Anil Moonesinghe
Encyclopedia
Anil Moonesinghe was a Sri Lanka
n Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade union
ist. He became a Member of Parliament
, a Cabinet Minister, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a Diplomat
. He authored several books and edited newspapers and magazines. He was Chairperson and General Manager
of a State corporation. He briefly held the honorary rank of Colonel
.
, Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), on 15 February 1927. A member of the family of Anagarika Dharmapala
(who named him 'Anil Kumar'), he was brought up with Buddhist and Sinhalese
nationalist values, as well as an abhorrence of the colonial power, Britain
.
He went to school at Royal College, Colombo, an elite
institution which produced many radicals
as well as civil servants and bourgeois politicians, where he won his colours in athletics. During the Second World War he organised a brigade of boys to aid the Japan
ese if they landed on the island and earned himself the nickname 'Rommel
' at school. Later he became influenced by communism
(he wrote in praise of the Red Air Force) and specifically by Trotskyism.
He went on to University College Ceylon (which later became University of Ceylon
), where he excelled in athletics, representing his University at the All India Universities Athletic Meet, which was held regularly in those years, in Lahore
in 1944. He taught briefly at Royal Primary School
, which had been evacuated to Glendale Bungalow, Bandarawela
. He won an exhibition to the University of London
and went to Britain
in 1945. He sailed on board a troopship
; when the news of Churchill
's defeat at the general election came through, all the soldiers on board threw their caps in the air and cheered, a fact which greatly encouraged him.
- a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
(CPGB) whom he converted to Trotskyism - and Stan Newens, who was later to become a Labour & Co-op
MP. They joined the Revolutionary Communist Party
(RCP), in which they were associated with the group around Tony Cliff
, the so-called 'State-Caps' after their characterisation of the USSR as 'State-Capitalist'. The group later became the Socialist Workers Party
(SWP). Through the group he got to know Max Shachtman
,becoming familiar with his theory of 'bureaucratic revolution'. He was also familiar with Jock Haston
and Ted Grant
. Within the RCP he went by the Pseudonym 'Anil Kumaran'.http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-cyril/obituary.htm
. He married Jeanne Hoban in 1948 and they moved into a houseboat called 'Red October', which they built together, on the Thames near Marlow. They both entered the Labour Party in Slough
, on the heels of a group of the RCP, led by Jock Haston. Anil was a speaker for the National Council of Labour Colleges; while Jeanne was elected to the Executive of the Labour Leagues of Youth, later being put on the list of Labour Parliamentary candidates. They were both associated with the MP for Slough Fenner Brockway and with George Padmore
, the prophet of Black African Liberation.
(LSSP) and worked in the Lanka Estate Workers' Union (LEWU), which organised labourers on the tea and rubber plantations. At the time the British were still very powerful on the island, in spite of Ceylon having obtained a form of independence in 1948. The British planters prevailed upon the government to deport Jeanne, but she went into hiding and the LSSP fought successfully to prevent the deportation.
In 1954 the LEWU sent him to the Mohomediya Estate in Agalawatte
, in the Pasdun Korale (county) to organise a strike there. He was so successful that the Agalawatte Local of the LSSP asked for him to be sent as the Party's parliamentary candidate for the constituency. At the time, the seat was held by the United National Party
(UNP) with a comfortable majority (the plantation workers, who were a large minority of the electorate, were disenfranchised by the UNP Government in 1949). In 1956 he won the election for this seat in Parliament representing Agalawatte for 11 years. He worked hard for his constituency, building roads and schools through self-help and worked for the welfare of the poorest sections, particularly for the neglected so-called lower castes.
He also successfully contested the working-class Dematagoda Ward of the Colombo Municipal Council
, but found that working in Agalawatte took up too much time for him to devote any to his ward work.
Together with Jeanne, he joined Sri Lanka's first co-operative housing scheme, the Gothatuwa Building Society, founded by Herbert Keuneman, Seneka Bibile
, 'Bonnie' Fernando and other members of the radical intelligentsia
. This led to the foundation of the Welikadawatte
housing estate, which attained some fame as an island of intellectual creativity.
He was elected to the Central Committee of the LSSP and then onto its Political Bureau (Politburo
), a position he never lost until he left the party. In 1956 he spoke in Parliament condemning the Soviet invasion of Hungary. In 1960, Yugoslavia
opened an Embassy in Colombo, and he advised the new ambassador unofficially on how to operate in Sri Lanka.
In 1963 he went to Yugoslavia for an Inter-Parliamentary Union conference. There he had an opportunity to view at close hand the operation of the Workers' Councils. He was deeply impressed by the level of open debate that he found at these councils, and this experience was to aid him in later years.
of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike
. The Party did enter the Government and he became one of the first three Trotskyist cabinet ministers. He received the portfolio of Communications (Transport) and set to work to build up the country's transport resources. He established Employees' Councils to help run the Ceylon Government Railway and the Ceylon Transport Board
(CTB). He obtained a large parcel of land in the centre of Colombo for establishing a Central Bus Station (CBS) in close proximity to the main Fort Railway Station. The construction of the new International Airport
at Katunayake
(a former RAF
base which had been taken over in 1957) was also started by him. He negotiated an agreement with the FIAT
company to build buses in Sri Lanka. However, the Government was defeated shortly thereafter and he was unable to complete his work - the next government did not sign the agreement with FIAT.
