Sri Lankan Sinhalese Family Genealogy
SENANAYAKE Families - Family #3001
The Don Bartholomews Senanayake Family Tree
1 Don Bartholomews Senanayake
2 [1] Mudaliyar
Don Spater Senanayake 1848-1907, Enterpreanor, Graphite Mine Owner, Social Worker.
d:7-Nov-1907 + [2] Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake b:1848
at Botale (d/o Baron Senanayake of Kehelella, Badalagama in the Divulapitiya
Electorate and sister of Abraham Perera Gunasekera Senanayake) – see below for
spouse family tree* Senanayake Clan Pics
3 [3] Maria Francess (Mary Jane)
Senanayake
3 [4] Don Charles Senanayake,
b:2-Jan-1878, d:7-Jul-1931 + [5] Euphemia Grace Millicent
3 [6] Fredrick Richard Senanayake, b:20-Oct-1882 at Botale,
Hapitigam Korale, d:1-Jan-1926 + [7] Ellen Attygalle (3119)
4 [8] Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake,
b:4-Nov-1911, d:22-Dec-1970, MP Dambadeniya 1952, 1956 (& Kelaniya),1960,
1965, Minister Commerce & Trade 1952-56 + [9] Erine Subasinghe
4 [10] Tissa Senanayake
4 [11] Chandra, Senanayake
5 Dr Ranil Senanayake
5 Rohan Senanayake
4 [12] Upali Senanayake, b:28-Aug-1918,
d:14-Oct-1983
4 [13] Needra Senanayake
4 [14] Rupavathi Senanayake
4 [15] Neeta Senanayake
4 [16] Swarna Senanayake
4 [25] Girlie Senanayake + Siripala Samarakkody (MP-Narammala) (1907-1944) President Ceylon Congress
(3118)
5 Malini Samarakkody + Rajamandhri
Jayagandhi Ratnagopal
6 Niranjan Tilak Rajkumar Ratnogopal changed his
name to Gideon Tilak Conrad + Jane Ridgeon
7 Misha Soraya Conrad (daughter)
7 Tarik Anthony Martin Conrad (son)
6 Priyani Dharshani Ratnogopal.
6 Rushika Sriyani Ratnagopal + Martenstyn
7 Yanick Stephen Martenstyn
6 Nilhan Suresh
6 Nilmini Shobhana
5 Rukmani Samarakkody + Sena Attygalle
6 Nirmala Samarakkody
6 Dhanika Samarakkody
6 son
5 Surangani Samarakkody + Dr Ranasinghe (UK)
6 Channa Ranasinghe + Wijewardena
6 Thiruni Ranasinghe + Indraketiya
6 Ruwani Ranasinghe + Ellepola
3 [17] Don Stephen
Senanayake, Rt. Hon., b:20-Oct-1884 at Botale, d:22-Mar-1952, first
Prime Minister of Ceylon 24-Sep-1947 to 22-Feb-1952 + [18] Molly Dunuwila
4
[19] Dudley
Shelton Senanayake, b:19-Jun-1911, d:13-Apr-1973, Prime Minister of Ceylon
22:Mar-1952 to 1953, 1960 to 1973
4 [20] Robert Parakrama Senanayake, b:8-Apr-1913, d:26-Apr-1986
5 [21] Devinda Senanayake
5 [22] Ranjani Senanayake
5 [22a]
Ranjit Senanayake + Suwanitha, granddaughter of D.C. Senanayake
6 Vasantha Senanayake
5 [23] Rukman Senanayake, MP (UNP)
5 [24] Yasmin Senanayake
The
Cornelis Perera Gunasekera Senanayake Family Tree (Kehelella - Alutkuru
Korale Dunagaha Pattu)*
1 Cornelis Perera Gunasekera
Senanayake + Disanayake Katalangama Appuhamilage Livina Perera
2 +
[2] Dona Catherina Elizabeth Perera Gunasekera Senanayake b:1848
at Botale
+ [1] Mudaliyar Don Spater
Senanayake 1848-1907, Enterpreanor, Graphite Mine Owner, Social Worker.
d:7-Nov-1907
3 [3] Maria Francess (Mary Jane) Senanayake
3 [4] Don Charles Senanayake, b:2-Jan-1878, d:7-Jul-1931 +
[5] Euphemia Grace Millicent Dunuwila
4 Ive Senanayake (1911-1984) + Dr.Edmond Asoka Bulankulame (1900-1978) of
Nuwarawewa Walauwa,Anuradhapura.
5 Visakha Bulankulame (1935-1999) + Tissa Wijeyeratne
(Wijeyeratne Family # 3147) of Buddenipola Walauwa, Kegalle. (3147)
6 Kalpana Wijeyeratne + Suraj Perera
7 Ramesh Perera
7 Dinesh Perera
6 Ravana Wijeyeratne + Ayesha Imbuldeniya
7 Anouke Wijeyeratne
3 [6] Fredrick Richard Senanayake, b:20-Oct-1882 at Botale,
Hapitigam Korale, d:1-Jan-1926 + [7] ] Ellen Attygalle (3119)
4 [8] Richard Gotabhaya Senanayake, b:4-Nov-1911, d:22-Dec-1970, MP
Dambadeniya 1952, 1956 (& Kelaniya),1960, 1965, Minister Commerce &
Trade 1952-56 + [9] Erine Subasinghe
4 [10] Tissa Senanayake
4 [11] Chandra, Senanayake
5 Dr Ranil Senanayake
5 Rohan Senanayake
4 [12] Upali Senanayake, b:28-Aug-1918, d:14-Oct-1983
4 [13] Needra Senanayake
4 [14] Rupavathi Senanayake
4 [15] Neeta Senanayake
4 [16] Swarna Senanayake
4 [25] Girlie Senanayake + Siripala Samarakkody
(MP-Narammala) (1907-1944) (3118)
4 [25] Girlie Senanayake + Siripala Samarakkody (MP-Narammala) (1907-1944) President Ceylon Congress
(3118)
5 Malini Samarakkody + Rajamandhri
Jayagandhi Ratnagopal
6 Niranjan Tilak Rajkumar Ratnogopal changed his
name to Gideon Tilak Conrad + Jane Ridgeon
7 Misha Soraya Conrad (daughter)
7 Tarik Anthony Martin Conrad (son)
6 Priyani Dharshani Ratnogopal.
6 Rushika Sriyani Ratnagopal + Martenstyn
7 Yanick Stephen Martenstyn
6 Nilhan Suresh
6 Nilmini Shobhana
5 Rukmani Samarakkody + Sena Attygalle
6 Nirmala Samarakkody
6 Dhanika Samarakkody
6 son
5 Surangani Samarakkody + Dr Ranasinghe (UK)
6 Channa Ranasinghe + Wijewardena
6 Thiruni Ranasinghe + Indraketiya
6 Ruwani Ranasinghe + Ellepola
3 [17] Don Stephen Senanayake, Rt. Hon., b:20-Oct-1884 at Botale,
d:22-Mar-1952, first Prime Minister of Ceylon 24-Sep-1947 to 22-Feb-1952 + [18]
Molly Dunuwila
4 [19] Dudley Shelton Senanayake, b:19-Jun-1911,
d:13-Apr-1973, Prime Minister of Ceylon 22:Mar-1952 to 1953, 1960 to 1973
4 [20] Robert Parakrama Senanayake, b:8-Apr-1913, d:26-Apr-1986
5 [21] Devinda Senanayake
5 [22] Ranjani Senanayake
5 [22a]
Ranjit Senanayake + Suwanitha, granddaughter of D.C. Senanayake
6 Vasantha Senanayake
5 [23] Rukman Senanayake, MP
5 [24] Yasmin Senanayake
2 Fedrick Perera
Gunasekera Senanayake + Henrina Alice Amerasekera (Ekala)
3 Chiralsa Muriel Senanayake + CMS Mapitigama
3 Celie Eden Senanayake + OW Bogahalanda
3 Arthur Nilanakirthi Senanayake +
Pearl Alexandria Senaratne
2 John Perera Gunasekera Senanayake + Cornelia
Elizabeth Ameresekara (Kaleliya)
3 Harriet Senanayake + PB
Keppitipola (Kundasale)
4 Pearl Keppetipola
4 Frank Keppetipola
4 Stanley Keppetipola
4 Earl Keppetipola
4 Dessie Keppetipola
3 Beatrice Senanayake + Linden
de Alwis (Rajakadaluwa)
4 Wardy de Alwis
4 Lindsky de Alwis
4 Daphne de Alwis
4 Ronald de
Alwis + Rani Pathirana
5 Chrishanti de Alwis + Tilak Kalawana
6 Shenali Kalawana
5 Sanjeev de Alwis
5 Shehani de Alwis
3 Dulcie Senanayake + Willie
Seneviratne ( Welipenna)
4 Colvin Seneviratne
4 Pilis Seneviratne
4 Sydney Seneviratne
4 Vinitha Seneviratne
4 Rukmani Seneviratne
4 Saraswathi,Seneviratne
4 Senaka Seneviratne
3 Piyadasa Senanayake + Lily Samarakkody
(Colombo)
(3118)
4 Lilani Senanayake
4 Egerton Senanayake
4 Devendra Senanayake
4 Ananda Senanayake
3 Grath Rathnaloka Senanayake + Somawathie Amerasekera
(Botale)
4 Indra Senanayake
4 Herman Senanayake
5 Pujitha Senanayake
4 Asoka Senanayake
3 Silvi Senanayake + George Seneviratne
(Veyangoda)
4 N Seneviratne + Meegama
5 N Meegama
5 N Meegama
4 Denzil Seneviratne
4 Doyne Seneviratne
5 Surangi Seneviratne
5 Dilini Seneviratne
5 Samanthi Seneviratne
4 Visaka Seneviratne
4 Devinda Seneviratne
4 Adrian Seneviratne
5 Dinen Seneviratne
5 Roshan Seneviratne
5 Erandhi Seneviratne
4 Parakrama Seneviratne
5 Ashani Seneviratne
3 Walter Senanayake + Renie Peries
(Madabavita)
4 Nevandran Senanayake
4 Dilki Senanayake
4 Kukkusa Senanayake
3 Olive Senanayake + Sunny de Alwis
(Chilaw)
4 Mignone de Alwis
4 Ranjith de Alwis
3 Wickrema Senanayake + Gladys
Amerasekera (
Alawwa)
4 Kalinga Senanayake
4 Sepala Senanayake
4 Ravindra Senanayake
3 Iranganie Senanayake + M B Ratnayake (Matale)
4 Sepali Ratnayake
4 Deepthi Ratnayake
4 Sirini Ratnayake
2 William Perera
Gunasekera Senanayake (Unmarried)
2 Mary Jane Perera
Gunasekera Senanayake + Yagabamunu Cornelis Herath (Madabavita)
2 Abraham Perera
Gunasekera Senanayake + Engalthina Amerasekera (Kaleliya)
3 Henrina Elizabeth Senanayake + Lennie Francis Herath
(Madabavita)
3
Roslin Meraya Senanayake + H Hercules Wijeratne (Wellawatte)
3 Johana Cornelia (Adeline) Senanayake + Cyril Seneviratne
(Heenkenda)
3 Dora Magdalene Senanayake + Given Waldo Senanayake
(Colombo)
4 Rowena Senanayake, d:1984
4 Iris Chitranganee Senanayake + Don Mahendrageeva Seneviratne
(Colombo)
5 Dehan Seneviratne + Eresha Hattotuwa (
Pitabeddera)
6 Akhila Seneviratne
5 Ranil
Seneviratne
5 Asha Seneviratne
Don
Stephen Dudley The Senanayake
brothers DSS with
Nehru Don Spater &
wife Don Stephen
& Wife
DSS
with
Cabinet DSS with Lord Soulbury DSS
& Mollie Duniwille Wedding 1910
Pics sent by:
Manjula de Livera
Email: manjulafamily@yahoo.com.au
28th March 2007
Family Tree for Senanayake
(Kehelella) Reproduced
and submitted by
prepared by Herman R
Senanayake Dehan
Seneviratne, Talawathugoda
Hunumulla Kehelella, Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka. 21-Nov-2007
24-Mar-1992 E-Mail:
dehan_sene@yahoo.com
Dudley: Leader,
guide and philosopher
He named
others for the office but it was the Government Parliamentary Group that
demanded his choice. When he retired from politics in 1953 and absorbed himself
in the Temperance Movement again it was the Party that sought his leadership.
