It was 18 years ago. I was commanding the Sri Lanka Naval Service Sayura, the flagship of the Sri Lanka Navy stationed at the Colombo Harbour. I had just returned from India after finishing my tenure as the Defence Adviser at our High Commission in New Delhi. Our task was to sail into the deep sea towards the equator, in search of Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) arms smuggling ships. We used to patrol for 21 days and we were in harbour for 10 days for our much deserved break. I remember the day – Friday the 12th of August, 2005. That day, we had our inter-command volleyball tournament at Welisara which was followed by drinks and dinner. Our ships are “dry” at sea (no liquor is served onboard when out at sea) and this party following the volleyball tournament was a good opportunity to relax in the best of company, after 22 days of a dry period. It was around 9 p.m. on that day that I received a call from Madura, the personal security officer of the then President’s Counsel (PC), Foreign Affairs Minister and Sri Lankabhimanya Lakshman Kadirgamar. Kadirgamar promised me that he would visit my ship when I met him the last time. My ship was due to sail to the Visakhapatnam Indian Naval dockyard for medium refit. The United States Dollars 20 million job was arranged free of cost to the Sri Lankan Government due to the skilled negotiations of Kadirgamar. But, what I heard from Madura was shocking. He said: “Sir, the Minister was shot. The body is lying at the Colombo Mortuary. I am going back to the residence with madam (a reference to Kadirgamar’s wife). Please come.” So, the LTTE had ultimately taken their prime target. I rushed to the Colombo Mortuary in my car from Welisara.
On my way, my mind rushed back to the day that I met Kadirgamar for the first time. I was selected to the post of Defence Adviser of the Sri Lankan High Commission in New Delhi, in November, 2001. I was given the time to meet the Minister prior to my departure to India at 9 a.m. at his residence. Half an hour was allocated for this meeting. There were two more clerical staffers who were going on appointment to an embassy in a Western country also waiting to meet the Minister after me. I was surprised to note that the Minister used to meet all our staff (diplomats or clerical staff) going to foreign diplomatic missions prior to their departure. When he saw me on that day in uniform, he asked two staffers to meet him first, finished their calls soon and sat with me for a long interview. He knew about the Navy as his elder brother (Rajanathan Kadiragamar) was the Navy Commander in the 1960s. He inquired about my foreign training exposure and advised me on the important appointment that I was going to hold for the next three years. His briefing aptly covered the importance of India to us. Our half an hour meeting went on for one and a half hours. The Minister who was extremely busy was ready to spend one and a half hours with a young newly appointed diplomat to brief him and motivate him before he took up the appointment in a foreign country. I was so impressed and determined to do my best at my new appointment.
When I reached the Mortuary, the body of the Minister was lying on the postmortem table. The postmortem was over and the staff at the Mortuary were preparing the body to be transferred to the undertaker. They allowed me to see the body. His chest was opened for the postmortem. One gunshot had gone piercing the heart, damaging the main blood arteries. The heart which won the love and respect of all Sri Lankans, and which was strong enough to win Rugby Football colours at Trinity College, Kandy, in 1948-1949, Captain the College Cricket team in 1950, achieve the Sri Lanka schools record in the 110 metres hurdles, which won him Trinity Lion in Athletics in 1950, and strong enough to win the first Duncan White Challenge Cup for Athletics in 1948 and the prestigious Ryde Gold Medal for best all round student at Trinity College in 1950 was lying on the postmortem table.
Journalist D.B.S. Jeyaraj wrote in his article “Kadirgamar - Destined to achieve glory”: “Independence dawned on Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, on 4 February, 1948. The Union Jack was lowered and the national flag was raised at the stroke of midnight. Even as the flag fluttered proudly, four young athletes carrying flaming torches entered the square and ran up the steps of the Independence hall. Together, they lit the lamp of freedom. The quartet comprised the youth members of the four major communities of the Island. The 16-year-old youth representing the Tamils was young Kadirgamar.”
He was destined to achieve glory. In 1950, he went to the University of Colombo and then to Peradeniya to study law, graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) degree in 1953. Traveled to India in 1951 and 1952 for the All-India University Games and won the 110 metres hurdles title in both the years. At Law College, passed with first class and took oaths as an advocate at the Supreme Courts of Ceylon in 1953. Then won the scholarship to the Balliol College, Oxford. United Kingdom. In 1960, won the Bachelor of Letters degree from the University of Oxford and became a barrister at the Inner Temple in London. He was the second Sri Lankan (after politician Lalith Athulathmudali PC) to become the President of the Oxford Union.
He was working abroad as an international lawyer with a very high repute until our President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga invited him to serve our country. She made him a National List Member of Parliament and our Minister of Foreign Affairs.
I personally consider that it was my destiny to serve under such an eminent Foreign Minister. The Minister was a frequent visitor to New Delhi. He very well understood the importance of India in our foreign policy. He had so many friends there. We who served at the High Commission in New Delhi as junior diplomats always benefited from Kadirgamar’s visits to New Delhi. Whether it is politicians Kunwar Natwar Singh, Jaswant Singh, Yashwant Sinha, Pranab Mukherjee, Mani Shankar Aiyar or Kapil Sibal, all were the Minister’s friends. He always introduced us, the young diplomats, to these eminent Indian leaders.
