Connect with us

Features

THE BANKING COMMISSION

Published

11 months ago

on

CHAPTER 9

(Excerpted from N.U. JAYAWARDENA The first five decades)

NU, aged 26, published his first important article on the Sri Lankan economy, in the Ceylon Observer Centenary Issue of 4 February 1934 – two months before he was to begin work at the Banking Commission. It was a sweeping 100-year survey of the economy between 1834 and 1934, written in his clear style. As he stated:

“One of the arresting features of the economic history of Ceylon during the last hundred years is the phenomenal growth of her trade. Between 1834 and 1926, when the peak was reached, the value of trade increased nearly two hundred fold. In the same period there also occurred a complete change in its character and distribution. From a few staple articles, the schedule of imports and exports has expanded into a numerous list, which, particularly in regard to imports, is continually increasing.”

The article not only described imports and exports over the period and issues concerning the balance of trade, but also the fluctuations in the economy, and cyclical recessions, including the collapse of the coffee industry in the late 1870s. NU wrote about the five-year recession (1880-85) caused by the coffee crisis, the “annihilation of capital values,” and the collapse of the Oriental Banking Corporation in 1884, one of the country’s early ventures in banking. The period 1900 to 1913 he styled the “Good Years,” a unique period of “universal progress and real prosperity”; and he claimed that there was “no comparable period in the history of Ceylon trade,” in tea, rubber, coconut and graphite. NU, who would soon be involved in analysing the need for a national bank, described the crash of that banking corporation in 1884 as follows:

It was one of the most terrible blows that ever fell on Ceylon. The effect was disastrous for a time, but the courageous action of the Governor in guaranteeing the discredited notes of the defunct bank saved the country from far more serious evils.

“Afghan” man (Pathan)

What NU called an “unparalleled development” occurred from 1886 to 1900 when tea, coconut and minor products flourished with “the rush of tea” becoming “a veritable stampede,” resulting in large exports and increased imports. This boom “of the first magnitude” ended with the First World War of 1914-18 which was a “cataclysm” and “universal upheaval.” The rubber and graphite industries, which had soared due to wartime demands, “fell headlong” in 1918. This was followed by what NU referred to as “the craziest boom in history,” with a “terrible orgy of spending” occurring between the decades 1919 to 1929, when the value of both exports and imports soared. But fluctuations continued and the “Good Years” ended in the Depression of 1929-33:

The Wall Street Crash in the summer of 1929 heralded the advent of the depression. In the next five years it raged in full force; tea, rubber and coconut all withering before its icy blast. The destruction it wrought and the misery it fostered form recent history and require no repetition. Trade shrank in value to pre-war figures…

The bottom was not reached until 1932, when exports receded to what they were 22 years ago. (ibid)

He concluded by asking the question: “Is this only a passing ripple before a gathering storm or an omen of better times to come?”

The Economic Depression of 1929-33

NU would have been profoundly affected by the Depression. He not only witnessed the impoverishment of his country through economic collapse, but would also have seen the value of his rubber holdings fall sharply. ‘From rags to riches’ was a phrase NU often used (speaking of himself ), but the period 1929 to 1933 was a case of the opposite – as the country descended from the ‘boom years’ of the mid-1920s, to the hard times of the Depression. The following figures from H.A. de S. Gunasekera (1962, p.165) vividly illustrate the extent of the drastic fall in the prices of tea and coconut as well as the “ruinous slump in the rubber industry” (ibid, p.66).

Another adverse consequence of the 1929-33 Depression was linked to imports – mainly foodstuffs and manufactured goods. The fall in the prices of Sri Lanka’s exports – mainly primary products – was greater than the fall in the price of industrial goods, leading to a serious adverse balance of trade (ibid, p.174).

