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10th January 1999
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An intellectual, liberal and thinker

Extracts from a Radio talk made in Nov. '87 by Prof. C.Suriyakumaran.

late Premier SWRD BandaranaikeIt is a privilege to be able to say a few words in commemoration of S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike. I do not say this of him as having been the Leader of a Party at one time, nor even as a Prime Minister of this country. These are indeed personal achievements and notable in their ways, praised or not by people according again to their own political affiliations and predilections. Great men too, as humans, are heirs equally to greatness as to their own failings.

Needless to state, I do not speak myself from any political position or standpoint whatsoever, but only as one of the many people of this country, and, as it happened, one who had been privileged to work for him and to be associated with him for long years since the mid-forties. Those were the years when, quite outside of what is now called the 'ethnic' and was earlier called the 'communal' question, Bandaranaike had already matured certain ideas on Devolution and the setting up of Regional Councils.

The present is a most appropriate time to recall this forward step. But before I say more on it, let me first set out at least the major areas, as I could see it, wherein one may, say he has both left his ideas and his imprint. They bear witness to his intellectual sureness and his fine sense of understanding of the content, purpose, and potentials of each of those areas to which he had applied his mind.

(1) Firstly on conceptions of Regional geo-politics, whether as a Prime Minister, or as a man before, Bandaranaike was clear on the maximisation of the role of Sri Lanka as a small neutral country, with policies and ideas that would unwaveringly promote an international image of high ability, strong neutrality and sound neighbourly relations with all countries. Their product was the obvious one, of high respect and regard for the people and country of Sri Lanka in international assemblies and fora. They resulted in a capacity to exercise a moral force, or to bend international decision at times in favour of Sri Lanka, that were obviously out of proportion to the size or strength of our country.

(2) A natural concomitant of such an approach was of course the passionate affirmation of and loyalty to the policy of Non-alignment and all that it stood for. Here too, within the Movement, it was possible to exercise influence by bringing to bear qualities of mind and heart, that were far greater than one may judge by the size of our country. On one occasion, when suggested that non-alignment was akin to avoidance of issues, it was Bandaranaike who clarified and asserted in no uncertain terms that Non-alignment, far from being escapist or whatever, was ''committed to the hilt', more committed to persuade the international community constantly to ways of peace and peace-building than any other international concept or movement.

(3) One of Bandaranaike's abiding personal concerns was the functioning of democratic Central Governmental processes in a Pluralistic society. The ideas on this, worldwide, are many indeed and it cannot be said that Bandaranaike addressed himself to all these. He was, however, one who saw the weakness of an imported Two-Party system, particularly in a developing economy and where the process of nation building was in affirmative stage. 

(5) His abiding interest in spreading development evenly over the country and of course in the democratic process, led to his ideas on Devolution which I have already referred to earlier as gestated in the mid-forties. Together with his concerns for participatory government at the Centre, and his fatherhood of Local Government - that is, decentralisation - in this country, his ideas and his constant efforts in the cause of Devolution, were amongst the hallmarks of his outstanding career. 

(6) Part of all this was his approach to a problem when solutions had to be found. It was here that the Intellectual was seen most at work.

At one time, during the direct discussions that Bandaranaike had with Chelvanayakam, to forge an agreement, which later came to be known as the ''B-C Pact'', it is said he was asked how he approached the question of a solution, on a problem of such obvious importance and significance. He is stated to have said that his main approach was to see, in the context of ''future history'' if one might use that phrase, what objective features would in any case come into being in the scheme of things on this particular subject. These then would be inevitable in the future; and if so, it would be of the essence of wisdom, and statesmanship, to work on that basis and to formulate ideas and approaches in the present that would be in accord with those inevitable developments of the future. These were essentially the approach of what, at the outset I said. Bandaranaike, above all, was - an intellectual, a liberal and a thinker.

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