Unique period of history through cartoonists’ eyes

by Pramod de Silva

A picture speaks a thousand words. But a cartoon tells even more. A cartoonist can convey an idea for which a writer may need thousands of words. The writer may still not be able to express in words what the cartoonist conveys in a witty art form. That is the power of a cartoon. It entertains; it stimulates; it provokes thought.

All over the world, political leaders are among the favourite subjects of cartoonists. Sri Lankan cartoonists have always had a penchant for featuring Presidents and Prime Ministers in their creations.

But with a series of unprecedented achievements to his credit, including the ending of the three-decade long conflict, no other Lankan leader has been ‘in the news’ like President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

This has been a great opportunity for local newspaper cartoonists, who had drawn nearly 1,900 cartoons featuring him in just five years. Just like all other news items, cartoons too do go into history, but unless you want to trawl through Sinhala, Tamil and English newspapers published in the last five years, it was very difficult to trace and admire these timeless cartoons. Until now, that is.

Fortunately, someone had realized the historical importance of collecting and publishing these cartoons in a number of volumes. He is none other than the affable W.B. Ganegala, Secretary to the Ministry of Information and Mass Media.

“I realised that it was history in the making. The future generations should have access to these remarkable cartoons which tell about a unique period in our history - and about a unique leader who defeated terrorism and achieved so many other feats,” says Ganegala, explaining the reason for the arduous undertaking.

Commenting on the popularity of cartoons worldwide, Ganegala notes that cartoons have become a hot print media trend especially with the advent of electronic media. Sri Lanka is no exception. “Even on the morning TV programmes on the day’s newspaper headlines on local TV channels, the political cartoon gets a special place. The presenters show and describe the cartoons to their audience.”

Ganegala presented the latest volume in a series of five volumes of cartoons, titled Serada Mahinda (Hail Mahinda) to President Mahinda Rajapaksa at the Deyata Kirula exhibition in Buttala in February, where Ganegala also exhibited more than 225 selected cartoons to the public. There was a very enthusiastic response to the cartoon exhibition, he says, showing me a comments book in which the public had commended the books and the exhibition.

His quest began way before Mahinda Rajapaksa was elected President - the first volume also covers cartoons published before the Presidential Election in 2005.

“I had no doubt he would ascend to the Presidency. Thus I kept on collecting the cartoons with the intention of publishing them. I succeeded in this venture and now there are five books covering 2005 to 2010.” Permission for publication has been obtained from all the cartoonists featured in the books. “They were happy to be involved in a venture of this nature.”

“I am collecting this year’s cartoons, which will be published next February. There will be a notable difference - it will also include cartoons depicting the President published in foreign newspapers, especially Indian ones. This will give the book an international dimension and an even wider scope,” he adds.

“When collecting the cartoons, I found that some of the cartoons were almost prophetic in that they successfully predicted some of the President’s achievements. For example, long before May 2009, one cartoon (pictured above) predicted that he would crush the Tigers and also win over most of the political elephants. As we all know, this became a reality.

Moreover, an overwhelming number of cartoons portrayed the President in a very positive light due to his range of unprecedented achievements. The President is depicted as a patriotic, pro-people Statesman.”

However, Ganegala has included many cartoons that are critical of President Rajapaksa and/or his policies. “Yes, I have included cartoons that are sarcastic or critical, but not cartoons that are defamatory published in certain political newspapers.” Each volume features one of the designated year’s best cartoons on the cover.

He is also exploring the possibility of giving a brief description of the political background depicted by the cartoons, without interpreting the cartoonist’s idea(s).

“The books contain cartoons in all three languages, as well as cartoons which have no words at all, where the reader has to interpret the meaning on his or her own. But years down the line, people may not remember or be aware of the events that the cartoonists describe. This is why I thought of having a sort of brief footnote or caption.”

Both former Media Minister Anura Priyadharsahana Yapa and present Media Minister Keheliya Rambukwella encouraged the venture, while eminent media personalities including Edwin Ariyadasa, Karunadasa Suriyarachchi, M S. M Ayub, Mohan Samaranayake and Thilakaratna Kuruwita Bandara have written informative forewords to the books. The forewords appear in all three languages.

The books are printed on top quality art paper and strongly bound, to last for generations. “These books are about contemporary history and a towering personality. They should be preserved for the future.”

Although the books are not yet available for sale to the public, Ganegala plans to provide sets of books to all public and school libraries throughout the island for students and others to browse. He will also send to them to our missions abroad as well as to foreign missions located in Colombo. All the books are ISBN numbered.

With many more volumes left to be published over the coming years, Serada Mahinda promises to be a landmark publication that will be treasured for generations to come.