From a scribe’s pen:
“NANDI” - THE SOUTHERN STAR IN SPACE
The following chapter authored by H.L.D. Mahindapala was published
in Nandasiri Jasentuliyana’s book which was launched last week in
Colombo.
H. L. D. Mahindapala
(Former Editor, Ceylon Observer, Secretary-General, South Asia Media
Association and President, Sri Lanka Working Journalists’ Association).
CHAPTER 32
The route from an obscure Sinhala-Buddhist mixed school in Dodanduwa,
Sri Lanka to the Outer Space Affairs Office of the United Nations in New
York and Vienna was inevitably long, winding and arduous, with usual
quota of diversions and pitfalls on the way. But nothing en route - not
even the English alphabet unknown to him in his early education -
daunted Nandasiri (known to his friends as "Nandi") Jasentuliyana.
Nandasiri
Jasentuliyana |
His upward movement from the Sinhala-Buddhist village school in the
South to the heights of the Director of the United Nations Office for
Outer Space Affairs and Deputy Director-General of the United Nations in
Vienna is an untold saga known only to a few who had known him.
The story of the boy from the South, who climbed the dizzy heights of
international mountains, overcoming all obstacles on the way to the top
at the UN, can be told only in superlatives. This is inevitable because
Nandasiri Jasentuliyana has left behind an outstanding academic and
professional track record. Despite this and despite his international
status he has studiously kept out of the limelight without sharing
honours at home with the other towering Sri Lankan celebrities like His
Excellency Christopher. J. Weeramantry, the Vice-president of the
International Court of Justice, or Shirley Amerasinghe or Jayantha
Dhanapala. There is a reason for this. He deliberately cultivated a
low-profile ever since Mr. Sam Wijesinghe, former Secretary-General of
the Parliament, told him sometime in the 60s': "Young man, success
attracts jealousies! If you want to succeed keep away from publicity in
Sri Lanka." He followed his mentor's advice with such tenacity that not
even a dental surgeon could pry open his mouth all these years.
Super-powers
He was quite content to go about his work without any fuss. But he
took care to leave an indelible mark with every step he took. He walks
the corridors of the UN with an easy familiarity - almost like a home
away from home. In those corridors his reputation has grown as a leading
authority on the laws governing the new frontiers of outer space, which
at the time of the Reaganite "star wars" threatened to be the theatre
for the next cosmic wars. His achievements parallel that of Shirley
Amerasinghe, Sri Lanka's distinguish Ambassador to UN, and Jayantha
Dhanapala. Shirley Amerasinghe plumbed the depths of the sea, Jayantha
Dhanapala drilled deep into the core of atoms, and Nandasiri
Jasentuliyana scaled the heights of space at the UN. Both, Amerasinghe
and Jasenthuliyana are internationally recognized authorities in their
respective fields which are critical for the future of humanity. It is,
indeed, a remarkable coincidence that two Sri Lankans should be
acknowledged as leading authorities on the two extremities of the earth
that determines its survival.
In the post-Gagarin era outer space assumed a greater significance as
a vantage-point for political and military purposes. The open spaces out
there assumed a new political, economic and military importance. Outer
space was viewed as the new colonial territory needed for supremacy on
earth.
The jockeying for positions in the administration of outer space
reached a critical stage at the height of the Cold War when the
super-powers were competing for strategic places in space as a means of
dominating terrestrial landscape.
One key position was that of the Executive Secretary to the UN
Conference on the Peaceful uses of Outer Space 1982 (UNISPACE II). In
the early eighties at the height of the cold war UN was deadlocked over
who should be appointed to this post. Soviet Russia and United States
were competing for 10 months to grab this key position. US had wanted
the job for an American (Marvin Robinson formerly of NASA) who has
temporarily been heading the UN's outer space affairs division. The
Soviet Union and the Communist bloc had been pressing the candidacy of a
Czechoslovakian official who had joined the division in February 1981.
In January 1982 Kurt Waldheim, the departing Secretary-General of the
UN, broke the deadlock by appointing Nandasiri Jasentuliyana.
The news of breaking the deadlock grabbed the headlines of the
international media. It was Waldheim's last act before he ended his term
as Secretary-General of the UN.
Cold War warriors
It could be argued that Jasentuliyana was the ideal non-aligned
candidate acceptable to both sides. But it is more than that. He was
already in the Outer Space Affairs Division (OSAD) with the requisite
credentials behind his name. Ambassador Jean J. Kirkpatrick, the
Permanent Representative of the USA to the UN, in her letter to Waldheim,
commending his appointment, wrote: “While we continue to believe that
Mr. Robinson was the logical choice to be Executive Secretary for
UNISPACE ‘82, we know that Mr. Jasentuliyana is an able and experienced
officer of the Outer Space Affairs ‘Division (OSAD) and would surely be
an effective Executive Secretary for the Conference.” This was written
in April 1981. Since then Nandasiri Jasentuliyana’s record as a suave
and cool-headed diplomat, maneuvering his way through Cold War warriors,
has earned him a commendable reputation among international civil
servants, starting from Kofi Annan downwards.
