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| Sunday, 28 April 2002 |
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Features |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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Unique insight into Police Service of yesteryear Without fear or favour by F.N.D. Jilla Published by Vishva Lekha Reviewed by Carol Aloysius In 1940, a young Parsi undergraduate following a BSc London Maths (Hons) course at the University College, Colombo, decided on a sudden whim to apply for a job, on the eve of completing his degree. A notice in the Gazette relating to a post of Probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police drew his attention. The only hitch was that the dates of the Police Exam which he would have to sit to qualify for the post, clashed with the dates on which he would be sitting the BSc examination. F.N.D. Jilla chose to sit the Police Exam, thus" throwing away four years of toil", he says in a recently published autobiography aptly titled "Without Fear or Favour" perhaps after his own unwavering adherence to the motto that had guided him right through his Police career and afterwards. The choice was by no means a foolhardy decision, as his distinguished record in the Police Force proves. Having passed the exam with flying colours and obtained the highest marks in the Colonies, Jilla received his letter of appointment shortly afterwards and was asked to report to the Police Training school. The year was January 17 1940. He recalls. "We were among the seventh batch of Sri Lankans to be appointed to this post, and as our seniority was based according to our alphabetical order of our names, I became the 16th Sri Lankan to be appointed as a Probationary Assistant Superintendent of Police". Commenting on the period which Jilla spent in the Police force, L.C.D Herath , Retired Inspector of Police says in a foreword to without fear or favours "Freddy Jilla served in the Sri Lanka Police at a very important juncture in Ceylon history..... His career in the Police spanned over a period shortly prior to the country gaining its independence and the formative stages of an independent nation". Of Jilla himself, Herath states, "During this period he served the Sri Lanka Police maintaining a high standard of integrity and displaying a sturdy independence as is abundantly manifest in his memoirs and experiences". Herath also gives us a good insight into the way Jilla carried out his duties, which he obviously admired. "As a senior officer he not only performed his administrative duties with commitment and diligence, but was also in the front line in many operational situations. He did not command from behind the scenes, but led from the forefront, whether resisting political pressures and interference in the internal affairs of the service, or in the enforcement of law and order. Herath also draws attention to the fact that Jilla's rank as Superintendent of Police, a position he rose to in a comparatively short time was by no means easily obtained. As he notes," unlike today where there are about 70 SPs and 100 SSPs, there were less than 15 Superintendents of Police at the time of his retirement in 1965". The young Jilla made his first appearance on April 25 1918 at the Rutnam Maternity Hospital. His childhood years in a pre-independent Ceylon were markedly different from the transitional years when Ceylon became an independent nation, the period when he joined the Police Force. His autobiography offers a rare insight into those early "growing up" years of both the newly independent nation and the Sri Lankan Police. Not only is his book a description of what life was like in both pre-independent and newly independent Ceylon, it is a frank and often scathing exposure of the weaknesses, the corruption and increasing politicising and 'Ceylonisation' of the Police Service. His comments on the latter, are interesting, thought provoking and unreservedly frank, as when he refers to the advantages and disadvantages of the "Ceylonisation" of the Service. When Freddy Jilla joined the Sri Lanka Police he was 25 years of age. His police career was divided into two periods. The first phase of his career ended unjustly in April 1944 when he was only 27 years. It took him eight years to be reinstated in January 1952. By then the Police Service had undergone changes following the transition of the former British Colony to an Independent country. This trend towards Ceylonisation of the colony led to the appointment of Sir Richard Aluvihare as the first Sri Lankan to hold the post of Inspector General. In 1965 at the young age of 46, long before he had reached the maximum salary point on the Grade 1 Superintendent Scale, F.N.D. Jilla was once more forced for unfair reasons to retire, this time for good from the job he had come to love and respect so much, leaving him a bitterly disappointed man. Yet within this 25 year period of active service he was witness to some of the most momentous events that have left their permanent mark in the history of this country. The Japanese attack on Trincomalee and the Colombo harbour, the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam pact in 1956, the 1958 riots, the Take over of Catholic schools, harbour, oil companies and plantations, the assassination of Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and the repercussions it had on the coalition government, the rebirth of the SLFP, the failed coup in 1962, and the Govi March from Nikaweratiya to Colombo, the Rice Hartal of 1953, the birth of the UNP, are among some of the many landmark events that the author resurrects for us with vivid details in his memoirs. Jilla's book is replete with little known anecdotes relating to the Police Services, and exciting close encounters he and his fellow officers had with underworld characters (e.g. 