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People and Events
Boris Yeltsin, the Russian enigma quits

by Nan
Yes, he’s done it again! Sprung a surprise on his nation and the world. Yeltsin’s announcement at the end of his address to the Russians on 31st night that he was resigning his post as Supreme Soviet President, came as a shock since he had withstood suggestions (and perhaps wishes) he resign on account of chronic ill-health. Conjectures about his wellbeing and ability to lead his country were rife.

He invariably grabbed attention, mostly because he seemed unpredictable. Rock-like, he withstood sharp criticism and dissension and kept shuffling and reshuffling his Cabinet. He ran through six prime ministers and countless deputies, trying to find someone who could turn his dreams into practicalities. Reportedly in his chosen successor, Vladimir Putin, he seems to have found someone he has full confidence in to continue his reforms - a democrat with policy skills and a strong arm.

It was interesting, to say the least, to read in foreign newspapers and magazines about Yeltsin and his sudden handing over power. Yeltsin is remembered best as the man who climbed atop an armoured troop carrier outside the Kremlin Parliament and stopped, almost single-handedly, the KGB led coup against the Soviet reformer Mikhail Gorbachev. The mind picture moves from the white haired, bear like, big man waving his arms from the top of the military vehicle to a shrunken Gorbachev and his distraught, dishevelled wife, Raisa, arriving back in Moscow, shaken and deposed from power as a result of his brilliantly conceived policies of openness and becoming one with the outside world.

Other pictures are of Yeltsin dancing, yes, tripping the light fantastic on stage at a party; of his having a good guffaw with President Clinton at a press session on a White House lawn; of him sick and haggard; of the all too human man looking, let’s admit it, rather inebriated.

The question asked is how to define or categorise Boris Nikolayevich Yeltsin. He is the first democratic leader in a 1,100 year lineage of autocrats whether royal or plebeian, which include persons such as Ivan the Terrible, Peter the Great, the great reformer Lenin, and cruel Joseph Stalin.

An article I read asks the question: is he Boris the Liberator? He did liberate Russia from more than a millennium of dictatorship, but is Russia truly democratic? Also, Yeltsin came after the greater liberator - Gorbachev.

Is Boris the Beneficent?? He bequeathed upon the splintered USSR, and more particularly on Russia, the freedom of capitalism. But then, from what we read, free enterprise created a middle class and a rich elite while plunging many into hitherto unknown poverty.

Boris the Peacemaker, the article asks. Yes, towards the West and Japan and to a degree China. But what about Chechnya? The horror of the repeated attacks on this state are fresh in the public’s memory. The refugees, the burnt buildings, the treking of the displaced in the snow of winter are stark pictures that linger in the public mind.

Again, is Boris ‘Boris the Honest’? No finger, they say, can point direct at him but latterly "the Russian government on his watch was a more or less open kleptocracy"."

Notwithstanding all these conjectures and questions, the fact that he will go down in history as one of Russia’s earth-shakers and nation-makers is undoubted.

Vision Against Reality

He was a man with a vision. Unfortunately he could not get Russia moving to meet it. Inflation is high; the army cannot be paid; the gross domestic product has halved; the average life span has fallen by 2.5 years; the birthrate has dropped by one-third and the mortality rate has risen by one quarter - all since 1990. A dismal picture but dwarfed in our eyes by the picture of the man with his silver hair and expressive face, with, in the background, Gorbachev. No one can blame Yeltsin for all these downturns, yet one wonders whether, if the KGB led coup had not taken place, Gorbachev could have succeeded in taking Russia to capitalist prosperity.

Meteoric Rise

A peasant construction worker from the Ural Mountains he rose to be the suave head of the mighty state of Russia. He was born on February 1, 1931, and probably educated himself in the Urals Polytechnic to get out and away from his humble origins. He joined the Communist party only when 30, but rose rapidly through sheer strength of purpose and personality. He was a member of the Party from 1961 - 1990 having reached the top in the Central Committee as Secretary when the USSR, and with it, the Communist Party splintered in 1990. He took control of the fragmented, rapidly changed country and united it under his stern leadership.

One wonders how he will spend his retirement. Hopefully not in and out of hospitals as the last years have seen him.

Yeltsin himself realized the futilities and the failure. In his farewell speech he is reported to have asked for forgiveness from those who had thought independence would usher in a golden, warm era.

Another Russian Scene

One still finds it hard to believe that germ warfare is a reality, that it can be a reality, that it could very well have been a reality. We know of the utter destruction caused by napalm in the Vietnam War and the devastation of acres of cultivated land. But the mind boggles at the thought of humans breeding germs to cause terrible disease and death in masses of humans considered the enemy.

