SL: EARLY DAYS OF PERADENIYA

Early days of Peradeniya Reminiscences......By R. Sunderalingam


Prestigious Jayatilleke Hall with warden,
Dr. G. P. Malalasekera. R. Sunderalingam is on his right


When I was appointed Assistant Superintendent of Police, Ambalangoda District in 1961, one of my first visits in the area was to the ancestral home of Dr. C. W. W.Kannangara, Father of Free Education in Sri Lanka. It is to him that all middle class Sri Lankans – Sinhala, Tamil, Muslim and Burgher - of my generation owe our sincere gratitude for making us what we are today. Due to his untiring efforts as Education Minister the Free Education Bill was passed in 1945, providing education free to all communities from kindergarten to university.

Although the University of Ceylon was established on July 1, 1942, the first move to Peradeniya was made only in 1950 – five years after the end of World War II and two years after independence. The reason for selecting this location for a seat of higher learning was quite obvious. Its natural beauty, the botanical gardens, the Mahaweli River, temperate climate and its close proximity to the ancient Hill Capital plus its religious significance – the Dalada Maligawa or the Temple of the Sacred Tooth – proved there was no better place for a university campus. The environment was clearly conducive for higher studies.

Perhaps it is for similar reasons – apart from security considerations - that during World War II Admiral Lord Louis Mountbatten, Supreme Commander of Allied Forces in South-East Asia, selected Peradeniya for his headquarters when he shifted it from India to Sri Lanka in 1944.

The first move to Peradeniya was made in 1950 with just a few students. The university Law Faculty - preparing students for the LLB Degree - had taken temporary residence in Peradeniya. Among them were Felix R. Dias, Lakshman Kadirgamar, Kapukotuwa and Ana Seneviratne, who later became Inspector-General of Police.

In later years the vicinity of the campus also provided an ideal spot for young undergraduates who were struck by Cupid’s arrows. The mist covered Hantane hills became the regular haunt of young lovers from the university. As the years went by the place came to be romanticized by Sinhala lyric writers and novelists.

It was only on October 6, 1952 that the university was formally established. All Arts Faculty students numbering almost 1,000 moved from Colombo to Peradeniya. They – including myself - were called the Peradeniya Pioneers. This historical event was made possible primarily due to the efforts of the Vice Chancellor, Sir Ivor Jennings.

Halls of Residence included Jayatilleke, Arunachalam, James Peiris, Ramanathan, Hilda Obeysekere and Sanghamitta – named after well known historical, social and political figures. Marrs Hall was named after the first Principal of the University College, Colombo. In those good old days we pioneers were privileged lot being entitled to single room accommodation with all the modern amenities – a far cry what the place turned out to be decades later. The kitchen was well equipped and had a trained staff. Each hall had a warden, who was often a very senior member of the academic staff.

The important event of the university becoming fully operative at Peradeniya was celebrated in subdued fashion, with the Vice Chancellor planting a tree opposite the entrance to the lodge, because the government was keen to postpone the ceremonial opening arranged for 1952, until Queen Elizabeth II could participate in the event, which was on April 20, 1954. The postponement was caused by the death of her father King George VI.

Among the well-known academic staffers during our time were, Dr. Gunapala Malalasekera, Professor J. L. C. Rodrigo, Professor Hettiarachchi, Professor Ludowyke, Fr. Pinto, F. R. Jayasuriya, Doric de Souza and Prof. Wijesekera.

I was at Jayatilleke Hall and was fortunate to have Prof. Malalasekera, leading Buddhist scholar, later President of the World Fellowship of Buddhists and Sri Lanka’s (then Ceylon) first Ambassador to Soviet Russia. I had a close working relationship with him in the university. Later when I was Superintendent of Police, Northern Province, he was my personal guest in Jaffna, as Chairman of the National Commission on Higher Education. His proficiency in Hindu and Buddhist Philosophy was amazing. During his term as Ambassador in Russia, he was often invited to address meetings where his in-depth knowledge of Buddhism and Hinduism was a topic of interest to Moscow-based Western diplomats, although the then hard-core communist regime there had virtually no interest in the subject.

Campus politics were invariably Left oriented. Most students were divided into the two Marxist camps – the Trotskyites and the Stalinists. There were the LSSP, CP, Bolshevik and other groups. They often invited such speakers as Dr. N. M. Perera Dr. Colvin R. de Silva, Pieter Keuneman and Philip Gunawardena to address meetings.

