Tagore and Gandhi in Sri Lanka

Friday, 13 March 2015 00:55 - - {{hitsCtrl.values.hits}}

By D.C. Ranatunga The visit of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Sri Lanka has created much interest and excitement. It’s the first by an Indian Head of State in nearly three decades. Looking back, Indian statesmen, freedom fighters, academics and intellectuals have always shown a keen interest in Sri Lanka and many of them have visited the country. Two of the famous Indian leaders of our time were here in the early part of the 20th century. Both came in the 1920s. Rabindranath Tagore The first to come was Nobel laureate Bengali poet Rabindranath Tagore (1861-1941), founder of Santiniketan, the world renowned institution on performing arts. In the publication ‘Great Men of India’ (1939), he is introduced thus: “He was not only poet, playwright and novelist, but a musician, actor, painter, composer, philosopher, journalist, teacher orator and a host of other things – and distinguished himself in each of these very different roles. There is a no more versatile, prolific and gifted genius in history.” (Dr. K.S. Shelvankar) By the time he came here, Tagore was acknowledged as an anti-imperialist, having returned the knighthood conferred by the British monarch as a mark of protest against the partition of Bengal and the shootings at Amritsar by British troops in 1919. He made several addresses in Colombo. One was at the Teachers’ Training College on ‘The Example of Visva Bharati’ – the Institute of World Culture he had as the symbol of what he held to be the true ideal of nationalism and internationalism. He gave two lectures at the YMCA, one was on the ‘Forest Universities of India’ and the other on ‘The growth of my life’s work’. The meetings were presided over by Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, the first President of the Ceylon National Congress. He also visited Galle and gave a lecture at Olcott Hall. There he was quoted as saying: “Although the political constitution of modern Ceylon separates this country from India, it is no secret that its history, religion, language, morals, culture and everything else are closely linked to India. Briefly stated, the fact that Ceylon became great because of India is no exaggeration. Although the spiritual bond between the two countries that was there in the past has collapsed, time has come to put that together again and strengthen it.” This comment amply demonstrates his keen interest in Sri Lanka. Tagore made a second visit in 1928 when he stayed 10 days. A highlight of the visit was his participation in the Vesak celebrations in Anuradhapura. He is known to have shown a deep interest in Buddhism from his young days. He came on even a longer visit in 1934 when he laid the foundation to Sri Palee Vidyalaya at Horana, the institution founded by Wilmot A. Perera, having been inspired by Santiniketan. Due recognition had been paid to him during this visit when he was received at the Colombo harbour by Sir Baron Jayathilaka, then Leader of the State Council. Gandhi with ‘the begging bowl’ In 1927, Mahatma Gandhi (1869-1948) came on nearly a month’s visit to Sri Lanka to what he described as “the pearl among the islands of the world”. He was accompanied by his wife Kustarbha, political activist/statesman C. Rajagopalacahi (he was later the last Governor-General of India) and his daughter, and Gandhi’s Secretary Mahadev Desai who kept detailed notes of the tour. They arrived on 12 November a few hours before Lord Donoughmore, Chairman of the Commission to recommend constitutional changes arrived. However, Gandhi kept out of politics during his visit, which he termed as one where he had come with “the begging bowl” to collect funds for his khadi program. Khadi was the cloth spun and woven from the spinning-wheel which Gandhi popularised in India, urging people to use indigenous products rather than depending on foreign ones. He travelled to many parts of the country including Jaffna, Badulla, Nuwara Eliya, Kandy, Matale, Kurunegala and Matara. He made about 35 speeches within three weeks. Most of these have been published in the Vishva Lekha publication, ‘Gandhi and Sri Lanka’. Five days before he came, Gandhi in a message to the people of Ceylon said: “Though I am going to Ceylon as a self-chosen representative of ‘Daridranarayana’ (The God of the Poor) and there for the high hope of filling the begging-bowl, I have long looked forward to visiting the historic island. I nearly went there in 1901 but God had willed otherwise. I am a labourer and would love to make acquaintance of Ceylon labourers to whom Ceylon owes its present condition.” According to newspaper reports, wherever he went he was presented with purses with contributions towards his khadi fund. “Wear khaddar rather than foreign and mill-made cloth,” was his simple message. People responded and took his message seriously. In his address to the Colombo Municipal Council, he referred to “the very good harbour” Colombo has. “I have passed through your Cinnamon Gardens, a credit to any city in the world. I have noticed some of your palatial buildings. They are very good indeed. But do the dwellers in Cinnamon Gardens or those who reside in this city and do business in it require trustees to look after their welfare? I fancy not. They are trustees for those who cannot look after themselves. They are trustees, therefore, for the welfare of the labouring population. “I have not yet been able to visit your slums to be able to say at first-hand what the condition of the slums is. But if you are able to tell me that your slums will be just as sweet-smelling as Cinnamon Gardens, I will take it on trust and will advertise your city throughout my wanderings and I will say: “Go to Colombo if you want to see an ideal municipality”. But I hardly think that you will be able to get a certificate of merit from me. I refer to the condition of your slums. I have been going through some statistics about your labouring classes. “I think a place like Colombo which is certainly dry in one respect can easily go dry in another respect. And if you, the trustees for the welfare of the citizens of Colombo, will make Colombo dry if it is really possible for you to do so, you will earn the thanks not only of the citizens of Colombo and the thanks of a humble individual like myself but the thanks of all Eastern municipalities.” ‘Drink habit’ was one of the key topics that Gandhi touched on in his speeches. He also spoke of untouchability and gender equality in addition, of course, on khadi. He addressed students in several schools in Colombo including Ananda, Nalanda and Zahira, and Jaffna Central and St. John’s. He visited the Maligakanda temple, delivered talks at the YMBA and YMCA, and addressed gatherings of all religions and communities. At the end of the tour, the collections to the Khadi fund totalled Rs. 105,016.02 – a princely amount those days. In later years, the first two Presidents of India – Rajendra Prasad and Sarvapalli Radhakrishnan – and the first Prime Minister Sri Jawaharlal Nehru visited Sri Lanka.