Now emerges proof that germ warfare was seriously contemplated and could very well have been used.

A laboratory was set up in the Soviet Union for just such a purpose: to produce germs to wage war, to ravage the enemy with unknown and incurable diseases. Known as Vector and situated in the town of Koltsovo, the large viral weapons laboratory was known as the crown jewel of the Soviet germ warfare empire. Why it is in the news now is that it is now the State Research Centre of Virology and Biotechnology, and immersed in peaceful research, trying to save lives.

In 1988 the director of the lab, Nikolai Ustinov, died after he accidentally infected himself with the Marburg virus, a hemorrhagic killer that he and his colleagues were trying to perfect as a weapon. This sounds more like fiction than fact, but it is fact since it is now admitted. A couple of months ago, his friends and colleagues gathered in a cemetery in Siberia to mark the 25th anniversary of the founding of Vector. The grave is supposed to be still contaminated.

Mr. Ustinov’s successor, Lev Sandakhchiev, has steered the lab and its research to humanitarian work, aided by the US, which earlier on had the lab on its threat list and feared what went on inside.

One research that is being carried out in collaboration with two American biotech companies is developing a powerful antiviral drug that might help neutralize Ebola and other haemorrhagic fevers. Ebola, as one knows with dread, kills horribly and is horribly contagious. A sneeze or cough of an infected person spreads the disease and no immunity is assured even the healthiest human being.

It is good to hear that humanitarianism is replacing warfare; that enemies then are now allies, particularly in the fight against disease and death.

The humility and the enigma of Mr. Thondaman

by Sepala Ilangakoon
It was way back on 5 October, 1948 that I first met Mr. S. Thondaman. I was a junior Assistant Superintendent of Hapugastenne Group and he was a junior Parliamentarian. He knew my origins and I knew he was born in South India, the not well educated son of an Estate Kangany. We clicked. Our discussions were on the basis of plain speaking, speaking the truth on a one to one basis. We didn’t need to bluff each other.

Mr. Thondaman had entered Parliament in 1947, fought his way against colossal odds from all sides and had already decided on his vote bank - plantation labour. He had by this time expounded his slogan which he recited to me - "I stand for the Plantation Workers of Indian origin." Unexpectedly, he followed it up with "I expect you to help me in my work." ‘ Wishful thinking.

We met occasionally since that time - he, a Trade Union Leader and I, an Estate Superintendent. Our past links held good and there were no hiccups, no Union versus Management problems between us which we could not nip in the bud.

It was always my established custom to be present at union meetings on my estate, whereas most of my fellow Superintendents fought shy of them. My theory which was amply proven in practice, was that if I was present in person, even on the touch lines, it had a psychological impact on the union leaders who consequently, toned down their otherwise vituperative onslaughts on their favourite whipping boy - the Estate Superintendent.

On one such occasion on Halwatura Estate on 30 October, 1960, the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (C.W.C.), with my prior permission, was holding a union meeting and as usual, I was present, but far from the dais on which Mr. Thondaman (Thondi as we affectionately called him) and the C.W.C. stalwarts were seated. He had heard that I was present and sent a message requesting me to join him on the platform, which I did.

Towards the end of the meeting, Thondi made a request of me, to have a cup of tea at my bungalow, to which I readily agreed and promptly sent a message to Sunetra in the bungalow, cautioning her to be ready to treat about a dozen C.W.C. members. At the end of the meeting, I invited Thondi to travel in my vehicle to the bungalow, while the others could follow us. But he thanked me for my offer and, whilst getting into my vehicle, assured me it would be himself only and none of the others.

When we reached the bungalow and Sunetra was there to greet us, with sandwiches and tea, Thondi told her, ‘I specially wanted to meet you personally and I thank you for giving me the opportunity of relating a story about your honoured grandfather, Sir Francis Molamure, Speaker of Parliament. Thondi’s story was as follows:

Sir Francis had sent a message to Thondi to see him in his chambers in Parliament and when he went in and remained standing, Sir Francis had motioned towards a chair and said, "Please be seated, Thondaman." He had then told him that he was aware that Thondi was very unhappy in Parliament because other Parliamentarians were very rude to him, and called him nicknames such as "Godaya" and other racially demeaning epithets referring to his origins, unmentionable in polite company. He wanted to know whether that was not so. Thondi had remained silent. Sir Francis had then told him that he was aware that it was Mr. ... who was the ring leader of the bullying gang and that he had enough material about Mr. ... and his genesis which if exposed, would cost him his seat in Parliament. He had terminated the interview with "Thondaman, don’t be upset. You see me again next week."