Dudley
Senanayake, the second Prime Minister of Sri Lanka died on April 13, 1973,
after a brief illness and was laid to rest on April 21.
|
|
A MAN OF THE
PEOPLE: Dudley Senanayake was a man for all seasons, even paying homage to him reminds
us sadly that we ourselves are a Nation only seasonally; always in the winter
of some personal tragedy.
On April 12,
1973, we lost a great leader, guide and philosopher. During the long years I
knew him, I found him a fully integrated personality.
There was no
conflict in his spiritual and political values. Dudley Senanayake, by the light
of his own political vision, stood for the unity of this country, for an open
society and for the economic emancipation.
No monument
to him can possibly be finer or more enduring than our own renewed dedication
to these ideals. Those who knew him to be a deeply religious man. Certainly,
not in the conventional manner. He died without achieving one purpose in his
life. His desire was to retire from politics and enter the Sangha.
As a child he
had his religious training under the great scholar Palane Sir Vajiragnana
Nayake Thera. He had widely read books on Buddhism and Buddhist Philosophy.
He was a
reluctant politician; therefore a most forceful one. He did not seek office,
fame or popularity. These things pursued him. After the death of his father,
Right Honourable D. S. Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of the Democratic
Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, at the age of 41, when he became Prime
Minister, in fact, it was thrust on him.
He named
others for the office but it was the Government Parliamentary Group that
demanded his choice. When he retired from politics in 1953 and absorbed himself
in the Temperance Movement again it was the Party that sought his leadership.
He had no
false airs. There was a simplicity and modesty which endeared him to us.
Late in the
evening wearing a sarong and a banian when he lounged in the small office-room
upstairs at ‘Woodlands’ - that was the greatest moment in his life. Thence he
was at ease, whether he was discussing a complex, political problem or just
gossiping.
He liked
golf, he liked his food, he liked the company of his friends, all these things
he enjoyed with zest. Perhaps the years he enjoyed most were the years out of
office. His camera and his car were his fondest worldly goods, but in office
his leisure loving man worked like a precision machine.
There was no
day he worked less than 12 hours. Often his schedule extended to 16 - 18 hours.
Whatever he did he was a dedicated man. There was one thing that he would not
forgive - not keeping appointments. He timed everything, his day as well as the
nation’s economic endeavour.
That is how
within three years he succeeded in raising Sri Lanka’s self-sufficiency in rice
from 40 to 75 per cent. In 1961 after the landslide victory by the ‘Mahajana
Eksath Peramuna’ the Kandy Municipal Council Elections were held and I was
nominated by him to contest the ‘Deiyannewela Ward’ against an M.E.P. stalwart
in late Mr. T. B. Tennekoon, who was the Minister of Social Services, and the
sitting Member for well over 20 years.
He was an
intimate friend of mine and a person who was respected by the rural masses as
he moved freely with them. There were five candidates but Tennekoon won comfortably.
Soon after
Elections I wrote to Mr. Senanayake and pointed out the difficulties I faced
due to the misdeeds of some of the candidates and he replied by letter dated
3rd March, 1961, stating - “I am sorry to hear about some of the misdeeds of
some of the candidates and about the difficulties you suffered, but I am
however, encouraged by the fact that you have not lost your faith in the Party.
Please
remember that we deal with human beings, and as such, they have their
weaknesses. In all Parties we find individuals with these human weaknesses.
Whilst trying our utmost to correct these we have in certain circumstances in
the greater interests to try to put up with some of these weaknesses. I thank
you for bringing these matters to my notice.”
He possessed
these human and straightforward qualities which present day politicians do not
possess. The lasting monument to him would be the Gal Oya Scheme. I have heard
from Mr. Senanayake that when the blueprints were presented to him the American
Engineers had told him that there was a thousand and one risk regarding the
height of the dam.
“Do not take
the risk, raise the dam”, he said. It did not take a thousand years. But for
his foresight, in the unprecedented floods of 1958, the dam would have been
washed away bringing disaster to a greater part of the Eastern Province.
If Gal Oya
Valley today produces a quarter of Sri Lanka’s rice his dream was to, in the
great tradition of Mahasen, Parakramabahu and other great Sinhala Kings, to
make Sri Lanka self-sufficient in food.
He was denied
this opportunity by his defeat in 1970. But he lived to see his polices
vindicated. His very opponents were forced to accept his policies. The Mahaweli
Project, World Bank Aid - these things, decried a few years ago, are acclaimed
today.
If I was a
devoted follower of him, it was not blind faith that made me tread his trail.
In politics he was a pragmatist. While he abhorred the concentration of wealth
in a few individuals he equally refused to contribute to theories of regimentation.
With his
associates and friends he discussed matters. He listened to them, he debated,
and therefore, at the end the convictions were our own. He was shy, sensitive
but a proud man. The whole nation knows how he carried himself with dignity and
majesty. Most of us are still benumbed by the shock of his death.
He passed
away bothering none. The nation was on holiday. The greater part of the nation
had with his free measure of rice, the Sinhalese New Year’s first meal - on
April 12, 1973, the day this patriot passed away.
Senanayake’s
death, coinciding as it did with the Sinhala and Tamil New Year and with
Easter, saw a vast mass of our people dressed in a common colour, in the
simple, immaculate and neutral white.
Not all the
tears which were shed when he died nor all the hymns and hosannas that were
recited are of much use to him and to us unless we pluck from his own life,
from the nettle of things said, done and half-done, of achievements and
failures, some meaning, something which can endure.
Island Features Oct 22 2000
(This
is an extract from the book Don Stephen Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of
Sri Lanka by H. A. J. Hulugalle, the second edition of which was launched on
the 20th of October, the birth anniversary of D. S Senanayake. The first
edition was published quarter century ago.)
Don Stephen
Senanayake was born on 20th October 1884, at Botale, a village in the
Hapitigame Korale of the Negombo district in the Western Province. The name of
the village has nothing to do with the colloquial Sinhalese word, with the same
spelling and pronunciation, meaning ‘bottle’ derived from the Dutch ‘bottel’.
The village was named after ‘Bodhi-tale’—the place of the Bodhi or Bo tree.
One of
Senanayake’s ancestors may have been in the party of Buddhists who in ancient
times brought a sapling of the old Bo tree at Mahaiyangana to be planted at the
shrine of the good King Sri Sangabo at Attanagalla. On their last stop before
reaching Attanagalla, they remained for the night at Botale. In the morning they
found that the sapling had taken root in the soil where they had left it. There
is of course no evidence to prove that the venerable Bo tree one now sees at
Botale was the direct descendant of the tree at Mahaiyangana—traditionally one
of the places in Sri Lanka visited by the Buddha. There are many, however, who
believe that it was.
Only a few
miles from the much larger village of Ambepussa, on the Colombo-Kandy road,
Botale, stood on the frontier between the Sinhalese kingdom ruled from Kandy
and the maritime districts held by the Portuguese. It was often an outpost of
the Portuguese during their battles with the Sinhalese. The Portuguese
historian, De Queyroz, in his ‘Conquest of Ceylon’, published in 1688, says
that the Portuguese under Captain Francesco Pimental at Attanagalla made
themselves dreaded in such a manner that, not having more to do, they went to
encamp at Botale, a league further. The Sinhalese, for their part, erected a
stronghold at Dedigama. In 1598 the quarters were shifted to "the pagoda
at Botale, a place suited for assaults, with great loss to the enemy".
Peasants
The village
of Botale seems to have been known for a sturdy breed of peasants. It was said
that men from the area had constructed the tunnel through which the Sinhalese
Prince Vidiya Bandara, who was a prisoner of the Portuguese, escaped with the
help of the Franciscan friars who had their monastery at a spot near Queen’s
House in Colombo where the President of the Republic of Sri Lanka now resides.
Stephen
Senanayake’s father, Don Spater Senanayake, came of a land-owning family. The
prefix ‘Don! had been used, since Portuguese times, by the low country gentry,
as it had been in the Iberian Peninsula, where it originated Don Spater’s
father, Don Bartholomew, was born in Botale in 1847 where the ancestral house
still stands. It was for Don Stephen a hideaway to rest from the burdens of
office or think out a solution to some knotty problem. It was here that he
mixed freely with the country folk and shared his thoughts and aspirations with
them. They brought their problems as well as their disputes to him and it is
said that an aggrieved party in the village rarely resorted to a court of law,
for Senanayake was judge and arbitrator in all causes which they referred to
him.
Don Spater
finished his schooling at St Thomas’ College, Matale. He married a Miss
Senanayake (no relation) from Kehelella which was in the same district as
Botale. They had three sons, of whom Stephen was the youngest, and a daughter.
After the father’s death the four children remained close to their mother who
was a deeply religious woman.
The
Senanayakes of Botale were rooted to the land but Don Spater saw possibilities
in mining plumbago (graphite) for which there was a growing demand in Europe,
the United States and Japan. Ceylon plumbago was regarded by experts as
"so much superior to any other turned out". It was mined in many
parts of the island but chiefly in the Kurunegala district, where the
Dodangaslande, Ragedera and Maduragoda mines were situated, and in the Kelani
Valley where the Bogala mine was the largest. Don Spater’s contemporaries and
rivals in the plumbago business included such well known merchants as Jacob de
Mel. Mudaliyar D. C. Attygalle, N. D. P. Silva, D. D. Pedris, H. J. Peiris, M.
A. Fernando, John Clovin de Silva, U. D. S. Gunasekera and H. Bastian Fernando,
all of whom left considerable fortunes. Stephen grew to manhood when the
plumbago trade was booming and even as a school boy he knew a great deal about
the ‘black gold’ and the men who dug it from his father’s mines.
The massive
volume entitled Twentieth Century Impressions of Ceylon, published in 1907 by
Arnold Wright for Lloyds’ Greater Publishing Company of London, has the
following reference to Don Spater Senanayake: "After being educated at
various schools in Ceylon, he started business on his own account in the
plumbago-mining line at the early age of eighteen years. He now carries on
business as a plumbagominer, merchant, estate proprietor and general planter.
His offices are situated at Siri Medura, Castle Street, Cinnamon Gardens, and
his stores are located at Kitulwatte, Kanatte, Colombo."
The article
refers to the modern machinery installed in Don Spater’s mines and estates and
states that the graphite extracted the refrom is collected at Ambepussa and
forwarded to Colombo. It also lists the names of his mines and coconut estates.
