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| Monday, 25 October 2004 |
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Gamini Dissanayake - An eternal presence by Premasara Epasinghe As long as the Sacred Tooth Relic remains safe in the hill capital Kandy... As long as the waters of Mahaweli flow down stream.... As long as the paddy fields and far lands bear bountiful crops.... As long as Mahaweli Civilization flourishes.... As long as Cricket is played in Sri Lanka.... The name Gamini Dissanayake will eternally be remembered in all freshness. The Memorial Oration to mark the 10th Anniversary of the demise of late Gamini Dissanayake will be delivered by Editor-in-Chief 'The Hindu' India N. Ram today (25) at 5.00 p.m. at Committee Room B at BMICH. Prime Minister Mahinda Rajapakse, the Speaker of the Parliament W. J.
M. Lokubandara, the Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe will
grace the occasion. "I am totally against violence. I directly reject it. Never in my life would I protect anything resorting to violence. It is my belief that we can achieve all what we want through means of 'Ahimsa' stated Gamini Dissanayake. He always believed that political vision has to be non-violent and engross humanity as one of its basic tenets. My recollection of Gamini Dissanayake, will never be erased from my mind. The bomb that exploded at midnight on October 23, 1994 at Thotalange created a gaping hole in the ground, a vacuum has been created in my soul and in addition, it created an emptiness in the whole Nation. At the time of his untimely death, he was the Presidential Candidate. In the recent history of our country the making of peace and sustaining it, have been a crucial pre-occupation. It is quite essential to remember that late Gamini Dissanayake initiated a massive effort to bring about the reconciliation between various factions to ensure a stable and harmonious Sri Lankan society. This unprecedented role he played in the field of Diplomacy and Higher Administration is unfortunately not very much present in the minds of the Sri Lankans of our time, as they struggle to achieve Peace for our country, and it undoubtedly essential to remember adequately the initiate taken by the late Gamini Dissanayake. Gamini Dissanayake was a noble human being. He possessed a powerful, charming, pleasant, charismatic personality. He was always a man full of compassion. He loved the humanity. He was a veritable gold mine of information. His oration was memorizing, language so rich and impeccable. He held his masses spellbound. In Parliament, he was a fine debater. The delegates, who attended the conference of the International Cricket Council at Lords in London in 1981, were fascinated by the speech delivered by him on behalf of Sri Lankan Cricket. The facts placed before were so convincing that they could no longer exclude Sri Lanka from Test Arena. Due to Gamini Dissanayake's discerning intelligence, noble charismatic personality, clarity of speech, eloquence, efficiency and far-sighted vision and wisdom Sri Lanka gained Test status in Cricket. His words spoken with such elation, enthusiasm, echoed and re-echoed the Long Room at Lords, like the waves of a sea dashing against the seashore. The Cricketing fraternity of the world was virtually won over. Immediately delegates from Pakistan and India proposed and seconded the resolution to grant Test Status to Sri Lanka. In short, he was the prince of Kotmale, in the hills, but, a king and an administrator of a great game. Gamini Dissanayake was born to serve the country, a mission he wanted to fulfill in his Sansaric Soujourn. He was instrumental in the construction of huge reservoirs like Kotmale, Victoria, Randenigale, Rantembe, Ulhitiye, Rathkinde and Maduru Oya and large number of canals and waterways such as Southern Bank Canal and Nava Jaya Ganga. This resulted in transforming vast arrears of this country into fertile paddy fields. He entered Parliament in 1970, as the youngest member. As a member for Nuwara Eliya - Maskeliya seat, Dissanayake served continuously for over 20 years. During this period, he distinguished himself as an able and experienced speaker who spoke with quite authority and confidence. He was always impeccably dressed, well mannered and dignified in deportment. He always believed that Democracy is a living concept. He always stood for fair-play and justice. Gamini Dissanayake was born on March 20, 1942. He was born as the eldest son of a family of seven children to Andrew Dissanayake and Welegedara Samaratunga Kumarihamy of Kotmale. Born and bred in Kotmale, his basic values were cultivated in this rural milieu social surrounding and environment. He entered Trinity College in 1948, and after his school career, his parents wanted their son to pursue a career of a Chartered Accountant. Trinity claims Gamini as one of her proud products. Fate intervened to change their plans. His father suffered a cardiac attack and Gamini had no option but to stay back to manage the family property. In 1961, he entered the Law College and in 1966 took oaths as an Advocate when he was only 24 years. He ended his legal career as a President's Counsel. In 1970, he won his father's own constituency at the age of 27 years. He was unseated in an election petition in 1971, but, later won back the seat in the by election proving his capabilities