WE ARE CEYLONESE

N. M. was for us young Trotskyites of the time our only hero. Why? Many dedicated, colourful intellectuals led the then Left movement. Philip Gunawardena, Dr. S. A. Wickramasinghe, Colvin R. de Silva, Leslie Gunawardena, Bernard Soysa, Pieter Keuneman, V. Kandaiah and V. Karalasingham to name a few, were among them. It is not only the Left that had such leaders. Dudley Senanayake, S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike, M. D. Banda, U. B. Wanninayake, S. J. V. Chellanayagam, G. G. Ponnambalam and A. Amirthalingam were leaders of the same calibre who strode the political scene. But N. M. stood tall among them. N. M. the Parliamentarian par excellence. He was uncompromising in maintaining the dignity and decorum of Parliament. Many wondered how a Trotskyite, a committed socialist and as some would say Marxist could be so. But N. M showed that there is no contradiction. Socialism is the ultimate attainment of social justice which is also the foundation of democracy and liberal values.
Parliamentarians of this period who were equally committed to democracy, understood and appreciated his efforts. It is worth remembering N. M. at a time when a pathetic display of ignorance of the value of Parliamentary democracy and the functioning of Parliament has brought down our country to the brink of disaster.


They are rousing race hatred in this country and I warn the government that those who sow the wind will live to reap the whirlwind. The race hatred that is being roused now will end in racial disorders and bloodshed

I plead with all the earnestness at my command - realise the gravity of what you are doing. You are putting the clock back generations. Children that are born will live to curse us for having ruined this country




It was N. M. out of all the great leaders at that time who boldly foretold the consequences of many decisions that were taken at the time by the governments of the day. If the D. S. Senanayake Government had dropped the Indian and Pakistani Citizenship Bills as pleaded by N. M., perhaps a Federal Party would not have been born. The Federal Party was the outcome of the decision taken by S.J.V. Chelvanayagam and a few other MPs of the Tamil Congress who left the D. S. Senanayake government as a protest against the Citizenship Bills.

If S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had dropped or at least postponed the adoption of the Sinhala Only Act as pleaded by N. M., we perhaps would have saved thousands of lives and our country would not be in the pathetic situation it’s in today.

If the J. R. Jayewardene government had heeded the strenuous opposition of N. M. to the introduction of the Executive Presidential System, our country would not have faced this level of authoritarian rule and the immense material and human destruction.

If Parliament in 1955 had supported the Private Members Motion by N. M. to give parity of status to the Sinhala and Tamil languages, Sri   Lanka would still have been the Switzerland of the East or something even much more.


If S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike had dropped or at least postponed the adoption of the Sinhala Only Act as pleaded by N. M., we perhaps would have saved thousands of lives and our country would not be in the pathetic situation it’s in today



When we go through his writings, speeches, and what he said in his conversations, what strikes us is that he was uncompromising in what he thought was the best for the country and the vision he had for the future of our country. His ability to see how things would unfold from the many ill-conceived decisions of the governments of the day was unbelievable.

In Parliament, on the Official Languages Bill (Sinhala Only Bill) on June 14, 1956, N. M. told Parliament: “Practically every member who got up from there spoke of the democratic decision of the country on the language issue, that the Sinhala Bhasha should be implemented because the majority of the country had decided in its favour. I only want, apart from the answers that have been given, to point out this. Please remember that in every democratic constitution in the world there has been, and there is, always a preamble setting out the fundamental rights of the people of that country.

That preamble is an automatic limitation on the sovereignty of every democratic parliament. That preamble, which sets out the rights of individuals in that society, specifically states that these are certain inalienable rights of the people of that country which cannot be withdrawn merely by the fact that 50% or 60% have decided to do the particular thing…. It is on that basis that Hon. Members should view this question of democracy. Do not treat this democracy purely as an arithmetical concept.” He further stated: “For us there is no such thing as a Sinhalese and a Tamil - we are all members of one nation - the Ceylonese Nation. That is of paramount importance for the LSSP. We are Sinhalese only after we are Ceylonese. We have been striving for 20 years to build up a Ceylonese Nation in this country, and I have not the slightest doubt that whatever difficulties we may temporarily have to go through we will eventually succeed in doing so. History cannot be denied, the people of Ceylon cannot be denied their rightful place.” He further told Parliament: “In 1938, I could not get out of my house over this Indian Bill. I was abused, assaulted and hooted at every turn, but yet I went through it. I am quite accustomed to this.” He continued: “They are rousing race hatred in this country and I warn the government that those who sow the wind will live to reap the whirlwind. The race hatred that is being roused now will end in racial disorders and bloodshed.”

“You may kill me or a number of our comrades, but you are not solving the problem. You are not solving the minority issue by killing members of my party or some other party. I plead with all the earnestness at my command - realise the gravity of what you are doing.

You are putting the clock back generations. Children that are born will live to curse us for having ruined this country.”N.M. was vehemently opposed to the Executive Presidential System. In his book ‘Critical Analysis of the New Constitution of Sri Lanka’ which was written while he was not in the best of health is revealing. How he saw that the system would destroy democracy is remarkable. In his concluding page he wrote: “1 have no doubt that in the years to come, many students of constitutions will quote the example of the 1978 Sri Lanka Constitution as one which carries the notoriety of what a constitution should never be. What is more, it will provide an outstanding example of constitutional practices that should never be allowed to tarnish constitutions under the pretext of amending such a conclusion.” Regarding the inadequacy of checks on the Executive President he wrote: “In the final analysis the test of accountability is the correctives that can be imposed on him by the legislature. It is not merely the criticism that can be continually levelled against him, but also the imposition of the ultimate sanction of dismissal through a vote of no-confidence.” Regarding the argument that was presented, throwing a parallel with the US Presidency he wrote: “Can such a tree however flourishing in the land of its birth hoary with age, enveloped by encrustations good, bad and indifferent, be transplanted into the political soil of Sri   Lanka and expect it to thrive, blossom forth and fructify?” And finally in the last paragraph of his preface to the book he states: “The Presidential System offers unlimited scope for wielding absolute power albeit for a limited period. But the taste of unlimited power grows with the feeding and the lust cannot be easily satiated. It is a matter for regret that Sri Lanka that has amassed considerable experience in Parliamentary Government and has successfully overcome the teething troubles of the early period, should now be thrown down the slope of constitutional confusion, in the end jeopardising democracy itself.”

Last but not least I should mention one important prediction that he made at the Peradeniya Rest House just 10 days before the 1977 General Elections. When Wijaya Wickramaratne and I were discussing with him till late in the night, what the outcome of the elections would be. When we told him that JR Jayawardena was sure to get a landslide victory he closed his eyes, thought for a while and then told us: “If what you say is correct this will be the last free election in Sri Lanka.” How true this turned out to be.