As Gunasekera (ibid, p.174) comments: “The largest deficit occurred in 1932 when the value of exports declined to nearly onethird of its value in 1926 while the value of imports had fallen only one-half.”( The prices of exports in this period, taking 1925 as the base year, were calculated by Professor Das Gupta (quoted in Kumari Jayawardena, 1972, p.311)

The Depression resulted in grave financial difficulties for local capitalists, who had few sources of credit. These difficulties were a cause for concern since foreign banks were also reluctant to give credit to locals. In 1929 the labour leader A.E. Goonesinha said, “never since British rule has the country been faced with such a terrible plight” (K. Jayawardena, 1972, p.310). He was not exaggerating. All classes – capitalists, landowners, clerks and workers – were hit by the dramatic slide in the economy, and the country was exposed to the worst hazards of the trade cycle. As a consequence, plantations and factories were forced to close down, and government and private firms had to lay off employees, resulting in severe unemployment among skilled, unskilled and white-collar workers. This created many social problems.

Some consequences of these events included the increase in communal clashes fuelled by trade union leaders, who in a situation of unemployment, raised slogans calling for the ‘deportation’ of workers from Kerala (Malayalis), who were part of the Colombo workforce. Moreover, ethnic tensions spread to the middle classes who, affected by the Depression, denounced the South Indian Chettiars for their grip on credit facilities.

The Chettiar Phenomenon

The need for a national Bank of Ceylon was keenly felt in the years of the Depression. The British banks did not think locals were creditworthy, and as there were no national commercial banks at this time, Sri Lankan borrowers were dependent on a rather primitive credit system run by the Nattukottai Chettiars. As W.S. Weerasooria, in his book on the Chettiars, wrote:

For most Ceylonese the Chettiars were the only source of credit, whether long term or short term. They made loans for the purchase and development of estates as well as for trade, production and consumption… Whatever

Ceylonese enterprise existed was largely indebted to the assistance provided by the Chettiars. Ceylonese exporters and importers, retailers and small ‘boutique-keepers’, estate owners, coconut millers and arrack renters… had to obtain accommodation from the Chettiars… [who] were responsible for the thin trickle of credit which found its way to internal trade and production. (Weerasooria, 1973, p.28)

Weerasooria notes the “alliance” between the British banks and the Chettiars. These banks loaned the Chettiars over Rs. 25 million in the years between 1900 to 1925, and “the Ceylonese who borrowed from the Chettiars paid high interest rates referred to in business

circles as the ‘Chetty rate of interest’” (ibid, p.xv). The emergent local capitalists, merchants and plantation owners – who up to the 1920s had done well – were also heavily dependent on Chettiars for credit from the 19th century onwards. Lavish weddings were held and large dowries given with loans obtained from Chettiars, and often at these weddings the Chettiar had an honoured place. As H.A. de S. Gunasekera (1962, p.196) commented, the Chettiar was: …ready to accommodate the genuine businessman… the speculator and spendthrift. He lent as readily to the exporter of desiccated coconut as to the impecunious landowner trying to raise a dowry for his daughter.

In fact, many government servants – some from the highest levels of government – were reliant on the Chettiars for loans. According to Vernon Gunasekera (1981, pp.34-35), in the 1920s and early 1930s it was not an uncommon sight to find Chettiars waiting outside government or mercantile offices, in Colombo or provincial towns, to lend money or collect repayment. The problem became so acute that the first State Council of 1931 amended legislation, making it a penal offence for moneylenders to demand payment in person at anyone’s residence or place of work. This was initiated after “a plaintiff-creditor tried to serve writ on a legislator entering the Council.”

NU at his desk

The managerial staff of the foreign banks was European, while the clerical staff consisted of Sri Lankans. The Banking Commission reported on the social distance between local investors and the foreign bankers:

An ordinary Ceylonese has no opportunity to meet a European bank manager or even a junior officer, in his daily life, but a European merchant can almost daily meet his banker in the club or on the sports field.” (Weerasooria, pp.30-31, quoting from the Ceylon Banking Commission Report)

The problems culminated in 1925 when a Chettiar firm collapsed, the banks stopped giving loans to Chettiars. During “The Chetty Crisis,” as it was called, the Chettiars began to foreclose on local borrowers. Weerasooria (p.xvi) referred to:

…the spate of litigation initiated by the Chettiars against their Ceylonese borrowers who had defaulted in payment. Many a Ceylonese landowner lost his property to the Chettiar and many a Ceylonese debtor ended up in the Insolvency Court at the instance of his Chettiar creditor.

