71 years later… Commemorating ‘the Father of the Nation’

Statesman and first Prime Minister of Ceylon, Don Stephen Senanayake is referred to as the ‘man who architected the destiny of a nation’. He became the first Prime Minister of Ceylon as he facilitated the smooth transition of semi-colonization to independence with great charm and determination. His policies on agriculture, irrigation and colonization made Sri Lanka a food secure nation at the time. The Senanayake Samudraya, the largest reservoir in the island bears testimony to his vision. Prime Minister Senanayake is also remembered for his efforts to eradicate the malaria epidemic at the time, visiting villages infected by the disease and spending time in prisons, with a vision to develop the country. But 71 years after his passing away, Sri Lanka stands on the edge of a precipice. 

Why Sri Lanka requires an attitudinal shift

Speaking at a commemorative event held in view of Prime Minister Senanayake’s 71st death anniversary, former speaker Karu Jayasuriya said that it is not enough to only pay tribute to Prime Minister D. S Senanayake on February 4 and March 22. “We need to rethink whether we adopted his vision and exemplary leadership. He was a visionary leader. He received expert opinions to develop the country. He always said that the Sri Lankan identity is paramount. But did we follow this after 1948? Had we taken his message as an example, there wouldn’t have been bloodshed and a loss of lives and resources. He also mentioned that we have no opportunity to argue about our nationality and religion. A Buddhist cannot be racist at any point. We saw how extremist forces were trying to incite religious and ethnic tensions. Right now we have fallen into an abyss. Therefore I urge people to avoid getting involved in any racist or extremist arguments. We shouldn’t forget how our national leaders joined hands in unity to drive away colonial forces. Those leaders didn’t fight for power. The Sinhalese, Muslims, Malays, Burgers and Tamils got together to achieve independence,” said Jayasuriya. 

Jayasuriya also spoke about Prime Minister Senanayake’s contribution to the agriculture sector. “20% of paddy production takes place in Ampara district. But when I happened to visit there a few days ago and I realized that the second and third generation farmers are not aware of who D S Senanayake is,” he said. 

He further said that people need to adopt to new ways of life. “The COVID pandemic changed the world. Nobody thought Sri Lanka would face this plight. I thank President Wickremesinghe for giving the leadership during these times of crisis and getting the IMF agreement to provide us with a loan. There’s new hope. We have seen a boost in the tourism sector. I heard that a few tourists couldn’t visit Ella due to the unavailability of accommodation. People visit Ella as it is a destination with high levels of oxygen. We can promote these places and keep Sri Lanka in the world map. But just because we have foreign remittances, IMF loans and tourist arrivals we can’t become a developed country. An attitudinal shift is also required,” said Jayasuirya. 

Protecting the Sri Lankan identity 

The event was held under the patronage of President Ranil Wickremesinghe. Speaking at the event, President Wickremesinghe said that late Prime Minister Senanayake’s vision should be taken as an example. 
President Wickremesinghe stressed on two elements Prime Minister D S. Senanayake introduced to develop this country, onebeing the Sri Lankan identity. “People of all religions obliged to the King at the time. When Sri Lanka achieved independence, even though the King was still the symbolic leader at the time, Prime Minister Senanayake requested all people to protect their Sri Lankan identity. He said that the rights of the majority Sinhalese and that of minority groups should be safeguarded and to allow them to exercise their freedom. But we developed a nationalist agenda in 1956 and this was followed by an ethnic conflict. Therefore, if we are to move forward as a nation we need to do so while keeping the Sri Lankan identity in mind.

“This country failed due to extremist and religious ideologies,” he continued. “Singapore didn’t allow that to happen. Mr. Senanayake also proposed to establish a free market economy; to privatize manufacturing and business activities. But instead, the government imposed taxes to develop the country. This allowed us to have a free education and health system and there was a lot of money. But today, this money isn’t sufficient to improve the education or health sectors. These institutions were then transformed into public and state-owned enterprises. But now we need to take one step ahead,” said Wickremesinghe. 

President Wickremesinghe further said the country moved away from Prime Minister Senanayake’s vision. “But I aspire to adopt and follow his vision. We removed his political heritage and this was subsequently adopted by Lee Kwan Yew and Singapore. Now our people say that we want to become Singapore. Is this politics? 75 years ago if we adopted his vision, it wouldn’t have led to the downfall of this country. We now have to move forward. I don’t want to adopt outdated economic policies. The Sinhalese, Tamils, Muslims and Burgers have a lot of capabilities. Let the government perform their duties and while allowing the business community to carry out their tasks. This way we will be able to transform into a powerful economy in less than 100 year’s time,” he said in his concluding remarks while adding that an attitudinal shift is paramount at this crucial hour. 

A Sangika Dhana (alms giving) to monks and a mid-day meal to children of Jinananda Children’s Development Centre Wellawatte were given on March 22 (Wednesday) to mark the 71st death anniversary of the Late Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake. The pictures show his grandson Rukman Senanayake and other family member’s participating in these events organised in the name of former Prime Minister Senanayake. (Pix by Pradeep Pathirana)