Features

THE POST-WAR PERIOD AND INDEPENDENCE

Published

12 months ago

2025/08/3

Thilina Walpola

Continued from last week

NU’s Career Advances

In May of 1942, a month after the Japanese attack, NU was promoted to a higher post within the Department of Commerce and Industries. He was also seconded to serve as Deputy Commissioner in the Department of Commodity Purchase, where he was placed in charge of arranging the supply of commodities such as desiccated coconut and copra to the Food Ministry in Britain. (Interestingly, NU had selected “The Oil Seed Trade with Specific Reference to Copra” as his special subject when he applied for his M.Sc. (Econ.) degree. Correspondence from his Personal Files show that, while NU was studying at the LSE, Professor Paish, who was one of his professors, recommended NU to a London merchant dealing in edible oils, to carry out a survey of “The Trade in Edible Oils… from Production, through Importation, Distribution and Marketing to Consumers’ Demand” (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files).

In NU’s words:

As Deputy Commissioner of Commodity Purchase, it fell to my lot to plan out the organization of the department in the early stages, particularly in regard to the purchase schemes for copra, oil and plumbago. Later I was engaged in reorganizing the operative methods of the Department and, in this connection, compiled a comprehensive code of departmental instructions.

He listed the activities of the Department of Commodity Purchase, “which was run on business lines,” and described the strength of the staff:

[There were] 11 Staff Officers including a full-time Commissioner and myself as Deputy, a store personnel of 112, and a clerical establishment of 117, while the annual turnover of the transactions of the Department exceeds Rs. 50 million. (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files)

The Department of Commodity Purchase was based in the Bristol Hotel, which was located opposite the Cargill’s store, in the Colombo Fort. The Director of the Department was L.J.B. Turner, for whom NU had earlier worked at the Registrar General’s Office. In his rapid career ascent, NU would begin to catch up with and overtake persons for whom he had worked earlier. In 1946, he was appointed Acting Commissioner of War Risks Insurance to fill in for F. Leach, who had left the country. One may recall that it was F. Leach who had tried to appoint a Mudaliyar’s son over NU when he had applied for his first government job as a junior clerk of the District Road Committee in Hambantota (see Chapter 5).

Another Career Landmark

In June of 1946, NU was seconded to serve in the newly created post of Additional Controller of Finance and Supplies (Economics), in addition to the other posts he held. This was the first posting in the Treasury Department and it would have brought him much satisfaction, as the Treasury Department was considered to be the pinnacle of the civil service. Such a swift ascent was bound to create problems. The ‘mandarins’ of the Civil Service did not take kindly to the promotions which NU, the outsider, was given by the time he was 38, and to the multiple posts he held. Their resentment was all the more because the salary he received from these combined posts was ‘somewhat in excess of two Officers of State, one of whom was [his] superior authority’ (N.U. Jayawardena, 11 May 1987, p.3).

NU had risen on proven merit, rather than by passing the Civil Service examination, and as head of four separate departments, he received an income equal to a Class 1, Grade II official of the Ceylon Civil Service – even though he was not a member. This led the

Ceylon Civil Service Association to lodge a strong protest against NU. ( There is a letter addressed to NU in his Personal Files, dated 18 November 1946, in which the Chief Secretary wrote to inform him of his provisional appointment, to act “in addition to your own duties… as Additional Commissioner, Commodity Purchase, and Commissioner, War Risks Insurance, pending receipt of the advice of the Public Services Commission” (emphasis added). In this connection, NU described in detail a revealing episode involving the Acting Financial Secretary, C.E. Jones, which clearly exemplifies the phenomenon of the dethroning of the old guard elite – the “cultivated gentlemen” – by specialist technocrats who succeeded on merit (mentioned in the previous chapter):

There was, before [the Acting Financial Secretary] a rather bulky file containing dispatches from the Secretary of State on a highly complex subject of Economic Relations, which it fell to my lot to study, analyse and present in the form of a comprehensive report to… the Governor… to be signed by the Financial Secretary, together with a lengthy dispatch to the Secretary of State. [This was] a subject he did not know, [and] on which he could rely without reservation on my analysis and presentation. He then handed them the file with the request that if they or their colleagues felt they could do a better job than I had done, they were free to identify such a person to take over my position and other positions I held, and also receive the aggregate emoluments I was paid. (Apart from being dependent on NU to get through his work, it is interesting to speculate whether C.E. Jones’ sympathies with NU may have been strengthened due to the fact that Jones, too, had graduated from the London University (BSc.), unlike many of the senior members of the Ceylon Civil Service who were mostly products of Cambridge and Oxfor (ibid)

Following this interview with Jones, the representatives of the Civil Service Association left NU – as he triumphantly termed it – “severely alone.” Whether he was disturbed or not by the episode, NU was not slow to see its moral. Though he noted that it spoke volumes for the Association’s sense of ‘fair play’ and ‘merit,’ it no doubt made NU aware of the pitfalls and hazards of holding important positions in public life. Chapter 10 can read online on https://island.lk/nu-at-the-london-school-of-economics/

In regard to finance, my government intends to seek expert advice with regard to changes in our financial structure which may be necessitated by the transition from a colonial to a free, national economy.

