by H. L. D. Mahindapala
Michael Ondaatje told a mouthful when he said that "in Sri Lanka a well-told lie is worth a thousand facts." (Running in the Family). The tall tales of Sir John Kotelawela about Dudley Senanayake’s involvement in the coup certainly come within the category of one of those "well-told lies". K.K.S.Perera, in his response to Neville Jayaweera’s recounting these yarns (Sunday Island Mar. 17) has convincingly exposed the "well-told lies". Based on my personal experiences I wish to add my bit to confirm the conclusions of KKSP.
I was the Parliamenatary Lobby Correspondent of the Observer during this time and, as stated by KKSP in his response to NJ’s yarns, there were rumours galore in the lobby about Dudley’s involvement in the coup. But not a shred of evidence was produced either by Mrs. Bandaranaike’s government or the Marxist left to prove it. If they had the slightest bit of evidence to nail Dudley, they would have gone to town. Felix Dias Bandaranaike who was personally heading the inquiry into the coup would have made mince meat out of Dudley if he had anything substantial. But as stated by KKSP Felix could only repeat "hearsay" against Dudley in Parliament. After handling the coup inquiries from day one that is all he could say in Parliament against Dudley — mere hearsay! Besides, given the enmity between JRJ and Dudley the natural inclination would have been for JRJ to spill the beans. But nothing transpired though rumours were floating at a gossipy level, which is a common practice among the chattering class who gets a kick out of rumour-mongering.
Sri Lankan politics has been consistently saturated with conspiratorial stories circulating at various levels. I remember a story that vilified T. B. Ilangaratne. A Sri Lankan who had returned from abroad swore that he had seen a portrait of Ilangaratne hanging at the entrance of a Swiss hotel and on inquiry he was told that the place was owned by the face in the portrait. Another story worth telling is the rumour that spread like wild fire in Colombo that J. R. Jayewardene, who was in his retirement in the nineties, had died. One person known to me rang to inform me that he had been to Ward Place and seen the corpse lying in a coffin. Within the next hour it was proved to be just another one of those usual con stories.
From a political point of view, Felix, who had the best information on the coup after interrogating all the suspects at "Temple Trees", would never have hesitated to use any available evidence against Dudley. Destroying the reputation of Dudley in the eyes of the public would have been not only a coup de grace but also a feather in his cap. He was ruthless, arrogant and out to prove that he was smarter than the rest. Besides, a story of this magnitude could not have escaped the scrutiny of the eagle eyes of the Left in Parliamant. Furthermore, considering the political rivalry, bordering on bitter enmity later between Dudley and JRJ, it would have been natural for the story to leak out either directly or indirectly from Ward Place. But nothing substantial transpired from any reliable/credible source. Mrs.B’s Government also had the best opportunity of nailing Dudley by appointing a commission of inquiry. Dudley in fact challenged the government to appoint one. But no one took it up. Why? The story had no legs to run on.
Sir John and Neville share one thing in common: both are good raconteurs. Neville, the head of Radio Ceylon, Denzil Peiris, the Editor of the Observer and I were working closely with Dudley Senanayake in the 1970 May election which he lost to Mrs. B. All three of us left Sri Lanka as the post-election political environment was hostile. Neville used his story-telling skills to the maximum when he was abroad. He even convinced his Western connections. including BBC, in UK, that one fine day he was struck with a blinding shaft of light, an epiphanic vision — something like what Saul saw on his was to Damascus, which converted him to be Paul. In the Biblical tradition Neville too claimed to have been converted by a similar vision on his way to London and clinched a paid job in a Church affiliated organization.
It was a customary trait of Sir. John too to entertain his guests at Kandawela and Kent with his hilarious yarns. His yarning in salty "Singlish" idiom was legendary. Neville too has proved that he could match Sir John, yarn for yarn. For instance Sir. John’s story, as told by Neville, about Dudley hiding under a table exposing his posterior making it visible when the Police was believed calling on their secret meeting place, is so ridiculous that only Neville would believe it. That is the kind of stuff you get in Laurel and Hardy or Bud Abbot and Lou Costello’s slapstick movies. It is incredible that a man of Dudley’s maturity and experience would hide under a table, especially with his posterior sticking out, for all to see. Even kids playing hide-and-seek would not be that naive. But Neville obviously believes it.
I virtually lived with Dudley for six months. I was embedded with him as a correspondent for the Lake House group of newspapers from Janaray to June 1960 to cover his two election campaigns that took place after the death of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in 1959. We criss-crossed the country campaigning day and night. There were only three of us in the car: Simeon the driver, myself and, of course, Dudley. I’ve seen him dressing down candidates and other UNPers who came to him with the slightest suggestion of impropriety. One of them was Sir. Nicholas Attygalle, one of the towering figures of his time. To me it is inconceivable that he would stoop to grab power through a military coup.
One unassailable reputation, accepted even by the opposition, was that he was the only political leader to resign honourably, in keeping with the best of parliamentary traditions, because he was not power-hungry. For instance, when he was accused of taking the prime minister’s chair through his father’s patronage, after his father’s sudden death, he dissolved parliament and sought a mandate from the people which he got without any difficulty. Then he resigned from premiership in the aftermath of the violence that erupted in rice price hike.
E. L. Senanayake told me that the news of a man being shot in the riots reached them when they were in the enclosed lobby for MPs. When Dudley heard this he fainted, said EL. Eventually, Dudley left politics leaving it to Sir. John, a rather shallow politico who enjoyed power the way he enjoyed women. His rationale was that power is the best aphrodisiac. Sir Oliver Goonetilleke, the Governor-General, too was a manipulative power-grabber for whom Dudley had utter contempt. So why should he want to grab power through a risky and disreputable back door when he knew that he could come back the proper way through the popluar vote?
One other story that does not gel refers to Royce de Mel. His statement is cited as evidence of Dudley’s involvement in the coup. After the Privy Council decision released Royce was without a job. He had left the Navy and was at home. When the position of General Manager, Hotels Corporation, came up JRJ, the then Minister of Tourism, wanted to appoint him but Royce was told that Dudley was opposing his appointment. JRJ asked him to get the approval of Dudley.
I was Dudley at "Woodlands", his residence at Borella, one morning and told him that Royce can’t get the job offered by JRJ because he was believed opposing it. He told me that if JRJ wants to appoint Royce he had no objections. This was conveyed to JRJ who appointed him as General Manager of Hotels Corporation. Now the question that puzzles me is why Dudley should oppose Royce if he was a part of the coup. Wouldn’t it be natural for Dudley to pay back Royce with an appointment just to keep him quiet?
KKSP with his research has done a commendable job of debunking the yarns spun jointly by Sir. John and Neville. The way Neville had spiced Sir. John’s stories also makes it difficult to decipher where Sir John ended and Neville began adding his bit to the yarns.
In conclusion, I would give him 100 marks for Neville’s capacity to yarn. But as for the quantum of truth in it I am afraid I have to give him zero, which to my mind is too much!
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