The Hon. Chandima Hettiaratchi

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, among those for whom we move condolences today are the late former leader of the Ilankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi, Hon. Maavai S. Senathirajah (Maavai S.O. Senathirajah), Hon. Donald Dissanayake, Hon. J.R.P. Suriya Peruma, and our comrade Kosala Nuwan Jayawira.

¶ 02 Though we did not often meet the earlier-named seniors face to face, they were notable names in this Parliament and in Sri Lankan politics. We saw J.R.P. Suriya Peruma on television—speaking with depth on international affairs. Likewise, Maavai S. Senathirajah, like Hon. R. Sampanthan, represented his people, worked to alleviate their hardships, and believed in parliamentary democracy to build a united Sri Lankan society. We must extend our deepest condolences to their families and loved ones.

¶ 03 Speaking of Kosala Nuwan Jayawira evokes much. The world has many kinds of leaders; among them are unifying leaders who bring societies and states together—Alexander the Great, Salah ad-Din, Abraham Lincoln, Vladimir Lenin. In his sphere, wherever he worked, Kosala was a unifying leader—bringing together disparate groups.

¶ 04 His university life was marked by divided student factions; he was the first to bring them together within the Open University, as President of the main student union—uniting varied groups and binding student rights with the national student movement. In the Open University, with its distinctive culture, he was always at the front—his presence a symbol of leadership.

¶ 05 He reminds me of Yakov Mikhailovich Sverdlov, Chair of the All-Russian Central Executive Committee, who died at 34 during the Spanish flu, working even with fever—never abandoning duty. Kosala was of that Sverdlov mold: he never abandoned responsibility, whatever the field—organization, economy, environment, Parliament, or with us in COPE to catch the thieves. He was fearless, an exceptional organizer. Thus, not only the Kegalle District but our entire party, the Government, and the country lost a Sverdlov-class organizer.

¶ 06 He entered this Chamber with us on 21 November 2024. We are both alumni of the Open University student movement. I knew him personally and well: a superior comrade who never left the struggle. During parliamentary and presidential election campaigns, he organized Kegalle while I organized Kalutara. The same Kosala we saw in the university reappeared here—never puffed up by office, never theatrical, always a true brother. His final rites were crowded with villagers and university comrades. Our grief remains; his absence cannot be cured. To his mother, father, and brothers, as a mass movement, as a government, as a party, and as Open University comrades, we express our deepest condolences. His void can never be filled.

¶ 07 Thank you.