(Throne Speech, Sir Henry Monck-Mason Moore, Governor, 25 Nov. 1947)

Slaughter tapping a rubber tree

The post-war period presented the country with a series of further economic hardships and challenges. The burdens of inflation, shortages of food and other imported items, as well as rationing and a series of controls, increased in the war’s aftermath. The State continued to play an interventionist role in the market, stepping up its regulatory controls, due to the continuing shortages of essential goods and the scarcity of exchange with which to buy these goods. Stanley Wickramaratne has aptly described, the “plethora of controls” regulating the supply of goods and services, and in general the free mobility of its citizens during and after the Second World War, which

… were departmentalized by the State and named Food Control, Textile Control, Rubber Control, Tea Control, Milk Food Control, Petrol Control, Poonac Control, Price Control and Import-Export and Exchange Control…

[After] Independence these control mechanisms gradually ceased to function except the last two mentioned. (Wickramaratne, 2002)

Sri Lanka was adversely impacted by factors associated with the worldwide economic and physical destruction caused by the war and had to hold its own in a world reeling from economic breakdown. Competing for access to markets and limited resources from a weak position, Sri Lanka had few options and was held hostage to the vagaries of the international market. As a small nation with an undiversified economy, it relied heavily on the export of a few agricultural commodities – primarily tea and rubber – for a large part of its revenue. (According to Das Gupta (1949, p.9), Sri Lanka produced “only a few things, but produces them almost entirely for export,” and derived about 60% of

its income from agricultural exports, producing only a quarter to a third of its total rice requirements.) Furthermore, it was not self-sufficient in the production of essential goods and was disadvantaged by an undeveloped banking system and capital market, as well as the lack of an industrial base. Thus, Sri Lanka had next to no recourse to internal financing that could help provide a financial cushion to tide over this period, nor the means to provide the investment capital to step up local production of essential goods to replace costly imports.

There was much that needed to be worked out and negotiated, and new institutions had to be set up to help meet the needs of the soon-to-be independent Sri Lanka and the challenges of the evolving post-war economic order. In addition, financial and trade arrangements had to be planned to bridge the immediate needs of the nation. After independence, Sri Lanka would be faced with the additional challenge of asserting itself as an independent sovereign nation.

NU described his work during this period of transition as a time when he “performed the functions of the principal financial and economic adviser to the Ceylon Government” (N.U. Jayawardena Personal Files). Over the four-year period, which stretched from 1946 to 1950, NU attended and assisted in several international conferences and negotiations. On the eve of national independence, NU would rise from his position as Controller of Finance and Supplies (Economics) to become both Controller of Exchange and Controller of Imports and Exports, and would set up the machinery for the operations of exchange control.

Declining Terms of Trade

By the war’s end, Sri Lanka had managed to accumulate substantial foreign-exchange surpluses, which were largely due to increased earnings from stepped-up rubber production, a reduction in imports during wartime as well as payments for basing the British South East Asia Command in Sri Lanka. However, as pointed out by Das Gupta (1949, p.31), these surpluses were “a measure not so much of prosperity but of privation,” since during the war, these could not be utilized as desired to purchase essential imports, and consumption had to be curtailed at great hardship to the population. Furthermore, following the war, these hard-earned savings actually lost value in real terms as the prices of imports rose sharply and the rise in the export price of rubber – Sri Lanka’s major export – did not keep pace. The restoration of Malaysian and Indonesian rubber stocks to the world market, and consequent increase in supply, had a somewhat dampening effect on the world price of rubber.

Sri Lanka’s foreign-exchange surpluses were quickly depleted, even though consumption continued to be restricted by the government to meet this dilemma. Ironically, by the year 1947, although imports were reduced to about the same level they had been in 1938, the economy experienced a balance-of-payments crisis, owing to a decline in the terms of trade. The case of rice imports starkly illustrates the economic dilemma Sri Lanka faced. According to Das Gupta, in 1947, Sri Lanka imported half the quantity of rice it had in 1938, but the bill for this was about two and a half times what it had been in 1938 (ibid, pp.90-91).

Workers loading dry goods in a Colombo warehouse

NU’s Link with Oliver Goonetilleke

In 1945, Oliver Goonetilleke (OEG) was appointed to the prestigious post of Financial Secretary – one of the three Officers of State – as the first (and last) Sri Lankan to hold this position. NU would now work more closely with him. In 1946, on one of his first high-level visits abroad, NU accompanied OEG to the UK to assist him in the negotiations with the British government on “post-war financial issues affecting Sri Lanka” (Ceylon Civil List, 1950, p.86). According to Jeffries, during this period one of the chief areas of negotiation involved “the continual struggle to secure an economic price for Ceylon rubber” (1969, p.106). When Indonesia and Malaysia fell under Japanese control during the war, both Britain and its allies relied heavily on Sri Lanka to step up production to meet the shortfall in this critical war material. At the war’s end, Sri Lanka’s rubber yields were adversely affected due to the wartime “slaughtertapping” (over-tapping) of its rubber trees. ( Das Gupta stated that at least one-quarter of all the rubber trees in Sri Lanka had been slaughter-tapped during the war.) According to Jeffries:

The [Sri Lankan rubber] industry had already sacrificed its interest in order that the war might be won, but now Ceylon was being expected to compete on equal terms in the market with Malaya and Indonesia whose plantations were in full production after the enforced wartime rest. (Jeffries, 1969, p.106) ( Sri Lanka’s strong reliance on rubber for its revenue continued into the early 1950s. In 1952 R.G. Senanayake, who was Minister of Trade and Commerce, negotiated a Rubber-Rice Pact with the People’s Republic of China, in which the former agreed to purchase Sri Lanka’s entire annual output of rubber for five years at a premium, in exchange for rice supplied at a price well below the world market price (see de Silva & Wriggins, 1988, pp.269-71).)