'Operation Siddique'); with wild life: (see 'Visits to Yala' and `Walige Kota'). He was also witness to the opening up of Galoya and numerous colonisation schemes under the Galoya valley scheme following his joining the Agricultural Corps after his dismissal from the Police Service in 1945. Sent to Galoya following the Government entering into an agreement with a large American company Morrison and Knudson to construct a dam across the Galoya river at Inginiyagala thereby creating one of the largest irrigation reservoirs in the country, he gives us a rare insight in minute detail of the remarkable manner in which the American engineers skilfully diverted the Galoya river round the area where the dam was to be built. Jilla's book is unique for several reasons. Firstly, it traces the history of the Sri Lanka Police force during its most significant period from the perspective of one who has actually witnessed the changes that occurred at this time. Secondly it probes into the hidden corruption and reasons for their existence in a service that was originally set up to prevent and protect people from crime. His practical suggestions as to how such shortcomings could be overcome are both useful and timely at a period when the Sri Lanka Police Service is looking for a new image following allegations of a general decline in standards. More remarkable still is that the author is now in his 85th year of life. His ability to recapture incidents that took place over sixty years ago to their last detail, is in his own words due to the remarkable gift of memory he has inherited from his maker. As he says in his introduction, Having destroyed all the official weekly diaries he was expected to maintain when he was forced to retire from service in 1965, the narrative has been based "entirely on my memory". This is absorbingly interesting book by one of Sri Lanka's oldest living Senior Police Officers who has personally witnessed the vicissitudes of the Sri Lanka Police Service through its teething years and has a hands on experience in the field, this book has something new and entertaining to offer readers on almost every page. Contrast between appearance and reality The Paradox of Jesus Christ by Neville Jayaweera Published by Pragna Publishers (Gte) Ltd. Galle Road, Colombo 4 Printed by DCL Printers (Pvt) Ltd., Nikape Road, Dehiwela. Priced at Rs. 75 To the modern Christian, religion may be said to exist on four different levels. At the centre and core is the spiritual life and those who have experienced it know its reality and complete certainty. The next is a level of belief where men of goodwill have down the ages interpreted the doctrine differently constructing frameworks of thought that have given rise to denominations and sects that have fragmented the body of Christ. The third level concerns feelings and emotions. On the fourth and outermost level religion influences and guides thinking and action in the world and becomes expressed and embodied in churches, that offer support and fellowship to members. On this level many are religious with a proportion of them participating in the third and second levels. Of only a small minority could it be said that they have had a mystical experience and live at the first and innermost level. And they can say, not "I believe" but "I know". The Centrality of Jesus Christ and the contrast between appearance and reality is vividly brought out in the monograph. The Paradox of Jesus Christ which was written, as the author says, 'out of obedience to an overwhelming inner command rather than with a specific purpose in view'. The dichotomy between earthly values and the life of the Spirit is nowhere better exemplified than in Jesus Christ. Born to a lowly Jewish family, the son of a carpenter, Jesus had no formal education yet more books have been written about Him, more University chairs endowed in His name and more research dissertations published about Him than any other in history. Religious leaders, statesmen, artistes and men of letters have left their imprint on history. But can anyone of them, the writer asks, match the impact the simple carpenter has made on history, on nations, on political and social systems, on cultures, on values and beliefs and on human relationships and that too, without mobilising a platoon of soldiers, sitting in a legislature or even holding any kind of office or position ? And many other instances, besides. How then can we come to terms with this amazing paradox ? The ultimate resolution must lie in the life of Jesus Christ, His sacrificial death on the cross and His resurrection that assures human life of its glorious consumation. And, as the writer says, 'when the humble carpenter was executed on the cross, a traditional symbol of criminality and death was transformed into a symbol of salvation and life'. And it is through the Spirit of the risen Christ that the world is redeemed and all things are made new. The case for Christianity is neatly made in a hypothetical trial of Jesus Christ by a contemporary court of law where the judge has to decide whether Jesus Christ is truly the Son of God or the greatest impostor in all history. Considering the weight of evidence in