effort on the part of the aspirant, while the third part consisting of the last line brings about an attitude of self surrender, the stage of no-effort.
The Gayatrimantra is said to be one of the oldest of the divine hymns. It is referred to as the mother of the Vedas. Gayatri has a compelling charm of its own to millions of Hindus, The repetition of this mantra, with the right understanding of its sacred meaning, is believed widely to have the power to dispel all the negative tendencies in the mind, and thereby unfold the supreme Self within.
The third Supreme Mantra as mentioned above is -
THEMAHA MRTYUNJAYA MANTRA
OM TYayambakar77 Yajarmahe
Sugandhim Pushti Wardhanam |LInvaarlukarmiva Bandharlaať
Mriyor Muksheeya Maamrutat. The one-lettered word symbol "OM", with which this mantra commences, has already been explained in this article. The meaning of the main text of this mantra is as follows: We worship the three-eyed One (Lord Shiva) who is fragrant and who nourishes well all beings; may He liberate us from death for the sake of Immortality, even as the cucumber is severed from its bondage (to the Creeper).
In addition to the meaning of the text of this mantra, as already given above, the meaning of some of the words of the mantra are now given here. Trayambakam-three-eyed One, Yajarnahe – We Worship, Sugandhim- who is fragrant; Pushti-nourishes; Wardhanam-causes to grow, Urvaarukarniva - even as the Cucumber; Bandhanaat - is severed from its bondage, Mrityor - from death; Muksheeya - may He liberate us; Maamrutat - for the sake of Immortality.
This mantra is a life giving Mantra. Spiritual aspirants are convinced that the regular and correct utterance of this Mantra, Wards of deaths by snakebite, lightning, fire, accidents of all types including those in the air and in the water. Besides, it has a great curative effect. Diseases pronounced incurable by doctors, are cured by this Mantra, when chanted with sincerity, faith and devotion. It is a weapon against all diseases. It is a Man tra to conquer death,
It is Lord Shiva's Mantra. It bestows long life, shanti (peace), wealth, prosparity, satisfaction and Immortality.
OM Shanti !! Shanti !! Shanti || ||

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Shariah : Islamic Code of Law and Morality
by Dmitry Yeremeyev, Dr. Sc. (Hist)
The Shariah (the Arabic shari'a, from the verb sharaa, "to place on the rightpath") is a code of behaviourfor all eventualities in a Moslem's life. It contains legal and moral rules, without separating them into ethics and law. A general feature of Islam is that it does not distinguish between many spheres of man's spiritual and practical activity. It professes the unity of religious and Secular power, laws and ethics, jurisprudence and the righteous way of life. The Shariah includes law - the figh - and moral admonitions, and prescriptions for the worshipping of God: prayers, fasts, religious holidays, and other obligations of the believer.
THE ORIGINS OF MOSLEM LAW
The Shariah did not appear overnight. In the beginning, Mohammed was the legislator and judge rolled into one. He introduced many legal norms, including them in the suras of the Koran. Sura 13 (Ayat 37) says this: "Thus have We revealed it, a decisive utterance in Arabic; and if thou shouldst follow their desires after that which hath come unto thee of knowledge, then truly wouldst thou have from Allah no protecting friend, nor defender". Of course, Mohammed could not foresee all the legal collisions in the life of society, state and individuals. After his death it soon became clear that the Koran's prescriptions were not enough to resolve all the legal problems. If the Koran did not provide an answer, precedents did: the Prophet's actions and compartment in similar cirumstances, and his pronouncements were used. The "fundamental guidelines" which were reflected in numerous legends were Written down in the 8th and 9th centuries.
Thus appeared the hadiths, i.e., collections of tales about the deeds of Prophet Mohammed, his decisions and pronouncements on various acts and activities of the Moslem community. They also absorbed similar accounts of the Prophet's associates and followers. A collection of hadiths is called the Sunnah. It is an array as it were of ideal examples that must be emulated in One's life. The Dutch Student of slam Arent Wensinck remarked that to observe the Sunnah is to imitate Mohammed's ways.

Shariah : Islamic Code of Law and Morality 21 33
Islam is known to be divided into two religious and ideological currents, Sunnism and Shiism. One popular misconception concerning the Shiites is that they do not recognize the sunnah which is recognized by the Sunnites. Yet the only difference is that Shiites are more strict in selecting the tales that form the sunnah and believe that the true ones are only those based on the authority of Mohammed's family members. Unlike them, Sunnites recognize the testimony of His fellowship.
The hadiths (the word means a tale) are tales about Mohammed which the Shiites prefer to call ahbar (communications). But the overwhelming majority of them are the same with the Shiites and the Sunnites. A hadith or an ahbar consists of two parts: first Comes the isnad (basis), a reference to the Source which enumerates all the persons that transmitted it. This is usually a long chain which starts with the last "transmitter" and ends with the actual witness, i.e., the Prophet's contemporary. For instance: Abdullah ibn Ali told me on the words of Ahmed ibn Umar that Amr ibn Nasr said that Abu Bakr had heard the Messenger of Allah Mohammed (may Allah bless and greet Him) say... This is followed by matn (the text) of the tale. What is important to Shiites is the isnad for they recognize only the matn which is "based" on the testimony of Mohammed's close relation. Shiites have created a "kinship-based" apologia in Islamic law by adopting the legitimist stance. This is related to the protection of the exclusive rights of Ali, the Prophet's cousin and son-in-law, to power, in the Caliphate.
The Shariah also absorbed the rules of the Arabs' patriarchal communal law, known as adator urf Litigation in early Moslem Arabia was initially based on them. Like tribal chiefs, Mohammed delivered sentences and verdicts in accordance with those principles.
So, the Koran, the sunnah and adat are the three sources and the three component parts of the Shariah.
Many definitions in Moslem law evince the patriarchallegacy. For instance, the Shariah encourages blood revenge. The Koran says this on the matter: "O ye who believe! Retaliation is prescribed for you in the matter Of the murdered; the free man for the free man, and the slave for the slave, and the female for the female". (2:173). In a case of manslaughter, one could redeem oneself by paying "the value of the

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blood" (diya or aql) to the relatives of the slain. The Shariah had a detailed scale of fines to be paid for the infliction of traumas, Wounds and other injuries. For example, knocked-out teeth Costa sum equal to one-fortieth to one-twentieth of the "value of the blood", a chopped finger, one-tenth, an injured eye, one-half, etc.,
The Shariah has preserved the se vere punishments characteristic of the Middle Ages. For instance, the Koran says: "As for the thief, both male and female, cut off their hands. It is the reward of their own deeds, and exemplary punishment from Allah" (5:42); "The adulterer and the adulteress, scourge ye each one of them with a hundred stripes...And let a party of believers witness their punishment" (24:2). The Shariah provides capital punishment for many crimes, including apostasy, robbery, and premeditated murder, The forms of punishment originated in the Middle Ages: decapitation, quartering, stoning, burying alive....
Imprisonment was a rare punishment in early Islamic times. This may have been due to the nomadic traditions: only settled communities, as in towns, can have prisons. By contrast, it is rather difficult to keep a prisoner in a tent and carry him along as a tribe Tigrates from place to place.
Many legal and moral canons of the Shariah have their origin in tribal traditions. Mutual help among relations and fellow tribesmen, an unbreakable rule in patriarchal societies, was transformed into the Moslem Zakyat, a tax levied on the rich in favour of the poor; a tribute exacted from the dependent population became the tax on the infidels (jizyu and harad); and no Tads' raids (gazw) were Converted into the holy War (gaza Waf and jihad),
The Shariah formalized the legal rules of the early feudal Moslem society, which emerged after the Arab conquests in the 7th and 8th centuries over a vast territory. The territory itself was highly specific in geographic and ethnic respects. One look at a map of the Old World reveals that most areas, across which Islam had spread, were the arid zones of Asia and Africa where the main activities were nomadic cattle-breeding and irrigated farming. Islamic countries

Shariah Islamic Code of Law and Morality 2135
KAABA IS THE SACREDSHRINE IN THE GREAT MOSQUE ATMECCA, IT ISANIRREGULAR MASONRY CUBE, BFEETHIGH, CONTAINING ANOVAL STONE, 6-7 INCHES ACROSS OF SUGGESTED METEORIC ORIGIN. WENERATED IN ARABA BEFORE THE TIME OF MOHAMMED THE PROPHET DECLAREO THAT THE ANGEL GABRIEL GAWE TT TO ABRAHAM.
Kaaba The Chiaf Shring of Islam The writing in the forefront in Arabic reads ALLAH
Mecca is the chief city of Arabia, and home of Mohammed; in it stands the Kaaba, a cube-shaped building within which is the 'Black Stone' (a meteorite), an object of Worship from the earliest times. After his flight to Medina, A, D, 622, Mohammed returned to Macca to assert his growing political and spiritual ascendency over the Arabs. On his death, Mecca became the chief shrine of Islam and the object of pilgrimmage (al Haji) of millions of Muslirns, daspite the fact that after the effective centre of Islam moved to Medina with the Caliphate, Mecca fell under the control of first the Egyptian Marnelukes and later the Turks, for centuries.