Two pages of pictures go with the article, including the family group with the
striking figure of Don Spater, in Mudaliyar’s dress, with the three sons
standing behind their seated parents and sister, Mrs. F. H. Dias Bandaranaike.
Don Spater Senanayake was given the rank of Mudaliyar, not as a Government
official but as "a worthy citizen", by Governor Sir Joseph West
Ridgeway.
At the end of
the nineteenth century, many Sinhalese families interested themselves in the
public life of the country. Seats in the Legislative Council were filled by
nomination by the Governor. In 1839, the only Sinhalese member was G. Phillipse
Panditaratna. He was succeeded by his kinsman J. G. Dias, the eldest brother of
Sir Harry Dias who succeeded him in his turn. On Sir Harry’s retirement, James
Dehigama, a Kandyan lawyer, was nominated. The seat went back to the family
circle with the nomination of James D’Alwis, whose daughters married
Christoffel Obeyesekere and Felix R. Dias. He was followed by J. P. Obeyesekere
and Albert de Alwis, in turn. The succession was broken by the nomination of A.
de A. Seneviratne, but restored by the entry of Christoffel Obeyesekere in
1889. In that year an additional seat was provided to represent the Kandyan
Sinhalese and T. B. Panabokke, who had been Obeyesekere’s classmate in the
Colombo Academy (later the Royal College), was nominated. It was not uncommon
for a Kandyan in Government service or one who had retired as a Ratemahatmaya
(chief headman) to be selected, as was the case with Hulugalle Adigar, who was
succeeded by his kinsman, T. B. L. Moonemalle. When the pattern was about to be
broken, Mr. (later Sir) Christoffel Obeyesekere, no doubt irked by the new
spirit of nationalism, said on a well known occasion that much of the trouble
in the country was due to "nobodies" trying to become
"somebodies".
D. S.
Senanayake was the first member of the Senanayake family of Botale to enter the
Legislative Council though his older brother, ‘F. R.’, could have at any time
won a seat by election and was always a powerful influence behind the scenes
until his premature death.
Family
influence was also an important factor in the choice of Tamil members. The
first Tamil to be nominated to the Legislative Council was A. Coomaraswamy
Pulle. He was followed by Simon Casie Chitty. Governor Stuart Mackenzie spoke
of "his extra-ordinary, perfect attainment by a foreigner of the English language
so difficult to all foreigners". The nomination of Edirimanasinghe
Mudaliyar in 1850 gave a long run to a single family with its roots in Manipay.
His brother-in-law Ponnambalam Mudaliyar was the father of P. Coomaraswamy, P.
Ramanathan and P. Arunachalam, all three of whom were nominated members of the
Legislative Council at various times. Edirimanasinghe Mudaliyar had been
succeeded by Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy, another uncle of the three Ponnambalam
brothers, J. R. Weinman, the witty chronicler of this period said that
"the major aim of every Councillor is to keep the thing going in the
family".
With the
introduction of the electoral system of representation, many descendants of the
above-named found their way into the legislature through the front door. This
is, of course, not surprising. As a recent writer has said, "a democratic
political system cannot make elites superfluous, though it may ensure their
rapid and regular circulation".
D. S. Senanayake and ‘the most untroubled nation in
Asia’
by
Arjuna Hulugalle
The biography of Don Stephen Senanayake, the first
Prime Minister of Sri Lanka by H. A. J. Hulugalle, (second edition). Published
by Arjuna Hulugalle Dictionaries, 42, Ananda Coomaraswamy Mw, Colombo 3.
E-mail: hajh@sri.lanka.net
A biography
serves generally as an assessment of an eminent person. An assessment of D. S.
Senanayake has to start by examining authenticity in the words of O. M. Green,
one of the best known British writers on international affairs in the nineteen
forties and nineteen fifties that "under Senanayake Ceylon was the most untroubled
country in Asia".
At that time,
this country enjoyed one of the highest levels of literacy in Asia, compulsory
and free education, low infant mortality and a relatively efficient, largely
free national health service, a University which was recognised and accepted as
having standards comparable with the best in Asia and the world, a model
Parliamentary democracy with universal adult franchise, a well run civil
administration and a competent judiciary. During this period "there was
tranquility in the land".
How much of
this was because of the wise leadership of D. S. Senanayake? This is the
question which I think my father H. A. J. Hulugalle was trying to look at in
his book "Don Stephen Senanayake, the first Prime Minister of Sri
Lanka" (first published in 1975).
The author
had observed Senanayake for 30 years from a very close perspective. He wrote
his book twenty three years after Senanayake’s death,
as such he had the distance to look at his subject also in the context of the
events that unrolled subsequently.
What was it
that took Senanayake into politics? Senanayake was a natural leader. He came
from a village which the author says had "a breed of sturdy
peasants". The family would have thrown up leaders from the time of the Portuguese.
Though deeply steeped in tradition and religion, which the village of Botale
had nurtured among its people, the Senanayake family would have maintained a
working relationship with the foreigners, which would have given an exposure to
the wider world. That could explain adopting the "Don" as one of
their names. Leadership qualities would have led to money and money to the
establishment of Mudliyar Don Spater’s Serugollawa Walauwa, from which the
future leader came.
At school
Senanayake did not excel at his studies. The education which Senanayake had
with Warden Buck and subsequently, with Warden Stone would have nurtured his
inherent qualities which were reflected in later life. He was witness to Buck’s
famous farewell speech "You have learned the best lessons from STC (St.
Thomas’s College)... true manliness and truth, courage, purity and all those
things that make a man a gentleman..." The college had inculcated a self
confidence to this sturdy villager from Botale, which enabled him to deal with
statesmen of the highest intellectual levels and to be admired by them for his
intrinsic noble and decent character traits.
What was the
hallmark of his success? He was trusted. This is what Soulbury wrote
"...It was also clear to me that he was a man filled with that sense of
intense patriotism and love of his homeland which is characteristic of the
members of long settled and ancient families. From the very first I felt that I
could trust him implicitly — so that as the saying goes — "I could put my
shirt on him". The trust in him was also shared by the hundreds of
thousands of simple folk who paid their respects at his funeral. They felt, to
use the words — of the Mahanayake’s of Malwatte and Asgiriya, that "the
nation was orphaned".
Even one of
his most formidable opponents Dr. N. M. Perera had this to say about
Senanayake’s management of the Cabinet: "...It is a tribute to his
personal character that he held together with such adroitness a team so long
and in such trying circumstances. Only his unrivalled knowledge could have
enabled him to steer so certainly and so steadily and maintain such an even
keel".
Senanayake’s
unrivalled knowledge was what he had acquired on his own. Senanayake had a deep
love for the country and faith in its people. This obviously was a strong
motivating force. However, he realized as a practical man that mere zeal to
serve the people without knowledge would get one nowhere. His sparse academic
attainments and his sole reliance on his intelligence and common sense made him
seek the best advice which he could access on every subject he tackled.
It is amazing
how he commanded such respect from a team of ministers, advisors and officials
of such enormous talent and ability and inspire them to work for the good of
the country. There were definite attributes in his personality, which enabled
this outcome. They were his exceptional intelligence and dedication to hard
work, his humility and his great personal charm.
As
Agriculture was his special commitment he studied the subject from every
aspect. In 1934, he formulated a blueprint under the heading Agriculture and
Patriotism. Here he set out his ideas for immediate action and defined a course
for a long term plan. The success of his vision was the achievements of the
schemes to harness to the full resources of Minneriya, Kalawewa, Topawewa,
Giritale and other tanks such as Kahagama colony of 17,000 acres, which came
under the Balalu Wewa irrigation system and the Minipe colony. Minneriya with
its colonies Hingurakgoda and Hathamune were designed and constructed to bring
50,000 acres of virgin wild under cultivation. Of course, he would be
remembered for Gal Oya, with its reservoir capacity of 770,000 acre feet and
designed for the better utilisation of a quarter of a million acres of
irrigable and high land, which has been posthumously named after him as the
Senanayake Samudra. When full the Senanayake Samudra contains thirty times as
much water as is held within the breakwater of the Colombo Harbour.
Gal Oya was
financed almost entirely with national funds. Of the total investment of 67.2
million dollars, less than 1.6 million dollars came from foreign aid. Apart
from Agriculture and particularly Gal Oya, Senanayake is remembered as the
Father of the Nation for the manner in which he achieved independence.
Senanayake was always realistic enough to know his limitations. He was not
negotiating from a position of strength.
On the
subject of the approach to achieving independence, there were alternatives
which Senanayake could have selected. A colony could attain this by resorting
to an armed struggle or by persuasion. Non-cooperation as in India could have
been another alternative. Senanayake realized that unless such non-cooperation
was highly disciplined it would have led to violence, as Gandhi discovered. If
that were to be the case achieving one’s objectives peacefully would have
ceased. Senanayake opted for the course of persuasion and that was his secret
for leading the country to independence without bloodshed. His personality naturally,
was an asset. It was invaluable at this juncture.
The author
does say that independence came as a culmination of a long drawn out process
and as a result of the efforts of several national leaders. He also commends
the goodwill of enlightened British statesmen for their contribution. However,
there is no doubt that the catalyst that gelled it all was D.S.
Senanayake’s
ideas on education, parity in the use of the national languages, on the
cooperative movement, Indo-Ceylon relations, citizenship for persons of Indian
origin, foreign policy, the importance of a quality public service all
contributed to creating the correct environment for a peaceful nation. He came
to realize that a correct balance in politics was the statecraft needed for a
well run society. The highest priority he gave to the unity of the country and
its people and economic development which he considered the cornerstones for
the survival of the nation. For this he spared no effort.
The public
service at every level including the armed forces had a happy mix of the
communities. In the commercial fields the minorities played a significant role.
Senanayake’s
contribution to confirm O. M. Green’s assertion comes out pregnantly in the
facts that are presented by the author. One could quibble on non-issues but
overall the fact remained that the country was a model for the developing
world.
Reading of
this book should however, not seduce one to a nostalgia of the past. The
political dynamics have changed. We have to understand them as D.S. understood
and mastered the dynamics of his day, and was proven correct by "the
tranquility in the land" in his time. Then a Prime Minister could go on
horseback through the streets of Colombo without any danger to his life. Today
the only exercise a Minister can take is walking on a treadmill at home
Don Stephen Senanayake
By
Ranee Mohamed – Sunday Leader Mar 17 2002
Minister of
Environmental Affairs Rukman Senanayake remembers him. But anecdotes and
incidents, he can barely remember. For he was a toddler when the Rt. Hon. D.S.
Senanayake, his grandfather, was making history in the then Ceylon. But his
older brother Ranjit remembers a few visits he made to his grandfather's, the
broad-shouldered and tall D.S. He remembers as a child being taken to the farm
at Ambewela and being made to drink fresh milk, which he did not like very
much.
The
Senanayakes of today - Devinda, Ranjini, Ranjit, Rukman and Yasmin Nilmini are
children of Robert Parakrama Senanayake, one of the two sons of D.S. The other
son was Dudley Shelton Senanayake who was twice prime minister of Ceylon.
Ranjit
Senanayake married Suwanitha, the granddaughter of D.C. Senanayake and they
have one child, 28 year old Vasantha Senanayake. Vasantha, who cherishes his
ancestry, is however very down to earth and humane in his approach to life.
