Remembering Philip Gunawardena

By Walter Wijenayake

(March 29, Colombo, Sri Lanka Guardian) The 38th death anniversary of a veteran politician, intellectual, parliamentarian of foresight, great socialist, dynamo of activity, humanitarian, father of socialism in Sri Lanka, statesman, trade unionist and above all a gentleman ‘par excellance’, Don Philip Rupasinghe Gunawardena, fell on March 26.

He was born on January 11, 1901 to the family of Don Jakolis Rupasinghe, who was known as ‘Boralugoda Ralahamy’, and Mrs. Clara Suriyapperuma of Dompe of the Siyane Korale. However, it is stated in some writings that his mother was Dona Liyanora Gunasekera.

Philip was their second child of a family of three boys and seven girls.

He was first educated at Boralugoda temple and Sri Siddhartha Vidyalaya, Kaluaggala, and received his secondary education at Prince of Wales College at Moratuwa and then at Ananda College, Colombo.

It is well known that he saved the life of his father who was sentenced to death during the martial law petiod of 1915, oppressively imposed on the Sinhala Buddhists by the cololonial British government.

The teenage school boy, Philip, travelled in a horse-drawn carriage, accompanied by his mother and drove straight into Queen’s House, the residence of the British Governor, without heeding the sentries at the gate and presented a petition on behalf of his condemned father, which was accepted as true by Governor Robert Charmers, who promptly released him from jail. All this was done at the age of 11 years.

In 1921, he passed the London Matriculation Examination from Ananda College. He then joined the intermediate class of the then University College in Colombo and followed an year’s course in economics.

After studies in the island, he proceeded to the US in 1922 for higher education and joined the famous Universities of Illinois and Wisconsin, where he obtained his Degrees in Political Science and Agricultural Economics and came under the direct influence of that internationally known radical socialist Scott Mearing.

During the period he was in America, he met and came into close contact with Afro-Asian freedom fighters, such as, Jaya Prakash Narayan, Ram Gulan and Jomo Kenyatta and others with whom Philip organised political movements for the advancement of black and coloured Americans.

He travelled in Central and South American countries and addressed socialist meetings which drew thousands of listeners and in Mexico, the revolutionary leader Jose Vas Gonsalos was his close friend.

After a period of four years in America, he went to England. There he joined the British Communist Socialist Movement with other Afro-Asian students, including, Dr. N. M. Perera, Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva.

Philip Gunawardena was at the centre of the anti-imperialist and anti-colonial campaign. In London, he also met freedom fighters, Jomo Kenyatta and Sri Jawaharlal Nehru. Philip worked with Krishna Menon and Nehru for the Indian League, an anti-imperial organization.

At the same time, he organized the trade union movement by ousting the first labour organizer A. E. Goonesinghe. Through the anti-poppy ‘Suriyamal’ campaign, he was able to establish the first socialist political party in Sri Lanka, the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, on December 18, 1935. He pushed Dr. Colvin R. de Silva to be the first president of the party. Further, Philip was a dynamo of activity and he was the directing force of the LSSP. Some of the others who assisted him were, Dr. N. M. Perera, Leslie Gunawardena and Dr. S. A. Wickremasinghe.

He first entered the State Council as member of the Sama Samaja Party in 1936 to represent the Avissawella constituency, by defeating the Speaker of the State Council, Forrester Obeysekara. On the April 5, 1942, when the Japanese bombed Colombo, Sama Samaja leaders, Philip Gunawardena, Dr. N. M. Perera, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Leslie Gunawardena, Edmond Samarakkody and others were jailed by the British rulers, as political detainees.

However, they broke jail and escaped to India. There he assumed the name Gurusamy and his wife, Kusuma, joined him there. Their oldest son Indika was born in India. After some time all of them were arrested in India and they were brought back to the island in 1943. They were sentenced to six months’ rigorous imprisonment for breaking jail. When the war was over, they were released unconditionally.

At the first election to Parliament in 1947, once again he was returned as Member of Parliament for Avissawella on the LSSP ticket. However, in 1948, he forfeited his seat, when he was sentenced to three months’ rigorous imprisonment over an incident in the South Western Bus Company bus strike. His wife Kusuma Gunawardena was returned uncontested to Avissawella to fill his place.

In 1949, over ideological differences, he left the LSSP and formed the Viplavakari Lanka Sama Samaja Party (the Revolutionary Sama Samaja Party of Lanka), and at the general election of 1956 he was responsible for the formation of the ‘Mahajana Eksath Peramuna’ (MEP).

In the MEP government, he held the portfolio of Agriculture, Food and Co-operatives. As the minister charge of those key positions, he introduced the Paddy Lands Act, the People’s Bank, and Multi-Purpose Co-operative Societies.

He expedited the nationalization of passenger bus transport and ports. He was also instrumental in the take over of the British Air Force Base in Katunayake and Naval Base in Trincomalee to remove the last shackles of colonialism.

Due to splits in that government, he left the Cabinet on May 19, 1959.

In 1965, he advocated the formation of the national government of Dudley Senanayake and became the Minister of Industries and Fisheries. He founded the Kosgama Plywood Corporation complex and launched many industrial projects with the assistance of the socialist bloc.

At the general elections held in 1970, he was ousted from the Avissawella seat. His political debacle never discouraged him but he was keen to come into the political arena. However, he fell ill and passed away on March 26, 1972. A humanist with a heart of gold, he wished to donate his eyes to restore the eye sight of two blind persons, which wish was promptly carried out after his demise.

A kind-hearted family man, a devoted husband and a loving father, he married Kusuma Gunawardena, who was MP for Avissawella and subsequently the MP for Kiriella.

He offspring are four sons and one daughter - Indika, Dinesh, Prasanna, Githanjana and Lakmali.

This great socialist who fashioned his socialist policies to suit the particular needs of the country, is remembered by the people of the country as a fearless and patriotic leader who never hesitated to fight against injustices and oppression.