Law of Karma and Samsara: Laksman Kadirgamar!...A Sinhala Point of View!!!

Lakshman Kadiragamar...Fmr Foreign Minister/SL
Malinga H Gunaratne
It is now three years after the death of Lakshman Kadiragamar.With the distance of time I am still trying to understand the tragedy of his passing. I have faced my fair share of tragedy and fickleness of fortune, and friends. After the fiendish assassination

I was looking for answers to life’s tragedies. And like most men who are distraught turned to religion and philosophy to understand how this icon was removed from our midst.

Buddhism explains it by the inexorable law of Karma. You reap what you have sowed in this Long journey in Samsara.The story of Lazarus in the Bible (John 11) however, flashed through my mind. Martha and Mary the sisters of Lazarus had profound faith in Jesus Christ. Christ walked up to the cave where Lazarus was entombed and said ‘Lazarus come out’And Lazarus walked back to life. Who has the faith of a Martha and

Mary I pondered .Who will say ‘Lakshman go forth and serve the people who loved you so much.’ Even as these thoughts flashed through my mind, I realized that these were

merely flights of fancy of the faithless like me. It was not to be .He was gone.

What legacy has he left behind.Has he left his country a better place after his gentle and brief walk through the history of this sad and troubled land He was Sri Lanka’s most portent weapon in the halls on international power. He walked through the chancelleries

of Europe, to the court of St James, to the White House, to New Delhi,to the Imperial Palace of Tokyo, persuading, mesmerizing and convincing his peers of the dillemmas

of our Island nation. Lakshman spoke not as a supplicant begging for favours as we are normally wont to do, but with all the righteousness of a man demanding that the world listens to the true facts of a nation imperiled by the barbaric force of terrorism.He changed the opinion of the world .He had to die, so that we could live. He told me a few

days before his death of the heightened threat from the LTTE.I then invited him to visit

a private bungalow in the South where he would be far removed from the threat posed to him in the capital city. ‘I have an engagement with the Ambassador for the USA,when I finish that I will take you up on your offer’ he said. It was not to be.

It is a sad indictment on our land and culture that the statue made by a world famous Russian sculpturist in memory of Lakshman still lies prostrate.The LTTE

Killed him-the nation that he served so well dishonors him. This was the sad lament Of his devoted wife Suganthi.

Lakshman had the rare privilege of having his portrait unveiled at the very entrance to the hallowed halls of Oxford. It was a star studded day. Prime Ministers,Ex Presidents, Ambassadors,Ministers from different countries were assembled to pay tribute to him.

At this ceremony he made the famous speech. ‘The icing on the cake may have been at

Oxford but the cake was truly baked in my Island home of Sri Lanka’.Lakshman a product of the Peradeniya University did not forget to pay homage to his early seat of learning.

He was proud to be a Sri Lankan.He abhorred tribal appellations like Tamil, Sinhalese,

Muslim etc. He belonged to the human race, and could not understand the stratifications of birth.

I like to strike a personal note.My son Uchi had passed all his Law examinations in the UK and was awaiting acceptance to one of the Inns of Court Schools of law to complete

His Barristers examination, only to be told that there were simply no vacancies and that he will have wait for an additional year in the UK.I spoke to Lakshman to seek his intervention, if possible. He immediately spoke to the Lord Chief Justice of England.

He came back to me and said ‘Just leave the matter alone you will hear from one of the Schools of law’ That’s the way the British do it. Two-three weeks passed and suddenly a letter arrived accepting him to one of the premier schools of law.To pick up the phone

Talk to the Lord Chief Justice to Colin Powell and other world leaders was easy for him. He knew them personally.

Suganthi his wife is keeping his memory alive.A Laksman Kadiragamar Foundation has been inaugurated, worldwide sponsorship is flowing in from his international friends.She mentioned the high powered and eminent men who were appointed to the

Foundation. I cannot recall the name of Wimal Weerawansa.It was Weerawansa who

Single handedly organized his funeral arrangements.When Chandrika whom he served loyally was only cosmetically involved,Wimal Weerawansa,saw what was happening

And stepped in to honour The fallen leader.He mobilized the entire might of the JVP.

Perhaps we should avoid the contemporary tendency to restrict participation only to the Colombo elite. Lakshman did not belong to Colombo, to Trinity College and to the

Urban elite. As he, himself, said at Oxford he was a home grown product and was a son

Of Sovereign Sri Lanka.To honour him selectively is to do him an injustice.

I can only end by quoting a passage in the book of condolences left at his funeral.The words were from a peasant farmer in the Ruhuna and this is what he said. ‘In your journey through Samsara may you be reborn in our country,just one more time, to finish the work that you started’

That is the quintessential Lakshman Kadiragamar.
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