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Hector Abhayavardhana (5 January 1919 – 22 September 2012) was a
Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...
n
Trotskyist Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
theoretician, a long-standing member of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party (LSSP) and a founder-member of the
Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
.


Early life

Abhayavardhana was born in
Kandy Kandy ( si, මහනුවර ''Mahanuwara'', ; ta, கண்டி Kandy, ) is a major city in Sri Lanka located in the Central Province. It was the last capital of the ancient kings' era of Sri Lanka. The city lies in the midst of hills ...
where his maternal grandfather was an
Anglican Anglicanism is a Western Christian tradition that has developed from the practices, liturgy, and identity of the Church of England following the English Reformation, in the context of the Protestant Reformation in Europe. It is one of th ...
vicar - at a time when the
Church of England The Church of England (C of E) is the established Christian church in England and the mother church of the international Anglican Communion. It traces its history to the Christian church recorded as existing in the Roman province of Britain ...
was the established church. His father was a government servant and a pillar of the establishment. Abhayavardhana was educated at St Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia. His upbringing, being
anglicised Anglicisation is the process by which a place or person becomes influenced by English culture or British culture, or a process of cultural and/or linguistic change in which something non-English becomes English. It can also refer to the influen ...
in culture and religion, was typical of the colonial
middle-class The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Comm ...
and hence remote from the mass of Sinhala-speaking
Buddhist Buddhism ( , ), also known as Buddha Dharma and Dharmavinaya (), is an Indian religion or philosophical tradition based on teachings attributed to the Buddha. It originated in northern India as a -movement in the 5th century BCE, and ...
people. He and his fellow
matriculation Matriculation is the formal process of entering a university, or of becoming eligible to enter by fulfilling certain academic requirements such as a matriculation examination. Australia In Australia, the term "matriculation" is seldom used now ...
student were once posed the question 'Would you have been better off under your own king?' by their teacher, in response to which he began to ponder upon
nationalism Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the State (polity), state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a in-group and out-group, group of peo ...
and
British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...
colonial Colonial or The Colonial may refer to: * Colonial, of, relating to, or characteristic of a colony or colony (biology) Architecture * American colonial architecture * French Colonial * Spanish Colonial architecture Automobiles * Colonial (1920 au ...
rule. At fifteen he renounced
Christianity Christianity is an Abrahamic monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth. It is the world's largest and most widespread religion with roughly 2.38 billion followers representing one-third of the global pop ...
and became an
atheist Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
. In 1936 he joined
University College, Colombo Ceylon University College was a public university college in Ceylon. Established in 1921, it was Ceylon's first attempt at university education. The college didn't award degrees under its own name but prepared students to sit the University of Lo ...
where he read liberal arts and came under the influence of E.F.C. Ludowyk and
Doric de Souza Anthony Theodoric Armand "Doric" de Souza (1914–1987) was a Sri Lankan Trotskyist politician, Senator, Professor of English and a brilliant Marxist theoretician. Born to Goan journalist Armand de Souza, who was the editor of the '' Ceylon ...
, who had Marxist sympathies. He went on to complete his colonial education at the
Colombo Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...
. Abhayavardhana's first exposure to radical politics was the
Bracegirdle incident :''This article refers to the political activist. For the Rear Admiral see Leighton Seymour Bracegirdle. For the fictional family of Hobbits see Bracegirdle.'' Mark Anthony Lyster Bracegirdle (10 September 1912 – 22 June 1999) was a British-bor ...
, in which the Colonial Government sought to deport an
Australian Australian(s) may refer to: Australia * Australia, a country * Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia ** European Australians ** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists ** Aboriginal A ...
labour activist. He attended a mass meeting at
Galle Face Green Galle Face is a ocean-side urban park, which stretches for along the coast, in the heart of Colombo, the financial and business capital of Sri Lanka. The promenade was initially laid out in 1859 by Governor Sir Henry George Ward, although t ...
on 5 May 1937 at Bracegirdle made a dramatic appearance and a stirring speech before being whisked away into hiding. At the time, his father was the Chief Clerk in the office of
Governor A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Reginald Stubbs Sir Reginald Edward Stubbs (; 13 October 1876 – 7 December 1947) was a British colonial governor, who was once the Governor of Hong Kong. He caused controversy while Governor of Ceylon over the Bracegirdle Incident. Early life and educati ...
, who sought the deportation and against whom this meeting was directed. He organised the Mount Lavinia Debating Society, which invited such speakers as Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and
J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...
.


Revolutionary

Abhayavardhana was recruited to the Lanka Sama Samaja Party in 1940 by
Esmond Wickremesinghe Cyril Esmond Lucien Wickremesinghe (29 May 1920 – 29 September 1985) was a Ceylonese press baron, lawyer, and a successful entrepreneur. He also played key role in defeating Sirimavo Bandaranaike that brought United National Party's Dudley Senan ...
(later to be father of
Ranil Wickremasinghe Ranil Wickremesinghe ( si, රනිල් වික්‍රමසිංහ, ta, ரணில் விக்கிரமசிங்க; born 24 March 1949) is a Sri Lankan politician who is the current president of Sri Lanka since 21 July 2 ...
). He became part of the clandestine section of the LSSP that was established, in anticipation of its proscription, to work underground. After the party leaders were imprisoned and escaped to India he joined them in exile there (disguised as an Anglican priest) and worked in the Independence movement. He became a member of the
Bolshevik-Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma Trotskyism is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Ukrainian-Russian revolutionary Leon Trotsky and some other members of the Left Opposition and Fourth International. Trotsky self-identified as an orthodox Marxist, a rev ...
(BLPI) and began his career as a writer. His two pamphlets 'The Saboteur Strategy of the Constructive Programme' and on the
Quit India The Quit India Movement, also known as the August Kranti Movement, was a movement launched at the Bombay session of the All India Congress Committee by Mahatma Gandhi on 8th August 1942, during World War II, demanding an end to British rule i ...
Movement of the Congress Party were considered to be seminal theoretical works. When the main LSSP leaders returned to Sri Lanka after the war, Abhayawardhana was among the Sama Samajists who remained in India.


