The Easter Sunday bomb attack on three churches and four hotels on April 21, 2019 that left 269 dead (including 40 foreigners) and wounded about 500 was a day of infamy. It had shattered the peace and tranquility if not also harmony that prevailed from 2009. This was after 30 years of fratricidal conflict (100,000 dead) and 18 months of terrorism (60,000 dead at over 100 a day in a year and a half between 1988-9) had ended.

The agony, grief and pain became boundless when it was discovered that specific actionable operational intelligence received on the April 4, 2019 and thereafter continuously until D Day (Apr. 19) from an undisclosed Indian intelligence agency had been handled with total incompetence and mindless indifference. Despite the said churches and hotels being accurately identified as targets, the crack STF was sent to guard the Indian High Commission where they did a great job!

Into this cataclysmic inferno that had paralyzed all government leaders, stepped Cardinal Malcolm Ranjith. By his words and actions, he prevented any retaliatory attacks in a country with a despicable history of mob violence. He was SL’s hero, honoured, respected and loved by all.

Foreign Intelligence and Investigation agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Australian Federal Police (AFP), Internal Security Department of Singapore (ISD), Israeli (Mossad) and of course Indian, investigated the tragedy. They reported back to their governments that all the perpetrators, ideological extremists linked to ISIS, a proscribed global terrorist organization, were dead. Blood relative collaborators of the two families involved, anticipating arrest, had committed suicide in their homes as far apart as Kattankudy and Colombo. Nearly 800 other suspects were arrested of whom more than 700 were either bailed out or released, bringing no credit to the already discredited Police.

Only 25 of them have been charged in court. There was no second wave although scaremongers and instant experts warned that there was a possibility of more attacks. Just to make sure, SL through its heads of missions in USA and Australia, contacted the FBI and AFP respectively. It reassured SL the case was closed.

This wasn’t good enough for some in SL where politically biased rumours are the essence of life. Uttering untruths is mother’s milk to the majority. About two years later certain biased media started creating doubts as to who had ‘organized’ the suicide bombings. Despite the conclusions reached by the world’s best known Intelligence and Investigation agencies (less the KGB that had no immediate interest) even the good Cardinal had been persuaded by discredited state intelligence officers that there was a suspected ‘mastermind’ with a murderous political motive behind the attack.

They had drawn attention to the fact that the dysfunctional government in power was vapourised at the general elections the following year. That this defeat was an obvious consequence to their miserable performance was ignored. No attempt to ask for India’s help was made. Why?

So SL was asked to believe that in its society there existed possibly two barbarians in the mould of Ghengis Khan who could plan and execute mass murder just to take over state power. They played on the inherited and exploited gullibility of the people. It was Goebbels who brilliantly proved that a lie continuously repeated was eventually believed. And there was no TV then. How perfidy thrives.

By coincidence a couple of CID officers too were apparently spreading this very same story about two military officers. That the local government elections a year before the Easter Sunday tragedy, had seen the despised government trounced, appeared to have been conveniently or deliberately forgotten, a national trait. It immediately drew attention away from the guilt of a criminally negligent government and police intelligence. Politicians who had been like mice then, now appeared and joined the chorus.

The Cardinal thereafter never let go. He didn’t think that the FBI, AFP, and other world class Investigation agencies should have the last word. He placed his faith in the informants from the police. Their Intelligence heads and the IGP were found guilty and punished (together with the President) for criminal negligence in the Easter Sunday massacre. He embraced them. The victims were almost all from his Catholic flock. He was fighting for them. He would be relentless and unforgiving to the point of becoming obsessed.

There was a time when defenestration was practiced by the Police. The deaths in 1966 of Sergeant Tilakewardene and Dodampe Mudalai after being thrown from the fourth floor of Police HQ was an example of how ‘evidence’ was obtained. Maybe the Cardinal did not know. Many Catholics however believed he was becoming political. He may have become insensitive to the fact that giving false evidence was an age old tradition. In that SL was world class

There were seven bombers. Four of them were poor radicalized youth led by Zaharan Hashim who even fought the more conservative adherents in Kattankudy with swords. The Colombo three were from a very rich and highly educated family.

