Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson, Ph.D.
D.Sc.(Econ) taught at the University of Ceylon and held
the founding chair of Political Science at that
University (later the University of Peradeniya) before
being appointed Professor of Political Science at the
University of New Brunswick, Canada in 1972.
He was a Leverhulme Research Scholar -
London School of Economics, 1955, Research Fellow in
Politics - University of Leicester 1964-65, Research
Associate - McGill University, Canada 1970-71, Senior
Research Associate - Columbia University, 1977 and
Senior Associate Member - St.Antony's College, Oxford,
1977.
In 1978-83, he acted as constitutional
adviser to Sri Lanka President J.R.Jayawardene.
He was the author of Politics in Sri
Lanka 1947-73, Electoral Politics in an Emergent State,
1975, the Gaullist System in Asia, 1980 and Co Editor
of States of South Asia, 1982, and From Independence to
Statehood, 1984, and recently, Sri Lankan Tamil
Nationalism,1999
In 1988, he wrote 'The
Break-Up of Sri Lanka : The Sinhalese-Tamil
Conflict ' and concluded:
"My experience in the mediatory process
(1978-83) and as an inside observer of Sinhalese
political behaviour (1948-87) has convinced me that the
Tamil militant groups now provide an alternative
leadership to the Tamil people. In the eyes of the
militant sections, the civilian leadership failed in
its policies when it resorted to Parliament and negotiations. The war may
take several years for a final decision. The longer it
takes, the more likely is it that a separate state will
emerge. In the interim it is probable that patchwork
compromises will be implemented, with New Delhi acting
as a monitoring agent, but this cannot continue
forever. Compromise agreements will, as history has
repeatedly shown, not be honoured on a permanent basis.
The war will be resumed. The partition of Ceylon is
already a fact of history..."
Professor Wilson was not only an
academic of world stature but also a political
activist. As the son in law of the Tamil leader
S.J.V.Chelvanayagam, he had the benefit
of valuable access to material related to the early
days of the Tamil struggle, and his S.J.V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis
of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism 1947-1977 : A Political
Biography remains the definitive biography of
Thanthai Chelva. Wilson made important contributions
at several international conferences on the Struggle
for Tamil Eelam and amongst his later writings was an
examination of President Chandrika Kumaratunga's
Devolution Proposals.
Professor Wilson passed away
on at his home in Toronto on Wednesday, 31 May
2000.
Professor Alfred Jeyaratnam Wilson: The
Doyen of Academia
1928-2000
By S.Sivanayagam, formerly Editor, Saturday
Review, Hot Springs, June 2000
Ever since I heard of the passing away
of Professor A.J.Wilson, I had been feeling a sense of
anger at myself. What paralysis of thought that made me
not pick up the phone and talk to him these past three
weeks ? on the last occasion that I spoke to him, I
could see that he was getting feeble. His lisping made
it difficult for me to follow all what he was saying. I
should have realised that here was a man - my friend -
whose life was slowly ebbing away. As it says in the
Christian Prayer Book, in the midst of Life we are in
Death. But like Birth, does Death come with prior
announcement ? I should have known better.
There were many reasons for reproaching
myself for not being in touch with him during the last
three weeks of his life in this world. Alfie Wilson and
I belonged to the same age group. He was a
distinguished academic, the doyen of Academia both in
Sri Lanka and in Canada. I was a working journalist in
Colombo for 30 years, later to become an advocate of
the Tamil cause through my writings. Our paths never
crossed. Traditionally, academics and journalists do
not rate each other much in life. Academics tend to
look down their noses at journalists as mere purveyors
of the passing scene. Journalists on the other hand
think of academics as bookworms cut off from empirical
truths, and writing books for each other ! As to what
chemistry that made Mr.Wilson warm up to me these two
years or so, I could only guess.
Although we had heard of each other, the one and only
occasion on which we came face to face was at a weekend
seminar at Oxford, organised by Liz Philipson of
Conciliation Resources during the week ending April
l998. It was a small intimate group of about ten
persons, all leading activists in the Tamil cause. On
that occasion he presented me with a copy of his book
S.J.V.Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Tamil
Nationalism, (1947-1977): A Political Biography, with
the following pencilled inscription:- "For dear Siva,
with much affection and my great admiration for your
brilliant writing skills, A.Jeyaratnam Wilson". It was
a touching gesture on his part.
I would not know many people in this computer age who
send handwritten letters, but Professor Wilson was one
of them. Six months ago, he faxed me seven pages of a
hand written letter which he began writing from his
sickbed at the Toronto General Hospital. Dated 29
November it said:
"My dear Siva, As you will note from
the address I'm writing to you, I have been warded in
TGH for the last two weeks having fallen a victim to
pneumonia which is threatening to become chronic and
could indeed be dangerous if not arrested at the
right time. After being treated aggressively, I am
now on the road to recovery and will be back home
mid-week next week...."
That 7-page letter completed from home
and faxed to me on December 2 said on top: "Private and
Personal", and indeed contained very personal
references to some people in public life who are anyway
no longer in the land of the living.
Professor Wilson was a man who had a
ringside view of politics in Sri Lanka during one phase
of the country's history, and also a close familiarity
with some of the important players in the political
scene during that period. The fortuitous fact that he
happened to be the son-in-law of the Tamil leader f
twenty years, S.J.V.Chelvanayakam, helped, but it
cannot be forgotten he was a political scientist by
profession, and an outstanding researcher and author on
Sri Lankan politics.
