JRJ an epoch maker

by Ananda KANNANGARA

Among few politicians who ruled our country in the yesteryear, former President J.R. Jayewardene's name is still in the minds of people, when considering the invaluable service he rendered towards the development of the Sri Lankan economy during his 12 year tenure between 1977 to 1989.

Born on September 17, 1907 and educated at Royal College, Colombo, Junius Richard Jayewardene, a lawyer turned politician, first entered the State Council during the colonial era. Thereafter he held several positions in the Lankan political arena such as the Minister of Finance, the Opposition Leader and the Prime Minister. He finally rose up to the most prestigious position of the Executive President in the country.

His resounding 5/6 majority victory at the Parliamentary Election in 1977 will never be forgotten by people in the country.

A special memorial oration to coincide with the 103rd birth anniversary of President Jayewardene will be conducted at the J.R. Jayewardene Centre in Colombo under the guidance of Secretary General, J.R. Jayewardene Centre, Prematilaka Mapitigama on September 17, at 4.30 pm.

In an interview with former Media Minister Imitiaz Bakeer Markar who will be the guest speaker at the memorial oration on September 17, he said the name of JRJ would be written in golden letters in the Lankan history, when thinking about the invaluable work, carried out by him during his 12 year tenure.

Recollecting his schooldays at Ananda College, Colombo and later in the University of Kelaniya and the Sri Lanka Law College, former Minister Bakeer Markar said that JRJ was a farsighted politician and he had one objective of developing the country's economy and also to eradicate poverty.

Although he came from a very affluent Sinhala and Buddhist background, he always stood up for the rights of all communities irrespective of their caste, creed and religion.

"It was clearly reflected when JRJ proposed my name as the Secretary of the All Ceylon UNP Youth League which was formed in 1981 and I was fortunate to be the first Muslim who was appointed to the position."

JRJ was in the habit of appreciating the good work, carried out by the Government in power, he always used to criticise whatever foolish decisions taken by any Government or opposition political parties.

The 'Satyagraha' Campaign, which was organised by the UNP on a directive of JRJ in 1973 at Anuradhapura was a fine example.

The campaign was organised to protest over the bad economy in the country and also for extending the Parliamentary period by an additional two years by the then Premier.

When the Government in power during 1965 to 1970 under the premiership of Dudley Senanayaka was defeated in 1970 by Mrs. Sirimavo Banadaranaike, JRJ played a leading role to reorganise the UNP in 1973 after the death of Dudley Senanayake.

As a result JRJ was able to achieve a resounding victory of 5/6th majority at the 1977 General Election.

The `Hindu' Editorial at that time remarked that no other Asian political leader was able to obtain such a great victory earlier. This victory gave JRJ an opportunity to introduce a new constitution and also an executive Presidential system to the country. JRJ was lucky to be the first Executive President of Sri Lanka.

Although, JRJ had the majority to introduce more than two presidential terms and be in the power for a long period, he was not power greedy. He wanted to extend that privilege to other members in his party.

As a result, he paved the way for others such as R. Premadasa and

D.B. Wijetunga also to become presidents in the country.

After becoming the President in the country, JRJ initiated a number of major development projects which provided several job opportunities to local youth.

JRJ also had a great faith in the younger generation who would be the leaders in the country. The distribution of free school books and uniforms to the entire school children was a result of it. He became the first leader in the world to initiate the distribution of free school books and uniforms to schoolchildren.

JRJ also had a great interest of developing the irrigation network in the country which helped to develop the agricultural sector.

Accordingly, he developed the irrigation systems at Kotmale, Maduruoya, Randenigala, Rantambe, Lunugamvehera, Inginiyagala etc...

He pioneered the introduction of Sri Lanka's first Free Trade Zones that has created over 400,000 employment opportunities to youth. Thereafter he introduced the open economy system and generated nearly 300,000 jobs in the tourism and the open economy also helped the country to bring foreign investors to start various industries.

JRJ was able to introduce new economic policies to Sri Lanka before the same policies were introduced by other leaders such as Ronald Regan of USA, Narashimha Rao in India, Margeret Thatcher of UK and Dengxia Peng of China. The concept of garment industries were also commenced during the tenure of President Jayewardene and at present over 500,000 persons in the country are engaged in direct and indirect employment.

In addition, JRJ's name will go into history for introducing television to Sri Lanka and establishing the Sri Lanka Bureau of Foreign Employment to send Sri Lankan skilled and unskilled workers for employment in foreign countries.

As a result, over 1.2 million Sri Lankan workers are currently engaged in foreign jobs.

The construction of the one million housing program was also commenced during the tenure of President Jayewardene and it immensely benefitted a large number of rural and urban homeless people. The program was also recognised by the United Nations.

The Japanese Government also constructed the Parliamentary complex, the Rupavahini network and the Sri Jayawardanapura Hospital as a token of appreciation for the historical speech made by JRJ on behalf of the Japanese Government at St. Francisco International Conference in 1951.

Although JRJ wanted to launch several other development programs, especially in the Northern district and also in the South, they were obstructed by the LTTE during that period.

JRJ also turned Sri Lanka into a global village by introducing Information Technology to the country. This immensely helped Sri Lankans to bridge the gap between various international communities through the Internet.

The development of the field of information Technology later led to introduction tour of the mobile phones which over 10 million people use today.

In addition, the Colombo plan was also initiated by JRJ to get financial assistance for developing countries from developed nations.

The former Media Minister also commended the Parliamentary condolence vote made by former MP Anura Bandaranaike following the demise of President Jayewardene and said Mr. Bandaranaike highly valued the service rendered by JRJ at the condolence vote.

According to MP Anura Bandaranaike people in the country were fortunate to walk on the path today that was laid by former President J.R. Jayewardene.