Celebrating Wesley Muthiah

by Silan Kadirgamar

(November,14, London, Sri Lanka Guardian) The passing away of Wesley S.Muthiah so soon after his comrade and colleague Sydney Wanasinghe, takes away from their circle of friends and comrades two men who gave so much without expecting anything in return. Wesley passed away in July, in London a few months after Sydney departed this life.

Having joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party as young labour officer, Wesley migrated to London and took to teaching. He remained one of the loyal and staunch supporters of the left movement in this country and was regarded by left activists here as one of our men in London. The turmoil in the country and its repercussions were felt far and wide. As remnants of the once powerful LSSP and the CP regrouped within the Lankan diaspora world-wide, Wesley remained one of the key persons that helped to consolidate and develop this solidarity that rose above the ethnic divide. Though Jaffna Tamil by birth and upbringing he remained to the last an all-Lankan internationalist.

In celebrating the life of Wesley we naturally remember Sydney Wanasinghe. This genuine comradeship of two teachers by profession gave us one of the few lengthy and sustained combined efforts of recent times that has left a lasting impact. One hardly thinks of them as Sinhalese or Tamil. They rose above the ethnic divide. They were Samasamajists to the core and remained Samasamajists, rising above narrow party loyalties. The sectarianism, frictions, and fragmentations that wrecked the left movement left then unscathed. That commitment was evident in their relentless hard work without funding, using their own resources until their last breath, as they placed on record the heroic age of the Sama Samaja movement in this country, that is its first three decades. Never in the pursuit of power, position or wealth, young in heart and spirit, and self-effacing to a fault, they have left behind for those of us who are still around in these barbaric and sordid times, enough material to enrich our recollections and to derive inspiration from the historic events and memorable leaders of the past. The Young Socialist Publications constitute a legacy left behind for posterity out of which hopefully a new, just and peaceful Lanka will and must emerge.

For these and their services to the left movement many of us remain eternally grateful.
Some of the Young Socialist Publications are:

Britain World War 2 and the Samasamajists, The Bracegirdle Affair, We Were Making History, The Case for Socialism,"Two languages, One Nation – One Language, Two Nations.",Socialist Women of Sri Lanka,Colvin R de Silva: Selected Speeches & Writings,

A meeting to celebrate the life, work and dedication to Left Movement of Wesley Muthiah will be held at the N.M.Perera Center at 5 p.m. on Tuesday 13 November and organized by the Social Scientists’ Association(SSA). This meeting will be chaired by the Prof. Tissa Vitarana and speakers are D.E.W. Gunasekera, Dr. Carlo Fonseka, Vasudeva Nanyakakra, Selvy Thiruchandran, Siritunga Jayasuriya and Silan Kadirgamar.