It was fifty
years ago this week in March, when The Observer reported "Up to 3.30 p.m.
today over 500,000 persons had filed past the remains of the late Mr. D.S.
Senanayake at the assembly hall of the house of representatives. At 10. p.m
yesterday the queue stretched over three miles. It wound past along Lower Lake
Road, Elephant House and through Ingham Street in Slave Island to Parsons Road.
The end of the queue was opposite the Regal Theatre. There are tentative
arrangements for the funeral procession of the late leader which is due to
start from Parliament House for Independence Square at 3.p.m. tomorrow.
Policemen
from all parts of the island will be on duty
at various points on the route.
The story
speaks of a pace setting party of twelve army, navy and air force personnel, a
gap for women and children and British service commanders and detachments of
the British navy, army and air force in Ceylon and also Ceylonese military
service commanders.
The story in
The Observer of March 1952 describes the funeral arrangements of Don Stephen
Senanayake, the great statesman of his day, whose death moved the nation then,
as its memory moves the nation today, exactly 50 years later. He died following
a riding accident on March 22, 1952 at the age of 67.
During his
lifetime, through the giant strides he made, he gave this country the pride of nationhood - he gave it independence.
D. S., a
leader of men, born on October 30, 1884, was educated at S. Thomas' and
excelled in cricket and other sports. H.A.J. Hulugalle in his Life of D.S.
Senanayake however states thus:
The three
Senanayake brothers DC. FR and DS were all educated at STC, which was then in
Mutuwal and their father Don Spater Senanayake had always been concerned about
the education of DS, the youngest of them. DS's school report showed in a
certain class, he had always held the 4th place, and the father was naturally
pleased at this, and was lavish with pocket money for the boy. Later, he
discovered from FR (who later entered Cambridge University) that there were
only four boys in that class and DS was 4th.
When
his father died D.S. was compelled to give up studies at the age of 18 in order
to take charge of his family estate. Thrown among the peasants he was quick to
understand their plight at first hand and was determined to improve their lot.
D.S. was
Ceylon's first minister of agriculture and lands. It gave him this
gentleman-farmer the authority to implement his plans. Never since the days of
the Sinhala kingdom was there so much irrigation and agricultural activity in
the dry zone. Soon, Minneriya, Minipe, Polonnaruwa and several other schemes
had begun to yield the bounty of the earth.
D.S.
Senanayake entered public life when Ceylon was a crown colony ruled by a
foreign power that was not concerned with the aspirations of the people. The
masses had no political rights, poverty and disease were widespread, literacy
was low and life expectancy was short. Ruthlessly exploited for centuries by
three foreign powers, the country's economy had ceased
to have any 'blood'
Under his
leadership however, it was possible for the country to cast away all these
adversities and achieve independence. Though he entered the legislature at the
age of 40, his climb to become the dominant political figure of his time and
the architect of great changes in politics and agriculture was itself
remarkable.
He had little
education and few academic qualifications. He was no great orator. Yet, at a
time when the political stage was adorned by men of great talent and ability,
D.S. rose outstripping his elders and peers. Though said to be full of common
sense and disarming reasonableness, he was governed by deliberate, sometimes
ruthless purpose to direct and shape events.
D.S. had the
gift of making friends and influencing people and Lord Attlee, who was the
Labour Prime Minister of Britain at the time Ceylon gained her independence
spoke of 'his great personal charm," while Sir Robert Menzies, the
Australian prime minister of "his singular personal attraction."
Sir John Kotelawala,
one of D.S.'s cabinet colleagues, is reported to have made a forthright comment
when he said, "No one was too small for his attention if he had the time,
and somehow, he would find the time. No man who went to see him can ever forget
the sincerity with which he promised to look into his grievance."
Despite his
commanding presence and Stalin moustache, D.S. had been the kindliest of men,
and a great lover of children and poor folk. He made the same impression on
foreigners and fellow-countrymen.
It is 50
years since he died, but D.S. has lived in the memory of every Sri Lanka and
has cast a indelible impression that can never erase
itself from the history of Sri Lanka.
His vision
and his endeavours are for all times. They are true today, as they were 50
years ago. For him life was about people, about freedom and about a better life
for all.
For peace and
freedom he strove hard. Then, after the dusty and sometimes bitter conflicts
over communal representation and the balance of power in the legislature had
ended, Senanayake led a united people to the goal of independence.
He was able
to persuade the State Council to accept the Soulbury Constitution, by a near
unanimous vote. He succeeded in winning over the minorities to his way of
thinking and all these were mere steps to his final destination of peace and
freedom.
Fifty years
ago, today, leaders with a vision for a better and peaceful Sri Lanka strove
thus, winning over minorities and being architects of great changes.
Sri Lankan
was fortunate to have had such a leader in the final phase of her agitation for
freedom. The wisdom of Don Stephen Senanayake and the political philosophy of
the UNP have ushered in the freedom we enjoy today.
The Senanayakes of today
Suwanitha
Senanayake's home down Pahalawela road, Sri Jayawardenepura sprawls quietly to
merge with its unspoiled surroundings. Strangely, it seems to be set in an
environment that could easily be mistaken for one of a bygone era. Greenery,
gravel and grass and an uninhabited immediate neighbourhood provide
the ideal setting to this Senanayake home.
As one enters
the house there is a black and white photograph of the late D.S. Senanayake
standing majestically. It says it is from Briggs studio dated around 1951.
In this
building lives Ranjit and Suwanitha Senanayake and their son Vasantha. But the
memory of D.S. Senanayake is strong and vivid here. Photographs and documents,
books and cuttings, are all reminders of Ranjit's grandfather - the late Rt.
Hon. D.S. Senanayake.
Suwanitha, is
no stranger here. She is the granddaughter of D.C. Senanayake,
brother of D.S.
"My
parents used to visit the Rt. Hon. D.S. Senanayake and I remember driving up to
Temple Trees with my parents. I remember our arrival being announced. But what
I remember most is the Madati tree in the garden to which I ran the moment I
arrived there," she tells me.
Though
Suwanitha was a child at that time, she still remembers the late D.S. "He
loved the children and I remember the small cowgirl suit he bought for me when
he came from overseas. He bought similar suits for the all the little girls in
the family. He appeared tough and rough, but to us he was so kind.
Remembering DS – Sunday Times Mar 16 1997
Father of the
Nation and first Prime Minister of independent Ceylon D.S. Senanayake died on
March 22,1952 after a riding accident . Sir John Kotelawala
rightly observed at that time that his death was a national calamity. Today 45
years later, we take a peek at the pages of a collector's note book and publish
extracts from the British press which ran the story of the premier's fall and
Radio Ceylon's SOS for a British surgeon
Flight by Sir Hugh
Cairns cancelled
Last-minute Drama at Abingdon
Don Stephen
Senananayake, first Prime Minister of Ceylon, died in Colombo today from head
injuries received when he fell from his horse yesterday.
News of his
death came just as one of the world's leading brain surgeons, Sir Hugh Cairns,
of Oxford, was preparing to leave Abingdon R. A. F. Station in a special plane
for Colombo.
Sir Hugh had
first planned to leave at 4.30 a.m. but the flight was cancelled on Ceylon
reports that the Prime Minister's condition was "now such as to make it
not worth while."
Then came
news of an improvement in his condition, and it was decided that Sir Hugh
should after all undertake the flight. The plane was due to take off at 11 a.m.
The
cancellation of the flight came when Sir Hugh, with Mr. Walpole S. Lewin,
assistant neurological surgeon at the Radcliffe Infirmary, were ready to step
aboard the plane.A Hastings aircraft had arrived from Topcliffe (Yorkshire) at
10.15 a. m. and the station staff at once began filling the seven tanks of the
plane, which carries 3,000 gallons of petrol. Twenty-two parachutes and 22
"Mae Wests" were taken aboard.
The High
Commissioner for Ceylon (Mr. Wijeyaratne) arrived with his two sons, Cuda, aged
29, a medical student in London, and Tissa, aged 18 a law student at the Inner
Temple who had come to see their father off. Then, just before 11 o'clock,
Group-Capt. C. A. Watts, the station O.C., told waiting pressmen and
photographers that a report had been received that the Prime Minister was dead.
Ten minutes
later the station orderly officer, Flt.-Lieut S. G. Brown, announced that the
death was confirmed. Sir Hugh and his party later returned to Oxford.
Abingdon Hustle
The
cancellation of the flight planned for 4.30 a.m. was made on Mr. Churchill's
personal orders from 10, Downing Street, after a message from Colombo that
there was "no hope" for Mr. Senanayeke.
It was
shortly before midnight when a telephone rang in the office of the Senior Duty
Officer at Abingdon R.A.F. Station, and an Air Ministry official at the other
end told Flt.-Lieut. Imray that a Hastings transport plane was flying from
Topcliffe R.A.F. Station, in Yorkshire, to pick up Sir Hugh and his party at
4.30. Immediately the sleeping station, woke to life as members of the
emergency crew for the control tower as well as refuelling crew were roused
from sleep and told to take up their stations. One airman just going on leave,
was called back and another, clad only in his shirt and boots, ran to rouse
others, and in a short time arrangements were complete. However, at 2.30 a.m.
the telephone rang again and another Air Ministry message was received
cancelling the arrangements on the instructions of the High Commissioner.
The ages of
the Ceylon High Commissioner's sons were erroneously reported. Tissa was 29 and
Cuda 18.
Senanayake, friend of Britain
Farmer who was once a wrestler
A wrestler
who became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, Don Stephen Senanayake -
"Jungle John" - led his country in its campaign for Dominion status.
But it was not
until he was 42-25 years ago - that Senanayake took an interest in politics
says the British United Press.
A giant of a
man, he spent the biggest part of his life farming. Apart from being a
wrestler, he was also a good boxer and a hard hitter on the cricket field. He
was educated at St. Thomas' Church of England College and although a devout
Buddhist later became a director of the school.
He first took
part in public life as a temperance reformer but his brother Frederick the
first leader of the Ceylon Independence Party, was then the politician of the
family.
In 1925
Frederick died and Don Stephen was called from his farm to take his brother's
place. He entered the Legislative Assembly and, as a farmer, became Minister of
Agriculture, a post he held for 16 years.
Ousted Corruption
As head of
the Independence Party, he worked to give his country Dominion status. In 1946
came success. The British Government framed the new Constitution.
Senanayake,
who had become leader of the State Council had the biggest say in Ceylon in the
drafting - and in the following year he became the first Prime Minister of the
country.
But the
struggle was not over. He sought to rid public life of corruption and a
judicial inquiry he set up in 1949 recommended the dismissal of six high
officials.He set up new hydro-electric stations, developed new mineral
resources and strengthened the country's trading position.
Many have
been the tributes paid to this friend of Britain, but none more accurate than
that once paid by Lord Soulbury Governor-General of Ceylon who said:"He is
a man of unfailing courtesy, kindness, tolerance and moderation and a statesman
of judgment: sagacity and foresight."
'Life-or-death' Radio call to save
injured Premier
Daily Mirror Reporter
At
ninety-second intervals, a life-or-death call for help for an injured Premier
was broadcast 6,500 miles to London last night.
Radio Ceylon
said: "Urgent message ....Will B.B.C. contact Sir
Hugh Cairns at Oxford 58136 and ask him to phone Dr. Peiris, Colombo 9351?
"It
concerns the health and life and death of our Prime Minister. If he cannot
telephone, ask him to cable or use some other means of communication."