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are similar in this respect to the religion's native land. Like in Arabia, social relations there were largely determined by the specifics of nomadic cattle-breeding and irrigated farming. And they were clearly reflected in the rules of Islamic law.
The issue of ownership is the cornerstone of all social relations. In agriculture, this is above all the mode of land ownership and land use. Nomads regard land as pasture, a common territory of a clan or tribe. That pastures are owned by the whole community is recorded in the Shariah which says that pastures, sources of water, fire and salt belong to all. Irrigation farmers also have a peculiar attitude to land. Only a large community is capable of practicing irrigation on a large scale, which generates collective ownership of land and Water.
Both factors, i.e., the nomads' and farmers' attitude to land, were instrumental in the Shariah failing to formulate a clear-cut concept of land ownership. It contains mutually contradictory rules. For instance, the hadith which says that the land and the sky belong to the Allah may be understood as the assertion of collective ownership of land. Yet the Koran also has an ayat which is amenable to a different interpretation: "Lo! The earth is Allah's. He giveth it for an inheritance to whom He will...." (7:125). The rule formalizes the private ownership of land.
The geography of the initial spread of Islam is also highly indicative in the historical and sociological sense. It covers the regions (North Africa, Central Asia, Transcaucasia) where feudalism had just begun to develop and where patriarchal relations were still very strong. The basis of those societies, therefore, was similar to that of the society which had given birth to this religion, namely the Hejaz society of the 6th-7th centuries. That made it possible to transfer part of the superstructure which originated in Islam, i.e., law, politics and ideology, on to a different soil where the Shariah absorbed many rules of local Customary law, such as the Kanun (canon, i.e., law) of the Berbers in North Africa, or the earlier traditional rules in the Caucasus that were given the general Arabic name of adat.

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The Shariah ended up as a basis of jurisprudence of feudal SOcieties in Moslem Countries of Asia and Africa. But their feudalism was of a different kind than what was the case in Europe. Take, for example, the land issue. The communal ownership of the land characteristic of nomads and irrigation farmers, though impeding the development of feudal land ownership, could not stop the advance of feudalism, but gave it an "Oriental" slant. The communal onwership was transformed into the state Orfeudal state ownership. The monarch became the Supreme owner of all the land in his country. The Koranic rule that the Allah gives land to whomsoever Hewishes to give it nullified the formal principle of the land as Common property. Arable land was in the hands of Spiritual and Secular rulers-Caliphs, Sultans, khansandshahs- who disposed of it as they saw fit. A ban on appropriation of other people's land appeared in the Shariah and it codified the law of succession. The rules on land leasing distinguished between the rights and duties of a lessee and the owner of the land. In short, collective land ownership in fact became a fiction.
Anotherspecific feature of the East was that there the early feudal, patriarchal-feudal and patriarchal relations persisted alongside each other fora longtime. The tribal relations of nomadiccattle-breeders and communal relations of land farmers tended to keep intact the egalitarian aspects of the Moslem law which "humanized" as it were feudalism and mitigated the Worst forms of exploitation. Serving that purpose were such rules of the Shariah as equality of Moslems before the Allah (musawat), Social justice (adalyat), electivity of the head of a religious community(imamat), the charity tax (zakyat), good-will alms (sadaka), common property of a Moslem Community (waqf), and a ban on taking the usury interest (riba).
TRENDS IN THE MOSLEM LEGAL THOUGHT
An analysis of the Shariah jurisprudence, fiqh, which in one way or another is based on the dogmas of the Koran and the sunnah, reveals the main feature of Islamic thinking, namely, its fusion with theology. Islamic jurisprudence is divided into several rites or theological legal schools that differ only in their methods (principles) of interpreting the Shariah. Sunnism Contains the four canonized rites, or mazhaba (paths of progress): the Maliki rite, the Hanafi rite, the Shafii rite and the Hanbali rite.

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The rites originated approximately in the period that coincided with the spectacular rise of the Abbasid state and was marked by the flourishing of the Moslem philosophy (falsafa) - the 8th and 9th centuries, the brilliant epoch of the caliphs al-Mansur (754-775), al-Mahdi (775-785), Harun al-Rashid (786-809) and al-Mamun (813–833).
Totally new legal problems not foreseen by the Koran, the Sunnah and adatskept on springing up in the giant state that the caliphate had become, with its medieval Arab Moslem society which had grown much more complex and diversified economically and politically than the relatively primitive Arabian society it had replaced. Furthermore, the Arabs had conquered many peoples that were often culturally more developed than themselves and familiar with the advanced legal systems of Rome, the Byzantine Empire and Iran. For this reason 8th-century Moslem jurists were faced with an urgent need of adapting the legal basis as provided by the Koran and the sunnah to the new conditions. That gave rise to Islamic Jurisprudence, the product of new realities and, to some extent, of new ideas, something that was reflected, among other things, in the borrowing of numerous Latin legal terms.
The main principles (methods) of interpreting the Koran and the Sunnah, which make all the difference between the rites are the ra'i, the personal opinion of prominent theologian-cum-lawyer; ima, a consensus reached by leading Shariah scholars; ijtihad, the right of a competent person to an independent interpretation of the Shariah, and to dealing with religious, legal and political issues on the basis of the Koran and the Sunnah; kyias, judgement by analogy, i.e., a possibility to solve a problem in a way a similar case is solved in the Koran or the Sunnah.
The first attempt to codify legal norms on the basis of those principles was made by Malik ibn Anas (died A.D. 795), the founder of the Maliki rite, in his treatise "Al-Muwattah" ("The Trodden Path"). The Malikits prefer the norms that emerged as early as in Mohammed's lifetime and rely mostly on the instructions found in the Koran and the Sunnah. Out of the body of adats they recognize - if only in individual

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cases - the customary law of Medina. The scope of Consensus (ijima) is also limited to a concerted opinion of Medina's ulems (men of authority in religion and law) alone, with the opinion coordinated in each specific case. Yet the Malikits apply an ijtihad method, istislah, which allows of resolving some issues contrary to the general rules, if this is required by common sense and specific interests of Moslems. In other words, the Malikits abide by the tradition, but allow for individual interpretations, ra'i, as long as they do not interfere with the public good. The latter may be due to the influence of the Roman legal principle Corrigerejus propter utilitatem publicam ("Correct the law for the public benefit").
The Malikirite was the most widespread in Maghreb, the Arab countries of North Africa. Today its influence is strongly felt in the succession and the marital and family law of Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia and Libya. Moreover, Libya's criminal code was devised on its basis.
The most liberal and flexible rite, Hanafi or Hanifi, created by Abu Hanifah (699-767) is characterized by three features: the prevalence of ra'i, an extensive application of kyias, and the use of another ijtihad method, istihsan, which takes into account local Customs and general practical interest. A lawyer applying that method may state, "Although in this case the analogy implies that some or other thing should be done, the circumstances dictate that the best solution (ahsan) should be this". In other words, istihsan is close to the principle of ra'i.
The Hanafirite makes it possible to adapt the Shariah to the changing conditions of social life, which was behind its wide spread in the Islamic world. It was predominant in the Abbasid Caliphate and the Ottoman Empire. It continues to prevail in Egypt, Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan. That part of their legislation, which retains the rules of the Shariah, is based on the Hanafirite. Most Moslems in India and Central Asia abide by Hanafi recommendations when performing religious ceremonies and observing Islamic customs.
The Shafiits who got their name from Mohammed ash-Shafii (died A.D.820), the founder of their rite, fall between the Malikits and the Hanafits. The fundamentals of jurisprudence, according to them, form the following hierarchy: the Koran, the sunnah, ijma, and kyias,

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with ijma understood as an unanimous opinion of an entire Moslem community, which in fact means consensus reached by the ulema in a specific place and at specific time. This rite does not regard ra'i as a solid basis, and rejects the Maliki istislah and the Hanafi istihsan. it did not become widespread, taking root in some communities of Indonesia, Malaysia and Brunei, as well as some East African countries (for example, its influence is evident in the present-day legislation of Somalia).
The Hanbali School bears the name of its founder Ahmad ibn Hanbal (died A.D.855), a disciple of ash-Shafii. Ibn Hanbal was opposed in principle to any innovations in the Shariah. He regarded any innovation (bid'a) as heresy (the Arabic word bid'aactually means both innovation and distortion) and strictly abided by the traditional rules, the taklid. Hence the extreme severity and dogmatism of this rite. The Hanbalits do not recognize ra'i and limitijma to the Prophet's closest following. They have formed the most conservative Current of Sunnism. Their principles were adopted by the first Islamic fundamentalists, the Wahhabites, or "the Puritans of Islam" as they are called, and are being used by the Moslem Brotherhood. The Hanbali religious and legal system is officially inforce in Saudi Arabia, where Wahhabism is the state religion.
The most widespread Shiite school is the Jafari rite whose founder was the sixth imam Jafar as-Sadik (700-765). The Jafarits are further subdivided into two more religious and legal schools, the Ahbarits and the Usulits. Apart from the Koran, the former rely exclusively on the Shiite legends, the ahbars. The latter deal with other "roots" (usul) of the Shariah-ijma and aql (reason or common sense). Though rejecting kyas, both sub-rites concede to the mujtahids, the men of supreme spiritual authority, the right to ijtihad.
Courtesy: "Asia and Africa Today", Moscow, November 5th, 1991.