OEG, who had a reputation as an astute negotiator, would have reminded the British government of Sri Lanka’s loyal support and sacrifices made during the war and of Britain’s moral obligation towards Sri Lanka. His skills of persuasion were legendary both in Sri Lanka and in Britain. A British government official was said to have woefully remarked that, “after shaking hands with him, it was advisable to check that all one’s fingers were there” (ibid, p.82). OEG once described himself as “no chicken in either strategy or in tactics” (ibid, p.74); and NU characterized him as someone who was “uncommonly intelligent,” and “highly imaginative… astute to the point of being uncanny, and an able negotiator” (quoted in de Zoysa manuscript, p.15).

Negotiations in London took place over a period of three and a half months from the end of July to mid-November 1946. An interesting side note to this episode is that during this time, NU visited his professors at the London School of Economics to inquire into the possibilities of resuming studies for his interrupted M.Sc. degree. He apparently had not abandoned hopes of completing his studies for a postgraduate degree. Although records show that his professors were amenable to this proposition, NU’s career again overtook him and he never completed this degree (LSE Student Records on N.U. Jayawardena).

Independence

Earlier in 1942, when the British government entered into discussions with India on the question of its independence, the Sri Lankan leadership also began to place pressure on the British regarding the same issue. According to Charles Jeffries, the Civil Defence Department

became the regular meeting place for “the triumvirate” of D.S. Senanayake, Oliver Goonetilleke and Ivor Jennings, who planned and worked out the negotiating points and strategies that would be undertaken towards this goal (Jeffries, pp.68-69). By 1943, this group had managed to wrest preliminary terms of agreement from the colonial government. In December 1944, a Commission composed of Lord Soulbury, Sir Frederick Rees and Frederick Burrows visited the island, and the resulting Soulbury Constitution (1947) introduced to the country a parliamentary government with a cabinet system for the first time. Elections were held under this constitution in August and September 1947, and the newly founded United National Party (UNP) formed the government. Its leader, D.S. Senanayake became the first Prime Minister of Sri Lanka and J.R. Jayewardene (JR) was appointed Finance Minister.

Working with J.R. Jayewardene

NU worked with JR in various official capacities over a period of nearly six years. He first came to know JR in 1946, when NU was appointed, along with his colleague K. Williams, to the Treasury in the newly created positions of Controller of Finance and Supply (Economics) – a year before JR assumed office as Finance Minister. NU was to work for him successively in his capacities as Controller of Exchange, Deputy Governor and Governor of the Central Bank.

NU found JR to be an unassuming and courteous Minister, who was never “intellectually stubborn or arrogant,” and who possessed a “fine sense of humour.” He found him “more ready to learn than to talk” and felt he “brought to bear a trained… [and] legal mind”

(N.U. Jayawardena, c.1985, p.59). According to NU:

JR wanted facts and their analysis, but would not accept any rendering of analysis unless he was convinced of its validity… He was thus more concerned with the substance and less with the detail… JR was quick to perceive and was not slow to decide, which he did with deliberation but once he had decided he remained unshakeable unless new facts or new situations emerged to justify the review of decisions taken. (ibid)

For NU, working for JR was “both a demanding duty and an intellectual pleasure” (ibid). He found in JR an eagerness to learn – a quality which NU himself valued and shared. JR, a lawyer by profession, felt he needed a grounding in economics. NU worked closely

with him, explaining the economic realities to the Minister – as did Professor B.B. Das Gupta of the Economics Department of the University, whom JR consulted on economic issues. The new Finance Minister had to absorb his lessons quickly, as he had to contend with several technically complex issues and crises during this period, including the international negotiations that led to two Sterling Assets Agreements with the UK, setting up the exchange control machinery required to ensure the success of these agreements, as well as laying the groundwork for the creation of a Central Bank. NU would be centrally involved in all of these areas.

Controller of Exchange

NU was appointed Controller of Exchange in April 1947. This was a prestigious post in which he was the implementer of some “purely central banking functions,” including “the determination of foreign exchange rates, control of foreign exchange holdings of commercial banks, and arrangements for forward cover” (N.U. Jayawardena, 1950, p.11). Exchange control originally came into operation in Sri Lanka upon the outbreak of war in Europe in September 1939, and was initially restricted to financial transactions in the non-sterling area. NU started out with a “skeleton staff” of nine members, working from an office on the first floor of the De Mel Building on Chatham Street (N.U. Jayawardena, 1949, p.29).

Near the end of 1947, Sri Lanka suffered a severe drain on its “overseas balances,” which was also causing “serious financial difficulties” to Britain. This crisis resulted in the government’s tentative decision to extend exchange control to include the sterling area – in other words, it would now cover “all financial transactions between Ceylon and the outside world” (ibid, p.10; and N.U. Jayawardena, 1950, p.3). Before undertaking this step, NU was sent to spend a “short but useful period” at the Reserve Bank of India in Mumbai to study the exchange control operations of that institution.( . A couple of months earlier, in September 1947, India had already extended her controls to cover the sterling area, due to similar circumstances (N.U. Jayawardena, 1949, p.10). He later spent additional time studying the exchange control operations at the Bank of England to obtain further technical training. When exchange control was extended to cover the sterling areas in June 1948, NU was appointed full-time Controller of Exchange and relieved of his other duties to enable him to devote his full energies and attention to exchange control (ibid, p.12).