Journalist

He worked on the fortnightly ''New Spark'' in
Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' financial centre of India. According to the United Nations, as of 2018, Mumbai is the second- ...
, later moving to
Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...
. He became
General Secretary Secretary is a title often used in organizations to indicate a person having a certain amount of authority, power, or importance in the organization. Secretaries announce important events and communicate to the organization. The term is derived ...
of the
Socialist Party Socialist Party is the name of many different political parties around the world. All of these parties claim to uphold some form of socialism, though they may have very different interpretations of what "socialism" means. Statistically, most of t ...
which was created by the fusion in 1948 of the BLPI with the
Congress Socialist Party The Congress Socialist Party (CSP) was a socialist caucus within the Indian National Congress. It was founded in 1934 by Congress members who rejected what they saw as the anti-rational mysticism of Gandhi as well as the sectarian attitude of th ...
. He moved to
New Delhi New Delhi (, , ''Naī Dillī'') is the capital of India and a part of the National Capital Territory of Delhi (NCT). New Delhi is the seat of all three branches of the government of India, hosting the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Parliament House ...
where he was editor of the ''Socialist Appeal'' and contributor to the ''
Hindustan Standard ''Hindustan Standard'' is an English-language daily published from Kolkata by the ABP Group. It is headquartered at 3, Burman Street, Kolkata. In 1937, Suresh Chandra Majumdar started the daily in English, and it soon became a leading newspaper ...
''. He spent two years in
Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...
editing ''Mankind'' before returning to New Delhi where he began the critical journal ''Maral''.


Return to Sri Lanka

In 1959 Abhayavardhana married Kusala Fernando and returned to Sri Lanka in 1960. Abhayavardhana is credited with formulating the classification of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) as a
petty bourgeois ''Petite bourgeoisie'' (, literally 'small bourgeoisie'; also anglicised as petty bourgeoisie) is a French term that refers to a social class composed of semi-autonomous peasants and small-scale merchants whose politico-economic ideological ...
party, which was the ideological and theoretical foundation of the LSSP
Coalition A coalition is a group formed when two or more people or groups temporarily work together to achieve a common goal. The term is most frequently used to denote a formation of power in political or economical spaces. Formation According to ''A Gui ...
with that party in 1964. After this, he promoted an alliance with the SLFP and the
Communist Party A communist party is a political party that seeks to realize the socio-economic goals of communism. The term ''communist party'' was popularized by the title of ''The Manifesto of the Communist Party'' (1848) by Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. A ...
, which finally emerged with the signing of the Common Programme of the
United Front A united front is an alliance of groups against their common enemies, figuratively evoking unification of previously separate geographic fronts and/or unification of previously separate armies into a front. The name often refers to a political ...
in 1968. Abhayavardhana started ''The Nation'' as an
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
organ of the United Front, serving as its editor. When the United Front formed a government in 1970 Hector served as Chairman of the People's Bank under Dr. N.M. Perera, the
Finance Minister A finance minister is an executive or cabinet position in charge of one or more of government finances, economic policy and financial regulation. A finance minister's portfolio has a large variety of names around the world, such as "treasury", " ...
. After the front broke up in 1975, he founded the ''Socialist Nation''. He also served on the Educational Bureau of the LSSP and was a long-standing member of the
Politburo A politburo () or political bureau is the executive committee for communist parties. It is present in most former and existing communist states. Names The term "politburo" in English comes from the Russian ''Politbyuro'' (), itself a contraction ...
. In August 1992 Abhayavardhana, along with
Vivienne Goonewardena Violet Vivienne Goonewardene ( si, වයලට් විවියන් ගුන්වර්ධන, ta, வயலட் விவியென் கூனவர்தன; 18 September 19163 October 1996), commonly known as "Vivi", was a Sri Lan ...
and
Bernard Soysa Bernard Soysa (20 March 1914 - 30 December 1997) was a Sri Lankan politician. Early life and education Bernard Soysa was born 20 March 1914 in Colombo, Ceylon. He attended the Holy Family Convent, Bambalapitiya, S. Thomas' College, Mount Lav ...
was a guest of honour at the 50th anniversary celebrations of the Quit India movement in New Delhi.


Works

*Hector Abhayavardhana, ''Selected Writings'', Colombo, Social Scientists Association, 2001.


References


External links


'Hector Abhayavardhana is 87 today : The wise elder of the Left, ''Daily News'', 5 January 2006
* ttp://dbsjeyaraj.com/dbsj/archives/10963 Mention of Hector Abhayavardhana's death {{DEFAULTSORT:Abhayawardhana, Hector 1919 births 2012 deaths Sri Lankan Trotskyists Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians Alumni of the Ceylon University College Academics from Kandy Sinhalese academics