The Ethics of the Buddha
by J. R. Jayawardene
"The supremacy of the ethical is the clue to the teaching of the Buddha", says Sri Radhakrishnan. We see this emphasized in the very first sermon that the Buddha preached. He begins by asking his hearers to avoid the two extremes, vulgar and ignoble self indulgence on the one side and painful and profitless self-mortification on the other. He then outlines the Eight-fold Path which leads to Nibbana. It is only after he has shown the Way, which is primarily an ethical Way, that he preaches to his audience of the Four Noble Truths, of the nature of suffering, its origin, its cessation and the method of reaching it. We can test the Buddha's emphasis on the ethical from another angle. We can test the Path by considering the goal it leads to. The goal of Buddhism is Nibbana. "Even as the great Ocean has only one taste, the taste of salt, so has the doctrine and discipline only one taste, the taste of Nibbana". To Sariputta who inquired what Nibbana was, the Buddha replied, "that which is the vanishing of greed, the vanishing of hatred, the vanishing of delusion is called Nibbana". Greed, hatred and delusion are not only the fundamental moral evils from which all vices flow, they are also the causes of all the misery of life. The eradication of these three is esential to spiritual progress and the Buddha mentions the complete eradication of these three evils as the attainment of the goal. The attainment of the goal means therefore, the attainment of moral perfection. If the goal is a moral goal, then the path must be a moral path. That this is so clear on an examination of the Noble Eight-fold Path which consists of Right Understanding, Right Mindedness, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Living, Right Effort, Right Attentiveness, Right Concentration.
NOBLE EIGHT-FOLD PATH
The Buddha taught no other way beyond the Eight-fold Path and Within its confines we must seek for the moral Code he advised his followers to live by. The eight steps in the Path may be collected under three main heads: (1) Sila or morality, comprised of Right Speech, Right Action and Right Living, (2) Samadhi or concentration, comprised of
Right Effort, Right Attentiveness, Right Concentration, (3) Parifa or Wisdom, comprised of Right Understanding and Right Mindedness.

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The order in which the different parts of the Path are brought into perfection begins with Sila or Morality. This is a condition precedent to the following of the other steps in the Path. Purity or virtue is absolutely necessary for the safe and profitable practice of the path of meditation and concentration. "The path of meditation leads to sublime heights, where the rarefied atmosphere will only support a refined mind and body. Without virtue it is imprudent to begin the practice of meditation for that way madness lies". This is the view of Dr.Cassius Pereira, one
of the few living Buddhists in Ceylon who practices meditation. The path of meditation and concentration which alone leads the Buddhist to Paffia or Wisdom must be preceded by the path of morality and it is in this path that the ethics of the Buddha are explained and specified. The path of Sila or morality requires the follower to practice Right Speech (Samma Vaca), Right Action (Samma Kammanta) and Right Living (Samma Ajiva).
RIGHT SPEECH
Let us examine what the Buddha means by Right Speech. He has advised his followers to abstain from lying, from slandering, from abuse. The Buddha's admonition against falsehood admits of no doubt. "Let no one speakfalsely to another in the hall of justice or in the hall of the assembly, let him not cause anyone to speakfalsely, nor approve of those who speakfalsely, let him avoid all sorts of untruth". The follower of the Buddha cannot knowingly lie, for the sake of his own advantage, for the sake of another's advantage, even if that person be his mother or for any advantage whatsoever, Truth is advised not only in speech and action, but also in thought. As the doctrine of truth, Buddhism has no room for falsehood.Truth alone does not exhaust the implications of Right Speech. A man may speak the truth, but he may be guilty of slander or abuse or gossip. The Buddha has foreseen this possibility. He therefore advises the disciple to avoid tale-bearing and harsh language. He wants man to speak such words as are gentle, soothing to the ear, courteous and dear. He wants man to speak at the right time and to speak what is useful. "Speech at the right moment, accompanied by arguments, moderate and full of sense", he says, "is like a treasure". No code of morality yet invented has surpassed the Buddha's code of Right Speech.

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RIGHT ACTION
Under the head of Right Action, the Buddha's advice was intended to safeguard the life and property of others. He preached the abstaining from killing, from stealing, and from unlawful sexual intercourse. The high regard for life is carried to the furthest extreme in Buddhism. "No living being should be killed intentionally" was the Buddha's injunction. Man's benevolence was to be extended not to humanity alone, but to all sentient beings. The water filter one of the monk's requisites is used to filter water, so that microbes may not be swallowed while drinking water. It is forbidden for monks to throw the remains of food on green grass, because it may destroy the life of grass. The monk is advised not to go about during the rainy season, because in trampling down the grass which grows specially in that season he may destroy its life, and because he may kill small animals which Crawl about on the roads during that season. The severity of these rules makes it clear that the Buddha intended some of them to apply only to Bhikkhus (Monks), that is, to those who were leading the religious life, unattached to the everyday world and its problems. He realised that there would be many who could not lead the homeless life owing to social responsibilities. I shall show later how the Buddha enunciated his principles to apply to laymen, novices and monks.
Right Action also includes the abstaining from stealing. This tends not only to theft, swindling, blackmail and other similar offences with reference to material objects, it extends to wrong interference with other's rights and business and other acts mental and physical which interfere with another's rights. The ideal to be aimed at is that of a man, "who takes only what is given, with which he is content, and who passes his life in honesty and in purity of heart". Right Action with regard to women is an important part of the teaching. Sexual lust is one of the chief cravings of the body. As such the monk and novice are strictly forbidden to think, talk, or act sexually. Any violation of this rule is a major offence and the offender is liable to expulsion from the order. Laymen were not expected to follow such a rigorous rule. The Buddha advised husbands "to honour and respect their wives; to be courteous and faithful to them; to hand over authority to them; and to provide them with ornaments". The wife is mentioned as the best friend that a man has. As a consequence of the importance that the Buddha attached to the sacredness of the home, it follows that he advised monogamy, the

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TO THOSE OF US WHOARE AWARE OF THE TEACHINGS OF THE BUDDHA ITS CLEARTHATHE SET IN MOTION THE HIGHEST MORAL IDEAS ANY NATION CAN HAWE, SWAMI WWEKANANDATHINKS THAT WHEREEWER THERE ISA MORAL CODE, ITISARAY OF LIGHT FROM THE BUDDHA. HE IS THE ONLY TEACHER WHOADWOCATED THE LEADING OFAWIRTUOUS LIFE WITHOUT HOPE OF EARTHLY GAIN OR HEAVENLY BLISS AS A REWARD. THE REWARD OF LEADING AWIRTUOUSLIFE IS THE VIRTUOUS LIFETSELF. THE ADVICE OF KRISHNATO ARJUNA"FINDFULL REWARD OF DONG RIGHTINRIGHT LETRIGHT DEEDSBETHYMOTIVE NOT THE FRUITS WHICHCOMES FROM THEM".
This Daibitsu, or colossal representation of the suprema Buddha Lurder thG name of Arrida, is considered the finast of its type in Japan. Cast of one-inch bronze plates in A. D. 750, it is nearly 50 feet in height, 97 feet round and weighs 450 tons, The eyes are of gold, the forehead boss of silver.
Buddhism is a philosophic-religious system based on the teaching of Gautama Buddha, 563-483 B. C. With the funda Total tenet that Salvation from the suffering inherent in existence and the continual round of rebirths can be attained through enlightenment reached by following the Eightfold Path (right view, motive, speech, action, way of life, effort, mindfulness, and concentration) which leads to Nirvana. In its first 1000 years Buddhism spread peacefully throughout East Asia; it soon differentialed into two Tiain schools; each with a separate collection of sacred writings, many of which have been translated into English. One school is called Mahayana, which is popular in China, Japan and Tibet. Its ideal being the Bodhisattva, who seeks enlightenment for others' sake. The author of this book, T. Duraisingam, when he was in Japan, in 1963, visited this Daibilsu and Worshiped at the Buddha shrine inside the big bronze Buddha. The other school is called Therawada (Hinayana), which is popular in Ceylon, Burma, and Siam (Thailand).
 