This extension of controls “multiplied the volume of work manifold,” demanding “a new orientation of policy on principles which bore little relationship to the practices pertaining to non-sterling area transactions” (The increased scale of operations can be put into perspective if one bears in mind that at that time, 60% of all imports and 70% of all exports were transacted with sterling-area countries (see de Silva & Wriggins, p.220).

Also, earlier, exchange control was limited to a few but not all countries in the non-sterling area, and these “transactions were mainly derived from instructions received from the Secretary of State for the Colonies” (N.U. Jayawardena, 1949, p.11). (ibid, p.11). With the introduction of extended controls, every transaction involving foreign trade or foreign remittances had to pass through the Exchange Control Department and therefore required close coordination with other government departments such as Customs, the Post Office, Import and Export Control, and Food Control. In addition, an advisory committee, which included the heads of the main banks such as the Bank of Ceylon and the Imperial Bank, was formed to give advice to the Controller.

A comprehensive manual was drawn up and distributed to banks and authorized exchange dealers as well. A large number of staff members had to be recruited to carry out the expanded operations, requiring the Department to locate to more spacious quarters on York Street. ( The extent and rate of increase in staff numbers gives some indication of the onerous nature of exchange control operations. After relocating to York Street, by the end of 1948, a mere one and a half years after NU took over as Exchange Controller, the staff would increase to 191 members. “Congested conditions” later necessitated a further move to more spacious quarters in Echelon Barracks, some time in 1950 (N.U. Jayawardena, 1949, p.32).

In spite of the recruitment of additional staff, NU noted that: “it was still necessary to work long hours at a stretch to keep the machinery of control working and to avoid delays and inconvenience to the… public.”

Another challenge during the first year of operations was to train the staff, who initially did not have the technical knowledge required to carry out these controls. According to NU, it was “to their credit that they overcame this handicap in a short time” (N.U. Jayawardena,

1949, p.11). In his Administrative Report for the year 1949, NU described the year as a “trying and strenuous year” for his staff. He proudly noted that it gave him “no little pleasure to record that the Department of Exchange Control has, on the whole, maintained a high

reputation… an achievement of which every member of the staff should justly be proud” (N.U. Jayawardena, 1950, p.22). NU described exchange control as “an irksome restriction,” however, noting that it was a necessity at that time to promote a “more equitable distribution of goods in short supply.” Nonetheless, NU’s firm belief in the superiority of the market mechanism clearly comes out in this report, when he speculates about alternatives to exchange control, asking whether its ends could not be better served by:

methods based on the alternative principle of regulating the demand for foreign currencies at a stable exchange rate through the price mechanism. This is undoubtedly a question with many implications, administrative, economic and financial… It… deserves close study… by everyone who naturally resents the irksome restrictions of control. (ibid, p. 23, emphasis added)

A Passion for Work

There was no cutting back on his working hours when NU reached the position of Controller of Exchange. As before, a twelve-hour workday was the rule – with eighteen hours not being unusual. His daughter Neiliya recalls how NU would often ask her mother to

bring her for a drive and to pick him up in office:

I remember my mother and myself going to the Exchange Controller’s office, and sitting in the car for an hour or more waiting for my father to finish work. But he always kept us waiting. His assistant would bring bundles and bundles of files when he finally came down and put them in the luggage boot. This was always after 7:30 or 8 p.m.

Neiliya recalls how at other times:

I would have my dinner and go with my mother and pick him up. I would be given an ice-cream cone on the way home. He would go home and have a shower, have dinner and sit with his files from about 10 p.m. and work until around 2 a.m. He would then get up at 5 a.m., work until 7.30 a.m. and we would see him at his desk on our way out to school.

To be continued

(Excerpted from N.U. JAYAWARDENA The first five decades)
By Kumari Jayawardena and Jennifer Moragoda ✍️

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Features

America at 250: Most unfitting President, Biggest World Cup Tournament

Published

11 hours ago

2026/07/19

Thilina Walpola

Messi and Yamal to face each other in Sunday’s World Cup Final

The world’s oldest constitutional democracy turned 250 on the Fourth of July, two weeks ago. It is a rather quirky coincidence that in the 250^th year of its largely successful existence, America should be having as its president the most unfitting person in history, and that in keeping with the American trait for mixing serious purposes with fun and play, it should also be hosting perhaps the largest edition of the World Cup Football Tournament. The triple coincidence – the anniversary, Trump presidency and the World Cup – is not without some meaning.

The essence of the Trump presidency has been to recast America in the mould of Trump’s own vulgar and outlandish presuppositions about who belongs in America and what the rest of the world owes to America. Internal exclusions and external isolation have always been a part of American history, but Trump’s project has been to make them America’s sole and permanent purpose. Make America great again by making it more intolerant and more imperfect, as opposed to pursuing the country’s founding purpose of striving towards a “more perfect union.”

Trump is also giving a new meaning to America’s exceptional isolationism by slashing immigration, deporting American residents whom he and his Maga cabal don’t like for the vilest of reasons, withdrawing from global agencies that America created and closing down American agencies providing global services, imposing tariffs on every country and deeming them as payment for America’s past generosity under weak presidents, and threatening neighbours with annexation while militarily attacking others.

