The Hon. Sugath Wasantha de Silva

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I am deeply grateful for the opportunity to speak as we express our sorrow and condolences on the passing of four former Members of Parliament.

¶ 02 We know there are moments when people’s representatives bid farewell while in the midst of their service. The four personalities before us today are truly distinctive. Their distinctiveness arises from the depth of the impressions they left in our hearts.

¶ 03 First, I wish to recall J.R.P. Suriya Peruma. With independence in 1948, a grand debate took shape in the 1950s and 1960s over the direction our country should take economically, politically, and culturally. Suriya Peruma played an active role nurtured by that debate. He was a man of intellect, a learned and measured scholar—especially one among the tradition of bilingual intellectuals. It was mentioned earlier that over time he served in and with different political parties and movements. Yet he was no mere opportunist. He began with the Communist Party and journeyed across movements, learning and absorbing, enriching his political thought.

¶ 04 A professor friend once called him, in an intellectual sense, an “intellectual wayfarer.” Not in any pejorative sense, but as someone who ranged widely—studying, synthesizing, and deepening political ideas. That rich dialogue spanned the ’50s and ’60s, and J.R.P. Suriya Peruma stood as one of its finest exemplars. He was a writer and a speaker who could set down what he learned with clarity and power, both in writing and in speech. We saw this in Doramadalawa. His words, aired across television channels, still reverberate in our hearts. He conveyed his convictions and the knowledge systems he believed in with emphasis and depth. He was a historian, and an analyst of international politics.

¶ 05 Today, we are accustomed to pulling information with our fingertips on smartphones—often giving our minds a rest. His mind was not like that; it was a cosmos, a library. On any subject, details would surface in his memory, and he translated that memory into the written and spoken word. That was his signature quality. In debate he was deft; he impressed his voice and ideas into the listener with clarity and depth. Over many decades, he etched “J.R.P. Suriya Peruma” into the hearts of Sri Lankans. To that measured intellect and scholar we extend our heartfelt gratitude and express our sorrow to his family. As a society, we feel the need to fill the void he has left.

¶ 06 Next, let me speak of former MP Maavai S. Senathirajah. He acted in profound fidelity to the political identity he was born into—consistently and from the heart. For decades he pursued a dangerous and demanding political path for his convictions. Hence his name is recorded in our hearts. He stood against oppression and understood its pain; born in Jaffna, he never abandoned Jaffna—and there he breathed his last. He gave leadership to his people; his political vitality is recorded in their hearts. He leaves us the example of standing for one’s political belief as long as one is convinced of its rightness. Even when confronted with intra-party challenges towards the end of his life, he stood for the aspirations and needs of his people. As a colleague said, he was a brave man. That courage sprang from his vision, thought, presentation, and dedication. The name Maavai Senathirajah is inscribed in the hearts of Tamils and, likewise, commands the respect of all Sri Lankans. We, the Sri Lankans who mourn his passing, extend our deepest sympathies to his family.

¶ 07 Hon. Presiding Member, today we also mourn our colleague Kosala Nuwan Jayawira, who took his oath here on the same day as I did. He served only a few months in Parliament, but he had led a long, fighting political life—putting forward progressive ideas and dedicating himself to the people. We were present when his body was brought; among the grieving, we heard the people say he would pause only three hours a day, dedicating the other twenty-one hours to the people, as a commander on the political battlefield. Though he is gone, he has left a deep and indelible mark in our hearts with his name. The sheen and light of that name fill our souls because of his devotion, irrepressible courage, and deep love for the people. I knew him only for some months, but I will never forget the warmth with which he clasped hands and spoke.

¶ 08 Hon. Presiding Member, I cannot go further. All who have left us occupy the highest place in our hearts. Drawing strength from the light and energy these personalities gifted us, we commit to carrying forward people-centered political work. I bow to their light and strength, yet confess before you how difficult it is to bear their departure. I now remain silent.

¶ 09 Thank you.