When Thondi saw Sir Francis the next week he had remarked - "Thondaman, I can see from your smile that you are happy now. I have reprimanded Mr. ... and he will never torment you again." Thondi had spluttered his profuse thanks and when the Speaker shook hands with him, he had withdrawn.

So Thondi related this story, complete with the humiliating and debasing adjectives and warts about himself to Sir Francis Molamure’s grand-daughter, Sunetra, because Thondi deemed that she should know about the hitherto unknown facts about the graciousness and gallantry of her grandfather, a truly courteous and elegant man. On the strength of that story, Thondi asked her for another sandwich and cup of tea!

His mission accomplished, Thondi expressed his profound thanks to Sunetra for her kind hospitality and left us. We stood in silence for a long moment absorbing the strange and telling nuances of this story, the relating of which by the man himself, exemplified the humility and the enigma of Mr. S. Thondaman. From small beginnings to a leader of his millions. A truly great and grand man.

Reply to Tisaranee Gunasekere
A year of lies

by Sathya
The Year 2000 will no doubt be remembered as the year of lies in Sri Lanka. President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga toasted the New Year and the New Century a vitriolic speech. We are of course accustomed to State lies doled out regularly by the State media, but it was surprising to find an experienced writer such as M/s Tisaranee Gunasekere adding to the rising tide of falsehood which threatens to deluge this country.

Firstly she accuses the Presidential candidate of the UNP of "making no bones about the fact that he had an understanding with the LTTE and that Prabhakaran was on his side." This is a total falsehood and an attempt to utilize P.A. propaganda to criticize the UNP leadership. If M/s Gunasekera had followed the election campaign intelligently and without bias she would have known the true facts from the interviews and statements made by Ranil Wickremesinghe on TV. As a responsible leader he stated his proposals for solving the ethnic issue in his Pact with the People.

He explained to us in several television interviews that his proposals were based on the existing constitution of J. R. Jayewardene for the establishment of an Interim Council for two years consisting of Sinhalese, Muslims, Tamils and the LTTE if they cared to join. There was no "understanding" with the LTTE as alleged by the P.A. and M/s Gunasekere. Only an open invitation as perceived by all fair-minded persons. The P.A. government gazetted similar terms on November 2nd. It was the UNP candidate’s resolve to send essential supplies to the starving North if he won, that gave him the votes in the North.

The Interim Council proposal did not affect the majority vote as the pre-election polls survey indicated. Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga won the 1994 elections with the support of the LTTE and her understanding with them through Vasantharajah who was appointed Chairman of Rupavahini in return for his services. Five years later with a death toll of thirteen thousand and losing battles in the North, the majority Sinhalese and the minority Tamils lost confidence in the President and her government. An Interim Council for two years was preferable to handing over the North & East to Prabhakaran for ten years as proposed by the President to the Time magazine or dividing the country with the package rejected by both Sinhalese and the LTTE. All these facts are ignored by M/s Gunasekere in pronouncing her theory that the majority Sinhalese rejected the peace proposals of the UNP candidate. It was the LTTE bomb and the flagrant violation of democratic election procedures which gave official victory to the P.A. candidate. The deafening silence after the announcement of the results indicated the shock and surprise throughout the country.

Secondly M/s Gunasekere states that the UNP candidate did not condemn the LTTE bomb attack because he did not wish to fall out of favour with Prabhakaran. This is totally false again and deliberately mischievous. Ranil Wickremesinghe not only condemned the attack he attempted to pay a sympathy visit to the President in hospital which was refused. These facts were reported in he independent media.

We cannot forget that six months ago similar articles appeared in the media attacking the present leader of the UNP. At that time Mr. Sirisena Cooray was organizing a mammoth rally at the Sugathadasa Stadium on the birth anniversary of former President Premadasa to which he invited members of the UNP but ignored the leader. The entire UNP boycotted the meeting and it ended in disaster. After this Mr. Cooray was silent until he ventured out after the presidential elections. According to reports a former top UNPer is reported to have joined with a few frustrated ex-members of the UNP in an attempt to take over the UNP headquarters at Sri Kotha, transporting twenty five bus loads of thugs to storm the building. This also failed.

