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| Friday, 20 February 2004 |
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Life and times of a great teacher Santhi Gurunnanse
The book is also a witness to an era when those who fought for the introduction of Free Education by Dr. Christopher William Wijekoon Kannangara, initiated in 1931 amidst the welter of opposition by the top-hatted and tail-coated politicians of the pre-independence era, who never sat in the eighth standard classroom of S. Thomas' College, Mount Lavinia. The protagonist of the book the late W. S. Fernando affectionately called 'Santhi Gurunanse' of Negombo, father of former High Court Judge, journalist and author who never calls a spade an agricultural instrument. The trials and tribulations weathered by my late paternal uncle Dr. Kannangara, and my late mother Wehelle Mudali Dona Loise Wijenayake - Jayatilleke, leading educationist of Galle, too were symbolic of the weather W. S. Fernando too was forced to countenance, for their belief in free education, which was laconically elaborated on by Dr. Kannangara in the State Council with the historic observations, "We have tried hard to obtain this control by bringing up this Free Education Bill. It has taken seven years in the making.....1931-1938. Some of the people who were entrusted with it fell ill, some left service, and it was reported that some would die, if they went on with this Bill any longer, but I must thank Ex-Judge of the Supreme Court Mr. M. T. Akbar, for attending to this Bill in the short space of one month. I have pleasure in moving its first reading" (Hansard 1938 pp. 1970-1977). The reading was followed by many adjournments by D. S. Senanayake the Head of the Board of Ministers to torpedo the bill for all time. After a long forced gestation and hibernation when the Bill which appeared on the Agenda of the Council for March 9, 1944 and ultimately disposed of only on June 6, 1945, Dr. Kannangara concluding his speech in introducing the Bill to the House said," Sir, it was the boast of the Great Augustus that he founded Rome of brick and left it of marble. How much nobler will be the state of the State Council boast when we shall be able to say that we founded education dear and left it cheap, that we found it a sealed book and left it an open letter, that we found it the patrimony of the rich and left it the inheritance of the poor." (Hansard 1944 pp. 916 -46). When D.S. Senanayake moved an adjournment motion Labour Party Member for Nawalapitiya the late R. E. Jayatillake picturesquely expounded the mindscape of the adjournment saying, "I was wondering why the Hon. Leader wanted the House adjourned.....Sir, we have been discussing many questions. We took up the question of plumbago but when it come to an important question - the education of the poor of this country - we want to put it off. I wonder and I want to know whether it is the Old School Tie Brigade trying to torpedo this scheme, because it has been said that powerful influences are trying to torpedo these education proposals. (ibid) Debate The Oxonian and the great statesman who ushered in a 'Common Man's Era' in 1956, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike speaking earlier in the debate said, "This is perhaps one of the most important subjects if not the most important subject, which this House has been called upon to consider and decide during the whole course of its existence.....the document which the Special Committee has produced is an extremely important one..... In fact, the measure of the value of a proposal is very often the violence of the criticism that it evokes; and this report has evoked so much criticism that I think the Minister C. W. W. Kannangara should be flattered that his Special Committee has produced a document of such importance and interest that it has aroused so much discussion in this country" (Hansard 1944 pp. 12 16-22.). These sentiments of the great democrat and statesman late Prime Minister need to echo on the Memorandum of Understanding between the SLFP-JVP mooted by President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga. On March 22, 1945 Free Education Bill was passed. Even the disenfranchisement of the labour of Indian origin too was mooted in order to see that the members representing this community were not to be voting with this Bill. Dr. Kannangara confided in this writer that M. S. Aney, the Indian representative who was listening from the Distinguished Visitors' Gallery came down to the well of the House and said, "You would have been worshipped like a god, had you been in India". In the 1947 General Elections Kannangara was not given his candidature by the UNP to contest Galle, the seat he held and was forced to move to his ancestral village where he lost the elections. In the 1952 elections Kannangara won Matugama and was not given the portfolio of Education but pushed to Local Government. vanguard In the same vein W. S. Fernando who was the first Roman Catholic to join the LSSP in 1935 and was the flag-bearer in the vanguard of Free Education was dismissed from the post of headmaster of a Roman Catholic School. This book under review while giving the political career and the humanistic endeavours he made to give a place in the sun for the down trodden and above all bring about a nationalistic outlook to the religious activities of the church, even in the midst of protests of the national clergy and only Rev. Fr. Mavel, a French national authorising the addition of poruwa ceremony, chanting of Jayamangala gathas and drumming, when his daughter's marriage was solemnised at the Roman Catholic Church on Chilaw Road, Negombo on May 16, 1967. Thus he was the pioneer to divert Roman Catholicism towards Sinhala cultural aspects for the benefit of the congregation. W. S. Fernando had been a Marxist politician who believed that Lenin's dictum - Religion is the opium of the people' - was applicable only to organised institutionalised monastic landlordism of religion and not to the faiths and beliefs of the ordinary proletariat. He had succeeded as the President of the Maha Jana Eksath Peramuna, on the death of the founder Lion of Boralugoda Philip Gunewardena. The