The evidence the Cardinal trusted most were the ramblings of one Azad Moulana now seeking asylum in Europe, the involvement of Director Military Intelligence (DMI) and the telephone calls made by the hesitant bomber who left the Taj Samudra hotel and blew himself up in a ‘hotel’ near the Dehiwala Zoo.

According to Moulana, self styled ‘Coordinating Secretary’ to Pillayan and now a self-confessed accomplice to acts of terror thereafter, the Directorate of Military Intelligence (DMI) and Pillayan who was in Batticaloa prison, conspired to brain wash and train Zaharan and three others to murder Christians. The four were being held in the same prison as Pillayan.

The fact that the Director of Military Intelligence (DMI), Maj Gen Suresh Sallay, had been serving at the SL High Commission in Malaysia from 2017 for two years and immediately thereafter one year (2019) in Delhi at the National Defence College (NDC) at the exact time he was supposed to be in SL, appeared to be of no consequence to Moulana and his new ‘accomplices’. They said Gen Sallay had visited SL between tours.

This was supposed to be enough time to visit Batticaloa prison, conspire with four terrorist suspects (who had vandalized a Buddha statue in Mawanella) to kill two policemen on guard duties at Vavanativu, train them in shooting, and store explosives and detonators in Puttalam. Was Gen Sallay training at the College of SL Miracles and not the NDC?

Who is Maj Gen Suresh Sallay? Did the Cardinal know he had been an outstanding officer after initially joining the Infantry (Gemunu Watch). He ended up serving in the Military Intelligence Corps where his intellect, analytical skills, trilingual fluency and excellent writing skills, if not his rugby were assets. He became DMI and was later the first military officer to head the State Intelligence Service (SIS) in a 40-year career. His mother is a Catholic, father a Malay and his wife a Buddhist. Is it the profile of a ‘mastermind’ of a radicalized extremist terror group that the Cardinal and his informants prefer to believe.

Finally, let’s get back to the Taj Samudra hotel bomber who hesitated. He was seen coming out of the hotel without detonating his bomb. He was seen on CCTV talking to someone. That was apparently conclusive evidence that he had a handler who was reporting to a mastermind. He went from there to an obscure ‘hotel’ near the Dehiwala Zoo. Later he was seen going to a mosque for prayers after which he went back to the same ‘hotel’ where he blew himself up, killing two people, not obviously an agreed target.

But what if there is a recording of his conversation? Was it with a woman? Could the woman be his wife? Who else would a suicide bomber listen to and then hesitate to perform? Who else would attempt to dissuade him other than a person who knew she would be a widow soon, if she did not succeed? Can the Cardinal and his informants mull this over?

Is this why the Cardinal has now said he was going to take to the streets? He has said he is unhappy that the government leader who said he would bring the mastermind to face justice has disappointed. The Cardinal would lead protests on the streets. Actually it is the Katunayake highway. His followers would march up and down from Katuneriya to Colombo and back.

Are his informants converts not to the church but to political opportunism? Did they rush to the Cardinal to ask for still more time? Maybe until doomsday? Maybe the very Good Cardinal and his closest lieutenants will now have more time to attend to the church and all his flock instead of bucking the world’s best Intelligence and Investigation agencies and cavorting with imaginary masterminds.

What must not happen is that this endless mistaken media extravaganza does not end in communal disharmony or worse. It has thus far been avoided as the pain that the Catholics endure has been shared by all.

There should also be an apology to Gen Suresh Sallay too. He has conducted himself with dignity and restraint as an officer and gentleman under extreme stress in deference to the Cardinal.

by Zingara

Back stabbing within his own party, CBK keeps to time

During his time as Mayor of Colombo, Karu Jyasuriya had refused to avail himself of benefits and entitlements, opting to spend his own funds for necessary expenditure. These included the monthly allowance, refreshment allowance and fuel allowance allocated to the Mayor. Instead, he ensured that all allocated allowances were routed to the Mayor’s Fund and were utilized for the betterment of the City and its residents.

