Year on the Web

30th March 1997

By S.S.Selvanayagam

A Hindu high priest who was kept locked up in a police cell on suspicion was later released after Minister A.H.M. Fowzie and former city mayor K. Ganeshalingam intervened, sources said.

The priest from a temple in Peliyagoda was taken into custody a day before the polling day at Slave Island. He was waiting for a bus at Malay Street and had on him Rs.60,000.

The priest was reportedly taken in by Air Force personnel around 6.30 p.m. and handed over to the Slave Island police.

The police personnel reportedly kept on asking the priest to remove the holy thread he wears in order to put him in a cell, but the priest refused to do so because it goes against his religion and culture. As he was adamant, he was put in the cell with his holy thread itself, it is alleged.

The Slave Island Sivasubramania Swami temple trustee contacted the ex-mayor Ganeshalingam and Minister Fowzie and the priest was released.The incident has also been brought to the notice of Cultural and Religious Affairs Minister Lakshman Jayakody by the Co-ordinating Secretary (Hindu Affairs) of the Ministry.

By Kshalini Nonis

"Let us endeavour to live, that when we come to die, even the undertaker will be sorry." (Mark Twain)

It is not only in combat on the war front that men or women risk and gives their lives. Such acts of gallantry take place in ordinary day to day life among unsung civilians. Those who risk their lives for others should not be considered less worthy than those in combat and therefore deserve to be recognised and rewarded for their gallant acts.

The Foundation for Civilian Bravery (FCB) is dedicated to recognizing acts of civilian bravery and promoting safety. Its aim is to foster a universal personality with an attitude to change as a social being as well as to enlarge the meaning of social ethics, bringing realization that the noblest aim in life is Selfless service, Protection of Life and Promoting Safety.

The medals of bravery for civilians who risked their own lives to save another in 1996, were presented on Thursday by the FCB at a ceremony held at Sausiripaya presided over by former Chief Justice Parinda Ranasinghe.

One of the awards went to Trevor Harris Denumberg who received a gold medal for his act of bravery during the Dehiwela train blast tragedy last July. As usual he had boarded the Colombo-Aluthgama train on July 25, to return home from work. When the train reached Dehiwela some of the passengers panicked saying there was a bomb on the train. People started rushing out of the compartments. However, Trevor managed to remain clam, and went to the ill fated compartment where he saw a parcel on the top rack. Sensing danger he carefully took the parcel and carried it out though it was heavy while people ran all over. No sooner had he disposed of the parcel when the other two bombs on the train exploded and all hell broke loose.

Trevor's deed saved many lives. After receiving the gold medal he humbly said he had only done his duty as a good citizen.

Another award though in a different context went to the Ven.. Kiribathgoda Gnanananda Thera. His sacrifice was the donation freely and voluntarily of one of his kidneys to Celine Paaris. When he was at Polgasowita the monk had heard of someone in the area who was critically ill due to kidney failure. "The thought that immediately came to my mind was I have two kidneys, so I will donate one. However, very few encouraged me and I did not even tell my family as I knew they would be against it. People who give encouragement to their fellow men are few, but on the other hand those who discourage are many", the monk said.

Ms. Paaris, overwhelmed by the generosity of the donor wrote to the FCB saying "many had offered to give me a kidney, provided I paid a couple of lakhs. I am a poor school teacher living with my mother and looking after her with the meagre salary I get. We never had much money. When I suddenly fell ill I had to give up my job. We had no income at all. So the gesture of the monk was a wonderful blessing. He did not want anything. His attitude was so humble, that I still marvel over it and tell people about the goodness in humanity.

G.P.H. Nandatissa of the Ceylon Electricity Board received a silver medal for Civilian Bravery. He had prevented a shooting incident at Pelwatta in July last year.

If not for Dilakshini Gunaratnam's valiant effort Niranjala Kumari would not be among us today. Ms. Gunaratanam received a citation for Civilian Bravery at the award ceremony. Kumari was knocked down by a lorry on the Trincomalee Road in May last year.

She was lying under the lorry, and the rear wheels were about to run over her when in a flash Ms. Gunaratnam came to her rescue and pulled her out of danger.