The Washington-based National Space Society honored him with the rare
distinction of being one of the 100 “Space people who have had the
greatest impact on our lives”. In this exclusive club he is in the
company of celebrities like John F. Kennedy, astronauts Yuri Gagarin and
Neil Armstrong, movie director Stanley Kubrick exploring futuristic
themes, movie producer Steven Spielberg etc. All these are shining stars
of space exploration. They are the Columbuses of the new age going in
search of the unknown space that is most critical to the next stage of
man’s evolution. The first was in the Silurian Age when the fish and
algae came out of the sea and established colonies on land. The second
was when man went out on voyages exploring the unknown parts of the
earth. The third - and perhaps the final stage — was when man stepped
out of the earth and moved into space.
Yet it is this virginal space that is fraught with complex issues, if
not danger, for the survival of mankind. International cooperation in
space projects is a prime need. Space wars projected in science fiction
– genre in which yesterday’s fiction becomes today’s reality — can
threaten the survival of our blue planet. The world went to the brink of
total annihilation under the Strategic Defense Initiative (Star Wars)
program of Ronald Reagan which pushed Soviet Union into a rival program
with both super powers competing for supremacy in space. Both were
engaged in research and development of space-based offensive and
defensive weapons. The theory was that those who conquer space would
conquer the earth. Jasentuliyana works at the legal and political
frontiers of this space with consummate ease. He works with a tireless
commitment to turn space into a non-military zone. Commenting on this
Jasentuliyana told the Space society magazine that “a growing
militarization of space could increase the risks of international
conflict and divert important resources from more productive uses”.
Faced
with the potential threats as well as the immense possibilities for the
future welfare of mankind, the UN went into top gear to explore the
peaceful uses of outer space. Nandasiri Jasentuliyana became the key
figure in coordinating, directing and organizing this program from way
back as the 1960s. The UN Conference on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space
(UNISPACE) has become a regular forum for the international community to
discuss and initiate new programs for the peaceful uses of space. This
could range from a World Weather Watch collecting data from satellites
to sorting out overcrowded airwaves from the communication satellites
thrown into space like balloons. Last but not the least, is the threat
of one of the millions of stray meteorites hitting the earth with an
explosive power strong enough to send it into another ice age.
The future, therefore, is in space and everybody’s talking about it.
In the collector’s issue of the Space Society magazine honoring the new
stars of space it was said: “Everybody talks about peaceful
international cooperation in space but Nandasiri Jasentuliyana does
something about it His vision has always been that though only a few
nations have space faring capability, somehow all nations should
benefit.” Turning space swords into planetary ploughshares is not an
easy task. He has to bring together diverse and competing interests and
harmonize them for peaceful purposes. Even though the political contest
for lebensraum in space has not yet reached critical proportions the
legal aspects have to be spelt out to accommodate rival claims and to
prevent future space wars. As the grim and grave scenarios of science
fiction draw nearer Jasentuliyana will have to work harder to define the
legal space within which the rival claimants - whether they be states or
gigantic corporations ~ will have to settle for peaceful solutions. It
is a daunting task but he works at it unfazed by its complexities. But
at the back of his mind lurks a fear of the future in space. Behind the
publicized camaraderie of international astronauts embracing in space
stations there is a threat that can turn nasty and hit the earth with
devastating power.
The militarization of space took a new turn with Bill Clinton
reviving the Star Wars program investing, initially, $10 billion — a
massive injection of funds partly to please the Right-wing and partly to
maintain the military superiority of the United States. Once again the
Reagn era Star Wars is back on the international agenda with countries
like China and Russia bristling with resentment.
Diplomatic skills
Against this background, his impending retirement (he passed the
three-score and ten on November 23 last year) has the UN corridors
buzzing with fears for the proposed UNISPACE III (scheduled to be held
in Vienna between June 19 and July 30). It is the uncertainties of the
future in space that makes him a man much in demand in the UN circles
for his diplomatic skills and his expertise in space law.
Now as he moves into the proverbial three-score-and-ten, without the
claws of time leaving any discernible scars, the U.S. delegate Kenneth
Hodgkins has expressed his country’s “serious concerns” over the future
staffing of the Office with the intended departure of Jasentuliyana. The
IPS Daily Journal (November 2, 1998, Vol. 6.No.209, page 6) quotes
Hodgkins as telling the Special Political Committee of the General
Assembly: “We now understand that changes in the senior leadership of
the Office might take place this year. This is a disturbing development,
since it has the potential of disrupting preparations for UNISPACE III.”