favour of the Man in the dock and the impact. He has had and continues to have on history, Jesus could have been none other than God Himself in flesh and blood. The judge would have had no option but to pronounce that Jesus was indeed speaking the truth when He said He was the Way, the Life and the Truth. The Christian message in its essence emphasises, is for all people from generation to generation. The historical figure of Jesus of Nazareth is the criterion by which every Christian affirmation has to be judged, and in the light of which it stands or falls. The Christian faith must take the human condition very seriously. While achievements in society, in culture, in art, in the scientific and technological fields have to be recognised and even admired, the Christian must confront with open and dispassionate eyes the squalor, the contradictions and the self destroying absurdity of human existence. And what of Christian Faith and other living Faiths? The man who has seen Jesus as the truth of God is pledged to 'do the truth' and on this the Christians cannot compromise. Yet, his approach to other forms of human faith must be marked with the deepest humility. He must be able to appreciate what is most convincing and most alluring in other faiths. If the Christian has his fullest trust in Christ, he can without fear expose himself to any wind that blows 'from any quarter of the heavens.' The monograph 'The Paradox of Jesus Christ' has a four dimensional effect that will not let the reader go. This is a work to be read again and again, pondering deeply on its many shattering affirmations until the Truth emerges in clear light. Perhaps a new journey await those who read this tremendous work with the eye of faith and with a contrite heart. Dick Perera Ancient glory of Lanka re-written Name of book: Ruhunu Pudabima Editor: Seenigama Mahanama Mangalasiri Printers: Abahaya Offset Printers, Galle Publisher: Dakshina Lanka Tharuna Lekaka Sangamaya. Reviewed by: M.U. de Silva, M.A. Ph.D (Vidyalankara), Professor of History, Department of History, University of Ruhuna, Matara Sri Lanka. Price Rs. 350/- The book entitled Ruhunu Pudabima compiled by Deva Mahanama Mangalasiri, a popular newspaper journalist is full of historical, cultural and archaeological values attached to dagobas, temples, pirivenas, devales, kovilas and sacred Bo-trees of southern Sri Lanka. He has limited his work to only 1032 places of worship. Mangalasiri has served in the Irrigation Department as a Field Officer for over 20 years and within this period during his off time he has visited a large number of temples in this region and collected all possible information about them. Strengthened by the information so collected, he decided to include all this information into a book. In order to clarify, further this information he prepared a questionnaire and sent it round to all the incumbents of these places of worship and all other relevant persons. The information thus obtained was embodied in his work and took necessary steps to produce this book Ruhunu Pudabima and pass it round the readers. The region covered by the Ruhunu Pudabima, had been under Christian rulers for over three centuries. These Christian rulers by force of arms had been active in destroying the Buddhist and Hindu temples and had tried to clear this region from Buddhist and Hindu clergy from the sixteenth century onwards. But by the end of the eighteenth century, thanks to the Buddhist and Hindu clergy it was possible for them to save Buddhism and the Sinhala social system, at the sacrifice of their lives. The present generation knows very little of the attempts made by the clergy in face to face debates hold with Christian Missionaries. It is evident that Mr. Mahanama has met with much difficulty in preparing this book. If the details of these temples was arranged in alphabetical order or from Bentota to Hambantota, the readers could have obtained the particulars about these Viharas much more conveniently. Creations of impulse Creation of Impulse, Randima Attygalle's first publication has quite fittingly, the enthusiasm and impulsiveness of a young writer. Unexpectedly though her poetry also plunges into the heart of Sri Lanka's bruises. Racial anger and boundaries, war and the soldier, worldly goods which become man's master are written about with startling sincerity, the recurrent motif being "stinking blood, rotting flesh". Changes in life-style are presented through juxtaposed symbols - the traditional majesty of the Vee Atuwa and the compact Store-bought rice cooker. Randima's viewpoint of high class women lib-ers who dominate over the unheard, unseen women, is a also interesting and is reminiscent of the little child who exclaimed that the emperor had no clothes on!" Each of Randima's poems are refreshing to read because they are so young but serious in content and style. Her youthfully nostalgic line. "If only I could change the world" seems to reverberate right through all her work. Prof. Siromi Fernando, Professor of English, University of Colombo. Handbook for farmers Praja Sahabhageethva Ekabadda Palibodha Kalamanakarana Prevashaya (An approach to Participatory Integrated Pest Management) by Mahinda Wijeratne and Nilantha De Silva Published by Mahinda Wijeratne Printed by: AJ Prints, Dehiwala This book is a glimpse at a three-year research and extension programme launched with the co-participation of rural farmers under the patronage of the Agricultural Economics Department of Ruhunu University. Prof. de Silva's Integrated