Among others who received awards were: K.L.S. Perera, D. Wijesiri, S. Jayaweera, A. Ranjith Kumara, R.M. Wijesinghe Banda, K.K. Ruwan Hemantha, M.R. Keerthirathne, B.P. Wanigasekera, D.M. Indrasena, M.R. Seneviratne and R.M. Gunasiri Banda.

Point of view

President Sinhala Arakshaka Sanvidanaya Gamani Jayasuriya, advocates the Executive Committee System as a better form of government. Published here are his views about the system:

Thirty-five-years ago, the Ven. Madihe Pannaseeha Maha Nayake Thera told me that party system was unsuitable for our country. I did not take much notice of this view of his then, in the backdrop of most glaring instances of violence, bitterness, confrontation and destruction of property, during and after elections due to the party system. I have come to the conclusion that there is a great deal of truth and substance in what the Venerable Thera said to me.

The party system is an alien concept foisted on us by the colonial masters on the eve of Independence. Political parties were formed in Sri Lanka as the British style democracy began taking root in the country. The British-educated leaders of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party went on a Troskyite line learned at the London School of Economics. The Ceylon National Congress tried to bring all communities under one umbrella - as did the United National Party.

But there were others - the Sinhala Maha Sabha, the (Tamil) Federal Party, the All Ceylon Tamil Congress which had the different agendas. The Muslims remained with the CNC and later the UNP. In 1951, the SLFP was formed splitting the UNP and thereby the mainstream Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslims. By 1956 internecine political rivalry on party lines had taken a firm grip on the country's body politic. The age of divisive politics had dawned.

Bitter rivalries between parties and with the advent of the PR system, sad to say even within parties, are now the order of the day tearing our society asunder pitting one against the other, splitting families, breaking friendships and villages and sowing discord throughout the length and breadth of our tortured land. This fact has come home to me most strongly after the meaningless killing of Nalanda Ellawala. Despite the propaganda mileage that the PA has tried to draw from it, I do not think that any party has in fact gained any special advantage from this murder.

But the loss to all parties and to the mass of the people cannot be estimated. We should not only mourn the snuffing out of a young life, but also mourn the tragic state of dog-eat-dog kind politics into which this country had fallen.

Is this the price we have to pay for the party system? We were told by the Soulbury Commissioners that the party system is the sine qua non of the democratic system of government. But this very party system which is said to anchor democracy, triggers violence, intimidation and loss of life.

What democracy can such a system ensure?

Politicians, concerned citizens and newspaper editorialists condemn such violence, but stops there. We have to go beyond words and take the necessary steps to halt this deterioration. I do not see the situation as irreparable. I can see a way out. This is all the more imperative because, not only during elections, but all times the party system has distorted, deformed and even at times crippled our system of administration demoralised its officers and undermined the confidence and sense of security of our people. Police officers, teachers, other officials are being unjustly transferred at the behest of politicians of the ruling party. Obstacles have been placed against the proper exercise of law and order and there is no aspect of life which has not been affected.

But we can mend our ways by going back to the executive Committee system which worked so well from 1931 to 1948 after we adopted the Donoughmore Constitution.

It was a system of government by consensus and extensive participation of all members of the Legislature, in policy-making and government, a situation which hardly exists today. In 1948 we changed over to the party system under the Westminster style of parliamentary government.

In 1931 after universal adult suffrage was introduced, the State Council was elected under the Donoughmore Constitution. The members of the State Council were divided into seven committees, each one of them in charge of a particular subject such as education, health, local government, public works etc. Each Committee elected its own Chairman. The governor, the Seven Chairmen and three high officials appointed by the Governor, (the Chief Secretary, the Financial and Legal Secretaries) formed the Board of Ministers. This was the Executive body which implemented the policies of the state.

It is not possible, or even desirable, to go back to an exact replica of this system. But I strongly feel that this system, modified to suit our present purposes, can be so structured and operated to overcome some of the worst, destructive and unsuitable elements of the present party system.

I am certain that this structural change in our political system with MPs also allowed to vote in accordance with their conscience would be a path to peace in the political arena.

The youth of this country seem to understand these concepts better than their parents. At the Presidential Commission on Youth conducted a few years ago, young persons giving evidence before the Commission made a strong point that the party system as it operates in this country at present has degenerated into an instrument which tore our society apart and divided it.

