A patriot and an illustrious son of Sri Lanka - Lakshman Kadirgamar PC - Part II:

The globally sought-after professional

Satharathilaka Banda Atugoda

From 1971-1974 he served in London in the Human Rights arena. In fact, he was the Special Representative of the Amnesty International to investigate into the Buddhist-Catholic conflicts in Vietnam in 1974. Lakshman was thus becoming a globally sought after professional in the legal profession. In fact his links with Sri Lanka were so strong that he was once again drawn to the professional pursuits at home that he returned. While he has excelled in commercial, labour and property laws that he thought he could be of service to motherland, more than internationally. The requirements of his children, Mrs Ajitha Kadirgamar Perera, and Mr. Rogesh Kadirgamar, too became a priority during these years.

However, when some international organizations recalled him to serve their institutions as they found him the ideally-qualified person to adorn some positions, he accepted them, rather reluctantly for a short period; he was a Consultant to the International Labour Organization in Geneva, and later was invited to head the World Intellectual Property Organization (1978), as its first Director, recognizing his aptitudes and special Academic and Professional qualifications, where he served for some time, till 1988, before returning to Sri Lanka to enter politics.

His family became a priority during these years too. The excellent professional attainments, that he achieved, received global acclamation that he could have continued in the international civil service. In intellectually bent personalities, it is natural that their native land becomes a priority, from their young age, in spite, of their wanderings around the globe; in Lakshman Kadirgamar's life too, this was the passion, as demonstrated in very many interviews he had given, to the media.

He had admitted to the BBC, that there was a looming threat to his life but he will perform his duty by his country, regardless. This moral-value-system in his life which was inculcated through, his family backgrounds, education and the exposure that he received in his professional life, both nationally and internationally, made him to enter National Politics; and that is the relevance of the above brief recounting, of his career. Perhaps, persons of Lakshman Kadirgamar's stature are no more or rare in politics today.

A political hero

President Chandrika Bandaranaike invited him to join the United People's Alliance Party and government, in the 1990s. he was ready for it but having been abroad and not having a popular support-base, he had to be found a place in the National List; the President was ready to do that realizing the value of this personality, given the state of the country - when terror was at its height, in the North, and facing equal turmoil in the South.

There was near- political instability in 1994, in the country with a new government voted-in, after 17 long years, many of the political leaders killed, and even the President attacked at an election rally. In this backdrop, the country needed solid support from all walks of life and more so, from persons of the calibre of Lakshman Kadirgamar. The President found in him a loyal confidante who gave correct advice, when needed. He was thus appointed as the Foreign Minister of the new government.

Veteran diplomat and foreign minister

I may have to write some personal-encounters in this section, with Hon. Lakshman Kadirgamar and others, to elucidate some policy matters, for which I seek apologies from reader.

He was obviously, the correct choice; late Dr. Neville Kanakaratne, my High Commissioner in New Delhi, had finished his term of office, by 1994, and being aware of the decisions of the inner political circles, in Colombo, mentioned to me, 'you will have a good Foreign Minister if Chandrika comes to power and mentioned the name of Lakshman Kadirgamar'. Having briefly met him in London in the late 1970s I too felt that he was a person having the correct attributes to a Foreign Minister. New Delhi was the key diplomatic post, more so in 1994, was briefly looked after by me, when Dr. Neville Kanakaratne left and until late Bernard Thilakeratne was appointed, as High Commissioner, succeeding Neville Kanakaratne.

This was under the caretaker Presidency of late D.B. Wijetunga, after President Premadasa was assassinated. When Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga was elected as President in 1994, the gentleman politician President D.B. Wijetunga, handed over the reins of Presidency to President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga almost immediately, after the elections; High Commissioner Thilakaratne, too, left New Delhi handing over the mission once again to me.

It was during this brief interlude that I met Lakshman Kadirgamar once again, and this time as the Foreign Minister. I was asked to organize an official visit where he could meet the Prime Minister of India late Narasimha Rao, and other top officials. It was a tremendous challenge to fix appointments with the policy-makers of the Indian higher echelons in so short a notice. There was a high-level delegation, and they all were determined to make this a successful visit, which it turned out to be, by all accounts. The new minister with all enthusiasm called on the Prime Minister, Narasimha Rao, with me as Acting High Commissioner and he looked at our 'Talking Points' and nodded his head. His line of conversation was totally resting on subtly requesting Indian support to eliminate LTTE terrorism.

Tracing all the atrocities, mainly the assassinations of President Premadasa and Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and other Sri Lankan Ministers, along with murders perpetrated on civilians, he brought the submission to a close, with the 'appeal-finale', saying that "we have decided to talk to the LTTE once again, in spite, of all this, Prime Minister".

"We need your support and blessings". Narasimha Rao, the veteran Sri Lanka expert from the early days, and especially, from the famous or infamous, Indo-Sri Lanka Accord of 1989, thought for a while and said, "Go ahead Foreign Minister, Settle this problem and stop this menace; it will be one problem less for us". They had this tacit understanding, although, our attempts at peace failed with a senseless master-terrorist such as Prabhakaran. The rest is history but Lakshman Kadirgamar's genuine efforts at non-violence stalled, and his strategies too went under serious modifications. He later was not for negotiations but for elimination of terror. This was his first official visit abroad after taking over the Foreign Ministry.