The Premier,
Don Stephen Senanayake, had been thrown by a bolting horse, and still was
unconscious.
B.B.C.
monitors at Caversham picked the call up. An official passed it to Sir Hugh,
who is a leading brain specialist. The G.P.O. at once opened a radio-telephone
link between Oxford and Colombo.
And late last
night a spokesman for Mr. Churchill said: "Every effort is being made to
fly Sir Hugh out as soon as possible - in the fastest plane available."
By telephone
from the hospital where Mr. Senanayake lay, Dr. Peiris told the Daily Mirror:
"I understand that Mr. Churchill is providing a jet plane so that Sir Hugh
can fly here straight-away to operate.
High British
Government officials meanwhile worked on arrangements for sending an assistant,
two nurses, and the High Commissioner for Ceylon - Sir Cecil Syers - with him.
Minutes after
the call was monitored, short-wave enthusiasts all over England who had heard
it, were telephoning the B.B.C. And a cable telling of the SOS came from Sierra
Leone, West Africa.
One of the
first short-wave men to ring up Broadcasting House was Mr. A. Hare of Lyndhurst
avenue, Twickenham.
Sir Hugh, 55,
returned to Oxford a few days ago, after convalescing - he had undergone an
operation.
Sixty-seven-year-old
Mr. Senanayake, an expert horseman, somersaulted twice after he was thrown.
Sagacious Senanayakes
of Sri Lankan politics – Sunday
Times Sep 17 2000
By P.M. Senaratne
In the sphere
of Sri Lankan politics, the Senanayakes from Botale Walauwa, Mirigama, have
continued to be a significant factor. They have represented the Sri Lankan
legislature for three generations.
The advent of
this family into the socio-political arena dates as far back as the 1920s. A
significant contribution was made by F.R. Senanayake in propelling
organizations such as the Y.M.B.A and the Temperance Movement, the latter which
was introduced to him by his father, Mudaliyar Don Spater Senanayake.
Despite the
hard work pertaining to much needed social reforms of the time by the three
Senanayake brothers (D.C, F.R. and D.S), whether it be through the Lanka
Mahajana Sabha where D.S. and D.C. were prominent members or through the
Y.M.B.A. which F.R. and brother D.C. heavily financed and tirelessly worked
for, the direct involvement in politics and affairs of the state fell upon
D.S's shoulders. There were two reasons for this. Firstly F.R. (Frederick
Richard) expired while on a pilgrimage to Buddha Gaya in 1925, and D.C. (Don Charles)
who was known to be the man behind the scenes shunned the limelight. The
youngest brother D.S. therefore became the natural choice.
1931 proved
to be a significant year in the history of Ceylon and that of the Senanayake
family. It was the year that the country gained universal franchise and the
elections to the State Council were held. Don Stephen Senanayake was returned
as the uncontested representative of the Minuwangoda electorate. He had the
distinction of being the first Minister of Agriculture in the post-independence
era. During this period D.S. achieved phenomenal success. The numerous
irrigational schemes completed by him and the many colonization settlements
established with a view to securing Sri Lanka's agro-industry and self-sufficiency
in essential foods, is largely if not wholly the brainchild of D.S. The
Senanayake Samudra, the Parakrama Samudra, Nachchaduwa, Padaviya, Minipe,
Minneriya, are just a few of the projects undertaken by him.
When in 1936,
Sir D.B. Jayatilleke decided to accept the post as Ceylon's representative in
India, his position as Leader of the House, in the State Council fell vacant
and the natural choice for leadership fell on D.S. In the very same year Dudley
Shelton Senanayake had returned from England, when he had not only obtained a
natural science tripos at the University of Cambridge, which was followed by an
M.A,. but had also qualified as a Barrister-at-Law. Immediately after his
return, he had been coaxed by friends, family and constituents to contest the
Dedigama electorate, in which constituency, the Senanayakes owned considerable
estates. Dudley only 24 at the time was elected with a majority of 8,299 votes.
The Dedigama result was as follows.
Mr. Dudley
Senanayake 17,045
Mr. N.H.Keertiratne 8,746
Mr. Richard Nugawela 737
Mr. T.B. Dedigama 560
Mr. T.B. Udalagama 179
Following his
victory, he stated "I saw that those who sought election were all
new-comers to politics. As I had decided to devote my whole life to politics, I
saw here an opportunity to start early. I saw no reason why my youth should be
a hindrance to an early beginning."
1948 proved a
momentous year for Sri Lanka and the Senanayake family. The country was
metamorphising from colony to sovereign state, and the Senanayakes, father and
son were to contest their respective seats Mirigama and Dedigama. D.S. who lead
the U.N.P to victory defeated his opponent with over 16,000 votes, polling in
excess of 26,000 votes. Dudley too met with success.
After the
formation of the first Parliament in 1948, under the premiership of the grand
old Senanayake, Dudley assumed the office of Minister of Agriculture. In 1952,
D.S expired after suffering a stroke while riding on the Galle Face Green. Lord
Soulbury in his capacity as Governor-General appointed Dudley as the new Prime
Minister. This lead to some controversy amongst senior U.N.P members,
especially Sir John Kotalawela. In order to quell the various accusations
hurled by certain factions, Dudley acted both honourably and democratically by
immediately dissolving Parliament and calling for fresh elections. The outcome
was an overwhelming victory for the U.N.P, which gained 54 seats and a personal
one for Dudley securing Dedigama with a massive majority of 16,000.
Following the
Hartal of 1953, instigated by the opposition Dudley resigned allowing Sir John
to realize his long awaited ambition of becoming Ceylon's Prime Minister. Sir
John himself was married to D.S's sister's daughter and Dudley's first cousin
Euphemia. Quite apart from this connection he was also the son of Mrs. F.R.
Senanayake's sister.
Dudley
re-entered politics subsequently, and his final period as Prime Minister from
1965-1970 was by far the most significant. A unique achievement during these
years was the strong co-operation he received from several parties such as the
M.E.P., The Federal Party, and other independent groups. Unlike most coalitions
the 1965-1970 Government functioned smoothly without dissension and this is
generally known to be one of the most peaceful periods in Sri Lankan
politics.
When speaking
of the Senanayakes and politics one tends to forget Richard Gotabhaya (R.G).
This razor-sharp politician was the eldest son of D.S's older brother
F.R.
His impact on
Sri Lankan politics was enormous. R.G. contested the 1947 election and was
returned as the member for the constituency of Dambadeniya. He served Ceylon's
first Parliament as Deputy Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs and in 1952
as Minister for Trade and Commerce. In 1956, on the eve of elections, he was
banished from the UNP on the grounds of criticizing the party. It was at this
point that R.G. posed his challenge to his arch enemy J.R. Jayawardene. R.G.
contested two seats as an independent, his own constituency of Dambadeniya, and
that of J.R's Kelaniya. R.G. was victorious in both and still holds the
distinction of winning two constituencies at an election. In fact the main
election slogan adopted by the opposition in 1956 was "The UNP that R.G.
rejected, the nation shall also reject."
R.G. continued
to serve his Mother Lanka, in the SLFP Government headed by S.W.R.D.
Bandaranaike, as the Minister of Trade. He is still referred to by the
political nickname of 'China Dicky', a reference to his successful negotiations
with China of the bi-lateral rubber-rice pact.
The third
generation Senanayake, Rukman first entered Parliament in 1973 at the Dedigama
by-election, the seat being left vacant after the demise of his illustrious uncle
Dudley. His stint in Parliament was however brief. Today after much wandering
in the political wilderness, he finds himself one of the UNP's senior most
members representing the Polonnaruwa District where he polled nearly 50,000
votes.
It may be of
incidental interest to note that former minister, General Ranjan Wijeyratne was
a close relative of the Senanayake family. His mother Rosalind Senanayake was
the first cousin of D.S.
Freedom Fighters and
Reformists
By: Joe Segera
The Island - 1st February 1998
While we
prepare to celebrate half a century of Independence, the question could be
asked whether we really fought for our Independence or whether we had no
freedom fighters as such. What this country had were really reformists.
These most
admirable gentlemen wanted only political reforms. And these reforms culminated
with the State Council and the Executive Committee system which was given to us
by the British on the basis of the Donoughmore Commission report. This report
brought in its wake Universal Adult Franchise which came into effect in 1931.
E. W. Perera,
Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, F. R. Senanayake, D.
S. Senanayake, E. W. Jayewardene, H. J. C. Perera, D. R. Wijewardene and others
were men who fought for a greater measure of freedom and political reforms
wider than what prevailed then under the old Legislative Council. It was the
riots of 1915 which stirred our leaders to campaign for political reforms.
These riots which began in Gampola over an incident in which Muslims and
Sinhalese figured spread all over the country. They assumed such proportions
that the then Governor, Sir Robert Chalmers and his Colonial Secretary, Edward
Stubbs mistook it to be a rebellion against the British.
The fist
World War was on and the Governor proclaimed Martial Law and imprisoned many
influential Sinhalese and Sinhalese political leaders such as F. R. And D. S.
Senanayake, A. E. Goonesinha, Boralugoda Ralahamy, the farther of Philip and
Robert Gunawardena, Capt. D. D. Pedris of the Colombo Town Guard who was later
executed at Welikada Prison and a host of others.
Punjabi
soldiers were brought down from India and many innocent Sinhalese were shot at
sight. It was in those dark days that E. W. Perera, an Advocate from Kotte who
gave up his practice to campaign for a greater measure of political freedom,
braved the German mine-infested seas and submarines to carry a secret Memorial
in the soles of his shoes to the Secretary of State to the Colonies, pleading
for the repeal of Martial Law and describing the atrocities committed by the
Punjabis, the local Police led by the then IGP, Sir Herbert Dowbiggin and
British troops on his Sinhala brethren.
E. W. Perera
canvassed his case with influential members of the British Government in
Whitehall and the British Parliament winning success for his case. Soon after
Governor Chalmers was recalled, Martial Law was repealed and a new Governor was
sent here. He was Sir John Anderson who endeavoured to undo the evils committed
by his predecessor and win the hearts and minds of the people.
Some of the
leaders behind E. W. Perera's mission to London were Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan
and his brother Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, F. R. Senanayake, D. R.
Wijewardene, A. A. Wickremasinghe of Kegalle and quite a number of other
patriots.
In these days
of communal strife, it is well to remember the heroic manner in which
Ponnambalam Ramanathan and his brother Ponnambalam Arunachalam braved the might
of the British government and boldly addressed public meetings and gatherings
on behalf of the persecuted Sinhalese people. In those days they appeared as
brethren of the Sinhalese.
The movement
for a greater measure of political freedom gathered momentum with the Ceylon
National Congress and its leading lights like Sir James Peiris, E. W.
Jayewardene, D. S. Senanayake and others participating in the agitation.
Leaders of the calibre of D. R. Wijewardene and E. J. Samarawickrema who was
considered the country's greatest chamber lawyer.
It was
Wijewardene and Samarawickrema who operated behind the scenes freely giving
their opinions and drafted many of these letters and memorials to Whitehall
presenting the case for political reforms and a more responsible share of the
government with the people's participation.
Many people
today, especially the youth might not know that the "Daily News" of
those early days was the organ with which its owner D. R. Wijewardene fought
and campaigned for reforms in the political sphere.
It could be
also recalled that the "Daily News" which came out with its first
copy on January 3, 1918 carried on its first page a message from the great
Tamil Leader of the day, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam exit extolling the virtues
of freedom.