 
 
 
 

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happy union of a single man and woman. He says so specially when he advises a layman thus: "Let hit not share a wife with another". Separation or divorce is not prohibited, but the necessity would scarcely arise were the Buddha's injunctions strictly followed.
RIGHT LIVING
"When the disciple, avoiding a wrong living, gets his livelihood by a right way of living, this is called right living". The Buddha advises his followers to avoid five trades: trading in arms, in living beings, in flesh, in intoxicating drinks, and in poison. To practise deceit, treachery, soothsaying, trickery, usury is also wrong living. The consuming of intoxicating drinks and drugs and the trading in such things are condemned because the practice of the Buddha's teachings involved constant mental alertness, which condition of the mind was frustrated by intoxicants. We see throughout the Buddha's teaching emphasis placed on purity of thought, speech and action as the basis of any spiritual progress. He mentions in his Noble Eightfold path the moral precepts already referred to. Over and over again under the head of meritorious actions or virtuous conduct he repeats the same precepts of different combinations of them.
For instance under the head of Dasakusala.karnina or "ten meritorious actions" he includes (1) abstinence from killing, (2) abstinence from stealing, (3) abstinence from fornication, (4) abstinence from lying, (5) abstinence from abuse, (6) abstinence from sneaking, (7) abstinence from gossip, (8) abstinence from greed, (9) abstinence from hatred, (10) abstinence from delusion. The first three refer to acts done with the body, the next four to speech, and the last three to the mind. Acting, speaking or thinking in accordance with the "ten Tertorious actions" is to lead a life of absolute purity, for the Buddha here takes his follower into the very cause of evil, the impure mind, and he tells us that the path of virtue cannot be followed unless greed and hatred are avoided. We have seen the Buddha's moral code and find in it no flaw except the difficulty of following it while living the life of a citizen. The Buddha realized this himself. He realized that there were many who may wish to follow his teachings yet find it impossible to do so owing to responsibilities acquired earlier. He therefore divided his followers into three categories (1) the layman or Upasaka, (2) the novice or Samanera, (3) the monk or Bhikku.

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From the Eight-fold Path he extracted certain precepts and put them together as the Five Precepts or pancha-sila for the benefit of the layman. The novice was asked to practice the Dasasila or ten precepts, and the monk had to follow 227 precepts.
THE FIVE PRECEPTS
The Pancha-sila refers purely to moral behaviour. It advises the layman to abstain from killing, stealing, fornicating, lying and drinking alcohol. The layman must follow this simplest compendium of Buddhist morality. It is obligatory on all those who call themselves Buddhists. It is not sufficient as many Buddhists do, to recite these Five Precepts in Pali, three or four times a day, like the reciting of hymns. The daily life must be lived in accordance with these precepts. Then alone can the layman call himself a Buddhist. He who as a citizen, as a Scholar, as a professional man, in public or private life follows these precepts will live the life of a householder with self-possession and will never meet with the king's punishment; the reputation of those who observe them and take refuge in them will spread all over the world so says the Buddha himself.
THE TEN PRECEPTS
The observance of three extra precepts enables the layman to lead not merely a moral life but a religious life too. On special days, full moon days and other days fixed according to the phases of the moon, the devout layman observes the Five Precepts already mentioned and three others, namely, (1) abstinence from eating at forbidden hours; (2) abstinence from dancing, singing, playing music and seeing shows; (3) abstinence from adorning and beautifying the person by the use of garlands, perfumes and unguents and from using a high or large Couch or seat. These precepts are called the Eight Precepts or Atta-Sila. When he observes these precepts the layman is partly leading the life of a monk. He abstains from sexual thoughts or deeds, irrespective of Whether he is married or not. He controls his desire for food. He does not let his mind wander in search of pleasant worldly sights or sounds. He does not think of beautifying his person. The worldly citizen is on these special days expected to remove himself from the normal worldly activities. Duties of citizenship, duties of parent and husband are laid aside and clad in pure white, humble in manner and mien, the Upasaka learns to control his body and mind. He accustoms himself to lead the ideal Buddhist life, the life of a Bhikku.

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THE NOVICE AND THE MONK
The Samanera or novice in addition to the Eight Precepts mentioned abstains from accepting gold or silver. He must observe these precepts not on specified days but right through his career as a novice. We see how the purely moral precepts of the Pancha-Sila, which the layman has to observe every day were added on to the additional religious vows of the Atta-Sila, which the layman observes only on special days. We see now how the novice has to observe both the moral precepts and the religious vows daily. These vows are intended to make his life as simple as possible. From the Samanera we pass on to the Bhikku. The Bhikku has a vast number of injunctions to follow. They number 227 and are contained in the Patimokkha. They comprise all the precepts observed by the layman and the novice. The Bhikku's life is made as simple as possible. If he observes the precepts meant for a novice he is not bothered by the troubles of a worldly existence. The attachment to worldly objects, to bodily comforts and money making is eliminated. The Samanera and the Bhikku are free to devote their whole time and energy to mental development. They lead morally perfect lives, perfect in thought, speech and action. Morally perfect, they seek to realise spiritual perfection, which according to the Buddhist ideal is non-attachment, "non-attached to bodily sensation and lusts. Nonattached to the craving for power and possessions". The ideal Bhikku becomes the ideal man, and Such a man Was Gautama, the Buddha.
CODE OF MORALS
As a code of morals, that portion of the Buddha's teaching which deals with purity of thought, speech and action, is exalted, Comprehensive and unsurpassed by any other teaching. Yet it must be remembered that the Buddha really taught not of codes or rules or dogmas for he condemned ceremonies and ritual. He invited criticism and free-thinking. He wanted the disciple to advance according to his Own experience and ability. As such in the last analysis, the Buddha's teaching remains a Path or Way along which he travelled and along which his followers must travel if they wish to attain the goal he set before him. The code of morality only points out certain steps along that path; the very first step, steps which must betrodupon before the higher heights are reached. Every step in the Path is perfect, morally perfect.

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Though Sila or morality is not the end, though Samadhior concentration is not the end, yet every step the follower takes along the Buddha's Way, every step being morally perfect, is the achievement of an end in itself. The following of the Path does not in its early stages, mean merely the abstinence from the doing of certain evil things. It implies the leading of a certain life, active, pious and full of positive activity. He who abstains from killing must also extend his benevolence to all living things. He who abstains from speaking falsehood does not remain silent, he must always speak the truth. Step by step the disciple who lives in accordance with the precepts attains to purity of thought. "As a man acts so shall he be, and as a man thinks So shall he act". Aided by the Buddha's advice, and with the Buddha's life as an example the disciple attempts to root out from his mind the causes of the ills of life, greed, hatred and delusion. He who has eradicated greed (alobha) and does not harbour it any longer; he who has eradicated hatred (adosa) and does not cherish it against any living thing that has life; he who has freed himself from ignorance (amoha) and attained mental wisdom has followed the Path to the end. He is morally perfect as well as spiritually perfect. True happiness comes to him, for he leads a perfect life with a good heart and mind, shown in pure deeds, pure speech and pure thought.
FULLEST EXPRESSION
To those of us who are aware of the teachings of the Buddha it is clear that he set in motion the highest moral ideas any nation can have. Swami Vivekananda thinks that whereeverthere is a moral Code, it is a ray of light from the Buddha. He is the only teacher who advocated the leading of a virtuous life without hope of earthly gain or heavenly bliss as a reward. His teaching is completely devoid of all motive power. The reward of leading a virtuous life is the virtuous life itself. The reward of virtue is virtue itself, therefore the advice of Krishna to Arjuna "Find full reward of doing right in right! Let right deeds be thy motive not the fruits which comes from them". The Code of honour of the perfect knight, finds the fullest expression in the follower of the Buddha.
Courtesy: "Ceylon Daily News", May 20, 1940, "Tribune", Colombo, May 8, 1982.

