A humanist and benevolent leader lost to a nation
The birth anniversary of that great Sri Lankan fell on April 12. Attending a sanghika dana organized by his wife Mrs. Suganthie Kadirgamar at their residence, naturally my thoughts went back to the day he was lost to us, 12th August 2005, at his own residence in a terrorist attack. Perhaps it could have been avoided, one could say in hindsight. But a terrorist has to succeed only once and a leader’s protection should succeed always. The nation lost him.
He was born in Colombo on April 12, 1932 and had he lived this was his 85th birthday.
The leadership he gave Sri Lanka could not be compressed to an article of this nature. I have written a few articles about him before, on the varied facets of a life, sacrificed, from the time he entered politics. I am reminded of the time he assumed the office of Foreign Minister in 1994 August…
When my High Commissioner in NewDelhi, in 1994, the late Mr. Neville Kanakaratne called me to his room and told me, ‘I want to tell you that you will be getting a new foreign minister under the new Government, who will adorn that seat with intellect, and professionalism soon’, I listened intently. ‘I was informed by Colombo today and he is Lakshman Kadirgamar, Do you know him?’ I said, ‘I have met him in London a few times, but he probably may not remember’. ‘Anyway he will visit New Delhi soon, we will have to arrange his appointments and itinerary.’ In a few weeks after his assuming duties, the country he chose for his first official visit was our neighbour and friend, India.
That period happened to be one of transition, and in the interim period my staff and I had the onerous duty of receiving the new minister, and organizing calls on the foreign minister of India and other dignitaries. His wish, was however, first to visit Bodh Gaya, and the other sacred places where the Buddha trod. As I have written on this visit before, I only want to emphasise the fact that here was truly a Sri Lankan leader, who felt the pulse of the people, and, who wanted to be blessed by the greatest being who trod this earth and the Jambudweepa. He had closely studied the doctrine, and its significance, and always felt that we as a nation should attach prime importance to the doctrine of the Buddha as that is the greatest asset that Sri Lanka possesses. He as a leader wanted to lead a nation imbibed in the teachings of the blessed one, according to the great teachings.
Re a d i n g t h rough Lakshman Kadirgamar’s family history one finds that he belonged to an ancient illustrious Hindu family from Puloly West and in the 19th century they became adherents of Christianity. They held very high leadership positions in the civil service, armed forces, and judiciary, and were political leaders in the North. They settled in the South, and the schooling of children was in reputed leading schools. Lakshman studied at Trinity College Kandy and was a student who excelled in studies, sports and debating, and was adjudged the best student of his period. Entering the University of Ceylon in Colombo, to study law, his batch was transferred to Peradeniya, as the first batch of students, under the guidance of Sir. Ivor Jennings the vice-chancellor himself. Later he entered the Law College and passed out as an advocate. He entered Oxford University’s Balliol College to do his postgraduate studies. In fact he was honoured by the Oxford University as an outstanding student who was the President of the Oxford Union, by having his portrait unveiled at the Macmillan room of the Oxford Union on 18 March, 2005. It was at this ceremony that he made his famous speech, ‘the icing of the cake was done in Oxford, but it was baked in Sri Lanka.’ The above summary is being written to demonstrate that his cultured upbringing was based on family traditions, the religious environs, academic citadels he studied in and the leadership qualities inbred in the persona. That brought him to politics, in which was mirrored the values of religions, that he is considered a theosophist by some admirers.
He demonstrated this role during his tenure as the foreign minister. He has indicated that the greatest gift that Sri Lanka could give to the world thirsty for loving-kindness, was the message of the Buddha. After re-locating our embassy in Berlin from Bonn, in our own premises in Niklasse Strasse Berlin, in 2000, we built a modest Buddhist shrine- room in the premises, and when the minister visited the new premises he was overwhelmed seeing it. He repeated that the west should be given this gift of peace and non-violence, as they are yearning for such values in life through the doctrine. In conversation, he talked about German philosophers and one was German philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900) who had sought emancipation of the mind through meditation. He stressed the need to make us aware that the west is in need of the compassion and devotion of a great philosopher like the Buddha in the service of humanity and that we in Sri Lanka possess such teachings, in the greatest philosopher, the Buddha, that we follow.