Times have
changed and today, the once free "Daily News" has become the faithful
mouthpiece of whoever is in office.
To come back
to the celebration of 50 years of freedom, a gift which we received without
shedding a drop of blood, it must be mentioned that those who actually fought
for freedom were the political leaders of Indian leaders such as Mahatma
Gandhi, Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajendra Prasad, Chakravarthy Rajagopalachari, Subhas
Chandra Bose, Sardar Wallabhai Patel, Mrs. Sarojini Naidu and members of the
Indian National Congress languished ties without number in jail and suffered
the lathi blows of the British-controlled Indian Police.
The name of
V. K. Krishna Menon, Nehru's brilliant Minister of Defence and Foreign Affairs
who in those days when Mahatma Gandhi, Nehru and others fought for Independence
through the weapon of "Satyagraha" or non-violence, he as leader of
the India League did the spade work for India's Freedom through his lectures,
speeches and contacts with liberal-minded British parliamentarians and those
with influence with Whitehall, the seat of Britain's government.
Menon and his
India League in London attracted many socialist-minded young men who were
students in London at Harold Laski's celebrated London School of Economics.
Among them were Dr. N. M. Perera, Philip Gunawardena, Kenya's Jomo Kenyatta,
Ghana's Nkrumah and a host of other talented men who later either became
leaders or prominent political leaders in their own countries.
When England's
Labour Government came into power and Mr. Clement Attlee was Prime Minister Sri
Lanka, then Ceylon was member of the Package, not Dr. G. L. Peiris much -
touted package, through which the Labour Government granted Independence or
compete "Swaraj" as Mahatma Gandhi wanted without any restrictions
whatsoever.
So Ceylon
also just had to follow suit or be part of the package. And after partition
Pakistan was also there.
About our own
story of winning freedom, the Soulbury Commission has to be mentioned because
it was this Commission that laid the framework for our first Constitution based
on complete political freedom called the Soulbury Constitution. It was Sir Ivor
Jennings, that world renowned constitutional lawyer who was in a big way
responsible for drafting this Constitution.
Our first
Prime Minister, Don Stephen Senanayake leaned heavily on Sir Ivor for his
advice on constitutional matters and matters of governance.
In fact,
Prime Minister Senanayake admired Jennings so much that he offered him the post
of first governor-general of Ceylon which was politely turned down by Sir Ivor,
apparently he opted more for the more congenial surroundings of Cambridge from
where he could continue with his writing and research than Queen's House.
There was also
an interesting story doing the rounds of the early days of the Galle Face
Parliament that our Independence Day also happens to be the Birthday of Sir
Ivor Jennings. D. S. Senanayake who was determined to honour the man is said to
have fixed February Fourth on that score.
The knight in shining armour of
Lankan politics
~
10th Dudley Senanayake Memorial Lecture - Sunday Times Dec 2 2007
British
High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott will deliver the 10th Dudley Senanayake
Memorial Oration at Committee Room A of the BMICH on Monday, December 10 at 6
p.m. This lecture is organized by the Dudley Senanayake Foundation in
co-ordination with the Friedrich Naumann Stiftung, Sri Lanka.
The
late Dudley Senanayake was educated at S. Thomas College, Mount Lavinia, and
later at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge. He was first elected to the State
Council to represent the Dedigama constituency in 1936; was Minister of
Agriculture in Ceylon's first cabinet after Independence and Prime Minister
three times. He was a cricketer at school and University, and loved music and
photography.
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He
was known as the knight in shining armour of Sri Lankan politics, a reluctant
politician, who nevertheless strode the political arena like a colossus till
his death. He was an excellent speaker with a powerful voice and famed for his
wit and repartee in Parliament. This was in a Parliament that had the crème a
la crème of Sri Lankan politicians, many of them educated at British
universities.
He
was respected for his loyalty to his party even when he was temporarily out of
politics and refused office when offered to him by another party which was in
power. In these days of political crossovers for high office, his example is a
good one for young aspiring politicians to emulate.
British
High Commissioner Dominick Chilcott who delivers the oration on this occasion
was born in Hong Kong in 1959, and is the son of a regular Army officer. He was
educated at St. Joseph's College, Ipswich and at Greyfriars Hall, Oxford, where
he got a 2nd class Honours degree in Philosophy and Theology. He first served
the Royal Navy as a Midshipman for one year and joined the Foreign and
Commonwealth Office in 1982 where he served as Director Europe, and Director of
Iraqi Planning. He has served abroad in Brussels, Lisbon and Ankara and in
several other important posts in the Foreign and Commonwealth office. His
posting to Colombo was his first in South East Asia and his first as Head of
Mission.
Something
which has endeared him to people in every posting is that he has learned the
language of the country and spoken in it too. He leaves Colombo in January for
Washington where he will serve as No. 2 in the British Embassy. His subject for
the oration is 'The New Diplomacy in the New Century'.
Previous
speakers at this annual event have been David Steel, MP, former Leader of the
British Liberal Party, Sir Russell Johnston MP, Deputy Leader of the British
Liberal Democrats, Dr. Zach de Beer MP, Leader of the Democratic Party South
Africa, Steingrimur Hermannsonn, MP, Prime Minister of Iceland, Earl Russell,
spokesman for the Liberal Democrats, House of Lords, Otto Count Lamsdorff, MP,
Chairman Friedrich Naumann Stiftung Foundation and former leader, Free
Democratic Party, Germany and Past President, Liberal International, Bradman
Weerakoon, former secretary to 8 Prime Ministers, Ranil Wickremesinghe, Leader
of the Opposition and Minister Dr. Sarath Amunugama.
(IMK)
Flight to destiny
Sunday
Times Feb 4 2007
We
reproduce an article that appeared in The Sunday Times Millennium Supplement,
Past Times
It
was 1945 and young Gamini Corea like many others was preparing for the arduous
sea voyage to Cambridge University in England where he had secured a place for
higher studies.
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That
was the time local students made their way by sea to England for advanced
studies, in the absence of commercial flights. Little did Corea realize then,
that this trip to England would create history and pave the way for Sri Lanka’s
Independence from British colonial rule!
Corea,
an excellent student who had passed the London Inter-Science Economics Exam and
would later become one of Sri Lanka’s most distinguished personalities, had
applied for a passage on the convoy of ships that made the journey to England.
His university term was beginning in October 1945.
He
had obtained a place in Corpus Christi College in Cambridge but delayed his
departure for two years due to the war. Ships, in which passengers were housed
in cabins that had several but rather uncomfortable bunkers, went in convoys,
as a precaution since the Japanese war was on, though the German war was over.
However, one evening around June, Corea’s grandmother, Mrs. Alice Kotelawala,
returned home after a meeting with Don Stephen Senanayake, then Minister of
Agriculture and Lands and Leader of the House, with some interesting news.
Corea
was staying with his grandmother at her Horton Place residence, where the
world-renowned economist continues to live today.
Senanayake
had told Mrs. Kotelawala that he was flying to England on a mission in July,
and on learning that Corea was also going there - though much later - had
invited Corea to join him (Senanayake).
“I
was elated,” recalled Corea. “I went to meet Mr. Senanayake after that and
asked whether it was okay to come along. He said it was perfectly in order but
that I had to pay for my ticket.”
Senanayake,
subsequently the first Prime Minister of Ceylon, had been invited by the
British Government to discuss the Soulbury Commission report, which paved the
way for the British to grant Independence to Ceylon in 1948. The minister was
to be accompanied by Arthur Ranasinghe, former head of treasury and now working
under Senanayake, his personal physician Dr. David Silva and personal valet,
Carolis.
British
authorities had offered an entire plane for Senanayake and his delegation to
fly to England and the minister, in view of the space available, had offered a
seat to Corea and Ernie Goonetilleke, son of Oliver Goonetilleke, who was also
going to Cambridge for studies. The elder Goonetilleke, the first Sri Lankan
Governor General, was then the Civil Defence Commissioner.
“I
was excited to be flying for the first time and all of a sudden I had to
advance my arrangements since I was going to England at least three months
ahead of schedule,” said Corea. The youngster was planning to stay with a Sri
Lankan doctor and his wife, Alfred and Carmel Gunasekera. The doctor was
practising and residing in West Hampstead.
All
hell broke loose after the newspapers ran a story saying Mr. Senanayake was
going to London with an official delegation. The names of the delegates,
including that of Corea and Goonetilleke, were also listed.
“There
was a big furore in the State Council. Mr. W. Dahanayake, a vociferous critic of
the government, denounced this move saying it is family bandyism, nepotism and
so on and said MSC does not stand for members of the State Council but for
‘Members of the Senanayake Caucus,” laughed Corea.
Matters
were not helped by the chief secretary. He defended the move, saying these two
young men were qualified and competent enough to assist Senanayake.
More
embarrassment followed. "Mr. Senanayake's schoolboy secretaries"
screamed a headline in a newspaper editorial, criticizing the appointment of the
two youngsters on the delegation. What ran through Corea’s mind at that time?
“Well, I was young and was embarrassed that I was receiving so much publicity.
On the other hand, I wasn’t worried because I knew nothing wrong was done. As a
result of it I received a lot of visibility in the press.”
Corea
vividly remembers the day he landed in England the 13th of July 1945. But the
trip, in a RAF York bomber transport plane that still had camouflage paint,
took three days, as night flying was not permitted then. There were only six
passengers on board. They took off from Ratmalana airport and reached Karachi
for the night. Corea - feeling cold since it was his first flight - continued
to wear the pullover knitted by his grandmother in the hot mid-summer evening
in Karachi, drawing curious stares from people.
The
next night was spent in Cairo, before the group flew via Malta to an RAF
military airfield in Bristol in England. Senanayake’s delegation was put up at
the Grosvenor House hotel in London.
The
next morning, Senanayake took the two youngest members of the delegation to Dr.
Gunasekera’s house where they stayed thereafter. But Corea, keen to find out
what was happening with regard to the negotiations, daily took the under-ground
train from West Hampstead to London to meet up with Senanayake who, unlike
other somewhat taciturn members of the delegation, chatted freely about the
goings-on.
“I
was interested in the events,” said Corea, noting that Senanayake’s discussions
were delayed in London as their arrival occurred at a time when a change of
government was taking place. The Sri Lankan delegation had to stay longer than
anticipated.
The
elections, under the government of Winston Churchill, were over when the
delegation arrived in England. When the results were announced a few days
later, the Labour Party had surprisingly clinched victory.
It
was Senanayake who gave Corea his first glimpse of Cambridge. Senanayake had
been invited by Sir Ivor Jennings, a former head of the University College in
Colombo, to visit Cambridge. After his meetings with Jennings, Senanayake took
Corea along to Corpus Christi College to meet Corea’s future tutor, Mr. H.D.P.
Lee.
It
turned out that Senanayake’s two sons, Dudley and Robert, had also studied at
Corpus Christi College before the war. The conversation turned personal with
Lee, initially polite and courteous, becoming quite animated and warm, on
realizing Senanayake’s links with the college.
More
than 50 years after the event, Corea - now a top UN retiree whose last UN job
was Secretary-General of UNCTAD - still remembers many of the things that
happened on that historical trip with Senanayake. “I particularly remember the
flight over Cairo. Unlike today, planes didn’t fly at great heights then and we
could see everything the Persian Gulf, desert sands and oil pipelines. It was a
beautiful sight. I also remember bomb-damaged London with all its austerity.”
