Spare the dead MP: Anura was never afraid of greatness

“Be not afraid of greatness,” is the preface to the oft-quoted famous lines “some men are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them,” in William Shakespeare’s comedy, Twelfth Night.

Born great, Anura Priyadarshi Solomon Dias Bandaranaike cared less for greatness, and had greatness taken away from him.

But, more important, Anura was an embodiment of the preface, “Be not afraid of greatness.”

He was never afraid of men or women, however great and powerful they were.

Given his oratorical skills, logical reasoning, clear thinking and wealth of knowledge on diverse subjects, Anura was unafraid to take on giants in Parliament during his time. The likes of Ranasinghe Premadasa, Ronnie De Mel, Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake, come to mind. And as Leader of the Opposition with a depleted opposition of eight members he performed his role with distinction.

Unlike other leaders who would stoop low to use gutter language, to defend them or attack their opponents, Anura’s refined speech had an unmatched finesse.

Yet, his words were like doubled-edged swords as they cut any opponent to size.

Neither was he afraid of newspapers, editors and writers alike. He was never scared to take them on, with humour and gay abundance that made them feel small.

For this great liberal politician, who bore no grudges for long, there was never rancour in his response.

He was a man who stood by his convictions but never unduly disturbed, even if it meant going against his mother or his sister, his leader or mentor. Woe to his tormentors, for a belly full awaited them, yet never below the belt.

To part political company from his mother to join the Maithripala wing of the SLFP, he had no regrets. To leave the party that his father formed, he had no qualms.

To leave the ruling SLFP at a time his long-time friend was leader, he cared less. To leave his childhood friend, it mattered not. He certainly was made of sterner stuff.

Anyone of his ilk would have played foul to reach the pinnacle of power, to complete the family record of father, mother and sister leading the nation.

But, the true democrat he was, even when the party opposed his candidature for the presidency, he stuck with it. Even though he ran the risk of losing the premiership, he stood by his convictions. He did not try to placate the future leader by campaigning for him.

Certainly, his finest hour came when he became compromise Speaker of Parliament in October 2000. This was the crowning glory as it symbolised agreement between the two main southern political parties, which failed to come together on the ethnic conflict for 50 long years.

Yesterday’s exchange of words in Parliament over the man, acting according to his conscience, who crossed the Well of the House not once, but several times, was a shame to say the least.

The Chief Government Whip Jeyeraj Fernadopulle must have an iota of decency to respect the dead MP instead of blaming his death on the Opposition UNP.

In other words, his accusation that the UNP misled Anura to cross over and that caused him immense psychological pain leading to his death. This was a slur on the man who shun the leadership of both the party his father formed and the country to complete the family achievement, all because he stood by his convictions.

Wickremesinghe’s statement that only a handful of SLFP MPs paid their final respects to late Anura Bandaranaike again was a cheap attempt to gain political mileage over a childhood friend and colleague.

And Fernandopulle’s dragging the bereaved sister and his one-time ally Chandrika Kumaratunga into the equation was against all ethics.

Our advice: Spare the dead MP, and refrain from seeking political capital over his remains. Emulate him for he was a true liberal democrat who switched sides according to his conscience and stood for a political solution.