Page 1
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S. A. Wickremasinghe
Sivasesaram
r Film and Race

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Page 3
| R. THE LAST HoPE
"We m1 JS EQ n uke. . . ." sa fad a trendy yourg Mr Ister at a cariference recently. The idiom na y be trendy but "gal ng nuke' is far from fashionable in the West. Prohibitwe Costs, enwsroririental dangers and other perils, and mounting public protest have forced the industrialised nations to look to the Third World, the great du Trping ground, 75 g ni easy escape-hatch,
ls the government being hustled into a decision which almost the entire body of scientific opinion in this country opposes? In the SLAAS, National Academy of Sciences, the universities, the Institute of Engineer's, the CEB and even fr the Mto mic Er ergy Authority, the propa sa has been received with scepticism, dis may and angry hostility. Yet a few "experts' and 'wheeler dealers' appear to have cut some sharp corners and forced through a decision that demands the most careful consideration.
In their indignation and des pair, Sri Lanka's top scientists find only I single gimmer of hope that President Jayewardere conscious of the gigantic and in calculable implications of such a project, W's invite the Ísland's best talent to advise him in a matter which involves this country's fu turė,
THE SLFP "NEUTRALIZED"
Mrs. Bandaranai ke's trip to the North Ha's obvioussy dgitated the UNP, While top Barty spokesman fired away angrily at the TULF, rem inding it of Mrs. B's treatment of thie TaTiTi i Is Trid their leaders, the state contros led media ha ye exploded in Yenomous ire. The friendly di Lite Over the size of the Jaffna rally (slightly less or as big as the crowd which greeted Mг. Chelvапауаgam in Iў72) і: Sure Sign that the reports which reached Colombg of a reception which surpassed the excetations of the organizers, were by no medr15 exaggerated. It is asso a reflection on the irony
of politics for it af ter af which e rl wed the To Ti| Ci wil rights !
And politics, q
the recognition a B reeds JJJJes dr stronger than any tion party in p Second in strengt. SLFP. The TULF nečded to derrior UNP that its opt limsted. Perhaps, to show to its a that their carch Si opponent had been The government is discuss the future es' Wyts the 7 (Isa resa yg sana series with the T
Lol!f LÍ15,
NO FLOW
MRS.
In parlament, M gam took pains to p, meeting had been before Mrs. B was the house; that it t. Lir") to pojaly host In the sive party b field rigt gen rer TULF seither fac Converts if the SL The rebel ''Suri pợnced on the Oc Some miserie y as expense of both the SLFP. It repor had fasted a disti (Mrs. B.) from thi State of Sri Larak
Wher (I CğlarıE (pro-UNP Tam ) ; 5ta wart for "pdy Mrs. B, the latte, "Yes, we gave he and a crowd but ਸ਼ੁਧr: ' .
(CU I fired fori

15 the LF ffectively depleader of his
Jssé. ຜftn, is Aliother Record f need. Mrs. Sin cc Sri Lanka has started || id the TULF is to establish so many world Other opposi- reದ್ಧ rds in so many different -d fields, could one of your teaונום ntטוT) שווחם
"" || ders please te || Us | whether only to the the latest announcemento for its part | create 21 assis tant district strate to the {{!!!!!!!!! ::* will mean another fons were not || glorious record. We will now st g! du d hawe cabinet ministers, deputy 5 riff ministers district ministers, Wr supporters proe... ministers and assis tar.
nhuld Buddhist
"neutraged" now ready to 2 of "'the stateULF. It may
res dua diffeULF Om district
district Tı İrı ister5. Can We lock forward to the day when all the government benches are occupied by ministers and the back benchers will be confined to the opposition? Then Mr. Wijesiri MP who has been asking in parliament questions about the money spent by
district ministers on travelling, fuel etc W||| Haye many more questions to ask.
ERS FOR
B. D. C. Gunawardena
Mr. Amidthdlin- |- - a Íri tout that the LAN FRA
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fu 1 dt the the TLLF ang CONTENTS ted that Eelam || News {{aးဇုund s ng is Ed Y istor | Foreign News
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Page 4
UNVERSAL TO BE COMME| AN ISLA
POSTER CC Rs... 54,00
The Department of Information of the Minist
Secretariat and the Department of Education spon Sinhala and Tamil to Inark the significance of thi
The henefits (f LIJNE WERSAL, FRANCHISE fo
of the poster :) Lupetition. All entries shı Yıld depict til to vote so much so that they will never compron
The three best entries in Sinhala and the three be
as in the Senior and Junior Schools Competition v
PRIZES: Open competition
Ist Frg - Rs 5,00
Frie - R5. 2,5DD}-
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Three Prizes for Sinhala ind thret Prizes for Tani | Free hund to artists Artists have : frec hand in making fu use of their LLLLGLLLLL LLLLL LL LLLLL LLLLa aLatLKS LLLLLL L0L be created in black-and-white or in colour, using whatKaLLLL LCLLLL KLK LL LtatLLL LLL LLLL HHa0LS KLLLLLLL LLLL S S LL LLLL LLLCLLSKLa S SS LLLLLS LL L0aLLKS KLSS CCLLKS LL0LS chalk, Indiam imk, cara bio u 3 2 d. Size: The poster should be 7" x 7" in size and should be da YYn on white beard et Paper. LLmLmmLS LLLLL HHOLLLLL LGGL ttH L Ct LLLKLL LLL LLLLL LHCHCtL LLLS 25 words in Sinhala or Tamil,
LCHLL L LL LLLLLLLC0CLS L CCtHHH HL LK LMLLLLLL LLL SaS LC0L00HL LLaLLaaa LLK YLLLC Laa LLLL KLLLLL LLLLLL or typed On the Te vers te of the poster.
Open Competition: Citizens of Sri Lanka 1re eligible to takë part in the C3 cn cgjipetition. There's no : ge
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EARS OF
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MORATED WITH ND-WIDE
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0 IN PRIZES
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the greater good of the common man is the theme LLtL aLLL LLLL aaL CL LLL HLLL LL LLLaLLL LLaL Caaa List it.
st entries ill. Thil in the Open Competition as well Yill be awarded separate prizes,
CKGSS LaLHH LLLL 0LL LLLLL LL LLtLLLLLLLLYLLLS 000SS LL aL LLLLLaLL aL LLLLLL aLLaL S S LHmLLLLLHLHS S L LCCK LLeLLH aC LLLL S aLLCLCL 00Laa Na 'Wember 19ÉS, Lhat is, a Weser fourtcen years of age, w III be eligible for the Senior Cortipetition. Children in all schools, both Government and private, can tak 4: par L.
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opening and Closing Dantes LLLLLL LCLLLL CLTGCaLLLLL S GLtL LaHHHLaLLLLLL S LH LLHHL SLLLLL Decembe l', 1980, and clasc On the 31st December 1990, LS LH LLLLLG G tHa LLL LLLLLL LLtLLLLLLL LS LLLLL LLLLLaLLS 1980, by the:
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Cola Tibro || .

Page 5
SLFP: Crippled it
Merwyn de Silva
I the SLFF"; |Iner circles, code-words are in fashio , Since Colombo, a smal town on
the World map, is both an op en and an open-mouthed society and hangs its secrets on a loose tongue, It Lakes no tralmed Codebreak er cor cry Panalyst to de cipher the se apparently cruptic Communcitions, One SLFP "secret' howe wert wa 5 surprisingly Wall ke pt — fg T more tham a wgak. Ewen thẹ CDN which beat the usually more :1|ert SUN con Mrs. B's walk-out (Dec. 2) did not publish a F1 y 1 E2 wis on how this meeting came to be held. It was forced or Mrs. B. who had cancelled the scheduled session of the politbureau (Now, 26) on her return from Jaffna. General Secretary Ratmas iri Wiik reman yake sum moned the P. B. which was requisitioned by a letter sent to him by 12 P. B. members.
Hence "The Dirty Dozen", the title of an old Americal movie
which was screened recently in Colombo, "The Dirty Dozen", confronts "The Gang of Four". The second code is misleading, but not intentionally. Originally, G referred to that loose but
large group of pro-China SILFP"ers and sympathisers who were more aptly described as ""Sir II—macosts". It embraced everybody from Ratna Deshapriya, the all-weather Pekingliner and the Pol Pot-is "Janawegaya' group before it was disbanded, along with other more formal alliances) to China loyalists II ke Walpita, Karawita, Alagiyawan na Ee .
NIE W Balla Ce
|7 (che P. B.’s tota|| strength) miri | S | 2 (The Dirty Dozen) leaves 5. But Ratna siri Wikre man ayake, whether aligned or non-aligned, has declared a 'strict neutrality' in keeping with his office. The four then are Mrs. B., TBI, Hector Kobbę kaduwe and K. Shanmugalingum - the Andy Young cor token Tamil in the congenitally S(Inhala). L. F. P.
Chinese puzzles, and Boys' Own Paper cloak-and-dagger games
apart, the move LLurning-point i: history,
12 to 4 Numb it is the corpo which rufęI:s rii the dramati: shi: balance of powe
The || ? illud yw ha a te in the PB figures in the tr ration, the repr Wcrthern's Secti tarı Lagu.
The student however find 5 ti a CL of cha i lenge, than anything el to Miga ra's predi m : d Sunda y su 'tyranny of the a sole cism is Gerald Fard" application of de from being a n
5. It eel serfs are just rii T1 core, it has tä! Power of the Su (combined air-sc tions), "Patton' a 55auts in Parli; gan da blitzkreig c. press, radio and regular tour of Kotte and Polonir Galligamuwa an: f"; 5 TE 5-T behind the SLF not well organi "guerrilla' activity low-intensity ir
THE SLFP ha,5 rightwards, the C and leftwards, S. PDP. But there a direct chal lang the CCITTard le which in terds ti
Party.
Kala WoWa
The Kalawewa. וחם חם וחו וח W3$ ;H order. Mrs. B." it always is - the heir-appare

by crisis
by the D. D. is a i të të rit SLFP
er 5 mater, But 5 | Cid of the 12 core Tean ing fully st II, the internal
E. E. L.F MP's , the two leading "la de LInion f3d2e5itāti ves f the
and the Youth
of SLFP politics 1e act itself, the more significant 5e. The heading ctably well-in formmary (SLFP's majority") was Lurn pardo na bila 25 singularly inapt : Tocque wille. Far ew tyranny, this laye's revolt. The :stless. What is ken the fu fireir: MT1 e Commar, der :A—ård-land operaPremadasa's tank a mont, the propaf the SLa te-owr ed TW. and his own the front, from aru wa (o Kelaniya, d Mawa mellä, to t of "resistance' P lines. This is sed "partisan" or either. It is still is urgent action.
had defections — P de Silva group, basing he and the hi5 nie wet bem e to Mrs. B. at
y el from a group o stay with the
by-election crisis e, and of another 5 heart lay where with het son, it. But this was
m C challeng (; to her. Cn the contrary, it was Anura, impelled by youthful inpatience and overeager to answer the suTTons of what he believes is his destiny, who was challenging the party's deputy lead or and his regional hegemony
The stakes were low, the risks
of personal intervention high. Besides, Mrs. B. realised that Amura'5 ra5h Tho we was actively
encouraged by the UNP since it fittted a characteristic exercise by | ts || 2 Ad ser in divisiwe tactics. She ke pt aloof, letting the Naomimå tiom Board Fhirdle the Tattet,
The PB letter however, was an act of defiance to which she is totaly Un accustome d; It Could be the first signs of op en rebe||||on, a situation which she cannot cope with, Psychologically. Thus, the walk-out from the PB, and the hu TT|| Od oxit froT Fhear o wyl house,
Tainted Trio
If all things are impermanent, alignments in the SLFP are an object les son in Buddhist metaphysics. Factions wanish oyer. night and "blocs can be washed away by the next monsoon; today's ally is to norrow's foe and the neutralist day after, It the very first post-elections meeting of Ex. Co. (the "politburo' is the ersatz product of party academics trying to help the SLFP Bandas to keep up with the uppity Comrade Jones's) all blame for the defeat was laid at chs feet af FDB. Hector and TB. So much so that Mr. Hanga ratne stayed away from rallies for months. A man af lettet 5 with a fin e grasp of the native idiom, TB|| spoke, at first public appearence,
of a Sinhala habit. "Dimu warna mama; paredu nama Chopi..." The choice of the socially superior
"thopi' inade target was,
Whi|| Hector and TB || styd out as the Strong est supporters of Chandrika, Mrs. B.'s candidate, Felix is known to be hovering in the shadows at a time when
it clàr who the

Page 6
legal advisors are in high demand, The LSSP, the keen est of FDBwatchers, claims that "Felix's fingerprints are all over the place' This was prompted by a reported remark of Mrs. B. that "my positor would be um temable" if Chandrika was rejected. "That", observed an LSSP don, "is a very felixitous expression."
The Sun read the situation in the same way when it said that the rejection of Mrs. B.'s nominee Ywould be "tarı tamount to i wote of no-confidence".
The SLFP crisis til, e 1977 de bacle,
surfaced with It became acute
ånd urgent after Oct. I 6, when Mrs. B. lost her civic rights,
Whatever its partisan critics
say, the UNP has shown that it abhors the law's delays. And whatever motives may be attributed to the UN P Wher | tt a mend 5 the law and constitution, it must be conceded that it has the only S t e Ti-Tico||ert in the World Which moves like a speed-fiend, On Oct. l7, It imposed more disabilites on persons like Mrs. B. But if it made things more difficult for Mrs. B. it als co made the resultant problems less easy for the SLFP to settle.
In the ower ween Ing wanity which is given to some professions, lawyers, (even intelligent ones) tend to believe that the constitution and the law can resolwe funda Tental
questions of politics. That is an
illusion.
law and Politics
Politics, the old a dagę gales,
is the art of the possible. The
law, particularly newly introduced anendments, is open to interpretation at least until it is finally tested in the courts, Both propositions create areas of doubt. The basic is sug here in Wolves both questions and therefore makes matters even less certain. How openly and effectively can Mrs. B. function as party President? The recent change in the balance of power within the party has narrowed the limits of action, already circumscribed by the law where
it is clear, and by fear of possible consequences where it is not. While the party Isader is Crippled by such circumstance, the
dissidents and ti are striken by par they are neither chists prepared f power by what ready to pay the a shared interes the party has That is the real c The roots of 1 back, perhaps 20 very much to da tory, organisati leadership styles,
If the SLFP activity is subst once the party w When the party government take which suffers from In any case, the of the leader ES th dė cision-makingmade, controlled him her,
The LSSP 1 formed governm only shared gove Although the rela party and gover stri is in the the Left is cont cept of the 'lead party." The part in a way that degree of "int Their racurrent this fact bestschism, the profic По пош5 dabata; LSSP's CC three and later, the "Was tion; the CP d and the removal man a 5 Ge. Se years, in the wa election "self crit SWRD, the fall In high regard E. by the member going intimacy w file and ministeri di Sirm clination for ral outlook, and ey LO sich coon 5id Coleratic OF and its per pe cu ac create a democr: in the party: Th social forces re nutured continuol, often chaotic, do
C. P. de Silva Wor only few se