Peradeniya University was a big draw in the itinerary of all VIP visitors. In 1954, the then President of the UN General Assembly Vijayalakshmi Pundit with Prime Minister Sir John Kotalawala visited the campus. Popular Indian movie stars Raj Kapoor and Nargis were among the other visitors who drew the keen attention of the undergraduates.

The first big political explosion in the campus was the Hartal of 1953 following the hike in the price of rice. Rail transport was paralyzed and there were violent incidents in Colombo. (The violent unrest led to the resignation of Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake). When the university students rioted in support of the hartal, police moved into quell the riot and in the ensuing clash students and police personnel were injured.

When the students were charged with rioting, the case came up before Justice Pulle in 1954 and we were able to get the best lawyers to appear for us. It so happened that I was elected President of the Jayatilleke Hall as well as President of the University Students Council uncontested for the first time in the history of university politics. My name was proposed by Neville Jayaweera and Vincent Panditha. (Both of them later had illustrious careers in the Ceylon Civil Service).

Dr. Colvin R.de Silva agreed to appear for us free of charge in the Hartal case. He had then just won the acquittal of Sathasivam who was charged with the murder of his wife. In the Hartal case too Colvin’s forensic skills were so excellent that all students were freed. We garlanded him in the court premises and I requested him to be our guest at the Jayatilleke Hall high table dinner during the following week. The topic of his address was "Mostly Murders I Defended."

On the last day, due to commitments in Colombo, he instructed his junior K.C. Nadarajah to talk on the same subject. I was at the high table with the Warden, Dr. G. P. Malalasekera. The Hall was packed to capacity as Nadarajah deputizing for Dr. De Silva began saying that the most sensational murder at the time was the Sathasivam case. According to Nadarajah, Sathasivam was weak on liquor and women but he did not murder his wife. The sequence of evidence recorded and the legal arguments and forensic medicine as illustrated by the speaker was fascinating and convincing to the undergrads. It was proved that Sathasivam was not a murderer, as claimed by the prosecution, but a victim of circumstances.

Life works in strange ways. While as President of the Students Union I visited Colombo to meet with Dr. Colvin R. de Silva to defend fellow students, my role was totally reversed over a decade later. Then as Acting Superintendent of Police, Kandy, I had to lead a riot squad to quell a student riot. Despite my strong warning that police intervention in university student unrest would aggravate the situation, the then Vice Chancellor, Sir Nicholas Attygalle, veteran Gynecologist and successor to Sir Ivor Jennings, was adamant that police should intervene to bring the situation under control. I met him in early December 1965 and recalled my experiences as a student at Peradeniya during the Hartal of 1953 and advised him against such a move. But he would not listen and insisted that the police enter the campus. He had even complained to Prime Minister Dudley Senanayake that SP Kandy had refused to enter the campus stating that it was an internal matter that University Marshal should deal with. It was Sir Ivor who as VC had employed Marshals to handle security within the campus to avoid the police entering the premises.

Later Police Headquarters gave me specific instructions that the police should intervene only if there was a complaint of a criminal offence inside the campus. When I heard from university professors that trouble was brewing there - instead of rushing in - I along with two ASPs visited the university biology lab, which was surrounded by hundreds of striking students. I told the strikers that I was the President of the Students Union in the 1950s and was fully aware of their problems but appealed to them to demonstrate peacefully instead of inciting others and blocking university entry doors. My appeals to the students to disperse however failed and I had no alternative but to move a riot squad into the campus. The police intervened in response to a telephone call from Professor Cruz that the biology building was being stoned causing heavy damage. The student-police clash led to several injuries and some were serious. All the injured were admitted to the Kandy hospital. It was the first time in the universityhistory that the police were compelled to use both firearms and batons.

The destruction caused to the campus property was enormous. The rioting students had heavily damaged the Vice Chancellor’s lodge and other buildings. The national press gave wide coverage to the incident and asked why the police entered the campus. The saving grace, also highlighted in the newspapers, was that the SP Kandy (me) did the right thing by appealing to the students to demonstrate peacefully – before the rioting broke out. Yet Opposition politicians were demanding my interdiction. My name was however cleared by veteran Journalist H. L. D. Mahindapala who wrote an interesting piece in a leading newspaper giving the sequences of events that led to the Peradeniya Campus riot, with reference to my role as Student’s Union President in the 1950s.

