Sunday Times 2
An honest and generous man with farsighted vision – Appreciations
Sports or games historically evolved in many cultures. Most western countries readily gave national recognition to sports, while in the east, most countries did not treat sports as priority and therefore government assistance to uplift, promote, encourage or popularise sports was wanting.
During the British colonial period in Ceylon, sports clubs were formed and public funds were spent only for the development of those white men originated clubs.
V.A. Sugathadasa
It was only two decades after independence that some serious thought was given to sports with the aim of gaining international recognition. In 1965, for the first time, sport was identified as a subject in the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake’s government. The sports division at the Secretariat Building in Fort was shifted to the Sports Development Department office at Torrington on January 5, 1966. The government, having realised that sports should be started at school level, recruited 150 Health Education Instructors through the Education Department.
Accordingly, V. A. Sugathadasa, in keeping with the notion that a healthy nation is a wealthy nation, supplied sports equipment to schools and improved infrastructure facilities. His efforts bore fruit with Sri Lanka producing committed sportsmen and women who excelled at international level.
V. A. Sugathadasa was born on July 7, 1912. He was the second of the three children born in a renowned business family. He received his education at St. Benedict’s College and Ananda College in Colombo. He captained the football teams of both schools.
Mr. Sugathadasa entered politics as a member of the Colombo Municipal Council, after winning the Kochchikade ward as an independent candidate. As a UNP councillor he was elected as deputy mayor in 1949 and became mayor in 1956 having ousted then Mayor Dr. N. M. Perera. His victory heralded the UNP’s green domination of the council, ending the rule of red parties. Mr. Sugathadasa also served as Colombo’s Mayor from 1963 to 1965.
Let us see with what meagre resources sports bodies and their visionary leaders laboured in the years gone by.
By the sweat of their brow, they left no stone unturned to provide the players playing gear, build playing fields, set up training camps and sports clinics, arrange competitive matches, residential training, and make available nutritious food, medicine and other facilities.
During the early days, these were made available without grants or sponsorship. Most of the time, the costs were borne by the officials themselves. Mr. Sugathadasa while spending his own money and using his personal contacts raised funds by teaming up with people like Donovan Andree, Robert Senanayake, Julian Grero and others.
The Sugathadasa Stadium at Prince of Wales Avenue stands as a monument to Mr. Sugathadasa’s love for sports. It was built on a marshy land partly owned by Mr. Sugathadasa. He donated his portion of the land and undertook the task of building this floodlit sports complex, catering to the needs of Sri Lanka’s footballers and athletes. Many an international soccer team played at the new stadium. Many international athletes too ran on its tracks. The Southern Football Pentangular tournament was also played at the stadium.
Years later, Prime Minister and Housing and Construction Minister R. Premadasa, a soccer enthusiast himself, felt the need to upgrade and renovate the stadium. At a meeting he convened, he requested business leaders to contribute lavishly towards this project of national importance. At that time, Mr. Sugathadasa was not alive, but his family contributed to this worthy cause.
Nowadays, the 25,000 capacity Sugathadasa Stadium is a multi-purpose sports complex that holds football and rugby matches in addition to hosting athletic meets. It also has an on-site hotel.
Mr. Sugathadasa attracted much more public attention than other ministers holding important portfolios because of his commitment to promote sports islandwide. During his tenure as sports minister, the country saw a sports reawakening or a renewed interest in sports activities. As part of his programme to make Sri Lanka a great sporting nation, he started the project to build a Stadium in Kurunegala. This stadium in about five and a half acres can accommodate 7,000 spectators. Although the Kurunegala Stadium was declared open by Mr. Sugathadasa on September 25, 1967, it was re-named the Welagedera stadium in 1977 following a resolution passed by the Kurunegala Municipal Council to honour the service rendered by the late Minister D.B. Welagedera.
Mr. Sugathadasa always tried to uplift the living standards of Colombo’s poverty-stricken people. He spent generously from his wealth on the people of his electorate whenever he visited them. The people remembered him as King Vessanthara. It is said in a Jataka story that this king gave away in charity everything that belonged to him.
Those were the days when people of all parties acted democratically for the benefit of the people — and politics was not a lucrative business but a noble service. Most of them were born with the silver spoon in their mouth and when they retired from politics they had only a meagre income for their survival having spent much of their wealth on social services. Dudley Senanayake had only Rs. 456 in his bank account at the time of his demise. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike had mortgaged his Rosmead Place property for his political campaign. Similarly, most party leaders in the past ended their lives as virtual paupers.
At one time there was a baseless allegation against Mr. Sugathadasa and it was mentioned by Communist Party member Pieter Keuneman in Parliament. Finally it was proved baseless and Mr. Keuneman tendered an open apology in Parliament.
The Pradeepa Hall in Mutwal was also a property of Mr. Sugathadasa. The people in the area have their functions in this hall with beautiful surroundings, thanks to this kind hearted politician’s donation.
Mr. Sugathadasa, a devout Buddhist, donated money and gave away much of his assets also to temples.
He donated money to the Hunupitiya Gangaramaya temple to purchase a tusker while the valuable land which housed his match factory was given to the Shri Wickramaramaya in Mutwal. The Kotahena Jethawanaramaya, Paramananda Purana Viharaya, Kalapaluwawa and Thapowanaya were some of the beneficiaries of Mr. Sugathadasa’s largesse.
He had the vision of a harmonious way of living among the communities in Sri Lanka, having a good rapport with the Catholic Church of Kochchikade, attending the Weil pooja in the Hindu temples of Kotahena. He actively and genuinely supported them and in return they all supported him from the bottom of their hearts.
Mr. Sugathadasa also played a key role in the formation of the UNP-led national government of 1965-1970. The UNP which emerged as the largest party in the 1965 election faced many hurdles to establish a government of its own. Dudley Senanayake and a team including Mr. Sugathadasa, managed to get the support of several minority parties following an agreement to meet some of their demands. Mr. Sugathadasa undertook the task of delivering the letter to the Governor General William Gopallawa. Then the Governor General ordered the Senior Superintendent of Police to clear the road and the task was handed over to Asst.
Superintendent of Police V. Vamadevan. The way was cleared by the police for Mrs. Sirima Bandaranaike to submit her resignation to the Governor General. After she did so and left Queen’s House, Dudley Senanayake was asked to call over. Anticipating trouble, Mr. Sugathadasa, the strongman of Northern Colombo, took over the responsibility of providing security to Mr. Senanayake. The UNP leader was escorted by Colombo’s former mayor Sugathadasa and a convoy of vehicles packed with some ardent stalwarts. The convoy took a route from Kotahena to reach Queen’s House. While the protective escort, back up vehicles and their occupants remained outside, Mr. Senanayake accompanied by Mr. Sugathadasa went in to be sworn in as premier for the fourth time.
Mr. Sugathadasa was awarded the honorary title the Order of the British Empire, or OBE, which is awarded, typically in person, by the serving king or queen of the United Kingdom to people who have provided excellent service to arts, sciences, public service and charitable efforts.
Mr. Sugathadasa rendered yeoman service to the nation. It was not limited to the people of Colombo or his voters. Now the time has come to give him the nations respect and recognition. In considering his services we may consider taking action by naming a road or street by his name.
We also request the Government to honour him by issuing a stamp as a mark of appreciation of Mr. Sugathadasa’s services and to show the nation’s gratitude to this King Vessanthara reborn. May he attain the noble path of nibbana.