A humble human being with outstanding leadership qualities

I strongly believe that it’s not the number of years that someone lived, but what they did during their lifetime while touching the hearts of others which makes an extraordinary human being.

Even though Adhil unexpectedly departed from us five years ago, I believe his life story gives us a powerful message on leadership behaviour and the responsibility of youth. I also believe that the example set by Adhil is the need of the hour for our society.

Such special life stories as Adhil’s can restore our faith in humanity. As a proud product of Royal College, Colombo 7, Adhil was an exemplary outstanding young leader. I don’t think that anybody would disagree about Adhil’s leadership abilities and human qualities if they have ever interacted with him. Most importantly, many people remember Adhil because he was a humble human who treated everyone equally and with kindness, regardless of their social status.

Even though raised in a political family, being a grandson of a former Speaker of Parliament and son of a well-respected former Minister and current Parliamentarian, Adhil always made sure to remain down-to-earth.

In our country it is not rare to see stories where some young people with political family backgrounds try to enter politics solely relying on their family connections, wealth and power. Adhil chose a different path completely even though he had the same privilege.

It’s not a secret that Adhil also had political aspirations. However, he never wanted to use his family background to fulfil his desire. Instead, he chose to shape his character whilst equipping himself with the necessary political knowledge and experience. Upon successfully completing his LLB degree and Attorney’s examinations, he was admitted to the Bar as a junior lawyer. He won a prestigious Chevening Scholarship and selected to pursue a Master’s degree in Comparative Politics at the London School of Economics (LSE). Having the privilege of becoming a Chevening Scholar, I would also like to gratefully remember how Adhil wanted me to apply for the same scholarship some years back. This was another excellent quality of Adhil’s because I rarely meet people who are willing to share the opportunities they have had with others.

As a young leader, Adhil made sure to gain experiences that would help him understand the ground reality at the grassroots, by working closely with people from different walks of life. If he ever entered politics, I have no doubt he would have become a brilliant policymaker as he had a great sense of awareness of the ground reality and policy-making process.

I personally believe that Sri Lanka already has more than enough politicians but not enough statesmen. If Adhil were alive, he could have filled that vacuum as he had what it takes. Without exaggeration, one could claim that Adhil could have become the first Muslim to become the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka with the majority vote from the citizens of all other ethnic groups.

Adhil never had to portray a public image which is completely different from what he truly was, as he lived by his own set of principles and values.

When I recall memories about Adhil, there is one particular incident that I really want to share. Before Adhil left to the UK to pursue his postgraduate studies, he was working as board director for international youth affairs at the National Youth Services Council (NYSC) of Sri Lanka, voluntarily carrying out the duties without even taking any allowances to which he was officially entitled.

In 2013, Adhil was selected as one of the two youth delegates representing our motherland at the 68th United Nations General Assembly. Being the NYSC board director who was in charge of the portfolio of ‘international youth affairs’, the same UNYD programme came under Adhil’s supervision a few years later. Having applied for the same programme four consecutive times, I witnessed how Adhil tried his best to make the application process fair and transparent in both years he handled the UNYD programme. He also took some revolutionary steps to reform the foreign pool of NYSC in order to make the selection process more systematised and transparent.

In addition to all of the above, Adhil added a public speech round to the UNYD selection process so that the public and youth could actually see who was going to represent them at the UN General Assembly.

This particular incident I am referring to took place during the last stage of the UN Youth Delegate Selection Process in 2016. It was crucial for me as it was my last attempt for the programme. Even after the marks had been finalised in the final stage of the selection process, political authorities and higher officials attempted to influence the selection process. However, Adhil made a bold decision to ignore all the political influences and pressures to preserve the selection process’s transparency. He strictly mentioned that he would rather reveal the injustice and resign if someone tried to change the original mark sheets of the applicants who progressed to the final round.

Without Adhil’s bold decision to go ahead with the initial results of the applicants, a person like me would never have got the opportunity to become the official Sri Lankan youth delegate to the UN in that particular year.

I should also mention that during his tenure at the National Youth Services Council, Adhil won the hearts of all employees who even today, remember his humble nature with much love. They grieved for him with profound sadness.

I recall coming back home and being picked up by a driver from the NYSC who told me: “It’s not only a great loss to us, but to our motherland”.

I firmly believe that the best way of paying gratitude to Adhil is to live a life with integrity while being a compassionate and empathetic human being.