If this is how M/s Gunasekere wishes to re-invigorate the UNP it should be resisted by all who favour democracy for Sri Lanka because it will lead to political chaos and ultimately to dictatorship. The UNP lost the 1994 election because of the dooshanaya and beeshanaya practiced by these ex-UNP members and their supporters. This is the only serious allegation that the P.A. has to make against the present UNP which in this election earned respect for its disciplined and clean campaign. We have had many elections, but this was the most disgraceful indicating a future of terror, corruption and fascism. If the opposition follows the same tactics there will only be chaos and a triumphant LTTE.

When Gandhi started his campaign of non-violence to win freedom for India there were many critics and he was finally assassinated by one of them. Despite many trials and tribulations he gained Independence for that country without bloodshed. He was a frail man with a frail spine who withstood a mighty imperialist power and did not turn back.

M/s Gunasekere’s charts and figures are of no use because she has chosen to ignore the rigging and malpractice which all polls monitors have reported, except of course Lord Desai. The massive tampering with the postal votes has now been exposed and there will be more exposures to come. The huge cheering crowds at the UNP leader’s meetings as compared with the P.A. candidate’s meetings is a better indication of the popular choice than M/s Gunasekere’s incomplete figures. The National Intelligence Bureau was compelled to admit this during the election campaign.

Finally M/s Gunasekere attacks the Rev. Gangodawila Soma Thero suppressing the statement he made re-iterating his advice to voters which had been distorted by his opponents whom he had exposed. He stated his advice to voters was to vote for a candidate who led a pure life (Sucharitha) and not to vote for candidates who led an evil life because, he said, evil was flourishing in this country today. He also explained that his photograph and distorted statements were being distributed in leaflets. This irresponsible and unfair attack on the Rev. Soma Thero will no doubt be resented by thousands of his listeners.

It is sad that M/s Gunasekere should be so out of touch with current events and even sadder if she thinks the people of this country can be fooled by distorting truth.

Forces progress despite the detractors

Address by Air Vice Marshal Vijitha Tennekoon as Chief Guest at the passing out parade of the No. 97 Regular Recruit course and the No. 54 Volunteer Recruit Course for airmen held at the SLAF, China Bay.

Distinguished guests, Parents and Well Wishers of the trainees, Ladies and Gentlemen, I consider it a privileged to have been invited as the Chief Guest for the Passing Out Parade of this group of trainees. To be given the opportunity to say a few words to this distinguished gathering, on this occasion. I consider it a great honour. First and foremost I must congratulate the Director of Training, the Base Commander, the CO and the training staff for an excellent parade. It certainly augurs well for the Air Force contribution in the ongoing terrorist conflict.

Our country had been racked by a terrorist war for nearly two decades and peace is what all Sri Lankans yearn for. Of course we must understand that in any conflict in any part of the world, whatever the issues may be, the protagonist and the antagonist of a conflict do not engage in hostilities, to battle each other for the rest of their lives; each has peace as the final objective from the time of commencement of hostilities, until achieving his respective goal. The question then is ‘which is the better peace?" On one side Prabhakaran too seeks peace. He seeks peace after ethnically cleansing a region and establishing a political dictatorship of the most malevolent and despicable kind. He brooks no political dissent and maintains political hegemony in a way which is most unacceptable to decent civilised society.

No other person in this country has marginalised the political structure of the very people, whom he claims he is fighting for, as he has. On the other side The Sri Lankan people, who cherish democracy and whose political and military structures are not telescoped into one as in the case of the terrorists, are also battling for peace. They are battling for a peace where they can restore in all parts of the country a place where all Sri Lankan people of different communities and creeds can live together in harmony and brotherhood, a place where they can live and travel freely be it from Point Pedro to Point Dondra, or be it from Kalmunai to Colombo. Which then is the better peace?

I think we should take a cue from the international community. They have unequivocally condemned terrorism as a form of evil which has no place in modern civilised society. They have categorised persons and groups in these terms and the LTTE too stands thus condemned. The Sri Lankan peoples quest for peace thus stands vindicated and justified in the light of the thinking of all decent people around the world.

Many Sri Lankans tend to believe that the country is insular and is not affected by global winds of influence. In an ever shrinking world we are but a part of a global village. In the context of such a situation it would help us to see a problem in greater perspective if we were to keep this in focus. It would be futile for us to attempt to change the direction of the wind but we certainly may be able to change the direction of our sails to minimise, at the worst, the adverse effects of the wind or at the best to exploit these winds. It is apparent that the terrorists are masquerading under the feathers of Nationalism. Any crow can put on peacock feathers and call itself a peacock; but if we were to ruffle its feathers the bare truth is visible. We must therefore discern the true identity of the terrorists.

