Anti-imperialist freedom fighter

by Prof. Gamini Samaranayake

The dictum that it is our past that determines our present and it is our present that determines our future is very much a part of our life philosophy and way of living. I was fortunate to grow up in an era of rapid social, political and economic transformation in a city that is deemed as one of the longest standing historical capitals in South Asia – Anuradhapura.

Coming from a family that is a mix between an English educated father and a totally Sinhala educated mother growing up in an extended family that was committed to nationalist thinking I was sensitised to the dynamics of the transformations that were in the offing and the pulse of the rural poor at a very early age.

My childhood curiosity and early perceptions were nurtured and fires by the realisation that a few great men of this era would mould our past and determine our present.

When I was first exposed to the political ideology of Mr. Gunawardena’s party at the elections of 1960 through a close relative of mine who had little education but great political interest Mr. Gunawardena came to be etched in my mind as one of the few men who will forge the destiny of this country.

When I was requested to pen down a few words on the late Mr. Gunawardena, on this thirty fifth commemoration I felt it was a privilege and an honour to do so. However, when I sat down to organise my thoughts and analyse the hard facts before me I was faced with the dilemma of what perspective should I adopt in this article? Much has been written about the man who was politically eulogised and referred to as the “Lion of Borallugoda”, “Father of Marxism in Sri Lanka”, “Living Trotsky” and “Little Lenin in Asia”.

Due to the political scientist in me I was drawn to the formal analysis of his role as the father of scientific socialism in Sri Lanka and his contribution to the socio-economic and political changes during a span of forty years (1932-1972) but the same time his stature etched in my mind as one of the few great men who had the vision and mission to touch the young minds of his time and thereby mould the political consciousness, the destiny and post independence history of our country came into conflict. Especially, as a former political activist this aspect was profound and needed to be communicated to my peers and the generations after me who did not have this opportunity that I had.

Finally what emerged was a synthesis of both. The formal analysis of his political ideology and contribution for forty years interspersed by my own experiential, rather subjective analysis of a childhood hero.

In my perusal and analysis of the many articles and books written about Mr. Gunawardena it is evident that he too is the product of his social, political and economic background. His own experiences in education and society, his experience of colonial oppression, of pre-independence poverty and the prevailing precarious equilibrium between contending forces of the English speaking elite society of Colombo and nationalist forces have had a profound impact on moulding his character and ideology.

He was born and bred in Boralugoda in the Hewagam Korale and studied initially at the Boralugoda Temple, at “Siddhartha Vidyalaya and at the latter stages at Ananda College at Maradana. As a student who had his education predominantly in Sinhala Buddhist Schools and especially his exposure and experiences at Ananda College “that was the cradle of national thinking” (Philip Gunawardena,The State Council Years, 1936-1942, 2006 P15) he was drawn to and inspired by the National Struggle and became a member of the Ceylon Youth League.

He entered the University College in 1921 and then left for the United States of America in 1922. He studied for one year at the Illinois University taking up Political Science and Philosophy as his main subjects and then moved to the Wisconsin University for another three years. During his stay in New York, the young Philip was exposed to the Anti Imperialist political activists and gained an empirical insight to practical politics. On completing his university education in the USA he moved to London in 1928 and became a member of the Communist Party of Britain. His primary role during this period was to spread the Marxist ideology among the Asian youth of the Communist Party.

Philip’s years in the USA and in London and Europe were turbulent years where he was exposed to Socialist thinking and the National struggle of a more generic nature. His association with the Indian Communist Party, the Indian National Movement and later other nationalists from the British Empire moulded his character and forged his vision. His indomitable spirit and his never failing commitment to learning, to his country and its peoples are best expressed when he says “Ceylon cannot benefit from men who go to England to learn the proper way to match ties and socks. I know I came to America for a purpose.

I came here to learn something of Western science, of economic power, of business organisation, of the machinery of human democracy, of the secret of self-respect and human dignity.” (Ibid, p. 19). This rings true of our total endeavour to develop this country.

His ability to synthesise the best of the East and West is what is etched best in my mind of this childhood hero.

While in London, Philip became a Trotskyite and the ‘T’ group that comprised of a group of Sri Lankan Trotskyites in London gave the base for the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) in 1935. Looking back it is evident that some of the best brains of the time were in the LSSP. Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, a reputed and brilliant lawyer/historian, Dr. S.A. Wickremasinghe and Dr. N.M. Perera. NM as he was popularly known had a Doctorate in Political Science from the London School of Economics.

This partnership between Philip and NM again is a milestone in my reflections as it was a partnership of intellect and experience where each complemented and enforced the talents, character and politics of the other. It was not a partnership of gain and benefit.

However, the partnership was not longstanding. This intellectual and political relationship collapsed in 1951 later in 1964 with the breakdown of the United Left Front. Had it lasted the fate of the Left movement would have been different with a different trajectory and leadership.

Philip contested the electoral seat for Avissawella in the State Council under the LSSP in 1936 and won the seat. Philip’s political debut was equally tumultuous as his political experiences in America and in Europe.

It is my contention that his ability to give leadership to such luminary characters of his party came from his indomitable spirit and commitment that also gave him the courage to face the challenges/violence posed by the aristocratic and English-speaking elites of his day.