1 e defian crës llysis CCC because rebels nor putsor a seizure cof B. WBT Teams lnd 2 price. Ironically, - in not splitting riotised both. risis of the SLFP. his crisis go far years. it has 2 with party histrial structures. Find per Sorialitie 5, ind UNP, Party antially reduced, wim5 the electors. takes office, the s over the party | 13 T-35 ufficatic II, dominant figure e major factor in Decision 5 a Te or manipulated by
the CP hawe mot art of their own, !rn miem tal power, 1. Liorship betweem "ment did Show 970-1977 period, litted to the coling role of the !y itself functions
promotes a high Brnal democacy". crises testify to the Sino-Soviet anged and a criwhich spilt the ways in 1963
Fu' group's defecivikis || || 37 of Peter KeuleCretary after 25 ke of the posticism". In der, was Held Iordering on a we ship. His easyiCh the rark-and– ial colleagues, his in trigue, his libe. idem C in difference estations is the personal power on combined to stic climate withvitality of the leased irii | 53 Js and spited, if
båte 5.
ed a party which ats less that tha
UNP in March '60. In the quest for total victory, the SLFP'veterans' played the Sirima card. They hoped she would be a rallying symbol, a popular banner . . . . and ance in power, some thing of a figurehead. They were right, at first.... and very very wrong later. Sirima's style
A nominated Senator rather than an elected MP. S. W. R. D.'s widow Tëmained aloof frorth and abc. We the party, and undertood politics, at first, only in terms of governmer tal power. This at titude was shaped by personal circumstance, social background, the total lack of experience in mass Cırgırı İ53 tİon, and most of all, by tempera ment. The passage of time did not change these qualities. On the contrary, the exercise of power only fortified them until a wholly new style of leadership and government was created.
Far from remaining a symbolic figure head, she revealed an amazing and a Wesome instinct and taste for power. She was mot Elizabeth 2 but the first Elizabeth. She did not lead, but reigned, She was not elected but born to rule.
The party structure, how the party functioned, the relationship with in the party, between party and government - all these were influenced and shaped by the sheer force of het personality.
The Indian editor, Nihal Singh has written: "Mrs. Gandhi has succeeded in superimposing a royal family structure and a personal isd Party on democratic fromewark. doesn't the attachment to one family bring out yearn ing for a feudal relationship in which the lord and master, knows best?"
Twenty years later, the ruler's sovereign Will has been chal lenged. The result is a traumatic shock. The party seems paralysed. Is the guilt wholly Mrs. B.'s? Or is it shared by those who for 2 decades acquiesced in and helped sustain this scheme of things, this absurd a Ilaithir an lism of contemporary, democratic Sri Lanka? The guilt Tust be borne by the princes and princelings, the clans, the courtiers, the conspirators and clowns, who allowed a popular, democratic political party to be converted II, to a fiefdo II,

Page 7
Devaluation-gently as sl
he IMF's three wise men who slipped into town quietly just after the budget have returned to Washington. They were on a "fact-finding mission'. Another IMF mission, at a higher level, will be here early next year. Only then will it be known whether Mr. de Mel's balanced budget has resolved those differences between Sri Lanka and the IMF which led to the 'freezing" of disbursements six months ago. Those disbursements were made under a 3 year agreement signed in Jan. 1979 by which the IMF would release approximately 350 million US dollar 5. In SDR'5.
Minister de 10 Seems confident that the government is now in a much stronger position to re-negotiate the matter. An across-the-board cut of 22%, in government spending and a balanced budget may meet the IMF's main criteria of non-expansionary financing and controlled inflation.
What of devaluation? This is a standard IMF demand (advice). The rupee has slipped from about 15 to the dollar to 8 during this
BOARD ROOMS
O PANTRIES
O LINING OF
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same six mont supposed to be this the real
rupee or has th shored it up. It that if there w, the rupee would 24 to the dollar probably be col "fixed' at about
The restorator tions with the important to the g still relies heavily cing and faces ar problem. Besides The IMF under th Fac|| ity, Sri Lan from foreign bar and on better te credit rating is go IMF gets cool, Th tries get the col the collmercial se ao med "aid" ne
With cost as havoc with proj especially big om hawe || — and don sion, refusing to much higher pric
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period. It is 'floating". But is walue of the : Centra Bank ls widely held as a 'free float' come down to The IMF will tent to se it 2O.
of good relaMF is critically overnment which on foreign finanacute payments the money from e Extended Fund ka can borrow ks more free "Is if the IMF's od. "When the ird World cound shoulder from banks' says a gotiator.
calation playing 2 Čit etİ Tātes — 2s like the Maors, hit by reces
Corn pensate for 25 of machinery
etc, the government has to go to the bank5. This month, Sri Lanka raised 20 mm illi con from the Harnnover Trust in London to buy equipment for the Wictoria project, and a few weeks before that raised a Euro-dollar loan in Hong Kong through Lloyds to make down payment for ships from South Korea and Argentina.
Will the IMF be as "gentle' to Sri Lanka as it has been to Pakistan Inspite of the fact that Pakistan has an utterly unpopular and increasingly isolated military regime run by a uniformed usurper,
thg fF which dog sn't Hother to parade its concern for "human rights" gawe Pakistan this month |-7 b||||on dollars in SDR"5. Accor -
ding to the Financial Times, the conditions (growth rate, inflation, balance of payments deficit) amounted to "gentle creatment', The Ioan is the largest made La a Third World country in the IMF's history. With the Gulf war and Afghanistan, Pakistan of course is so wital to Western interests that Dr. Kissinger recently proposed that Pakistan should be equipped by the US and made che chief defender of Western interests in the area.
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Page 8
Film
in July 1979 twenty-five people
蠶 a public appeal calling for the formation of a voluntary body to promote the furtherance of communal understanding through the mass media and to counteract undesirable communal manifestations in the fined få. (Th2 appeal appeared at that time in the LG.) This voluntary body - the Council for Communal Harmony through the Media - is now functioning, It uses office space kindly provided by the Marga Institute, but it i 5 an in de pendent body controlled by its own committee and not a section of Marga. The Council proposes shortly to bring out the first of a Series of newsletter5 which will appear from time to time and will present the material gathered from a periodical mon Ito ring of the mass media in respect of communal relations. The Council is also engaged on two regg, Cearch Studi02:5: one, on the reporting of the Sanson | Commission's proceedings by the Press; the other, con school text-books from the standpoint of communal relations.
Last month the Council organised a seminar on the subject of
"The Film as : Mediuri of CrossCultural Comriumi || Catic". Partcipants in the semi när heard a
paper by Reggio Siriwardena on the theme (reproduced in the Sunday Observer of December 7), watched a screen ing of the film Sarungale, and engaged in a lively discussion which elicited many different opinions, particularly on the possible effect of Sarungale on communal attitudes. These were some of the views expressed during the discussion:
Prof. K. Indrapala: Although the makers of Sarungale frust hawe intended to project an anticommunalist at titude, certain elements in the film run Counter to this aim. They have concentrated in the figure of Nadarajah || the stick characteristics Sim ha| es e attribute to a Ta. Til go Ye Tn - ment officer — the Potty Coat, tie, hat, cigar, and an exaggerated
and commu
Tamil accent in : ha is also port religious, caste-In wative. This imag woke sympathy cm phasi 5 es the Tam its are differei Is ather thar t Morecwer, the : who be comes Ih IE murnal || wiolch C2 F caste w||ence ag: lower, and the therefore conside at the end of th bition for what his sister.
Reggie Siriwari sympathy for a vil violence does not him as a perfect in order to pro Lunderstanding, ne society a 5 free o If the film li Idealised Wig W of would have bec audiance as Umri ho faid in i treating caste disi gid With ith 1 i. the film-makers another kind of man to Tnan arid scope of the film
Dr. Newton G. rajah is a CQT) The social con 5 powerful for him. of his owe for a would new er ha Ye marry her.
S. M. Kara film brings out of humanity is is | wyer les y els of : iri Silan, the ka
E. Rathina: T ba bility in a per racial feelings subject to caste p. is as important : film as race.
Sunil Bastian: themes in the important – Caste

nalism
peaking Sinhala; rayed as wery ided and conser:e will not Proor respect. It ways in which ht from Sinhale se he similarities. same Nadarajah victim of coriad re 5 otted to inst his sister's
audience may that his fa 2 e fi|| || 5 Tari
he had dor to
de na: To awak : -tim of Cormim Lual : in wolwe Sceling lārā r; nor, Thotte Comm Lu Ima | Cd e 50 Tamil f imperfection 5. presented an Tarmi | life it rejected by the Eal and would ts purpose. By inctions side by and linguistic, 1ave brought in in humanity of broadered the
.
unas inghe: Nadaplex character. its e to and in spite Sinhala girl, he had the guts to
ean: What the that the sense tronger in the ociety, as it is sippu-seller.
here is no improS ofı b e: i n g 3 txo'w e
and yet being rejudices. Caste thic in the
There are two film wył ich är e and race - and
the director uses two different techniques to present them - flashbacks for the first, and action in present time for the second. The censors' cutting of the scene where Nadarajah is attacked by the thugs, to which Reggie Siriwardena had referred, was a big lo 55. If the actual w Iolence had been shown, the audience's horror of it would hawe been greater. The explanation of communal con
flict as due entirely to "dirty politics' was nave,
M. J. Perera: The film tries
to do too many things in too little time. It is more the personal tragedy of Nadarajah rather tha F1 communal relations which is the subject. However, films like Sarungale should be shown on TW. The stage could also be used to explore similar themes, as G. D. L. Perera did very successfully in Tho Lupola in the sixties.
D. Asirwathartı: The S|rı hala people are portrayed very unfavourably in the film, and Sinhala national Pride would hawe been hurt; therefore the firT would have failed in its purpose of influencing opinion.
Q. Ismail: The film will compel the Sinhala people to realise that a few among the Tı bë hawe badly, and will lake the non-commural want to do something about it.
Dr. K. S. Nadarajah: Nadarajah is a contradictory ch år åter; in Jaffna he is sympathetic to nobody but in Colombo, where he has to have dealings with people of another community, he is Inore humane. Although the film ha 5 weaknesses, it is on the whole very successful.
N. Shan mugalingam: A film i5 a work of art, but in Considering IL from the preser L point of wiew, we hawe to cors i der its practical effect, The fiirli dil d i ot ruh long cither in Colombo cor in Jaffna, and therefore its practical effect yould hawe been Siria || . The a Udience Would ha We do Li fed themselves with Sirhol and ot with Nada rajah,

Page 9
Unconditional support
Iraq says J. V.
Wi un conditionaliy Support Iraq and the Arab Baath
Socialist party'" says Lional Bopage, Acting Gen. Secretary of the JWP in a statement to the 'Lanka Guardial He add5: "The VP and the Arab Baath Socialist party have no differences at all in the just struggle to regain the sovereignty of the Iraqi territory against the reactionary regime of | ra."
Commenting on the item In the CMU paper Wanguard republished in the L. G. under the headline "No JWP Salute" the JWP spokesman says :
"Regarding the Polish workers
struggle we are with the Polish workers in their just struggle to win their rights. But we clearly oppose any attempt to overthrow the already established socialist production relations in order to establish a capitalist econority.
P.
In local as Wg tional politics wi and are support gles of the pro oppressed, agai capitali5 rTn, i rTn per n1 t 5 || i k e Zion Ism" we hawe takem Iraqi-|ra mian War yery clear, alth regime has an iss States regime issue, the Zioni rialists are or and indirectly s gime of Mullahs the T i Soi Stlte of Cl2 r|co-| other and thi Party regime in fested its 5 ton policy in its p På les tiri Issue ; tion of the Ar; the United Stä. its agents."
POR MELA. OVER A
ARESTONS
GLOBAL. REPUTATION IN THE FIELD
ARISTON'S HAWE OPENED OUT M
EXPORTS IN AN ENDEAVOUR TO CO
HELI
AR STO
ARISTONS TOURS No. 5, Gower Street, COLOMBO 5.
Cabes: "TURNTIDE"
ܡܢ
5, Gow
Colo
Phone : 3 8 43 ե,

for
Il as III Interna2 ha Ye supported ing the just struge Laria and the inst opportunism, |alism and its ageand accordingly the side on the ... Our stand is ough the Iranian ue with the United ver the ho5 tage sts and the i Tipe:heir side directly upporting the retrying to plunge 2ty back inta a Feldalism. On the 2 Baath Socia | Ii 5 . Iraq ha manig anti-Imporalist ractice ower the ind the reunificaab | and divided by „é2s lrThperialists and
Trends . . . (Cor. I i I u ed from page II)
ENGLISH
"Every child wi II be taught English, says the President," ran the headline of the front page lead story in the Daily News of November 28. Meanwhile, however, the University Grants Corrission has decided that the English departments at the Universittles of Jasfna and Sri Jayeward hard plura should be closed down One would suppose that In order to teach every child English, as the President promises, there would be the full est erco Luragement for the teach ing of English Qn e v er y CampLu 5 so a S to produce competent teachers. In the south, there will be at ar y ra te three campuses with English departments. But the closure of theory English department. In the north — a reg for Where there has bei di Certa | f tradition of English studies -- would be not only de trimer ta | to the teach ing of English but also discriminatory.
AAF A CE/WTWAY
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OF EXPORTS AS WELL AS
EW WISTAS
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Telex: 213 CO2 RUWAN |

