{"id":15584,"date":"2013-01-30T00:17:41","date_gmt":"2013-01-30T05:17:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=15584"},"modified":"2015-04-06T08:23:37","modified_gmt":"2015-04-06T12:23:37","slug":"who-burnt-the-jaffna-libraryedward-gunawardena-has-demonstrated-that-it-was-the-ltte-which-masterminded-this-crime-against-civilization","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=15584","title":{"rendered":"“Who Burnt the Jaffna Library? Edward Gunawardena has Demonstrated that it was the LTTE Which Masterminded this Crime Against Civilization"},"content":{"rendered":"

By
\nProf.Carlo Fonseka<\/strong><\/p>\n


\n(The following is an extract from the address delivered by Prof Carlo Fonseka at the launch of Edward Gunawardena\u2019s book \u2018Memorable Tidbits Including the Jaffna Library Fire\u2019)<\/em><\/p>\n

\"MTJLF\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen, the striking front cover of Edward Gunawardena\u2019s Memoir proclaims that among the tidbits of his memorable, eventful life of some seventy-eight years is the story of the Jaffna library fire. It seems to be that calling the Jaffna Library fire a tidbit is a bit like calling Her Royal Highness Queen Elizabeth the Second, \u2018miss\u2019. <\/p>\n

Edward was our man on the spot and he was an eye witness to the event. His clear, authoritative, comprehensive account of the Jaffna Library Fire bearing the title \u2018Who Burnt the Jaffna Library?\u2019 occupies thirty seven pages of this 390 page book. It comprises chapter 11 of the book.
\n
\n I now think that it was a period when time was out of joint and Edward Gunawardena had been sent to set the historical record right. It was my delusion that it was Minister Gamini Dissanayake who burned the Jaffna Library. I became guilty of an act which shall remain a permanent source of regret in my mind. I need to use this platform and try and make amends for the injustice I inflicted on Mr. Gamini Dissanayake. But before that, let me say a few words about the Memoir of Edward Gunawardena.<\/p>\n

The facts of the life and birth of my distinguished, scholarly policeman friend are very engaging to the younger generation as far from the social history of our country of that period. His very readable memoirs, buy the copy and read it!<\/p>\n

Edward is, I would say, an out and out Josephian having entered the baby class of St Joseph\u2019s College in January 1939 and leaving in December 1952 to enter the Arts Faculty of the University of Peradeniya. I joined St Joseph\u2019s in 1947 and got to know him well in [his second year of school]. Then in university, he read and excelled in science and geography and graduated with honors in 1957. He recounts with the commendable modesty how he was chosen to the Police Department and entered the police training school in 1958.<\/p>\n

After a very fruitful, productive and distinguished service, he took early retirement as a Senior DIG in 1987. Along the way he went on a Fulbright Scholarship to the Michigan State University and earned the Master of Science degree in Criminal Justice. As most of us here know, Edward is a very literate man and very straightforward. In 2001, he published a sprawling novel called \u2018Blood and Cyanide\u2019 on the theme of a life in a bilingual, multi religious, multi-cultural society. The novel deserves to gain much better note. In my judgment Edward Gunawardena is the most literate police officer Sri Lanka ever had. His memoirs give a very liberal, educated, cosmopolitan man\u2019s insightful views on the interesting times we have lived in.<\/p>\n

LTTE masterminded<\/strong><\/p>\n

[But] let me come to the burning question in this book. My friend, author Dr Gunadasa Amarasekara really exhausted this subject and I have very little to add in way of providing details about it. Who burnt the Jaffna library? Edward has demonstrated beyond any matter of doubt that it was the LTTE that masterminded this crime against civilization.<\/strong> Why did he do that? Dr Amarasekara explained the doer\u2019s motive but principally I think it was to prove to the world that the Sinhalese Buddhists are [bad] people. And the world believed the LTTE propaganda.<\/p>\n

