'Return to Sri Lanka':
A lyrical journey through its history and politics
Aditi Phadnis Jan 07 2025 BS
Anyone who has been to Sri Lanka on even a fleeting visit will find themselves compelled to return, such is the beguiling charm of the beautiful island caught in bitter confrontation of one or another kind for several decades now.Sri Lanka doesn’t do mild or anaemic. Everything is extravagant, lavish and immoderate, from the harsh poverty of the battle-wracked Tamil-majority north to the wealth of Colombo 7. Sally (or Salih, as his family was originally named) is uniquely placed to understand and analyse the complexities of this country. Born of a Sri Lankan Muslim father and a Welsh mother, he spent his childhood in Sri Lanka but left to spend much of his life in England, returning for short spells. He is a trade economist but unlike pucca economists, doesn’t sneer at political economy. In this book, he combines history, politics and portraits of the people who shaped his thinking and his life to write a dazzling travelogue about a country that refuses to be at peace with itself.And this is the paradox of Sri Lanka that he captures so evocatively. Despite the commitment to constitutionalism and democracy, the country has seen brutal censorship, “disappearances” and extensive state-authorised violence. Although Tamils, Sinhalese and, to a lesser degree, Muslims intermarry and speak each other’s language, they will go to great lengths to strip each other of rights to free speech, education and property-ownership. It takes little to bring latent Sinhala Buddhist or Tamil chauvinism to the surface. And yet, he writes about the journalist Vasantha, politician Irfan, former bureaucrat-turned-educator Renton, mathematician and civil rights activist Rajan Hoole, and many others who may have had the resources to flee the frustrating and sometimes oppressive conditions in the country but have elected to stay.The book describes Mr Sally’s idyllic childhood in the 1970s: Birthday parties, holidays and a Colombo that one can glimpse even today. Galle Face Green still hosts courting couples and boys flying kites. The surroundings of Beira Lake and Cinnamon Gardens have changed following the madness of real estate development. What has not changed is the power locus of Important People, potbellied politicians with permanently raven hair (Ranil Wickremesinghe is an exception). The lilting sing-song cadence of English spoken as Sinhala remains, thank goodness.
Mr Sally describes the landmark “colonial” hotels: The Mount Lavinia, the Taprobane and the Galle Face Hotel (GFH), at the time run by the “eccentric” Cyril Gardiner. “He gave a generous discount to non-smokers and put up edifying signs on the upper floor enjoining guests not to smoke in bed (‘It might be your last smoke’) and to use the stairs instead of the lift,” he writes. The book is replete with dry humour of this variety.
Mr Sally’s recounting of Sri Lanka’s history, especially during the Kandyan kingdom, unlocks many contemporary political riddles. He also explains with authority the distortions in Theravada Buddhism, the roots of Sufism in Sri Lanka and the quest for “pure Islam”’.
The most interesting part of the book is his travels in the north and east, the arena for the activities of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the Muslim riposte to Tamil nationalism and the work of the Jesuit priests in rebuilding lives destroyed by insurgency. He does not mince words in decrying the role of Sinhalese politicians — the Sinhala Only and Standardisation policies that were seen as discriminating against Tamils — and the war that followed. Many contemporary analysts believe that the military action by the Mahinda-Gotabaya Rajapakse team that led to the killing of Prabhakaran and the end of the LTTE was the best thing that happened to Sri Lanka. Mr Sally is appalled by the triumphalism and lionisation of Mahinda Rajapaksa. He also puts on his hat as an economist to describe all the wrong policy turns taken by the Rajapaksa family that led to sovereign default in 2022 when the economy shrank by 8 per cent.Mr Sally also takes into account the most recent developments — the Aragalaya or popular movement that led to the unseating of the Wickremesinghe regime backed by the Rajapaksa family* — but notes that in order to get 5 to 6 per cent growth Sri Lanka needs structural reform going well beyond the International Monetary Fund programme. “But opposition from an entrenched political class, allied with business cronies, unions and the military, make such reforms unlikely,” he predicts.
