Rajiva Wijesinha

“ The Times articles meant less, though I remember thinking how sad it was that no one in the Working Committee — realizing, I thought, that JR had set the whole business up himself, and only my poor naive uncle had been deceived — had dared to oppose the boss. No wonder we were heading for disaster — the surrender of all judgment to one individual, which led inevitably to the appalling misjudgments of 1982 and 1983 from which we are all still suffering. ”

“ Marginalizing the moderate opposition, and using that as an excuse to build up an authoritarian structure of leadership, is a recipe for disaster. My resignation in 1980, and the subsequent persecution, may have been both trivial in their impact, but after many years, at the BCIS opening, I remembered those youthful days and felt immeasurably proud. ”

“ It is tedious to claim one was right, but I have to admit to some satisfaction when W J Fernando, a strong supporter of the UNP, who had indeed been ill-treated by being transferred as Government Agent to Moneragala in 1970 (when Bradman was sent to Ampara) , told me in 1982, when JR announced the referendum, that I had been right, and he was wrong to have chided me in 1980. ”