By Lionel Bopage –
Dr. Lionel Bopage
Thank you very much for that welcome and introduction, Mr Sundaramoorthy.
Mr Sundaramoorthy, as a political activist and a sympathiser associated with the LTTE, discusses his memoirs in his recent book “Dare to Differ”. It provides recollections of an Insider, a glimpse of the Tamil militant struggle to establish a separate state, presented from the point of view of an active member of the Tamil community in the Sri Lankan diaspora in Australia. As a person who had close access to the LTTE leadership, he clarifies some of the events that shaped the Tamil struggle in the later stages.
The dispossession of the democratic human rights of the Tamil people started in the 1940s. The non-violent peaceful protests of Tamils for equal rights became stronger in the nineteen fifties and sixties. Mrs Bandaranaike met those protests with state violence, with the military interventions ordered by the Sinhala nationalist Mr N Q Dias, the Secretary to the Ministry of Defence at that time. The violence was unleashed by the likes of Lieutenant Colonel Richard Udugama, who was later promoted to the rank of Major General and rewarded with MBE and “Deshamanya” titles. From this time onwards, killings with impunity have become the norm in the country. The Tamil militant struggle was a result of the youth later relying on bullets rather than ballots. For understanding the role of the Tamil diaspora in the Tamil militant struggle, I would recommend reading Mr Sundaramoorthy’s memoirs.
Dear Friends, Ladies and Gentlemen,
Greetings to everyone who have joined this event from the four corners of the world.
This event is organised by the Australia – Canberra Tamil Arangam. At their request, I am moderating this event.
Before we proceed, I wish to follow the Australian tradition and acknowledge the custodians, the Aboriginal Traditional Owners of this land upon which we are gathered today. I pay my respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.
Today we are launching the e-version of the book “Mystique of Kelani River”, by the well-known author and journalist, comrade Letchumanan Murugapoopathy. He is a long standing friend of our family, for close to half a century.
Kumaran Book House published this work in printed form last year based on a series called “Nadanthai Vaalee Kelani Gangai (නඩන්තායි වාලී කැලණි ගංගෙයි)” in “Arangam”, a Tamil magazine published in the Eastern Province in Sri Lanka.
This e-book version in English was made possible by the excellent English translation done by Mr Mahroof Noor Mohamed.
I met Comrade Murugapoopathy in the late 1970s, during my interaction with late comrade H N Fernando, then president of the Ceylon Teachers Union and comrade Chitral Perera, its Secretary, who is now leading Jana Sansadaya in Sri Lanka. Comrade Murugapoopathy was contributing to Guru Handa (Voice of Teachers), the news journal of the trade union. Based on our perceptions of social justice and human rights, we shared a common vision on many issues. To this day, we continue to cherish that relationship.
We all know that writers play a different, and necessary role in contributing to the overall development, and well-being of our society. Although writers typically work alone, they are part of a much wider community and hence they play a much larger role than one might expect.
Comrade Murugapoopathy through his writings has provided us with many opportunities to discuss the role and contribution of writers and artists in order to build a better life for the people. We all know that there has been no long term political and economic vision and an agenda to heal the wounds of the nation. So, there has sadly been no program of genuine reconciliation in the land of our birth.
In the seventies, comrade Murugapoopathy campaigned for the release of political prisoners. I can remember the time when we discussed a name for the JVP’s Tamil newspaper. With his contribution, it was named Shen Shakthi. He assisted its publication in many ways.
Comrade Murugapoopathy played an active role as a member of the National Council of the Sri Lanka Progressive Writers’ Union and secretary of its Colombo branch. He saw human beings, irrespective of their ethnicity and religion, had common social and economic problems. He was popular among the Tamil working people. Literature made that relationship even deeper. He wanted to tell the country about the lives of the people who had been marginalised and forgotten. His commitment to social justice became evident from his very earliest writings.
In 1978, he was associated with the formation of Movement for Inter Racial Justice and Equality (MIRJE), of which I was also a founding member. In 1979, when The Prevention of Terrorism Act, which was later made into a permanent feature of the law statutes, was implemented, we strongly agitated against it with comrade H N Fernando, Dr Neelan Thiruchelvam and others. Unfortunately, the ruling elite continues to hold on to this anti-democratic and brutally repressive legislation to cling on to power; no matter how much it is to the detriment of the country and its diverse inhabitants. The latest attempt of the ruling elite is to enact a Bureau of Rehabilitation Bill. If enacted, it will entrench and legalise militarization.
In 1981, Jaffna Library was burnt down. Comrade Murugapoopathy was among the leading members who agitated against this cowardly act and other atrocities committed during that period. As a leader of the JVP, I took a leading role in those protests. Moreover, both of us donated large amounts of books to refurbish the Jaffna library. I donated all my engineering and philosophy textbooks I had collected at the time for this worthy cause.