Karu even declined to accept the official vehicle provided by the Colombo Municipal Council (CMC) and instead used his own vehicle for official Mayoral work. But this did not dissuade opposition members of the CMC from questioning Karu at every council meeting demanding to know details of CMC funds spent by his administration. “What is your monthly fuel allowance?” or “How much did you spend on fuel last month?” were common questions thrown at him.

These questions and jibes by the opposition often made it to the headlines of the government-run ‘Lake House’ newspapers the very next day. The headlines featured were along the lines of “Council member questions Colombo’s Mayor on his fuel allowance…!!” or “CMC members express suspicion that Mayor has secretly increased refreshment allowance in the past months…!!”

According to Karu, despite replying to these unfounded allegations, the rejoinders were not featured prominently in print. “More often than not they were completely ignored by the newspapers…” he says. To his dismay, Karu was to later find out that certain politicians of his own party were behind the acts of these opposition council members. Feeling insecure and threatened by Karu’s rising popularity among the people, these United National Party (UNP) politicians had allegedly bribed several opposition councilors to pose embarrassing questions to the UNP Mayor.

“I heard that sums up to five thousand rupees were paid to ask certain questions. The same tactic was being used to publish them in government-owned Lake House” Karu alleges. He believes this was yet another unfortunate result of the competitive preferential voting system in the country that often pits party colleagues against each other.

But an unruffled Karu had merely continued with his work. In addition to the special committee consisting of councilors, Karu also took steps to form an advisory committee of professionals from various sectors to provide necessary advice and guidance to the administration of the CMC.
According to Karu, these professionals were unpaid and provided their services voluntarily. “Several experts and professionals were also called in to analyze and provide feedback on the CMC and its functions in the hope of receiving constructive criticism…” Karu says.

Housing for the underprivileged in Colombo was also an issue during Karu’s time as mayor. Several families living in Colombo city limits at the time had sought shelter in dilapidated shipping containers due to the lack of adequate housing. As Mayor, Karu had taken steps to construct new houses in Slave Island for these families, allowing them to leave their unsafe shelters behind and move into better housing provided by the city.

At that time Crow Island in Mattakkuliya was notorious as a paradise for criminals such as thieves, bandits and rapists. Shockingly, in just a short period several women had been raped and killed in the area. The gruesome incidents created a sense of fear among people. As Karu recalls, many had expressed their reluctance to travel through the area even during the daytime. Hearing these reports as Mayor, a concerned Karu visited Crow Island. What he saw was that the area was indeed enveloped in a dark and sinister feeling. Determined to change this image Karu directed the CMC to give Crow Island a much-needed face-lift. The result was a much more pleasant and welcoming Crow Island devoid of criminal activities.
According to Karu, by this time many of the roundabouts in Colombo were in a state of neglect. Coming up with an ingenious plan he decided to allow private companies in the area to maintain these roundabouts. “They were expected to beautify and maintain the roundabout allocated to them. The CMC did not pay them but instead, they were allowed to put up promotional signs saying they were maintaining the roundabout. This method was later adopted by many other municipalities of towns across Sri Lanka.

It was also Karu who first introduced high pressure water guns to rid the city of the poster menace. At the time Colombo’s walls and public spaces were covered with promotional posters of politicians, and tuition teachers as well as films and teledramas creating an unsightly scene. Several gangs of thugs had begun putting up these posters for a fee, and fights among them also became a common occurrence.

Karu says as a solution he decided to put up CMC sponsored notice boards on major roads and streets in Colombo for posters and other promotional material to be displayed. Next, he took steps to ban posters on walls and in any other public spaces. But as some groups continued to ignore the CMC’s directives, Karu refusing to back down introduced high pressure water guns dubbed ‘Poster Killers’ by the public to remove any material displayed on any surfaces not allowed by the CMC. Every day after midnight CMC workers would set out to remove posters in the city as directed by the mayor. According to Karu, the poster wars were significantly reduced thereafter.

During his time, Karu says the CMC funded the development and restoration of various places of worship located within the city of Colombo. Funds were provided to all religions with Karu ensuring no particular religion was favoured. One place of worship that benefited through this program was the Thai Temple located in Mattakkuliya, Colombo which was in a state of disrepair at the time.