The “Chetty Crisis” of 1925 revealed not only the dangers of indiscriminately advancing unsecured loans, but also the gross inadequacies of the prevailing credit system and the need for a national bank.

The Banking Commission

H.A. de S. Gunasekera (1962, p.200) has observed that:

At a certain stage in the history of every colonial country, there grows up an indigenous capitalist class increasingly anxious not only to take over political responsibility, but also to play a larger role in the economic life of the country.

There was a public outcry at the worsening economic situation, inspired by growing national sentiment among politicians, local traders and landowners. In the State Council, George E. de Silva, the member for Kandy (known for his reformist and nationalist leanings), proposed in November 1932 that a commission be appointed “to go into the system of commerce, banking and insurance of this island.” This resulted in the appointment of the Ceylon Banking

Commission with Sir Sorabji N. Pochkhanawala, an Indian banker, as chairman, along with Sir Marcus Fernando and Dr. S.C. Paul as members. Professor B.B. Das Gupta served as Secretary, and N.U. Jayawardena as Assistant Secretary to the Commission. Pochkhanawala had worked as an accountant in two banks in Mumbai, the Bank of India Ltd – a private bank established in 1906 – and another private bank named the Central Bank of India Ltd, Bombay, founded in 1911.

He belonged to the Parsi community of India which, from the 19th century onwards, dominated the local entrepreneurial, banking and managerial sectors in India, and were renowned for their pioneering activities in Indian capitalist development in colonial times. Amiya Bagchi writes that the Central Bank of India Ltd.: “was the outcome of the Herculean efforts of… S.N. Pochkhanawala, who prevailed upon Sir Pherozeshah Mehta to be its chairman.

” By 1923 this bank was “the biggest Indian joint-stock private bank in terms of capital and reserves” (Bagchi, 1997, p.103). By 1934 Pochkhanawala, who had been knighted for his services to the banking sector, had become the managing director of the Central Bank of India Ltd., and in later years became its chairman. Pochkhanawala was to help Sri Lanka launch its first national bank. Pochkhanawala’s earlier “Herculean efforts” were, no doubt, qualities that inspired NU, who worked closely with him in the arduous work of the Banking Commission.

Public sittings of the Banking Commission were held, during which evidence was taken from 287 individuals and institutions. Many moving accounts of bankruptcy, indebtedness and financial ruin were related at those sittings, providing NU with an in-depth exposure to the hardships endured at that time. The findings and evidence contained in two volumes were published as Sessional Papers Nos. XXII and XXIII in November 1934.

George E. de Silva, who had proposed the establishment of this Commission, gave important evidence at the sessions, voicing the concerns of all classes of Sri Lankans during the Depression years – including the entrepreneurs, merchants and government servants. Speaking as a nationalist politician, his main grievance was the foreign control of banks in Sri Lanka and “the tremendous price the country is paying in allowing their banking to be done by foreigners.” In his words:

It is curious that none of the banks working in Ceylon is owned by Ceylonese. I should be surprised if Ceylonese held shares in these banks. These banks have not brought capital from abroad but are working here by collecting and utilizing the money of this country. They pay a small rate of interest on their deposits and that money is again lent to people of this country through the intermediary of Shroffs and Chettiars at a high rate of

interest, sometimes 15 to 18 per cent. The interest that is ultimately paid by the borrower is so high that his business or production can hardly bear it. The result of this system could be nothing but collapse and failure in the end. (Banking Commission, 1934, vol.2, pp.419-21)

George E. de Silva also criticized the absence of a “national policy,” and the failure of the banks to train locals, and elaborated on the lack of investment and therefore of economic development. He stated:

