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O Tempora, O Mores! These words of the illustrious Roman senator Cicero might be rather wasted on the Oxbridge student unions that found hosting two speeches by a foreign politician they had invited too hot to handle.

So they probably thought it more convenient to call it a day and never mind any missing Oxford ‘comma’, if you know what that means.

Having heard of some ‘ho ha’ (sorry, not Oxford English, but then what the hell), I scanned the British media. The only thing I found in a quick search for disputes – be they argumentative or physical – at universities related to a Bangor university in Wales. But that was too distant to worry about, though it did seem to harbour on universities or their institutions applying the brakes when debate turned rather heated.

Then a colleague broke the news, telling me of the curious happenings at Cambridge and Oxford universities, where student unions had cancelled speeches by a Sri Lankan politician who they had invited for the events when the occasion threatened to get coarse, in their view.

My journalist curiosity naturally drove me to dig deeper, as news seemed sparse with Donald Trump waiting to pull the trigger. After all, there cannot be news if Dear Trump has not had some president kidnapped or his Nice (oops, his ICE goons) have not shot some speedboat off the Caribbean waters or threatened to sell Canada along with Mark Carney to the Martians.

Now that is news. Or so I thought until that Oxbridge ‘koloppan’, as they would say on our side of the high-class educational ladder, in the care of an educated minister.

Reading a few tidbits from Cambridge and an Oxford ‘news release’ just a few pages short of “War and Peace”, it seemed worthy of adding a few inches to the news pages.

After all, Sri Lanka is where I was born and am still attached to, despite the fact that we still support some good old traditions by permitting visiting cricket teams to win a couple of matches here and there and a trophy now and then so that they do not go empty-handed.

Lest we do so, visiting sides will stay away because they would need to invite us in return and be defeated on their home grounds, with English cricket lovers leaving the grounds uttering “bad show, ole chap” and heading for the closest pub.

So when I was told that this fracas was all about a visiting Sri Lankan politician who had spent some years at a British university, was on a visit to London and had been invited for two speeches by Cambridge and Oxford to address their student unions.

But the visiting politician and current MP Namal Rajapaksa, son of former President Mahinda Rajapaksa, was suddenly informed that the events were cancelled, first by Cambridge and then by Oxford universities, or both, after intense midnight dialogue with some spy deep from Putin.

Having heard that part of the story, I thought I’d hunt for the other. At the time of writing I had read two media reports – both from the relevant student unions. The first was by Cambridge Union, a brief statement, and, later, by Oxford Union, which was certainly longer than I had first indicated and certainly somewhat more detailed.

Whether Oxford expected Mr Trump to hear of it or accidentally lay his hands on these pieces of paper, making a quick call to Prime Minister Starmer to have these offenders bundled off to some hole-in-the-wall in Minnesota perhaps is surely what drove great Oxbridge thinkers into sublime contemplation and made them decide on abandonment and close the doors tightly to prevent shivers.

So one can understand the concern and the fear of parading protesters breaking through what stands as the Oxbridge version of the French Maginot Line in WW2. After all, the rising stars of the Oxbridge master class need to be saved from the demonstrating street protestors defending their own history and heritage.

But what does concern me is the lack of civility in those who invited visiting foreign politicians to call on two of the centuries-old prestigious universities with a rich culture and then behaved as though they belonged to some third-class dilapidated institutions in a poor teaching outlet in an educationally backward area. This is hardly the image that should be displayed to visitors, especially when invited to visit their surroundings and intellectual environment.

One can imagine what students from Ceylon/Sri Lanka who had distinguished themselves in studies but also in sports, representing their institution and bringing it distinction, would think of what these highly rated educational institutions would be considered today by those who valued their place of study in the past.

There is an old saying that the battle of Waterloo was won on the playing fields of Eton. Whether these words are said to have been mentioned by the Duke of Wellington the First or concocted by others is not a matter that matters here, though it leaves a sour taste in the mouth, as do the leading lights of Oxbridge.

Whether the battle of Waterloo was won in Eton or on the River Thame is not what is under discussion. What is being raised in several places in Sri Lanka and other places of conversation where Sri Lankans gather, wherever it might be, is that these educational institutions that once gathered plaudits are now running for cover at the first signs of protest.

One notices the high-flier principles and standards of conduct that Oxford University and possibly Cambridge practise are the same as those that I read about in that highfalutin state of conduct that they are said to adhere to.

Thank heaven that the Waterloo war was fought by Etonians. Imagine if it was left to battling new warmongers from across the Atlantic. Imagine where we would have to look for them if today they were worried about crossing the street.

Time and space have run out. But before one calls goodnight, there might be space enough for one other thought. Namal Rajapaksa’s response to Oxbridge and those who make selective speakers: it would be interesting to read his responsive and mature response.

It is not surprising because thousands like him from S. Thomas College and the rival Royal College, brought up in the early years under the tutelage of teachers from England and other English-speaking countries, were taught civilised and principled conduct.

Perhaps if the process is reversed the world will be better off, for we believe in freedom of speech and expression. That holds true for governments as well as those who stand on the side, irrespective of who that might be and which side they sit on or what side of the street they stand on, for it is the democratic principles that the people value. 

(Neville de Silva is a veteran
Sri Lankan journalist who was Assistant Editor, Diplomatic Editor and Political Columnist of the Hong Kong Standard before moving to London, where he worked for Gemini News Service. Later he was Deputy Chief of Mission in
Bangkok and Deputy High Commissioner in London before returning to journalism.)