DEEPAL WIJERATNE
Champion of the wronged, he was admired for his balanced thinking and integrity
One feels a sense of hopelessness when confronted with the sudden loss of a friend who appeared one moment to be in good health, and was gone the next. This was how we felt when we heard of the sudden death of Deepal.
Just a few days before, Deepal was consoling me on the loss of my mother. We had a brief chat. He gave no indication that the next funeral I would attend would be his. At the Galkissa Cemetery, our sorrow knew no bounds when we saw Deepal’s little child playing by himself, oblivious of the funeral rites going on and the devastating blow that had been dealt to him. The many mourners were all in a state of shock.
Deepal was an energetic young man who was respected for his scholarly approach to work and the splendid results he produced, both in court and in relation to the disputes he handled for member companies of the Employers Federation.
He joined the Employers Federation of Ceylon (EFC) in 2001. He was a vital part of its legal and industrial relations service to the nation, and in particular the business community. He joined the EFC from the Attorney General’s Department, where he had established his name and shown his talent for advocacy, meticulous preparation and clarity of thinking.
So dedicated was he to his work that he neglected to seek medical attention for the headaches that were bothering him, and which turned out to be ominous warnings of a fatal illness.
He was the third professional to die in harness at the EFC. The first was Mahadeva, the chief executive many years ago, and more recently, Diyanesh Rajaratnam.
I mention all this as most people do not realise how stressful a job the professional staff of the EFC have. When an an employee is dismissed, he has lost his means of living; strikes mean that disputes have reached proportions of hatred and violent behaviour; and disciplinary issues affect people and their futures. What the EFC professionals do is take on the headaches of others. Sometimes this turns out to be a thankless job.
Deepal did his demanding job with great acceptance and fairness. His death is a loss not only to the EFC and its members but to the whole community. Balanced thinking and integrity are hard to come by.
Franklyn Amerasinghe