The existing banking system lacks national policy, which would certainly be in the forefront if the institutions were in our own hands. There would then be the desire to assist in the growth of our economic resources. The present bankers have not that patriotism to guide them. Their object is merely to make money and assist the trade and industries of their countries… [They] have deliberately kept out people of the Island from responsible posts. It would have been something if they had realized their responsibility to Ceylon and tried to train our own men in the banking profession. (as quoted in Ceylon Banking Commission, vol. 2, 1934, pp.419-21)

The impact of the economic depression on local investors was deplored by de Silva. He also blamed the policies of the foreign-owned banks during these years of crisis. If national banks had existed then, they “would have adopted more sympathetic policies,” he added. Gunasekara notes that this problem was common in a colonial situation:

The failure of foreign banks to integrate themselves fully with the internal economy has been a common phenomenon in countries which have been the field of capital investment by overseas countries. (Gunasekera, pp. 204-5)

The problems and hardships facing the local plantation owners were described by de Silva:

Our people borrow money for developing estates and they pay exorbitant rates of interest. As soon as the estates approach bearing point they find themselves in difficulties and cannot meet their obligations. Ultimately the land has to be sold and the borrower loses all his inheritance and life savings.

The plight of low-income groups such as clerks was also referred to by de Silva:

The people are heavily in debt. Moneylenders, particularly the Afghan [Pathan] type, do a thriving business charging poor unlucky persons sometimes over 100 per cent by way of interest. Mostly poor people and clerks

get into their clutches and they are ultimately ruined. (as quoted in Ceylon Banking Commission, vol. 2, 1934, pp.419-21)

An “Invaluable Document”

The Ceylon Banking Commission Report, according to Weerasooria, “is looked upon as one of the best and most authentic and authoritative accounts of the financial and economic condition of the island at that time” (Weerasooria, 1973, p.xvii). Gunasekera (1962, p.201), describes the Commission Report as: an exhaustive analysis of every aspect of credit in Ceylon, ranging from the organized credit institutions such as the commercial banks and the State Mortgage Bank, to the Chettiars, pawnbrokers, ‘boutique keepers’ and Afghan moneylenders who were the main suppliers of credit to the Ceylonese population.

The Commissioners acknowledged the work of NU, stating at the end of the Report that they “wished to place on record our appreciation of the able help that we have received from our Assistant Secretary with his knowledge and experience of Government Departments.” NU claimed that “the brunt of the work” of the Commission fell on him, especially as the Secretary, Das Gupta, served only on a part-time basis. Interestingly, as NU progressed upwards in his career, he would work again with Das Gupta in different capacities, first in the University College of Ceylon and then later in the Central Bank, when NU became Deputy Governor.

NU not only contributed to the work of the Banking Commission but also would have learned much from this important exercise, benefiting from interaction with Pochkhanawala and Das Gupta and also from listening to the evidence presented from a variety of sources. For NU, whose Economics degree had given him a theoretical understanding of the subject, the shocking stories of financial ruin of Sri Lankans during the Depression exposed him to the practical economic problems that people faced. It was a lesson in the economic realities of colonial rule, the backward nature of the economy, the need for local financial institutions, the class structure of Sri Lankan society and the role of foreigners – both British and Indian – in controlling credit. Being associated with a key commission on banking would have further bolstered NU’s interest in the banking sector, with which he remained closely involved for the rest of his life.

For NU, the experience was of tremendous value. Many years later, in 1961 as a Senator, NU, in a debate on the Budget and the Bank of Ceylon, would refer to the Banking Commission as being
the place where he cut his “financial teeth.” (N.U. JAYAWARDENA The First Five Decades Chapter 8 can read online on https://island.lk/early-career-and-londondegree/)

By Kumari Jayawardena and Jennifer Moragoda ✍️
Such financial teeth as I possess were cut with the Commission that was appointed to examine the banking system of this country – the Pochkhanawala Commission – of which I was Assistant Secretary.(N.U. Jayawardena, Senate Debate, 3 Oct. 1961, Hansard, p.832)


Related Topics:
Continue Reading
Advertisement
Click to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Features

New mediation law for smarter dispute resolution of civil and commercial disputes – I

Published

22 hours ago

on

2026/06/16

By

The Mediation (Civil and Commercial Disputes) Bill  was passed by the Parliament on Thursday, June 11, 2026.  Harshana  Nanayakkara, Minister of Justice and National Integration, introduced the Bill, and explained its provisions and value for Sri Lanka and global developments in the use of mediation. Encouragingly, it was passed unanimously.