In 1966, the police arrested several lower-ranking soldiers and civilians, implicated in an alleged attempted coup d'etat
, the so-called 'Lavatory Coup'. Several army officers, including the Army Commander Major General Richard Udugama
, were dismissed or suspended. Moonesinghe was lawyer for the 9th accused, Mayadunne, in the subsequent trial.http://www.lawnet.lk/docs/case_law/nlr/common/html/NLR73V154.htm
He visited Czechoslovakia
during the 'Prague Spring
' and was again impressed by the activities of the Workers' Councils there. He later wrote a book condemning the Soviet invasion which ousted Alexander Dubček
.
He succeeded Dr N.M. Perera as President of the redoubtable All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union
(ACUMWU). He also set about organising the United Corporations and Mercantile Union
(UCMU) which brought together workers in government corporations, and of which he was General Secretary. He went around the country from factory to factory and built up a union of several tens of thousands of members. One of his lieutenants in this task was Vasudeva Nanayakkara
, who became an MP in 1970. At the 1970 General Election, the UCMU also sponsored the candidature of novice Mahinda Rajapakse, who was the Chairman of its Vidyodaya University branch and who was later to become Prime Minister and then President of Sri Lanka.
(UF) won a landslide victory, the workers at the CTB spontaneously established workers' committees and took over the running of the institution. They also asked for Anil Moonesinghe to be made Chairman of the Board. The new Government therefore appointed him Chairman and General Manager. Thus began the most successful years of the CTB as an institution. For the last two of the five years he was there, the CTB ran at a profit, while providing a service which was never previously or subsequently matched. In this he was aided by his Minister, Leslie Goonawardena.
Senior citizens still nostalgically refer to the CTB under Moonesinghe, which provided an efficient and disciplined service to the public.http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2005/03/27/editorial.html He would dress in a bush shirt and trousers and operate as a one-man flying squad to catch errant bus crews in the act, lying in wait in his metallic blue Volkswagen Variant or his Citroën 2CV
at places like Dematagoda Junction to prowl on them. http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/12/18/fea08.html Stories would abound (all untrue) of him being spotted disguised with a beard. In order to prove that eight buses could be serviced in a day, he once personally carried out eight vehicle services at the Central Workshops, Werahera.
In addition to the role in management of the Employees' Councils (which the workers' committees were transformed into after being properly constituted, with democratic elections supervised by the Elections Commission), commuter organisations were included in an advisory role. The services were expanded and measures were taken to improve efficiency, including rationalising bus types. The CTB started buying buses from the Isuzu
Company of Japan, in order to offset any cartelisation by Tata and Ashok Leyland
, the main suppliers, and also purchased Ikarus
buses from Hungary. Several new bus stands and bus depots were established. A modern, multi-storied bus station was planned at the CBS, complete with hotel and cinema, but this would never be completed.
Moonesinghe also took measures to build up local industry and the CTB became well equipped with foundries and workshops: the Central Workshop at Werahera became the largest in South Asia. The local modification of ticket machines was started after employees pointed out many unsuitable features, and a new workshop was acquired for this. In 1974 he started the assembly of bus chassis and prototypes of a locally manufactured bus and a car rolled out of Werahera.
In 1971, when the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
(JVP - People's Liberation Front) staged an insurrection, he formed a 2,000-strong para-military body, the Hansa Regiment (of which he was honorary Colonel), from among the employees of the CTB to guard bus depots, bus stands and workshops. He also created 'CANTAB', a secret intelligence organisation, the agents of whom were employees of the CTB, which provided accurate reports of the strength and distribution of JVP units. JVP cadres would prefer to surrender to the Hansa Regiment as this was known not to execute or torture prisoners.
At this time he joined the editorial board of 'State', a theoretical journal of the LSSP, published in three languages.
In 1975, Leslie Gunawardena and he were preparing the ground for a major shift in the management of the CTB, whereby Employees' Council representatives were to form half the Board of Directors. However, in September that year the UF broke up and the LSSP Ministers were removed, so Anil resigned from the CTB.
, as a consultant on transport.
He contested the 1977 election for the Matugama
constituency, which lay next to Agalawatte. He was narrowly beaten into third place by the sitting member of the SLFP. He became deputy secretary of the LSSP in 1978, having supported the group led by NM Perera at that year's conference. In 1980, he was arrested for his part in the General Strike, but later released without any charges being made. At this time he wrote a book on the repression of the Solidarity union in Poland
.