What impelled him, despite his frail health, to sit
down and pen those seven pages? A mutual friend of
ours, he wrote "was keen to have my views on the
special HOT SPRING issue on our late lamented Neelan".
He follows it by saying:
"Your editorial said a great deal and
I think it was appropriate that a widely respected
and senior journalist such as you took on the onerous
task of undressing the Emperor even though he may not
have had a stitch of clothing by the time you had
cleared the debris. The outside cover picture was a
telling illustration of abject genuflection. But I
think the rumour mills of Colombo will not only
re-echo your observations but as you stated be
dismissive of Neelan as just a collaborator...
"I would like to thank you especially for your kind
and understanding interpretation of my dealings with
the twentieth century fox JRJ. My role was just as
you described it, more or less a carpenter who was
trying to put the pieces together. The real devil in
that whole affair was Lalith Athulathmudali..."
Professor Wilson was a
much-misunderstood man. The fact that he was an
academic whose views were known only through his books
and seminar papers, gave him in the eyes of many Tamils
who had no access to these - an image of being an aloof
personality removed from the Tamil political and
militant struggle. That was unfortunate. How strongly
he felt for the Tamil cause was known only to those
with whom he had personal dialogues and correspondence,
both Tamils and Sinhalese, some of whom were his pupils
and admirers from the Peradeniya University, where he
was the first occupant of the founding chair of
Political Science. It is a pity that those who are in
charge of propagating the Tamil cause in the West did
not have the imagination to enlist him into the ranks.
A man of his intellectual calibre and academic standing
would have been an asset in justifying the Tamil
struggle in the eyes of the international
community.
Thirteen years ago, in 1987, he made an illuminating
presentation on Sri Lanka at a hearing by the
Sub-Committee on Asian and Pacific Affairs, Committee
on Foreign Affairs, Congress of the United States. In a
statement he made before the Committee on March 12,
1987, he said, inter alia:
"...The most pressing problem is to
recognize the fact that the Tamils of Sri Lanka, and
they include the Indian Tamil Plantation workers,
occupy a geographically contiguous area and have,
unlike in the early days of independence Qequn to look
upon themselves as a nation in their own right. This
comprising the Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces
should be constitutionally recognised as a single Tamil
unit. Powers that do not include foreign affairs,
defense, currency and communication should be devolved
on this unit. Constitutionally, the central government
should not have the right to withdraw any of the powers
devolved without the consent of the Tamil unit. Any
other formula for the amendment of powers will easily
pass through the Legislature and will be meaningless
because the Sinhalese constitute 74 per cent of the
population...."
He went on to submit before the Congress Committee an
alternative proposition which in his opinion could
prove "more attractive". He stated:
"The traditional Tamil areas of the
Northern, Eastern and Uva provinces should constitute
one unit. They could have a sovereignty-type
relationship with the Sinhala Rata (the Sinhalese
state). That Sinhalese state could be completely
unshackled in whatever it wants to do in regard to
the preservation of the land, the Sinhala race and
the Buddhist faith. Each unit will have complete and
unconditional control over defence, foreign affairs
and land. Other subjects can be negotiated upon. The
fact of a sovereignty-association relationship will
at least maintain the island as one single polity on
the map of the globe".
What Professor Wilson stated as "an
alternative proposition" thirteen years ago looks in
retrospect far in advance of what most Tamil
protagonists had been mooting since then. May I exhort
activists in the Tamil diaspora to take up this
proposal and use it as a spring board in furtherance of
our cause.
To go back to Wilson's letter where he makes references
to Neelan Tiruchelvam, this is what he said:
"... I have lost in Neelan, a dear and
loyal friend. He gave me encouragement, a boost always.
To that extent, I will never have a replacement. He was
a loyal friend, loyal to the core....".
But he had that sufficient detachment
of outlook not to confuse his personal feelings towards
Neelan, with his assessment of Neelan as a
politician...
There were many quotable quotes in his letter, not all
of which could be publicised because of the
confidentiality he imposed on me, but two references to
Mr.Tiruchelvam (Sr ) and Punitham Tiruchelvam could be
told without causing any harm. Wilson says
Mr.Tiruchelvam (Sr.) had nothing but contempt for the
Tamil clerical servants who gave him trouble when he
was Minister. He referred to them once as "Kalki
readers". It is not clear of course why the Minister
thought Kalki readers are contemptible; maybe he
thought they were largely illiterate in the English
language. As for the reference to Mrs.Punitham
Tiruchelvam, that I think is a pleasant one to record.
Wilson says how Father Thani Nayagam in good humour
once referred to Punitham as "that Chola bronze". As
for me, as one who had known and admired both of them,
it tickled me to hear that from Wilson.
Professor Wilson was not only a scholar, he had a
lighter and and lovable side to his nature. But he had
a premonition of death as well. We live in a world,
where we are daily recording the deaths of Tamils;
Tamils of eminence, Tamil martyrs who die in battle,
non-combatant Tamils caught up in the war, nameless
Tamils, faceless Tamils... deaths in the middle of
life. In Professor Wilson, the Tamil world has lost its
most distinguished academic, its ablest historian and a
unique chronicler of the past. He has left a void that
cannot be filled.