As Mayor, Karu had also taken steps to renovate the popular Viharamahadevi open-air theatre to provide more space and facilities to hold various types of shows. The Old Town Hall building in Pettah and the Town Hall theatre were other venues that were renovated and modernized during his tenure.

Seeking to further improve facilities available to the public, Karu also observed that many public children’s parks dotting the city of Colombo were in a dilapidated state. He ordered them to be renovated and more facilities added so that children could play safely. The city’s public swimming pool also got a much needed face lift during this time.

According to Karu, the assessment of private properties to levy municipal rates on them, which was a key income stream of the CMC, was in total disarray at the time. “It was discovered that assessment taxes had not been collected for over a decade from many luxury houses in the affluent Cinnamon Gardens area in Colombo while others had only been taxed meagre amounts…” Karu recalls. He says this was a failure on the part of his predecessors who had failed to launch a proper investigation or assessment of the situation.

“The CMC was found to have lost millions of rupees in revenue as a result. I ensured the situation was rectified through the advisory committees and the income of the CMC shot up thereafter…” he says.

Meanwhile, in a bid to further end all corrupt practices and to address any shortcomings of the CMC, Karu decided to introduce a 24-hour investigation unit. The public could inform the newly formed unit of any issues at any time of the day by calling on the hotline introduced.

But Karu was also keen on giving Colombo’s residents the opportunity to approach him directly. To this end, he introduced the phone number 077 771 2345 on which the public could call him directly with any queries or issues faced by them. Karu says he would even receive calls in the middle of the night but took steps to provide immediate solutions to the many problems related to him by Colombo’s citizenry.

One day as Karu was having lunch, he received a call from Prime Minister Sirimavo Bandaranaike. “Karu the street lights in front of my house on Rosmead Place have not been switched off for three days. I saw your phone number in the newspaper and decided to call as I could not stand this waste any longer… she had said. Following the short conversation, Karu called the Municipal Engineer and instructed him to immediately rectify the issue.

While heads of organizations often prefer to hold on to all administrative powers, Karu during his 16-month tenure as Mayor of Colombo attempted to maintain a distribution of his powers instead. “I granted all necessary powers to my deputy Omar Kamil. Meanwhile, the required powers to take necessary action were also granted to the advisory committees headed by Municipal councilors, he recalls.

According to Karu, he was inspired to do so through his own personal experience. “I understood that people tend to work better when they are given the freedom and necessary powers to do so…” he says.
Karu notes therefore he ensured all Municipal Councilors in spite of their political party affiliations received the required administrative powers. “For example, though the UNP held the power of the CMC, I even appointed councilors from the opposition to head numerous standing committees in an attempt to distribute these powers…” Karu says.

It was during his time as Mayor of Colombo that it was announced Prince Charles, the heir to the British throne would visit Sri Lanka to attend the country’s 50th Independence celebrations. Karu engaged in conversation with Prince Charles during this visit and as Mayor of Colombo, was tasked with presenting the ‘Golden Key to the City’ to this Royal visitor.

To discuss the necessary arrangements, the then President, Chandrika Kumaratunga summoned Karu to ‘Temple Trees’ one morning. But with an already scheduled meeting at 10:30 a.m. with the West German ambassador, Karu found himself in an unexpected dilemma. This was because President Kumaratunga was notorious for her lack of punctuality. She would often arrive fashionably late even to official government engagements. Years later Kumaratunga would say this was because she would only move on to a task after finishing the one at hand, often making her late for the next appointment.

“Madam President, I will attend the discussion at 9 a.m. But if you get late I will have to leave as I must keep an already scheduled appointment for 10.30 a.m. with the West German ambassador…” Karu had responded. On the day Karu arrived at Temple Trees several minutes ahead of the 9 a.m. meeting only to be informed that the President was yet to arrive. “I will wait for thirty minutes…” Karu had thought to himself. But to everyone’s surprise, Kumaratunga had hurried in just two minutes past 9 a.m. saying “Karu I am sorry for the delay..!”