Hinduism and its impact on Buddhism
by T. Duraisingam
The people of the Indian side of the Sindhu (the Indus) were called the Hindus by the Persian and the later western invaders, and their civilization is called the Hindu civilization. From the Punjab, the civilization flowed over into the valley of the Ganges, where it met with numerous cults of primitive tribes. In its southward advance, the Aryan culture came into contact with the Dravidian culture, and ultimately dominated it, though undergoing some modification from its influence. As the civilization extended over the whole of India, it suffered many changes, but it kept up its continuity with the old Vedic type developed on the banks of the Sindhu. The term "Hindu" had originally a territorial and not a religious significance. It implied residence in a well defined geographical area. Aboriginal tribes, savage and half-civilized people, the cultured Dravidians and the Vedic Aryans were all Hindus, as they were the Sons of the Same mother. The Hindu thinkers realised the fact that the men and women dwelling in India belonged to different Communities, worshipped different gods, and practised different rites.
In addition to this, outsiders had been settling there and had made for themselves a home in India. How was Hindu society built up out of material so diverse, so little susceptible in many cases to assimilation, and scattered across a huge continent measuring nearly two thousand miles from north to south and eighteen hundred miles from west to east? In a few centuries the spirit of cultural unity spread through a large part of the land, and racial stocks of varying levels of culture became steeped in a common atmosphere. The differences among the sects of the Hindus are more or less on the surface, and the Hindus as such remain a distinct cultural unit, with a common history, a Common literature and a Common civilization.
The Hindu thinker is prepared to admit other points of view than his own, and considers them to be just as worthy of attention. When he found that different people aimed at and achieved Godrealisation in different ways, he generously recognised them all and justified their place in the course of history. Hinduism is the religion not

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only of the Vedas but of the Epics and the Puranas. By accepting the significance of the different scriptures of the peoples living in India, Hinduism has come to accept variegated and diverse forms of faith within its fold. Every tradition which helps man to lift his soul to God is held up as worthy of adherence. Hinduism is therefore not a definite dogmatic creed, but a vast, complex, subtly unified mass of spiritual thought and realisation. Its tradition of the godward endeavour of the human spirit has been continuously enlarging through the ages.
Throughout the history of Hinduism, the leaders of thought and practice have been continuously busy experimenting with new terms, developing new ideals to suit new conditions. The first impulse of progress came when the Vedic Aryans came into contact with the native tribes. A similar impulse contributed to the protestant movements of Jainism and Buddhism when the Aryans moved out into the Gangetic valley. Contact with the highly civilized Dravidians led to the transformation of Vedism into a theistic religion. The reform movements of Ramananda, Caitanya, Kabir, and Nanak show the stimulus of Islam. The Brahma Samaj and Arya Samaj are the outcome of the contact with western influences, and yet Hinduism is not to be dismissed as a mere flow and strife of opinions, for it represents a steady growth, since every form of Hinduism and every stage of its growth is related to the common background of the Vedanta. Though Hindu religious thought has traversed many revolutions and made great conquests, the essential ideas have continued the same for four or five millennia.
Hindu thought believes in the evolution of our knowledge of God. Hinduism does not distinguish ideas of God as true and false, adopting one particular idea as the standard for the whole human race. it accepts the fact that mankind seeks its goal of God at various levels and in various directions, and feels sympathy with every stage of the search. The same God expresses itself atone stage as power, at another as personality, at a third as all-comprehensive spirit, just as the same forces which put forth the green leaves also cause the crimson flowers to grow. We do not say that the Crimson flowers are all truth and the green leaves are all false. Hinduism accepts all the varying religious notions as facts, and arranges them in the order of their more or less intrinsic significance. Hinduism insists on our working steadily upwards and improving our knowledge of God. The leaders of Hindu thought

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say that "The worshippers of the Absolute are the highest in rank; second to them are the worshippers of the personal God; then come the worshippers of the incarnations like Rama, Krishna, Buddha; below them are those who worship ancestors, deities and sages; and lowest of all are the worshippers of the petty forces and spirits".
However, the majority of the Hindus do not insist on the graduated scale, but acquiesce in all conceptions of God. The cultivated consider the popular notions as inadequate signs and shadows of the incomprehensible, but the people at large believe them to be justified and authorised. Hinduism accepted the multiplicity of aboriginal gods and others which originated, most of them, outside the Aryan tradition, and justified them all. It brought together into one whole all believers in God. Many sects professing many different beliefs live within the Hindu fold.
The Social framework in which Hinduism was Set was the Caste system. The orgins of caste are complicated and obscure. Castes began to develop after the Aryan migrations, when the invaderstried to control the conquered by giving each racial, functional, or religious group a fixed place in society. However, due to the activities of enlightened Hindus and due to the economic and other changes in Society, the caste System is fast dying. But it still lurks in the background and reveals itself at times of SOcial unrest.
The belief in a soul (atman) and the belief in rebirth is found among all sects of Hindus. The ultimate religious goal of a Hindu is to end the round of births and deaths (sansara), to become free of the round of births and deaths and for the soul to merge with God. Swami Vivekananda, an Advaita Hindu, has stated that "Our main problem is to be free. It is evident then that until We realise Ourselves as absolute, we cannot attain to deliverance, yet there are various ways of attaining to this realisation. These methods have the generic name of Yoga (to join, to join ourselves to our reality). These Yogas, though divided into various groups, can principally be classed into four, and as each is only a method leading indirectly to the realisation of the Absolute, they are suited to different temperaments. Now, it must be remembered, that it is not that the assumed man becomes the real man or Absolute. There is no becoming with the Absolute. It is ever free, ever perfect; but the ignorance that has covered its nature for a time is to be removed.

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THROUGHOUT THE HISTORY OF HINDUSM, THE LEADERS OF THOUGHT AND PRACTICE HAWE BEEN CONTINUOUSLY BUSY EXPERIMENTING WITH NEW TERMS, DEVELOPING NEW DEALS TO SUT NEW CONDITIONS. THE FIRST IMPULSE OF PROGRESS CAME WHEN THE WEDICARYANS CAME INTO CONTACT WITH THE NATIVE TRIBES, A SIMILAR IMPULSE CONTRIBUTED TO THE PROTESTANT MOVEMENTS OF JAINSMAND BUDDHSMWHEN THE ARYANSMOWED OUT INTO THE GANGETIC VALLEY.CONTACT WITH THE HIGHLY CIVILIZED DRAVIDIANS LED TO THE TRANSFORMATION OF WEDSMINTO ATHEISTICRELIGION. THE REFORM MOVEMENTS OF RAMANANDA, CAITANYA, KABR, AND NANAKSHOW THE STIMULUS OF ISLAM. THE BRAHMA SAMAJANDARYA SAMAJ ARE THE OUTCOME OF THE CONTACT WITH WESTERN INFLUENCES. THOUGHHINDURELIGIOUS THOUGHT HASTRAVERSED MANY REVOLUTIONS AND MADE GREAT CONQUESTS, THE ESSENTIAL
7. Duraisingam, Vice President of the Colombo Divine Life Society The author of this book is seen here after participating in the group prayer of the society. Also seen hero is a picture of Lord Murugan with his consors Walli ard Theriwayanai. The Tamils call the incumbent deity of Kathirgamarin as Murugan or "the tender child". Murugan appears to have been the primitive God of the Tamils who was brought down to the South from their supposed early settlements in North India. Wherever Tamil influence prevailed he was held in pre-eminent honour and dignity. Tamils regard Murugan as the guardian of their race, language and literature, He is reputed to have arrived in Sri Lanka in a remote age when it was part of a vast continent, the Lemuria, perhaps of the Zoologists stretching from Madagascarto near Australia (vide chapter on "The Worship of Muruka or Skanda" in "Studies and Translations" by Sir Ponnampalam Arunachalam - P 113),
- Hor). Justice C. W. Wigneswaran
 
 

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Therefore the whole scope of all systems of Yoga (and each religion represents one) is to clear up this ignorance and allow the Atman to restore its own nature. The chief aids in the liberation are Abhyasa and Wairagya. Wairagya is non-attachment to life, because it is the Will to enjoy that brings all this bondage in its train; and Abhyasa is constant practice of any one of the Yogas".
Swami Vivekananda further stated that "... the Griana Yoga was the best form of Yoga, and to him who practises this Grana Yoga, a realisation comes from: 1) being certain that Brahman is real and everything else is unreal; 2) giving up all desire for enjoyment; 3) controlling the senses and the mind; 4) intense desire to be free. Meditating on this reality always and reminding the soul of its real nature are the only ways in this Yoga. It is the highest, but most difficult".
The Advaita philosophy, as Thentioned above, postulates that there is only one reality, that is Brahman is real and everything else is unreal. But there are other systems of Hindu philosophy which consider that there is more than one reality. The religious system followed by most Hindus of South India and Sri Lanka, is the Saiva Siddhantasystem. The three categories of this system are Pathi (the Lord), Pasu (the flock), and Pasam (the bond),
The three eternal entities of the system are: 1) the Lord, who is Siwan Himself ; 2) the aggregate of all souls or lives that constitute Sivan's flock, which by his grace, He wills to conduct to the blessedness of final disentanglement from all embodiments; and 3) the Bond, or the Sut total of all these eleTents which binds Souls and hinders the from finding release in union with the Lord.
Tens of thousands of devotional songs have been sung by Saivasaints expressing their yearning for His grace, for the blessedness of final disentanglement from all embodiments. Most Hindus fulfil their spiritual needs by Worshipping in temples, Not everyone can evoke for his contemplation a mental image of God, hence external worship is performed at the concrete image in the temple. Dr. G.U. Pope, a great Saiva Siddhanta scholar, says: "It is sometimes thought and said that the idols are There signs representing as symbols the Divine Being and some of His works and attributes. This is not altogether an adequate statement of the case. Eachirage by a peculiar service, which is called 'awaharian', becomes the abode of an in-dwelling deity and is itself

