The Parliament of Sri Lanka is completely reborn with faces embodying the epoch-changing transformation that people have needed for decades. Among the new members, there are young professionals, scholars and activists resonating with different ideologies which is a stark contrast to the nepotism that reigned the previous parliament.
At a time when the whole country engages in broader social and political reformation, a memory of a thinker whose fortune did not allow him to be seated in Parliament comes to my mind. His name is Dr. Chanaka Amaratunga, a name that has faded into oblivion reminding us of the vanity of all the earthly elements including the intellect.
When the political activists were debilitated before the euphoric moment of the UNP in the aftermath of the 1977 electoral victory, Chanaka was one of the first few individuals to argue the authoritarianism of JR Jayewardene. The political project that Chanaka ardently advocated for Sri Lanka was liberalism in its highest form devoid of any racial or cultural prejudices.
Such an ideal state of liberalism that Chanaka devoted his life to achieving was an intellectual stimulation of the education he received in Britain, the epicentre of the development of liberal thought.
After spending an eventful decade at School by the Sea leading the Thomian debating team along with other legends such as Richard de Soysa and Rohan Edirisinghe, Chanaka went on to read Politics, Philosophy and Economics at Oxford. His achievements at Oxford were not merely confined to scholarly ones as he emulated the line of other distinguished Sri Lankans before him by mastering his oratory skills at the Oxford Union, the bastion of free speech in the Anglophone world. Apart from the stalwarts like SWRD Bandaranaike, Lakshman Kadirgarmar and Lalith Athulathmudali, Chanaka’s name can be equally remembered as the last Sri Lankan secretary of the Oxford Union until this day.
When he returned to Sri Lanka, Chanaka was equipped with all the intellectual requirements to become a fine statesman. A degree from Oxford and a PhD from the London School of Economics, specialising in Anglo-Iranian relations could have opened a lucrative path in academia internationally. Yet, Chanaka was a typical political animal propelled by his intrinsic passion for entering politics.
A committed liberalist
Chanaka’s audacity to challenge JR’s hegemony over the party was notable in the 80s regardless of his initial hobnobbing with the UNP. The Colombo elite English-speaking class represented by Chanaka idealised JR’s leadership as the man who saved the party from moribundity. But Chanaka’s political acumen was correct when analytically expressed his displeasure over the political decisions of the Jayawardene Government which he believed to be catastrophic for the spirit of democracy.
Smitten by the classical liberal ethos he adored from Mill to Bentham, Chanaka formed the Council for Liberal Democracy which paved the path for the formation of the Sri Lanka Liberal Party later. At a time when nobody dared to express dissent and alternative ideas, Chanaka hosted so many voiceless thinkers, and activists to the platform of CLD by creating an intellectual oasis in the country where ideas were lurking.
One may ask what factors brought the nemesis to the liberal project that Chanaka dearly wanted to achieve and the catalyst factor for it lies in the incompatibility of the kind of liberalism that Chanaka aspired to realise with the socio-cultural dynamics of Sri Lanka. Despite his noble efforts in forming the only liberal party, his liberal project went haywire due to its impracticality in aligning with the rooted levels of society. The public record of Chanaka’s writings and speeches reveals a consistent and principled opposition to the liberty-threatening dimensions of organised collectivism that were politically important during his lifetime, but he was not called upon to engage with the development of liberal theory itself beyond the classical normative standpoint.
A failed dream
The last stage of Chanaka’s life, until he passed away following a car accident, was akin to a Shakespearean tragedy filled with many ebbs and disillusions that culminated in sheer disappointment. Since its inception, the Liberal party of Sri Lanka opted for a policy of bandwagoning in the void space of power, in which Chanaka made a Faustian deal with several leading politicians of his day. His dream of being elected to Parliament from the SLFP in 1988 ended with the departure of his friend Anura Bandaranaike from the party and his next move with Ranasinghe Premadasa became another unfulfilled venture when President Premadasa died after an LTTE suicide attack in 1993.
Writing political speeches and an election manifesto for Gamini Dissanayake was the last resort for Chanaka Amaratunga to realise his dream of entering Parliament, which finally faded away with the assassination of Gamini Dissanayake before the Presidential election in 1994. A brilliant academic, thinker and committed liberalist was exploited by many politicians as a speechwriter and eventually, he died a disappointed man in 1996.
Notwithstanding its ultimate debacle as a failed political project, Chanaka Amaratunga’s thirst for liberalism within the Sri Lankan context deserves to be remembered and his life was an exemplar of intellectual enquiry and reflection as well as passionate political activism. If we need to remember Chanaka’s legacy today, it needs to be based on his accustomed fortitude for safeguarding the value of dissent as a pillar of liberalist tradition. What his lifelong friend recited at Chanaka’s funeral in 1996 from Tennyson would be an ideal addendum to epitomise his relatively short life.
We are not now
that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven;
that which we are,
we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate,
but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and
not to yield.
(The writer is a lecturer at the Faculty of Law, General Sir John Kotelawala Defence University)