The next question then would be how successful have the Sri Lankan forces been in battling the terrorists. I daresay, that the Sri Lankan forces have fought valiantly and made significant gains during the two decades of war. Detractors may decry these efforts but then that is an expression of opinion in a democracy. If the recent ‘Wanni’ episode is taken as an example in point, the terrorists, despite their posturing, would know better than us, what really happened. It certainly was not their military prowess.! The terrorists are using guerilla warfare as their instrument of war. By its very essence, guerilla war is a long protracted war; It can be contained successfully. In this context it may be prudent after two decades of war to re-examine our strategy, make the factor of time favourable to us and not allow the war to consume us economically. In this respect a high degree of training to give the necessary professional skills to operate independently in small units would certainly be useful.

To the airman passing out today, while congratulating you, I exhort you to be professional in whatever you do. Competence in your professional field is the best welfare measure you can give yourself. I am proud when I see you standing out there to know that the Sri Lankan people have rallied valiantly around the country in her hour of need. We have had excellent response to our recruitment calls and the parents of these Sri Lankan youth have not stinted in their efforts to wipe out the scourge of terrorism by encouraging their children to fight for a just cause.

Unlike many professional armies we are not a mercenary army. We fight because we are motivated to make this country a decent place for all Sri Lankans to live in. Death may overtake us at any time but for every flower that is plucked a hundred flowers will bloom because truth and decency is on our side. Let us make the sacrifices necessary so that the future generations of Sri Lankans of all communities and creeds may live together in peace and harmony. May it be said by all Sri Lankans at the end of the third millennium "Let us not forget our forefathers who made immense sacrifices at the millennium "Let us not forget our forefathers who made immense sacrifices at the beginning of this millennium so that we may live in peace, harmony and brotherhood. These were men of character and honour who made it Sri Lankas finest hour".

Raring to Ramble

"God made the country and man the town." Being a country bird the prospect of peace returning to this blessed land brings hope and joy to those like me yearning to amble and ramble seeking those delightful little nooks and corners in the North and East of Sri Lanka.

I remember spending Christmas at the Arugam Bay rest house in 1959, watching the fish frisk and frolic in the serene sea. Next day we ferried across on to the Panama road there being no bridge at that time. I will never forget that jaunt on the Jumbo infested jungle road.

Resting on a culvert we were startled by the loud trumpeting of a herd of elephants, well camouflaged in the jungle, impatiently waiting behind us to cross the road to feed on the opposite side. Fortunately for us this herd appeared to be rather docile and well behaved.

However, my friend took to his heels breaking an Olympic record. I had to face the wrath of the trenchant tracker who warned me of the perils of running aimlessly when confronted by wild elephants. Looking over my shoulder, with my heart pounding away, I managed a more dignified retreat.

We were joined in the rest house by a party from Kandy armed with a high powered rifle and were invited to a ‘shoot’ the next day. The tracker proved to be a crack shot with his 12 bore shot gun bringing down two medium sized wild pigs attempting a quick getaway. A Muslim ‘mattaya’ known to the rest house keeper with his head shaven clean and wearing three quarter length ‘bamboo trouser’ trussed up the two porkies, hung them over a slow fire, burnt and scraped off the hair, and then proceeded to chop and carve up the pigs in expert fashion. This operation took him only about 20 minutes. Each one of us got our share of fairly fat free pork while we covered with layers of ice and took back with us to relish for a number of days.

The following day we went to Lahugala tank considered to be the best place in Sri Lanka to watch wild elephants. We were not disappointed. True to the trackers word the herd of elephants trooped on to the tank at 4.00 p.m. like a cricket team taking the field after the tea break and leisurely lapped up the little water available and then feasted on the lush beru grass. It was amazing to see how silently the herd of about 30 elephants moved about.

Three lovely days at Arugam Bay ended all too soon and the party from Kandy very kindly offered us a lift to Nuwara Eliya in their Peugeot 403 car. When we returned to the Tea Research Institute Hostel at Talawakele we were given a heroes welcome as word had got around that we had brought back with us enough wild pork to last a week. The Tamil cook/appu spread the word around the TRI Campus that we had been to ‘Arumugam Bay!’

A few miles north of Arugam Bay is Sangamankanda Point — the widest point in Sri Lanka — 140 mile as the crow flies from Colombo.

Further north is the Sinnamuhattuvaram rest house delightfully situated on a sand bar between the sea and another large lagoon.