About this time, he coined the term 'Casino Capitalism' to describe the economic set-up under the UNP regime. http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/EditorialReviews/erev200103/20010327editorialreview.html#EDITORIAL,%20THE%20ISLAND
's Sri Lanka Freedom Party
(SLFP), forming the Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party
(SLSSP) with other breakaways. He supported Hector Kobbekaduwa at the Presidential Election of that year. In 1983 the SLSSP dissolved itself and he joined the SLFP and contested the Matugama seat at a bye-election and won. He represented Matugama until 1989 and then was one of the MPs - under proportional representation
- for the Kalutara District until 2000. During the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, he intervened to save several people from death. During the 'White Terror' of 1988-90, he was active in saving hundreds of suspects from summary execution - at one point having to threaten an Army commandant with attack.
In the early 1990s he was elected a vice-president of the SLFP and was part of a re-organisation drive led by Anura Bandaranaike
, DM Jayaratne, Berty Premalal Dissanayake and Mahinda Rajapakse.http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/politics/20060306162525.php
In opposition, he was the spokesperson for Transport (he was also President of the Sri Lanka National Transport Workers' Union) and, being acknowledged as the best man to take care of the public transport sector, was expected to receive that portfolio in the event of the SLFP returning to power. However, after the victory in 1994 of the People's Alliance
, the new Prime Minister, Chandrika Kumaratunga
did not care to revive the CTB and did not make Moonesinghe a Minister.http://www.island.lk/2008/09/04/editorial.html
Instead, he became Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of Parliament. Soon after this, he was elected President of the Mahabodhi Society, a Buddhist Missionary organisation headquartered in Colombo.
He was disoriented by the rather Byzantine internal politics of the SLFP. In the LSSP debate was out open and was democratic, with matters being finally settled with a vote. His habit of speaking his mind, which had only irritated others in the LSSP, proved to be a liability in his new political home. After becoming Deputy Speaker, he grew close to Mrs Bandaranaike, who had herself been deserted by many of her closest allies. Her death affected him deeply.
, the UN and accredited to the former Yugoslav republics
, Hungary
, the Czech republic
and Slovakia
. On 14 March 2002 he presented his credentials as the first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Croatia
. He had a close relationship with Václav Havel
, the President of the Czech Republic, due to his connections with the oppositional movement in Czechoslovakia since the Prague Spring.
After the victory of the UNP at the general election of December 2001, he was recalled.
He died on 8 December 2002 in Colombo. He left four children, Janaki, Vinod, Previn and Priyanka, the last two by a second marriage to Joan de Zilva.
Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka, officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka is a country off the southern coast of the Indian subcontinent. Known until 1972 as Ceylon , Sri Lanka is an island surrounded by the Indian Ocean, the Gulf of Mannar and the Palk Strait, and lies in the vicinity of India and the...
n Trotskyist revolutionary politician and trade union
Trade union
A trade union, trades union or labor union is an organization of workers that have banded together to achieve common goals such as better working conditions. The trade union, through its leadership, bargains with the employer on behalf of union members and negotiates labour contracts with...
ist. He became a Member of Parliament
Member of Parliament
A Member of Parliament is a representative of the voters to a :parliament. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, the term applies specifically to members of the lower house, as upper houses often have a different title, such as senate, and thus also have different titles for its members,...
, a Cabinet Minister, the Deputy Speaker of Parliament and a Diplomat
Diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organization. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
. He authored several books and edited newspapers and magazines. He was Chairperson and General Manager
General manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
of a State corporation. He briefly held the honorary rank of Colonel
Colonel
Colonel , abbreviated Col or COL, is a military rank of a senior commissioned officer. It or a corresponding rank exists in most armies and in many air forces; the naval equivalent rank is generally "Captain". It is also used in some police forces and other paramilitary rank structures...
.
Background and education
Moonesinghe was born in ColomboColombo
Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...
, Sri Lanka (then called Ceylon), on 15 February 1927. A member of the family of Anagarika Dharmapala
Anagarika Dharmapala
Anagarika Dharmapala was a leading figure of Buddhism in the twentieth century. He was one of the founding contributors of Sinhalese Buddhist Nationalism and Protestant Buddhism...
(who named him 'Anil Kumar'), he was brought up with Buddhist and Sinhalese
Sinhalese people
The Sinhalese are an Indo-Aryan ethnic group,forming the majority of Sri Lanka,constituting 74% of the Sri Lankan population.They number approximately 15 million worldwide.The Sinhalese identity is based on language, heritage and religion. The Sinhalese speak Sinhala, an Indo-Aryan language and the...
nationalist values, as well as an abhorrence of the colonial power, Britain
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
.
He went to school at Royal College, Colombo, an elite
Elite
Elite refers to an exceptional or privileged group that wields considerable power within its sphere of influence...
institution which produced many radicals
Extremism
Extremism is any ideology or political act far outside the perceived political center of a society; or otherwise claimed to violate common moral standards...
as well as civil servants and bourgeois politicians, where he won his colours in athletics. During the Second World War he organised a brigade of boys to aid the Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
ese if they landed on the island and earned himself the nickname 'Rommel
Rommel
Erwin Rommel was a German World War II field marshal.Rommel may also refer to:*Rommel *Rommel Adducul , Filipino basketball player*Rommel Fernández , first Panamanian footballer to play in Europe...
' at school. Later he became influenced by communism
Communism
Communism is a social, political and economic ideology that aims at the establishment of a classless, moneyless, revolutionary and stateless socialist society structured upon common ownership of the means of production...
