S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, the great democrat

Dr. Jaya Pathirana

TRIBUTE: Unlike when independence of a country, which had been subject to colonial rule, had been won after a national liberation struggle of the people, in those countries where independence had been achieved from colonial rule after a negotiated transfer of power, the departing colonial power invariably handed over the reins of Government to the very elite with which it had made its compact.

The new ruling elite and the departing colonial power invariably had common interests. The transition to independence merely facilitated with greater efficiency the advancement of their respective socio-economic

 interests. The mass of the exploited and suffering people seldom became the beneficiaries of independence at least during its initial period.

Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike had the far sighted vision to warn the country when we achieved independence in 1948 that unless the mass of the people-symbolically referred to as the Common Man-was given the benefits of freedom, freedom meant nothing.

He gave this warning on the 10th of February, 1948 in the speech he delivered as Leader of the House at the opening of the first session of Parliament after the attainment of independence.

With his characteristically oratorical skill he said: “We must not and we cannot allow our newly regained freedom to run the risk of remaining merely a theoretical concept, a thing dead and without real meaning for the mass of the people. We must see that it quickens into a life of the greater happiness and prosperity for us all. Political freedom comes alive only when it is utilized to achieve other freedoms - freedom from poverty, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance, freedom from fear.”

These freedoms were embodied in the famous Atlantic Charter by Winston Churchill and President Roosevelt during the Second World War.

The social revolution which he brought about after the 1956 general election, elected him to power through the peaceful process of the ballot, ushered in the age of the Common Man.

It is this outstanding and epoch-making contribution he made to the people of our country which had a tremendous impact on its social and economic life that is universally recognised and respected by the people of our country.

This accounts for the fact that even the generation that was born after his death in 1959 continues to gratefully pay homage and tribute to this great son of Sri Lanka, who opened the door to the ordinary people of our country to enjoy the benefits of freedom and independence, and equal opportunities for all its citizens.

Faith in dignity

His basic faith in the dignity of the common man in turn instilled in him abiding faith in the democratic way of life. He was a dedicated democrat and one of the greatest democrats of our country.

He was fully aware of the struggle of democracy through the ages to survive and carry on against the more disciplined forces of totalitarianism. To him “democracy has provided that form of government, that form of society under which mankind has made the greatest progress.”

On one occasion, he remarked, referring to the necessity to keep democracy alive - “We’ll have to fan the flickeing flame of democracy, so that each individual is assured of those freedoms, for which democracy has always stood, and which safeguard man’s self respect and secure decent, honest and fair dealing between man and man.”

The crucial turning point in his political career came on 17th July, 1951 when he resigned his portfolio under the then ruling government, crossed the floor of the House of Representative and thereafter founded the Sri Lanka Freedom Party on the 2nd of September 1951.

While this decision of his brought strong criticism from his political adversaries, paradoxically, it turned out to be historic and invigorated democracy in Sri Lanka in that it gave the country for the first time a democratic alternative to the then ruling party.

The appearance of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in the political arena of the country did a service to the country and the cause of democracy by providing the people of our country the opportunity by the free and fair exercise of the vote to change the Government and elect another democratic alternative in its place without resort to violence or revolution.

The democratic structure of the country was preserved and its stability and continuity ensured thereby.

Perhaps if Mr. Bandaranaike had not provided this democratic alternative, the history of this country may have taken a different course and eventually have followed the pattern of some of the African States by establishing some type of government without a democratic base.

While Mr. Bandaranaike was a firm believer in individual freedoms like freedom of speech, assembly, press, worship etc.., he felt deeply that the content of democracy would lose its essence unless it recognised the collective freedom like freedom from poverty, freedom from disease, freedom from ignorance and freedom from fear and those fundamental rights about which the socialist community had laid special emphasis like the right to work and right to live, the latter gaining momentum after the threat to human survival from the nuclear holocaust.

To him, therefore, democracy was an amalgam of a number of individual rights and collective freedoms.

Mr. Bandaranaike addressing the Indian Council of World Affairs in 1957 gave his answer:

“One of the problems of democracy today is to reconcile individual freedoms with the collective freedoms. At an early period the stress was laid on individual freedoms. Today the emphasis has shifted to the collective freedoms and one of the problems of democracy is to effect a harmonization and reconciliation between the two needs. It may be that some of the individual freedoms as they were conceived of earlier may have to be somewhat restricted in the interest of the collective freedoms. This is one of the problems that faces democracy.”

