Comrade Philip Gunawardena’s 41st death anniversary :

Dedicated his life to WORKING CLASS

Vernon Botejue Senior Attorney at Law Continued from yesterday

As Philip had no entry permit he had to cross the Pyranese Mountains on foot from France to Spain, at the risk of death or imprisonment. The only aid he had was the help of a map and his knowledge of the French and Spanish languages . But he completed his mission in Barcelona.

Immediately on his return to Ceylon, he involved himself actively on the formation of a Youth Forum and Trade Unions. His endeavour was to excel A.E. Gunasinghe, who at that time controlled the Trade Union Movement in Ceylon.

In 1933, Philip and Lesley Gunawardena who were attending a political meeting at St. Peter’s College Colombo were the victims of a vicious attack by a pre-arranged group of goons allegedly loyal to the A.E. Gunasinghe faction in Colombo. It was on this occasion that Philip’s courage and determination was publicly demonstrated: Fortunately, Philip’s life was saved in the nick of time by the arrival of the Police. At this point of time, Philip stood before the microphone with bleeding head injuries and made a powerful speech and turning to A.E. Gunasinghe who was present, said that these same thugs will do the same thing to you soon. Philip urged the Police to release those arrested. There upon Philip was greeted with warm cheers from the crowd present.

In December 1935, Philip together with Dr. N.M. Perera founded the Lanka Sama Samaja Party and accepted office as its General Secretary.

In 1936, Philip entered the State Council as the member for Avissawella, defeating Forrester Obeysekera, who was then the Chairman of the Council. Many of the motions introduced by Philip and Dr N.M. Perera in the National State Assembly at that point of time became the background for Socialist Legislation later.

During the second World War, the Colonial Government of Ceylon angered by the anti-war propaganda of the LSSP arrested Philip together with Dr. N. M. Perera Dr Colvin R. de Silva and Edmund Samarakkody and imprisoned them at the Welikada Jail: But later transferred them to the Bogambara prison in Kandy as they were suspected of fomenting a hunger strike at the Welikada Prison.

While suffering imprisonment at Bogambara, Philip together with the other political prisoners in early 1942 planned and executed a daring escape that became legendary:

Ceylonese fugitives

In the Book “TOMROW IS OURS” Author Charles Wesley Ervin, Published in 2006, has documented his researched treatise submitted for his PHD: “The Trotskyist Movement in India and Ceylon- 1935 -48.”Wherein the author better known as ‘Wes Ervin’ has comprehensively written on the role played by comrade Philip and his contribution together with the other co-thinkers from Ceylon in strengthening the Trotskyst movement in India leading to fusion with “Quit India “movement of Mahathma Gandhi: Documented research manifests that the draft agreements on the Trotskyist movement signed in India at that point of time received accolades from many other countries of the world at large.

Quote:- Excerpt from Book under reference: “Jailbreak in Ceylon” “On April 5 Japanese planes bombed the Colombo Harbour, sinking the British heavy cruisers Dorsetshire and Cornwall. The LSSP decided that the time had come to remove their leaders from jail, lest they risk falling into the hands of the Japanese. Two days later the LSSP spirited the four party leaders and their warden away from the jail to a “safe house” in Nawala. The escape brought down renewed repression. The government arrested a dozen second tier LSSP activists. The Cops combed the island looking for the fugitives. Holed up with no opportunity to do anything, Philip Gunawardena was anxious to get to the scene of action in India.”

“In July Philip and Colvin were the first to go. The others followed in groups. Apparently, the party pulled off this operation without the Police even suspecting what was happening. Only later did the authorities realize that the Ceylonese Trotskyists had flown the coop “to take part in the “Quit India” movement then brewing, the success of which they thought would ultimately lead to the independence of Ceylon”.

“The main contingent went to Bombay, the centre of the new party. Philip formed, roomed in a Buddhist hostel and assumed the names “Rup Singh” and “Almeida”. His brother, Robert, became “Vaidya” and “Prakash”.

N.M. Perera was “A. Deshmukh”. Colvin de Silva used the name “C.R. Govindan” Govindan was the name of a Tamil plantation worker who had been shot in cold blood on the Mol-Oya Estate in 1940. Colvin de Silva represented his widow in court. In Those days the LSSP was proud to be known as a “pro Tamil” party’.