2007: Lionel Messi holding baby Lamine Yamal

He got his nose bloodied after listening to Netanyahu and starting a fight with Iran, made a fool of himself by first announcing that he will provide safe passage to ships through the Strait of Hormuz and charge them 20% of their cargo value, and immediately withdrawing it after being told that it was a lamebrained and impractical idea. The Iranian Foreign Minister tweeted that it is a good approach but 20% is too high! The reality is that Iran has effectively closed the strait again, after Trump said his ceasefire with Iran is over, and there is nothing the might of America can do about it – thanks solely to Trump.

The world, not to mention America, are back to where it was soon after February 28. And Trump is back to February 28, with more attacks on Iran while telling Israel to keep out of it and hoping that Iran will soon come to the table. The Iranian regime is insisting that it is Trump and not Iran who will have to blink first again. For the rest of the world and the people of America, fuel and fertilizer prices are again rising along with the prices of goods and services that depend on them.

Meanwhile, the Fourth of July marking America’s 250^th Anniversary of American independence has come and gone. Every year, Americans cheer and celebrate the Fourth of July as a civic festival in their local communities. Families take their children to Washington, Philadelphia, Gettysburg and other historical sites to learn and appreciate their history. The state hardly gets involved and there are no military parades or flights of fighter jets. Trump changed it last year by holding a military parade in Washington but it did not excite anyone. The army had to go to extraordinary lengths to protect the city roads from cracking up while parading its massive tanks. This year Trump’s efforts to turn the 250^th anniversary celebration into a personal vanity affair spectacularly backfired and what was becoming a national damp squib. Not so ironically, it was rescued by the 2026 World Cup tournament that began on Thursday, June 11 and will end on Sunday, July 19.

World Cup Down to the Wire

The 23^rd FIFA World Cup hosted by America, Mexico and Canada with matches played in 16 cities – 11 in the US, three in Mexico and two in Canada – became a significant occasion for the US. It provided an antidote to Trump’s vain and unsuccessful usurpation of the country’s 250^th anniversary, even as it became an occasion to show the world that there is still much more likeable about America in spite of all the ugly MAGA makeover that Trump has been giving it from the White House.

What is unique about America is that it is the first and the only immigrant country to become a superpower in world history. An open door country with a melting pot ethos, America has consistently struggled at every stage of its evolution to defy the homogeneity of the privileged, and to celebrate across-the-board heterogeneity in every aspect of the human condition. If the purpose of Trump’s presidency has been to break this arc of American history, the World Cup became an occasion to demonstrate that the arc will continue in spite of Trump.

The World Cup was an eye opener to both resident Americans and visiting football worshippers. Except for the Olympics sporting events, competitive sports in America are dominated by (American) Football, Baseball, Basketball and (Ice) Hockey, and the competitions are all limited to American teams along with some Canadian teams especially in Hockey. The extent of any international connection is limited to allowing players from Central America and Japan for Baseball, and from Canada and Eastern Europe for Hockey. In other words, American notions of exclusivity and self-sufficiency seamlessly extend to the world of sports from the universe of politics and economics.

The arrival of the World Cup, 32 years after America hosted its first and only World Cup in 1994, was an eye opener to American sports fans and the general public. This was international sports at their doorstep and an occasion to live through the experience of witnessing the world’s best exponents of the game fiercely displaying their talents in friendly competitions. The visiting fans who thronged the games brought life and diversity and retail spin offs to the cities where the games were played. The visitors to a person, both players and fans, were enthralled by the magnificence of America’s sporting facilities and the range of amusement and entertainment the host cities offered.

The tournament also became a smorgasbord of different nationalisms from around the world but manifesting pride and passion in support of national football teams and not boastful belligerence about national militaries. The teams were also more equal on the pitch than their governments are at the UN podium. The better teams of the day won in the end but every team made each game as competitive as it could. Small countries from West Asia, Africa and little Atlantic islands went boot-to-boot with European and South American giants and kept everyone guessing until the final whistle. The really big Asian countries – China, India, Indonesia etc. – could not qualify for admission, while Asia’s two industrial giants – Japan and South Korea – acquitted themselves well even though they were unlucky not to go beyond the group stage.

The team that America fielded should not have been allowed to represent the country based on Trump’s executive negation of all DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusion) programs in government and in federal hiring. But it did and the US team would have made the 1960s promoters of cross-racial ‘rainbow’ alliances proud. Similar rainbow teams have become the norm of almost all West European countries and England.

Players of colour have become superstars in western football teams and have quite clearly internalized natal nationalism as opposed to being assimilated by them. They are all descendants of birthright citizens of the old empires, a legal tradition that is more universal and anterior to the abolition of slavery and the 14^th Amendment in the US, as Chief Justice John Roberts reminded the Trump Administration in overturning its executive order to end the recognition of birthright citizenship in America. A practice that is shared by three dozen countries.

The US Team at the World Cup began as a promising outfit playing with flair and freewheeling style and could have gone as far as the Quarter Finals to play Spain. The team was undone prematurely by Trump’s sleazy intervention with FIFA bosses to suspend the Red Card penalty ban of a US player, Folarin Balogun, for a foul he had committed in an earlier match. Trump’s role and the penalty suspension created a public uproar and in the upshot an inspired Belgium trounced the US whose players performed very poorly perhaps under the weight of the embarrassment that their President had inflicted on them.

The World Cup tournament itself is now down to the final match, the 104^th of the tournament, on Sunday, July 19^th, between the reigning World Cup champions, Argentina, and Spain, the current Euro Cup holders. The match for the Third Place will be played on Saturday (July 18), between France who lost 0-2 to Spain in a surprisingly one-sided game, and England who went down in a heartbreaking 1-2 defeat to Argentina after leading 1-0 up till five minutes before the final whistle.