The usually calm High Commission became busy as a beehive when our Deputy High Commissioner, Clarence Felician Chinniah announced, “Minister is coming next week”. All important briefs and reports were prepared and updated. The Minister had a great habit of listening to us and getting our viewpoints. My friend who was the first secretary at that time, A. Saj. U. Mendis will speak until the Minister says, “I got your point Saj”. Usually, he stays with our High Commissioner, Mangala Munasinghe in his residence. Munasinghe and his wife looked after the Minister and his wife very well, with love and affection. If he stayed in a hotel, I had the great responsibility of looking after his security. He was a prime target of the LTTE. The Indian Government also knew it and provided maximum security arrangements for the Minister.
He was a great orator. His speeches were excellent. The excellence came from his hard work. Usually, he comes to New Delhi in the afternoon SriLankan flight, leaving Colombo in the afternoon. He used to rest well for four hours in the flight and had a light dinner prior to landing at New Delhi at 7 p.m. Then, straight to the hotel to sit down and work on his speech for the next day. With his trusted lieutenant, his personal assistant Lenagala (Lena) at his side, they worked till late night. If his wife accompanied, she insisted that the Minister go to sleep and have some rest. It was amazing that a person with kidney transplant worked that hard. The hotel business centre was virtually taken over by us as our secretariat.
The next morning, when the Minister speaks in the scheduled conference, The Hindu newspaper Editor, the Minister’s good friend and Ranji Trophy cricketer, N. Ram writes his editorial, saying, “when Kadirgamar speaks, India listens”. His speeches in New Delhi were so brilliant and well articulated. He understood India well and Indian leaders respected him. He was a dear friend of India.
Among the impromptu speeches that the Minister has delivered, the speech he made in London in September, 2004, to Sri Lankan cricketers during a dinner reception was the best. He showed the difference between national cricketers and our politicians in his witty speech.
During my tenure under the Minister, I learnt three things important about India. I will explain them with the true incidents.
No protocol for friends - The Minister’s best friend was Mukherjee, a very senior politician from the Congress Party. He was the Minister of Defence in 2004. He became India’s Finance Minister, External Affairs Minister and later the President of India. During one of the visits by Kadirgamar to New Delhi in 2004, a meeting was scheduled at the meeting room of the hotel where the Minister was staying (the Taj Palace Hotel) with Mukherjee, the Minister of Defence of India. Our Minister informed me to tell him when Mukherjee is leaving his office. When I informed, our Minister came down by lift from the fifth floor and received Mukherjee at the entrance to the hotel. Then, they went to the meeting room to gather. After the meeting, the same way, our Minister walked up to the car of the Indian Minister. Later, when I told our Minister as per protocol that he has to receive Mukherjee at the meeting room and asked “why sir did you go up to the car park when you have to receive him at the meeting room?”, our Minister said: “Mukherjee is my friend. There is no protocol for friends!.“
In a democratic country, do not forget the Opposition - When our Minister visited New Delhi, he met Government leaders such as the Premier, the Minister of External Affairs, the Defence Minister, etc. After these meetings with ruling party leaders, he met the Opposition party leaders also and briefed them. One day, I asked him why? He said: “Don’t forget, India is a democracy. In a democracy, one day the Opposition will come into power. It may be in weeks’ time. Maybe in five years time. But, when they come into power, they will remember you.” How true. It was the Bharatiya Janata Party led Government was in power then. When we had our victory against the LTTE in 2009, it was a Congress Party led Government.
For Kadirgamar, progress in the Indian monsoon was very important. He will call and ask me about the progress of the monsoon, whether the monsoon is in time or early or delayed. Whether the rain is heavy or mild. Whether sufficient water is received in agricultural areas or not. One day, I asked him why he is so keen about the Indian monsoon’s progress. He said: “The Indian economy depends on the monsoon. When they get enough water, they will have a good crop of rice, wheat and vegetables. So, the Government is not required to give grants to farmers. So, the Government will have money to help neighbouring countries like us”. Brilliant thinking and foresight.
We miss the Minister who groomed us. I think that it is the same feeling to all young diplomats whom he had recruited when he was the Minister more than 20 years ago. These diplomats now holding high positions of Ambassadors and High Commissioners today is due to the excellent training, grooming and motivation that Kadirgamar gave them when they were on the job, training. He made us more patriotic and hard working. He wanted us to observe, learn and perform well for the country. We miss him today. Otherwise, he will introduce us to world leaders saying, “he/she is my student”.
I will conclude my write-up with another true story. One day, the Minister was rushing to the President’s house with a junior diplomat at that time to meet President Kumaratunga for the scheduled meeting with the Russian Foreign Minister who was on a visit to Sri Lanka. Suddenly, the Minister stopped, looked at the junior diplomat, walked up to him and adjusted and tightened his tie knot and said, “now it looks better”. He was a wonderful person and a fatherly figure and motivator of our foreign service. Tell me, which Minister will do such a thing to his junior officer?
(The writer is a former Navy Commander and Chief of Defence Staff)
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The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect those of this publication.