He added that if UNISPACE III is to be a success “the people doing this
work must be experienced, hard working and deeply knowledgeable about
international space cooperation.”
Hodgkins was supported by Ambassador Raimundo Gonzalez of Chile, the
Chairman of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses. The IPS Daily
reports that Ambassador Gonzalez himself had heard about upcoming
changes in the staff of the Office for Outer Space affairs, beginning
with its director. He commented: “The United Nations could not afford
the luxury of dispensing with the valuable contribution of that
division, especially at such a crucial state. It would be unrealistic to
press ahead (with UNISPACE III) without the support of the Secretariat
in the preparations for a world conference of such scope, magnitude and
importance, particularly to developing countries....”
Following these appeals, the Secretary-General Kofi Anan promptly
requested Jasentuliyana to continue his services beyond the mandated age
of retirement for United Nations Officials, in order to organize and
direct the United Nations World Conference on Space (UNISPACE III). The
conference was considered a great success and drew up a blue print for
nations to follow in the next decade as they explore outer space and
utilize its practical applications. It was a fitting farewell to the
long and successful career of Jasentuliyana at the helm of UN space
programme.
Unlike Shirley Amerasinghe and Jayantha Dhanapala, it must be
emphasized, that Jasentuliyana did not break into the international
diplomacy through the Sri Lankan Foreign Service. He worked his way up
through sheer dint of his own efforts. When he left Sri Lanka on a
Commonwealth scholarship to McGill University in Canada he was
determined to study space law. It was virgin territory, virtually
unexplored unlike the other branches of the law. To him it was a new and
adventurous field. He envisaged the potential dangers and the
possibilities of the conflicts in space even as a law student in Sri
Lanka. As if foreshadowing his future career he wrote in 1961, when he
was the editor of the Ceylon Law College Review: “This year 1961 has
been momentous. Man has finally done it! In defiance of the law that
what goes up must come down, he has gone there and stayed there. It is
our tragedy that we are chiefly aware of the glamour and glory, and yet
strangely blind to the terror and madness of it all. The next time THE
PRESIDENT speaks ill of the PRIME MINISTER we may find an ICBM labeled
“Washington C. O. D”, hurtling over us, destination - definitely known.
We wonder who will reply.” That is a question that continues to haunt
him. His career has been devoted since then to prevent it happening.
Once again it was Mr. Sam Wijesinghe who put him on the right track
when he was casting around for a direction in his future career path. It
was Mr. Wijesinghe who told him to specialize in space law, and gave him
the exact location where he could find the ideal avenue for his métier.
United Nations
In Vienna protocol demands that newly appointed ambassadors should
present their credentials to the head of the UN Office in Vienna as
representative of the Secretary-General of the United Nations, and it
happened to be Jasentuliyana as Acting Director General of the United
Nations Office in Vienna when Sri Lanka’s newest ambassador, Mr. S.
Poolokasingham called on him in January this year. This is, indeed, a
rare occurrence where one Sri Lankan diplomat presents his credentials
to another Sri Lankan representing the UN.
For a pioneer sailing in the uncharted territories of space it was
inevitable that it would be filled with star-studded celebrities of
space. A routine part of his career was to rub shoulders with Neil
Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin who went to the Moon, Valantina Tereshkova,
the first woman in space, Cosmonauts Valeriy Polyakov and Vladmir Titov
who spent over a year in space, Sally Ride and Dr. Mae Jamison the lady
astronauts are among the many legendary stars of space whom he met. The
Austrian Cosmonaut Frans Viehboch of Austria and Cosmonaut Dumitri
Prunariu of Rumania are among his family friends.
Dealing with outer space drew him naturally into the universality
that envelops space. Though he did spin in space he never lost the touch
of the earth under his feet. For instance, assembling five Nobel
Laureates -- President Jimmy Carter, Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Mrs. Elena
Bonner and Poet Wole Soyinka – to a public discourse on their own
personal experiences was a part of his public duty. The lives of these
Nobel Laureates under totalitarian regimes that had robbed them of their
own human rights for many years, or as activists speaking out on behalf
of those still suffering from discrimination, servitude and other forms
of modern day oppression kept his feet firmly on earth.
At the end of his career NASA Administrator Daniel Goldin signed and
presented as a memento a framed U.N. flag that was flown aboard space
shuttle Columbia (STS-90) along with a crew patch worn by the astronauts
on board the spacecraft and a signed photograph of the crew. This
symbolic memento is a fitting tribute to his mission in space. The
inscription in it went further. It read: “Presented to Nandasiri
Jasentuliyana in recognition of his support for furthering the peaceful
uses of outer space for all nations.”
That says it all. What more can a boy from an obscure village do than
serve all nations – and that too from outer space!
“NANDI” - THE SOUTHERN STAR IN SPACE - original text dated March 1999 |