(he wrote in praise of the Red Air Force) and specifically by Trotskyism.
He went on to University College Ceylon (which later became University of Ceylon
University of Ceylon
The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the University of Sri Lanka which existed from 1973 to 1978. In 1978 it was...
), where he excelled in athletics, representing his University at the All India Universities Athletic Meet, which was held regularly in those years, in Lahore
Lahore
Lahore is the capital of the Pakistani province of Punjab and the second largest city in the country. With a rich and fabulous history dating back to over a thousand years ago, Lahore is no doubt Pakistan's cultural capital. One of the most densely populated cities in the world, Lahore remains a...
in 1944. He taught briefly at Royal Primary School
Royal Preparatory School
Royal Preparatory School was a preparatory school in Colombo, Ceylon . It was established in 1933 as a preparatory school to prepare students to the Royal College Colombo situated next to it...
, which had been evacuated to Glendale Bungalow, Bandarawela
Bandarawela
Bandarawela is the second largest city in Badulla District which is 28 km away from Badulla. Due to higher altitude, Bandarawela has a mild weather condition throughout the year hence, it is popular among the citizens to spend the vacations with their family members...
. He won an exhibition to the University of London
University of London
-20th century:Shortly after 6 Burlington Gardens was vacated, the University went through a period of rapid expansion. Bedford College, Royal Holloway and the London School of Economics all joined in 1900, Regent's Park College, which had affiliated in 1841 became an official divinity school of the...
and went to Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in 1945. He sailed on board a troopship
Troopship
A troopship is a ship used to carry soldiers, either in peacetime or wartime...
; when the news of Churchill
Winston Churchill
Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill, was a predominantly Conservative British politician and statesman known for his leadership of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. He is widely regarded as one of the greatest wartime leaders of the century and served as Prime Minister twice...
's defeat at the general election came through, all the soldiers on board threw their caps in the air and cheered, a fact which greatly encouraged him.
Revolutionary Communist Party
At University College, London, he studied law. There he met his future wife, Jeanne HobanJeanne Hoban
Jeanne Hoban , known after her marriage as Jeanne Moonesinghe, was a British Trotskyist who became active in trade unionism and politics in Sri Lanka. She was one of the handful of European Radicals in Sri Lanka.- Early years :She was born in Gillingham, Kent...
- a member of the Communist Party of Great Britain
Communist Party of Great Britain
The Communist Party of Great Britain was the largest communist party in Great Britain, although it never became a mass party like those in France and Italy. It existed from 1920 to 1991.-Formation:...
(CPGB) whom he converted to Trotskyism - and Stan Newens, who was later to become a Labour & Co-op
Co-operative Party
The Co-operative Party is a centre-left political party in the United Kingdom committed to supporting and representing co-operative principles. The party does not put up separate candidates for any UK election itself. Instead, Co-operative candidates stand jointly with the Labour Party as "Labour...
MP. They joined the Revolutionary Communist Party
Revolutionary Communist Party (UK, 1944)
The Revolutionary Communist Party was a British Trotskyist group, formed in 1944 and active until 1949, which published the newspaper Socialist Appeal, a theoretical journal Workers International News and an entrist paper for its Labour Party work The Militant .- Collapse of the RSL and founding of...
(RCP), in which they were associated with the group around Tony Cliff
Tony Cliff
Tony Cliff , was a Trotskyist who was a founding member of the Socialist Review Group which went on to become the Socialist Workers Party...
, the so-called 'State-Caps' after their characterisation of the USSR as 'State-Capitalist'. The group later became the Socialist Workers Party
Socialist Workers Party (Britain)
The Socialist Workers Party is a far left party in Britain founded by Tony Cliff. The SWP's student section has groups at a number of universities...
(SWP). Through the group he got to know Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman
Max Shachtman was an American Marxist theorist. He evolved from being an associate of Leon Trotsky to a social democrat and mentor of senior assistants to AFL-CIO President George Meany.-Beginnings:...
,becoming familiar with his theory of 'bureaucratic revolution'. He was also familiar with Jock Haston
Jock Haston
James "Jock" Ritchie Haston was a Trotskyist politician and General Secretary of the Revolutionary Communist Party in Great Britain.-Early years:...
and Ted Grant
Ted Grant
Edward "Ted" Grant , 9 July 1913 in Germiston, South Africa – 20 July 2006 in London) was a South African Trotskyist who spent most of his adult life in Britain...
. Within the RCP he went by the Pseudonym 'Anil Kumaran'.http://www.marxists.org/reference/archive/smith-cyril/obituary.htm
Marriage
For a time he worked as an overhead crane operator at Southern Forge Ltd, Langley, SloughLangley, Slough
Langley is a large village in the unitary authority of Slough, Berkshire in South East England. It is situated 2 miles east of central Slough, and 20 miles west of London...
. He married Jeanne Hoban in 1948 and they moved into a houseboat called 'Red October', which they built together, on the Thames near Marlow. They both entered the Labour Party in Slough
Slough
Slough is a borough and unitary authority within the ceremonial county of Royal Berkshire, England. The town straddles the A4 Bath Road and the Great Western Main Line, west of central London...
