SWRD Bandaranaike - a unique statesman
Dr. Tilak S. Fernando
SWRD Bandaranaike
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REMEMBERED: On September 26, 1959 Prime Minister S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike was assassinated in cold blood, by a person clad in yellow
robes. Bandaranaike had an enlightened philosophy, the full realisation
of which suffered certain setbacks.
SWRD Bandaranaike was educated at Oxford, UK, according to his
father's wish. Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was determined that his son
graduated from one of the best seats of learning in the world and the
result being he was 'packed up' into a ship to England to study at the
Oxford University .
As an undergraduate at Oxord University in the UK, he viewed the
Asians at the English universities as long and an urgent problem. In one
of his writings to an Oxford magazine, for which he became famous, he
considered it as a problem with many aspects.
While Royal Commission dealt with this problem at the time and
university professors, Anglo-Indians wrote articles about it in the
newspapers, and many others with or without knowledge of the subject has
tend to give their opinion.
SWRD Bandaranaike's views, from the point of view as a student
himself, who finished his course at Oxford said: "There are those who
come here to take up some qualifying examinations such as the I.C.S., or
go through a course, such as that of Forestry, at Oxford or Cambridge,
which make their sojourn in this country imperative. About these there
can be no question of the desirability or otherwise of their coming
here.
But there are a great many - certainly the majority of those who do
come to this country - who are under no such constraint. They come to
the English Universities, as the average English public school does, for
the advantage of a University training, to put a final finish and
polish, as it were, to their education to take up at Oxford the B.A.
degree in some School, who after getting a moderate second class at
best, return home, being in some cases, called to the Bar in the
meantime.
To these people, the mere fact of having the degree of B.A.(Oxon) or
having passed the Bar exams., cannot be of much use. They could probably
have taken up corresponding examinations at home, and in some cases, of
more practical use too".
Delving into the past political history in Sri Lanka one could follow
the developments which moulded SWRD Bandaranaike to be an enlightened
statesman.
The dawn of Independence, on February 4, 1948 did not usher in true
independence to ' Ceylon' since the commanding heights of the economy
and the bureaucracy in the judiciary, and the administration of the
country perpetuated a colonial culture. Being a Minister of the D. S.
Senanayake Cabinet and a member of his United National Party, SWRD
Bandaranaike proposed certain changes.
These proposals in the form of resolutions were debated at the
Madampe sessions of the UNP conference in June 1951. Such proposals were
aimed at ushering changes to establish the just aspirations of the
Sinhalese who have had a raw deal during the colonial era.
SWRD proposed these changes with a sincere conviction, without
harbouring plans to achieve political power. What he wanted was to bring
about three changes without leaving the UNP, of which he was a key
founder member. This action was testimony to his statesmanship, which
his critics have overlooked and have condemned him as an 'ambitious
politician who was out to grab power'.
When his resolutions were thrown out at Madampe sessions, SWRD
Bandaranaike resigned from the UNP and the Cabinet on July 17, 1951.
Subsequently this paved the way to build the new political philosophy
and the SLFP was born to give expression to that creed.
After a few years of campaigning, SWRD Bandaranaike was able to weld
a united organisation comprising the progressive elements of the
political spectrum but with a nationalist hue to contest the 1956
General Elections.
This organisation MEP (Mahajana Eksath Peramuna) was supported by the
Buddhist Commission whose slogans of discrimination against the
Sinhalese by 400 years of Christian rule and unremedied by eight years
of the UNP rule had an impact on the electorate. The result was the
sweeping victory of 1956 which was a path-breaking one.
"The Sinhala Only Act," which was the flagship of the new
government's political programme became one of the foremost Bills to go
through Parliament with a provision for reasonable use of Tamil.
It also enacted procedures for those officials who were not
proficient or prepared to work in Sinhala to retire with enhanced
pensions.
It is regrettable, yet relevant, to state that during this stage even
some Sinhalese officers made use of these procedures to retire rather
than work in Sinhala medium. By making compensatory provision for those
officials who were likely to be adversely affected by changes flowing
from the enactment of the Sinhala Only Act, SWRD Bandaranaike was able
to provide relief and prove his compassionate approach - a key feature
of enlightened statesmanship.
An interesting episode to illustrate SWRD's compassionate nature and
to strengthen his credentials as a true statesman was the way he treated
Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, The Governor General of Sri Lanka, after the
UNP defeat in 1956.
The Leftist parties who were in the opposition at the time were
dismayed that Sir Oliver was retained as Governor General and, a cut in
the vote for Governor General's salary and establishment was moved in
August 1956.
At this moment SWRD Bandaranaike, with great dignity replied, "it is
only fair on my part to state that His Excellency, The Governor General,
has placed his knowledge, experience and constitutional powers at the
full disposal of the present Government , and as constitutionally
proper, been most helpful to the Government.
He acted in a very constitutional manner and the government has
received great assistance from him on many pressing problems". Finally
the move to reduce Governer General's allowances and salary was
rejected.
The way SWRD Bandaranaike handled the abrogation of the 1947 Defence
Agreement with the UK and the take-over of the Naval Base at Trincomalee
and Katunayake Air Base speaks volumes for his achievement. He was able
to negotiate in a civilised and effective manner without antagonising
the British and maintaining cordial relations simultaneously.
To hail SWRD Bandaranaike as a great statesman and reinforce the view
that he was able to see far ahead could be gleaned from the way he
forged the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact with the aim of achieving a
JUST settlement of the Tamil separatist question.
The pact was a well thought-out diplomatic move and satisfied the
Tamil nationalist aspirations, which would on hindsight have prevented
extremist terrorist groups such as the LTTE springing up to claim a
separate unitary state.
The Pact had to be abandoned due to Sinhala chauvinistic groups who
labelled it as a "sell-out" to the Tamils! They were so short-sighted to
foresee that such a settlement would have stopped extremist, separatist
Tamil groups in their tracks spawning terror, death and destruction and
destroying the democratic beliefs of the country.
SWRD Bandaranaike had the vision and Chalvanayakam the prudence to
agree in order to avoid future developments of an extreme revolutionary
nature.
Had the 'B-C Pact' been implemented, it would have served as a solid
base to build on, to solve the other related ethnic problems and would
have immensely contributed to a just and peaceful settlement.
The developments that took place after the abandonment of the Pact
led to the TULF adopting a militant approach which increased its
intransigence in dealing with the subsequent governments. It is a
tragedy that such a situation had to develop and today, as a result, Sri
Lanka is paying a heavy price in experiencing the most intractable
problem in the North and East.
SWRD Bandaranaike's other claims to earn the coveted crown of a true
statesman was the way he had to solve the problems of recurrent strikes
fomented by the extreme left-wing elements in the Port of Colombo to
undermine the new government.
The approach he adopted to stand up to certain individuals in his own
party, whose aim was to further their business interests, was with
fortitude and courage. But in the process he became the unfortunate
victim of those unscrupulous elements in his own party.
The greatness of SWRD Bandaranaike's statesmanship lay in the courage
of his convictions to restore to the ordinary people of rural areas,
opportunities to better themselves by way of easy access to employment,
which was denied to them in the past due to a lack of an English
education.
By fostering a sense of national identity, as expressed by the
adoption of Sinhala as the national language, he lit a flame of national
consciousness, which will be hard to put out.
Critics have branded him as an expedient opportunist, but only
stubborn facts will always attest to his sincerity and dedication in
ushering a political way of life based on social democratic principles
and also the adoption of non-alignment as a creed when dealing with
other nations of the world. Such criteria have reinforced and
established S.W.R.D Bandaranaike as a true statesman. |