Premier Dudley Senanayake stated in Parliament that he approved police intervention but promised a commission to probe the incident. The commission resulted in several innovations to the university administration. The proposals were outlined in the Higher Education Act No. 20 of 1966 the aim of which was to introduce a certain measure of State control to academic self-government. University Courts were abolished and the Councils were replaced by Boards of Regents. A National Council for Higher Education (NCHE) was set up in Colombo to supervise and regulate universities. Under the new Act, the Vice Chancellors would be selected rather than elected.

While steps were taken to appoint the commission, police filed plaint in Kandy against the ring leaders of the students’ riot. My evidence was vital as to the prior warning issued to them. As I recall, all those convicted were given suspended sentences.

Graduates who passed out from the Peradeniya Campus in the 1950s and early ‘60s made important contributions to the country in various capacities. Among them were leading Civil Servants (Administrative Service officers), Foreign Service officers, high-ranking police officers including three Inspectors-General and about seven Deputy Inspectors General, High Court Judges and top Prosecutors in the Attorney General’s Department. Several others joined the University Academic staff while three became editors of the country’s prestigious newspapers.

The comradeship formed at Peradeniya had it’s advantages in getting jobs done for the Police Department through my university contemporaries in all spheres of the Public and Private sector. I vividly recall the night of April 5, 1971 when JVP insurgents attacked over 70 police stations from North to South of the island. I was then SP Northern Province. We successfully repulsed the attack on the Jaffna Police Station, aimed at rescuing JVP Leader Rohana Wijeweera from the Jaffna Fort prison.

But the Vavuniya Police station was not so fortunate. It came under a heavy onslaught from a JVP group in Anuradhapura causing total panic and turmoil in the District which had hitherto never heard of or witnessed such an attack on a police station in the North. Within one hour Vavuniya Government Agent Neville Jayaweera - my good friend at Jayatilake Hall, Peradeniya Campus – was at the besieged Police Station. He took up residence there and called me promptly to appraise me of the situation. Given full responsibility to restore law and order, he proved his worth, directing all police/civilian operations. His hourly transmissions to me kept me abreast of the situation.


Within 48 hours the district was back to normal with all government offices and banks fully functioning and the population getting about freely with no hindrance. Food supplies were uninterrupted and transport was normal while other parts of the country experienced serious problems. Jayaweera was a good example of what a high profile and capable GA can do – a miracle in time of crisis.

I left Sri Lanka in 1985 on an Interpol Assignment and continued my service at Interpol HQ in Paris until 2003. During the period my visits to Sri Lanka were infrequent. Our son, an orthodontist in the USA, is also a Peradeniya Graduate and by more than coincidence was also a resident at Jayatilake Hall in the late 1970s. In later years he was very interested in visiting the university with his wife to revive happy memories of his days there. My wife and I too joined this trip in December 2004 visiting Peradeniya and Kandy, spending almost a full day there including the botanical gardens. While in Kandy, the then Diyawadana Nilame of the Dalada Maligawa, Neranjan Wijeratne, received us with a special pooja at the temple. This was followed by a dinner hosted by the then Central Province Governor, the late Monty Gopallawa - incidentally a university student leader during the campus riot of 1965 when I was SP Kandy.

The visit to Kandy and Peradeniya were memorable. In the 1950s Peradeniya campus was vibrant with its students coming from different ends of the island – North, East, South and West. It was vastly enriched by multi-ethnic and multi-cultural composition. The harmony blended so seamlessly that it bred no distance no rancour. Today, the campus as such remains much the same – including the majesty of its buildings. The scenic beauty is as verdant as it was 50 years ago. The picturesque surroundings and the magnificent Mahaweli flowing through look livelier than ever before.

But what is shockingly missing is the easy-going camaraderie that was there – the fellowship in the student community which harboured no prejudice, had a scant awareness of differences and nurtured no acrimony among them. This culture of oneness that radiated from Peradeniya at the time was reflected in all walks of life in the country.

Today there is a heavy air of separateness, a palpable sense of distance, a tangible notion of mental barriers that was essentially unknown in our undergraduate days. This is again unfortunately true across the nation. The prevailing segregation that is alien to its spirit and culture needs to be eliminated. We old timers still yearn for those halcyon days and fervently hope that the smouldering embers of trust and affection, bonhomie and solidarity can be stoked and kindled back to their old glory.

As pioneer graduates of Peradeniya University nothing would warm and fill our hearts more than to see the wick of harmony and peaceful co-existence lighting the torch of Sri Lankan society where the wax of ever abiding cooperation and collaboration would nourish it. We look forward to the day that Sri Lanka would once again become the showcase of a benign, pluralist and accommodative culture, celebrating life and rejoicing in its bounty.

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