, on the heels of a group of the RCP, led by Jock Haston. Anil was a speaker for the National Council of Labour Colleges; while Jeanne was elected to the Executive of the Labour Leagues of Youth, later being put on the list of Labour Parliamentary candidates. They were both associated with the MP for Slough Fenner Brockway and with George Padmore
George Padmore
George Padmore , born Malcolm Ivan Meredith Nurse, was a Trinidadian communist who became a leading Pan-Africanist in his later years.-Early years:...
, the prophet of Black African Liberation.
LSSP Days
His parents summoned Anil back to Colombo urgently in 1952. He was called to the Bar and practised law all over the island. He and Jeanne joined the Lanka Sama Samaja PartyLanka Sama Samaja Party
The Lanka Sama Samaja Party is a Trotskyist political party in Sri Lanka....
(LSSP) and worked in the Lanka Estate Workers' Union (LEWU), which organised labourers on the tea and rubber plantations. At the time the British were still very powerful on the island, in spite of Ceylon having obtained a form of independence in 1948. The British planters prevailed upon the government to deport Jeanne, but she went into hiding and the LSSP fought successfully to prevent the deportation.
In 1954 the LEWU sent him to the Mohomediya Estate in Agalawatte
Agalawatte
Agalawatte is a town in Kalutara District of Sri Lanka, and is an electoral division.- History :Agalawatte is part of the Pasdun Rata or Pasyodun Korale , created when King Parakramabahu the Great drained the Kalu Ganga basin.North of Agalawatte is the 'Fa Hien Cave', where evidence has been found...
, in the Pasdun Korale (county) to organise a strike there. He was so successful that the Agalawatte Local of the LSSP asked for him to be sent as the Party's parliamentary candidate for the constituency. At the time, the seat was held by the United National Party
United National Party
The United National Party, often referred to as the UNP ), , is a political party in Sri Lanka. It currently is the main opposition party in Sri Lanka and is headed by Ranil Wickremesinghe...
(UNP) with a comfortable majority (the plantation workers, who were a large minority of the electorate, were disenfranchised by the UNP Government in 1949). In 1956 he won the election for this seat in Parliament representing Agalawatte for 11 years. He worked hard for his constituency, building roads and schools through self-help and worked for the welfare of the poorest sections, particularly for the neglected so-called lower castes.
He also successfully contested the working-class Dematagoda Ward of the Colombo Municipal Council
Colombo Municipal Council
The Colombo Municipal Council is the local council for Colombo, the largest city and financial centre in Sri Lanka. The council was formed in 1865 and first met in 1866. The municipal council is the oldest and the largest local government authority in Sri Lanka and, as of 2001, covers a resident...
, but found that working in Agalawatte took up too much time for him to devote any to his ward work.
Together with Jeanne, he joined Sri Lanka's first co-operative housing scheme, the Gothatuwa Building Society, founded by Herbert Keuneman, Seneka Bibile
Seneka Bibile
Senaka Bibile was a Sri Lankan pharmacologist. He was the founder of Sri Lanka’s drug policy, which was used as a model for development of policies based on rational pharmaceutical use in other countries as well by the World Health Organization, the United Nations Conference on Trade and...
, 'Bonnie' Fernando and other members of the radical intelligentsia
Intelligentsia
The intelligentsia is a social class of people engaged in complex, mental and creative labor directed to the development and dissemination of culture, encompassing intellectuals and social groups close to them...
. This led to the foundation of the Welikadawatte
Welikadawatte
Welikadawatte, a middle-class housing estate in Rajagiriya, Sri Lanka was a result of the first co-operative housing scheme in Sri Lanka.In the mid-1950s, Dr. Seneka Bibile, together with Herbert Keuneman, 'Bonnie' Fernando, Anil and Jeanne Moonesinghe and other members of the radical...
housing estate, which attained some fame as an island of intellectual creativity.
He was elected to the Central Committee of the LSSP and then onto its Political Bureau (Politburo
Politburo
Politburo , literally "Political Bureau [of the Central Committee]," is the executive committee for a number of communist political parties.-Marxist-Leninist states:...
), a position he never lost until he left the party. In 1956 he spoke in Parliament condemning the Soviet invasion of Hungary. In 1960, Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
opened an Embassy in Colombo, and he advised the new ambassador unofficially on how to operate in Sri Lanka.
In 1963 he went to Yugoslavia for an Inter-Parliamentary Union conference. There he had an opportunity to view at close hand the operation of the Workers' Councils. He was deeply impressed by the level of open debate that he found at these councils, and this experience was to aid him in later years.
Cabinet Minister
At the 1964 LSSP conference, he was aligned with Dr N.M. Perera on the question of whether or not to enter the Coalition GovernmentCoalition government
A coalition government is a cabinet of a parliamentary government in which several political parties cooperate. The usual reason given for this arrangement is that no party on its own can achieve a majority in the parliament...
of Mrs Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician and the world's first female head of government...