Sunday Times Mar 20 2011
Imprisonment
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One of the
famous names associated with Sri Lanka’s freedom struggle, was F.R.
Senanayake. The book ‘Deshabandhu F.R.Senanayake’ by Jayasena Dahanayaka, translated
into English by W.G. Dharmasiri is a meticulous retelling of the life and
times of one of the country’s national heroes who was in the vanguard of the
national resurgence in an era of repressive colonial rule. Published here is
an extracts from the chapter titled ‘Imprisonment’ which relates the
happenings in the aftermath of the riots of 1915. A Vijitha Yapa publication,
the biography will be launched on March 22 |
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The British
rulers who did not pay any heed to the rights, responsibilities and necessities
of Buddhists, executed every scheme possible to undermine Buddhist power and
suspected the Sinhala-Muslim Riots from its beginning as a movement to oppose
the government. These
rulers who suspected Sinhala leaders and Buddhist societies and organizations
without any basis, charged them unjustifiably, without making inquiries. On
8th June 1915 at about 12 noon these rulers sent a Town Guard, a Police
Inspector and two Punjabi soldiers to the house of Mr. F. R. Senanayake and
made a search in every nook and corner.
They
searched for secret anti-government documents and weapons, but none of these
was found there. In short, not only was there nothing to charge Mr.
Senanayake with, but there was nothing to suspect him, and therefore those
officers went away empty handed. On this day, simultaneously, the houses of
Mr. D.C. Senanayake, Mr. D.S. Senanayake and Mr. D.B. Jayatilake were
searched in a similar manner. The rulers
who were not satisfied with this, detailed Punjabi soldiers who could not
speak a word of the Sinhala language to search the houses of Sinhala
Buddhists. Those soldiers who followed the Sikh religion acted in a cruel
manner against the Buddhists. Under
suspicion Even the coconut
scrapers found in their houses were considered weapons. On this occasion, all
anti-liquor heroes who were associated with the Anti-liquor movement, and the
members of those societies along with their officials were subject to
suspicion by the British. In the Secret Report submitted to the government on
6th August 1915 by the Inspector General of Police at that time, Mr. H. L.
Dowbiggin, it is seen that charges were brought against the Buddhist
Theosophical Society, Young Men’s Buddhist Association and the Anti-liquor
Society and their officials. In his
Secret Report he had mentioned that these societies were bent on political
more than religious activities and that the two societies Buddhist
Theosophical Society and Young Men’s Buddhist Association were political
organizations masquerading in the form of religious organizations. The IGP
aimed direct charges against the Anti-liquor Society formed by the three
Senanayake brothers D.C., F.R., and D.S. together with the people of Mirigama
and Attanagalla. Mr. Dowbiggin who stated that the other Anti-liquor branch
societies in the island too were connected with the riots, had reported that
charges could not be brought against a minority of citizens who were
associated with the Anti-liquor Society.
In a letter
sent to the G.A. Central Province dated 5th June 1915, by the A.G.A. Matale
it is stated that during this riot, the Sinhalese had complained against the
Sinhalese due to personal enmities and were making use of the available
opportunity. The rulers were enraged to the point where they would arrest any
Sinhala person accused by a Muslim even falsely, but no one charged Mr.
Senanayake. F.R. who
won the hearts of all and treated all as equals did not have enemies but
friends. On 30th October 1915 he made a statement saying that the Government
had tried all means to name him an accused, and that among the Sinhalese,
Muslims or any other nationality he had no enemies. He was pleased on account
of this, and living as a free individual, would work for the betterment of
the country. F.R.
taken in At this
time when the soldiers started capturing the Sinhala people and killing them,
all those people who took the lead in religious and social activities were
arrested without any inquiry. Accordingly, on 21st June at about 5.30 in the morning
a Town Guard came and stopped his motor vehicle in front of Kewstoke house,
and declared that he had come to arrest Mr. Senanayake. Having heard the
officer’s words, Mr. Senanayake went into his bedroom close to the verandah
and asked him to wait till he changed his clothes, but the officer refused
his request and ordered him to “come in those clothes”. As it was not
judicious to ignore the Town Guard’s order, he got into the motor vehicle and
set out for Welikada prison. At the
entrance to the prison Mr. Senanayake was handed over to the Superintendent
of Police, Daniel, by the Town Guard. He examined this gentleman in custody.
Subsequently, he handed over Mr. Senanayake to the prison authorities saying
that the latter was a captive who should be imprisoned. Then Mr. A.C. Olnet,
the Army Special Commissioner, asked a number of questions from the suspect
who was to be put in prison. F.R.
answered all of his questions without hesitation. The Army Special
Commissioner who was not satisfied with this, put him inside a designated
“penal cell” and locked him up. There were about 150 such cells. All of them
were very unclean. In the cell Mr. Senanayake was put, there was a toilet and
the foul smell emanating from it was awful. He had to stay as mentioned, in
this cell for about 20 hours daily. He had never stayed in a dirty place like
this in his life, and refused the lunch given to him in a tin dish as it was
unclean. F. R. who was without food for two days was given permission on 23rd
June to get down food from his home. Rounding
up Buddhist leaders On the day
F.R.was taken in to custody, Messrs Arthur V. Dias, D. B. Jayatilake, doctors
W. A. de Silva and C. A. Hewavitarne too were arrested and put in prison. As
recorded in a secret government document on 17th August 1915, these Buddhist
leaders were taken into custody without any inquiry. This is stated in
several government documents dated 28th March, 3rd May and 22nd August 1916.
The A. G. A. of Matale at that time has recorded these arrests in his official
diary as follows: “Army soldiers had taken into custody innocent villagers
who have not committed any offence. They had accused some suspects without
any criminal involvement and shot them under Martial Law. The rulers who
suspected the Sinhalese strongly, took innocent persons into custody at their
will and lodged false charges against all of them.” The following statement
made by Mr. D.S.Senanayake on 30th October 1915 clarifies how far the rulers
strived to level charges at people. In
DS’s words “I am a
proprietary planter and a graphite businessman. When I was at home on the 8th
June, at about 12 noon a Town Guard, Police Inspector and two armed Punjabi
soldiers came in a motor vehicle to my house and informed me that they wanted
to search my house. They called all of us in the house to the dining hall and
sent out the servants and asked us to stay there. The two Punjab soldiers
were guarding us. The Town Guard and the Police Inspector searched the house
minutely. But no secret documents or weapons suspected by the Government were
found in my house. Therefore they went away. On 21st June, a Town Guard came
to my house at about 5.30 early in the morning along with two armed Punjab
soldiers, woke me up and without allowing me to go to the toilet as usual, took
me to the Welikada prison and there I saw a number of notables had been taken
into custody. There they
examined me and put me in a cell. There was no place for me to sit. There was
no bench or chair. I had to wait for a number of hours until I got something
to sit on. A prison attendant took me to the Special Army Commissioner.
Informing me that I had to make a statement, he asked me several questions
that could incriminate me and others. I have not committed any offence. As
far as I know, the other leaders too have done no wrong.
After he
asked questions to his heart's content, he made me enter the cell which had
no facilities. Other leaders were taken away and were put into cells. As we
were in solitary imprisonment there was no one to talk to or dispel our
solitude. At noon on that day a servant who was there, pushed some food under
the door in an unclean tin plate. Having seen it I got thoroughly disgusted. Naturally,
I could not eat such dirty food. Therefore I stayed hungry. After two days I
got permission to get down food from outside. We prisoners were taken to the
Police Headquarters and questioned about our public service work. On the
occasion we went there, I sent a message to Advocate C. Batuwantudawe to meet
me on behalf of Mr. P. Ramanathan. I had been charged for instigating the
public in the riot as a leader of the Anti-liquor Movement. But the
government did not have sufficient evidence to present against me to prove
charges ..........” By 21st
June, 86 persons including Messrs Piyadasa Sirisena, Proctor John de Silva,
Richard Salgado, Walter Salgado, P.C.H. Dias and Harry Dias had been imprisoned.
By this time, along with Mr. P. S. Tissera who was a friend of Mr. Senanayake
arrested at Hanwella on 2nd June as mentioned earlier, Boralugoda Ralahamy
(father of Phillip Gunawardene) who was over 60 years old and Romanis Perera
were in prison. According
to the charges levelled against the school teacher, the Court Marshal had
decided to hang him at Welikada prison on 18th July 1915. This was a
great mental agony for Mr. Senanayake. The school teacher stated, clearing
tears in his eyes, remembering the past events in respect of that noble
leader of men. He could not bear up the intense sorrow, recollecting that his
friend who went to Hanwella at his request did not have a chance to go home,
was imprisoned, and above all condemned to capital punishment. The school
teacher had added that he came to know that this leader of men had told Mr.
Piyadasa Sirisena that he would agree to offer his own life in place of the
school teacher. The leaders
who were taken into custody and those condemned to capital punishment were
imprisoned in the hall named “L Hall”. During his imprisonment Mr. Senanayake
was allowed to come out of the cell and was free to move about for three or
four hours in the prison. During this time he advised the other prisoners and
consoled them. The school teacher said, the Welikada prison was the “centre
for training” where “ F.R.” stayed to acquire knowledge and learn about
distress in life. That
special day was 7th July 1915. This is how the school master who was a
prisoner condemned to death in Welikada prison described that occasion, “A prison
attendant who came to us at about 7.00 in the morning on that day told us ‘
in a short time Mr. Edward Henry Pedris will be shot’. At about 7.30 in the
morning, an officer of the prison called all of us including other notables,
out from the individual cells we were put in up to that time, and ordered us
to stand in a line in the verandah of L Hall. Edward
Henry Pedris’s last hours “We stood
in line. Two soldiers carrying rifles fitted with bayonets walked on both
sides of a slim good looking handsome young man escorting him in front of us
and led him out. The young man walking in Town Guard’s uniform was
handcuffed. The Army Special Commissioner Mr. A.C. Olnet walked behind him.
Mr. Pedris without any fear or hesitation, in his usual manner, walked with
body erect in such a way that the Sinhala race would be honoured. He went on
that last journey proudly and courageously. We were eagerly looking at him
till he disappeared. The sorrow, grief and regret that overcame us was so
deep that it could not be described. At that time, I who was condemned to
death was quivering with fear. I cannot explain in words the fear that arose
in me. It came to my mind that Alas! in another 11 days I too will have to go
on this fearful journey. I felt my whole body trembling.” My good
friend F. R. consoled me in sorrow and advised me always saying that ‘if you
are fortunate enough to be born into this world, you will be freed from
capital punishment on account of the strategies adopted by me’. I was given a
lease of life. I saw Mr. Senanayake who was advising and encouraging me
grieving, crying and shedding tears. An eyewitness account of an officer
states that when they were getting ready to cover Mr. Pedris’ face with a
handkerchief when he was led out and made to sit in a chair he had fearlessly
refused it and he had put forward his chest without an iota of fear.
