Philip's message continuing to be vibrant and valid

Ishara JAYAWARDANE

Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena was a juggernaut during the time he lived. During his heyday as a politician, he was an inexorable force then, and still is even after his death.

Gunawardena who followed his political ideals with passion, is remembered for this reason with veneration.

His deeds spoke louder than his words even though he was a great orator. His uncompromising principles were never tainted or motivated by personal grudges. The 40th death anniversary commemoration of this visionary was marked on March 26.

A man who has agitated in New York and London, Gunawardena was no stranger to the fight. During that period he met many great men who helped him to become a wiser man. Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and Krishna Menon of India, Jomo Kenyatta of Kenya, Tan Malaka of Malaya and Sir Seewoosagur Ramgoolam of Mauritius were some of his contemporary colleagues who later played prominent roles in their motherlands.

"His idea was to build a society free of discrimination on cast, creed, religion, sex and ethnicity. What he talked about is still valid today. Socialism is still valid. We are seeing a world which is full of inequality and a widening gap of income," said former cabinet minister of India and former member of the Lok Sabha Suresh Prabhu, who detailed the longevity of Gunawardene's ideals at the ceremony to mark Philip Gunawardena's 40th death anniversary.

Philip Gunawardena's political career is without peer when it comes to working towards tremendous change.

At the age of 21, he moved to the United States. At that time the United States was going through a period of transition. He became radical minded and associated himself actively in movements which would define America and later the rest of the world.

It was at this point that Gunawardena was rapidly becoming the man that he would one day be in the future.

In his address, Prabhu applauded the new idea of Mahinda Chinthanaya.

"You are talking about Sri Lanka emerging as the Wonder of Asia. Don't be constrained by this. It can also be the wonder of the world.

"You can make it happen and I will not be surprised if that becomes a reality. Sri Lanka is already growing at 6.4 percent for the last five years. Sri Lanka has all the ingredients to grow much faster.

"One area the government should focus on, is human investment or human resources which is unique to each country. The second resource is investing in the environment which is natural resource. Sri Lanka can also be the hub of clean energy in the world. It has the potential to generate clean energy. This could be a very good partnership between India and Sri Lanka, interdependent economies," he said.