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divine.... Devout and enthusiastic worshippers, amid the glare of the lamps and the smoke of the incense, seemed to be carried away so as to entirely identify the invisible object of their thought with that which is presented before their eyes".
The conception of the World as Samsara, a stream without end, where the law of karma' functions, is common to all Indian systems: Hindu, Jain, Buddhist and Sikh. Nothing is permanent, not even the gods. Even death is not permanent, for it must turn to new life. The conduct of the individual in one life cannot determine his everlasting destiny.
Buddhism says that man can work out his own future and overcome "samsara", and the way to it is the moral path which results in illumination. Soon after his enlightenment, the fundamental principles of Buddhism were set out by the Buddha in his very first sermon given at Sarnath, near Benares.
The Buddha Said that there are two extremes to be avoided: On the one hand, habitual devotion to the passions, to the pleasures of sensual things, which are ignoble and unprofitable; on the other, habitual devotion to self-mortification which is also painful, unprofitable and ignoble.
There is a Middle Path, a path which opens the eyes and leads to understanding, which leads to peace, to insight, to higher wisdom, to nirvana. This is the Noble Eightfold Path, that is to say, Right Understanding, Right Thought, Right Speech, Right Action, Right Livelihood, Right Effort, Right Mindfulness, and Right Concentration.
There is suffering and the noble truth of suffering is this: birth is painful, old age is painful, disease is painful, death is painful. Contact with the unpleasant, separation from the pleasant are painful.
The origin of suffering comes from both the burning thirst and the desire for sensual pleasures, and the craving for material success. The Noble Truth to eliminate pain is this: to conquer passion, to give up, to get rid of, to be emancipated from this burning thirst.
The Noble Truth of the Eightfold Path leads to the ending of pain. Buddhism did not start as a new and independent religion. It was an Offshoot of the more ancient faith of the Hindus. While On the fundamentals of metaphysics and ethics the Buddha agreed with the faith he inherited, he protested against certain practices which were in

Hinduism and its Impact on Buddhism 2155
vogue at the time. He refused to acquiesce in the Vedic ceremonialism. When he was asked to perform some of these rites, he said, "And as for your saying that for the sake of Dharma I should carry out the sacrificial ceremonies which are customary in my family and which bring the desired fruit, I do not approve of sacrifices, for do not care for happiness which is sought at the price of others' suffering".
This conception of abstaining from causing suffering to all living beings has had its impact on the religions within the Hindu fold. Thirukkural, which has been described as the Tamil Veda, states: "Of all those who, fearing the impermanence of earthly births, have abandoned desire, he is the chief who, fearing the guilt of killing, considers how he may avoid the destruction of life." Saiva Siddhantis Consider it a mortal sin to kill animals or to eat their flesh.
A distinguishing feature of Buddhist philosophy is the doctrine of no soul (anata). What is meant by soul, self, ego, oratman, is that in man there is a permanent, everlasting and absolute entity, which is the unchanging substance behind the changing phenomenal world. Buddhism denies the existence of such a soul, self oratman. According to the teaching of the Buddha, the idea of self is an imaginary, false belief which has no corresponding reality, and it produces harmful thoughts of "me" and "mine", selfish desire, craving, attachment, hatred, ill-will, conceit, pride, egoism, and other defilements, impurities and problems.
Whatever differences there may be between Hinduism and Buddhism, in actual religious practices of the mass of the people following these two religions, one sees very close resemblances. Many Buddhists worship at the Hindu temples and pray and give offerings to the Hindu deities. Similarly, the Hindus pay great respect to Buddha and Consider him as one of the Avatars of God.
Courtesy: "Buddhist Essays", Sri Saddhatissa International Buddhist Centre, London 1992.

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Swami ViVekananda'S First-ever Speech in the East After his successful addresses in Chicago
(On the evening of the 16th January 1897, the Swami gave the following public lecture in the Floral Hall.)
What little work has been done by me has not been from any inherent power that resides in me, but from the cheers, the goodwill, the blessings that have followed my path in the West from this our very beloved, most sacred, dear Motherland. Some good has been done, no doubt, in the West, but specially to myself; for what before was the result of an emotional nature, perhaps, has gained the certainty of conviction and attained the power and strength of demonstration. Formerly I thought as every Hindu thinks, and as the Hon. President has just pointed out to you, that this is the Punya Bhumi, the land of Karma. Today stand here and say, with the conviction of truth, that it is so if there is any land on this earth that can lay claim to be the blessed Punya Bhumi, to be the land to which al souls on this earth must come to account for Karma, the land to which every soul that is Wending its way Godward must come to attain its last home, the land where humanity has attained its highest towards gentleness, towards generosity, towards purity, towards calmness, above all, the land of introspection and of spirituality - it is India. Hence have started the founders of religions from the most ancient times, deluging the earth again and with the pure and perennial waters of spiritual truth. Hence have proceeded the tidal waves of philosophy that covered the earth, East or West, North or South, and hence again must start the wave which is going to spiritualise the material civilisation of the World. Here is the life-giving water with which must be quenched the burning fire of materialism which burning the core of the hearts of millions in other lands. Believe me, my friends, this is going to be.
So much have seen, and so farthose of you who are students of the history of races are already aware of this fact. The debt which the world owes to our Motherland is immense. Taking country with country, there is not one race on this earth to which the World owes so much as to the patient Hindu, the mild Hindu. "The mild Hindu"

Swami Vivekananda's First-ever Speech in the East..... 2157
sometimes is used as an expression of reproach; concealed a wonderful truth, it is in the term, "the mild Hindu", who has always been the blessed child of God. Civilisations have arisen in other parts of the world. In ancient times and in modern times, great ideas have emanated from strong and great races. In ancient and in modern times, Wonderful ideas have been Carried forward from One race to another. In ancient and in modern times, seeds of great truth and power have been cast abroad by the advancing tides of national life; but mark you, my friends, it has been always with the blast of war trumpets and with the march of embattled Cohorts. Each idea had to be Soaked in a deluge of blood. Each idea had to wade through the blood of millions of our fellow-being. Each word of power had to be followed by the groans of million, by the wails of orphans, by the tears of widows. This, in the main, other nations have taught; but India has for thousands of years peacefully existed. Here activity prevailed when even Greece did not exist, when Rome was not thought of, when the very fathers of the modern Europeans lived in the forests and painted themselves blue. Even earlier, when history has no record, and tradition dares not peer into the gloom of that intense past, even from then until now, ideas after ideas have marched out from her, but every word has been spoken with a blessing behind it and peace before it. We, of all nations of the world, have never been a conquering race, and that blessing is On Our head, and therefore we live.
There was a time when at the sound of the march of big Greek battalions the earth trembled. Vanished from off the face of the earth, with not even a tale left behind to tell, gone is that ancient land of the Greeks. There was a time when the Roman Eagle floated over everything worth having in this world; everywhere Rome's power was felt and pressed on the head of humanity; the earth trembled at the name of Rome. But the Capitoline Hill is a mass of ruins, the spider Weaves its Web where the Caesars ruled. There have been other nations equally glorious that have come and gone, living a few hours of exultant and exuberant dominance and of a wicked national life, and then vanishing like ripples on the face of the waters. Thus have these nations made their mark on the face of humanity. But we live, and if Manu came back today he would not be bewildered, and would not find himself in a foreign land. The same laws are here, laws adjusted and thought out through thousands and thousands of years; Customs, the outcome of the acumen of ages and the experience of

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centuries, that seem to be eternal; and as the days go by, as blow after blow of misfortune has been delivered upon them, such blows seem to have served one purpose only, that of making them stronger and more Constant. And to find the Center of all this, the heart from which the blood flows, the mainspring of the national life, believeme when say after my experience of the world, that it is here.
To the other nations of the world, religion is one among the Tiany occupations of life. There is politics, there are the enjoyments of social life, there is all that wealth can buy or power can bring, there is all that the senses can enjoy, and among all these various occupations of life and all this searching after something which can give yet a little more whetting to the cloyed senses among all these, there is perhaps a little bit of religion, But here, in India, religion is the one and the only occupation of life. How many of you know that there has been a Sino-Japanese War? Wery few of you, if any. That there are tremendous political movements and socialistic movements trying to transform Western society, how many of you know? Wery few indeed, if any. But that there was a Parliament of Religions in America, and that there was a Hindu Sannyasin sent over there, I am astonished to find that even the cooly knows of it. That shows the way the wind blows, where the national life is. I used to read books written by globetrotting travellers, especially foreigners, who deplored the ignorance of the Eastern masses, but found out that it was partly true and at the same time partly untrue. If you ask a ploughman in England, or America, or France, or Germany to what party he belongs, he can tell you whether he belongs to the Radicals or the Conservatives, and for whom he is going to vote. In America he will say whether he is Republican or Democrat, and he even knows something about the silver question. But if you ask him about his religion, he will tell you that he goes to church and belongs to a certain denomination. That is all he knoWs, and he thinks it is sufficient.
Now, when we come to India, if you ask one of our ploughmen: "Do you know anything about politics?" He will reply, "What is that?" He does not understand the Socialistic Tovements the relation between capital and labour, and all that; he has never heard of such things in his life, he works hard and earns his bread. But you ask: "What is your religion?" He replies: "Look here, my friend, I have marked it on my forehead". He can give you a good hint or two on questions of religion. That has been my experience. That is our nation's life.