Sharp at
8.00 o’clock in the morning the sound of a gunshot was heard. We heard that
four soldiers who lined up a few fathoms in front of him had fired at the
scheduled time. On that occasion the whole prison turned out to be one
funeral house. About 20
minutes passed after the sound of gunshots. A prison attendant came before us
carrying a chair wet with blood. That chair brought by him brushed against
the bodies of several persons who were there. It was the chair in which the
young Pedris sat. It was bathed with his blood. The Army Special Commissioner
quickly followed the attendant who brought the chair. He showed
the chair to Mr. F. R. Senanayake and said ‘F.R.! Any person who commits an
act of treason against the government by forming organizations like the
so-called Anti-liquor Movement will have to die facing such a fate as this.” Our hero
asked him, “ What did you say? ‘facing such a fate
as this……’ Are you such a cowardly and timid nation to shoot one of our young
men and bring the chair splashed with his blood? “Aren’t you
ashamed to parade the results of your foolish and stupid act to us when we
are sorrowing at the demise of one of our people? Each drop of blood of this
young man Pedris whom I treat as one of my own should be considered as
sacrificed in the name of the nation. If the stream of blood wetting that
chair is counted in drops of blood, the British will definitely have to pay
compensation.” When these words were expressed by Mr. Senanayake, Mr. Olnet
looked on motionless........ There was
one occasion which afforded Mr. Senanayake some happiness when he was in
prison. That was on 18th July 1915. It was revoking the capital punishment
passed on his friend Mr. Tissera, the School Master who accompanied him to
Hanwella at his request and was subsequently arrested. In the afternoon of
17th July, a telegram sent from Britain to the Governor ordering him to give
a lease of life to all those condemned to death, was received. The
sentence of capital punishment in respect of the School Master was withdrawn
accordingly. This telegram was the result of Mr. Senanayake’s far-seeing
wisdom that had sent Mr. E.W. Perera to England. The basis for pronouncing
the sentence of capital punishment on the School Master was an incident where
the Sinhala people were said to have harassed the Muslims living in the
Hanwella and Atigala area and damaged their shops, and houses. By then,
several persons arrested at Hanwella on 2nd June were hanged in this manner.
Another group was sentenced to life imprisonment19. The crimes,
corruption, loss and damage carried out by the rulers of this country over
three months from 2nd June 1915 to 30th August without any justifiable
reason, as a result of paying heed to slander and suspecting people unjustly,
cannot be enumerated. If Governor Chalmers and IGP Dowbiggin acted like
persons with discerning intellect, this terrible calamity could have been
stopped at the beginning. It was Mr.
Senanayake who prominently steered this battle. He became the symbol of the
national struggle, that was the objective, hope and aspiration of all people.
One cannot state accurately how many Sinhala people were killed in this riot.
The statistics presented by the Government authorities are different from one
another. The Governor, in reply to a question in the State Council has stated
that 412 were arrested under Martial Law and 358 were punished. Another
Government document states that 39 Sinhalese were killed. According to Army
statistics, the death toll was 66. Police reports state that 4,855 were
arrested and 3,573 were brought before the civil courts. The book Hundred
days in Ceylon under Martial Law records that 8,428 persons were arrested and
cases were filed in civil courts against 8,016 out of them and that 5% and 95
% of the accused were brought before Court Martial and Civil Courts
respectively. A record of the Registrar General at that time dated 14th
October 1915 states that 63 rioters may have been killed to suppress the
riot. According
to another secret document of the Government, 412 persons were arrested, 54
out of them were freed later, 83 were sentenced to death and the rest were
imprisoned. Only 26 out of those who were sentenced to death were punished by
Court Martial27. The above-mentioned statistics and documents clearly show
that no count was correctly taken of the number of Sinhala Buddhists who were
killed. It is suspect whether they were careless or whether they did not give
correct statistics in order to cover their guilt. However, when
one ponders over the incidents that had taken place at that time, it is felt
that these officers had treated the Sinhalese as they would flies and
mosquitoes. Mr.
Senanayake who was without food and drink from the dawn of 21st June until noon
of the 23rd, got down his lunch from home and took it after sharing it with a
few who were there. Mrs. Ellen Senanayake consoled herself a little by
fondling tiny tots Gothabhaya, Nedra and Tissa, their three children and
stayed at home, grief-stricken due to the imprisonment of her beloved
husband. He sent a messenger from the prison requesting meals to be sent to
the jail sufficient for ten to fifteen persons for breakfast, lunch and
dinner. Accordingly, she accepted her husband’s request with devotion and
affection, sent food and drinks prepared by herself, for forty-four days. The
young man John Lionel Kotelawala, who became the third Prime Minister of
Ceylon, stayed with his aunt (Mrs. Senanayake) as she was alone. It was this
playful young man who carried meals to the jail on many occasions. Sir
Ponnambalam Ramanathan who witnessed the numerous forms of harassment the
Sinhala community underwent due to the proclamation of Martial Law, made the
following speech in the State Council on 11th August 1915: “That there was
only one Police Superintendent in Colombo at the time of the start of the
riot and out of the 674 police constables who were detailed to protect the
town and look after the peace, 180 were sent to Kandy town which was peaceful
at that time and this was a foolish act of the authorities. Not only that,
the IGP who was specially responsible for the
protection of the capital city had gone to Kandy with a group of soldiers. If
the IGP stayed in Colombo, it was clear that such a big loss would not have
occurred. The three
ASPs stayed in their positions but did not act intelligently”. If the Police
officers had acted wisely, there would not have been so much damage. He added
that the Police officers were just watching the offenders and did not take
appropriate steps, and if punishments were meted out under Martial Law, it
was not the people but the Police who should be punished. Sir Ponnambalam
Ramanathan made a long fiery speech for a few hours adducing reasons for the
innocence of the Sinhala public and the indifferent attitude of the
Government. The British MP Harry Creasy while agreeing with Sir Ramanthan’s
speech, censured the inefficiency of the Police. (The
book Deshabandhu FR Senanayake priced at Rs. 1000 will be available at
Vijitha Yapa book shops)
From a long line of Senanayake
family: Vasantha
Senanayake - today’s face in the political arena
In Sri Lanka certain
names need no introductions, such as of the Senanayake, the pioneers in
politics and independence. Coming from the Senanayake family, the fourth
generation young politician Vasantha Senanyake has become the new face of an
old family in this arena. Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister and the father of
Independence Don Stephen Senanyake (DS) was his great- grandfather and Rukman
Senanayake, his uncle.
Vasantha’s late
father Ranjith Senanayake was one of the few in this family that was the
least interested in politics or fame. He would rather concentrate on his
business and preferred to live a quiet life with wife Suwanitha Senanayake,
while doing so he did everything he could to discourage his only son from
entering the world that his family was so famous for. But during the time
Rukman Senanyake’s split from Jayewardene’s Government and was organizing a
party of his own for a brief period, young Vasantha went to help his uncle
with small tasks like putting up posters and helping with the ad campaigns. Ranjith Senanayake
did not object to his son helping his brother but never dreamt that would be
the beginning of his son’s political interest. Today, in his early
thirties, Vasantha Naresh Senanayake, is one of the youngest Member’s of the Parliament,
following on his great grandfather’s footsteps. One afternoon I met the young
politician, who did not look much like one, but more like a University
student. I encouraged him to start from the beginning. ‘Although I am
originally from Meerigama and my mother was from Kandy, I grew up mostly in
Colombo and went to S Thomas College and I think I was a normal child during
school days. I of course did some extra curricular activities; I was in both
in Sinhala and English debate teams. Did swimming and played chess. For my
Advanced Level I did Art subjects such as Buddhist Civilization, English,
Greek and Roman Civilization and Political Science then I went to England and
did LLB degree.’ After coming back?
‘Once I briefly
worked with Lanka Bell too. Got involved with some social and charity work in
my village but later I got involved with political activities during the time
of President Chandrika Bandaranaike and became a supporter of Mahinda
Rajapaksa who then was the Opposition Leader during the General election to
make him the PM’. Were you a supporter of
President Chandrika Kumaratunga?
Yes I was, she made
me an advisor and also put me in charge of the Lotteries Board too. I was
also the Chairman of two Government Boards, Water Resource Board and Janatha
Fertilizers. Prior to that the whole time I was with the UNP, as you know my
whole family was. I had a great uncle,
RG Senanayake who also crossed over to Bandaranaike side at that time. And
later my Uncle Rukman who was also a long-term member of the UNP came to this
side, so I am not actually the first Senanayake to join the SLFP. But I diverted away
from it only after Ranil Wickremesinge became the UNP leader. I did not like
the stance he took on the terrorist issue, almost handing over our country to
them and his unclear stance on the status of the state, to make it a unitary
or a federal state, most of the times he made contradicting statements. His
readiness all the time to accept foreign suggestions did not impress me
either. The other main reason I left UNP was because of his attitude towards
the paddy farming and ignorance of agricultural future of our country.
Compared to these I think our President is such a charismatic man with a lot
of personal appeal. Unfortunately, Wickremesinghe does not have those. ‘ Is that your view at the moment
too?
‘Actually, after
leaving UNP I now wish Ranil Wickremesinghe a long life in the UNP. I
honestly do. I don’t know who will take over after him. Sajith and Rosy looks
like bright people with the potential to take over and there is a few younger
ones too.. but you never know with this kind of
situations, do you? Remember what happened with Anura Bandaranaike, after his
father’s death everyone thought he would be the next leader but it never
happened.’ While you were in
England as a student, you got a very rare opportunity to meet the Queen too. ‘Of course, I had
that privilege twice. Once I met her as part of a commonwealth gathering, as
one of the people from the Commonwealth countries at a tea party. Second time
was when she came to my University. People said that she talked for a
(comparatively) lengthy time with me. She remembered DS and Dudley well and
mostly about Dudley Senanayake. ‘That was because as
the PM of Sri Lanka at that time he was a Minister of hers during her reign
while DS was a Minister of her father King George VI’s reign. She remembered
everything about her Sri Lankan visits so well I was amazed by her memory.
She said she stayed at ‘Kalawewa Rest House’ and climbed ‘Sigiriya’. Completely
forgetting the political side, tell me what you do at your free times? I like Jazz music, I
also like watching movies. I watched ‘The Tourist’ recently but I prefer
movies based on true stories like the ‘Last King of Scotland, The Queen,
Hotel Ruwanda’ .. I think they are far more
interesting because they were real characters. I like Art and Architecture, I
can paint and draw too.’ Your mother has that talent too
I believe?
Yes she does, she
still paints but I’d rather enjoy other people’s work nowadays. Going a little further to your
activities as a young person?
Oh yes, I do like
R& B music, dancing and clubbing. I don’t want to lie to you. I really do like
going clubbing and dancing. I take a few drinks when having fun, I am not one
of those politicians who pretends they do not. I hate dressing formally, like
a Parliamentarian for meetings and all. I really do love fashion and I would
prefer to dress in a T-shirt with a rude or fun message on it. Tight T-shirts and
different fashions. I like people around my age, at least people who are
older but who can truly think young. I have pet fish at home, I used to have
dogs but they died and I am now reluctant to have more because it would be
very sad when they die’. As your father
discouraged you to become a politician, when you were very small, have you
ever had any ambitions on a particular field? ‘I can’t remember
myself thinking ‘someday I would be a doctor, an engineer or an academic’ or
so. But I think I had a vague idea I would be going further in the field of
law. Although I did my degree in it, I never practiced law. If I had not
become a politician, I would be designing houses or hotels, because I like
Art and Architecture and I do have a business background too. Currently, apart
from my political career, I am involved with my family businesses, my mother
looked after most of them even when my father was alive, as a politician all
I can say is that now I am concentrating on becoming a good politician, doing
the best I can for people and my country.. yes, I will try my absolute best.’ |