Proceeding north you turn left at Karativu if you wish to detour to Ampara and then to Siyambalanduwa a distance of about 51 miles. This road proceeds past Ampara hugging the Senanayake Samudra and the mountain in the plains — the 1800 ft. mountain the spire rock of Westminster Abbey. Away in the Western horizon you could see the bluish outline of the Namunukula/Madulsima mountain ranges.

28 miles north of Karativu is Batticaloa where if you are lucky you can hear the Orchestra conducted by the Singing Fish.

Further north about twenty miles away is the lovely Kalkuday Bay which is about the safest place for children to bathe during the period March to September after the North East Monsoon has finished its assault.

If you have the patience to cross six ferries you can proceed further north on the coastal ribbon of tar to Trincomalee. The ferry at Panichchankerni 35 miles from Batticaloa has been replaced by the island’s longest bridge. This area is now a LTTE stronghold. After crossing two ferries at Verugal and Kiliveddi you come to Mutur from where you cross four more ferries within a distance of 10 miles.

Near Mutur is "White Mans Tree" with a plaque to mark the spot where Robert Knox was captured. He was kept captive in various parts of the island but later managed to escape to England to write about his experiences in the island.

Trincomalee, the fifth largest natural harbour in the world, has many attractions. From Fort Fredrick you get a feeling of being in a ship with a sweeping view of the sea. Here a herd of spotted deer has found sanctuary. In one corner is Swami Rock and Lovers Leap from where the love lorn Dutch maiden Francina Van Rhede is said to have thrown herself into the sea when she saw her lover sail away.

The northern most area of tourist development is Nilaveli — 10 miles from Trincomalee off Nilaveli beach is Pigeon’s Island where the rare Blue Rock Pigeon breeds.

Twenty miles north of Trincomalee is Kuchchaveli from where we once brought back small crabs fossilized on stones. It appears that the chemical action of the water in a certain pool there fossilizes these crabs.

35 miles from Trincomalee is Pulmoddai, the centre for Mineral ilmenite production. Five miles further north is Kokkilai Lagoon where wild ducks and drakes, pelicans, flamingoes and a variety of migrants abound. Feathered illicit immigrants no doubt but very welcome.

The east coast is the place to be in when the South West Monsoon lashes the opposite coast during the period May/September.

As for the Jaffna peninsula I found it delightful after 5 p.m. I remember walking on the Point Pedro/Kankesanturai road on a moonlit night. The soft breeze, the warring palms and the pure white beach sand was a sight to savour.

I remember vividly a bus ride from Kodikamam to Point Pedro. I asked the conductor for a ticket to Point Pedro and all eyes in the bus were focused on me as the local name was "Parithithurai". I was soon spotted as a stranger and was subject to intense questioning by the man seated next to me who opened up with, "Thambi what is happening in the South?"

At the Point Pedro fish market I found myself facing a no holds barred verbal duel between two fisher women. I found their seer fish to be much smaller than the ones found in the Colombo area.

Keerimalai was not very inviting to bathe in and I preferred the open sea close by.

Every other year we used to visit St. John’s College, Jaffna from Kingswood, Kandy to play cricket. Playing cricket under the Jaffna sun can be very trying. Fortunately, the playing hours were adjusted to suit us — 8 a.m. to 11 a.m. and 3 to 6 p.m.

I dearly wish our younger folk will be able to travel unmolested to the various corners of this beautiful island. May the Gods restore peace and sanity to our blood soaked land.

W. J. Samuel
Rajagiriya

The Three F’s behind the radio Ceylon microphone

Part VII

by Mervyn Jayasuriya
In 1963, I opted to retire on a small pension as the government gave this opportunity to public servants who were unable to work in Sinhala, the National Language.

It was then that I toyed with the idea of emigrating to Canada.

After my father died, when I was twelve years old, my mother looked after my sister and me. We were a closely knit family, so much so that even if I returned home after midnight, my mother and sister would be waiting up for me. (Yes, I was a very spoiled brat.)

My mother whose names were Ada and Agnes, was in her sixties, and while the three of us were discussing our possible emigration to Canada my mother smiled and asked, "CAN-Ada?" That somehow put a damper on our thoughts of emigration; there were obviously other reasons too for not pursuing the idea.

For a short time I worked as Information Officer with the Canadian High Commission in Colombo, when James George was High Commissioner.