An understanding of social reality made us see and be touched by the power of song, poetry and drama. We felt and still feel the need to speak in one common voice, against discrimination, terror, and human rights violations. With an extensive knowledge and understanding of Sinhala literature and writers, comrade Murugapoopathy displays an enormous ability to cross cultural barriers. He expressed the nature of peoples’ suffering, beautifully and movingly in his writings about the uprisings of the Sinhala and Tamil youth and gave voice to the suffering of many who were forced to live in complex and extremely difficult circumstances.
His first short story “Kanavugal Aayiram” (Thousand dreams), was a coagulation of his life as a student and in his interactions with fisher folk on the beaches of Negombo. His widely acclaimed short story collections “Sumaien Pankalikal” (Partners of Burden) and “Samantharangal” (Parallels) are also based on his rich real-life experiences at the Negombo beaches.
His writings are not limited to issues of social justice alone; He has authored short stories, novels, essays, literary critiques, children’s literature and travelogues; depicting extreme moments of a human life in terms of emotion, love, sorrow and happiness. When I led the Society for Socialist Culture affiliated with the then JVP, we conducted almost 200 public performances of “Songs of Liberation” island wide including in Jaffna, Batticaloa and Trincomalee. Comrade Murugapoopathy translated some of those songs into Tamil; some of the well-known ones are “Velupillai Anna, Inne Manipay” and “Vadaththile Ala Vendam Nadarajah Thambiye”. Those were songs written against the chauvinism and racism that are prevalent in Sri Lanka.
Some writers do not and cannot undertake such responsibility. In the process, some of them become spineless spokespeople for those in power. We see too many of these hacks who either do not know how to critically investigate or think before they write. At times they just write what has been handed to them by those who wield power.
Others who cannot follow the dictates of the powerful, are forced to go into exile. How many continue to remain in exile because they cannot go back to their own country of birth and survive. Comrade Murugapoopathy is one such notable exile.
We live in a global village, connected via some form of digitalised media. Writers are no longer hermits and their role and commitment have vastly expanded in terms of inspiring, connecting, and collaborating with each other irrespective of their diverse backgrounds. This e-launch of an e-book is a prime example for that.
I can trace back such collaboration of Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim communities to the time when a cyclone hit the Eastern district in 1978. Comrade Murugapoopathy was there to make arrangements to assist the victims. When the armed conflict in the island came to an end in 2009, he took a leading role in assisting people ravaged by that cruel and inhumane war.
In Australia we have been collaborating in many fronts. During Writer’s Festivals he organised, the activities of the Ceylon Students Educational Fund to help the students who had become victims of the war, when the tsunami struck Sri Lanka in 2004, when Bushfires and COVID-19 struck Victoria, when COVID struck Sri Lanka and in the dire circumstances people of Sri Lanka are facing currently; comrade Murugapoopathy has been in the forefront, despite his fragile health. As a testament to his community activity and in his artistic endeavours; Sinhala, Tamil, and Muslim communities have come together for this launch.
Through this work, “Mystique of Kelani River”, Comrade Murugapoopathy narrates the history of Sri Lanka as a series of events associated with Kelani River, the plurality of communities and some of their leaders who used to live in its precincts, and the role they have played in bringing the country to the disastrous and dire stage we see today. The book touches on politics but in an indirect way.
It is well written, simple to read, easy to understand and will help younger generations to grasp many incidents that shattered the hopes and aspirations of a prosperous and just future of the generations of ordinary people of Sri Lanka.
I am sure that the speakers who will share their reading experiences will expand on this subject, leading to a good discussion about the book and its contents.
Now, I will explain the manner this event would proceed.
We expect Lawyer Mrs Nivethana Achchuthan, Lawyer Mr Aarooran Raveendran, Ms Rizana Zubair and Mr Mahroof Noor Mohamed to share with us their reading experiences.
Each presentation will be limited to ten minutes. At the end of each presentation there will be a ten minute Q&A session. Depending on the availability of time, we may have a general discussion at the end, for another twenty minutes or so.
I ask the audience to please post your short comments and questions on the Chat line or Q&A feature. And I kindly request the speakers to provide brief responses of no more than 3 minutes.
This discussion is conducted in English and is expected to conclude in about two and a half hours.
In conclusion, I wish our friend comrade Murugapoopathy many an opportunity to further continue his outstanding contribution to world literature and to the cause of social justice. It is through the efforts of people like him that the place of conscience in our peoples’ artistic landscape can be restored. I take this opportunity to wish him well and a long and fruitful life.
Thank you
*remarks made last evening at the launch of the e-book the “Mystique of Kelani River”, authored by Mr Letchumanan Murugapoopathy