As Dr. NM was to say later “were it not for Philip I would not have contested the ‘Ruwanwella seat.... we were only too conscious of the fact that Philip was the leader of the movement. “We have to fight every inch of political ground for our political life.” (Ibid, p42) Looking back I now understand the sacrifice and the hardships of freedoms won and gains accrued.

Philip’s role in the State Council always inspired me. He researched his facts and substantiated the facts with his practical experiences at the grass roots.

As a youth studying for my A/L examinations I would delve into some of his speeches and visualise the rural context and the issues he discussed. The proof of their abilities is best evident in the wide sweeping welfare measures introduced at the time. Philip, Dr.N.M. Perera, and Dr. Colvin R. de Silva were arrested in 1940 for their anti-war activities during the Second World War. The interruptions to his political career, work and family life were never seen as a barrier to forge ahead as he was to be arrested and ousted from parliament later.

Philip won the Avissawella seat at the first Parliamentary Election in 1947, but lost his seat and civic rights due to three months of imprisonment for influencing and supporting labour strikes.

The vacancy was filled by his wife Kusuma Gunawardena in 1948 uncontested election and the General Election in 1952.

During the 1950s Philip was to breakaway from the original LSSP to form VLSSP and establish a united front with the Communist Party of Sri Lanka.

In 1956 he joined with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) led by S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to organise the political front the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna (MEP) that toppled the incumbent United National Party Government (UNP) that ruled the country from 1947 to 1956.

The elections of 1956 stand out very vividly in my mind and I now feel that my political consciousness was born out of the exposure and experiences of this election. Philip became the Minister of Agriculture and Food under the Bandaranaike regime but left the government along with twelve Members of Parliament in 1959. For the 1960 General Election of March soon after the assassination of Prime Minister Bandaranaike, Philip renamed his Revolutionary Lanka Sama Samaja Party (RLSSP) as Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and won 10 Parliamentary seats. L.H. Methananda’s Dharma Sama Samaja Party too supported the MEP at the General Election of March 1960. Rathnasiri Wickramanayake, George Rajapaksa and Laxman Rajapaksa contested the said election under the MEP banner. However, victory and success was not to last for long. At the second General Election of July 1960 MEP was reduced to three seats and in 1965 to one seat in Avissawella which Philip Gunawardena retained.

After the election he joined seven party Govt led by the UNP his former arch political rivals and became the Minister of Industries and fisheries.

As a young man this stage of Philip Gunawardena’s career always baffled me. I was even disenchanted at a given time. As a man of strong convictions during the early phase of his career he appears to have become a pragmatic during the latter.

However, I now realise that life and its experiences change our convictions and ideology and Philip’s early anti-imperialist stand, combined with Nationalism, Marxims, Trotskyism and his vast experience of life itself made him what he is.On reflection his political life was dominated and controlled by three political ideologies namely Nationalism, Marxims and Trotskyism and finally a mixture of all three. In his youth he was influenced and dominated by his social, economic and political context and more importantly his life experiences in Sinhala Buddhist educational institutions that led the nationalist movement. His exposure to Western education dominated by anti-imperialist socialist forces forged his early political career where he rejoined the Youth League and strengthened the youth movement in Sri Lanka.

During this period he was able to strengthen the defunct Suriya Mal (Sun Flower) Movement and mobilise it as an anti imperialist movement rather than just an anti-war movement against the Poppy Mal Movement. His strong convictions, indomitable spirit, and ability to be “a leader of others and not by others led” provided the vigour and strength to the Left/National Movement of Sri Lanka.

In 1954 he broke away from the Communist Party Coalition and joined the SLFP to organise the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna due to his commitment to a nationalist/socialist government. It was his firm conviction that “if there is to be a people’s government in Sri Lanka it should be created according to the social and cultural heritage of its people”.

He had the social acumen to understand that Sri Lankan society is not based on the working class but the rural agrarian sector and that wide sweeping agrarian reform were necessary to convert development rhetoric to action and brought the Paddy Lands Act into action. However, his convictions and indomitable spirit were not always harnessed for the good of this country. He was compelled to join the national government of Dudley Senanayake in 1965 as the Minister of Industries and Fisheries due to his commitment to the nationalist political cause.

What is noteworthy at this time was that Philip Gunawardena proposed the concept of a national government from April 1960.

This shows his political foresight and acumen. Philip Gunawardana as Plekonov under the Tsar of Russia will be remembered as the father of Marxism in Sri Lanka. However, for me he was a childhood hero who meant much more. His strong convictions, leadership style, indomitable spirit and ability to contextualise his thinking have always set him apart from the others. What I have now learned is that heroes have to be understood for that they are and for what they stood for during the context of their lives.

The 41st commemoration of Philip Gunawardena will be held at the auditorium of the Sri Sambuddhatva Jayanthi Mandira, Colombo 5 (Thummulla), Wednesday at 4.30 p.m. chaired by Ven. Dr. Ittepana Dhammalankara Anunayaka Thera.

Journalist Sunil Sarath Perera and Dr. Upali Pilapitiya will be the speakers.