. The Party did enter the Government and he became one of the first three Trotskyist cabinet ministers. He received the portfolio of Communications (Transport) and set to work to build up the country's transport resources. He established Employees' Councils to help run the Ceylon Government Railway and the Ceylon Transport Board
Ceylon Transport Board
The Sri Lanka Transport Board is a bus service provider in Sri Lanka.Between 1958 and 1978, the Ceylon Transport Board was the nationalised enterprise which handled all public bus transport in Sri Lanka. At its peak, it was the largest omnibus company in the world - with about 7,000 buses and...
(CTB). He obtained a large parcel of land in the centre of Colombo for establishing a Central Bus Station (CBS) in close proximity to the main Fort Railway Station. The construction of the new International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport
Bandaranaike International Airport is Sri Lanka's only international airport at the moment. Mattala International Airport, when it gets built will be the second International Airport of Sri Lanka. It is located in Katunayake, north of Colombo...
at Katunayake
Katunayake
Katunayake , is a town situated on the west coast of the island of Sri Lanka near Negombo and close to the commercial capital of Colombo. It is the site of Bandaranaike International Airport, the primary international air gateway to Sri Lanka...
(a former RAF
Royal Air Force
The Royal Air Force is the aerial warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Formed on 1 April 1918, it is the oldest independent air force in the world...
base which had been taken over in 1957) was also started by him. He negotiated an agreement with the FIAT
Fiat
FIAT, an acronym for Fabbrica Italiana Automobili Torino , is an Italian automobile manufacturer, engine manufacturer, financial, and industrial group based in Turin in the Italian region of Piedmont. Fiat was founded in 1899 by a group of investors including Giovanni Agnelli...
company to build buses in Sri Lanka. However, the Government was defeated shortly thereafter and he was unable to complete his work - the next government did not sign the agreement with FIAT.
Back in opposition
At the next general election, at which the coalition was defeated, he held his Parliamentary seat. However, in 1967 he lost it on an election petition, although the LSSP retained the Agalawatte seat at the subsequent bye-election. He was editor of the daily Janadina newspaper for a short while around this time.In 1966, the police arrested several lower-ranking soldiers and civilians, implicated in an alleged attempted coup d'etat
Coup d'état
A coup d'état state, literally: strike/blow of state)—also known as a coup, putsch, and overthrow—is the sudden, extrajudicial deposition of a government, usually by a small group of the existing state establishment—typically the military—to replace the deposed government with another body; either...
, the so-called 'Lavatory Coup'. Several army officers, including the Army Commander Major General Richard Udugama
Richard Udugama
Major General Deshamanya Alexander Richard Udugama, MBE, psc, CSR was a Sri Lankan military leader, politician and diplomat. Former Commander of the Ceylon Army , he was elected as Member of Parliament for Matale in 1970 and served as Sri Lankan Ambassador to Iraq from 1979 to 1982...
, were dismissed or suspended. Moonesinghe was lawyer for the 9th accused, Mayadunne, in the subsequent trial.http://www.lawnet.lk/docs/case_law/nlr/common/html/NLR73V154.htm
He visited Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
during the 'Prague Spring
Prague Spring
The Prague Spring was a period of political liberalization in Czechoslovakia during the era of its domination by the Soviet Union after World War II...
' and was again impressed by the activities of the Workers' Councils there. He later wrote a book condemning the Soviet invasion which ousted Alexander Dubček
Alexander Dubcek
Alexander Dubček , also known as Dikita, was a Slovak politician and briefly leader of Czechoslovakia , famous for his attempt to reform the communist regime during the Prague Spring...
.
He succeeded Dr N.M. Perera as President of the redoubtable All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union
All Ceylon United Motor Workers' Union
The All Ceylon United Motor Workers Union is a trade union which organises workers in the passenger bus sector in Sri Lanka. It is affiliated to the Ceylon Federation of Labour .-History:...
(ACUMWU). He also set about organising the United Corporations and Mercantile Union
United Corporations and Mercantile Union
The United Corporations and Mercantile Union is a Sri Lankan trade union which brings together workers in the public sector.The UCMU was founded in 1968. Dr N.M. Perera became its President and Anil Moonesinghe became its General Secretary. Moonesinghe travelled the country from factory to...
(UCMU) which brought together workers in government corporations, and of which he was General Secretary. He went around the country from factory to factory and built up a union of several tens of thousands of members. One of his lieutenants in this task was Vasudeva Nanayakkara
Vasudeva Nanayakkara
Vasudeva Nanayakkara is a veteran left-wing Sri Lankan politician, Member of Parliament and a former presidential candidate.-Politics:Nanayakkara joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party as student in 1958...
, who became an MP in 1970. At the 1970 General Election, the UCMU also sponsored the candidature of novice Mahinda Rajapakse, who was the Chairman of its Vidyodaya University branch and who was later to become Prime Minister and then President of Sri Lanka.
CTB Chairman
After the 1970 election, at which the United FrontUnited front
The united front is a form of struggle that may be pursued by revolutionaries. The basic theory of the united front tactic was first developed by the Comintern, an international communist organisation created by revolutionaries in the wake of the 1917 Bolshevik Revolution.According to the theses of...