Sri Lanka’s commitment to provide legislative support for the use of mediation is timely and most welcome. Given that the backlog of cases pending before courts is over a staggering 1.1 million, it is clear that Sri Lanka is yet another country that remains challenged to find responses to make  dispute resolution more efficient. The impact of laws delays is serious and damaging not only to the disputants personally, but also for businesses and the economic development of the country. The delays in concluding cases impacts the economy adversely, both directly and indirectly,  but are often seen only as an access to Justice concern. This is unfortunate. In many jurisdictions across the globe, alternative dispute resolution processes (ADR), such as mediation, have been introduced to alleviate laws delays. While Sri Lanka enacted legislation (1988) to provide for mediation in respect of minor community disputes of a low monetary threshold, the enactment of the new law heralds a commitment to provide for the recognition of a disciplined regime for its use for higher value civil and commercial disputes.

The new law provides for the recognition of mediation as a dispute resolution option that can be voluntarily selected by parties, and for a governance regime to ensure that mediations are conducted in compliance with certain standards which are globally accepted. It provides statutory recognition to the principle that a mediated settlement agreement that has been signed by the disputants, is valid in law. It does not provide for any management control by government or establish entities. In addition to the voluntary reference by parties, a  court can also refer a dispute in an action before it, to mediation, at its discretion, after considering all  circumstances and if considered appropriate.  The voluntary nature of the process is not affected because, while the court can refer the dispute to mediation and the parties must then engage in the mediation, there is no compulsion for the parties to settle against their will.

The law sets out the obligations of Mediators, disputants and the Service Provider. Certain categories of disputes cannot be referred  to mediation.  These are disputes the settlement of which requires the inclusion of terms that can be given effect to, only on a decree of court, such as the termination of a marriage or a declaration of nullity of marriage or the adoption of a child or the partition of land to obtain rights in rem.  A schedule sets out eleven (11) categories of actions that cannot be settled by mediation. However,  matters relevant to such disputes may be mediated for the purpose of submitting terms of settlement to court for consideration of incorporation in a judgement, decree or order in compliance with applicable law.

The new law also provides that in a mediation, certain  key principles of the process must be complied with. These include the  confidentiality and the without prejudice rule in respect of matters discussed at the mediation; the  rule that Mediators must be neutral and impartial; the party centric nature of the process that provides primacy to the wishes of the disputants including that it is they that determine the outcome and that a settlement is reached only if all disputants agree to the terms; the noncoercive role of the mediator whose duty is to facilitate and manage the process using mediation specific skills and techniques, but is debarred from imposing a decision. Although a settlement agreement is valid in law, provision is included to obtain a decree of court, based on the terms of the settlement. A mediated settlement agreement can be set aside on an application made to court, on specific limited grounds which are provided for, including that it is offensive to the public policy of the country. If the parties are unable to agree on a settlement, a certificate of non-settlement is issued. The provisions of the law are based on international best practices and principles articulated in the 1988 UN Mediation Convention  (the Singapore Convention) and the UNCITRAL model law.

The popularity of mediation has grown for its value in being time efficient, cost effective and party centric. Parties have control over the outcome and have the space to discuss their concerns, fears and interests and need never agree to settle unless fully satisfied that settlement terms address their interests. Disputants are free to walk out of a mediation process at any time, if dissatisfied with the progress. The discussions are confidential and a valuable feature is that the process offers an opportunity to reduce acrimony which is prevalent in most disputes, and to restore fractured relationships which is very important in family  and  business related disputes. This benefit and the prospects for governments to reduce the cost of the administration of justice, by using mediation,  is articulated in the preamble to the 2018 UN Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation (2018) which states that the use of mediation results in significant benefits.