Another drawback of party politics, is that ruling parties neglect electorates which have elected a member to the opposition. It is as if a section of the country's citizens become non-citizens, deprived of all benefits, facilities, advantages and jobs. The vicious circle of retaliation continues as the two major parties change places and justify their actions in neglecting the rights of close upon half of the population.

So is this democracy, said to be the sacred outcome of a party systems which wobbles and perpetuates discrimination? And MPs themselves, how much say do they have in the actual business of government ? I would like to quote from no less a person than Prof.G.L. Peiris, Minister of Constitutional Affairs and Deputy Minister of Finance on this subject. I wish to refer any reader who wishes to acquaint himself/herself with the papers from which I quote, to the following:

Sri Lanka's constitutional problems: Lessons from the Donoughmore Constitution. Text of address delivered at the Organisation of Professional Associations on March 13 1992 and published in The Sunday Times of March 22 1992.

Politics of confrontation: The party system assessed. By Prof. G.L. Peiris, Dr. Jayadeva Uyangoda, N. Sivakumaran and Rohan Edrisinha. A paper published by the Centre for Policy Research and Analysis of the University of Colombo.

The writers say: 'It is evident that the exercise of reducing the powers of the executive presidency will prove productive only if opportune changes are made at the same time in other components of Sri Lanka's political culture'.

'The party system is one of the pillars of representative democracy. But major political parties have to act with goodwill and respect each other: It is important to ensure that groups in the opposition and especially their supporters are not made to believe that they are beyond the pale that they are outsiders rigidly excluded from participation in all decision-making processes.

'These sins of alienation if left unchecked operates as a vigorous fillip to espousal of violence. People who believe that they have no state whatever in the established political economic and social system, and cannot hope to make any change... can be persuaded to make a frontal attack on the system by violent means...

The need of the hour, is that there should be engendered a climate of opinion in which it is possible for parties representing different shades of political opinion to work cordially together without parties in opposition feeling that they are excluded from making a contribution to the processes of government."

'Neither the Executive Presidential system nor the Cabinet style Westminster system contains in-built mechanisms which militate against the danger of polarisation of political parties...'

'In the constitutional development of Sri Lanka... there was a system which in practice did effectively facilitate fruitful collaboration amongst distinct groups and individuals professing a variety of political beliefs in the business of executive government."

The paper refers to the Executive Committee system under the Donoughmore Constitution. It says that it provided scope for persons of significantly varying political attitudes and aspirations like D.B. Jayatilake, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Arunachalam Mahadeva to sit and work together as members of a body which for all practical purposes constituted the Cabinet.

The paper addressed the problem of polarisation between the political parties and says :....... . 'there is an undeniable and compelling need to address in earnest the relationship among the major political parties. Failure to bring fresh and innovative thinking on this point will no doubt represent a serious gap in the process of constitutional reform...'

Prof. Peiris urges in The Sunday Times article that earnest consideration be given to other modes of government at this juncture. He says: It is quite remarkable that the Donoughmore Constitution which possessed many unique and refreshing features has received no attention whatsoever in the current debate.So we see that this concept of government by the committee system is being considered by constitution makers and political analysts. I understand that the Committee system has been discussed at the meeting of the Select Committee. But the suggestion has been that it should be confined to the Provincial Councils only.

I firmly believe that if it is confined to PCs only, peace will not prevail in this country and there will be a continuance of confrontational politics which is doing so much harm in this country. Quite apart from the violence and discord that the party system breeds in the body politics within parliament, the confrontation continues.

The proposals of Government, however beneficial they may be for the nation, the Opposition tends to oppose even advantageous proposals. Under Donoughmore system all ethnic groups united to work towards Independence from the British. One of the most significant and far-reaching pieces of legislation which affected this county, the introduction of free state paid education was carried out under the Committee system, I do not think that such a smooth changeover from British rule would have been possible if the system itself did not provide the mechanism for consensus.

It is time that Minister G.L. Peiris abandons the package in deference to widespread opinion in this country, and see his way into introducing constitutional changes which he himself has advocated not too long ago.

I firmly believe that the Executive Committee system modified, adjusted and improved to suit our present conditions will eliminate violence connected with elections, often persisting long afterwards, and bring to an end the injurious and detrimental confrontational party politics and may even lead to the end of the so called ethnic problem.

Continue to the News/Comment page 4 - * 'S.J. V. Chelvanayakam: leader with a cause, * Brothers-in-law and the Attorney-General

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