(UF) won a landslide victory, the workers at the CTB spontaneously established workers' committees and took over the running of the institution. They also asked for Anil Moonesinghe to be made Chairman of the Board. The new Government therefore appointed him Chairman and General Manager. Thus began the most successful years of the CTB as an institution. For the last two of the five years he was there, the CTB ran at a profit, while providing a service which was never previously or subsequently matched. In this he was aided by his Minister, Leslie Goonawardena.
Senior citizens still nostalgically refer to the CTB under Moonesinghe, which provided an efficient and disciplined service to the public.http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2005/03/27/editorial.html He would dress in a bush shirt and trousers and operate as a one-man flying squad to catch errant bus crews in the act, lying in wait in his metallic blue Volkswagen Variant or his Citroën 2CV
Citroën 2CV
The Citroën 2CV |tax horsepower]]”) was an economy car produced by the French automaker Citroën between 1948 and 1990. It was technologically advanced and innovative, but with uncompromisingly utilitarian unconventional looks, and deceptively simple Bauhaus inspired bodywork, that belied the sheer...
at places like Dematagoda Junction to prowl on them. http://www.dailynews.lk/2002/12/18/fea08.html Stories would abound (all untrue) of him being spotted disguised with a beard. In order to prove that eight buses could be serviced in a day, he once personally carried out eight vehicle services at the Central Workshops, Werahera.
In addition to the role in management of the Employees' Councils (which the workers' committees were transformed into after being properly constituted, with democratic elections supervised by the Elections Commission), commuter organisations were included in an advisory role. The services were expanded and measures were taken to improve efficiency, including rationalising bus types. The CTB started buying buses from the Isuzu
Isuzu
, is a Japanese car, commercial vehicle and heavy truck manufacturing company, headquartered in Tokyo. In 2005, Isuzu became the world's largest manufacturer of medium to heavy duty trucks. It has assembly and manufacturing plants in the Japanese city of Fujisawa, as well as in the prefectures...
Company of Japan, in order to offset any cartelisation by Tata and Ashok Leyland
Ashok Leyland
Ashok Leyland is a commercial vehicle manufacturing company based in Chennai, India. Founded in 1948, the company is one of India's leading manufacturers of commercial vehicles, such as trucks and buses, as well as emergency and military vehicles. Operating six plants, Ashok Leyland also makes...
, the main suppliers, and also purchased Ikarus
Ikarus Bus
Ikarus is a bus manufacturer based in Budapest, Hungary. It was established in 1895 as Uhri Imre Kovács- és Kocsigyártó Üzeme .-History:...
buses from Hungary. Several new bus stands and bus depots were established. A modern, multi-storied bus station was planned at the CBS, complete with hotel and cinema, but this would never be completed.
Moonesinghe also took measures to build up local industry and the CTB became well equipped with foundries and workshops: the Central Workshop at Werahera became the largest in South Asia. The local modification of ticket machines was started after employees pointed out many unsuitable features, and a new workshop was acquired for this. In 1974 he started the assembly of bus chassis and prototypes of a locally manufactured bus and a car rolled out of Werahera.
In 1971, when the Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna
The Janathā Vimukthi Peramuṇa is a Marxist-Leninist, Communist political party in Sri Lanka. The party was involved in two armed uprisings against the ruling governments in 1971 and 1987-89...
(JVP - People's Liberation Front) staged an insurrection, he formed a 2,000-strong para-military body, the Hansa Regiment (of which he was honorary Colonel), from among the employees of the CTB to guard bus depots, bus stands and workshops. He also created 'CANTAB', a secret intelligence organisation, the agents of whom were employees of the CTB, which provided accurate reports of the strength and distribution of JVP units. JVP cadres would prefer to surrender to the Hansa Regiment as this was known not to execute or torture prisoners.
At this time he joined the editorial board of 'State', a theoretical journal of the LSSP, published in three languages.
In 1975, Leslie Gunawardena and he were preparing the ground for a major shift in the management of the CTB, whereby Employees' Council representatives were to form half the Board of Directors. However, in September that year the UF broke up and the LSSP Ministers were removed, so Anil resigned from the CTB.
Back in opposition
He was briefly employed at this time, by the Government of GuyanaGuyana
Guyana , officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, previously the colony of British Guiana, is a sovereign state on the northern coast of South America that is culturally part of the Anglophone Caribbean. Guyana was a former colony of the Dutch and of the British...
, as a consultant on transport.
He contested the 1977 election for the Matugama
Matugama
Matugama is an electorate in the Kalutara district of Sri Lanka. It is located 64 km to the south of Colombo.- History :Matugama is part of the Pasdun Korale , created when King Parakramabahu the Great drained the Kalu Ganga basin...
constituency, which lay next to Agalawatte. He was narrowly beaten into third place by the sitting member of the SLFP. He became deputy secretary of the LSSP in 1978, having supported the group led by NM Perera at that year's conference. In 1980, he was arrested for his part in the General Strike, but later released without any charges being made. At this time he wrote a book on the repression of the Solidarity union in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
About this time, he coined the term 'Casino Capitalism' to describe the economic set-up under the UNP regime. http://www.priu.gov.lk/news_update/EditorialReviews/erev200103/20010327editorialreview.html#EDITORIAL,%20THE%20ISLAND
SLFP Days
He split from the LSSP in 1982 over its refusal to go into coalition with Mrs Sirimavo BandaranaikeSirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician and the world's first female head of government...