The Ceylonese financed the New Party in Bombay. When the leaders escaped the island, they had tied gold coins in their sarongs. After they arrived in Bombay the Gunawardena brothers arranged to have land holdings in Ceylon sold and the proceeds were sent to Madras. Robert Gunawardena would make the two day train trips from Bombay to Madras to collect the funds. N.M. Perera also supported a number of comrades in Bombay. As the story goes while walking the streets of Bombay he encountered an Indian he had known during his student days at the London School of Economics. As luck would have it he didn’t remember Perera’s name. So Perera replied “Vishwanath”. This man was involved in floating a new Bank. He offered his old university chum a job. And so one of the most famous Trotskyists of Ceylon helped to start the Peoples Bank.”

“The Sri Lanka Police sent detectives up to Bombay to try to spot the fugitives. The Ceylonese had to keep a very low profile. That was difficult. Bombay was alive with political excitement. The Congress working Committee had called for a mass meeting in Bombay to ratify the “Quit India” resolution that Gandhi had presented in July 1942. The CPI was on the defensive over its support to the British war effort. Philip Gunawardena had valuable contacts in Congress, Socialist and Communist circles, many going back to his days in London. Making these contacts was a risky proposition’ given the Police dragnet. The Ceylonese fugitives found themselves drawn more and more out into the open.”

“In the’ Bolshevik Leninist’ Philip Gunawardena blasted the CPI. He stated that while Totskysts do not advocate sabotage as a political programme they solidarize with the masses in revolt.

Civic rights

The government, noting that the Trotskyists, have received a measure of prominence lately “stepped up their manhunt”. The Communist Party willingly offered its services. The Communists planted a student named Kulkarni in the group. The information he provided was passed to the Police. The government now had the BLPI Leaders in its sights, thanks to the Stalinists”.

“At that point of time Philip Gunawardena and his wife Kusuma Gunawardena, plus five comrades who had been sharing their place, moved to N.M. Perera's vacated empty flat thinking it was safer. They were wrong thanks to the CPI, the Bombay Police had that new place under surveillance too.”

“Before dawn on July 15,1943, a Police party arrived and knocked on the door. Thinking that that it was the milkman, Kusuma got up and opened the door. The Cops barged in, brandishing revolvers. The Trotskyists were ordered to lie on the floor, while the Police searched the place. They found a scrap of paper revealing N.M. Perera’s whereabouts. He was nabbed later in Ahmedabad. The Police arrested the Gunawardenas, Hector Abhayawardhana and five young Indian comrades. The Stalinist spy came to the Police Station and identified the Trotskyist prisoners. The Trotskyists, including Kusuma and her infant son were jailed at the Arthur Road prison”.

“Conditions in jail were horrible. “I was herded together with the most uncouth elements in India, re-called N.M. Perera: They were leppers, TB Patients and V.D. victims. I could not eat or drink. I lost nearly thirty or forty pounds.

Robert Gunawardena re-called “Life in this jail was one of the worst ordeals that I have had to endure in life. Fourteen of us were packed in a cell that was only 18 feet by 15 feet wide. And the cell was crawling with bugs. Philip Gunawardena took it in stride; He fraternized with the pimps, taunted the guards, and remained feisty.”

The Ceylonese were eventually sent back to Ceylon. Robert Gunawardena had his leg broken by a guard during his trip. He was kept chained to a hospital bed.

The four political prisoners were prosecuted in the Magistrates Court of Kandy:Convicted and Sentenced to two years rigorous imprisonment. Philip made a fiery speech when he was brought before the Magistrate for Sentencing on February 8,1944: “I escaped from prison in April 1942, for the purpose of helping the tiny group of Fourth Internationalists in India to build a party of the working class that can take advantage of the crises in Indian society that are breaking out in rapid succession. My colleagues and I timed our escape to be in India at one of the most important crises in her history. We are glad that we were able to play an infinitesimally small part no doubt in the movement that took place in India from August 1942. Time is with us. Imperialism is doomed. The Future is the Working Class.”

In 1947, during the general strike throughout Ceylon, Philip directly involved himself in the strike at the bus depot at Ratmalana, by endeavouring to prevent a bus being driven out despite the strike for which act the U.N.P. government then in power maliciously caused the Police to prosecute Philip in court and had him convicted and sentenced to jail and thereby deprived him, of his civic rights for seven years. In a similar case in 1957,where 12 persons were convicted and sentenced to six months jail in the Magistrates Court for the identical, offence in furtherance of a strike, they were all acquitted by the Court of Appeal on the grounds that they did not have the requisite intention to commit the offence. In 1947, Philip also did not have requisite “mens rea” to be convicted of the offence for which he was punished.