Mr. Bandaranaike’s great contemporary and friend, Jawaharlal Nehru, was in agreement with him when he said: “The lesser liberties may often need limitation in the interest of the larger freedoms.”

The individual liberties and collective freedoms were enshrined for the first time in the 1977 Constitution of the Republic of Sri Lanka where emphasis was more on the collective freedoms.

To Mr. Bandaranaike, a truly democratic society in a country which had emerged into freedom after long years of colonial rule could be achieved only if every vestige of the hang-over of colonialism in all its exploitative forms is eradicated.

He believed that these countries came under colonial domination, especially in the region of the Indian Ocean, due to the intrusion of great power rivalry into our region.

Any attempt after these countries achieved their independence to bring them under one or other of the rival power blocs would again jeopardize their freedom and independence especially as these countries were economically and militarily weak and had their own internal domestic problems, especially those which undermined their national unity.

One of the essential criteria of non-alignment is that a country should not grant or permit bases to any foreign power. In the context of the strategic importance of Sri Lanka, the presence of foreign bases would make the country extremely vulnerable in any future war.

When Mr. Bandaranaike took office as Prime Minister in 1956, it was almost ten years after independence, but still the Metropolitan power, Great Britain, had her naval base in Trincomalee and the Air Force Base at Katunayake, under British control.

This was an erosion of our status as an independent country. In order to give positive and effective expressions to our country’s new foreign policy based on Non-aligned and neutralism. Mr. Bandaranaike successfully negotiated with the British Government the handing over of these two bases to Sri Lanka in 1957.

The last vestiges of foreign occupation were removed and Mr. Bandaranaike was rightly constrained to remark at the ceremony of handing back of the Airport at Katunayake - “Today our independence is complete”.

The dignity, cordiality, and good grace with which Mr. Bandaranaike negotiated with the British Government, the handing back of these bases, is a shining example of how controversial problems that confront countries could be solved in the spirit of friendship.

It was Mr. Bandaranaike, who for the first time, established diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union and other socialist countries after we gained independence in 1948.

To Mr. Bandaranaike, non-alignment in our foreign relations did not mean “neutralist” or “uncommitted”. On the contrary, he told Marshal Tito when he visited our country, “We are very much committed we are committed to the hilt - to peace in a positive form, to friendship among nations, to peace and prosperity and happiness of all mankind.”

Important events

When Mr. Bandaranaike was Prime Minister, two important events took place which nearly brought the world to the brink of war. One was the entry of Soviet troops into Hungary and the other the Tripartite invasion of Egypt by Israel, Britain and France over the decision of Egypt to nationalize the Suez Canal Co... Mr. Bandaranaike took positive positions on both these matters without just being a spectator of events which were drifting into a world war. During the Suez crisis, Mr. Bandaranaike was on a visit to England and the UN Assembly.

He told his friend, the British Prime Minister, Anthony Eden, and the British Foreign Secretary, Selwyn Lloyd, that the Tripartite forces must unconditionally withdraw their forces from Egypt.

He supported the sovereign right of the Egyptian people to nationalize the Suez Canal Co., whilst at the same time recognising international rights regarding the use of the Suez Canal. His firm’s attitude over the Suez crisis earned him a very appreciative tribute from Gamal Abdul Nasser, the President of Egypt.

Mr Bandaranaike showed his independence in dealing with the two crises. As he later quite rightly and justifiably remarked, “we can tell the Soviet Union, it was wrong, and we equally have the right to tell the Tripartite powers that they are wrong.”

To him the main essential pre-requisite for solving the problems of the world was the necessity for peace, as problems could no longer be solved through war especially after the discovery of the atom bomb, war would mean total destruction of mankind. In one of his speeches he spelled out his formula for peace which has its full relevance today.

He said: “I feel that, as never before in our history, we have to recognize the dignity and brotherhood of man, that we are all one, whatever may be our religion, colour or race or idealogy. We are all one today.

We cannot permit our likes of one another, racial, ideological, linguistic, economic, social or otherwise to reach the point when we feel that we cannot live together. The whole world is very close together today, and whether we like it or not, either we have to live together or surely we shall perish together.”

Time, however, was not on his side to complete the goals he set out to achieve, for an assassin’s bullet prematurely cut short his life on 26th September, 1959. He may not be with us today, but the Bandaranaike image has survived and lives.

Today in every city, town, village and in every nook and corner of our island home, a grateful people bow their heads in reverence to his memory and pay their tribute and homage to this great son of Sri Lanka.