Pest Management is highly opportune in that it cautions the ordinary farmer against the indiscriminate use of pesticides and related matters. To the author, the Farmer Field School is the major instrument employed to accustom the ordinary farmer into the modern concept of Pest Management. Generally plans and programmes designed for the well-being of farmer and worker alike have an element of fantasy and in consequence turn to be impracticable. On the contrary Prof. de Silva's farmer-oriented experiment is bound to produce the desired results since the farmer community has formed its core. No experiment in the fields of agriculture could be successful if no notice is taken of the farmer community; the backbone of rural Sri Lanka. Simultaneously, the new pest management technique will no doubt curtail the serious impact on the environment resulting from the haphazard use of pesticides. Prof. Silva's creation could easily be a handbook for farmers,
agricultural students, extension officers and the like. No doubt the book
will be of great use and will be enjoyed by wider readership in the
country. Bullet wounds of the Eelam War by Daminda Geevan Ranasinghe is a collection of true stories contributed to a Sunday paper for many years. It's an author publication and printed by K.S.U. Graphics Rajagiriya, Priced at Rs. 200. 'NM' for the fourth time 'NM' - the fourth edition of veteran Marxist politician Dr. N.M. Perera's biography authored by Malalgoda Bandutilleke has been released. The biography provides an account of half a century old history of the left political movement in Sri Lanka. 'NM' - Which has been adopted as a reference book for mass media undergraduates at Kelaniya University has been approved for school libraries and also by Educational Publications Advisory Board. The latest edition is available at Shega Enterprises, 229, Castle Street, Colombo 8. Sri Lankave Mathiwarana Puranaya also by Malalgoda Banduthilake has been released. priced at Rs. 750. Blithe takes an echo of times past Once upon a time... So, when the world was young, began the stories for children. Now time has caught up even with childish innocence young minds seem more at home with the actual horrors of modern life and imagined monsters from outer space. How good then to read these charming fantasies of two young children and a colony of cats, written by a mother as bedtime stories for her young sons. Written, I should like to add, in that brief interval in Sri Lanka, when the country seemed born again, revelling in the euphoria of independence, dreaming, no doubt, of a golden age to come. Alas for all that. But Barbara Sansoni was dauntless survivor. The mood of the country changed people fled, yet she carried on, irrepressible - writing, illustrating, researching, recording, creating the many splendoured things that came off her looms. A cultural hub within herself. She went away, but always came back with some new offering of her talent to the country she loves, and calls home. She has given to this little book Missy Fu and Tiklkiri Banda an elegance of presentation, we have come to associate with all she does. Children will instantly recognise its artfully simple narrative, its delicately pastelled sketches. Nelun Harasgama Nadaraja has matched the mood brilliantly with her vivid layout. So my children take up this book and recapture in spirit that lovely tranquil, never to be forgotten time for all who knew it...a country at peace. Chandra Silva Religious dialogue in a conflict Dialogue 2001 Published by The Ecumenical Institutefor Study and Dialogue 135 pages: Rs. 100 The current issue of Dialogue leaves the Past and the Future in order to have a hard look at the Present Moment! In the opening article, Mahinda Palihawadana argues that intolerance of any kind is simply impossible from a Buddhist point of view. The author allows the Buddhist Scriptures to spell out his thesis. That tolerance is both possible and imperative, given the multi-religious ethos of Sri Lanka, is the presupposition in Marshal Fernando's analysis of the armed conflict that had plunged this country into a crisis. Religiously sanctioned Caste-discrimination that has marred the profound religiousness of our neighbouring country, India, (an utterly oppressive situation that has driven the dalits led by Ambedkar to adopt Buddhism as a means of emancipation) is meticulously examined by a renowned human-rights lawyer, Basil Fernando. The axis of revelation in the Hebrew Scriptures (OT), which, according to the Christian Scriptures (NT) is embodied in Jesus, as Aloysius Pieris reminds the Christians, is the non-racist freedom struggle of a cluster of oppressed multi-ethnic classes that gathered to form a federation called "Israel" in Canaan and learnt from a group of immigrant run-away slaves from Egypt, not only to believe in Yahweh as the God of Justice and Freedom, but also to organize themselves into a society that would resist feudalization or pyramidization, in conformity with a convenant they signed with that unique God. Eunsik Cho records the valiant efforts of Juche philosophers of North Korea and the Minjung Theologians of South Korea to re-assemble a divided people into one sole nation. Finally, Elizabeth Harris documents two sets of interactions among the religions. Against the background of the religious conflicts associated with political fundamentalism discussed in the main articles, these reflections of hers are soothing. Aloysius Pieris, S.J. |
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