“The president was known to get late for hours on end. Some high-level diplomatic visitors were even forced to leave without having met her due to her tardiness. On the day though she was only delayed by two minutes and I was quite surprised that she apologized politely for having kept me waiting for that short time…” Karu says.

While the discussion that followed was cordial, President Kumaratunga had even humbly apologized for the false allegations she had leveled against him during the previous local council election.
During his 16-month tenure as the Mayor of Colombo, Karu believes he was able to serve the people of Colombo and also increase the revenue of the CMC due to his policy of delegating the administrative responsibilities of the Council to work as a team. Karu had only given leadership when necessary and worked towards improving the management of the CMC.

A prime example of this is the ’99 Day Rapid Development Program’ initiated by him. Karu says the program proved more successful than he had initially expected due to the time and effort put in by all staff of the CMC. “We worked on all holidays and weekends during this program…” Karu recalls. Even though senior staffers of the CMC are not entitled to overtime pay and therefore could not be forced to work on holidays, Karu says certain female engineers had chosen to report to work even on holidays during this program despite being pregnant at the time.

Moved by their commitment and dedication Karu was able to later provide these employees with a oneoff allowance for the work carried out during holidays after obtaining permission from the Chief Minister of the Province and the Attorney General after getting a motion passed at a CMC meeting.
Karu recalls the program and the relevant development activities carried out had so impressed the West German Friedrich Naumann Foundation that it led to the program getting international attention.

Perhaps due to his background, Karu had always attempted to carry out many development programs with the assistance of the private sector. This was made easy due to the image he had built over the years as a successful entrepreneur in the private sector. Towards the end of his tenure, Karu had sought to commence a recycling project in the town of Meepe which was to be funded by the Asian Development Bank (ADB). The results of the feasibility study confirmed the project would pose no harm or threat to the environment.

However, politicians of the People’s Alliance representing the areas of Avissawella, Homagama and Maharagama not only voiced their strong opposition to the proposed project but also propagated a negative view about it among residents of the area. As a part of this campaign, all politicians of the Colombo district representing all political parties hoping to contest the then upcoming provincial council elections were called to make a public pledge promising to not allow its implementation if elected. Among those who chose to take this pledge were all the provincial council hopefuls of the UNP. According to Karu, possible environmental impacts of the project had been exaggerated to obtain this result. Karu’s opposition was to no avail. Faced with stiff public opinion from residents of Meepe, the ADB decided to withdraw from the project and commit the funds elsewhere in the region.

At the time a well-known care home for senior citizens in Borella was managed by the CMC. While this institution was home to many elderly women and men, it was no secret that the place was riddled with corruption. Having ordered an investigation into these allegations, Karu discovered that many of them were true. “Some were even profiting off the meals and food items intended for the elderly living in the care home. Even though it was required that healthy and nutritious meals be provided to the residents more often than not the meals were paltry and far from nutritious…” Karu recalls.

He not only put a stop to the corrupt practices, but was also able to obtain the support of various private businesses, the Lions Club and the Rotary Club to organize volunteer programs at the care home. Karu was also able to move the care home to a better fully equipped facility in the town of Battaramulla during his tenure as mayor.

But even as Karu implemented various new plans while working towards the betterment of Colombo’s citizenry, this resulted in a number of UNP stalwarts feeling insecure and threatened by him. Many thought Karu would overshadow them and become more popular among the people. This prompted them to launch a secret campaign against their own colleague. According to Karu, it was this campaign against him that eventually forced him to shift his political career from Colombo to the Gampaha district.

(Excerpted from the biography of Karu Jayasuriya by Nihal Jagathchandra)

Warm compliments received and some personal anecdotes

Mr. Maithripala Senanayake

These thoughts would not be complete without a reference to Mr. Maithripala Senanayake. He was the Minister of Irrigation, Power and Highways and the Minister next in seniority to the Prime Minister. As such, he was appointed to act for the Prime Minister when she traveled out of the country. It was in this context that I came to know him well. Mr. Senanayake was affable and dignified. He spoke softly and acted calmly. He was unhurried, unruffled and clear in his thinking. He was intelligent, greatly experienced and well balanced.

