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Tuesday, 14 August 2012

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Like Father, Like Daughter

Manouri Muttetuwegama is a remarkable lady who is no stranger to politics. Coming from a political background, she is well versed in the intricacies and subtleties of the political arena. Having been a daughter and wife of two famous politicians, she understands the sacrifices one has to make when one deals in politics. She is also a Barrister and Attorney- at- Law, who has been very active in the field of Human Rights. This week Reminiscences in Gold features this vivacious lady.

“I was born and raised in Colombo but I am a Southerner in my heart. As a child I thoroughly enjoyed my holidays spent in our ancestral house in Randombe. I like the sound of the sea very much. I was educated at Visakha Vidyalaya. I belonged to the third generation of Visakhians in my family. My grand aunt and my mother were among the founding seven children when Visakha, then known as Buddhist Girls’ College, was first established in 1917 in a house in Turret Road, Colombo. The school was shifted to the present premises in Vajira Road in 1927 and was renamed as Visakha Vidyalaya.


Manouri Muttetuwegama

When I entered the school, the Principal was Mrs. Motwani, and then she was replaced by Mrs. Pulimood.

“The school was founded to train the schoolgirls according to the Buddhist moral values and principles. Mrs. Pulimood was a practising Syrian Christian who came from India. Even though she belonged to a different faith, she genuinely encouraged the practice of Buddhism. In that sense, there was a very liberal outlook in the school. We had outstanding teachers. I liked the Buddhist approach to life based on compassion and questioning. You don’t accept things, just because someone said so but you are expected to test it before accepting it. Those principles had a liberating influence on me.”

Middle class family

Manouri thought that her family upbringing also had a very redeeming influence on her. “My father was a leading criminal lawyer but our home didn’t have the external trappings that usually go with a middle class family. At home we didn’t have cocktail parties or intimate dinner parties with polished silver cutlery. My mother served breakfast to whoever came and so it was for dinner. It was that kind of household. It was an open house. We never kept the gates locked.”

“My father had a tremendous sense of history and that’s what kept him going. He used to say that ‘the Revolution is around the corner, but it will not come in my time.’ Yet he would be working for it as if it would come in his time. It’s a process with ups and downs. You have to believe in it and make your own contribution towards its realization.

He would work in the courts in the morning and then rush off to the plantation sector for the union work and then go to the Wellawatte weaving mills, the centre of organized labour and then to the harbour for union work. As a professional, he also took his court work very seriously. He had a sense of mission in everything he did. As you remember, he contested the presidential election with J. R. Jayewardene. Of course he lost the election but when the election results were announced he was there to make a speech warning the people of an impending authoritarian rule in the country. He did so not out of any malice or personal grudge but he felt that it was his duty by the people.”

Political environment

Reminiscing about the time her father was arrested in 1940, Manouri said that he was in the courts on that particular day. He signaled the Police to wait till he finished his brief. He then sent the gown to my mother and went with the Police. Some of the senior lawyers who were very pro-British went to see him in the jail. They may not have agreed with his Marxist philosophy, but they had a high regard for his courage. People greeted those who were arrested as liberation fighters.

According to Manouri, she never once encountered cold shouldering by anyone during that period. “When they made their escape from prison, they converted the jailor to their way of thinking and he also escaped with them. The car that took them was driven by a Crown Counsel who would have been shot on the spot, if he was caught.”

“My father was an internationalist in his mind. He founded a Trotskyist party while he was hiding in India. And in later years, I have this memory of meeting in Calcutta, the father of a lawyer friend of mine. On hearing that I was from Sri Lanka, he asked me whether I knew of N. M. Perera and Colvin R. de Silva. And it turned out that they had worked together to build up the Harbour Workers Union in the Port of Calcutta.”

When asked to comment on the humane character of his personality, Manouri explained: “Once my father’s driver was interviewed, he had said that to the outside world his master was a lion and at home he was a lamb. He was very correct. My father was so loving. We had very strong family ties. My mother was a very strong person and I wanted to be like her. She was one hundred percent behind my father.”

Manouri studied law in England and became a Barrister. Recalling her time in England, she said: “I spent ten years there and came home two or three times. It was not the age of email or instant communication. My parents were lucky to get a letter every five weeks. There, you learnt to be self reliant. You were exposed to so many people. At that time Britain was the centre of study. You end up meeting people who later became Presidents and Attorneys General in their countries. The world is your oyster. I remember dancing across Russel’s square to the Halls of Residence after listening to the Beatles.”

When asked whether she ever wanted to become a politician, Manouri smilingly said: “You don’t have to be an elected Member of Parliament to be a politician. I grew up in a political environment and I was in politics right throughout my life. As a young girl I remember accompanying my father on May Day rallies and election campaigns. I closely associated political leaders and even met international statesmen such as Marshal Tito. I have worked very closely with women. After I married my husband Sarath, I was the elected General Secretary of a grassroots women’s organization for 20 years.”

Personal tragedies

Did she get to know Sarath Muttetuwegama through politics? “No, I met him while appearing in a court case. After court work, we would have lunch together. In fact, he helped me to prepare my Petition of Appeal in Sinhala. That’s how we got to know each other closely. He was soft-spoken and had a tremendous sense of humour.”

Manouri had also suffered some personal tragedies in her life. “I was completely shattered and devastated by the tragic death of Sarath and of my son Maithri not long after. I bless my daughter Ramani; she is the one who sustained me and took me through that difficult period. She has been a wonderful daughter to me. Through these experiences, I had developed a capacity and a willingness to bear the pain of others. When I was appointed the chairperson of the Disappearance Commission, I was able to share the sufferings of the victims.”

Asked about the importance of the work of the Disappearance Commission, she said that more than anything else, it gave an opportunity to the affected families to present their cases before an officially appointed body. “During the sittings the witnesses repeatedly told us that during the period of terror in the late 1980s most of them could not even lodge a complaint at a police station.

We repeatedly heard the saying that ‘when we went to a police station, we were chased away like dogs.’ Over ten thousand witnesses came to give evidence before this Commission, and we listened to their harrowing experiences over a period of four years. It is only through such steps that you can bring about national reconciliation in a meaningful way.”

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