The French were the tournament’s cracking team till they came up against Spain who had been belabouring until then. The English team had bestirred all of England back home with their gritty win against Mexico in its national stadium full of 85,000 spectators, but once again came up short in the penultimate game.

The final between Argentina and Spain will feature the 39 year old Argentinian maestro, Lionel Messi, looking to win his second World Cup, and the 19 year old Spanish prodigy, Lamine Yamal. The football internet is abuzz with a 2007 photograph showing then 20 year old Messi carrying Yamal as an infant during a photo session in Barcelona, Spain, where Messi played club football. On Sunday, in New York/New Jersey, they will face each other in a spirited encounter for the biggest prize in sports.

by Rajan Philips

Features

Two memorable excerpts from a former SLAF commander’s memoir

Published

11 hours ago

2026/07/19

Thilina Walpola

Prime Minister Magaret Thatcher at opening of the Victoria dam. President Jayewardene, Mahaweli Minister Gamini Dissanayake and Finance Minister Ronnie de Mel are also in the picture

These two excerpts from the forthcoming book, To Survive As One Nation, One People by Air Chief Marshal Oliver Ranasinghe. A Retired Commander of the Sri Lanka Airforce makes interesting reading. The first is of a sudden demand on the SLAF for emergency air support for the besieged Jaffna Fort when the only available helicopters were being prepared for a VVIP flight for UK PM Margaret Thatcher and her husband, Mark.

The second deals with ferying PM Rajiv Gandhi and his wife Sonia to Katunayake after a naval rating had hit Gandhi with a rifle butt.

In April 1985, the UK’s first female prime minister visited Sri Lanka to ceremonially declare open the Victoria Dam and Power Station built with aid under the patronage of Queen Elizabeth II. The completion of the project was a significant milestone for the Accelerated Mahaweli Development Programme, with the power station having an installed capacity of 210 MW. Two helicopters were stationed at Air Force Headquarters premises to fly the VVIPs at 6:30 a.m. on 12 April to Victoria Dam. I was Commanding Officer of the Helicopter Wing and assigned to fly Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her husband.

However, at around noon on the day before the flight, I got a desperate call from the Joint Operations Command (JOC) requesting that 250 troops be airlifted to the Jaffna Fort immediately, since “hot intelligence” had informed that the enemy had planned to attack the fort that night.

I did not have any helis in the Wing as all had been deployed throughout the North and East. The only other two serviceable helis were in the VVIP security cordon, standing by to fly Prime Minister Thatcher and the other VVIPs the next morning. According to VVIP flying procedures, the helis are kept for 48 hours before the flight within a security cordon which is well-guarded by guards and air dogs. No one is allowed to go witin the security cordon without the Commanding Officer’s approval.

I had to take a quick decision about whether to drop the troops using the two helis from the cordon and run the risk of having no heli to fly Prime Minister Thatcher the next morning. The alternative was to say “No,” to the Army and take the risk of losing hundreds of soldiers at the front, facing a humiliating defeat, loss of prestige, morale and losing the Jaffna Fort, which was the Army’s pride.

If the latter happened, our conscience would be inconsolable even today. When we were fighting the battle, we were one unit: Army, Navy, Air Force and Police. The Air Force was always there. We never said no. So, I took the decision to fly immediately to Jaffna to carry out the task using the two VVIP helis. I was taking a huge risk, jeopardizing my career in the Air Force, by disregarding the standing orders and removing the two helis from the VVIP cordon.

By 1:00 p.m., we took off from Katunayake for Jaffna, using the two VVIP helis without Air Force Headquarters approval. I was captaining one heli with Flight Lieutenant Lasantha Waidyaratne as my co-pilot. (He was the pilot who, a long time later on, landed a heli at Jaffna Fort in the impossible task code-named Operation Eagle.) Flight Lieutenant Tennyson Gunawardena was flying the other heli as captain. I had to fly as we did not have any pilots to spare.

From the Palaly airport, we flew with twenty-two passengers without seats, keeping within the maximum all-up weight, and headed into the Jaffna Fort, approaching with the wind and not headwind as usual, avoiding enemy guns.

By 5:30 p.m., Tennyson called me on the receiver transmitter unit and said, “Sir, it is raining heavily in Katunayake, and we have to go in bad weather in the night back to Katunayake. So can I leave now?” I said, “Okay,” and ensured the heli was made ready for the VVIP the next morning. In the meantime, I kept flying the balance troops.

I did not get down at all from the heli and refuelling, too, was done whilst I was sitting in the pilot’s seat. The Brigadier-in-Charge in Jaffna came up to the heli very late in the evening and told me that, if I couldn’t drop all troops that night, to do the balance first thing in the morning. I said, “No, I will drop all tonight as I have to fly back to Katunayake for a very important task.”

We dropped all 250 troops into the Jaffna Fort and, after refuelling at Palaly, left at around 10:00 p.m. to fly back to Katunayake. However, we got caught to heavy rain on the stretch from North of Mannar to Katunayake. The weather was so bad that we had to request radar assistance to steer to Katunayake. However, I decided to disregard radar advice and told my co-pilot to follow the coastline, just to be clear of obstacles such as high-tension wires. Helicopters do not fly in rainy weather, let alone bad weather, and definitely not at night, but we had no choice.

Lasantha, my co-pilot, swears that he has not done a bad weather flight of that nature, either before or since, in his flying career. In fact, he says that he matured as a pilot during the last hours of that flight!