Swarni Wvekananda's First-war Speech in the East..... 2 159
THERE WAS A TIME WHEN AT THE SOUND OF THE MARCH OF BIG GREEK BATTALIONS THE EARTHTREMBLED.GONE IS THAT ANCIENT LAND OF THE GREEKS, THERE WASA, TIME WHEN THE ROMAN EAGLE FLOATED OVER EVERYTHING WoRTH HAVING IN THIS WoRLD; EVERYWHEREROMESPOWER WAS FELTAND PRESSED ON THE HEAD OF HUMANITY THE SPIDER WEAWESTSWEE WHERE THE CAESARS RULED. THERE HAVE BEEN OTHERNATIONSEQUALLY GLORIOUS THAT HAWE COME AND GONE, LIWING A FEW HOURS OF EXULTANT AND EXUBERANT DOMINANCE AND OF A WICKED NATIONAL LIFE, THUS HAWE THESE NATIONS MADE THEIR MARK ON THE FACE OF HUMANITY. BUT WE LIWE, AND IF MANU CAME BACK TODAY HE WOULD NOT BE BEWILLIERED AND WOULD NOT FIND HIMSELF IN AFOREIGN LAND.
* ,
swami wwe karnandar Colombo in January 1897
SWarris Wiwekarlarda, the patriot-Saint of Modern India, was boT In Calcutta Om
January 13, 1863. His father, Wishwanath Dutt, was a brilliant lawyer and was held in highesteem as a talented and cultured citizen. Narendranath, the future Swami
Vivekananda once said: "Wherever my father's blood went, there was greatness".
Devi Bhuvaneshwari was a Woman in a thousand. Devoted, pious, Iowing, she had
personality enough to mould the character of her children. She was gifted with an
exceptional memory and she could sing hundreds of devotional songs. Narendranath
inherited his intellect from his father and his tender lowing nature from his mother.

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Individuals have each their own peculiarities, and each man has his own method of growth, his own life marked out for him by the infinite past life, by all his past Karma as we Hindus say. Into this World he comes with all the past on him, the infinite past ushers the present, and the way in which we use the present is going to make the future. Thus everyone born into this world has a bent, a direction towards which he must go, through which he must live, and what is true of the individual is equally true of the race. Each race, similarly, has a peculiar bent, each race has a peculiar raison d'étre, each race has a peculiar mission to fulfil in the life of the world. Each race has to make its own result, to fulfil its own mission. Political greatness or military power is never the mission of our race; it never was, and, mark my words, it never will be. But there has been the other mission given to us, which is to Conserve, to preserve, to accumulate, as it were, into a dynamo, all the spiritual energy of the race, and that concentrated energy is to pour forth in a deluge on the world whenever circumstances are propitious. Let the Persian or the Greek, the Roman, the Arab, or the Englishman march his batalions, conquer the world, and link the different nations together, and the philosophy and Spirituality of India is ever ready to flow along the new-made channels into the Veins of the nations of the World. The Hindu'S calm brain must pour out its own quota to give to the sum total of human progress. India's gift to the world is the light spiritual.
Thus in the past, we read in history that whenever there arose a great conquering nation uniting the different races of the world, binding India with the other races, taking her out, as it were, from her loneliness and from her aloofness from the rest of the World into which she again and again cast herself, that whenever such a state has been brought about the result has been the flooding of the world with Indian spiritual ideas. At the beginning of this century, Schopenhauer, the great German philosopher, studying from a not very clear translation of the Vedas made from an old translation into Persian and thence by a young Frenchman into Latin, says, "In the whole world there is no study so beneficial and so elevating as that of the Upanishads. It has been the solace of my life, it will be the solace of my death". This great German sage foretold that, "The world is about to see a revolution in thought more extensive and more powerful than that which was witnessed by the Renaissance of Greek Literature", and today his

Swami Vivekananda's First-ever Speech in the East..... 21 61
predictions are coming to pass. Those who keep their eyes open, those who understand the workings in the minds of different nations of the West, those who are thinkers and study the different nations, will find the immense change that has been produced in the tone, the procedure, in the methods, and in the literature of the world by this slow, never-ceasing permeation of Indian thought.
But there is another peculiarity, as I have already hinted to you. We never preached our thoughts with fire and sword. If there is one word in the English language to represent the gift of India to the World, if there is one word in the English language to express the effect which the literature of India produces upon mankind, it is this one word, "fascination". It is the opposite of anything that takes you suddenly; it throws on you, as it were, a charm imperceptibly. To many, Indian thought, Indian manners, Indian customs, Indian philosophy, Indian literature are repulsive at the first sight; butlet them persevere, let them read, let them become familiar with the great principles underlying these ideas, and it is ninety-nine to one that the charm will Come Over them, and fascination will be the result. Slow and silent, as the gentle dew that falls in the morning, unseen and unheard yet producing a most tremendous result, has been the work of the calm, patient, all-suffering spiritual race upon the world of thought.
Once more history is going to repeat itself. For today, under the blazing light of modern science, when old and apparently strong and invulnerable beliefs have been shattered to their very foundations, when special claims laid to the allegiance of mankind by different sects have been all blown into atoms and have vanished into air, when the sledge-hammer blows of modern antiquarian researches are like pulverising masses of porcelain all sorts of antiquated orthodoxies, when religion in the West is only in the hands of the ignorant and the knowing ones look down with scorn upon anything belonging to religion, here comes to the fore the philosophy of India, which displays the highest religious aspirations of the Indian mind, where the grandest philosophical facts have been the practical spirituality of the people. This naturally is coming to the rescue, the idea of the oneness of all, the Infinite, the idea of the Impersonal, the wonderful idea of the eternal soul of man, of the unbroken continuity in the march of beings; and the infinity of the universe. The old sects looked upon the World as a little mud-puddle and thought that time began but the other day. It was

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there in our old books, and only there that the grand idea of the infinite range of time, space, and causation, and above all, the infinite glory of the spirit of man governed all the search for religion. When the modern tremendous theories of evolution and conservation of energy and so forth are dealing death blows to all sorts of crude theologies, what can hold any more the allegiance of Cultured humanity but the most wonderful, convincing, broadening, and ennobling ideas that can be found only in that most marvellous product of the soul of man, the wonderful voice of god, the Vedanta? At the same time, I must remark that what I mean by our religion working upon the nations outside of India comprises only the principles, the background, the foundation upon which that religion is built. The detailed working, the minute points which have been worked out through centuries of social necessity, little ratiocinations about manners and customs and social well-being, do not rightly find a place in the category of religion. We know that in our books a Clear distinction is made between two Sets of truths. The One Set is that which abides for ever, being built upon the nature of man, the nature of the soul, the soul's relation to God, the nature of God, perfection, and so on; there are also the principles of cosmology, of the infinitude of creation, or more correctly speaking — projection, the Wonderful law of cyclical procession, and so on - these are the eternal principles founded upon the universal laws in nature. The other set comprises, the minor laws which guided the working of Our everyday life. They belong more properly to the Puranas, to the Smritis; and not the shrutis. These have nothing to do with the other principles. Even in our own nation these minor laws have been changing all the time. Custom of one age, of one Yuga, have not been the customs of another, and as Yuga comes after Yuga, they will still have to change. Great Rishis will appear and accustom us to ideas and manners that are suited to new environments.
The great principles underlying all this wonderful, infinite, ennobling, expansive view of man and God and the World have been produced in India. In India alone man has not stood up to fight for a little tribal God, saying "My God is true and yours is not true; let us have a good fight over it". It was only here that such ideas did not occur as fighting for little gods. These great underlying principles, being

Swami Vivekananda's First-ever Speech in the East..... 21 63
based upon the eternal nature of man, are as potent today for working for the good of the human race as they were thousands of years ago, and they will remain so long as this earth remains, so long as the law of Karma remains, so long as we are born as individuals and have to work out our own destiny by our individual power.
And above all, what India has to give to the world is this. If we watch the growth and development of religions in different races, we shall always find this that each tribe at the beginning has a god of its own. If the tribes are allied to each other, these gods will have a generic name, as for example, all the Babylonian gods had. When the Babylonians were divided into many races, they had the generic name of Baal, just as the Jewish races had different gods with the common name of Moloch; and at the same time you will find that one of these tribes becomes superior to the rest, and lays claim to its own king as the king over all. Therefore it naturally follows that it also wants to preserve its own god of all the races. Baal-Merodach, said the Babylonians, was the greatest god; all the others were inferior. Moloch-Yahweh was the superior over all other Molochs. And these questions had to be decided by the fortunes of battle. The same struggle was here also. In India the same competing gods had been struggling with each other for Supremacy, but the great good fortune of this country and of the world was that there came out in the midst of the din and confusion a voice which declared - "That which exists is One; sages call it by various names". It is not that Shiva is superior to Vishnu, not that Vishnu is everything and Shiva is nothing, but it is the same one whom you call either Shiva, or by a hundred other names. The names are different, but it is the same one. The whole history of India you may read in these few words. The whole history has been a repetition in massive language, with tremendous power, of that one central doctrine. It was repeated in the land till it had entered into the blood of the nation, till it began to tingle with every drop of blood that flowed in its veins, till it became one with the life, part and parcel of the material of it which it was composed; and thus the land was transmuted into the most wonderful land of toleration, giving the right to welcome the various religions as well as all sects into the old mother-country.

