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| Sunday, 4 September 2005 |
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Pioneer of Left Movement by M.P. Muttiah
Born in Malaysia in 1911, Duraisingam's life began with the anti-imperialist ideas and working class movement at an early age of ten years. His father knew V. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar well. He was the first South Indian socialist and the co-founder of the first workers' trade union, the Madras Worker's Union on April 27, 1918. Anti-imperialist Thambimuttu provided financial assistance to V. Kalyanasundara Mudaliyar when the latter visited Malaysia to raise funds. Duraisingam was attracted by the writings of M. Singharavelu, the first Communist of Tamil Nadu and one of the founders of the Communist Party of India. Student's Congress Thambimuttu returned to Sri Lanka in 1919, and Duraisingam had his early education in Jaffna. He joined the Student's Congress which was later re-named as Jaffna Youth Congress and was elected to its Executive body. This congress established links with the organisation in the South in 1929 and 1930 led by Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe and M.G. Mendis. Duraisingam continued his higher education in Colombo, where he was attracted to socialist ideas. He was actively involved in the Surya Mal Movement which had become an anti-war and anti-imperialist movement in 1933. He was one of the earlier students to join the Lanka Sama Samaja Party when it was formed in December 1935. He served as "Literature Secretary" of the Party. Duriasingam founded the firm "Mohan and Bhatt" for the purpose of disseminating Marxist-Leninist literature in Sri Lanka. Communist Manifesto Several Marxist-Leninist classics were translated into Sinhala and Tamil. His firm published the first translation of the Communist Manifesto and the first work of Lenin- the 'Teaching of Karl Marx' and "The Teachings of Marx and Lenin' contained many writings of Marx, Engel and Lenin. Reader's Club In 1937, Duraisingam established the Reader's Club of London to introduce his political publication to a wider circle. He was one of those who left LSSP and formed the United Socialist Party (USP), which was later to become the Communist Party of Sri Lanka (CPSL). When USP was banned, he actively involved in its underground activities. He was one of the founders of the CPSL in 1943, with Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe, Pieter Keuneman, A. Vaidiyalingam, M.G. Mendis and Ven. Saranankara Thera. CPSL Central Control Commission Chairman Though a lawyer by profession, his first choice was party work and served as the CPSL Central Control Commission Chairman for nearly two decades. The study circle which he formed in his Wilson Street house existed till the late seventies. He served as a member of the Sri Lanka Peace Council, the Afro-Asian Solidarity Association of Sri Lanka, with T.B. Ilangaratne, T.B. Subasinghe, Sir Razeek Fareed and Abdul Aziz. He represented Sri Lanka at many international conferences. His article on making the Indian Ocean a Zone of peace had been published in 13 languages. The writer had the opportunity to meet him several times when his articles were translated into Tamil for publication. He was always accommodative to views of others and his arguments were always based on scientific socialism. Trustee of Temple He was a believer and served as Trustee of Yalpanaththar Sri Kathirvelayuthaswamy Temple which was established in 1859 at Kathiresan Street, Colombo. He was a Vice President of the Vivekananda Society and backbone of the Colombo Divine Life Society. Duraisingam has written 10 books, out of which the two-volume "Politics and Life in our Times" is reminiscent of his in-depth knowledge in various fields. |
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