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by Oscar E. V. Fernando

President R. Premadasa

He was a great man indeed. A man who felt for his country and, who had a burning desire to help the poor and the downtrodden as perhaps he himself came from that same soil. He was destined to reach the top, but unfortunately after reaching the top he found that he had to make that supreme sacrifice for not belonging to the ruling clan and class.

This was Ranasingha Premadasa whose last loud cry shortly before his assassination, and when he had to face the impeachment motion brought against was, "Do not assassinate my character even if you do assassinate me".

Yes, they lit crackers to celebrate his assassination. Perhaps it was by the very people who benefited from his people-friendly policies. Shelter for the poor, due to which the United Nations declared a Year of Shelter, Jana Saviya, the instrument he used to help the poor, whilst giving into the dictates of the IMF and the World Bank, (may be another matter to be seriously considered by the United Nations), the foster parents scheme that had a premature end with his assassination, the Gam Udawa project with which he tried to stir up the stupor in the Sinhala villages, the mobile secretariat whereby he took the central government bureaucracy to the peasant, the Tower Hall Foundation for oriental drama and music, the pension schemes he initiated for the elder artistes, an unostentatious life led by him in his simple residence away from his luxurious official residence, a man who perhaps travelled the least as a politician at the helm, an oriental in the true sense of the word, are just a few among many of his achievements and qualities that come to my mind.

On the economic front, let me only take one instance. The garment industry project that he initiated against much controversy and derision has now become a forerunner in earning foreign exchange and provision of employment in the villages. This was just one step in the direction of taking the economy to the outstations that has now turned to full bloom as the envisaged economic zones. In retrospect one has to wonder why there has been so much opposition to his attempts to bring about village participation on all fronts.

He had to work with a number of people, some of whom would be above board and some not. But taking his background and the matter of loyalty, much needed in politics, one may say that he did not have a very wide choice and therefore would have had to grin and bear actions of some of his close associates. But is this not the plight of many a politician at the helm?

As against all this, he was propagated to be a purveyor of killings, having a killer brigade under him, a plunderer of wealth, a show off, waster of public funds for carnivals such as Gam Udawa, a dictator who curtailed the press and had his own way, a man who gets things done by a show of his white hanky, a man who gave the nod to his aide to drag a person from his home in broad day light, with the sole intention of killing him, when all he had to do was to show his white hanky! or say the word, and it will be so ordained with discretion, a man disowned by colleagues of his old school, a man who was considered efficient to do much for the economy, but however; carried much misdeeds!, a man who twisted the arms of his leader who had to come to a stage, where he had to give in. To top it all, is the irony, that he was a man whose regime was purportedly toppled by the so-called fettered press, without any bloody revolt! Could imagination run a more severe riot than this?

In his defense let me commence with the last of the accusations. Having had very little to do with him, other than to make silent and close observations, in my capacity as a director and member of the Board of Management of Sri Lanka Foundation, chaired by H. W. Jayawardena QC, and also as a one time member of the Human Rights Task Force, the defense could be made only through the writing of a third party, and that happens to be none other than a person who had withstood politics of several generations, to be a trusted advisor to several past leaders of our country, the evergreen Bradman Weerakoon. In his book Premadasa of Sri Lanka, he speaks of the manner in which Premadasa accepted the leadership of the country;

Around the beginning of 1988, the matter of the successor to the presidency came up among the members of the UNP. It became clear to President Jayewardene that Premadasa was indeed the front runner, as under the prevailing unrest in the country, that only a person with the perseverance, industry and commitment of Premadasa could stand a chance at elections. He goes on to say;

"As Premdasa recalled in his speech to the Parliamentary Group on 2nd September 1991; the former President had called him up and said, Premadasa you should come forward the next time. I am going to propose your name to the working committee. To which Premadasa had replied; Please Sir keep me out of this. I do not want it.

There are so many names appearing in the papers and you can pick one of them. He goes on to say that; "Premadasa reminded JR that there were two Ministers in the running, Gamini Dissanayeka and Lalith Athulathmudali." He would give them his fullest support. This time it was JR who did not take No for an answer. He further goes on to say in his book that Premadasa accepted and shortly left on an official visit to China. Overnight the country was plastered with posters asking the question, Who is he?

What is he doing? These are Bradman Weerakoon's own words, written at a time when both President Premadasa and President JR Jayewardena and also the members of the UNP Working Committee were among the living. There appears to be no denial of this up to now. Incidentally this book Premadasa of Sri Lanka, "A political Biography, by Bradman Weerakoon was first published in 1992.

As most of my elucidations are based on Bradman Weerakoon's book, quotations from his book will be taken with my observations as it is felt that this is the only way one could do, justice to this great man, amidst all controversies and conjured up evidence against him. One could almost say he was crucified and like Pilate several have washed off their guilt by washing their hands, except for people in the likes of Mr. Bradman Weerakoon and Mr. K. H. J. Wijedasa, another much respected civil servant, who also happened to have served the country with several leaders sans politics. The latter continues to speak well of him and also speak of his weaknesses from the Premadasa Centre of which he is still a member, to my belief.

To those who say he was a dictator.

Quote from book; On his first Presidential address he worked into his speech that his government would provide the basic conditions where liberty and discipline would be ensured. It was a clear signal of his philosophy of less government and full participation and total involvement of the people. Consultation compromise and consensus one could definitely say that he continued with full participation and involvement with the people, literally witnessed to the last moment of his dying day.