These qualities no doubt endeared him to the people of his electorate, Medawachchiya, in the North Central Province, because he never lost that seat in over 50 years of parliamentary life, a record. When I had to work with him, when he was acting Prime Minister, I found him extremely responsible and cautious. He would not decide anything, without careful scrutiny and asking me how the Prime Minister would have viewed the matter. This however did not lead to delay. Rapidly reassuring himself on all aspects, he would then decide quickly.

Anything major, which could await the Prime Minister’s arrival, he held back. He was deeply conscious of the fact that he was acting, and was very proper in his conduct. We got on well and had a relationship of mutual respect. Sometimes he invited my wife and me home to dinner, which was always of the highest quality and personally supervised by his wife and Private Secretary Mrs. Ranji Senanayake.

She was a delightful and entertaining hostess with a fund of stories, anecdotes and insightful comments. As Private Secretary, she was very proper and never intervened in any matter relating to us, unless it was relevant and necessary. I enjoyed working with Mr. Senanayake as much as I enjoyed working with the Prime Minister and I could see that he appreciated my guidance, on some of the difficult issues that came up.

But I did not know or realize how deeply he had appreciated my work, until very much later, in fact, until virtually a few months prior to his death. He was then Governor of the North Central Province, and I was Secretary to the Ministry of Education and Higher Education. I had lost touch with him for a considerable period. One day, his wife rang me on some matter of a school in which he was interested which I promptly attended to. This was in October 1997 just two and a half months before my retirement. I then received a letter dated October 5, 1997 from Mr. Senanayake which moved me considerably due to its sincerity and depth of feeling. It made me feel that I had not toiled in vain. The personal reference to me in the letter was as follows:

“Dharmasiri, you are the last of a very special breed of public servants and I am afraid you belong to another era, another time, the calibre of public servants that you do not get now. Loyalty, integrity, trustworthy and valuable asset to any government. Always with the correct advice, and to the benefit of the government. Certainly, this Acting Prime Minister could not go wrong with you and I am well aware how fortunate Hon. Mrs. Bandaranaike was to have you as her Secretary when she was Prime Minister in the seventies. “

Parliament was dissolved and the election campaign begun. It was June 1977. Elections were to be held on July 21. Such a period between the dissolution of Parliament and the holding of a general election, whilst a hectic period politically, is a quieter period administratively. Ministers and other political elements are out in the field. The public service runs the administration, subject to occasional interludes with Ministers. Public institutions take on a somewhat deserted air.

I was in office, one day during this period, when Sunethra, the Prime Minister’s elder daughter and Coordinating Secretary literally burst into my room. Since the campaign started she and her sister Chandrika, the present President were spearheading the election activities in Attanagalla, the Prime Minister’s constituency, reputed to be one of the safest electorates in the country. Sunethra, I was aware, was out in the field, and she had told me so. Occasionally, when she came into office, she used to open the door of my room, from the threshold say she was off to Attanagalla and disappear.

This time she came right in, and was about to say something and leave, when I asked her how the election was going. ” Very badly” she said. “Where?” I asked. “In the whole country,” she replied. This was with about three weeks to go to polling. “At least Attanagalla is o.k.”, I said. “No,” she said.

“as things stand today she will lose Attanagalla.” This was indeed staggering news, and I saw that she was not joking. Soon, she hurried away leaving me somewhat stunned.

What had happened was that, because she was extremely busy, the Prime Minister had neglected her electorate. Her visits to meet the people there had been few and infrequent. She had entrusted electoral work to certain lower level party workers, who were ineffective, and among whom some were corrupt. Party supporters were isolated and had no regular senior and respected person to appeal to or articulate their grievances. They were now seething and in a rebellious mood. Added to this was a swing in public mood against the government.

When Sunethra, came again for a brief chat, almost a week before the election, I asked her how things were going. “She will now win,” she said, “but with a greatly reduced majority.” I asked her what the majority was likely to be. “A little over 10,000”, she said. If this was so it was going to be a drastic reduction from the usual majority of between 24,000 – 26,000 votes. Sunethra added further, that the electorate was badly neglected and that when they went from house to house some party supporters asked them, “Are you coming only now?”

