71st National Day of Sri Lanka
Given the location and geography, Sri Lanka with its wide range of natural resources, was an attractive acquisition which caught the attention of Europeans decades back in time.
With the arrival of the Portuguese, foreign domination started in 1505 AD, occupying the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon. They were replaced by the Dutch in 1656, when they captured Colombo and other strongholds held by the Portuguese.
The British drove away the Dutch in 1796 and occupied the maritime areas. They gained complete control of the country in 1815. Thereafter Sri Lanka remained part of the British Empire.
It didn’t take long for the people to realize the need to fight against imperialism. In the Uva uprising (1817 – 1818) the people of Uva and Wellassa rebelled against the new rulers. It was a people’s rebellion with several chieftains joining it, the most prominent being Keppetipola Disawa.
The British had to bring troops from India to subdue some of the provinces. Keppetipola was captured at the end of October 1818 and along with Madugalle Dissawa was court-martialled and beheaded the next month.
With the imposition of a series of unjustifiable taxes like the cart and boat tax, stamp tax, gun tax, personal tax, road tax and the dog tax, the people revolted again and this was in 1848.
Following this, a young man from the coastal town of Moratuwa went to Kandy and led the proud peasants of the hill country in an armed insurrection against British rule. He captured the town of Matale and declared himself king. The brave 35-year old young man was Veerahennedige Francisco Fernando – better known as Puran Appu.
He was caught by the British army and was executed on August 8, 1848. Gongalegoda Banda alias Peliyagoda David (his name was Wansapurna Deva David) declared himself king when the rebellion in 1848 spread to Dambulla.
At the Dambulla temple amidst thousands of people, he was crowned ‘King of the Kandyan Kingdom’ by the chief incumbent of the Dambulla temple, Ven Giranegama Ratanajothi Thera giving him the name ‘Sri Wickrema Siddipathi’. He was captured by the British and banished to Malacca where he had died in December 1849.
Having realized the futility of attempts to fight a strong foreign army, the national leaders later began to campaign on different platforms. There were leaders who concentrated on campaigning for national resurgence, the promotion of traditional values and securing a place for Buddhism. Among the prominent personalities was Venerable Mohottiwatte Gunananda Thera (Migettuwatte Gunananda Thera) (1823 – 90) – born orator, fearless debater, erudite scholar and inspiring writer. He led the movement for the revival of Buddhist education in the country and the ushering of a spiritual and national renaissance.
Operating from Deepaduttaramaya at Kotahena, he published books and distributed tens of thousands of leaflets to propagate the teachings of the Buddha. He accepted the challenge from Christian missionaries and took part in five public debates held in different parts of the country and emerging victorious. The historic debates are identified by the places where they were held – Waragoda (1865), Udammita (1866), Gampola (1871), Baddegama (1871) and Panadura (1871).
His writings attracted the attention of the advanced West and it was his influence through his writings that brought Colonel Henry Steele Olcott and Madam Blavatsky to Sri Lanka in search of Buddhism. They became part and parcel of the national revivalist movement and Colonel Olcott’s contribution to Buddhist education through the establishment of educational institutions like Ananda College in Colombo, Mahinda College in Galle and Dharmaraja College in Kandy was greatly appreciated.
Then there was the dynamic leader Anagarika Dharmapala (1864 – 1903), the campaigner in the cause of Buddhist resurgence who travelled the length and breadth of the country in a bullock cart, inspiring the people with hard-hitting speeches to work for the development of the country and towards achieving independence.
Meanwhile, on the political front, other leaders started campaigning for more responsibility in governing the country with the aim of reaching the goal of becoming an independent nation.
The political struggle for independence was led by Mahamanya D.s.senanayake and the Sinhala Leaders as well as the Tamil and Muslim Leaders of the country.
The freedom that was lost 200 years ago in 1815, was finally won back on February 4, 1948.
Though Sri Lanka won her freedom, the country remained a dominion for the next 24 years, before it was fully given its republic status in 1972. And in the present, Sri Lanka stands out proudly as a united, independent nation with diverse citizens from many religions, speaking different languages, from different cultures, but yet again, Sri Lankans.