Page 10
BUDGET (2)
The I MF/ I BRD spor
strategy
by Kethesh Loganathan
Hē "chicy Crims" of the
LUMP (GC'y rt || || FF referred to in the Budget Speech and critically examined in Part of this article, is officially attributed to the viability of the "IMF Package supported exportorientad development Strategy. Before proceeding to highlight che 98 | Budget Speech has a manifestation of the contraditions that have begun to emerge out of the implementation of this "strategy'', let me briefly summarize the theoretical premise of the Export-Led Growth Model and the role of the "IMF Package."
The theoretical premise of the Export-led Growth Model is basically an affirmation of the neo-classical sentiments pertaining
to the free inter-play cof the markat forces and free trade. Thus, it is argued that the uninhibited play of the market forces will lead to a more efficient allocation of resources,
thereby, also enabling the economy to direct the excess of production Cwer and above it 5 ab 5 dorp - tive capacity to the international
market. Participation in international trade based on the 'new' international di Wision of labour, it is then argued, makes it
possible for the economy to gain access Lo impu Is Which the dorm estic scetor is not geared to produce and utilize them for the further
expansion of the productive capacity and, onwards, towards the "take-off" point and self
sustained growth and development,
The role played by the IMF is in providing the peripheral capitalist States which adopt the export-led Growth Model with à package Of Propas als which, in e55 Cnce, Constituto the economic and political pre-conditions for implementation of the exportoriented development strategy. This package of propos als Is What is popularly notoriously knoyn as the "IMF Package". The basic
B
ingredients of t and their the c can be surT171ari:
(i) The libera 5 , 0 E 15 LI TE inputs neCessa ry
ted industrializal
(ii) Devaluatic as a device
competitiveness international ma a remodial measu de tercration in trade during period following TiCT.
(iii) The el Ir controls, SLES e components of : as to give full frec inter-play forces which os to a greater m domestic resour efficient allocatio fawout of "Pro ises.
(iw)
Curtal
The pro w facilities, i tees, fiscal in cer docile ||abdur fic: "political stabilit
The a bo'We rm1e: necessary to in Westors who, inject into the and technologica quired for th export-oriented agricultura | Ernte b = Terti-Irg d. h. Ti e a surg, cited Ab equally necessary of dom estic Priw TT E TI S.
(w) The prop package will be
balance of pay from the IMF, t ventar al borro",
Interrha tFcrna I rmorn --Lerm official lo

nsored development
he 'IMF Package" ret|cal rationale Egg d as follo Yys:
lization of imports : accessability to
for export-orien. חסl:
or of tha currency to increase the of exports in the rket and also as re against possible the terrT15 of the 'transitory' import liberaliza
mination of price lies and other :Cate wielfaris ITT 50 expression to the of the market tensibly, will lead abi | iżä Lion of the ces and a more in of resources in duction-oriented'
ision of infrastrucIn West Tent guarartives, à cheap är d rce arid overall :y" by the State.
5ures are deemed attract foreign ostensibly, will econo Thy capital kryci wy—ho YW ree setting-up of manufacturing and rprises, lt m Lust lowever, that the owe are considered for the promotion ate direct in West
to the entire the con wentional ments "support' he not too cowings from the ey market and long 5 and foreign aid.
It is beyond the scope of this article to present a theoretical critique of the Export-led Growth
Model or to conduct an inquiry into the "scientificity' of the |MF package. For the purpose of
this article, I Wish to focus on the complete bankruptcy of the
|MFIBRD sponsored export oriented development strategy as it has operated in the case of
Sri Lanka since 977.
Let us take the first component of the "IMF Package' — nå mely, import-liberalization, The rationale
be hind the liberalization Of Imports to reiterate, is that it would enable the economy to
improve its capacity utilization by en Suring access to inputs which the domestic Tanufacturing sector is incapable of providing. We have already se en ir Part II of this article as to how importliberalization of the type witnessed in Sri Lanka has undermined the domestic manufacturing sector catering to the internal market, This in effect makes the argument
in favour of liberalization of imports based on the limitations
of the domestic manufacturing
Sector, a self-fulfilling Prophe sy!
Further, it is also clear that the opining of the economy has failed to provide the impetus to export
oriented industrialization. Fo instance, in 1979 the export Wolume index showed an Increase of only 1%, over the previous year while i T1 Poort wolume rose by 23%. Now, a break-down of
the imports does not reflect any significant change in favour of "authentic' investinent and interIT ediate goods, despite statistical
jugglery and general confusion regarding definitions. Further, a break-down of exports clearly
reveal that despite an increase in the share of industrial exports Ywere må de LP, cf petroleum products and textile garments. Since the import content of
(Continued on page 28)

Page 11
THE LEFT
by Gail Omwedt
E. as anti-price rise move
ments, Hindu-fuslim ridts, struggles against national oppression and a widening spectrum of popular turmoil are mounting in India, the country's Communist movement 5 gẽm.5 m. CTG diwide d tham Ewer" #m d for the present incapable of posing in revolutionary alternative to lin dira Gandhi's increasingly authoritarian TT "W"ETTT ET1
India's two major parliamentary communist. Parties, the CornfThur ist Party of India (CPI) and the Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPM) camin e together in the la St Fhraif of | 73 in a comm u nist-led front that not only held governmental power in three Indian states but also seemed the best national alternati ye to Indira Gandhi. Yet, hardly a year later, these hopes seg mli belied grid the "|left ard democratic front" is stalled and faced by Communist oposition to its policies from both the right and left.
To the right of the CPI-CPM combine is a new party, the AllIndia Communist Party (ACP), which professes ||ts loyalty to S. A. Dange, the one-time chairman of the CPI who has stood Tnost un 5 werwingly for the line of
supporting Mrs. Gandhi and all her actions, including the Emmergency itself. Curiously enough
Dange himself Is Still in the CPI with many of his followers carrying on a ferocious internal battle to gain control of as many of its Cadres and mass Organisations as possible, But others hawe split, following his daughter Roza Dashpande with tens of thousands of members from each of several states and control of many party jol Irmals and u mion Luri iris. It is expected that when the ACP holds its official founding convention in November that a substantial proportion of the old CPI's trade
un için and and other mass base W |l| f|lo'w j t.
To the left of the CPI-CPM
group are Warious factions of Naxa. lites and a number of diverse other
in END
Marxist-Leninist parties. This is : crucial diversities and practice, but haps two thing consider that the offers only a bo; Gandhi and the they do not agt of alliance with (though from di fi perspectives) - SE selves hawe in Tı arid sections of t class a fairly stat mä55 base.
The "left and d led by the CPI an No ww some other parties and waryi cialists als well 15
bourgeois parti e5 (U), that is the
arts of the old Charan Singh's L Ja mata Party w hi cluded the forme elements (who a into the Bharatiy But the main pr front is mot Tuc communist split opponents, but t seems unable to lead the popula Ward.
Exactly why th 15E fTy-TélL f“ with no crie for gain a decisive what lock c d Ii "left democratic' so stallied are pe issues for the Inc
We Loay,
Pro-dia CGT
For some year Moscow CPI, Indi: m linist party wi members it the L split) had follow supporting Indra ment as represer 55 iwl mitori | Ebo the CP itself support after a

DA
organisations and Il gra Luping with
of political line
United by peris - First, they : CP|-CPM front gu5 opposition to Indian state and ee with policies Jourgeois parties Ferent theoretical cond they themany rural areas he urban Working ble and genuine
emocratic front" d CPI(M) includes Smaller Marxist ng groups of sothe most imporof India's other - the Congress anti-Indira remCongress Party, ck Dal and the ch has now exr Hindu-chavinist Te now grouped a Janata Party). oble with this h, at present, the and its left-right he fact that it find a way to mower ent for
* lmd iam commuemain 5, 50 split, "mat, lo ble to
lead, and why k02 a promising opposition is now :rhaps the crucial lian revolu tionary
munists
the Old proi's biggest Comth some 600,000 ime of the recent ed the line of Gandhi's govern| Ing å "progreurgeoisie.' Now as rejected this ong internal stru
ggle and self-criticism, but the result has been a new, breakaway party founded on this principle.
Even though the CPI was widely discredited in Tuch of India's left circles for its support of the Emergency, the Position s ti || has some impressive, widespread support, The AICP, Once it is decis|wely e&tablished, may in fact be able to exercise so Te real influonce — alding what the majarity of the Marxist left considers the Tost danger cu s cinc my of the Indian working class today,
The ACP's support among old
Communist Cadre 5 follow5 from two things, First, support for Indira Gandhi and her Congress Party is simply a logical conclusion from the old CP party programme which calls for a 'national demoCratic revolution't taking a noncapitalist path- According to it, the min enerie5 of th volti arte imperialism (especially) the U. S.), feudalism (big landlords) and the monopoly bourgeoisie. A "national bourgeoisie' which fights these and sides with the "socialist bloc' can be an ally of the communists and even share in glower mmern ta l power in the "national democratic state."
By the CPI's criteria, Indira Gandhi and the general policy of the Congress party for the last 30 years does in fact look progressive. It has opposed big landlords T1 by pushing through limited anti feudal land reforms, it has insticuted a public sector with Soviet aid to provide a support for industrialisation (a public sector which as Dange is eager to point out controls the 'commanding heights" of the economy: steel, mining, railroads, electricity and
power generation etc); and it follows a generally pro-Soviet foreign policy. In the last months
Gandhi has refused Soviet presence in and recently India
O Ti | ig Afghanistan became the
first major third world country to recognise the Heng Samrin government in Kampuchea.

Page 12
Of course, It is clear that the Gandhi government is not really opposing imperialism; the Emergency did nothing to attack foreign econcomic interc::5ts and with Indira, "5 return to power multinational corporations are beling given a freer hand than ewer. But just why mere "anti-feudalism', a grawing state sector and a proSoviet foreign policy are quite compatible with the solidification of capitalist relations and the growing hold of imperialism is something the basic CPI line is simply not capable of comprehending.
The other reason for the hold of the AICP is that while most of the old communist cadres joining it are petty bourgeoisie themselves, they have been involved Irn work armong 5ections of thQ masses who in fact are being won cover in part by Indira's "progressive" facade, by the 20point programme, announeement of minimum wages, building of houses for the rural poor etc. The party has a long history in independent India of subordina. ting struggles of the rural poor to the interests of rich peasants,
of orchestrating working class fights to the needs of alliance with bourgeois parties, and of
gearing its entire Party structure to the parliamentary framework. This historical practice simply leads logically to such things as an al llance with Indira. Gandhi,
With ail of this, it is qui te Lurder standa ble that In dira ha 5 gained a new communist party - and that the Soviet Union itself is keeping its options open by supporting both this communist tai and the CPI-CPM corn Turist
Opposition.
Anti-Indira Communists
Currently the major opposition political force in India is the Left and Democratic Front (LDF) a conglomeration of bourgeois parties led by the CPI and CPM.
This section has been making a bid to take the leadership or mass discontent by organising
huge struggles against prie-risc, involving themselves in rich pea
O
samt demands f grain prices as Lura | labourer de wages, and lead strikes.
But the CPI in some major dile the LDF. One ( | n fact both par a reas of agree Indira governmer policy iš šies, 5 to the movement the nā loma || || ibi in the northeast quite willing to in calling for "nat. More basically, d of theit a |||ance parties and their of the Indian hawe accepted cf to their way of le popular struggle is no conception masses in any '' or of challenging Si Lition of the the stil powerfu
bourgeois opposi that the mower come 5 to it Le
to throw lin dira c Til El t
The current L[ ment follow 5 w set procedure in affairs: meetings, Tarches, short st (shut-downs) at le graha s or "fill hLJge joint marc and peasants, an climax a assive a whole state or entre country. standards the le misęd mass strug
The band h it ever a "political which involves m and includes th offices, factorics, transport, The that such moyen to the destructi OT i They're re t blish ment of pɛ any alternative simply a way of of the existing

- higher foodell a 5 agriculmands for high er 1g Working class
CPM are facing 1 mas in leading f the is that ies hawe major ent with the : con important ch as opposition in A55 arm and ration struggles and hawe been join with Indira onal integration" ue to tho needs with bourgeois own perspective revolution, they ucia imitāts ading the current i. Thus, there of leading the | legal' activities, the Indiar constate itself, with presence of the til on this mea 15 ment politically more than a call but of the govern
F-popular movehät is by now a India for such demonstrālins, Pikes and bandhis ocal lewels, satyathe jail' days, hos of workers | finally as its band h throughout if possible the By American Wel of such orgagles is quite high.
ef can be called general Strike" illions of people e shutdown of shops and all act is, however, ents do rat lead in of state power towards the es Laoples' power in for IT, but are putting pressure government. At
various points violence may break out as en flained masses confront the state power, but this is newer organised by the leaders. Once the climatic bandh has been reached in such a campaign, there are no plans to go forward, and so "after the band h- what next?'" has become real question.
The fact is that the current anti-price rise movement has reached the band h stage without much effect. Two major states, Andhra and Mahara shtra, hawe had state-vide bandhs irl which there was almost total support and the closure of everything, but little else: people supported the action but without enthusiasm, The fact is that opposition | s not posing any real al Lerna - tive; the LDF itself is in an entirely different framework from the kind of revolutionary, insurrection-oriented fronts that are
being formed from an equally Wide range of parties in the Latin American context; and the CP and CPM are not gaining that much support a III orig the
TSSS
To understand why this is happening, it is necessary to understand the politics and history of the CPM which is clearly the leading force within the LDF.
When the original Communist Party of India s Polit down the middle in 1964, the CPM emerged as the more-pro-China and more
mili Çamt section, with its base where the original communist movement had been the stron
gest, in Kerala and West Bengal. Its programme, like the CPI's called for an anti-imperialism; and It in 5isted that the "peoples' democratic from ti" and State should be under the leadership of the working class, not a joint ledership.
This program, the continuing opposition to the Congress government, and the Tiilitancy of its cadres in trade union and the rural areas give the party a more militant character, even though it maintained a parliamentary approach. In 1987 this parlamentarisri was te sted wheṁ its own