Later, Esmond Wickremesinghe, who was Chairman and Managing Director of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon, offered me a job, and I joined the Editorial staff of the Observer as a journalist, where I had the privilege of making many friends and working with talented journalists. They were Thalif Deen who later was with the United Nations Organisation, Clarence Fernando, Hamza Haniffa, William Silva, a talented gentleman who was in charge of the Features page, Leslie Dahanaiake who was later Editor of the Sunday Observer, Manik de Silva who was later Editor of the Daily News, and a controversial vibrant character, H. L. D. Mahindapala who decided to go away from the country when Sirima Bandaranaike became Prime Minister.

I also had the privilege of getting to know one of the greatest men in journalism and a most talented man, Tori de Souza, and later Reggie Michael, who also left the country as Mahindapala did.

After a short time the organization split down the middle, with Esmond Wickremesinghe relinquishing his position as Chairman and Managing Director, and taking over the management of a Tamil newspaper organization, The Virakesari, and a Colour printing establishment, Varna.

Some of us at the Ceylon Observer joined Esmond, but plans to start English tabloids at the Virakesari failed, and after a short time of working at Varna, I quit.

One morning in 1968 I walked into the Radio Ceylon building which by then had changed its name to The Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation, to meet my old colleagues.

I met Thevis Guruge who was then Director of the National Services, and he asked me if I had met the Chairman and Director General, Neville Jayaweera.

When I told him I had not, he took me round to Mr. Jayaweera’s office, and introduced us.

Neville Jayaweera, who had assumed office as Chairman and Director General two years previously in 1966, said, "Mr. Jayasuriya, Radio Ceylon seems to have lost its credibility. How do you think we can get it back?"

I told him that with due respect to him and the organization, I did not think that Radio Ceylon ever had much credibility as it was used as His or Her Master’s or Mistress’ Voice: and if he hoped to establish credibility, the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation would have to re-think its policies and attitudes. The only way was to be critical of the government in power — positively and truthfully critical.

Neville Jayaweera summoned his Director and the Head of News, Kulasiri Amaratunga, Thevis Guruge, Livy Wijemanne, Stewart Wavell and H. M. Gunesekera to a meeting to which I was also invited.

After a short discussion it was decided that the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation, being a government organization could not be critical of government policy, but it could be critical of the implementation of government policy.

It was then decided to initiate and broadcast a test programme that evening.

I had suggested the name Probe, but Neville Jayaweera thought it was too strong, and it was decided to name the programme Roving Mike.

I was asked to produce the test programme, the modus operandi being to interview members of the public on some area of government administration, then interview members of the organization regarding their difficulties in carrying out their work, and finally the Head of the organization who would be given the opportunity to defend himself and his organization.

This would expose failings and inefficiency if any and also give the Head of the organization an opportunity not only to defend himself but in an oblique way to reveal to the government the problems he was faced with.

After the meeting I set off with a recording machine, gathering material, and the programme was broadcast that evening at nine.

The next morning at eight when we met, Neville Jayaweera said "Mervyn, I have some bad news for you!" I thought the programme had offended those in high places, but Nevile Jayaweera said that the Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake wanted the programme to be broadcast daily both in English and Sinhala!

I told Mr. Jayaweera that it was impossible for me to carry out this assignment on my own, and H.M. Gunesekera along with Palitha Perera and Amarabandu were asked to handle the Sinhala programme on my format, and I was to do the programme on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays; and Mark Fernando and Myrle Walpola were to do the programme together on Tuesdays and Thursdays under my direction. This went on for two weeks and I felt that it was just too much for me to handle, and I pointed out to Neville Jayaweera that it was also awkward for me, an outsider to instruct senior officers in the service. So Mr. Jayaweera asked E. K. Perera, a Director of the Service to be in charge of the programme on Tuesdays and Thursdays.

The whole programme was co-ordinated by Neville Jayaweera who met us every morning and briefed us on strategy etc. I did at this stage inform Neville Jayaweera that we would not be able to sustain the programme unless we had complete co-operation from the Permanent Secretaries and Heads of government departments, and this I was told could be done only if the Prime Minister issued an order to this effect.

Judging by letters and comments made by other media organizations, Roving Mike seemed to be making an impact on the public, as this was the first time that State Radio was being used for investigative reporting. We did not pull our punches, and very soon we found ourselves in trouble. There were threats of bodily assault and some of us were socially ostracized.

In producing the programme and interviewing officers in government we took care to see that they could not be identified; so at times when we got any information from them we even stooged up interviews with friends, so that there was no risk at all even of a voice identification.

On one occasion, an officer in a government corporation informed us of malpractice by some ladies who were on an advisory committee. The morning after the programme was broadcast these ladies (some of whom were known to me) descended on the radio station, threatening the producer with dire consequences.

