The Hon. Gnanamuththu Srineshan

¶ 01 Hon. Deputy Chairperson of Committees, I am pleased to participate in this condolence motion on the late former Members of Parliament: Hon. P. Dayaratna, Hon. Gamini Lokuge, Hon. Indradasa Hettiarachchi, Hon. M. H. Cegu Isadean, and Hon. W. B. Ranatunga, and to share a few thoughts.

¶ 02 First, I convey my deepest condolences to their bereaved families and pray that they attain eternal repose.

¶ 03 As a representative from the Eastern Province, I wish to first reflect on Hon. M. H. Cegu Isadean. He was both a politician and a man of letters—a poet with powerful expression. He studied at Vantharumoolai Central College, later the Eastern University campus; I too studied there after his time.

¶ 04 He lived by, “Islam is our path; sweet Tamil is our language.” While his faith was Islam, he mastered Tamil as an intellectual. His poems and verses had a unique idiom, reflecting a fine literary mind. He was also a thinker with the capacity to generate ideas, whether on politics or inter-ethnic relations, thinking deeply and broadly. He served as an English teacher and later as a lawyer, and often advised others. His political thinking was that one community’s solution must not harm another; all communities must live, and all must thrive together.

¶ 05 He was courageous in expressing his views, yet open to others’ views, and capable of compromise. His children’s success as scholars today reflects the guidance he provided—not only to his family but to the nation.

¶ 06 Tamil–Muslim relations were central to him. He was careful to prevent rifts between these two Tamil-speaking communities. True to “Islam is our path; sweet Tamil is our language”, he cherished both his faith and his language, with the maturity to carry both together. His loss is not only to Muslims but to Tamil-speaking Tamils as well. Given his righteous thought, I am confident he attains divine mercy.

¶ 07 He served through difficult times and conducted his politics wisely, without inflaming conflict. He served eight years in Parliament and passed away at 80. Writing under the pen name “Vedanti,” his poems were salutary. In his final years, he embraced spirituality with a philosopher’s temperament, dedicating himself across politics, spirituality, sociology, and psychology—a great soul.

¶ 08 There were periods when intelligence operations and other activities created tensions between Tamils and Muslims. At one time, a person known as “Munas” operated—actually a Sinhalese intelligence hand—who, under a different name, stoked ethnic discord. In that climate, Cegu Isadean acted with utmost caution to prevent conflict. I pray for the repose of his soul.

¶ 09 Hon. P. Dayaratna, from the Eastern Province and native to Ampara, was a fine, educated engineer who related equally with all three communities. He was a good minister and senior statesman who worked on the basis that services must reach every community. I pray for the repose of his soul.

¶ 10 Hon. Gamini Lokuge was also a senior statesman. Though I did not know him well personally, I learned much from today’s tributes. Likewise, Hon. Indradasa Hettiarachchi and Hon. W. B. Ranatunga dedicated themselves to social and political service in the South. These five were senior politicians; I pray their souls rest in peace and that comfort comes to their grieving families. Thank you.