 Pursuant to the interest generated within the country regarding the value of using Mediation for commercial dispute resolution, and heralding what we like to see as the initial steps of a Mediation boom in the country, several positive advancements have taken place –

*    Parties have opted to include mediation in the dispute resolution clause in contracts;

*    Given that mediating disputes requires  very specialised techniques and skills, many professionals, including predominantly Lawyers, have engaged in training programmes offered by international training bodies that offer accreditation;

*    Trained Mediators are engaged in an effort to form themselves as a professional Organisation;

*    Mediation  Advocacy training programmes have been held to train Lawyers on their niche role in the mediation process. That role is distinctly different to that of a court Lawyer who’s obligations are centred on an adversarial approach where the dispute is adjudicated in terms of the law alone.  Hence lawyers need training to be useful within a non-adversarial process which is party centric and has a focus on reaching a settlement, based on the interests of disputants.

*    Sri Lanka enacted the Recognition and Enforcement of International Mediated Settlement Agreements Act No. 5 of 2024 (the UN Mediation Convention Act) and ratified the Convention becoming the 14th country to do so. Sri Lanka will be seen as an investor friendly country in respect of dispute resolution where mediation is used, since it offers an enforcement regime which is recognised universally.

*    The landmark determination of the Supreme Court (SC SD 22 of 2025) in the challenge by the Bar Association to the constitutionality of the Mediation (Civil and Commercial Disputes) Bill, found that none of the provisions of the Bill were unconstitutional and gave a judicial sign off to statutory provisions that seek to ensure that mediation services are provided in this country, in a disciplined manner in compliance with universally accepted standards.

*    Perhaps, inspired by the statutory obligation imposed on judges to attempt pretrial settlement of disputes, in terms of the Small Claims Court Act and the Small Claims Court Procedure Act (both of 2022) and the Civil Procedure Code provisions on Pretrial Conference and Pretrial Orders, 125 District Judges were recently trained (with support from the ADB) in Mediation. The training provided a dual benefit – it provided training in  skills that are required to settle disputes and equally importantly, provided a comprehensive understanding of how mediation will function when judges themselves refer disputes for settlement by private mediators.

*    Trained Mediators are already conducting mediations with success.

*    A not-for-profit guarantee company, the International ADR Centre – www.iadrc.lk ) was established in 2018  as a joint venture of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce and the Institute for the Development of Commercial Law & Practice (ICLP) to promote ADR and is actively engaged in promoting mediation through training, disseminating information and creating awareness among stakeholders, including the business sector.   In addition to the International ADR Centre, “Udecide”  is a project that promotes training of mediators and other activities that enrich the mediation culture.

*    Commercial Mediation has been included in the Masters level programme at the Colombo University;

*    The Sri Lanka Law College offers a component on Mediation in the Post Attorney Diploma programme, which commenced recently.

The private sector was actively engaged in the drafting of the  Mediation Bill under the leadership of the International ADR Centre, which held many stakeholder consultations to obtain feedback from those that were conversant with the subject. The Centre had previously assisted the government to draft the UN Mediation Convention Act (Act No. 5 of 2024).

Several international Organisations that previously provided for resolution of disputes by arbitration, have provided for institutional rules to provide mediation services. These include WIPO and the ICC. Specifically, in relation to Investor State dispute resolution (ISDR), the  International Bar Association (IBA) adopted its  Mediation  Rules in 2012 and ICSID (of the World Bank group) adopted its Mediation Rules in 2022.  UNCITRAL, which is currently working on reforming  ISDR, promotes mediation, observing that the use of mediation could reduce the costs of ISDS and also preserve relationships between the investor and the State. UNCITRAL has formulated provisions on and Guidelines for, Mediation for investor state dispute resolution.

(To be continued)

by Dhara Wijayatilake
Attorney-at-Law; Former Secretary to the Ministry of Justice; Director and Secretary General of the International ADR Centre.