as a campaigner. He was an excellent organiser, good judge of men and character. He never kept a grudge. He always picked the correct person to any job. That was the secret behind his success as an administrator and a leader. In 1977, he was made Minister of Irrigation, Power and Highways at the age of 35 years. His greatest historic achievement was the administration of the diversification of Mahaweli Ganga, to telescope the 30 year plan to diversify the gigantic river in 6 years, thus taking the waters of the country's largest river to the villagers of the dry zone. A Mahaweli civilization blossomed and it was one of the proudest achievement for the son of Kotmale. High priority was given to Irrigation from time immemorial by the Rulers. Sri Lanka has over two thousand years of experience in this area of human endeavour. The Mahaweli surpassed them all. Gamini Dissanayake was placed in charge of the biggest development project. Mahaweli is by far the largest single project ever undertaken in the 2,500 years of history of our land. In Ranasinghe Premadasa's Government he served as the Minister of Plantation Industries. The formation of Democratic United National Front later is well known history. He decided to take a break from the political life he knew well and left for the prestigious University of Cambridge to pursue his academic career in development studies. In this serene surroundings and atmosphere, he was able to study and recovered his strength for the battles ahead. After returning he staged a comeback and entered Parliament and was elected the leader of the opposition for a few years. In his village expansion and settlement schemes, he provided some 75,000 acres of land to over 540,000 farmer families. Further his Swarnabhoomi Programme provided security to farmers who for several generation had been treated as 'Permit Holders'. Galnewa, Bakamuna, Girandurukotte, stadia stand as silent living symbols and monuments to his dedication to the uplift of education, culture and sports through his brainchild Mahaweli Centre at Ananda Coomaraswamy Mawatha Colombo. Gamini Dissanayake's commitment to the Cultural Revival of the Mahaweli settlers were epitomized in the formation of the Mahaweli Cultural Troupe which came directly under Mahaweli Centre. Gamini Dissanayake always believed that all human beings should live together, though they emanate from different racial stock and religious backgrounds. His vision was to see people living together in equality. I still remember in one of his eloquent addresses he quoted Dr. Martin Luther King. "I have a dream that one day the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave wonders will sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day our country will be transformed into a situation where little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls and walk together as sisters and brothers. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the contend of their character". Once Gamini Dissanayake said, "My vision is of a country where everyone contribute there mite both physical and intellectual participating in the mainstream of economic growth as partners. Everyone should reap the fruits of his or her efforts and benefit from a balanced and sustained march to prosperity that is the Sri Lanka of my dreams". Gamini Dissanayake's dream was also to create a nation where people will not be judged by the colour, caste, creed or religion. His beloved wife Srima Dissanayake - Attorney-at-Law was the wind beneath his wings. Their two sons are Navin Attorney-at-Law (Member of Parliament-Nuwara Eliya District) Mayantha and daughter Varuni. They were brought up in the best Buddhist traditions. He was a practicing Buddhist. He was a noble human being and a man for all seasons. He constructed playgrounds at Galnewa, Bakamuna, Dehiyattakandiya, Welikande and Embilipitiya. Further, he was responsible for the construction of the Headquarters of Board Of Control for Cricket (Cricket Sri Lanka), Indoor Cricket Complex at Maitland Place, Colombo and transformed the historic Asgiriya Grounds as a Test Venue. For the benefit of our Cricketers he invited Sir Garfield Sobers, Les Lenham to coach them and got the services of Dr. Rudi Webster, the famous Sports Psychologist to address our Cricketers on 'Motivation'. I was very fortunate to translate his speech into Sinhala. One of his dreams was to see the completion of Kotmale Maha Seya sited on an escarpment overlooking Kotmale Reservoir, now known as Gamini Dissanayake Reservoir. Like the great king Dutugamunu who could not complete Ruwanweli Maha Seya, Gamini Dissanayake too could not live to see the completion of his dream project Kotmale Mahaweli Maha Seya at Kotmale. As Shakespeare once said some men in their lives play many parts. Gamini Dissanayake was one of few to do it all at the same time. Some outstanding individuals symbolize in their life and work near maximum levels of human capacity. Such genius are indeed rare. In the recent history of Sri Lanka, late Gamini Dissanayake was an individual who approached that measure of high and exceptional human achievement. May his Journey in Sansara be short and may he attain the ultimate Bliss of Nibbana! (The writer was a Media Consultant to Ministry of Irrigation and Water Management) |
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