As soon as I saw them coming in I took off for home.

The Minister for Home Affairs, under whom the corporation functioned, insisted on knowing the identity of the officer who had given the information, and complained to the Prime Minister who ignored it, - and we continued with Roving Mike.

On another occasion we did come a cropper, when the Prime Minister decided not to give us any co-operation, and the programme was cancelled.

I then decided it was time to quit.

Roving Mike was then handled by my ex-colleagues under the guidance of an expert from the BBC, when the programme turned into an "Aunt Sally."

Just one of the numerouse and amazing anomalies was when there were over twenty ships queuing up outside Colombo harbour, but the Roving Mike claimed that the port was functioning efficiently!

There was a line of thought later that something of the government’s devastating defeat at the hustings might have been slightly due to the "Aunt Sally" Roving Mike, because the programme’s credibility had been dented.

In his attempt at reorganizing the Broadcasting Corporation, the Director, Neville Jayaweera found that the officer he wanted as Assistant Editor News and Publications, resigned suddenly.

I was in the canteen swapping yarns with friends when Mr. Jayaweera walked in and offered me the job.

I was glad to get back and accepted the good offer but I did this on the understanding that I was not doing anyone else out of employment.

We resuscitated the Radio Times which had been out of circulation for some years, and I also had to edit news bulletins for broadcast and read them on the air.

There was the occupational hazard in working in the news room as one had to toe a political line, and at the same time not offend any powerful groups or persons.

News editors, rather unfortunately, used to bend over backwards to please the political party in power, much to the embarrassment of the news readers and perhaps also the listening public.

There was one editor, who when the Pope died gave preference to a Minister opening a co-operative store, and on another occasion, broadcasting in its entirety, a lengthy government communique on the Prime Minister’s visit to India as a News bulletin.

I protested to the News Editor who was also a Director of Broadcasting claiming that it was not a news bulletin and that it should be broadcast as a communique after the news, but I was ordered to read it on the air.

This was broadcast in the evening, and that night Neville Jayaweera was given this information when he came to the radio station.

The editor was fired immediately, and the next morning at the programme post mortem meeting Neville Jayaweera said that I had walked into his office and thrown the bulletin on his desk saying, "this is not a news bulletin".

Actually I did tell Neville Jayaweera when I handed him the bulletin that a broadcast like this would discredit him and the Ceylon Broadcasting Corporation.

For years, possibly due to nervousness, I used to stutter and fluff my lines, and the more I was reprimanded the worse I became.

I felt that I could not get rid of this affliction, so I established a theory that I was doing this on purpose to sound more authentic.

In fact the British Broadcasting Corporation had done some research and found that they had been losing listeners to Netherland’s Happy station as the BBC announcers sounded pedantic; and the BBC announcers had been advised to slip up occasionally-to sound more human!

To prove this, I played recordings of BBC news bulletins where the announcers would fluff their lines and say, "I’m sorry I’ll read that again."

The Director General Neville Jayaweera at the time was an astute man with a good sense of humour, and when he started a programme post mortem meeting one morning he said, "I say Mervyn Jayasuriya has a peculiar theory that to sound authentic on the air he must fluff his lines. Well, last night on the news bulletin, Mervyn surpassed himself in authenticity!"

With a change of government, Neville Jayaweera was ousted from office, and he retired from the service of the government.

He was succeeded by Susil Moonesinghe, a charming and understanding boss. He was also ousted from office, and Oswald Tillekeratne, a brother of the Speaker of Parliament at that time and a loyal member of the government party took over as Acting Chairman and Director General.

A few weeks after Tillekeratne took over I too found myself without a job. Frustrated, disappointed and at a loss I knew I had to make a grave decision.

I left for the United Kingdom where I lived for a few years. It was where my daughter Anushka was born, which was the highest point of my life.

Not very long after Anushka was born we decided to return to Sri Lanka and bring her up amongst her own people, learning her language, customs and traditions. Anushka and her mother prepared to return to Sri Lanka ahead as I was held up in London for four months to sell the house and settle other matters.

One evening at a party at our High Commissioner’s house, our Sri Lankan friends wanted to know where my wife and child were, and when I told them that they had returned to Sri Lanka, they wanted to know if they had gone back on a short holiday. When I told them that they had gone back for good and I would follow they were staggered, and wanted to know what we were going to do about Anushka’s education.

I told them that we had decided that Anushka would be brought up amongst her own people and in addition to English, she would also learn Sinhala and Tamil.

To be continued

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