By Carlo Fonseka –

Prof. Carlo Fonseka

Preliminaries

The striking front cover of the Memoirs of Edward Gunawardena proclaims that among the “tidbits” of his memorable, eventful life of some 78 years, is the story of the Jaffna Library Fire. To call the story of the Jaffna Library Fire a “tidbit” is a bit like calling Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth II “Liz”, but let that go. The Jaffna Library Fire is surely the major public event documented in this book. EG was our man on the spot and he was an eye-witness to the event. Chapter XI titled: Who burnt the Jaffna library? gives a clear, authoritative and comprehensive account of the Jaffna Library Fire. It riveted my attention. It disabused my mind of an illusion, or rather I should say, a delusion. In psychiatry, a delusion is defined as a false belief persisted in despite evidence to the contrary. I now think that the period in question was one in which “the time was out of joint” in our country and EG was born to set the historical record right. Owing to my delusion that it was Minister Gamini Dissanayake who burnt the Jaffna Library, I became guilty of an act which will remain a permanent source of regret in my life. Allow me to use the privilege of appearing on this platform to try and make amends for the injustice I inflicted on Minister Gamini Dissanayake. But before doing so, let me say a few words about other matters in the Memoirs of EG.

Biographgy

The facts of the life and work of my distinguished, scholarly, policeman friend are engagingly narrated as part of the social history of our country in his extremely readable Memoirs. Edward is, I should say, an out and out Josephian, having entered the “baby class” of St. Joseph’s College in January 1939 and left it in December 1952 to enter the Arts Faculty of the University of Ceylon Peradeniya during the period when Sir Ivor Jennings was its Vice Chancellor. I joined St. Joseph’s College in 1947 and got to know Edward in secondary school. At University Edward read Geography and excelled in it and graduated with honors in 1957. After a brilliant interview which he recounts modestly, he was chosen to the Police Department and he entered the Police Training School in 1958. After a very fruitful, eventful, and distinguished career he took early retirement from the Police as Senior DIG in 1987. Along the way he went on a Fulbright Scholarship to Michigan State University and earned a Master of Science Degree in Criminal Justice. As most of us here know, Edward is a very literate man with a straightforward, graphic English style. In 2001 he published a sprawling novel called “Blood & Cyanide” on the theme of life and love and strife in our upper-class, multi-ethnic, multi-lingual, multi-religious, multi-cultural society. The novel deserves to be much better known than it is. In my judgment EG is the most literate IGP Sri Lanka never had!

Changing World

EG’s Memoirs give a liberal, educated, cosmopolitan man’s insight into the “interesting times” we lived through in the 20th century. By now things have changed drastically from the time most of us here in this audience were born in the 1930s. Attitudes have changed; so have the landscape and the environment and even the weather! But the cobbler must stick to his last. So as a retired medic and the current Chairman of the National Authority on Tobacco and Alcohol, allow me to abuse the privilege of this platform to remind you that the majority of us here will die, as we all must one day, of one of the four major Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs). These are cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, cancer and chronic lung diseases. There are four major causative factors of these NCDs- unhealthy diet, lack of physical exercise, tobacco use and alcohol abuse. I noted from pages 271 and 274 of Edward’s Memoirs that as a young man he was in the habit of drinking a little wine and beer. That was and is not illegal, and as we can all see from his robust appearance, Edward has manifestly not abused alcohol. At page 283 he tells us that he lit a cigarette in his office. Today smoking is widely recognized as the most preventable cause of disease and death and smoking in a government office in Sri Lanka is illegal. This law is generally observed. So there are definite improvements in our country. It has not gone wholly to the dogs as some grumpy political animals are heard to cry.

Arson

Finally let me come to the burning question in this book: Who burnt the Jaffna Library? EG a Master of Science in Criminal Justice has marshaled the evidence to demonstrate beyond any manner of doubt that it was the LTTE that master-minded this crime against civilization. Why did the LTTE do it? Evidently to prove to the world that Sinhalese Buddhists are barbarians. By and large the world believed the LTTE propaganda. Because at that time I was anti-government and because I felt that the UNP – government in power was anti-Tamil (it had unleashed violence on them in 1977 and 79 and 81) I readily believed that Mr.Gamini Dissanayake was the villain who had got the Jaffna library burnt. So during the 1994 presidential election campaign I verbally crucified Mr.Gamini Dissanayake for the crime which I believed he committed. Now after reading Edward’s account I have realized that I committed that atrocity because I believed the absurdity that Gamini Dissanayake burnt the Jaffna Library. Let me spell out the way in which I came to excoriate Mr. Dissanayake.

“Murder”

In 1993 I read a poem titled “Murder” on the burning of the Jaffna Library. It was published in the Ceylon Medical Journal as a filler. I gathered that it was an English translation of a poem written by M.A. Nuhman, who was at that time a Senior Lecturer in Tamil in the University of Peradeniya. I was greatly moved and touched by the poem. It goes like this:

Last night

I had a dream

Lord Buddha was shot dead

by the police-

guardians of the law.

 

His body lay drenched in blood

on the step

of the Jaffna Library

Under cover of darkness

came the ministers.

 

“His name-not in our lists

Why did you him?”

they ask in anger.