She said that in many places, it was a humiliating experience for them. But she was prophetic. At the general elections, which proved a disaster for the SLFP, Mrs. Bandaranaike as predicted by Sunethra retained her seat by a majority of a little over 10,000 votes, when all around her was lost.

Prophecy, however did not end here. The ultimate prophet turned out to be the Army Commander General Sepala Attygalle’s barber. About three or four days before the elections, Sepala dropped in at the office. WT, I and a couple of others were talking to him. Sepala said that he had a most amusing tale to relate. He had been to his barber’s the previous day. Like most barbers, this one too was virtually a non-stop conversationalist. Sepala had asked him as to who was going to win the elections.

The barber had promptly replied “Sir, UNP 140. SLFP 10. Thondaman Leader of the Opposition!”. Sepala was highly amused by what he thought to be this intemperate, wishful thinking dreamer his barber was. His whole body was shaking with laughter as he related the story. He was later to say that the barber should have been in a University teaching political analysis.

Sunethra Bandaranaike

Before I conclude my references to personalities, it would be relevant to refer to Sunethra. I have already related an instance of the remarkable quality of her political analysis. This was but a typical example of her capacity for lucid thinking. She had a good and trained mind, and she used it with a degree of discipline free of political emotion which was remarkable in so political a personality. She had her views and convictions. But she like her mother was prepared to listen and if necessary change. In her, strong convictions did not hinder the free play of intelligence and she was prepared to depart from dogma if there were sufficiently cogent reasons.

She had the rare ability of amalgamating strong convictions with an open mind and holding both in balance. These intellectual qualities were supplemented by a deep humanism and kindness towards others. I remember how distraught she was when the Additional Secretary, Ministry of Planning Dr. Ananda Meegama’s young son died in a bicycle accident. She nearly exhausted herself by running to the hospital, taking the initiative in getting the body out as soon as possible, consoling the family and attending to so many matters as if this was a bereavement in her own family.

There was also the time, when she being aware that my father was quite ill, came to my room early evening on a Friday, and asked me whether I had enough money at home in case of an emergency. She reminded me that it won’t be possible to cash a cheque over the weekend. She wanted to give me some money in case I needed it. She knew I was extremely busy with my work and wanted to make sure that I had not overlooked a possibly serious contingency.

This was her nature, and it was a pleasure to work with her. It was perhaps the country’s misfortune that she had opted to retain her personal freedom over the shackles and the nastiness of competitive representational politics.

Breakfast with President Gopallawa

Virtually on the eve of the elections, the President’s office spoke to me and stated that the President, Mr. William Gopallawa wanted me to join him at breakfast, on the day after the poll. He was also inviting WT Jayasinghe, the Service Chiefs and the IGP. The President’s aim was to have us as an advisory group in his management of the post-election situation until a new government was installed.

We were at President’s House by 7.30 a.m. The President had ordered a sumptuous breakfast. By now, the results announced upto that time indicated a complete rout of the government. Most of the Ministers had lost their seats as well. Among them was the powerful Mr. Felix Dias Bandaranaike, who lost his safe seat in Dompe to Sarathchandra Rajakaruna, a newcomer to Parliamentary politics. It was evident that the United National Party was going to obtain a majority of well over two-thirds of the seats. In the end they ended up with over five-sixths of the seats, an astounding record.

In these clear circumstances, there was not much advice that we could proffer, nor was there much advice needed. There was one matter however, the President discussed with us. The Commissioner of Elections could not declare the complete result of the election until the results of the three member; Multi-Member seat of Nuwara-Eliya/Maskeliya came in. There was a delay in counting there due to the great length of the ballot paper. By the early afternoon of July 22nd all the results were in except for this electorate.

There was information coming in that people were getting restless due to this delay and that some incidents had begun to occur. Under these circumstances, after discussion with us, the President telephoned Mr. JR Jayewardene, the leader of the UNP and Prime Minister elect and suggested that he makes an appeal over the radio for calm, until the final result was declared. Mr. Jayewardene accepted this advice and his broadcast helped to calm things down. There was nothing more for us to do at President’s House, but WT and I decided to go to Horagolla, Mrs. Bandranaike’s country seat, about an hour’s drive from Colombo.