Page 13
candres in the Max alboari area of north Bengal led a peasant revolt and the CPM (then in power in Bengal state) temporized and ther finally decided to crush the revolt. There were massive breakaways from the party all over India and many of these came together to form the CPI (ML) and other pc-Chinese grou C. S. For the 5e "Naxalites' the CPM had failed it's decisive test, had made a "historic 'choice" against the revolutionary IIower1 ent and for the parliamentary road, and was Irrevocably revision Ist 55 The CF| For the CFM har di er 5 il contrast, the Naxalites by their advenI Iris fim were only dan gerously expos img am imma tl I re rino weriment to state repression, and CPM and Naxalite cadres engaged in often murderous in fighting. What
e ver the justice of these arguTents, for several years it was the Flaxalites for all their flu| E3
who won the imagination of the revolutionary-In inded youth, while the CPM retailed discredited and stagnant.
This situation changed decisively In 1977. The fact was that the CP1 did energetically oppose |n dira Gandhi and suffered heavy repression itself during 1970-74 in West Bengal when the Cangress government tried to curbi the mass base of the party. though it was unsuccessful in organizing any real underground during the Emergency, it emerged in 1977 after the defeat of Indira with a good deal of prestige and "Wyith freedom to operate now that its bourgeois ally, the Jari ata Party, was in governmental Power åt the center. With the Nanalite in ovement in dissary is looked even better.
E'W' 2 T.
The party began once again to at Lac. rew activists. Its student wing, the Students Federation if India (SFI) grew to become the biggest in the country and its trade union Wing, the Ceritre of Indian Trade Unions (CITU, began to expand in many new 3-reas, including the industrial belt arouri d
Delhi arit rigy Karmataka and Ra, -78 the party
looked up to as irid 35, 3 '' tiri the Congress an t5 party Confere jab at the beg was held in a SLIP Serb self-confic: office was sisted symbolic clh alleng itself; and plans lsi раггy
Torth India har Erit'' WWF. C. L. the CPI joined iet |go (IP-1 || The Tal fram II. a IE of Kerala, the seemed at its he
Yet this expal hawa Stopped. T the greatest me party's mass front and its peosant) Bengal and Kerä self tema ins only trade un ion cen in ridia Tid has mot growing, in Capital of Bomba dent lewel, the Naxalite organisa their dis unity : renewed growth gress and Hindu group5 ha 5 check of the SF; and no decisi ya batea | rural arcas in sp rewolts cof agrict and da||IS all ov
The plans fo expansion hawe E: aside, and the C to a defensi wist p: its Best Berg; Tripura, fearing '''pro vocation" w they already 5E topple the state control.
To be co

states such as as than. In 1977 was increasingly a political force, alternative' to d Janata Party. nce in the Funinning of 1978 atmosphere of lence; its par ty to Delhi in a e at the Capitol Wự ra la id for a expansior1 irii the llai Ind (yr '''Hirld i
of W. I and agreed to I load a gwerriio in the state party's up swimg :ight.
15 ion & ccmg to he fact is that mbership in the :s (both the ITU come from West ā stāte: CIT
the 5th largest ral organisation been declining India's industria, tỷ. Cm thữ s Lupersistence of .ticorns in spite cf is well as the of Indira Coin-right ist studenc :ed the influence lhere as bene kthrough in the i te of increas Ing |ra labourrs e India.
a Hindi-belt een quietly land PM has retreated SQLLre regarding il, Kerala and that too much ill increase what re as plans to governments they
intinued
(/)alek a gift (7.
ls (1.1 L/
f) Fr co se 5 fion.
MULTI-PACKS
(CEYLON)
LIMITED
RATMALANA.

Page 14
Transport Travails (2)
SOME SOLUTIONS
by Anil Moonesinghe
he present price hike is
not a practicable proposition and': will be lead to increasing misery and un employment. The tendency will be for workers TE in to Colombo and other cities and build shanties. The price of cement, timber and other building materials have become prohibitive Ewen a housing loan is no answer as the interest on OO, COO is itself Rs. I000 per month. How many Gwen from the riddle class can afford that! Travelling and hou. sing are intimately connected and between these two the increasing
misery of the masses and even the middle class is now more than ob Yious,
Is there a solut lor to this wery serious problem? As indicated earlier Sri Lanka has to turn in
a big way towards electrification of transport. Instead of multiplying the was te of foreign exchango in bringing in small-sized vehicles, Public transport must be geared to large vehicles and hydro-power, The small electric Car that is lo'w being produced by General Motors must be imported without duty whilst the other vehicles are phased out over the next 20 years.
Electrification of transport will Tean a favorable Shift economically and industrially, Electric wech icles have very few mowing parts in their engines. Thus the technology of upkeep is easily with in the reach of Less Developed Countris lik SI laika and ā gradual shift towards manufacture of these vehicles could be made
Furthermore electric driven cars will run on batteries of the Conventional lead-acid variety.
Those too could be manufactured in Sri Lanka on a mass-scale. Using hydro-electric, solar-electric and battery-powered vehicles wi||
result in a substantial cut-down of the outflow of our scarce foreign exchange. It will also
bring Sri Lanka into the electric
and electronic away from the 2 century.
Already in Eu of Tik, bread arė being mei powered vehicle transport system LJS ing this typ E lead to a cut fu Eels, Within whicles of th: encouraged as a Can provide aba day on a charge, and passengers has another E During road-blo which requires stationary-no po in an electric the fossil fue le
Ho'Weʼw g:r" the quires a planne Sri Lanka. The operation are 5. Tust be handle level of authort exercise that W Tinistries and several governm be an all party E ment and oppc exercise that , Working class in therefore self-im tive techniques productivity are Thus the orgni class must be into participatior
The di sastro open market Cor 5 ta 1 t dewaluation placed with : Selective system encourage local a reviation of on par with the The government i DS, A Ti of Haw monetary system Yw ich India, Pakis dash. The 5e Ing down inflation ar

S
age of transport, Oth (hydro-carbon)
rope al del veries etc. in the cities de by battery3. Thus a ra |ana|| 1 with in the cies of Wehicle will -down of foss|| cities pri Wd tie 5 type should be n electric battery ut 100 m ile s per Transport of goods within the city vious advantage. cks - a situation a vehicle to be wer need be used vehicle unike in
Wehicle,
electric age red ushering-in in magnitudes of the complex that it id at the high est It means an ||| in wolwe multiple the Per|cod 5 of 2nts. Thus it will :xercise - governIS || Cor. It Is a "wi|| in wolwe the a big way and anagement incenI Increa5e 표 a|| involved. Satos of this actively brought
is policy of an mbined with con
should be re1 poları ned and
of imports to Tanufacture and the rupe e to be 2 Indian rupee.
should declare "Iпg a сопппmom and Tarket tan and Bangla!asures will slow Id also bring our
people's income more in line With Cothi ert developing countries, Such measures will reduce the stresses placed on our transpart and housing conditions and ргераге thern to be more viable and satisfactory.
A change in the macro economic policies must be accompanied by
a planned transport policy. The basic elements of that policy should be:
Electrification of main rail and bus routes and creation Cf suburban electrified transport.
2. Transitionally state transport must be provided with sufficient vehicles: shortages of skilled persom n el be provided for by tra in ing schools on the line of the Sri Ları ka Technical Tra in Ing Institute, All employees dismissed for Strike activity be taken back.
Shortages in supplies that now hold up engineering work should be eliminated. The present disgraceful administrations be replaced with managements which do not bend to un due trade union pressure. The management of the SLTB and the CGR be given over
to elected representatives of a e in Ployees - with in the first phase 50-50 sharing of power
between the Executive grades and all other grades with a Manager appointed by Lhe staff. Incentivos for production should be instituted.
3. Only rural routes be given over to the private sector or cooperatives.
4. Local manufacture of 5 Partes both by the public and private 5C tr"5.
5. Instead of one sport Corporation provision be allowed for two or more to Pro wide for competition,
The fault of State Transport can be basically traced to management and organisation. If this area is properly handled costs will considerably reduce. The reduction in fare 5 w III and must corne due to the changes in macro-economic policies.
State Trail

Page 15
ls Gunadasa Am
a Marxist
by Nihal Perera
he book clearly shows that,
to Amaras ek era, the difference: between a patrict and a Marxist. is somewhat of a puzzle. (This question is of course not relevant to Trotskyists and other 'onestageists'). Even though he quotes the Wen. Udakar de wela Sri Sara mankara Thiero, Arma rasekera does not seem to hawe unders tood
the context of the quotation. The Wen. Saranari kara has said "Dharmapala is the greatest
patriot to be born in our country in this age.' He goes on to say, 'affirming his patriotic ideas, we should dedicate ourselves to travelling towards Scientific socialism" speaking with a correct understandings of a journey of two stages which are different and yet integral. A Marxist should be aware of the interconnections as well as the differences of the anti-imperialist struggle and the the struggle for socialism.
It is justifiable to name those who talk of the liberation of the people of this country without a deep awareness of the national liberation movement that sprang Lip in Sri Lanka against British Imperialism as being "up-rooted" persons. Some historians see three trends in the movement for political independence. Since one of them is openly committed to the "foreign er masters", it is indeed incorrect to even classify it as a trend for independence.
What they wanted was to lap up the scraps fron their white Inastars" table and fatten themselwes. The De Mels, James Pieris, Obeyseker as are in this category. The second group, which was more cunning but newer the less fell into a similar category, consisted of those who
attempted to take over the reins of political power through a series of reforms. D. B. Jayati i leke, E. W. Pertiera : and the Senanayak es come with in this group.
(Furfirl FC Ars " is Aragat rika | Mfarxist?” Ilias srare Frofig our society. S ht I've crefyd y
dalbaie. The | b.e. Heçirir. Yeni k"
Ινιίτι.
Even though at engaged in Som ties, they were directing the
path of real II British imperia cf this gro LP w or down in M L 5 || m r lo t5 l l custody, all of
abandoned all
crept into the and Constitutic new er aga in WCr
It was only An pala and Ponn: Chaiam Who St. truly nation al li cuts i de the 5e tre for their dis illi long has to b socio – economic that age.) COf Anagarika Dhari cern to us in th and his cor tr national liberatio not be underI. G. P. of that has reported, organised by Movement un de Anagarika Dhar: nationalism and figured largely anca Teetings, political meetin, cloak of tempel
The high poi ment he orga | "pariah whites' Theosophists, v carried on thro Sinhala Bauddha

arasekera
rasgker's book, I)k. Er for pala : created quite a 'erica i'r sections of
veral intelec" (IE7FF | of frihired so this la s' ing Pee WTF
if ! These coa iv ||
certain times they agitational activialways fearful of masses on to the 'uggle against the ist5. The: mā5 k5 rere most clearly he era cf. Sinhall| 9 | 5. Taken Into the in immediately "struggles'. They shell of peaceful »nal action and
cured forth.
agari ka Dharmaimbaların A TunaTC YW O El a peration struggle 1 ds. (The reasons isionment before sought in the" background of these two the la pala is of Con: present context, ibu Lich to the TA' 2 TE - Estimated. The tima, Dowbiggin, in the meetings the Temperance the guidance of mapala as follows: politics generally in these temperfact they were i held under the
nice."
t of the moyesed against the 2gether with the s the agitation h the newspaper, ." The British
were terrified through this attempted to
Imperialists, who of the cry raised newspaper, ever ban its publication but this did not deter the Anagarika. He carried his anti-imperialist struggle even to the sphere of workers struggles. The public rally at the end of the railway stri ke in 192|| was held in the premises of the Mahabod hi i Widyalaya, of which he was Director. There wyh ile refortinists made lukewarm speeches, he praised the strikers, saying that they showed 'strength and power in the face of hard and in Erciless treatment'. Labour organisers such as A. E. Goone sing he were followers of the Anagarika in their early stages of struggle. This is only a brief sketch of the Anagarika's anti-imperialist struggle. The British were so afraid of him that they exiled him from the country and even thereafter continued to keep him under 5 trict sur wei || Färnte. W || this cannot be erased from history,
Yet, because of these very facts. it would be uns cientific to go to the other extreme, deify him or try to pin a 'Marxist" label on the Anagarika. To identify an individual as a representative of the national bourgeoisie is mot necessarily as Amara 3ek era seems to think, an insult to that person. (It is only those with an incorrect understanding of Marxism that consider the tag petit-bourgeois' an obsgenity today.) It is only natural that Anagarika Dharmapala, who had the consciousness of the national bourgeoisie, (his wide travels may hawe greatly contributed to the formation of this consciousness) should find himself in opposition to imporialiats. Yet, at the same time, his leanings towards them should also mot surprise us, The Imperialist leanings revealed by Prof Ralph Pieris through some of Dharmappala's writing should not disturb a true Marxist. Do we not know
3.

