Sunday Commentary

Yal Devi Express will miss Comrade Pieter Keuneman...

Prasad GUNEWARDENE

President Mahinda Rajapaksa launching the project - `Yal Devi Friendship Railway Track’ - on Monday recalled that the Yal Devi train was the heartbeat of the nation at that time. Reading the President’s observation which appeared quite sentimental in nature, memories recall to mind, the baptismal words uttered by one of Sri Lanka’s distinguished political legends when the Yal Devi first took off to Jaffna from Colombo in 1956. That legendary politician was none other than the first generation old guard Communist Party stalwart, Pieter Gerald Bartholomeusz Keuneman.

He described the Yal Devi train service as the, `life - line of this nation’.Now, with the `Yal Devi Friendship Rail Track’ being mooted for early implementation to unite this fragmented nation, it is appropriate to pay tribute to a legend like Comrade Keuneman who vigorously backed that proposal in the early 1950s and fought for national unity, equal rights for all minorities with adequate power. When the LTTE attacked the Yal Devi train in 1982, it was Comrade Keuneman who led the Communist Party - LSSP delegation to Ward Place to meet late President J.R. Jayewardene to urge the latter to resume the train service at the earliest. All those efforts testify to the concern of Comrade Keuneman towards the protection of a united multi-community nation.

Comrade Kueneman was a leading left leader and a prominent political figure who valiantly fought for the official status for Tamil Language from 1956. That materialized after three decades during his life time. This legend of Left politics in Sri Lanka showed the pathway for equality. His life was dedicated to the people of his country. Being a brilliant product of the Cambridge University, Comrade Kueneman joined the Communist Party of Britain in 1937.

Communists in the then Ceylon were enthusiastic and proud of this man who took the lead in the anti-colonial and anti-imperialistic movement.

If there was a man born out of a minority of minorities in this country, it was Comrade Pieter Kueneman who championed the cause of equal opportunities for all nationalities and minorities in the country.

Comrade Keuneman was no dreamer in politics and knew what the Communist creed could offer to the downtrodden. Education of the under-privileged was foremost in his mind. A number Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim schools were upgraded and developed by him.

At national level, he worked with a triangular mind to bring the South closer to the North and East. With all that in his background towards the process of strengthening national unity, the Comrade was aware that to usher a non-authoritarian, non-competitive and an equal state of brotherhood it needed a period of at least three generations. The Keuneman prophecy seems to materialize today after a protracted battle between two peoples. A communist by conviction, the Comrade turned his back on the class he was born to create a better class for all people.This last giant among the first generation of political leaders was a true communist who did not lose faith in his creed when all and everything began to tumble around him.

The courage in him was, that he made himself a prodigal son to break away from traditions of his family to earn the respect of all people. When we glance to the North, there stands a sad story of three decades. Great men like Comrade Pieter Keuneman did not take to politics to champion some petty cause or raise a shrill and discordant slogan. He wore no tribal badges. Instead he spoke on behalf of all people and the country. He did not hanker to consume power to amass personal wealth or travel in best of cars. In that context, Comrade Keuneman’s vision was large and his path was broader in politics. The people of this country were ennobled to have the likes of Comrade Keuneman.

One day, when Yal Devi Express wends her way to the North sooner or later, the stuff of Pieter Keuneman, a pioneer of that `life-line’, will prove that he did not emerge out of assembly lines turned and groomed by media and PR agents. He was no fashioned political leader. He stands as a monument in this age of pre-fabricated politics rampant in this world. Comrade Keuneman proved that leaders should be great and charismatic to be men of passion and idealism.

This great Communist leader, Barrister from the Grays Inn, a brilliant journalist at Lake House in the early 1940s once told the Russians that they did not know what the communist creed was. This brilliant comrade of our times could not peep into this century to witness the resumption of the Yal Devi Express at a future date. Comrade Pieter was good not only because he was a communist, but also because he was a fine human being.

He sang the `Communist Chorus’ deep in his voice to eternity. He condemned the ludicrous attitude in politics to pull each other by the leg. He believed that any action leading to a mockery of national crises by a muddled approach, only created mourn. He was well versed with the clio-metrics of communist ideology and the depth of the human mind.

When the Yal Devi Express train resumes her journey at a future date, she will certainly miss Comrade Pieter Keuneman, the chubby cheeked man with a mellifluous smile who baptized her with the historic words - `lifeline of this nation’.