To those who deny that he was an old Josephian.

Quote; St Joseph's College at that time had started an oriental languages course. Richard Ranasingha wished his son to follow this course. But St Joseph's was strict on admitting only Catholics. The interview with Rector Fr Le Goc was short and crisp.

What's your nationality?
I am a Sinhalese

What is your religion?
I am a Buddhist.

Do you attend classes in religious instruction?
Yes I do on Sundays.

Are you proud of being a Buddhist?
Yes Father

Why do you like Buddhism so much?
Because the Buddha taught us kindness. Because he taught us to be merciful, even to our enemies

Why do you want to join this school?
I want to study further.

Fr Le Goc was satisfied. He entrusted Premadasa to Fr DJ Anthony, a senior teacher of the college.

The stature of the man who quoted this in his book would be sufficient to show its value and validity. He remained a true Buddhist to the very last, after perhaps a sound disciplinary grounding, that perhaps was intended by the father for the son, in the oriental section of St Joseph's College. To those who speak ill of the Gam Udawa Project:

Quote; Roads were repaired, bridges and culverts strengthened, government buildings painted and everything for miles spruced up. It was as if the beam of a searchlight had been focused for a while on some dark corner

Perhaps it was to reawaken the stupor of the village, so that it would spread from village to village and then awaken the stupor of the whole country. To most of our villagers who do not have a sense of time, he considered a clock tower a compulsion, but, for the so-called hollow elite in our society, with their traditional naivete, it was the butt end of a hilarious joke! May we say, much akin to the joke they made of Puran Appu! As to those who say he was a show off, it is true that he appeared very often on TV, but if one cared to have a closer look, it was always in a project where he was helping the deprived masses, with his burning desire that society understand the deprivations among the poor. This was certainly anathema to some, and therefore they came to the wrong conclusion that he was a show off.

His thinking on the communal issue at this stage of the quagmire in the ethnic situation is worth some consideration.

Quote; On many public occasions he had bemoaned the fact that individuals are characterized into ethnic communities. How, he had questioned, would I have known that I would be born a Sinhalese or a Tamil or a Muslim? And he questioned how that accident of birth gave him any greater claim to the fruits of the earth, than someone else not so fortunate.

A Sarvodaya Field Director, Harsha Navaratne, made a point when he said; Premadasa is the first Head of State we have had whose Sinhala Buddhism is not a mere political convenience. He thinks Sinhala Budhism. He dreams Sinhala Buddhism.He talks Sinhala Buddhism.He knows what the Sinhala Buddhist wants. Although he does not agree with the Sinhala Buddhist who thinks that this country belongs only to them, and even though he is prepared to say so publicly and defend the rights of the minorities, the Sinhala Buddhist will not consider him a traitor. He will not betray us.

Quote; On assuming office of President he focused on three imperatives; Restoration of peace;

Enforcement of discipline and
Prosperity through the eradication of poverty.

Enforcement of discipline is something no one would ever deny. He made the shirkers in our bureaucracy tremble. It is also noteworthy that his idea of prosperity to the country was through eradication of poverty. It was not a question of making the rich richer and the poor poorer. Hence, Jana Saviya project.

As for restoration of peace, most of us know the turmoil in the country when he took over during two rebellions from the North and the South, both sides, so manoeuvring to ensure that society pointed the finger at him for all the massacres. What takes the cake is, that some in the South faithfully believed it! They would go to any length to believe that the LTTE went across to India and killed their Prime Minister. But as for the killing of all the Sinhala leaders; these were done by one man, and only one man from the South! Would not the LTTE have been laughing with glee at the lotus or, is it, kavun eaters, among us?

Do most of us not remember that when Premadasa quelled the southern rebellion, there was a period of calm where even he felt free to walk the crowded streets of Colombo on that fateful May-Day. A spell of calm, until he and two other indispensable political leaders were lost to the Sinhalese.

Peace and calm that enabled the present Prime Minister together with the then President to organize and conduct a clean and peaceful election, accompanied with encomiums from the opposition. Memories sure are so short! But now, do we not see rumblings of that ominous period surfacing with unrest in universities and institutions, continuous strikes almost programmed, if one may say, and killing of politicians where some politicians have the unscrupulousness to say that we are again witnessing a Premadasa style gung-ho.

Does this not smack of a well-timed repetition of the Batalanda fiasco? Could man descend to be so vile in politics, as not to let the dead lie in peace? Do we have to continue to assassinate a man's character even after assassinating him? Can we not respect a dead man's last wishes?

One could ask, years after all these wild accusations against him, what has been proved to date, even posthumously, other than those preposterous conclusions of the now infamous investigation reports, that such and such could not have happened without directives from the top? Top, bottom or sideways, how about the many directives given from the jungles inhabited by rebel leaders at that time?

Did we have such Idi Amin style dictatorship in Sri Lanka where this dictator had to be vanquished by a revolt, or be captured and sent to Siberia? Was a revolt necessary to vanquish a leader who walked the crowded streets on May Day without any fear? Being on a platform in a crowded place with a ring of security guards surrounding him, or traveling in a bullet-proof vehicle, were far from his mind that day.

It is now time for recompense, to perpetuate his memory, his dedication to the poor and the downcast, thus avoiding uprisings that may make life uneasy for those who want to perpetuate naivete, in our society.

We do see this recompense in the making, and we do hope it will see the light of day before long!

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