Page 16
this vaciliating class nature. In fact, it was Dr. Kumari Jayawar
dene, upon whom Amaras ek era has heaped lavish praise in his book, first directed my atter tom to a very significant letter of Dhara mapala in this context.
Writing to the British Government from Calcutta on the 8th May 1917, Dharmapala says "Although have been greatly persecuted by the authorities, I have done my duty to the British Government at this time of trial by contributing Rs. 1,000- to the War Fund and Investing all my resources in War Bonds as well as of the "M. B. Society's amountling to Rs. 32,000/-.
How many leaders have we s een In history, who stood with the people in the anti-imperialist struggle but were not able to go beyond this? It is definitely
Trotskyist to single out their weak points and reject their Ctlons, in toto, a 5 ha'w ing no
progressive co,
See what Mao Tse-tung has said about the Chinese patriotic |eader Dr. Sun Yat Sen a fu|| seven years after the Chinese Revolution. "Like many great figures in history who stood in the forefront guiding the march of events, Dr. Sun too had his shortcomings. These shortcomings should be explained in the light of the historical conditions so that people can understand; we
should not be tot critical of our
predecessors'.
In trying to explain Dharma
pala's Political dis||ilusion ment,
Amarasekera gets himself til ed up in knots. This wholly scientific exercise amply reveals the author's unfa Tiliarity with the bàsic “1arxist teachings regarding the economic base and super-structure. Amarasek era se es "the transition of the leaders in the political sphere into a wealthy compradore class" to be the cause for the 'sudden' change in the antiimperialist struggle which was developing until 1915. He says that Dharmapala's hopes were all dashed as a result of these leaders 'suddenly becoming wealth-owning',
Апа га šekera sorrowfully points out that when the Anagarika returned to this country in 922,
|
the only followe a result of this Was his doctor He wavicarane).
The Tea situa this point in bourgeoisie had
this country. '''S TO "2 TE was built up to pları tatlon econo T der British rula. had a fair his part of this bc. although it launc ance Movement ; tika Dharma pala, the Struggle ac with the British of See ing their shattered. Thei closely linked plantation econo developed by su this sector, or Case of o wrth er 5 tations or graph dependent on Their existence controlled by th
Earlier on, we rika Dharmapal: national bourgec From this point far ahead of F national bourgeois my that came ir the imperialists factor in transfo T1 ent ini ta a lor Such a class did country at that Mahatma Gandhi There was for e of the bourgeo ready to struggli [ish textile ind
auri that Struggle should On 3, given thes How long can a anti-Imporialist s
It is not that Dharmapala was r fact. In his lectl he repeatedly r måttet: "We go пot produce fres are blindy follo mån.... We purch and eat coconut tured by Huntle Our weavers are

left to him as
'sudden' change brother (C. A. is this Marxist?
; ion is clear. By ime, a national mot yet e wolwed The "compradore" 'suddenly' but gether with the Iy that 5p Tead unBy 1915, it already .ory. It was a urgeoisie which hed the Temperlong with Anagawithdrew from
the first clash rulers for fear economic base
T 2 xi & te e Was to the British my. They either pplying service to else, as in the of cotor ut plan| iO T i 125, Werg British Tharkets. was completely e British.
spoke of AnagaL as having a S Consciou Sme SS. of wiew, he stood 1 | 5 time. Y3 t, 3 i 2 with ar 1 ComoLo conflict with was an essential rm ing this moveIg-term struggle, not exist in the time. (In India, had such a base. xample a section ise which was 2 aga inst the Briustry.) Is it not the Anagarika's be a temporary e Cir Curs Staldes
super-structural truggle Survive
the Anagarika lot aware of this res and Writings, "eferred to this sume, but We do h wealth.... We wing the white ase "Pears' soap biscuits manufacsy & Palmer....
starving and we
are purchasing cloth manufactured elsewhere'.
Not only did he often speak of the Industrial development of lapan, an Asiatic Country, he even sent youth there in order to teach them textile weaving. He opened technical schools to train youth. All this, however, was fruitless. A national industrial class did not come forth in this era. Is it then surprising that his anti-imperialistic struggle evaporated
In his book, Arma rasekera censures "uprooted' socialists. This must be done. This is probably why the "Janadina'', which first published (free?) advertisements for the book later on referred to it as a "sugar-coated bullet'.
The te were two in correct tendencies in out old left loveent. The actions of our "left" leaders who returned to the island after receiving a Western education, especially after falling into Trotskyist clutches, fall under the classification of Left-Extremism. The policies followed by them in the 1940s, ignoring and rejecting the de Tocratic forces with in the country, paved the way for the birth and growth of the SLFP in the 1950s. Thereafter, going to the ather extreme, from the end of the 50s, the old left began to gradually orient itself to a position of sharing ruling power with this arty. This is a tendency which falls into the category of RightOpportunism. It was this incorrect
orientation, that led to the birth of the JWP and other New left organisations in the 60s.
Ewen though Arma resek era correctly attacks the first tendency, he falls on his knees before the second one. It is one thing to join hands with the SLFP in certain actions against the principal enemy, while recognising its class base and utilising the minute contra
dictions within the bourgeoisie. Entering into coalition governments with this party is quite another. This is why one writer
has slated Amarasekera for cook. ing up 'theories' for a certain opportunist politician who is stranded between Trotsky and the A nagarika.

Page 17
Another 'strong" and 'new' theory put forward by Gunadasa Amarasekera in his book is that of the "Ashokist Righteous Buddhist State'. Commencing from an analysis of Marx's writings on the Asiatic mode of production, the author plods along to air his magnificient discovery in no un Certain terms. Speaking of 'a new Interpretation of Marxism from the most inspired Third World region', he ends the book saying "It may be that this interPor: La tion Would b2 common ni 0 L only to us but even to other Asian countries like Burma and India, already rich with a philosophical superstructure'. Well,... well...
Egypt, Ghana and Indonesia are among those countries which gave birth to strong anti-imperialist leaders, Patriotic leaders like
Nasser, Nkrumah and Sukarno
gave uns tinting leadership to their national liberation movements. These leaders, who all came from the petit bourgeoisie, became popular as anti-imperialist leaders not only in their own countries but throughout the Third World. Making full use of the honMarxist notion that nationalising private enterprise automatically led to socialism (see the Leslie Gunawarden e theory in Amarasekera’s book: pages 8 and 9), these leaders strengthered their economic base by expanding the state sector, Taking of a nonaligned foreign policy they aim at
obtaining the foreign resources necessary for their growth from all possible sources. The big bourgeois tendencies begin to surface with the growth of this economic base. The repressive
state machine in Egypt today is the best example of this pattern. Out tactics should be prepared only with an awareness of the phases and nature of development of these ruling classes and devoid of any illusions regarding them. it is as unscientific to push them into the category of the traditonal "compradores disregarding their stage of development, as it is to consider them forewer to be the "middle-class'.
These tendencies are relevant to our subject because as in all Other Countri è 5, in our country
too, these section brands of 'socialis rationalise their dingly, at one p: see the birth of Arab Socialism lism', 'Ram Raj Countries. Yet M aware of these else, if not the |on, doe5 this represent? Amaras Righteous Buddhis Cine Such Weakly 5 There is one diffe This theory a streak of outright This is a brand rte25er Wedi for the dhists of our C.
It has been the y es Lerday and Eco Lo capturing arti by offering them
etc. Ceir tair "" | whom this path began to make
when they were mental power. G se kera has been
*Tarix İş the org. "Nation" (today Nation) group, I then imagines h Lankan Tolstoy et he who hä5 to bg Who con Lributed of such a sense are also partner. is the time for ; him to stop bo: bush and write a tWC. "Is Gunada: Marxist?"* for one of them,
(The author's an article publi: Wimukthi)
Next issue
Sαιτητιgαιiια, f) i fria”
H. N. Ferri V. Y. P,

s created special im" In order to actions. Accorint in time you
theories such as
*African Sociaya” etc, in these arxists are well
heories, What Jath of te press"Middle Path"
ekera's 'Ashokist t Society' is also tructured theory. : Ten C2, H. WYeyer, so Contains a , וחalisחuוחחחסם ת
of "socialism" : Sinha la BudDuntry.
practi se of some day, to at tempt sts and writers diplomatic places 2ft-wingers' to was not open, such attempts close to gowes Iruna da 5a Amarablown up as a itiam by the the Socialist f such a writer ir Ti self to be a c; it is not only blamed. Those to the growth
of Importar ce S is Iris. Now all those around Iting about the in other Eock or Sa A na rasekera title suggested
translation of 5 hed in Desha
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Page 18
FOOD AD and
by Lal Wijenaike (The author has done post-graduate
Como: on the policy of the "development of mar
kets" the informative journal WORLD DEVELOPMENT (1979. No. 6) speaks of the conscious change in Consum er ta stes In the Third World in favour of imported products. On a brief wisit home after several years, I was reminded of this when friends and family members were talking - some of them very cnthusiastically - of the new liberal import policy. from the ads, in the paper and TW, and the goods in the shops | noticed that all 'the good things of life" from biscuits and jams to cheese and cod liver oil were back. The most Interesting is the return of Nestes, al na mc2 li wolwed in much controversy abroad, including in WHO etc. So another generation will be brought up believing in the irreplaceable wirtues of powdered milk.
Import liberalisation is the
licence given by the IMF, World Bank and Cur 'domors" to the dumping of goods that are not e 55 cm tial II o Lus, but for which w a soon acquire a taste and begin to belive that life without them is "backwardness". The adverti sing creates the tas te which operns the market. Why shouldn't these agencies do so when they repre5 erit the İnterests of th ese multinational manufacturers and the governments they influence, if not
Cr1 Cr"?
The most glaring example of "camouflage d' dumping Is PL 480 Fodd a Id.
The US Government advertises its food aid to the developing COLN trie 5 a 5 Promot. Ing their own food production, strengthening their economies in general and helping them to achive eventual self-sufficiency in food. The experience has shown however that far from promoting development the American food aid has hindered progress.
In 1977 an American economist, Shuman, wrote that it was one of the express purposes of Public
Law 480 to hel self-sufficiency.
m2 Yer been rei the dun ping wo WYork of PL 48C PO riC25 a Ind ne production in
It is recogniz issued by the the U.S. Cong ssing food pric cGuires the US against local fo: consequently than accelerated
The US Foreig 7fed Totted : Mr that they hawe agricultural di: degree as a re; bilizing cffect a
Practice has
Ar The Ticam fod2d dumping in factthe positions of Producers. Ac Shency of India, mens depres 52d wheat and other discouraged far rm cing enough whe Indian people. that furiction t farmer... The pri Peasants to Star food circops. Pric that the US fic prices and that on grain product mined the ver 480 food impo self-sufficiency.
Nilot only hawe India under U5 falled to resol, problem, but they affected the for greatly aggravat when India madt to do without U the total grain sh: É. Thillior to: fifth of the court To mak g up the to Import an mua ion tons of gr twice as much a

DUMPNG
ork in Australia and New Zealand)
cochers tó a chieve That goal has ched. In effect thin the framedepressed grain gatively affected cipient countries.
ed in a report budget office of ass that by de prees in recipient ford aid yw orked d production and ampered rather
de welopment.
in Affairs magay countries feel neglected their } Welopment to a ut of the demof food imports.
shown that the ald - camouflaged – 5eriously erodes local agricultural -ording to Prof. US food shipIndia's domestic grain prices and 1er 5 froT1 produ:at to feed the They have ce ded o the ATerican ces forced Indian t growing nonf. Shenoy notes sod aid reduced served as a brake ion. That undery Purpose of PL rts to promote
: grain imports to ood aid programs 'e dia's food have negatively sector and thus Ed it. Il 972 : its first attempt S food assistince, ?rrag= was about , cxceeding one ry's production.
deficit India had lly about | 7 famill"a fr, which was s the overall US
grain exports under PL 480 in 1972. Throughout the period of the food aid operation it had no significant effect either on India's level of food consumption or per capita in Come.
The U. S. food aid serves a host of American economici purposes, including the establishment of commercial markets in the recipient countries for US agricultural produce. First the Amercans give food as a grant (Article Il of PL 480), then through Concessionary sales (Article I of PL 490) they come to direct commercial exports. It is that factor to a considerable degrae that helped to turn India in the 5e wenti es into a largest commercial market for US agricultural produce. While
in 1974 India was the world's 8th commercial customer for US food, in 1976 it ranked already the 8th.
The story of food ald to Bangladesh is a glaring example in this respect. The country has
been receiving aid since the midfifties (earlier it was territorially and politically part of India and later of Pakistan). The aid reached its peak in 1972/73 when it amounted to one quarter of the country's entire consumption. Throughout all this period food items, first of all wheat, which are alien to the country's production and consumption patterns made up the bulk of all food deliwered through USaid program s. The Food Policy magazine wrote of Bangladesh in 1979: wheat has becom 2 år important food component, particularly a mong | low-income urban and rural groups, Bangladesh has become greatly dependent on wheat imports.
Thus, the problem of nationaself-sufficiency in food is consil derably complicated. The 1977/78 fiscal year is the last year of B3 ngladesh's fi r 5 t fiwe— year plam, which strived anong other things
for food self-sufficiency. And though the production of grain reached 13.1 million tons (2.8 mi || iom tions of rice and 0.35

Page 19
million tons of wheat) Bangladesh still had to import 1.67 million tons of grain, of which wheat amounted to 82 percent. While 4/5 of the entire grain imports were concessionary, the threat for the economy in general and for food self-sufficiency is obvious. particularly if the main donor coLurn tri 25, 3bo'we all| the USA a5 well as the EEC and Australia, continue to take advantage of food shipments to further their selfish ends, as was the case. In the past.
The USA is using new forms of economic interaction to ens lawe Third World countries. It stimulates their production of agricultural goods needed by the USA and in such cases provides means of production as well, Thus, without alleviating In any substantial way the food situation of the developing countries the USA expands the market for its goods and ties such countries to its external agrarian policies and to its economy in general.
The following conclusions the refore can be drawn from the US food aid to South Asia over the last two decades:
t. Throughout the period the food aid was a tool of flagrant interference and an instrument of political pressures and blacknail. That trend continued in the seventies though in Tore camouflaged 3rd devious foi ms,
2. The food aid as it is extended today is extremely un favourable for the economies of the developing contries (terms of del i we ries stipulate payments in dollars; the assortment of supplied food items negatively affect local pro Juction).
3. Throughout the seventies the domestic production in India and Bangladesh was demonstratively very unstable. On the other hand, since 1978 food grain surpluses ha ve been again Stockpi ling in the USA. In early 1980 the surplus reached record proport| - ons. The EEC countries have also Infrased their feod export capabilities. Thus the basis for in tnequal food dialogue between the developed industrial nations and the developing coyntries of South Asia is there.
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Page 20
Ni wala
by S. A. Wickremasinghe
ur local experts appear to
have approved this scheme, the implementation of which will result in irretrievable damage to the river basin and colos Sal wasteful expenditure both for capital construction and for maintenance thereafter. The scheme is intended to protect from
flood damage some 2,000 acres of paddy fields now yielding about 5,000 tons of paddy in
spite of periodical floods.
The total cost of the scheme is estimated at Rs. 25, 65,000,000 and maintenance to cost annually Rs. 36,866,000. The cost of power to operate 4000 Kw of installed capacity is Rs. 8,737,000.
The foreign share of the cost
is 74% of the total; pump Ing equipment alone will cost Rs.- 5ÜÖ,Ü00,000 whIch wolwez 5
Pumping stations and 57 pumping units to pump out flood waters from the paddy fields to the river over the flood bunds.
The low yields in Matara district and in all the other rainfed cultiwa tion a reas are mot du 2 to flood damage but due to lack
of water during the cultivation seasons. The remedy is to prowide irrigation water through yw ter con 5 erwaticom and water control which in turn would e || ||Ti|mate the tendency for floods and soil erosion. The French
experts appear to work on the hypothesis that flood waters are a major evil and Lhat modern technology must be har nessed to drain all the flood waters and the displaced alluvial soil. as rapidly as possible to the Sea.
This French plan includes:-
(a) deeplening aii d broaden l mg the river bed for about 20 miles,
5 milles to prevent overflowing the
(b) construction of of high flood bunds the river from banks.
(c) mechanised pumping of flood water over the banks "in to the riya:Ti.
8
Ganga Flooc
(d) constructi rel near the ri half a milo lon; and || 0 fecit det through Palli Tull: will displace a families. About volute is expecte this chanrı el to preventing flood from rising to for example t Akur 255 a town.
(e) a reck-fill water to the by
(f) sea works at the mouth to formation.
(g) Readjustm bied, starting frc extern di LupStrĘ Tiles, and regul checking every to prevent bloc outlets to the large Scale eros at the mouth.
The French the grawe po 55 erosion and df when attempts in crease the wol of discharge of f опly way to pг. is to encourage displaced soil Ocean. This p1 and deposit for
ging will cont adding to the washing away c
action round th
The propose. prohibitively ext té-Lin 5-herg by-pass will not paddy yields. factor for poor of irrigation fac cultivation Sea 5.
The ideal Sol ming of the Hula tida Garga hydro-power, i. tial elimi Tiation da IIIs across ch Kirar Tha Ara til