At around midnight, we landed at Katunayake where the crew was ready to take the heli and clean it to VVIP standard, which they did throughout the night. I was relieved and happy that I could return to Katunayake the same night.

The next morning, we positioned the two helis by 6:30 a.m. at Air Force Headquarters premises to fly the VVIP. Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher and her husband, Mr.Denis Thatcher, had a safe and comfortable flight to Victoria and back. In fact, Mrs.Thatcher was fast asleep when we touched down in Colombo!

As the Commanding Officer of the No.4 Helicopter Squadron, I risked my life and career because I did not want the Jaffna Fort to fall into the enemy’s hands and lose Army lives. Also, I did not want to let down the VVIP and spoil the image of the Sri Lanka Air Force. If anything had gone wrong, obviously I would have been “thrown” in the sea. I believe such life and death situations reveal the inborn/emerging leadership potential of individuals.

This excerpt deals with flying Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi and his wife, Sonia, to Katunayake after a naval rating on ab honour guard struck Gandhi with rifle butt.

In July 1987, I was out of the Helicopter Squadron and serving as Base Commander—Anuradhapura. The Commander of the Air Force called me one day and asked me whether I was still current on helis, and I said, “Yes.” He said, “I am sending a Bell 214 for you to do some flying training.” The next day, the heli arrived at Anuradhapura, and I got back into swing doing some flying training.

After two days, I was told to come to Katunayake to do a flight. I was told that I had to fly the visiting Indian Prime Minister, Rajiv Gandhi, from the Bandaranaike International Airport (BIA) to Galle Face and back. He was coming to sign the much-talked about “peace accord.” The Indian Prime Minister arrived at the BIA, and he was ferried to the Galle Face green, from where he was taken in a motorcade to President’s House to sign the Indo-Lanka Peace Accord.

Without taking much time, the motorcade returned to the Galle Face green. There was no panic. Rajiv Gandhi was smiling, but Sonia Gandhi helped Rajiv get in first, to the inner seat of the helicopter, and Sonia sat next to the window. If not for that, everything was normal.

I started up, switched on the VHF radio and contacted the Air Force Operations Room for take-off clearance. They told me that at the Navy’s Guard of Honour parade, there had been an incident targeting Rajiv Gandhi. That played havoc in my mind. I had to think that whoever planned and failed would have a “plan B,” and that would be to target the helicopter. Then I realized that, if so, both Rajiv Gandhi’s life and mine would be destroyed by “plan B.” That was my thinking. I had to save this VVIP, our state visitor. To do that, I had to make decisions on my own.

There was no one to tell me what to do. So, I took off in the most unexpected direction and avoided the usual route and followed a different route to BIA, whilst all the time being alert. Coming over BIA, I disregarded the usual approach procedure to the surprise of the Air Traffic Controllers and approached from the wrong direction and landed, but not in the designated landing place, to avoid a possible sniper or RPG attack.

The VVIP got off and walked away to the awaiting Indian Air Force aircraft. That relieved me of the tension of delivering the “precious cargo” in one piece.

(The book is distributed by the Vijitha Yapa Bookshop)

Business

‘Giving up was never an option’: The fisherman who fought back after losing millions in SL

Published

11 hours ago

2026/07/19

Thilina Walpola

Seamax factory at Dickowita Harbour

Spanish Israeli entrepreneur Simon Max Astandoust, a fourth-generation member of the renowned Astan fishing family, has endured years of legal battles, business setbacks and the loss of millions of dollars after investing in Sri Lanka’s fishing industry. Yet, despite the challenges, he has chosen to stay and rebuild.

In an interview with the Sunday Island, the founder and CEO of Seamax Ceylon (Pvt) Ltd speaks about his struggle, the restoration of his state-of-the-art factory vessel Astan II, and his plans to introduce cutting-edge seafood technology to Sri Lanka.

Q: You began operations in Sri Lanka in 2018. What was your original vision and investment?

A: We started operations in 2018 with an initial investment of around US$1 million. Over time, that investment grew into several million dollars because we believed Sri Lanka had enormous potential in the fishing industry.

My original intention was to develop a project through the Board of Investment (BOI) and introduce new technology to the country. However, the Government at the time encouraged us to work directly with it instead. We believed that this partnership would help us move forward faster and create something unique for Sri Lanka.

Overhauled Astan II

Our goal was to operate within the harbour and establish a modern fishing operation centred around advanced technology and sustainable seafood processing.

Q: What challenges did you face after starting operations?

A: Around eight to 18 months after we began our investment, COVID-19 hit. The pandemic created enormous difficulties. In countries such as Spain and the United States, governments provided financial support to help businesses survive. Here, the Government itself was facing a difficult economic situation and was unable to provide similar assistance.

Initially, we were told that there would be a grace period and that we would not be pressured for payments as long as we maintained our workforce and kept the operation alive. But later, that understanding changed, and demands for payments began despite the fact that we had a 15-year agreement.

That was the beginning of the major conflict.

Q: How did the change of Government affect your operations?

A: When a new Government came into power, the 15-year agreement signed with the previous administration was not recognized. The factory was closed and legal action was initiated against us.

This was extremely difficult because we had invested heavily based on a long-term agreement. We had built infrastructure, brought in technology and created employment opportunities.

During this period, while the vessel was caught up in legal disputes, a group of people attempted to take control of the ship. One of the most painful experiences was that some lawyers who had been working for us changed sides and supported those attempting to take the vessel.