Continue Reading

Features

A Testament to the Sri Lankan family

Published

22 hours ago

on

2026/06/16

By

The passing of Dr. Devanesan Nesiah a few days ago brought back memories that spanned more than four decades. Devanesan signed the witness register at my marriage in 2002. It was a year of hope. The Ceasefire Agreement between the government and the LTTE had brought a respite from a war that had devastated the country for nearly two decades. The possibility of peace seemed real. It was fitting that Devanesan should be present on that occasion because his entire life was dedicated to building bridges across divides and seeking rational and humane solutions to conflict. He was a friend, mentor, and guide whose life embodied values that Sri Lanka, indeed the world, needs today.

In reflecting on Dr. Nesiah’s life, we need to be reminded that the forces that unite us as a people in Sri Lanka are stronger than those that divide us, and that the bonds of human affection can transcend even the deepest divisions of ethnicity, history and politics. I first met him in 1984. I had just had my very first newspaper article published in the Jaffna-based Saturday Review. The editor was Gamini Navaratne, a Sinhalese. This was a reminder that even during the darkest period of ethnic conflict, the bonds between communities remained strong. The article I had written was based on my encounters with the anti-Tamil violence of July 1983.

At that time, Dr Nesiah was the Government Agent of Jaffna. Tens of thousands of Tamil people who had fled violence in the south had been transported to the north by a government that had failed to protect them. He came up to me at an event, introduced himself, and told me that he liked what I had written. He also said that he would soon be leaving for Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and that we could meet there. Over the next three years, Devanesan and his wife Anita adopted me into their family.  I used to visit them two or three times a week, not only to be given meals by Anita but to discuss matters with Devanesan.  These included the academic papers and newspaper articles that were written. Later, Anita earned her PhD in religion and served on the boards of many civic organisations, including the National Peace Council.

Practical Solution

In 1992, we had both returned to work in Sri Lanka when Devanesan invited me to accompany him to Jaffna to celebrate the eightieth birthday of his father, K Nesiah, the distinguished educationist affectionately known as Professor Nesiah. The older Nesiah had been a leading member of the Jaffna Youth Congress. This remarkable movement championed complete independence from British rule, national unity, and the eradication of social inequalities based on caste and communal identity.

At a time when many feared that independence would lead to majoritarian domination, the leaders of the Youth Congress chose instead to place their faith in a shared Sri Lankan future. They believed that people from different communities could build a common nation while preserving their distinctive identities. So did Devanesan.  This vision remains relevant today. It needs to be actualized.

The tragedy of Sri Lanka’s post-independence history is not that diversity exists. Diversity exists in every society. The tragedy is that we often allow diversity to become a source of fear, though we share many of the same values of family, hospitality, respect for elders and compassion towards others. During our visit to Jaffna in 1992, we met representatives of the LTTE administration, including Raheem. The discussion turned to the controversial issue of merging the Northern and Eastern Provinces. Dr Nesiah argued that if the merger could not be achieved due to political opposition, it might be more rational to seek greater powers for provincial councils instead. Raheem disagreed.  Devanesan was interested in finding practical ways to achieve justice and coexistence. That was characteristic of him.

Devanesan Nesiah was a student of conflict and strategy. He became a doctoral student of Professor Thomas Schelling, who would later receive the Nobel Prize for his pioneering work on conflict and cooperation. Schelling’s insight was that even in the midst of conflict, there are usually common interests that adversaries share. Even adversaries locked in a struggle usually depend on each other for the outcome they each want. The challenge is to identify those common interests and build upon them. Conflict is not simply a contest between enemies. It is also a search for ways to coexist. Together as students and peace practitioners, we applied those theories to the Sri Lankan context to understand what was going on and to share that understanding with the Sri Lankan people.

Rational Empathy

Dr Nesiah spoke his mind, truth to power. He was a man of logic, rationality, and principle. His integrity came at a cost. His public service career experienced many ups and downs because he refused to accommodate irrational or corrupt demands. There were periods when he was sidelined into that administrative limbo known as the “pool” and assigned no substantive responsibilities for refusing to give in to political demands. Like the rest of his larger family, most notably the Hoole family of Jaffna, he would not abandon his principles. In 2018, to protest the action of President Maithripala Sirisena in sacking the then government he returned his Deshamanya Award (Pride of the Nation) national civil honourn which was soon thereafter overturned by the Supreme Court as being unconstitutional. His commitment was not to personal advancement, but to what he believed was right.