Protection Scheme
g a by-pass chaner mot t.h about 50 ft broad p. This channel and Kotuwe goda arge number of half the flood i to flow through the sea thereby lewels Lupstream dangerous levels, o te fe et i T
weir to divert
-pass.
to build a jetty prevent sand-bar
Snt of the Tiver III the Weir 3rd art for about 3 ar dredging and 2 years in order king of the flood Indian Ocean by ion and deposits
experts envisage ibi | ity of heavy oposit formation
are made to ume and velocity odd water. The went obstruction the discharge of to the Idian ocess of erosion nation and dred
inue indefinitely already existing f soil by wave
2T ti ”: 352 C_0 ä5 t.
elaborate and "awagant flood prowith bunds and a ffectively increase The determining yields is the lack lities during the
.
tion is the damnain river and it Bimhamara for rigation and parof scod5, WIL
Digil i Ganga and e eli ITila Cion of
floods will be complete. The government has obviously rejected
this proposal because of the problem of the catchment area that will be inundated by the
reservoir. In the circuistances the alternative method to increase Paddy yields is not flood bunds but reservoirs or all the 4 tributa ries and also con the main river at a higher elevation, where the inundation will make much less displacement of settlements, With such an alternative the hydropo wor poten Lia ! wii || be wery much reduced but irrigation faci| İties can be İrlı proved and uncertainities of rain-fed cultivation wi|| Ea a eliminated an cd fcdcd damage effectively reduced.
Surveys Were carried out con Siyambalaganga, Hulandaga Tiga and Digili Ganga several years ago. It is very strange that the Kirama Ara has escaped the attention of both foreign and local experts in the past although this tributary drains nearly half of the catch menit area of the entire river basin. Nil wala Ganga basin has 45,000 acres of paddy fields and the average yield is about 57,000 metric tons per year. The yield can be doubled by improving cultivation practices. This is possible only by providing water control through proper irrigation. facilitics.
The ideal solution with maximum benefit to the national power supply is the Bin Hafnara Dam across the Ni wala Ganga and Hulandaganga which will yield about 50,000 kilo watts of electric power. With the harnessing of Kirama Ara and Digii i ga nga flood damage Will be completo y elimimated. The de cision to inundate Telde niya for the Wictoria High dam has set the example for others to follow, Maskeli Oya and Mahayeli Sch, C2 me hawe dem constrated that flood waters are the greatest national is set provided they are harnessed for hydropower generation and irrigation, It is criminal to allow flood water to flow into the sea untapped for human W ei fare.

Page 21
Appreciation
SHREY AMERAS
hirley Amerasing he suffered Some un pleasant shocks in
the last few years of his life. The experic mae would hawe left Em bitter Ed to the But a kindly fate had already him well to face such ordeals. The saddest moment of his career was also his crowing glory. When the Law of the Sea Conference convenced, he Was an Ambassador renounced by his own country. When formal business was held up for several days, some other court tries offered to "adopt" him. This rarest of geatures was a sign of the regard in which he was always held in the U. N.'s extended family.
a le 55 et end. Aritmed
|| 1 ||
Dr. Kurt Waldheim has placed On record Shirley Amerasinghe's in defatigable and devoted abours In the dermand Ing cause cf UNCL05, one of the UN's trully epic endeavours.
Le 55 Publici sed and certainly more permanent record than this appreciation was the pro digious effort which preceded, and made possible, the Siri Tna-Shastr | Fact. As the linkman between Colombia and Delhi, he had patiently prepared the ground for this historic agreement on the island's most vexed question. He was the right. Than in the right Place at the right til Tne. His perfect self-assurance his intellectual and verbal dexterity could match the sinuous skills of
worthy of a
the lost arroga fi t iciwi li ser wice Brahmin in Delhi. And India's um easy sense of isolation after
the India-China war was just the right time to persuade the Indian gQvernment to win over es appainted neighbours, Shastri's conversa
til am 5. yy || || MT:5 Cairo in Septem personal Interve T13 rith lates, we Shrewdness of SF
The U. N. was the ideal st and free display and his outstand
אי חaוח The mсогпіпg гase Ca refully as ha 5 at Harvey an i described by having "an eye All this was pa an image Cultiv that it shows Effecta cor.
He did not st short did h : 3 || |cy IC OI wera wet 1 I fi F his a T. bassadorial a irport reception հը certainly did wives on shopp In the eyes of arrogance was many talents and Wao rio Ed o himself.
The seasoned hard-bi ter jou Glass Menagerie Tore highly of : dẹ ba tgrk tham O rätt. WE || and Precedent, sk asid blessed with phrase Shirley fear When the cock presented a 9-p 2. f :: their sic| victory, Ceylon' COrgratulat Ed L| Abba Eban for ir Prophet Moses a Ten ciri Landmer
H3 CCLII| id al Eg hLJrTn Curcus bit te He asked his farfTidgt;|g SLFF Lankan Schoolboy “Adida Fathira ma!' umpire gave a dic "I don't see the

NGHE
Bam dara räike im let '64, and his 1 Lien. In Delhi a to confirl the irley's judgment. Tmilie Lu, howe wegr, en e far the fu || of his personality ing giftis.
ho picked the or his coat as elected his shirts | Lidsor, was NEWSWEEK as for the ad les'. "t of his image; ated so stylishly d no trace of
Isfer fools gladly v nk ir lite He did not confuse duties with the ist or porter. and n't e 5o WP'5 ing expeditions. his peers, his "e de ermed by so graces that there be other than
diplomats and rnalists in the I NY think 1 ble speakers and of Tiagniloquerit icholed in fact illed in argument, a fine turn of ed no opponent. -- hoop lsraelis tint peace plan Inti ||ating é-day s representative e redo Lubtable Ti prowing On the rid reducing his Is by ten percem t.
be mischievously 2 good purpose.
house guest, a Minister, why Sri is were yelling " when Ever ar
u but ful decision. hurTour cof it."
said the Ministe". "Mort do I. . . that's why I asked you...' replied Shirley.
The press corps thought he was o me of the finest Presidents of the General Assembly. But he over-rated his chances as Secretary –G2neral. He wa5 also riclined to play the prima donna, concantrating on Ameria 5 ing he and Tot the Song, and Taking policy on his own. When the CDN wrote a scorching editorial along those lines, his only reaction was: "Thank you. Mr. Editor, for a premature obituary. . . ."
It is fortunate, said Paul Claudel, the poet and diplomat, that most diplomats have long noses since they usually can not see beyond them'. Shirley often looked down from his long noge at men who didn't quite measure up to his stature but he always saw far beyond it, Sir Lanka will be lucky to produce another diplomat of
Fis Calibro.
- M. de S
G. V. S. de Silva
QUIET, self-effacing and studi C, 5, G. W. S. do Silva was un doubtedly one of the fin est minds produced by the Ceylon University. He had a razor-sharp mind which w orked with cool precision. Even the briefest of his interventions a a se Tinar was an intellectual delight.
As an economist, he had few e quals. "Those bright boys in the Cemitral Bank play ther silly econometric games....G. W. S. de Silva is a thinker" said the editor of a reputed British journal
after a study tour of Sri Lanka.
Fellow teach er 5 and studisms regarded him as the most knowledge able “1arxist eCQ norm ist in this Country, ånd many a Left. politician relied on him for adwice. Hi 5 dcvotion to whatever task he undertook w35 total. His death is an immense o55 to the progressive movement.
9

Page 22
The global crisis and th international Economic
by Cader Muhammed Muzammil
AE months ago United Nåtion's Secretary General, Kurt Waldheim called for an urgent international commitment to help least developed countries including Sri Lanka, "which Car mat Wait ti || the New Internatio f1 al ECO:n Cmic Order is realised."
THE GLOBAL CRISIS
What is this New International Economic Order and how is it
going to benefit the developing and the "third world" cc un Irie5? This is a major question raised in every corner of the world, Many say that this Economic Order is aimed at Saving the world from the gathering crisis. Today there are many crisis in
this world, which hawe ble CO2 related problems of world deve|opment. They are the crisis of food, population, un employment, urbanization, wiolence and the Girl Wir C.1 Therit.
The United Nations had made an intensive effort in the last decade to Study and und erstand these crises. It has held a World Food Conference and a World Population Conference in 1974, a world em Foy Tert Conference in 9W, and earlier a World Environment Conference in 1772. The les som which has becen learned from these Conferences is that all these crises arc not Lnrelated but are bound up with the other and that there is a need to venture for coln on solutions. It has been realised that the real solution should be interdependent. Collectively these crises constitute a single global
Tie la Tsar", erg F' 2 sa, is ca 71 enployee of the K. T, 1 (PalleKelle-Kardi"). Ai I "Tile I rrionisi, fie is preserifly deerii el fo ha v'ev (Jedi isposi for ha ving participated in the receit generall strike.
O
Crisis of World A United Nation: "single crisis of wo concluded that, " to be underline failure of World wide a safe and
| is not tā52d lack of physical by economic and bution and mis predica mént is
in economic and al be hawlio Lur Yw li courtrias". (UM|| ni mar CCCC0YC)
It is here th; beca USe the 50 5 t nic and social) people and ther possibility of th made by people Lu 5 sic how these in the um equal world's resource:
Thousands of r
- Id IT ser i r riħ: 1 world are dying 2nd dise: Sain du Ce |ti H35 E 22 23. United Nations
culture Organisa 460 million peop starving" now. physical and Ti
present and futu Incalcul able. But no shortage of f.
In both rich a there i5 5ur plus fict is, it is 1 The poor who afford to buy er "o rT | : de:
här huma de T tons of human f of in the ocear: the rich world,
the same weight World are expor
malg in th15 par itself. Therefore is ii r the LI T1 2
of world's resou

e New Order
development, 5 study of this
•ld d: welopITn ern t", The first point d is that the Society tc) prohappy life for by any present resources, but
social mål distriuse; mankind's rooted primarily social structure
H|r ärld betYes II DPUNCTAD Se
1974).
at hope begins, ructures (econo
arte made by efore there is a nem being LIn2. Therefore let crise are rooted
distribution of
dיחa ח9וזfסw , חEון y parts of the fror Ti Ywelk 1 ES5 d by malnutrition. timated by the Food and Agrition (FAO) that le are "actually he impact on the gntal health of re generations is imfact, the re is od in the world nd paar nations food, But the equally divided.
need it cannot It because the ind is greater di Milicom 5 of
cod are disposed every year, by while protein of
from the pocr ted to feed a ni
of the world , che food Crisi5 qual distribution | : Ը5 :
А vievv frorт
Below
-------------
Before many of us die, there is a possibility of the number of people living in this planet to double. It means a derinard for another world equal Lo that of the present one. But if the world's weath could support the world's increasing number of people, this question of Population will not become real problem. A study on world population, has show that in countries where the benefits of development hawe been shared moro equally, population growth has begun to slow significantly. Both in the rich and the poor nations, it is the poor est people who have the
largest families, because they reckon that a multitude of child. ren give them security in III
health and old age, help in their occupations and homes. In this way the population crisis is also rooted in the unequal distriELI tiom of the W0rld's re50 urCes. The un employment crisis is so wide that about 3rd of the people in the developing World are de pri ved from carning a i Ewing for themselves and their families, and una ble to contribute to, or benefit from their nation's deve|opment. There are an estimated 350,000 new job seekers every w cek im So Luth Asia al One! The rich Tinti cors hawe the in Wels, Terit Capacity and purchasing PU'er, which can create and Sus ta in industries, markets, long production
runs, cheap unit costs, subscribers, competitive exports and jobs. Still for all, the rate of
Inemployment in these countries Is increas Ing day by day. Of the other hand what the poor nations hawe is only un employment, Am I. L., O study has correctly concluded that the unemployment problem cannot be solved, unless wealth and incore is rodistributed. THerefora it is in the mal distribut iar cof Tesources that the Cris is of ur employment too is tooted,
Next is the crisis of the Cities. It has been e5 tiria LC: d that 75,000 people are now leaving the rural

