Eighty ninth birth anniversary on October 14, 2012:

Yogendra Duraiswamy - a multifaceted personality

Chelvatamby MANICCAVASAGAR

The 89th birth anniversary of Yogendra Duraiswamy, the eminent Sri Lankan scholar, well known diplomat and former ambassador and High Commissioner to Rome, China, Washington and India and several other parts of the world and subsequently District Secretary and Government Agent of Jaffna fell on October 14, 2012.

In fact, Sri Lanka has produced outstanding public servants of the calibre of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam and several others. Indeed, Yogendra Duraiswamy was yet another product of the community to be added to this illustrious list. He was in every sense of the word a true Sri Lankan who ably represented his country as a diplomat in several parts of the world.

He was a successful diplomat since he was an expert on Financial Management, Trade Promotion, Legal Subjects and several other disciplines. Yogendra Duraiswamy’s academic brilliance, his persuasive eloquence, his missionary spirit, his amazing mastery over the intricacies of finance and administration as a foreign diplomat, District Secretary and Government Agent of Jaffna was rare.

Political leaders

His sense of responsibilities was scrupulous, his behaviour was modest and he had the gift of understatement and using the soft word that turneth away the wrath. Further, on his retirement from the foreign service, rather prematurely he went back to his birth place, Jaffna, where we saw him play a different role. He was fearless and forthright and was never hesitant to stand upto justice. In fact, one of the most unfortunate and horrible events of the last century both nationally and internationally was the destruction of the Jaffna library. In the absence of political leaders and ministers on the spot of the incident at the time of burning of the Jaffna library, the then Government Agent Yogendra Duraiswamy and his wife Sivanandini Duraiswamy were the only persons present there.

In fact, a man is tested at a time of crisis. It is only then that his true qualities become known to the world. Indeed, on the fateful day the people of Jaffna saw a clear demonstration of strength, discipline and courage in late Yogendra Duraiswamy.

Yogendra Duraiswamy was the son of Sir Waitilingam Duraiswamy, who was the first speaker of the State Council of Ceylon when it was under the colonial rule. Sir Waitilingam Duraiswamy had his education in Jaffna College where he excelled both in his education and sports.

At a particular annual sports meet at Jaffna College Duraiswamy participated in 13 events and won all 13 prizes. On completion of his secondary education, he entered Presidency College, an affiliate college of the University of Calcutta, where he studied under Sir Jegdish Chandra Bose and P C Roy. After graduating with double honours in Science and Mathematics, he returned to Ceylon where he studied law, developed his professional career as a lawyer and entered the political field. He represented Ceylon at the coronation of King George VI along with Sir Baron Jayatilake. He was knighted by the king in person. In fact, as the Speaker of the State Council, he combined ability with wisdom and conducted the proceedings with exemplary dignity and impartiality for eleven years.

Hindu schools

In fact, the religious intolerance of the missionaries led to the ‘Hindu Board of Education.’ Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Waitilingam Duraiswamy were Founder President and Secretary respectively of the Hindu Board of Education. Sir Duraiswamy was responsible for setting up a large number of Hindu schools and orphanages to serve the needs of Hindu children in the Northern Province.

Sir Waitilingam Duraiswamy was elected as the President of the Hindu Board of Education in 1923. In 1931, there was 155 Hindu schools in the island. Sir Waitilingam Duraiswamy’s son Yogendra Duraiswamy had great admiration and affection for his father and he very often mentioned that his mother was amazingly beautiful countenance, regal demeanour and considerable fortitude and character.

International Affairs

Yogendra Duraiswamy was born on October 14, 1923 and Sage Yogaswami blessed him with the name Yogendra. He was the seventh in the family and had his primary education at Jaffna Central College and later at Royal College, Colombo and then to Hindu College, Jaffna. At the Jaffna Hindu College he was the Head Prefect and represented his school as captain of the first eleven cricket team.

He entered the University in 1944 graduating with an Honours Degree in Economics specializing in political science. He was a keen debater and led the debating team to Allahabad where the university secured the second place at the inter-university debating contest in India. He was also involved in student union activities and was the secretary of the union.

In his diplomatic life, Yogendra Duraiswamy was a successful personality wherever he served. In fact, he was pre-eminently suited for this career. His forte was International Affairs and diplomatic work was essentially based on this knowledge.

Yogendra’s first posting abroad was in New Delhi. His love for Indian culture, the Hindu religion, ancient scriptures were amazing. From 1956-1959, he served as official secretary of the Ceylon mission to the United Nations in New York.

He was also a member of the Ceylon Delegation to the United Nations sessions in 1970. He was elected as President of the United Nation’s Association in 1978 and his address was on ‘Human Rights’ and its importance. In his address he pointed out that “Human Rights are necessary not only for peace among nations, but also for peace within nations.”

If Yogendra Duraiswamy did not enter the Foreign Diplomatic Service, he would have been a recognized writer of the first rank in English literature. Further, he was constantly pragmatic in his approach and willing to seek out and accept solutions where they could be found.

This brought for him the personal esteem, even of his opponents. In fact, he was a multifaceted and multi-dimensional personality who towered above his contemporaries and was one of the most outstanding men among the Tamil community.

Yogendra Duraiswamy’s life reminds us of philosopher Plato’s embodiment of complete man. Undoubtedly, he was a man of many parts.

He vitalized every cause he espoused - social, religious, cultural and even political. Indeed, he was well-known for his impartiality, indomitable courage and unstinted patriotism and great diplomacy.