THEY MADE HISTORY 30 YEARS AGO

by ECB Wijeyesinghe

Exactly 30 years ago (Jan. 1950) an epoch-making conference was held in Colombo when seven Commonwealth Foreign Ministers met in the old Senate building opposite the Gordon Gardens and discussed their mutual problems.

Never before had any city in Asia been host to a Commonwealth meeting on foreign affairs, and to some of us who had the privilege of playing even a minor role, it was a most rewarding experience. Mr. D. S. Senanayake, then Prime Minister of Ceylon, and one of the world’s most highly respected statesmen, presided over the deliberations. He handled the meeting like an old Roman charioteer entrusted with a team of seven stallions each with idiosyncrasies and temperaments of their own.

Sir Percy Spender of Australia who, with our own President Jayewardene, played a historic role in the formulation of the Colombo Plan, has set down in his entertaining book “Exercises in Diplomacy,” the story of the conference and the important role that the Ceylon delegation played in it. In this volume it is interesting to see ourselves as others see us especially when compliments are laid on with a trowel.

For example, Mr. D. S. Senanayake who had a stiff six-day session as President is described as a wise and friendly man. Whenever the argument got a little torrid, sometimes owing to the tropical heat, he would calm the delegates with a smile by saying quietly “I think we will now have a cup of tea”. The tea break was a panacea that never failed to ease the tension.

Panacea

The Ceylon delegation which included Mr. J. R. Jayewardene, then Minister of Finance, was headed by Senator (later Sir) Lalita Rajapakse, K.C. who was the Minister of Justice. Always spruce and elegantly dressed, Sir Lalita made a big hit with the English speaking delegates. Spender calls Rajapakse “an able and delightful man whose eloquence was matched only by his faultless English diction.” That, he adds, was a matter of surprise to at least one member of the Australian delegation who could not reconcile himself to the idea that an Asian could excel him in his own language.

Mr. J. R. Jayewardene although he participated rarely in the heated conference discussions played a very important role for Ceylon, dealing with economic and financial problems. Spender remembers him as a man of reserved and serious mien who was most co-operative. As a matter of fact the two of them put their heads together and conceived the Colombo Plan at this conference. The baby was born nine months later, but it did not make its presence felt till July 1951.

Apart from his valuable work as a financial expert the future President of Sri Lanka manifested at the conference the other side of his good nature – his hospitality. It is worth recalling that Spender, in his book, has set it down that Mr. Jayewardene was “a splendidly extravagant host, who gave the joint delegations one of the most sparkling and exotic receptions I have attended anywhere in the world”.

Side by side with Ceylon’s youthful JRJ. and Lalita bursting with energy, the British delegates, Ernest Bevin and Philip Noel-Baker, appeared to be statesmen doing their last lap. Bevin, who was billeted at Temple Trees was a heavily-built man, full of homely humour. He had risen to Cabinet rank from the bottom of the Trade Union ladder and had a wide knowledge of men and affairs.

But unfortunately he was in failing health and had a physical disability. The heat and humidity in Colombo added to his woes which he bore with remarkable courage. But Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, immaculately dressed in his Sherwani and Gandhi cap, looked the picture of fitness. Slim and handsome, with a rose-bud in his button-hole he walked briskly from Queen’s House, where he was staying, to the conference. When Nehru reached the entrance to the Senate building he would put on a burst of speed and run up the stairs to the obvious annoyance of his heavy-footed colleagues.

For six days Nehru was the centre of attraction in Colombo. He loved to emerge from the Queen’s House gates and salute the thousands who gathered daily on the pavement of the GPO. The crowd consisting mostly of persons of Indian origin, cheered him to the echo until he ran into the recesses of the conference room.This was a daily ritual. There were some delegates, including Spender, who thought that Nehru’s sprint was a small but forgivable exercise in vanity. Another man who caught the fancy of the crowd was Nehru’s principal adviser, Krishna Menon. Gaunt and looking like an ascetic, he was one of Kerala’s brilliant sons at a time when some people believed that India was suffering from “Menongitis”.

Krishna Menon, in 1950, was the Indian High Commissioner in the United Kingdom, and many a British politician had had a taste of his testy humour. His subtle mind evolved solutions for the most complicated problems. Both the solutions and the problems baffled a plain, blunt man like D. S. Senanayake.

For the record it may be mentioned that the scholarly Lester Pearson led the Canadian team, while Sir Fredrick Doidge and Paul Sauer were the respective skippers of the New Zealand and South African delegations. One of the most important features of this 1950 conference in Colombo was that it served as a springboard for so many of the participants to attain higher things.

While the names of Spender and Jayewardene were engraved for all time on the foundation stone of the Colombo Plan, Gulam Mohammed of Pakistan was shortly afterwards elevated to the Governor-Generalship of this country. Lester Pearson became the Prime Minister of Canada and also won the Nobel Peace Prize along with Philip Noel-Baker.

Of the lesser mortals who, nevertheless were vital cogs in the conference machinery, there was Kanthiah Vaithianathan, one of the secretaries, who was knighted even before the ink was dry on the official report. Rajendra Coomaraswamy, affectionately known as Roving Raju, who did much of the spade work on the Ceylon side to get the Colombo Plan baby into shape, was chosen as the First President of the Plan’s Council for Technical Co-operation. Later he went a few more steps up the ladder when he assumed the direction of the UNDP’s Regional Bureau for Asia. He has been going up ever since. Raju is now holding a high executive post in the FTZ.

Baptism

Herbert Hulugalle had his baptism of fire at this conference as the Director of the newly-formed Information Department. His efficiency and loyalty were duly rewarded by being sent out as our Ambassador to savour the delights of the glory that was Greece and the grandeur that was Rome. One of Hulugalle’s most enthusiastic assistants, was a bright young Lake House journalist named L. P. Goonetilleke who eventually joined the Colombo Plan Bureau and rose to be its Principal Information Officer.

“L.P.” was responsible for organizing numerous spectacular exhibitions and publishing several artistic brochures and magazines dealing with the achievements of the Colombo Plan. For about 20 years, until his recent death, “LP” was the live-wire of the bureau. He was a good advertisement not only for the Colombo Plan but for Ceylon Journalism.

Two young people who lent glamour to the 1950 conference were the sprightly pair of girls that adorned the Reception Desk, where elderly delegates lingered longer than was absolutely necessary. The receptionists were Babsy Seneviratne and Erin Subasinghe, both of whom worked under the wing of the amiable Information chief – Hulugalle. Babsy was considered by the Italian Director Petroni, head of the Government Film unit, to be one of the most beautiful women he had seen.

Later she went to Italy where she met an Indian millionaire and married him. Erin Subasinghe had a charm of a quieter quality. When R. G. (Dickie) Senanayake met her in the Senate building it was a classic case of love at first sight. Needless to say she married the handsome, young Cabinet Minister and lived happily ever afterwards

(Excerpted from The Good At Their Best first published in 1980)