Page 23
areas of the poor world each day in search of paid work and better living conditions. But most of them end Lup irn slurI15, bLus tee5, colampas, and shanty towns-without jobs, health care, education, food, clean water, sanitation or
hope. In India, 44% of the city families live in one room. In Lair America a lane, there år 2 now an estimated 44 Million squatters. Once again it is the une qual distribution of world
resources (where the rural areas are css developed than the cities) which is causing this crisis of the Citics.
Wiolence is another major crisis phen crimenon. From the muggings in the streets to the build-up of nuclear arsenals, violence is all per wasiwe. The world as a whole is now spending more on weaponsinstruments of death and destruction-than on health and education which are instruments of life and creativity. Further, a world in which one half of the people consume more than they need whilst the other half lack basic necessities, is already a violent world. "Morally it makes no difference whether a man is killed by war or condemned to star we to death by the in difference of others' said Willy Brandt. Therefore the parents of violence are inequality, and irn difference.
Nuclear power stations, the increased use of fossil fuels, the use of the seas as the worlds du 5 tbins, the erosion of the scoil. the destruction of trees, the pumping of IC00 new man-made chemicals into the atmosphere every year are all creating serious risks to the health and well-being of the planet and all its people. These destructiwe elements hawe forced the natural systerns which sustains all life in this planet to reach the outer limits of their tolerance, thus causing the enwironmental crisis. The authors of "Only One World" said "we are heading for ecological disaster". An United Nations study also concluded that "Unequal economic relationships contribute directly to environmental pressure'. In the developing countrics, the environmental Ills are rooted in-powerty, And, behind every issue of the
environment fie: economic re distr justice. That is
of a more equa the world's reso
most vital ISSLje Professor Chris writes 'At the
world political st century is likely of relationships poor nations and in come distributic The central prob is this 'two-tie our central task paths by which ween and with in te duced."
Although it moral ideal to E inequality, to da a practical nec only way of sic crises of food, pg loyment, violence, the en wirton men threaten the wo
While some : un precedented a creasing part o constantly In p while some per sart le nation live majority of its p hunger. Such a cannot be accept only for moral ar but also because di i corns of instab increasingly inter present 5 a milita economic danger
THE NIE0
In the path world crises, a taken in April Governments of ing at the spect United Nations in New York, ap ration on the E New International The aim of this according to Lh: is "to ce. redress injustices, to eliminate th between the de developing natic steadily accelerat social developme injustice for pre

the Issue of bution and social why the question distribution of Irces is low the of our times. topher Freeman centre of the ge over the next to be the issue between rich and the problem of n with in nations. lem, a S | see it, red world" and is to explore inequalities betnations might be
as long been a nd poverty and it has become assity. It is the }lving the great pulation, un emp
urbanisation and t, which row
rld today.
outries live in bundance, an inf humanity lives overty, Similarly pple with in the in luxury, the opulation lives in state of affairs :ed. This || 5 tot Id ethical reasons it creat: 5 conility which, Irı arı dependent world ry as well as an
to all,
of solving the se Tajor step was
| 974 wher" the the World, meeta session of the General Assembly browed a Dc clatablish ment of a Economic Order." Economic Order,
United Nations in equalities and
make it possible ! wilden ing ga P 'eloped and the Ts and ei sure ng economic and it and peace and ent and future
At the same time the developed nations filed 230 pages of reservations on the "Declaration'.
The drive for the nonic order comes from the developing world itself. Their main argument is that the present World economic order, devised by and for the rich nations during the colonial period, still serves to link affluence and poverty in a cause and effect relationship and precipitates global crisis by fail ing to me et the basic needs
generations".
New Eco
of two thirds of the World's people. Therefore in the interest of the world community as a whole, it is argued, a N. J. E. O. is necessary. According to an U. N. Symposium "The world
market system has continually operated to increase the power and wealth of the rich and mainta in the relative de privation of the poor." The Rich Nations control at least three-quarters of the World's income, in Westments and technology, enabling them to lay down the rules of world trade, regulate the World's monetary system, determine the pro. gress of Science, dominate the economies of developing countries, and purch as a cheaply the World's raw materials.
Considering the abo we causes
which hawe led to the "Declaratic m of the NEO, it is bound on us Lo consider which part of the
worlds people this New Economic Qr der would 5 erwe most. To this end we shall first and foremost consider its principles,
The first principle of the NEO is self-determination. That is the right of the developing countries to control their own affairs in their own interest and to share equally in re-creating the international economic or der which so vitally affects those interests. Presently, the prices of the raw materials they sell, the value of the foreign currency they use, the cost of the industrial goods they import, the nature of the
investments and technology they scek, the amount and kind of aid they receive, are largely
determined by processes which they cannot initiate or control. To escape this, the developing nations seek an end to dependence.
2 |

Page 24
SOUTH ASA (3)
Competitive not
by N. M. M. I. Hussein
here seems to be a growing
consciousness in South Asia of the regional po te Titial for (:Comomic co-operation. The South Asian countries a te se en as having a common background in that all of them hawe felt the impact of Western imperialism, though all were not subject to colonialism, and this common backgrond.
Given their common background and outlook, the problems they haw E ir crysti TCP and the aggravation of their problem 5 in consequence of the Western econo. Tic recession, it is to be expected that there will be an increasing recognition of the need to realise the potential for regional economic co-operation,
|L remains, howe ver, that the South Aslan economies are Compe Iitive, not complementary, and therefore the actual potential for regional co-operation has to be established and not assumed.
A useful study has been må de by the Marga Institute. National Development Strategies and Complementarities, of the opportunities for İntra-regional Crade and CCCnomic Co-operation provided by the Sri Lanka Government's programme of economic development for the five years-period 1979-83. The study points out that Sri Lanka's trade with neighbouring countries has constituted only a smal share of its external trade during the past five years, between 8 to 9 percent of its exports and between 12 to 15 percent of its imports. It refers to Joint Commission 5 for egoro III C. Cdoperation established with India, Pakistan and Bangladesh, and explores in detail the possible lines for tra de between Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and Pakistan as well. Furthermore, it is recognised that the resources of the I'm d'Ian Ciceail could become an important factor in regional co-operation fovering
So The of tha Sol tries.
India Technoic
There is a cor exceptional role by Indian techn. co-Operation. | amang develop|r ha ying technologi wi.nced enough t try in the twent
Whig Lhere | of the potential economic co-ope the sa The tir The the di vergences rest between CC Utrigg, This devergent econor pears to have be a con 5 equience formulate a coI. the countries of whole in dealing aris lig out of economic relatio A, siar countrie5 stages of econo consisting of thes countries, India developing coun Sri Lanka, and th countries Banglac
Bhutan Maldivy 5 addition, there locked countries
Afghan Istan, Ne which cause 5 fur of interest. It that ir for Ti Lu strategy the mo that there is a te rest betweër C: commodities are such as Banglad 15. 5 C. other South Asi: west Tent Pro Sri Lanka is se investinent oppo SOL: thi A5 iam cc which could in was their balance of in industrial went

Complementary
uthi A5. An Co Lun
нgy
sciousness of the ...hat can be played logy in regional ndia is um usual g countries in cal expertise ado place the couny fir 5 t century.
a conscious 55 for South Asian ration, thiere ls at a recognition in of economic intehe South Asian recognition of mic Intere5t 5 apaen sharpened as of a tempts to Ton strategy for the South as a with problems the North-South nship. The South are at different nic development, emi-industrialized and Pakistan, the res, |r; rı arı d eleast developed lesh, Afghan Istan, and Nepal. In
åre three landIn the region, pal and Bhutan,
ther divergences has been noted at ing a Com 1101 st important fact divergence of in"Un trie 5 for Who Th : a top priority, esh a n d , Afghaturi tres for and in countries. The motion Zone of on as providing r II || || 25 for ther im L ries, sorme of t thelr surplus on på y ments accoun LS Lures II ha. Im west
ment Promotion Zone and export the products to their home-market. 5. Some SQL thi A5 ian countries could export their capital and technology to Sri Lanka, a sphere of co-operation in which in dia could play a particularly significant role. The study points out that there is considerable potential for co-operation between Sri Lanka and other countries in the region in shipping, civil awiLLLLLLLLS LLLLL 0LLLS LL0GLGLL LLLLL S LLL economic infrastructures, fishery exploration and research.
There is need also for detailed studies of the South Asian poten
II al for regional Projects, of a multila teral as distinct from bilateral character. It has been
suggested that the Ganges waters Could have the patri tial for the transformation of the economies of South Asia through the Provision of hydro-electric power and Water resource: S. This Woud require Co-operation between Bangladesh, Nepal and India. The resources of the Himalayan region are seen as Prowi di rig opportunities for regional co-operation inwowing whom manufactures are Thoire IIn portant thi an tois in Ind di ties, such as India and Pakistan, while others are in an intermediate
position. It has been noted further that while some countries could hawe corn Tom Interests in issues
relating to manufacture, there has nevertheless divergences on the specific issues involved. While, therefore, the South Asian countries share corn in on interests with other contries of the South. In confronting North-South economic problems, they have a mong Lhemselwes the di wergences of interest that are to be found in Group 77 as a whole,
Myrdal's Thesis
What seems feasi ble for the foreseeable future is only a modest degree of South Asian economic co-operation. As a way of dispelling over-optimistic expectations

Page 25
which could prove to be counterproductive in leading to disillusionment, it should be useful to recall some of the observations
made in the Chapter "Foreign Trade and Capital Flows" in Wolume I of Gunnar Myrdal's Asian Drama (1968). It has to be explained that Illyrdal used the term "South Asia' to include
South East Asia as well, but his observations are relevant to South Asia as defined in this paper, He noted that concomitant, with the growing importance of the Western countries in South Asia's foreign trade, there had been a decline in trade with in the region. Although there was a potential for expansion of trade among the South Asian countrics, the past trends had been away from such a development and the immediate prospects for significant increases |n intra-regional trade appeared slim. While the growing importam cc of Sci Luth Asia" s trade with the Western countries was the most irTi portant trend discerni ble at the time Myrdal wrote, exports to the West had not grown rapidly encugh for the purposes of the South Asian countries and that meant that emphasis had to be placed con import substitution and the search for alternative markets. But import substitution had functioned for the region as a whole as a beggar-thy-neighbour policy, and intra-regional trade had not grown.
The desidera Lum, in wiew for the realisation of the potental for regional economic co-operation was the willingness of South Asian countries to engage in joint planning, which required the transcending of a narrow and ultimately self-defeatIng nationalist approach to the problems of each country. He argued that increased intra-regional Lrade required Insch more
Myrdal's
than the la WerIn other trade ba the Wast where was developed
Competi I i ciri agai The situation in quite different
iffitit rärke the problems po! and industrially
Countries, in thi A rational divi: covering both in culture. h5 to as the basic ecc the Way of regi |r that the Souti are non-complet this joint planni
Myrdal was c looking at the E planning, which required a politi Was absent in a by many deeply sities." He fore ever progress th be restricted to ments involving few countries." beneficial provid an Improved diw "But the striving to recomined will probably no and he thought th of South Asia towards a closer clation by the t trade and Le e of international ec
Myrdal's foreca be accurate, ex actual record of nomic Co-operatik Tore dismall thai hirT1 |n I9ÉB. Th trade, and the of international e tch Ywhi ich he ref driven the South towards a closer Clå til
Опе арргоасh of Morth–South ei seems to be postulat (25 à Cches and within the South, that does It cannot be that cohesion wi a consequence of

tariffs äld Luri like in country
of I'r dirg,
every enough to face ri 5 t each other. South Asia was because of an rechanism and ied by the bigger Tore developed first place, India. sion af lå bour, du Stry and agribe brought about nomic problom in onal co-operation A5, iam C. Como mi25 entary, and for ng is essential.
ulte realistic. In rospects for joint he recognised ical climate that region 'marked rooted animo:ast that "whatere may be will Special a trangeonly two or a These could be ed they led to
i 5 Iol of labot. 5 ha Wo to Tuch them that they it be given up', at the countries "rnay be driven
Ellic SSrends in world
: merging pattern Orotic relations".
st has proved to cept that the South Asia co2r has been eyen anticipated by e trends in world Emerging partern conomic relations erred, hawe mot Asian countries ECO Cric asso
to the problem Conomic relations in is taken as it ion in the South, regions of the Tot i fact exist. 3 Te 5u i Ted either | Come about as economic deve
lopment. The dynamics of the development process suggest rather that while some countries make econo Tic hoadway and approach the take-off stage of self-sustained
growth they will feel the gravitational pull of the developed eCOnomies to an even greater
extern t thia n nt present, arid this will militate against cohesion in the South. They may lose what common ground they have with other countries. In the South, and with countries in their region, and join the club of the rich.
Some of the observations In Ra | f Dahredorf" 5 "The New Liberty” are relevant in thls connection. He opposes Marx's notion that the oppressed of one epoch are the potential rulers of the next. It is not acci ra te to describe the early industrial bourgeois le as the oppressed of the feudal social order. Rather they constituted a competing elite, not a poor and oppra SS ed group. An international class struggle, if there is such a thing, will not mean that the poor and oppressed
of today will replace the present leaders.
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Page 26
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Page 27
Wessantara,
melodrama
by Reggie Siriwardena
quarter-century after Maname Dr. Sarach cham dra h 55 returned to Tower Hall. That is the main
impression I brought back from his new play, Wessantara. This is not the place to attempt a
re-assessment, in the perspective of twenty-five years, of the acheWeinent and the limitations of Manane and Sinhabahu, but see no reason to alter one part of the judgement that I, in comman with se vera other critics at the time, made of these plays that in creating a consistent poetic stylisation Dr. Sarachchadra had Thade a fruitful departure from the hybrid and incoherent dramatic m Ode of the nurthiya Naw Dr. Sarachchann dra ha 5 ch osem to go back on his own theatrical innovation. Mercifully, there is no return to the high-flown rhetoric that he carlcatured in Pabawati, but otherwise Wessantara follows the Tower Hall tradition in teetering between a heightened and formalised language in some episodes and an everyday middle-class idiom in others. Sanda Maha Raja and his que er might hawe been any suburban couple, and the ministers Could hawe come out of a le 55 brilliant version of Subha saha Yasa, 1 See that one Sunday critic has called the costumes "gorgeous'. Gawdy, to Iny mind, is the more appropriate wordgawdy, and in pola in bad taste,
in choosing the story for his new play, Dr. Sarach chandra was also seeking reconciliation with tradition, "The absence of a Sinhala "Wess antara' which has either lasting literary qualities or which reflects the folk imagination," says the programme note, " appears to be an un accountable fact, in wiew of the importance as well as the was t popularity of this Jataka in the context of our culture." Dr. Sarachchandra goes on to say later in the same note: "The ethics of the Wessantara Jataka is bound
frn0Ꭲ;
to trouble weste their backgroun ethical thinking
we of wife at kindred as a me attainment of perf that We Ssam tara ati Is that of the su pertsonal lowe arn the Universal go; humanity."
The problem pli Santara story for 50 eks to make d Iп my оріпӀоп, t ence between Buddhist ethics, i5 ton ed in the itself. What is point of the playold John de Sy: Sarachich andra ? || away of the chil tàcle of their pl and emotional an fai || Ingly has the : for their handke One accepts the play enforces - sattva is Indeed his children away bru tal torment ir spiritual dellverz tears the playwr his audience are a IIce Th | L fata In between the play emotional appeal - feelings which as own morality - climax - in Sarac in John de Silya 5 en sationalism, IT. the melodrama is fact that the leg playwright to ha When the childre In Lhe happy er Collision between normal human re transcendental et play preaches is a'u dience2 ||5 given hawling had a goc