Not only the world, I too was one who believed that Mr Gamini Dissanayake was the villain. And during the 1994 presidential election campaign I crucified Mr Gamini Dissanayake for this crime which I believed he committed. After reading Edward\u2019s account I now realize that I committed that [villainy] because I believed in the absurdity that it was Gamini Dissanayake who burnt the Jaffna Library or masterminded it. Let me spell out the way in which I came to excoriate Mr. Gamini Dissanayake on the election platform. In 1993, I read a poem on the burning of the Jaffna Library titled \u2018Murder\u2019. It was published in the Ceylon Medical Journal as a filler. I gathered that it was the English translation of a poem written by M.A . Nuhuman, who was a senior lecturer in Tamil in the University of Peradeniya. I was greatly moved and touched by the poem. Let me read it out to you.<\/p>\n

Last night I had a dream
\nLord Buddha was shot dead
\nBy the Buddhists
\nGuardians of the \u2026
\nHis body lay drenched in blood
\nOn the step of the Jaffna Library
\nUnder the cover of darkness
\nCame the ministers
\n\u2018His name not in our list
\nWhy did you kill him?\u2019
\nThey asked in anger
\n\u2018no sirs, no. there was no mistake.
\nWithout bumping him off
\nIt was impossible to harm even a fly.
\nTherefore \u2026\u2019
\n\u2018okay okay.
\nHide the corpse\u2019
\nAnd the ministers vanished
\nThen they dragged the corpse into the library
\nThey keep the books
\nRare and valuable
\n90000 in all
\nThey lit the fire
\nWith the Silagowadha Sutraya
\nThus the remains of the compassionate one
\nWere burnt to ashes
\nAlong with the Dhammapada<\/em><\/p>\n

I\u2019ll just say I was so moved by this that I immediately embarked upon translation to Sinhala. And then came the presidential election campaign of 1994. I was a prominent speaker on Mrs. Chandrika Kumaratunga\u2019s platform. It occurred to me that I might put that poem into my election speech. I really believed that Gamini Dissanayake was responsible for this. At the end of the speech which lasted about 20 or 30 minutes, where I talked about the Dhushanaya and Bhishanaya I finally come to this poem.<\/p>\n

The truth<\/strong><\/p>\n

Then I read my own part, \u201cMey maha ghathanayat sambadhan wu Gamini Dissanayake Mahatha mey ratey janadhipathi nowewa.\u201d [Let not Mr Gamini Dissanayake, who is associated with this assassination be elected as President of this country].<\/p>\n

I read that thirty times on platforms. It depresses me and I need to make amends. I thank you Edward for documenting the truth with your mastery of criminal justice. And now I, all I can do is to tell the Dissanayake family [I knew Gamini Dissanayake, he was very polite and courteous to me] that I wronged him because I didn\u2019t know. All I can do now is make amends for the gross injustice I inflicted upon him. So I ask Mrs. Shrima Dissanayake, Naveen Dissanayake and Dr Lanka Dissanayake to forgive me. <\/p>\n

If he so desires, Naveen Dissanayake can be like Jesus Christ and say, \u201cFather, forgive him for he did not know what he was doing.\u201d COURTESY: CEYLON TODAY<\/strong><\/p>\n

Related: <\/p>\n

Ex-DIG Edward Gunawardena Challenged and questioned Over his \u201cVersion\u201d of the Jaffna Library Burning by a former Police officer K.Krishnadasan <\/a> <\/strong><\/p>\n

-Retired Police DIG Edward Gunewardene\u2019s Absurd and Ridiculous Tale of the Tigers Burning the Jaffna Library-by Maj. Gen. (retd) Lalin Fernando<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

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By Prof.Carlo Fonseka (The following is an extract from the address delivered by Prof Carlo Fonseka at the launch of Edward Gunawardena\u2019s book \u2018Memorable Tidbits Including the Jaffna Library Fire\u2019) Ladies and gentlemen, the striking front cover of Edward Gunawardena\u2019s Memoir proclaims that among the tidbits of his memorable, eventful life of some seventy-eight years …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘“Who Burnt the Jaffna Library? Edward Gunawardena has Demonstrated that it was the LTTE Which Masterminded this Crime Against Civilization’ »<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15584"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15584"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15584\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":40317,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15584\/revisions\/40317"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15584"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15584"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15584"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}