Thirty first death anniversary of Dr S A Wickremasinghe:

A medical doctor turned Marxist leader

Stanley S Abeynayake

There is a consensus of respect, gratitude, honour and affection for Dr S A Wickremasinghe who served our country and its people well. Both Sri Lanka and Ruhuna can be proud to have produced so noble a son.

Dr Sugeeshwara Abeywardena Wickremasinghe was born at Narangastenna Estate, Athureliya, Akuressa in the Matara district on the Sinhala-Hindu New Year day, April 13, 1901.

His father was Thegiris Wickremasinghe, a distinguished, respectable, landed proprietor in that locality.

Young Sugeeshwara (S A Wickremasinghe) had his first schooling at Athureliya government Sinhalese School and secondary education at two leading Buddhist Collegiate schools in the country, Mahinda College, Galle and Ananda College, Colombo.

Medical College

At Mahinda, he came under the profound influence of two English educationists F L Woodward, Principal, Theosophist and Pali Scholar of repute and F Gardar Pearce, a historian who wrote a book on history.

At Ananda, he came under the excellent tutelage of a pioneer Buddhist educationist P de S Kularatne of the London University. After passing the Cambridge Senior Local Examination at the latter college, he opted for a career in medicine, true to the Sinhalese saying if not kingship, then secondly, it is the medical profession - the art of healing the physical sufferings of the sick people.

In 1920, he joined the Colombo Medical College established in 1870. It was at that time the only centre of medical education till 1942 when it was upgraded as the Faculty of Medicine, University of Ceylon. He passed out creditably well as a medical practitioner with the basic qualification - L M S (Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery). By then the degree of MBBS was not provided for in our country. The young ambitious doctor was not satisfied to rest on his laurels.

He therefore, proceeded in 1926 to join the medical faculty of the University of London to read for the MBBS (London). He came off with flying colours and was attached to St Bartholomeus Hospital in London, UK. When in England, this young active and brisk, diligent doctor functioned as the Secretary of the Sri Lankan (then Ceylon) Students’ Union in Britain.

Besides, mastering the various spheres of medicine and surgery, he also delved into the struggles of the working class movements in Europe and embraced Marxism - Leninism with enthusiasm and zealousness. Becoming an admirer of the 1917 October Russian Revolution, he made strenuous or indepth studies on the new machinery of government and its various functionary agencies in the then USSR (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics) yet, he never discarded his religious and cultural adherences. So much so, in London, he was involved in Buddhist religious activities that he was elected the president of the Buddhist Students Society in London.

Professional service

Dr S A Wickremasinghe returned to the land of his birth as a fully-fledged medical doctor with highly recognized qualifications firmly determined to serve the people not only as a healer of numerous maladies,but, also to fight for socialism without any fear. Like a lion, true to his name of Wickremasinghe, he never bowed down to anybody when it came to a question of harassment, physical harm, torture or injustice. Dr Wickremasinghe assumed duties as a House officer at the General Hospital, Colombo now known as the National Hospital.

His attitude of treating the poor patients without any fees was an eye-sore and cumbersome to the money-conscious, avaricious medical fraternity of his. His colleagues spoke disparagingly of his kind attention to the needy ailing people without any remuneration.

That haughty, arrogant, indifferent and unbecoming behaviour of his colleagues made him resign from the government service in order to free himself from the shackles of bondage or enslavement to the Colonial departmental rules and regulations. As a result, he set up in private practice at Matara, his own hometown.

Made history

Taking to politics with the best of intentions, Dr S A Wickremasinghe contested the Morawaka (now Deniyaya) constituency under the first Donoughmore constitution of 1931. That was the first State Council election with universal franchise or suffrage. He was elected as the Member State Council (MSC) to represent Morawaka in the first State Council set up in 1931. At that election his political opponents - capitalists and reactionaries - the stooges of the imperialists nick named him ‘Morawaka Eta Messa’ - the small insect fly. Their motive was to hold him up in low esteem, his progressive ideas. Despite those nasty remarks cast on him, he carried on undaunted.

In 1935, he was one of the pioneers or founding members of the first political party - Lanka Sama Samaja Party - LSSP. The other such leaders were of the calibre of Philip Gunawardena, Dr N M Perera, Dr Colvin R de Silva, Leslie Goonewardena and so on.

Subsequently, Dr Wickremasinghe, Pieter Keuneman etc. formed the United Socialist Party in 1940 at a small house in Peliyagoda, the precursor of the Communist Party of Sri Lanka. The latter party was formed on July 3, 1943. After winning the Morawaka electorate in 1931 for the first time, Dr Wickremasinghe lost it to R C Kannangara at the 1936 second State Council elections. But when the latter winner died and at the by-election held in 1942 Dr Wickremasinghe was once again returned as the MSC Morawaka.

He could not contest any seat at the first Parliamentary elections in 1947 because he had been deprived of his civic rights for seven years on his being convicted of sedition, and sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment. He was indicted for a seditious article carried in the periodical he edited 'Janashakthi' on May 19, 1950. At the historic 1956 Parliamentary elections, he was returned to the Akuressa seat on the Communist Party ticket. Thereafter, he retained the same seat at all elections March 1960, July 1965 and 1970. His debacle was at the 1977 elections.

Battles for social justice

In the early forties, a sensational incident of homicide or manslaughter occurred at the Matara Police Station. One Hinniappu, a suspect taken into custody by some police officers attached to that place was mercilessly assaulted and as a result of that brutal torture, succumbed to internal injuries of the chest and heart.

The culprit assailants did their level best to suppress all available evidence and buried the deceased Hinniappu's corpse on the sly. Evidence was fabricated to exculpate the offenders. Dr Wickremasinghe was convinced that it was a blatant violation of the rights of suspects and the suspects of that gruesome crime bad arbitrarily taken the law into their hands. He took up the matter seriously; he saw to it that the machinery of justice was swiftly put in motion. The interred corpse was exhumed. The autopsy revealed that it was a cold-blooded murder.

Six accused police personnel were indicted before the Supreme Court sessions presided over by the senior pusine judge, Justice Francis (later Sir Francis) Soertsz. All six were convicted on the verdict of the jury and sentenced to terms of rigorous imprisonment varying from seven to eight years. The case came to be known as the Matara Police Station murder case. It is reported in the 45 N LR the King vs Kitchilan.

He vehemently opposed casteism. A firm believer in example rather than precept, the Wickremasinghe couple adopted a so-called low caste girl from Eheliyagoda (Rodiya caste), saw to her secondary education and got her qualified as a nurse. As a legislator in the State Council, he advocated laws against child and female labour, reasonable wages, prison reforms, nutritious food for prisoners, the humane treatment of prison convicted inmates. His policy was an amalgamation of the Western medical system with the indigenous medicine - Ayurveda.

It is to his great credit that he uphold the policy of free-education although it was implemented by Education Minister Dr C W W Kannangara - 'the Father of Free Education' who introduced the Free Education Bill in 1944 in the State Council. It bore fruition from March 1945.

A very kind-hearted medical doctor, he played a vital role in treating the poor malaria, stricken peasants in Thun Korale, Ruwanwella, Deraniyagala, Dehiowita, Karawanella and Yatiyantota areas. For medical attention on the sick he joined hands with Philip Gunawardena, Dr N M Perera and Jayaweera Kuruppu from Ratnapura.