Handy Perinbanayagam – A Memorial Volume

By Sydney Knight

The book was launched on 4 March and is a revised version of that published in Jaffna in 1980. It carries a Foreword by Ashok K. Kantha the High Commissioner of India in Colombo today. In the preface Kadirgamar states that the republishing of this book is both the commemoration of the life of Handy Perinbanayagam and the tribute to those responsible for the Jaffna Youth Congress.

At the book launch it was discovered happily that the history of the Jaffna Youth Congress is now available in Sinhala and Tamil also.

 Part one of the book is of the Jaffna Youth Congress giving the reader a glimpse of their story from the 1920s onwards. Part two of the book has collections from the writings and speeches of Handy Perinbanayagam. This section is classified into politics, language rights and freedom of expression, social and justice issues, education and teachers’ rights, cultural and religious, Mahatma Gandhi and some memorable personalities.

 Reading the book and having been present at the book launch the following salient factors must be shared in this book review:

1.Handy Perinbanayagam and those of the Jaffna Youth Congress were attracted by what was happening in India. They were all touched by the work of Mahatma Gandhi on the sub-continent. Therefore like in India they wanted to work for independence.

2.In working for independence they wanted a united Ceylon where the Sinhalese and the Tamils will be treated as equals with justice.

3.Perinbanayagam and the Youth Congress like Gandhi in India were sad about the caste system in Jaffna.

4.Perinbanayagam being a person from the world of education wanted education in Sinhala and Tamil without neglecting English.

 To sum up my thinking on the book I need to borrow some words from my Peradeniya batch mate Wiswa Warnapala. “People who see tigers among Tamils should read this book to discover that there were Tamil patriots who fought relentlessly for Sinhala/Tamil unity and total political independence.” Having been present at the book launch and having read the book I am glad that Kadirgamar has made this book available and also the history of the Jaffna Youth Congress in Sinhala and Tamil.

To my mind it is very clear that if both Jaffna and Colombo had taken the thinking of the likes of Handy Perinbanayagam and the Jaffna Youth Congress seriously Ceylon/Sri Lanka wouldn’t have experienced the violence that we have had in our country for the last many decades.

These people wanted a united country, they wanted all human beings respected, they wanted English not neglected but Sinhala and Tamil taught and wanted equality and justice for the Sinhalese and the Tamils.

Unfortunately in the South we had the Sinhala Maha Sabha and later the Sinhala only and in the North the Tamil Coingress. Sadly even today Sinhala only prevails in some circles and we have ethnic based political parties and also cricket clubs in Colombo. We seem to perpetuate the divide and rule policy of the British and ethnic representation.

 I hope this book will help us to revisit that dream of a possible united country and bridge the gap to make it a reality. I am glad that a few MPs were present at the launch of the book. However we can’t leave it to the party politicians, as a tribute to the work of Kadirgamar and the life of Perinbanayagam all of us in this country must work hard to make the Perinbanayagam dream become a reality.

Here we need the help of our religious leaders and I hope and pray that we who belong to different Faith Communities will work hard to realize the Perinbanayagam dream based on Gandhi’s non violence.