Simon Max Astandoust

The legal battle continued for years and only concluded in 2025.

Q: Your vessel, Astan II, is central to your investment. What happened to it during this period?

A: Astan II is not just a fishing vessel. It is a huge factory vessel with a complete processing facility inside. It was designed to bring a completely new level of technology to Sri Lanka’s fishing industry.

Unfortunately, because it remained idle during the legal proceedings, it suffered significant damage. Ships cannot simply sit in a harbour for months or years without proper operation and maintenance. The Sri Lankan weather conditions are particularly harsh on vessels.

The vessel deteriorated badly, but after we regained control, we decided to completely restore it. It was overhauled.

Q: How much did the restoration cost and what work was involved?

A: The restoration cost approximately US$1.5 million and took about one year, beginning in 2025. The vessel was almost a complete rebuild. One of the biggest technical challenges was repairing the three generators. Because the harbour did not provide electricity, these generators had been running continuously to maintain the vessel. Over time, this caused significant wear and tear.

Finding replacement parts was another major challenge. Many of these parts are not imported into Sri Lanka, so every component had to be sourced from different countries and brought in individually.

A team of around 14 to 20 people worked on the restoration, including a Sri Lankan chief engineer and local professional deck crew. Their expertise and dedication were extremely important.

Today, the vessel is in brand-new condition.

Q: You mentioned that the absence of diplomatic representation made your struggle more difficult. Why?

A: I hold Spanish and Israeli citizenship, and neither Spain nor Israel has an embassy in Sri Lanka. Normally, when a foreign investor faces serious difficulties, an ambassador can engage with authorities and help protect the investor’s interests.

In my case, I had to face everything alone. I had to deal directly with government institutions and the legal system through my lawyers. Having diplomatic support would have made a significant difference. But ultimately, I had to rely on the courts and the legal process.

Fortunately, the maritime judges understood the complexity of the situation and the importance of maritime law. Their fair approach restored some of my confidence.

Q: Your vessel uses unique -70°C “Ultra-Fresh” technology. Can you explain how it works?

A: This is one of the most exciting parts of our project. The technology comes from Japan and is only about two years old. Traditional freezing methods often affect the quality of fish because the freezing process is slower and damages the texture. This technology works differently. It uses a glazing process where the fish is frozen from the outside, creating a protective layer.

Within approximately two hours, the fish is completely frozen. This process eliminates bacteria and preserves the quality of the fish.

When the fish is later defrosted using the correct method, it is almost exactly like fresh-caught fish from the ocean. The taste, texture and quality are preserved. At present, nobody else in Sri Lanka is carrying out this type of ultra-fresh freezing technology onboard a fishing vessel.

Q: What advantage will this technology give Sri Lanka?

A: Sri Lanka has excellent fishing resources, but we need to move beyond simply catching fish. The future is about value addition, quality control and accessing premium international markets.

With this technology, Sri Lanka can export seafood at a much higher value because customers will receive a product that maintains the quality of freshly caught fish.

This is not just about one company. It is about introducing a new concept to the country’s fishing industry.

Q: After everything you have experienced, why did you decide to continue investing in Sri Lanka?

A: I come from a family of fishermen. This is my fourth generation, and my son represents the fifth generation. Fishermen are not people who give up easily. The sea teaches you resilience. You face storms, difficulties and uncertainty, but you continue. Of course, there were moments when I lost faith. Losing millions of dollars and spending years in court is not easy for anyone.

But eventually, the justice system gave me confidence again. The maritime judges understood the situation and treated the case fairly. That showed me that there are people in Sri Lanka who understand the importance of protecting investment and respecting the law. That is why I decided to continue.

Many people told me that, despite the difficulties, the Sri Lankan judiciary would ultimately deliver justice. At the time, after years of uncertainty, it was difficult to know what the outcome would be. But in the end, that is exactly what happened. The courts examined the facts and delivered a fair judgment.

The maritime judges understood the complexity of the situation and the importance of maritime law. Their fair approach restored my confidence—not only in the legal system but also in Sri Lanka itself.

Q: What are your future plans for Seamax Ceylon?

A: Our plan is to expand significantly. We intend to bring two or three more large factory vessels to Sri Lanka, along with five local fishing vessels. We also plan to establish a new processing factory near the beach. However, this time we will work through the Board of Investment rather than entering into a direct agreement with the Government.

The BOI provides a structured framework for investors, and we believe this is the right way forward. My son Sam, who is the CEO of our US-based company, will also return to Sri Lanka to help introduce successful business concepts and support the next stage of development.

Q: What keeps you motivated after such a difficult journey?

A:The answer is simple: we do not give up. I come from a family of fishermen. This is my fourth generation, and my son represents the fifth generation. Fishermen understand struggle. You cannot control the ocean, but you learn how to survive. You face storms, difficulties and uncertainty, but you continue moving forward.

I have lost money, faced difficult times and experienced moments of disappointment. But I never stopped believing in the potential of Sri Lanka. One thing that gave me strength was the faith many people placed in the country’s judiciary. I was repeatedly told that the courts in Sri Lanka would deliver justice, and ultimately that belief was proven right. The maritime judges understood the situation and gave a fair decision based on the law.

That experience reminded me that, despite challenges, Sri Lanka has institutions and people who respect justice. That is why I decided not only to stay but also to invest again.

For me, this is not merely a business project. It is about resilience, trust and proving that when you believe in something, you continue fighting until you succeed.

by Saman Indrajith ✍️