book carries a fine review of W. S. Fernando, by the son of Lion of Boralugoda Member of Parliament, Dinesh Gunewardena. Review This anthology encompasses reviews by leading writers, journalists and other literati, such as W. A. Abeysinghe, D. F. Kariyakarawana, Rev. Fr. Ernest Porutota (another of the ilk of W. S. Fernando, a rebel with a cause) Anandapiya Kudatihi, Jinendradasa Silva, Stanley Abeynayake (versatile English writer, who identifies W. S. Fernando as having carried forward the torch of renaissance of Catholicism by Rev. Fr. Jacome Gonasalvez), Mirando Obeysekera, who characterises W. S. Fernando as the same mould of Warnakulasuriya Mudiyanse alias Welakke Disawa, who brandished this sword against Portuguese during the reign of Rajasinha the second, Basil de Silva and many others. There is an intrinsic value in this book for budding writers and journalists how one should give vent to their thoughts through the written media as the book gives the nuances of the Sinhala language in great measure. In conclusion I would wish to quote the speech by Shri Jawaharlal when he addressed the Constituent Assembly of India in 1947. "Truth led him (Gandhiji) to fight evil and untruth wherever he found them regardless of the consequences. What was his great power over the mind and heart of man due to. Even we realise, that his dominating passion was truth. That truth led him to proclaim without easing that the good ends can never be attained by evil methods, that, the end itself is distorted, if method pursued is bad". This prescription fits snugly to W. S. Fernando as well. Nehru continuing said, "the service of India means the service of the millions who suffer. It means the ending of poverty and ignorance and disease and equality of opportunity. The ambition of the greatest man of our generation (Gandhiji) has been to wipe every tear from every eye. That may be beyond us, but as long as there are tears and suffering so long our work will not be over." Today Sri Lanka is a tearful country and nation. At least now that a glimmer of hope is there of such great men like W. S. Fernando, with the mindscape of Marxism and socialism, on the horizon, W. S. Fernando's labours were never lost to posterity. - Rohan Jayatilleke. ################# Worthy life story in verse Pilisarana (Refuge) Many books, periodicals and articles have been written about the great contributions made by Ven. Welivita Sri Saranankara Sangharaja Thera for the uplift of the Buddha Sasana when it was on the brink of extinction, over two centuries ago. The illustrious Buddha putra, Sri Saranankara Thera in his efforts to revive Buddhism to its present glory sought the assistance and support of the King Kirti Sri Rajasinghe and was instrumental in bringing Upasampada (Higher Ordination) from Burma. At that time higher ordination of Bhikkhus was not performed in the country. Taking all these into account and without allowing it to be buried in the sands of time, Piyaratne Rajapaksa has brought out a slim volume titled "Pilisarana" (Refuge) the life story of Ven. Welivita Sri Saranankara Sangharaja Thera, in verse. Rajapaksa has authored the life story of the doyen of Sinhala literature, Munidasa Cumaratunga titled "Sevava" (service) and has also translated Major Raven Hart's book 'Where the Buddha Trod' (Buduhamuduruvo wedihiti thaen), uses all types of metres in composing his poems closely following the 'Sandesa Kavyas' of yore written by reputed authors which are being used in schools even today. Prof. U. D. Jayasekera in his forward says, Pilisandara is based on a topical theme and it should earn the interest of many. He begins his narrative of the life story of the late prelate with a salutation describing the untiring efforts made by the learned Thera to remove the unholy effects that hindered the sanctity of Buddhism. If these hurdles were not removed then we cannot today boast of a pristine form of Buddhism prevalent in the country. The author relates the historical fact of the advent of Buddhism to this country during the reign of King Devanmapiyatissa and emphasises that subsequent Sinhala Kings who ruled the country carried out the good work of protecting Buddha Sasana. But, in later years unfortunate incidents occurred and the Sasana showed a downward trend. In his poetic narrative, Rajapaksa draws parallel of Sri Lanka during the time of Robert Knox - a prisoner of war held in the island, who quite rightly recorded the ethical qualities of Sinhalese in his writings. Sadly those noble qualities were thrown into the oblivion and unethical forms surfaced later. He quotes, Raphael Tennakoon, a great poet of the Cumaratunga school, having stated in his writings that 'cleaning the Sasana is like cleaning a body', it's so difficult. Rajapaksa quite vividly describes the landmark events in detail from birth to death of Ven. Saranankara Thera interspersed with the role he played in uplifting the Sasana after entering the Order. In his penultimate poem the author reveals why he composed these verses to honour the great son of the soil. His reason being, Buddha in the Mangala Sutta advocates the importance of paying homage to those who deserve it as a noble virtue. In keeping with this noble gesture he was inclined to pen this volume as a dedication to the exemplary life of a Buddha putra who brought Buddhism to its right tracks and hoped that one day in a subsequent birth he will be able to listen to the prelate's Dhamma Desana. Rajapaksa has shown his skill in poetry writing in his maiden attempt itself. His treatment of topics in the book will be illuminating for newcomers into the field. He should be congratulated for making this bold attempt of writing life stories in poetic form which is rare and hard to come by. -Jayatissa Pathirana |
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It is indeed a chronological and seismological review of the life and
times of a 'great teacher' who was victimised by the 'power hungry
politicians' for no reasons other than his perceptions and perspectives,
through agitations to wipe the tears from every one of those toiling
masses that the author Venerable Horathapola Palitha Thera, has ensconsed
in this 79 page book.