Razeen Sally
There is a mild complaint. India has been a constant feature in the Sri Lankan discourse, especially between the 1970s and the 1990s. Mr Sally’s exploration of the “India factor” is cursory. At one point, for instance, he writes that Rajiv Gandhi… threatened to invade the north of the island”. Really? We have President J R Jayewardene telling Voice of America that seeking help from India was the only option he was left with to keep Sri Lanka united, after everyone, including China, backed out from helping Sri Lanka militarily. On the Indo Sri Lanka Accord that followed, Jayewardene told an interviewer: “Signing the Accord was a political decision. I consulted my political colleagues before I signed it. The induction of the Indian Army was a security decision and I made that decision as the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Sri Lanka.” In Indian records, military or otherwise, there is no mention of an “invasion”, only an “invitation” from the President of a friendly country for military assistance. India has committed many sins in Sri Lanka, but military “invasion” is not among them.For all that, this is a lyrical account of the history and politics of a country by a boy who was born there. It was hard to put the book down.⍐
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* திருத்தம்: அற (GA )லய இயக்கம் கோத்தபாய ராஜபக்ச ஜனாதிபதியாக இருந்த ஆட்சியைக் கவிழ்த்து அவரை பதவியில் இருந்து இறக்கியது. அந்த வெற்றிடத்தை ராஜபக்ச குடும்ப ஆதரவோடு ரணில் நிரப்பி மக்களால் தெரிவு செய்யப்படாத ஜனாதிபதியாக அடுத்த தேர்தல் வரை இருந்தார். அடுத்த ஜனாதிபதித் தேர்தலில் ரணில் விகிரமசிங்க தோல்வியுற்று பதவி இழந்தார். SUBA
The two sides share the view that China and Sri Lanka have consistently respected each other, treated each other as equals and stood by each other over the 68 years of diplomatic ties, and set a fine example of friendly interactions and mutually beneficial cooperation between countries of different sizes. The two sides agreed to carry forward the spirit of independence, self-reliance, solidarity and mutual assistance enshrined in the Rubber-Rice Pact, follow the principles of mutual respect, mutual trust, mutual support, win-win cooperation and common development, stay committed to deepening the China-Sri Lanka strategic cooperative partnership based on sincere mutual assistance and ever-lasting friendship, and jointly build a China-Sri Lanka community with a shared future, to bring greater benefits to the two countries and peoples.
The two sides are satisfied with the progress of bilateral cooperation in economy and trade. Sri Lanka expressed appreciation to China for its effort to promote import from Sri Lanka through various means. China expressed its readiness to continue supporting Sri Lankan enterprises in the tea, gem and other industries in establishing ties with relevant Chinese associations of importers and exporters, facilitate Sri Lanka’s participation in expos such as the China International Import Expo, China Import and Export Fair, China-South Asia Exposition and e-commerce platforms, and further enhance cooperation between enterprises of the two countries on the basis of mutual benefit and win-win outcomes. The two sides agreed to work toward the early conclusion of a comprehensive free trade agreement in one package in line with the principles of equality, mutual benefit and win-win outcomes.
Sri Lanka reaffirmed its commitment to supporting and actively participating in the development of a community with a shared future for mankind, the Global Development Initiative, the Global Security Initiative and the Global Civilisation Initiative proposed by President Xi Jinping. The year 2025 marks the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations, which was just after the end of the Second World War. The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to jointly upholding the international system with the U.N. at its core, the international order underpinned by international law, and the basic norms governing international relations based on the purposes and principles of the U.N. Charter. The two sides will adhere to the Five Principles of Peaceful Coexistence and jointly advocate an equal and orderly multipolar world and a universally beneficial and inclusive economic globalisation, and work toward a bright future of peace, security, prosperity and progress for all countries in the world.