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2164 Politics ard Life irn Our TiTTiegs
TO THE OTHERNATIONS OF THE WORLD, RELIGION IS ONE AMONG THE MANY OCCUPATIONS OF LIFE. THERE IS POLITICS, THERE ARE THE ENJOYMENTS OF SOCIAL LIFE, THERE IS ALL THAT WEALTHCAN BUY OR POWER CAN BRING, THERE IS ALL THAT THE SENSES CAN ENJOY; AND AMONG ALL THESEWARIOUSOCCUPATIONS OF LIFE AND ALL THIS SEARCHING AFTER SOMETHING WHICH CAN GIVE YET A LITTLE MORE WHETTING TO THE CLOYED SENSES AMONG ALL THESE, THERE IS PERHAPSA LITTLE BIT OF RELIGION. BUT HERE, IN INDIA RELIGION IS THE ONE AND THE ONLY OCCUPATION OF LIFE, THAT THERE WASA PARLIAMENT OF RELIGIONS IN AMERICA, AND THAT THERE WAS A HINDU SANNY ASIN SENT OWER THERE, AM ASTONISHED TO FIND THAT EVEN THE COOLY KNOWS OF T.
エー
Here is shown the Neva in Leningrad, in Russia, during white rights, that is When avan in the nights there is some light
Aurora is the luminous display, usually in the form of streams of coloured light, often seen in the night sky in high latitudes. In the Northern hemisphere it is known as Aurora Borealis, Northern Lights, in the Southern hemisphere as Aurora Australis, Southern Lights. Streams of charged particles from the sun are attracted towards the earth's magnetic poles and when they strike the upper atmosphere ionize some of the gases and make them glow, in much the same way as an electric discharge lights a neon tube. Auroras have been shown to be linked with sun-spot activity and magnetic storms on earth. In classical Tythology, goddess of dawn or of the day, sister of Helios (the sun) and daughter of the Titan; she crossed the sky daily in a rosy robe to announce to the gods the coming of the day.
 
 

Swart if Wivekananda's First-aver Speech in the East ..., 21 65
And herein is the explanation of the most remarkable phenomenon that is only witnessed here - all the various sects, apparently hopelessly contradictory, yet living in such harmony. You Tay be a dualist, and Tay be a monist. You may believe that you are the eternal servant of God, and I may declare that I am one with God Himself; yet both of us are good Hindus. How is that possible? Read then: "That which exists is One, sages call it by various names". Above all others, my countrymen, this is the one grand truth that we have to teach to the world, Ewen the most educated people of other countries turn up their noses at an angle of forty-five degrees and call our religion idolatry. I have seen that; and they newer stopped to think what a mass of superstition there was in their own heads. It is still so everywhere, this tremendous sectarianist, the low narrowness of the Tind. The thing which a man has is the only things worth having; the only life worth living is his own little life of dollar-worship and mammon-worship, the only little possession worth having is his own property, and nothing else. If he can manufacture a little clay nonsense or invent a machine, that is to be admired beyond the greatest possessions. That is the case over the whole World in spite of education and learning. But education has yet to be in the World, and civilisation has begun nowhere yet. Ninety-nine decimal nine per cent of the human race are more or less savages even now. We may read of these things in books, and we hear of toleration in religion and all that, but very little of it is there yet in the world; take my experience for that. Ninety-nine percent do not even think of it. There is tremendous religious persecution yet in every country in which have been, and the same old objections are raised against learning anything new. The little toleration that is in the world, the little sympathy that is yet in the World for religious thought, is practically here in the land of the Aryas, and nowhere else. It is here that Indians build temples for Mohammedians and Christians; nowhere else. If you go to other countries and ask Mohammedans or people of other religions to build a temple for you, see how they will help. They will instead try to break down your temple and you too if they can. The one great lesson, therefore that the world wants most, that the World has yet to learn from India, is the idea not only of toleration, but of sympathy. Well has it been said in the Mahimnah-stotra, "As the

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21 66 Politics and Life in Our Times
different rivers, taking their start from different mountains, running straight or crooked, at last come unto the ocean, so, O Shiva, the different paths which men take through different tendencies, various though they appear, crooked or straight, all lead unto thee: Though they may take various roads, all are on the way. Some may run a little crooked, others may run straight, but at last they will all come unto the Lord, the One. Then alone, is your Bhakti of Shiva complete when you not only see Him in the Linga, but you see Him everywhere. He is the sage, he is the lover of Hari who sees Hari in everything and in everyone. If you are a real lover of Shiva, you must see Him in everything and in every one. You must see that every worship is given unto Him whatever may be the name or the form; that all knees bending towards the Caaba, or kneeling in a Christian church, or in a Buddhist temple are kneeling to Him whether they know it or not, whether they are conscious of it or not; that in whatever name or form they are offered, all these flowers are laid at His feet; for He is the one Lord of all, the one Soul of all souls. He knows infinitely better what this world wants than you or . It is impossible that all difference can cease; it must exist; without variation life must cease. It is this clash, the differentiation of thought that makes for light, for everything. Differentiation, infinitely contradictory, must remain, but it is not necessary that we should hate each other therefore; it is not necessary therefore that we should fight each other.
Therefore we have again to learn the one central truth that was preached only here in our Motherland, and that has to be preached once more from India. Why? Because not only is it in our books, but it runs through every phase of our national literature and is in the national life. Here and here alone is it practised every day, and any man whose eyes are open can see that it is practised here and here alone. Thus we have to teach religion. There are other and higher lessons that India can teach, but they are only for the learned. The lessons of mildness, gentleness, forbearance, toleration, sympathy, and brotherhood, everyone may learn, whether man, woman, or child, learned or unlearned, without respect of race, caste, or Creed: They call Thee by various names; Thou art one".
First Public Lecture delivered in the East in the Floral Hall at the Empire Theatre, Colombo, Sri Lanka.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I have mentioned and acknowledged in this book at various places, about the advice, assistance, verifications and confirmation of dates, facts, subject matters, photographs and articles given to me by persons in Sri Lanka and by persons in other countries, during a period of about forty years or more. Many, many friends, wellwishers and also those who are not that politically friendly, have helped me to accomplish this task of publishing this book, my Magnum Opus.
It is invidious to mention names, but I feel that the following names of persons who helped and assisted me, and who have not been mentioned elsewhere in this book, have to be specifically mentioned. They are: Mervyn St. S. Casie Chetty, W.I. R. D. Hemasiri, K. P. Silva, Janadasa Peiris, P. Vimalendran, Mrs. Vasantha Gowri Vimalendran, K. K. Nadarajah, and my children, Dr.(Mrs.) Shyamala Athavan, Accountant D. Divakaran, and Dr. D. Bhagirathan.
LLSSMSSSSSSS SS

Page 545
Sri Lankan 11th Parliamentary General Elections held on 10th October, 2000
Parliamentary Seats Obtained
Peoples' Alliance (PA) led by President
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunge ............................. 107
United National Party (UNP) led by
Ranill Wickremesinghe ............................. 89
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna (JVP) ............................. 10
Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) ............................. 5
National Unity Alliance (NUA) ............................. 4.
Eelam Peoples Democratic Party (EPDP) ............................. 4
Tamil Eelam Liberation Organization (TELO) ..................................................... 3
Sihala Urumaya (SU) ........................ 1
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) .............................
Independent Group 2 - Digamadulla (IND 2-D 13) .................... 1
Total number of Seats in Parliament ............................ 225

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Page 547
Desabandu T. Duraisingam J.P.,
Born On 1st October 1911 Attorney-at-Law Founder Of the Left Movement in Sri I
| have Written this book, entitled "Politic Our Times", to bring in one book all th that is essential for every man and
Wishes to be knowledgeable for h edification and also tO thOse Who Wis active part in the affairs of his or her c. neighbouring Countries and in the World Book of Knowledge Contains articles on of subjects and of average length, lor about twenty pages and also Snippets - With colour and black and White photog first part of the book are given the artic me, the author of this book, and in the are given articles in Support of those giv part, Written by National and Ir personalities. This is a Handy Book of
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U.M.
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S and Life in e knowledge WOman WhO is personal h to take an ountry, in the at large. This a wide range ng articles of all illustrated raphs. In the les Writtenby Second part ren in the first
lternational
ReferenCe.
T. Duraisingam