ality and
ners because of of Christian
hat 5tresses the d children and
as towards the ection. The ideal empts to achieve mers Ion of one's attachments in | of the lo Ye of
ɔsed by the Wesany writer who rama of it is mot hat of the differtChristian and but one which dramatic Mates ill he dramatic high - whether in the or in the new
: is the giving dren, the spec1ysical suffering
guish, which untudience reaching
rchiefs. But if ethics which the hat the B3d hi
justified in giving into slavery and 1 order to win ince – ther the ight wrings from a total ir rele w lnet Contradiction 's ethics and its - that it exploits "e den ied by its means that the hich andra just as - remains pure |elo drama. And crowned by the end allows the e it both ways in are rescued lding. Thus the the audience's actions and the hics which the averted. and the the luxury of d cry and feeling
at the Same Llme that they have been spiritually uplifted.
II seems to me that the only way in which a playwright can make tragedy rather than melodrama out of the Wessantara story is by taking a le si ideali sing attitude towards the central character. The mot to for a good Play on the Wessantara theme might come from George Orwell's remark in his "Reflections on Gandhi'; "Sainthood is a thing that human beings must avoid." This, however, is wery far from Dr. Sarachcham dra's intention. No breath of criticism or ques tion ing is al lowed to distur b the dealisation of Wessan tara at the climax. As the playwright remarks in his programme note: "Nor hawe | disturbed the image
of Madri Dewi, as the devoted wife who is prepared to make any sacrifice to help her husband to attain his ideal in which she
herself believes." Here again the
play has it both ways, because Madri Dewi can retain in the audience's eyes the image both
of the lowing mother and of the
submissive wife whild subordinates
herself to her husband's spiritual
goal only because she Is never submitted to the test of knowing
and witness ing the torments of her children.
In this evasion of the human conflicts which the play inevitably brings to mind but newer honestly face 5, Dr. Sarachchandra has come a long way from the poignant
farin ily drama of Sinhabahu. Looking back on that play, it seems to me now that its force lay in the communication of the pain and loss of the older generation rather than of the will to freedom of the young. But in the moments of greatest intensity in Sinhabahu - in the lion's cry of
anguish over the loss of his children or the nother's la ment over the parting from her som. — there
5

Page 28
was un mistakeably a deep personal involvement Cn the part of the dramatist. (Dr. Sarachchandra" 5 touching dedication of the publised text of the play to his daughter seemed a confirmaticni cf what one might have concluded from the play itself. The journey from Sinhabahu to Wessantara may be a spiritu al progress, fort [ho5e Wilho are intere sted in SLIch maters, I can see it only as a hurt as and dramatic impowerish ment. And the play prompts the 5 arme question that is raised by other dramatic attempts to portray on the 5 tage complete 5ainth dad – whaEh et drie cām ewet do this withČLJI making the hero seen a solemn, Inhuman prig.
Finally, there is the claim made for the play by its author him5 Elf -- that it is a "W:5Santara foT
CUT tim". H. Writ5 : " | ha Ye chosen to dramatise this story afresh because I feel it to be
singularly relevant to today, when we are witnessing räp|d cha ngęs
in our society traditional valu whic: Gelf-i te TE are being recom which Would lle: prosperity, it is our selves that t culture has held the Centurie 5 ar site of these." declared | ri ten I w right t.ce, the In his attempt significance, Dr. Tade the Wassa half of the play mad, distributiro the state ir disi corers in the only so can he erings. of the F We 55 år tåra's giw Tot i 5 a traditi a personal aber ce yem other ple: society, and t
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raryסקוחteוrסt at c Sarachcha Idra has tra of the first a welfarist gone g the wealth of triminately to all Com yiti cor that alleviate the suffCor. In the play ing Com Qs aut onal ethic but a 5 tion which shocks ple in his own he con 50quences
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the casting off all attachments. In his an ety to create a contemporary Wes Santara Dr. Sarach chandra has destroyed whatey er internal Consistency the traditional character (single-mindedly moved by the aspiration to Buddhahood) had, and he has offered in his place a figure seeking social justice, yet so innocent of the realities of politics and eConomics that only the naivest of spectators
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The Tamil Theatr
by S. Sivasegaram
he views expressed in the
article by Sundar allinga m |n Lanka Guardian ( Nav I 1980 ) are not entirely new to me since hawe already tead them in Tam || some months ago. I have also read Balendra's reply which I thought brought the "debate" to an end. Now it appears as if Sundaralingam wants to start it all over again it English,
As Sundaral nga Ti himself is of Lhe wiew that IL wä5 in the lata Sixties and early Sevent le 5 that a serious Tamil Theatre Mowe II ent really blossomed“.. I will dismiss as prehistory his comments on the developments up to this period.
He has listed some nine plays staged between 1970 and 1980 als illustrations of what he calls "a good admixture of old traditional
forms and the modern theatre techniques". Cf thase nime, Murugaiyan's katuuliam, the revised
Wersion of kan tan karunai, Siwanandan's kaalam ciwakkiratu, and apa curam tā ceived some detailed comments. I was rather pleased to see that putiyatoru wi itu by the la te Mahakavi (an outs tarding poet) also found its way into the ist; what pleas Ed me even mare was the a Lithor's modesty in mot commenting or his own production
Wilippu, which was, of course, listed among the "famous nine'.
suppose that it will not be
entirely out of place for Ine to comment on some of these great
play 5.
Apacuramı "absurd theatre style". I was inclined to think belanged to the ridiculous thea[re s Lyle. A rather sympa zhetic rewid Ywer (Sasi Krishnamo orthy in Nati, 5, † 97 é complained that the non-intellectuals could not LinderStand the play, But nore of che intellectuals || ITF:t either col|| cd figure out what the play was a || about. The theme was shallow and the production bad. All what the producer succeeded in
uses the Somehow that it
allegedly
doing was the t of any form of
Kantarı karun the kaatta ku LI
first produced and the revised i IFF. ||
was under the Wa 5 necessary fa of any kuuttu t sense of rhythm de 5 me there wel in Peradeniya , think that the
Unclear and, that the stage perfor that it was corn
Il do not te any review whic Civakkiratu as : mit 35 t favourable ti was by Sundar According to hir w0d (Ind Still 54 r of a guide to all Lankan Tamil pia ers ke Siwanaya and, recently,
P) 5:2 ir to hawe a ent Copinion.
Õf the nime Sunda raingam pc by Tarci i L5 certa best theatre, A Colleagues at. Par it was very go Yery bad drama, of the crude meg: and the total II in the handling
It is interesting Fingam who refre any critical ass e Foch-Thaking pla shows little host cing Balendra's F poor portraits of
am 15. Liar":a, Brec and the rest" (?, all of us and M
if he can be no
riticism,
If Sundarallingam där T1 ad H is '; National Tamil

e that never was
Ota destruction subtlety.
ai, supposedly fin titu tradition, was in the late '60s Versioпappeared I saw this play " ill Lu; Iam " that it ii r the performers O C b5 e We 5ome om stage. Besie several others Who seerTed to 'message" was In any event, Tance made sure pletely los t.
member reading h hailed kaalam | great play. The 2view of vilippu "alingam himself. Ti this play ser"wes) some kind Sub 5 equant Sri iysl Other reviewg, 1 TTT, Siwa kumaran Nith thiyanant han - hat t}|fferייםחח ס$
plays listed by ruttatu pootum inly pro vided the ne of myם 5ל '2 dani ya Put It, Od theatre, and Tlainly be ca | 5e of the ornations
ack of subtlety of the therne
that Sundara
in 5 from making 255ment of the y5 listed by him a tim i 1 dan taunlays as "painting Ten me 552 WF || - ht and Arbusow, !. It will help ir Sunda Talingam Te specific in his
| is serious about arch for a truly Theatre" he cara
Conments on N. Sundara
ilingan's article in Lanka ாேrdar, 3 (72), Npp. r, Ig8ი).
go ahead and produce some more masterpieces like willppu instead of hurling abuse at those who are making their humble contributions, Ali the talk about the political Instability. In 1971 and '77 (2) and about the cultural vacuum created after 1977 August
is sham. What a progressive artist needs above all is Inte ||- ectual honesty and a sense of integrity.
Finally, I would like to make 5ome obserwations about the notion that "a truly National Tami || Theatre " W | | | be ba 5 ed on the kuuttu and other traditional forms. The traditional theatre, although poor by modern standards and on the basis of the demands of modern society, has something to offer. But it certainly cannot serve as the startling point for the powerful theatre tradition which the Tamil dramatists are seeking to build. The Tani | Theatre should not T 25 trict itself to one cor twyo forms of experiences. The fact Tia der Tam İl İdrar a to we 5 mm Luch to foreign experiences is not something that we need to be ashamed of; in fact the first Inodern Tamil play was a translation and many of the successful the Tes for Tamil Ballet, based on bharatha naatyam, are froTn the Mahabaratha and the Ramayana, which are certainly not of Tamil origin. Modern Tamil Society i s un der going rapid changes un der forces of modernism, and confining the arts to feudal and prefeudal forms, which have suffered
centuries of stagnation under colonial rulo, will not help in the de velopment of the Tamil
Theatre, truly national or otherWigg).
7

Page 30
The IMF | | B R D.
(Coy rired fryri 7 pyge )
the se two sectors are extremely high, the potenti al far value addad is By the sang to ken, extrem cel y low. In short, the
exisi Limg pattern of tra de simply cannot be the basis for any møaningfu || |ndustrialization, Cn the contrary, what we do have is an import-led 'un balance d' growth with trade, commerce, banking and other service and an highly import-based construction as the leading sectors and riot export-oriented industrialization,
The sharp deterioration in the terms of trade ro ferred to iri the Budget. Speech is the direct outcome of the trend cited a bow 2. The balance of payments surplus despite deterioration in the terms of trade, was largely due to a substantial inflow of long-term official loarı 5 and balance of payments support from the |MF supplemente di bγ. borrovings from the in termation el Th Fley market. Howe west, increasing deficits in merchandis e träd ärnd the net outflow of capital in the for"rT1 of I" (2 turr,5 or1 |rn 'wg5[.T"1:I1 t5 and the Sorwicing and repayment of debt will subsequently manifest |tself İrı balarıce of pay merts deficit-an inevitability which even the World Bank had highlighted in its report to the Sri Lanka Aid Co | 1 sor" tiu rith, llt is on 2 iwable, therefore, that borrowings from the international money market monc polized by the Trans national talks will increase. There i5 already in existence a bank syndicate headed by Manufacturers Hanover Trust which is being tapped regular y for Ioans by the Sri Lankan government, The consequence, of cÇLur SE, is the well known "debt trap" and Sri Lanka is fast heading towards it.
Let u5 row takie dewaluation another integral coTipo fiert of the "IMF Package", The theoretical LL LLLLLL S S LLLL S LlLLtttLLLLLLLLC LL that it would make exports from Sri Lanka more competitive in the international mark I, DC. Wallation is further decimed necessary as a reme dial measure again St "tomporary" dislocations arising out of the liberalization of imports, The
? E
contradiction her fact that in the yiä ble domestic Sęgtor, de Valuation
II i 1 TE5E production of impc —gri emited com mai actually undermini competitiveness. A production sy 5 ta' f'T
by supply bottler mobility of the fa tion. The abowo
to Thost "periphera ticans a fi di Sri Lan tio r., FL. " [heromoro: Comporient of Im wage goods, deva a direct bearing on
The massive pu Programme with t of the outlay . three 'lead project well i Cig welopment Urban ard Hosir Programme and th be characterized "infrastructure' operation of t Growth Polo de l. following extract Bank Report whi
before the Highlights th= Im the 'Head proje
on the resources To quote: ''Th are effectively ad firma ci re 50 be used far m: els; 2 where il Cha projects will thi to ECT brut of a Lo restore ball C although cuts in
will probably be: the board.'" TF Speech is a clea the gyverri ment
WWorld Bark, a dw i
It is with in th 5 cerna, rico de picted |98 Budget shot An attempt will regard in Part II An attempt will tra 2 the Continui | orientation of th parliamentary F. myth of the impo export-orientatio

lie 5 in the
ab 5 erfic: of al capital goods
merely leads ir the cost of art-based export di ties, thëręby, 1g their price rid where the is characterized hicks and a lo Yw ctors of producscanario applies !" soil formaka is no excep3, since a large port consist of ILation als 0 has the cost of living.
bi- i vest so I L 13 major per Lion irected at the L5" — the MahaProgram Tie, the ng Development Le GCEC — could as the basic 255 en til for the he Export-Led However, the from the World ch was placed id Consortiuri mense stra in that cts' has placed of the economy. 2 lead projects preempting real urces that could are productively economy. These 3 refore need to ny further effort to the program, public in west, ment : re ed ed a.CSS
ng I98 | Budget indication that had taken the
ce to heart.
e context of the above that the ild be extar Trini ed, be ride in this I of thi5 article. also be inade to ty in the economic è two bo Lurgeois, arties and the rit-Substitution ws
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