It was this inner desire, he fulfilled by persuading the world body the United Nations, to accept Vesak Day, the day Prince Siddhartha Gauthama ( the Buddha) was born, the day he attained enlightenment, and the day the Buddha passed away, as a day of observance. It is relevant to reminisce about the untiring contribution, Lakshman Kadirgamar made to realise this dream. It was called the resolution adopted by the General Assembly 54/ 15 - International Recognition of the Day of Vesak at the United Nations headquarters and other United Nations offices.
In September 1999, Lakshman Kadirgamar, made the request at the UN General Assembly, that the Day of Vesak be recognised as a Day of Observance. He said, in his characteristic style:
"Allow me to suggest to this august assembly, that as the third millennium of human history opens it would be fitting to recall the immense contribution to the understanding of the human condition that the teachings of the Buddha made, two-thousand five hundred years ago.
"I suggest further, Mr. President, that it would be appropriate to honour the Buddha by declaring that Vesak, the sacred day for Buddhists the world over, be observed as a special day by the United Nations. Mr. President, a resolution to this effect sponsored by a number of countries will be introduced in the General Assembly, at the current session of the assembly. The Government of Sri Lanka would commend this resolution to the attention of the General Assembly."
This resolution was based on a proposal by the International Buddhist Conference held in Sri Lanka in November 1998, that the day of Vesak, the day of the full moon in the month of May each year, be recognised internationally, and in particular, the United Nations headquarters and other United Nations offices.
It recognised that this sacred day of Vesak symbolised the contribution of the Blessed One to the advancement of spirituality in humans. The contribution that Lakshman Kadirgamar made in this noble endeavour is written in gold in the annals of the history of Buddhism today.
He organised the support of the Buddhist nations first, and directed our diplomats at the United Nations to obtain the support of other friendly nations as well. However, due to administrative difficulties the resolution could only state that the day will be observed as a day of world significance. It was the 54th session and the resolution was 54/ 15, titled: Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly, 54/ 15 Inter national Recognition of the Day 0f Vesak. The resolution in fact, in an annexture progressed to explain the memorandum further, by quoting a letter written by a former secretary general of the United Nations, Perez de Cuellar in 1986, to mark that year designated as the year of peace. It said, ‘Message of compassion and devotion to the service of humanity, by the Buddha. This message is today perhaps more relevant than ever before. This philosophy lies at the heart of the Charter of the United Nations and should be paramount in all our thinking especially during the International Year of Peace.’
The resolution said, the General Assembly…Considering that international recognition at United Nations headquarters and other United Nation offices would constitute acknowledgement of the contribution that Buddhism, one of the oldest religions in the world, has made for over two and a half millennia, and continues to make to the spirituality of humanity, resolves that, appropriate arrangements shall be made for international observances of the Day of Vesak, at the United Nations headquarters and other United Nations offices, in consultation with the relevant United Nations offices and with permanent missions’.
Thus, the resolution in the first paragraph acknowledged this proposal by the International Buddhist Conference held in Colombo in Sri Lanka. It was co-sponsored by Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, India, Laos, Maldives, Mongolia, Myanmar, Nepal, Pakistan, Philippines, the Republic of Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Ukraine. On 15 December 1999, the resolution was passed.
The significance of even the countries which were not Buddhist supporting the resolution was due to the tremendous effort made by Lakshman Kadirgamar, to garner their help. Of course, the role played by the secretary and his staff, of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Sri Lanka, and the permanent representative to the United Nations of New York, and his staff, should be gratefully mentioned here. Lakshman Kadirgamar had able professionals to help him in this historic task.
It is reported that Sri Lanka will lead the celebrations of the International Day of Vesak this year. It would be pertinent to remember the architect of this process the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, during the celebration.
He had a firm grasp of philosophy, a knowledge of all religions, Hinduism, Christianity, Buddhism, and Islam, followed in Sri Lanka. The best that should have happened for the future of Sri Lanka was for the late Lakshman Kadirgamar, the visionary leader to have been appointed as the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka. We lost that opportunity. (The writer is a former foreign
service officer.)