's Sri Lanka Freedom Party
Sri Lanka Freedom Party
The Sri Lanka Freedom Party is one of the major political parties in Sri Lanka. It was founded by S.W.R.D Bandaranaike in 1951 and, since then, has been one of the two largest parties in the Sri Lankan political arena. It first came to power in 1956 and since then has been the predominant party in...
(SLFP), forming the Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party
Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party
The Sri Lanka Sama Samaja Party was formed in 1982, when the LSSP split over the question of a coalition with the Sri Lanka Freedom Party ....
(SLSSP) with other breakaways. He supported Hector Kobbekaduwa at the Presidential Election of that year. In 1983 the SLSSP dissolved itself and he joined the SLFP and contested the Matugama seat at a bye-election and won. He represented Matugama until 1989 and then was one of the MPs - under proportional representation
Proportional representation
Proportional representation is a concept in voting systems used to elect an assembly or council. PR means that the number of seats won by a party or group of candidates is proportionate to the number of votes received. For example, under a PR voting system if 30% of voters support a particular...
- for the Kalutara District until 2000. During the 1983 anti-Tamil pogrom, he intervened to save several people from death. During the 'White Terror' of 1988-90, he was active in saving hundreds of suspects from summary execution - at one point having to threaten an Army commandant with attack.
In the early 1990s he was elected a vice-president of the SLFP and was part of a re-organisation drive led by Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Bandaranaike
Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike was a Sri Lankan politician, served as Speaker , and in several cabinet ministries as Foreign Minister briefly in 2005, Minister of Higher Education , Minister of Tourism , Minister of National Heritage and Leader of the Opposition...
, DM Jayaratne, Berty Premalal Dissanayake and Mahinda Rajapakse.http://www.lankaeverything.com/vinews/politics/20060306162525.php
In opposition, he was the spokesperson for Transport (he was also President of the Sri Lanka National Transport Workers' Union) and, being acknowledged as the best man to take care of the public transport sector, was expected to receive that portfolio in the event of the SLFP returning to power. However, after the victory in 1994 of the People's Alliance
People's Alliance
People's Alliance may refer to:*The People's Alliance , Belgian political party which split in 2001 into the Nieuw-Vlaamse Alliantie and Spirit...
, the new Prime Minister, Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Kumaratunga
Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga born June 29, 1945) was the 4th Executive president of Sri Lanka, serving from November 12, 1994 to November 19, 2005. The daughter of two former Prime Ministers, she was also the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party until end of 2005...
did not care to revive the CTB and did not make Moonesinghe a Minister.http://www.island.lk/2008/09/04/editorial.html
Instead, he became Deputy Speaker and Chairman of Committees of Parliament. Soon after this, he was elected President of the Mahabodhi Society, a Buddhist Missionary organisation headquartered in Colombo.
He was disoriented by the rather Byzantine internal politics of the SLFP. In the LSSP debate was out open and was democratic, with matters being finally settled with a vote. His habit of speaking his mind, which had only irritated others in the LSSP, proved to be a liability in his new political home. After becoming Deputy Speaker, he grew close to Mrs Bandaranaike, who had herself been deserted by many of her closest allies. Her death affected him deeply.
Diplomat
In 2000 he was appointed Sri Lanka's Ambassador to AustriaAustria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, the UN and accredited to the former Yugoslav republics
Yugoslavia
Yugoslavia refers to three political entities that existed successively on the western part of the Balkans during most of the 20th century....
, Hungary
Hungary
Hungary , officially the Republic of Hungary , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. It is situated in the Carpathian Basin and is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine and Romania to the east, Serbia and Croatia to the south, Slovenia to the southwest and Austria to the west. The...
, the Czech republic
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
. On 14 March 2002 he presented his credentials as the first Sri Lankan Ambassador to Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
. He had a close relationship with Václav Havel
Václav Havel
Václav Havel is a Czech playwright, essayist, poet, dissident and politician. He was the tenth and last President of Czechoslovakia and the first President of the Czech Republic . He has written over twenty plays and numerous non-fiction works, translated internationally...
, the President of the Czech Republic, due to his connections with the oppositional movement in Czechoslovakia since the Prague Spring.
After the victory of the UNP at the general election of December 2001, he was recalled.
He died on 8 December 2002 in Colombo. He left four children, Janaki, Vinod, Previn and Priyanka, the last two by a second marriage to Joan de Zilva.
Publications
- Kumaran, Anil (pseudonym), "The Indonesian Movement", Workers’ International News, January-February 1949.
- Moonesinghe, Anil, Chekoslovækiyava, Janadina Publications, Colombo, 1968.
- Moonesinghe, Anil, Polanthaya - 1980, Janadina Publications, Colombo, 1980.
