(Continuation of - Neocolonialism (Origin of Compradors) – Part 1 )
The influence of Western rifle on Sri Lankan politics was first witnessed in 1556 when King Buvanekabahu-VII was ‘accidentally’ shot through the heart by a Portuguese, and his grandson, prince Dharmapala, under the ‘protection’ of King Emmanuel of Portugal, ascended the throne of the Kotte Kingdom as Don Juan Dharmapala and his queen, Kusumasana Devi, as Dona Catherina. Later the rifle was supplemented by the Bible and the Portuguese finally had a puppet king in Sri Lanka.
In 1815, the British easily conquered the kingdom of Kandy due to support of comprador leaders in the coastal areas as well as power struggle in up-country elite (‘radala’) leaders. The common people of up country rebelled against the invader in 1818 and Kappetipola later joined the people of Uva-Wellassa. However, the British were able to suppress it by unleashing cruelty.
Thereafter, it was common people who were organizing fights against the foreign colonial invader. The people’s leaders like Weera Puranappu and Gongollegoda Banda under the blessings of the Maha Sangha (Buddhist monks) continued the armed struggle while moral leadership was later provided by Buddhist leaders Ven. Mohottiwatthe Gunananda, Ven. S. Mahinda, Anagarika Dharmapala and many more. They were in the fore front of freedom struggle against military, economic and cultural invasion of colonial British rulers.
By that time of World War II, after more than 300 years of colonization, the British (and their forerunners) have already established local comprador society in Sri Lanka. The British selected this new formed social sector to transfer the power and branded it as the ‘independence’ of Sri Lanka. The transition of power to the local agents was facilitated by first introducing right of vote only to the privileged and wealthy sector of the country. In early 1900’s the so called legislature had only nominal power, but it served the purpose of surfacing docile comprador leaders who are ready to take over the political power of colonial masters.
In September 1946, the United National Party (UNP) was formed under the leadership of D.S. Senananayaka. The Senanayaka family then owned the largest mine of “black gold” which was strategically important for the British that was engaged in World War II.
The UNP leadership was totally consisted of the western influenced new elite (“Mudali”, “Arachhi”) comprador society. The common national leaders who were in real independence struggle namely Ven. Migettuvatte Gunanada Thera, Ven. Hikkaduwe Sri Sumangala Thera, Anagarika Dharmapala or Valisingha Harischandra had no place in this new party. They were in fact became the common enemy of both British rulers as well as the UNP leadership.
On February 4, 1948, Ceylon became an ‘independent’ country within the commonwealth. This was a new façade within a burnished brass plate on the door: Free Ceylon. It was the outward and visible sign of all that the elite had been pressing for since 1910. The structure raised by the British remained intact; inside there was some rearrangement. A number of Ceylonese previously relegated to rooms without a view moved higher up; they could stride the corridors of power with more confidence and even peer out of commanding heights of the structure. For few wealthy, aristocratic families and their relatives and friends it was real independence, and they thoroughly enjoyed its fruits. The mass were given the opportunity to watch ‘Independence Day’ celebrations in big and small towns and to listen to patriotic speeches of the new ‘national’ heroes.
The main opposition political power Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) too was consisted of leaders of other extreme ideologies of Marxism and Communism which too were molded in Western countries. These communist leaders like Peter Kenaman, Kolvin R. De Silva, N.M Perera too were from either elite comprador families or colonial influenced schools (like Royal college of Ceylon) and British universities.
After the death of D.S. Senanayaka, the leadership of UNP was passed to his son Dudly Senanayaka who became the next Prime Minister. It was the first ancestral political leadership transfer in post ‘independence’ Sri Lanka. Dudly Senanayaka who got leadership by ancestry lacked leadership skills. Therefore, he was marketed to the nation as a ‘gentleman politician’. The third in UNP leadership, Sir John Kothalawala was also from the same comprador society. His sole belonged to Anglican Church and western ‘lumpen’ society than our Sinhala Buddhist values.
In 1958, the nation witnessed the first political revival of the country. It was under the leadership of another elite comprador family. However, S.W.R.D Bandaranayaka showed true commitment to change within himself and apply the same in Sri Lankan politics. The common people and national and religious leaders rallied around Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) under S.W.R.D Bandaranayaka. This was the first time UNP and its pro colonial policies were challenged. In 1958, the common people who lost independence in 1815 were able to elect a leader who presented national agenda as an alternative for the agenda of colonial servents. After the overwhelming win, he kept his promises and took steps to win back the political and economic freedom to the common people from British colonial masters and their local comprador families. He initiated regaining of Trincomale Harbor from British, acquiring the excessive lands (which were mostly acquired from common people by British colonial rulers and later transferred to local comprador families as ransom for their serving), peoplisation of transportation. But the elite comprador families who lost their political power did not tolerate this and gunned down him before he was able to fulfill the mandate of the people.
Unfortunately, S.W.R.D Bandaranayaka had no time to establish firm secondary level leadership to continue his political philosophy and his death resulted into another ancestral political dynasty. The immature political leadership of Sirimavo Bandaranayaka was evident when she was under the grip of Marxist leaders like Dr. N.M. Perera who did not have the feel of the pulse of the people. This ultimately led to the downfall of Sirimavo Bandaranayaka government.
In 1978, after 30 year since ‘independence’, another long waited comprador, old fox Junius Richerd Jayawardana got the opportunity to grab the political power of Sri Lanka. His victory was more due to the frustration of people due to extreme economic theory of Marxist leader Dr. N.M Perera as well as sugary promises of wily J.R. He promised of ‘justice society’ and we all witnessed his so called ‘justice society’ consist of political victimization, political thuggery and corruption. People were convinced JR as a strong leader, but his real leadership qualities were evident when LTTE terrorism was spreading like a cancer and JVP rebelled against him. Old and helpless J.R was later pushed to the wall by the Indian Prime Minister Rajeeve Ghandhi and we are still suffering from the affects of Indo-Lanka ‘peace’ agreement. J. R. was then branded as ‘Yankee Dickey’ for his colonial biased politics, but his colonial masters were not in his side when he was struggling with Indian influence. J. R. left Sri Lankan politics with a set of broken promises when the country was like a torch burning at both ends due to LTTE terrorism in North and JVP insurgency in the South.
Related Posts:
- Neocolonialism (Origin of Compradors) – Part 1
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