My wife Sumadhu recalls a story he told her. One day, while travelling on official duty, he told her how he had seen a thalagoya, a monitor lizard, trussed up and being taken away for slaughter. The sight of the creature’s suffering affected him deeply. He said he saw tears in its eyes and described the moment of awakening. From that day onwards, he gave up eating meat.

The story brings to mind the biblical story of the conversion of St Paul on the road to Damascus and the Buddhist exhortation, “May all living beings be well and happy.” But the deeper significance lies not in religious comparison. It lies in the awakening of empathy.

That was the essence of Dr Devanesan Nesiah’s worldview. The prejudices that society often imposes through ethnicity, religion, caste, or gender had little hold on him. He saw them as human constructs that often served to privilege some while excluding others. Such were his values that made him an extraordinary human being. Dr. Nesiah lived according to that understanding. He showed that integrity can survive amidst conflict. He reminded us that reason and compassion are not opposites but partners, that what unites us as Sri Lankans inhabiting our common island home has always been greater than what divides us, and we need to build our institutions accordingly.

I am proud that he was my friend. I am grateful that he was my mentor.

by Jehan Perera

Continue Reading

Features

City of Dreams …Heartbeat of Colombo

Published

22 hours ago

on

2026/06/16

By

Enroute

If Colombo’s nightlife had a pulse, you’d find it 23 floors up, at Gatz, City of Dreams, Cinnamon Life.

The entertainment lounge has shed its old skin and stepped out supper-club style — think dim lights, clinking glasses, and live music that doesn’t ask you to choose between dinner and a show. You get both.

What’s more, at the new look Gatz the music never stops and it’s all happening seven nights a week … with live entertainment, and this is the scene, beat by beat:

Monday and Tuesday: Top Hats with Daniella/Naomi, from 7.00 pm onwards.

Sohan, Kamal Munasinghe (GM, Cinnamon Life) and Imran of
Funtime Entertainments

One of Colombo’s most sought-after bands is now a Monday-Tuesday ritual.

With a super repertoire, Top Hats can swing from lounge jazz to dancefloor fire. Big venues love them. Now Gatz gets to claim them.

Wednesday: Enroute with Gananath & Debbie – from 7.00 pm onwards.

Want New York at sunset? This is it. Gananath & Debbie transport you straight to the heady days of Frank Sinatra, Dean Martin, and Ray Charles …old-school cool, live and unfiltered.

Thursday to Sunday: Terry & the Big Spenders – from 8.00 pm onwards.

Terry & The Big Spenders

The crowd favourite. A super big band sound that owns the 70s, 80s and 90s.

If you’ve been waiting for horns, harmonies, and nostalgia with volume, Terry & the Big Spenders deliver it nightly. No wonder they’re a huge hit.

Gatz is now an entertainment lounge, in Supper Club style, with Happy Hour very day, from 6.00 pm to 8.00 pm because the night, they say, should start with a toast.

And, from July, weekends at the Gatz go global. Local and foreign guest stars will be around to entertain you. Gatz is certainly booking big.

Wow! That would be another exciting experience for those patronising the most talked about venue in town.

In charge of the new setup is our legendary entertainer/singer Sohan Weerasinghe, along with Imran of Funtime Entertainment.

The twosome, with invaluable assistance from the General Manager, Kamal Munasinghe, and the entire team at Cinnamon Life, have built Gatz into more than a venue. They have turned it into the “Heartbeat of the City.”

So come for happy hour. Stay for Terry’s horns, Sing-along with Enroute and Dance with Top Hats, all on the 23rd floor, and while Colombo sparkles below the bands will take you higher.

Remember, the heartbeat is loudest at Gatz.

Top Hats

Continue Reading

Trending