My father Ossie

by Asanga Abeyagoonasekera

November 9 marked the 21st death anniversary of Ossie Abeyagoonasekera who was killed by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). He was not alone. The weeks preceding this day also marked the death anniversaries of United National Party (UNP) Presidential candidate Gamini Dissanayake, Dr. Gamini Wijesekera, Weerasinghe Mallimarachchi, Christy Perera, Mawathagama Premachandra and many unnamed party supporters.

October 24, 1994 was a dark day in the narrative of Sri Lankan political history. It marks a day in which the most number of political leaders and innocent civilians were killed in a single terrorist attack. This attack killed 56 and injured 70. Attacked on October 24, my father succumbed to his injuries two weeks later on November 9, 1994. On the same day, the Presidential Election results were declared. The UNP faced defeat to Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga who became President.

Albert Camus writes in 'The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt', "rebellion cannot exist without a strange form of love." My father held a strange form of love for his fellow countrymen. This very love was deemed rebellious due to the existing political situation. Many of the political decisions he made at that time along with his friend Vijaya Kumaratunga made them unpopular, but in such a volatile time I believe the decisions they made were for the people of our nation.

Friend of Vijaya

Born on the August 7, 1950, my father entered politics at a young age. A school friend of Vijaya Kumaratunga, he was a key supporter of the political activities of the actor-turned politician. At the time of the Presidential Election of 1988 and the Provincial Council elections in 1989, during the Southern Insurrection the supporters of the 13th Amendment were called traitors and gunned down.

In this political backdrop, he led the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party after the murder of the late Vijaya Kumaratunga. There were 117 members who were brutally murdered from his political party. More than once, he was a target during the Presidential Election campaign. At a political rally in Kadawatha, while seated next to Vasudeva Nanayakkara and Vikramabahu Karunaratne - gunmen open fire at the platform. The group managed to narrowly escape the bullets. With warnings from the killer they admirably and fearlessly pushed forward with political meetings with the aim of saving the democratic process of our country.

As the presidential candidate from United Social Alliance, Ossie Abeyagoonasekera secured the third highest vote of 4.63%, a deciding factor in the election. At a time when many were afraid to talk about devolution of power he spoke of its importance. At a time where the political climate was tense he was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in.

Back in 1982, he was instrumental in printing the rice ration book, a rice subsidiary book to overthrow President Jayewardene owing to his decision to postpone elections and hold a referendum. Ossie, Vijaya and his colleagues ended up in prison for this.

Negotiations with the LTTE

"Struggle continues and victory is certain" were the words Nelson Mandela wrote to Ossie while he was imprisoned for his political actions. While writing to fellow freedom fighters even in prison, from South Africa, Nelson Mandela responded to his correspondence with words of encouragement.

In 1983, Ossie contested from the Habaraduwa electorate with Vijaya contesting from Mahara at the same time, from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). It is notable that at this election, President Maithripala Sirisena was a political worker in support of their victory. Unfortunately both of them lost that election to the UNP.

At times when it was difficult to communicate with the LTTE leadership such as in the case of Jaffna in 1986, Ossie walked with his friend Vijaya to negotiate with the LTTE. They did this despite being labelled traitors by certain Southern radicals. Many of these decisions made him unpopular, but he decided to stick to his principles and values.

Ossie was loved by many Tamils. In a lecture titled 'Does Prabhakaran need a political solution?' he stated Prabhakaran was not prepared for a political solution. He was one to loudly call out the difference between the LTTE and the Tamil people. A vacuum of such leadership was created when the LTTE strategically targeted and murdered politicians who were unafraid to make their voices heard.

Upon his appointment as the first Opposition Leader of the Western Province, he placed a sticker, on the back of his vehicle stating "this vehicle was given by public money and will be used only for public work and not for private use". He spoke at the Provincial Council to decentralise the Bribery Commission to fight for corruption at all levels. It is a known fact that he never misused public money; at the time of his death he didn't possess large sums of money in his name as every rupee was used for the public good.

Oratorical skills

Across the island he was revered for his oratorical skills. An instance of this was at late President Ranasighe Premadasa's political platform and especially at all the textile factory openings until the assassination of the President in 1993. He supported this initiative while he was the Opposition Leader of Provincial Council as he clearly stated that the textile factories will add value to the economy and will generate many jobs to the villagers. With President Premadasa's assistance he managed to help the '83 July strikers to get part of their compensation, something that the '83 strikers remember with great gratitude.

In 1994 he contested the general election in August and was elected from the Colombo North electorate to Parliament, securing the second highest after Ranil Wickremesinghe. Unfortunately, he could only represent his people for three months as he was killed by the LTTE the same year at a young age of 45.

Ossie was a true politician who dedicated his life to the people of Sri Lanka and did not engage in politics for personal profit. His political career is an example of an honest person who served many.

A morally uncompromising and fearless politician, Ossie Abeyagoonasekera's life is a lesson for us to remember the importance of values in politics and centrality placed on service to a nation's people.