 

“No, sirs, no

There was no mistake.

 

Without bumping him off

it was impossible

to harm even a fly.

 

Therefore…,” they stammered.

 

“Okay, okay,

Hide the corpse.”

 

The ministers vanish.

 

The men in civvies

dragged the corpse

 

into the library.

 

They heaped the books,

rare and valuable,

ninety thousand in all.

 

They lit the pyre

with the Cikalokavada Sutta.

 

Thus the remains

Of the Compassionate One

were burned to ashes

along with the Dhammapada.

I don’t know why but I felt an impulse to translate this poem into my mother tongue and I did so. The translation was lying somewhere in a file. In the run-up to the presidential election between Mrs. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and Mr. Gamini Dissanayake I campaigned vigorously for CBK. I concluded my speech which was repeated at least 30 times in different places, by rendering my translation of the poem in dramatic style.

මම දිටිමි සිහිනයක් ඊයේ රෑ

මරන ලදහ බුදුහිමියෝ වෙඩි තබා

නීතිය රකින පොලිසිය විසින්

ලෙයින් පෙගුණු ශ්‍රී දේහය

වැතිර තිබිණි

යාපා පටුනේ පුස්තකාලය අභියස

පැමිණියහ ඇමතියෝ අඳුරට මුවා වීල

ප්‍රශ්න කළහ කෝපාවිශ්ට වල

,නැත මොහුගේ නම අපේ ලැයිස්තුවේ

වැරදීමක් වෙලාවත් ද?,

,නෑ නෑ ඇමතිවරුනිෟ

වැරදීමක් වෙලා නැහැල

නොයවා මොහු පරලොව

හානියක් කළ හැකි ද කුරා කුහුඹියෙකුටවත් ?,

තැතනූහ පොලිස්කාරයෝ

—හා හරි හරිෟ සඟවාපියව් සිරුර වහා ම,

කියමින් අතුරුදන් වූහ ඇමතියොA

එකෙණෙහි ම ඇදගෙන යනු ලැබිණ ශ්‍රී දේහය

පුස්තකාලය තුළට

සිවිල් ඇඳුමින් සිටි

පොලිස්කාරයෝත

ගොඩගැසූහ දේහය මත පොත්

ඉතා දුර්ලභ ඉතා අගනා

අනූ දහසක්

ඉක්බිති ගිනි තැබූහ චිතකයට

සිඟාලෝවාද සූත්‍රය ගිනි හුල ලෙස ගෙන

මෙසේ ගිනිබත් විය

රන් වන් බුදු බඳ

දම්මපදයත් සමඟ

The poem invariably evoked rapt attention and something like awe. The listeners were primed to receive the message I wished to deliver. With my hands raised above my head in worship I ended my speech in favor of CBK with the incantation:  “මේ මහා ඝාතනයට සම්මාදම් වූ ගාමිŒ දිසානායක මහතා මේ රටේ ජනාධිපති නොවේව”At the height campaign in many places at least a few in the audience responded by saying  සාදු!! සාදු!!

Conclusion

I do not believe for a moment that this “curse” I uttered against Mr. Gamini Dissanayake about 30 times in different places in the country had anything to do with his tragic end. But as I remember well, on the 23rd of October 1994, we started the campaign at Beruwala at about 2.00 p.m. and then I repeated the same speech at several places including Payagala, Wadduwa, Panadura, Moratuwa and Kirulapone. I went to bed tired and exhausted and I was aroused from my sleep in the early hours of the 24th of October to be told that Mr. Gamini Dissanayake had been killed in a bomb blast at Peliyagoda. Ever since that time I have felt a deep sense of remorse because I knew Mr. Gamini Dissanayake well. He was a perfect gentleman. He had never wronged me by word or deed. He was always very courteous to me although we differed politically. Having read Edward Gunawardena’s Memoirs I realize what a crime I had perpetrated against Mr. GD. All I can now do to make amends for the gross injustice I inflicted upon him is to ask Mrs. Srima Dissanayake, Mr. Navin Dissanayake and Dr. Lanka Dissanayake to forgive me because I did not know what I was doing. Indeed, in regard to me, Mr. Navin Dissanayake can act in the compassionate way that Jesus Christ reacted to those who crucified him: “Father, forgive him for he did not know what he was doing”. Let me conclude by thanking my friend Edward Gunawardena for providing me with this opportunity for apologizing abjectly and unconditionally to the Dissanayake family.

*Text of Carlo Fonseka’s prepared speech delivered at the Mahaweli Centre on 19 January 2013, launching the MEMOIRS OF EDWARD GUNAWARDENA. Published by the Author. Battaramulla. 2013. 390 pages with photographs and appendices

Related posts;

May 31-June 4 1981: Five Days Of State Terror In Jaffna by Santasilan Kadirgamar

State Repression With Focus On War Crimes by S. Ratnajeevan H. Hoole

MR Finishing JR’s Relay, Bodu Bala Sena At Temple Trees, And Fire-Walking Over The Jaffna Public Library by Rajan Philips

Burning Memories – Jaffna Library- 31st May 1981

Ethnic Conflict And Literary Perception: Tamil Poetry In Post-Colonial Sri Lanka by M A Nuhman