{"id":24156,"date":"2013-08-12T19:17:51","date_gmt":"2013-08-12T23:17:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=24156"},"modified":"2013-08-12T21:20:55","modified_gmt":"2013-08-13T01:20:55","slug":"after-longlong-wait-former-foreign-minister-lakshman-kadirgamars-statue-unveiled-at-last","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/?p=24156","title":{"rendered":"After a Long, Long Wait ……Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s Statue Unveiled at Last!"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Statue<\/a>

Statue of Lakshman Kadirgamar~pic courtesy of: defence.lk<\/p><\/div>\n

President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveiled a statue of the late veteran politician Lakshman Kadirgamar on his 8th Death Anniversary yesterday at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) in Colombo. <\/em><\/p>\n

Kadirgamar was assassinated by the LTTE on August 12, 2005. President Rajapaksa followed by ministers and parliamentarians paid a floral tribute to the statue. Kadirgamar\u2019s widow, Suganthi Kadirgamar and relatives were present on the occasion.<\/p>\n

Ven. Prof Bellanwila Wimalarathana Nayaka Thera and members of clergy representing all religions, External Affairs Minister Prof. G.L Peiris, Ministers AHM Fowzie, Dinesh Gunawardena, WDJ Seneviratne, MP AHM Azwer were among those present.
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\nA long overdue honour for Kadir<\/strong><\/p>\n

(text of Editorial in “The Island” of August 12th 2013)<\/em><\/p>\n

Lakshman Kadirgamar, one of Sri Lanka\u2019s illustrious sons, is honoured posthumously today. His statue which was lying in a crate for years in the backyard of an institution named after him has been taken out, dusted and installed at long last\u2014eight years after his untimely demise. Better late than never!<\/p>\n

Oxford honoured its outstanding alumnus, Kadirgamar, while he was alive. His portrait was unveiled at the Oxford Union on March 18, 2005 a few months before his tragic end. It was indeed a very rare honour. He was the Treasurer and President of the union in 1958 and 1959 respectively. That is the way great men and women should be honoured.<\/p>\n

A patriot to the core, Kadirgamar was proud of his roots. At the portrait unveiling ceremony, he said that Oxford was the icing on the cake which had been baked at home. Such was his love for this country.<\/p>\n

Kadirgamar could have lived a trouble free life, in clover, as an internationally acclaimed legal luminary, either here or abroad, if he had not felt for this country. However, he was fated to get into stinking Sri Lankan politics.<\/p>\n

Once in politics, a statesman par excellence, Kadirgamar set a new benchmark for politicians ready to stoop to any level for expediency. Moreover, at a time when the present-day human rights champions who didn\u2019t dare open their mouths even for a tooth extraction, so to speak, for fear of terrorists capable of striking at will, Kadir had the courage to pit himself against the LTTE responsible for numerous crimes against civilians including massacres, political assassinations and forcible child recruitment. Those who tried to persuade him to leave the country in view of threats to his life only got under his skin.<\/p>\n

Repairing the country\u2019s image internationally was his crowning glory as Sri Lanka\u2019s Foreign Minister. He was also instrumental in mustering the support of foreign governments for the country\u2019s fight against terrorism. But for his tireless efforts which helped expose the LTTE for what it was, no government here would have been able to counter the LTTE\u2019s anti-Sri Lankan propaganda let alone wage war against the outfit.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, while the LTTE was all out to eliminate Kadirgamar physically, the government he was part of conspired to destroy him politically in 2005. He fell from grace a few moons before his death at the hands of an LTTE sniper and the government-controlled media had orders to target him. Little known as this fact may be, Kadir was a worried man. But, he politely turned down this newspaper\u2019s offer to provide him with covering fire as is known to those who were close to him politically. He thought the government, regardless of its faults, must not be embarrassed over that issue. So much for the gratitude of the leaders he had defended ardently! He, however, continued to be respected, admired and loved by the ordinary people; he was their hero.<\/p>\n

It is heartening that the Kadirgamar statue has come up where it should be. But, there is no need for statues to perpetuate the memory of Kadir, who laid down his life for this country. With or without memorials, he continues to live in the heart of every right thinking, grateful Sri Lankan, who appreciated his selfless service to the nation. The erection of his statue will only serve to prove that Sri Lanka is not a land of ingrates. COURTESY:THE ISLAND<\/em><\/p>\n

Tweet<\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

President Mahinda Rajapaksa unveiled a statue of the late veteran politician Lakshman Kadirgamar on his 8th Death Anniversary yesterday at the Lakshman Kadirgamar Institute of International Relations and Strategic Studies (LKIIRSS) in Colombo. Kadirgamar was assassinated by the LTTE on August 12, 2005. President Rajapaksa followed by ministers and parliamentarians paid a floral tribute to …<\/p>\n

Continue reading ‘After a Long, Long Wait ……Former Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar’s Statue Unveiled at Last!’ »<\/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\/24156"}],"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=24156"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24156\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":24180,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/24156\/revisions\/24180"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=24156"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=24156"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dbsjeyaraj.com\/dbsj\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=24156"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}