Near octogenarian with 60 years of voting recalls polls past

Within close earshot of the bells of St. John’s Panadura lives an almost-octogenarian who has been voting -- come hell or high water -- at all the elections since those landmark polls of March 1960 which ushered in the era of Sirimavo Bandaranaike.

Last Wednesday’s general election saw the silver- haired but impeccably neat Don Ranjan Goonetillake (79) completing 60 years of exercising his civic responsibility, just as sprightly as in his former cricketing years playing for Thurstan College.

Mr. Goonetillake hails from the southern coast. His father was the District Registrar of Lands in the Kalutara District. He begins with hand-me-down memories of his late father who could resurrect graphically the horrors of the 1915 SinhaleseMuslim riots down to the Punjabi soldiers with their bayonets.

His own memories begin with the landslide 1956 elections when a spruce SWRD Bandaranaike charmed everyone including this 15-year-old. He recalls the waves of horror the assassination at Tintagel by Talduwe Somarama created in 1959, and Wijeyananda Dahanayake stepping up to the post.

The 1965 general election which the UNP won, was memorable as Mr. Goonetillake was literally swept into the middle of the consequent 1966 protest against the Tamil Language (Special Provisions) Regulations, when, he says, even the ‘finest gentlemen’ bayed for the PM’s blood. “Dudley-gey badey masala-wadey” was their raucous chant against the rather gentle Dudley Senanayake. It was during the ensuing ruckus that the Ven. Dambarawe Ratnasara was shot dead- for which the opposition accused the government.

The 1977 elections were overshadowed heavily with a general strike which the new premier J. R. Jayawardene dealt with rather forcefully- sacking all the strikers as N. M. Perera had done previously, says Mr. Goonetillake.

Looking back at polls past, Mr. Goonetillake says there used to be much violence with the victorious politicians inciting villagers to turn on supporters of the other parties often leading to arson and even homicide. Thankfully today, polls are peaceful, he says.

A former field assistant at the Department of Geological Survey and coach for the Royal College Under- 13 cricket team, Mr. Goonetillake will be celebrating his 80th birthday on December 31, this year.