But before we left, I had an important telephone call to make. This was to Mr. Menikdiwela, Secretary, to the Leader of the Opposition, Mr. JR Jayewardene’s Secretary. I knew that he would now require the famous “Subjects and Functions” files, and it was my duty to discuss this with him. I got him over the telephone at Ward Place, the residence of Mr. Jayewardene. After the congratulations and good wishes, I told him that WT and I were going to Horagolla, and asked him whether I could leave the files with Mr. HK Fernando, the Senior Clerk handling the subject and who by now was an expert on the whole subject area.

Mr. Menikdiwela agreed, and we were off to Horagolla. When we reached there, as expected, gloom prevailed. Mrs. Bandaranaike was in tears when she greeted us. But we soon cheered her up. We knew that she was very resilient. What she needed now was to get out of the state of denial, in which she was and face reality squarely. WT and I thought, that optimism and frankness were both necessary.

Among other things, I told her “Madam, I am going to use a cricketing metaphor. This match, you have lost comprehensively by an innings. What is necessary now is to learn the lessons of this match and prepare for the next match.” She laughed and agreed. Both of us; as we took our leave, felt sad to see her in the condition she was in, and on the journey back to Colombo, there was little conversation between us.

Points of View

By this time, I had worked with Mrs. Bandaranaike for over seven years as her Secretary and about four and a half years as her Assistant Secretary, during which period I also acted for the Secretary on a few occasions. I have already commented on some of the major issues that she had faced and my assessment of her outlook, character and abilities. But what did she think of my work? I had reason to believe that she was pleased. This was demonstrated both through her general attitude towards me as well as the occasional gesture.

One such gesture was a recognition by her of the virtually exhausting hours of work I put in just prior to, during and for sometime after, the Non-Aligned Summit. One day, when she came to office she presented me with a gold Rolex watch. This had been one of the personal gifts she had received during the conference. But I really came to know the depth of her appreciation much later. I was in the habit of writing a short letter wishing her well on her birthday. Particularly, in the context of a new government, I did not consider it proper to personally visit her.

She herself, as I have already pointed out was very proper in her own actions and fully understood I could not come. In reply to a letter from me wishing her on her birthday in 1989, she wrote me a rather long letter, dated 2nd May 2, 1989. In it, she stated as follows:

“I realize the responsibility cast on you having to handle a large Ministry. (This was the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives). I do not envy you. In fact, I really sympathize with you because you area person who is so conscientious of your duties. I have watched you when you were my Secretary. I can imagine the workload you have to shoulder I wish you the best and the strength to shoulder the responsibilities cast on you.”

Again, on 4/5/1992, in reply to a letter of birthday greetings to her, where I also wrote stating that I was nearing 55 years of age and that I would have to give some serious thought as to my future, she wrote as follows:

“I didn’t realize that you are nearly 55 years in age. You can afford to work longer, perhaps not at the same pace you have been doing. I hope you are not thinking of retiring just now. The country needs honest and dedicated public servants like you. This is very rare these days. I hope you are not working so hard as you used to. We are old and no longer getting young. “

In addition to these written sentiments, I was also aware of the complimentary manner in which she had referred to me to several people. One such person was Mr. Lalith Athulathmudali, who was my Minister in the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives at the time. One day, he came from Parliament and said “There, I met an admirer of yours in Parliament today.” I asked who it was. He said Mrs. Bandaranaike, and went on to add that she had said that he was lucky to have me as his Secretary.

These sentiments, I am aware, she carried to the end of her life.

As late as 1997, when we went to Rosmead Place to invite her to be an attesting witness at our son’s wedding, she was not in the best of health. She appeared frail and had a badly swollen foot wrapped in bandages. Seeing her in this condition, whilst stating the purpose of our visit, I also said that we did not wish to impose on her if she was not well enough. She wouldn’t hear of it. What she said touched us deeply. She said, “I will come. But I’m not sure that I will be able to walk. In that case, I will come in my wheelchair.”

(Excerpted from In Pursuit of Governance, by MDD Pieris)