A resounding success

It is not irrelevant to refer to the duplicity and double standards of the U.N.P recently. when out of power to cause street demonstrations and agitation demanding the release of an ex-army general, even threatening to break open the prison doors, convicted and sentenced under the provisions of the Army Act who it is well known enjoyed all the privileges in prison unlike Philip, Robert and the other political prisoners who suffered both in India and Ceylon under inhuman conditions. Whereas, the ex-general certainly was not ‘a political prisoner’ in any sense of the term.

In 1956, Philip joined forces with the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike in the formation of the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna. Incidentally, at this point of time this writer served as a member of the Central Committee of the VLSSP led by Comrade Philip,that took the decision to join the coalition front, The Mahajana Eksath Peramuna won a resounding success at the 1956 elections and Philip was appointed the Minister for Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives in the Cabinet of late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike who assumed duties as Prime Minister with wide public support.

Philip’s progressive action agitating to nationalise the bus transport service and the Colombo Harbour and introducing the Paddy Lands Act however soon brought him into conflict with certain reactionary elements in the Bandaranaike government. Philip demonstrated his magnanimity and honourable conduct that he was not greedy for office and assured the Prime Minister that in order to avert causing embarrassment to him he was tendering his resignation.

This writer recalls the days when a President of Sri Lanka as the story goes, had the resignations of all members of his party in Parliament in his pocket.

Philip Gunawardena delivering the Inaugural Address to the 14th session of the ‘Ceylon Association for the Advancement of Science’ on December18,1958, in his capacity then as the Minister of Agriculture and Food publicly declared his sincerity of purpose “My pleasure at being invited to open this session is two-pronged.

Firstly I shall speak quite frankly - that you have chosen a man known to be a dissenter in the political life of our country and known to have concerned himself with the aspirations of our most humble citizens. Dissension - argument - controversy - these are food and drink to ‘science’ as conformism is starvation.

“And I have assumed, that you have demonstrated by this invitation, that as scientists, you are concerned not only with theoretical problems but also with human beings. As long as you are thus concerned, all of us can have full confidence that the knowledge you possess will never be used for inhuman and anti-human purposes that advance of science and technology promoted in an era gone by, of making rockets and lethal weapons including the atom bomb.”

“Secondly, I am pleased that you have chosen the Minister of Agriculture and Food to open your Congress. Again I assume, I hope correctly – that this was your way of expressing a fact that is of great significance to our country: that our scientists and technologists have appreciated that the development of agriculture and food production is one of the most critical and urgent problems to which you must now put your individual and collective skills, techniques and knowledge”.

Strong man

These graphic words of Philip express, not only his thoughts but also most certainly underline his acts and deeds that epitomized his character, politics and life’s mission through many years of dedicated service. It can be said without fear of contradiction that these words of Philip are equally relevant to Sri Lanka today in the context of the aftermath of the LTTE terrorist war that ravaged the country for over thirty years, in addition to the recent climatic changes occurring due to global warming causing heavy rainfall and floods and landslides, resulting in not only loss of lives but also destruction of agricultural land and food, including future threats of sea erosion and tsunamis, that calls for the immediate attention of our own experts in their respective fields concerned.

Philip was featured in the Time Magazine at that point of time as the strong man in the Bandaranaike government. Philip certainly through the Trade Union Movement was pressurizing the government of the day to accelerate the passage of Socialist Legislation and the nationalisation of the harbour and the bus transport service.

Credit is also due to Philip for pioneering the Co-operative Bank Bill which was the background to the establishment of the People’s Bank.

The words of a former Bishop of Colombo the Rt. Rev. A. R. Graham Campbell in a tribute paid to the “First elected representative of the Sabaragamuwa Province” seems apt to Comrade Philip who commenced his entry to the National State Assembly winning the Avissawella Seat in the Sabaragamuwa Province: Quote (with this writers apology for slight amendment).

“The Courageous and Honourable One who has ever sought to tread the path of duty and has laboured alike to serve his country and his people. May the example of such as Comrade Philip continue to inspire the generations of the future.”

Concluded