From: dave@ttd.teradyne.com
Subject: BOOK: Men and Memoirs By Sri Lanka President
Organization: Teradyne Inc., Telecommunications Division
Date: Mon, 05 Oct 92 23:16:25 GMT

Below is a book review that I thougth would be of interest to
readers of this newsgroup. 


                        MEN AND MEMORIES
             Autobiographical Recollections and Reflections
                By Former President J R Jayewardene 


Former President Junius R. Jayewardene says he had to abandon Sri
Lankan Military action to regain control of the Jaffna peninsula in
May 1987 because India had threatened that it would not permit the
Sri Lankan army to do so. 

Junius Richard Jayewardene, at 86, is the elder statesman of Sri
Lanka, reputed to be the third most experienced statesman-
politician in the world today. In his own country, he has been
amongst the well-known freedom fighters, international negotiators
and among the architects of the Japanese Peace Treaty, the Colombo
Plan and SAARC, the Fiance Minister, then Prime Minister and twice
the Executive President. For over half a Century, he has remained
in the forefront of the mainstream of Sri Lanka politics, helping
shape the destiny of a free and democratic Sri Lanka through good
times, bad times and sad times. It was on his initiative that the
Indo-Sri Lanka Accord was signed and the Indian Peace Keeping Force
(IPKF) went to the island country to help it fight militant
terrorism and secessionism.

Born on September 17, 1906, J.R.J., as his friends and admirers
call him, has been a brilliant student, a tenacious liberal
politician, Buddhist and humanist in spirit and great admirer of
Gandhi and Nehru. He calls himself, with some pride, "a practicing
Buddhist" even though he was born into a family who were Anglican
Christians since the 18th Century.

In his autobiography, "Men and Memories," released two months ago,
he said Indian High Commissioner (now Foreign Secretary) J.N. Dixit
"pointedly informed Lalith Athulathmudali, Minister of National
Security, that India would not permit the Sri Lanka army to take
Jaffna town. The same message was conveyed to me."

Jayewardene recalled that on May 27, 1987, he said at a public
meeting that the government intended to proceed with the
Vadamarachchi operation till the forces of the Liberation Tigers of
Tamil Eelam were defeated. 

"In the evening, Dixit called on me at my home and conveyed a
message from Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. The gist of the message
was written by Dixit on an envelope," Jayewardene writes.

The last line of the message, he says, stated "please do not force
us to review our policies."

The review that "Dixit threatened on behalf of the Indian
government came very quickly," he says. The first act was a grant
of $ 3.2 million from the Tamil Nadu government to the LTTE and its
allies.

Then, he writes, came the announcement that India was sending food
and petroleum products to Jaffna, "which it claimed was facing a
severe shortage of these items through a blockade by the Sri Lankan
Forces."

This is the first time Jayewardene has commented on the crucial
period of Indian-Sri Lankan relations.

After listing such Indian acts as sending to Jaffna a flotilla of
fishing vessels carrying food, which was turned back by the Sri
Lankan Navy, and a food drop that he described as a "blatant
violation of international law and of the Sri Lanka air space,"
Jayewardene says "all these constituted an unmistakable Indian
support for the Tamil separatist movement in Sri Lanka."

Describing the events leading to the Indian-Sri Lankan agreement of
July 29, 1987, Jayewardene writes that the demonstration of India's
sea and air power achieved a number of objectives.

                TIGERS SAVED FROM DISASTER

He says Delhi power saved the Liberation Tigers from imminent
destruction, stopped any expansion of Sri lankan army's campaign
after Vadamarachchi, and would have reduced Colombo to military
impotence if India continued to give more help to the terrorist
movement, especially that of the Tigers.

He asserts that India continued to campaign throughout the world
against the government of Sri lanka from the early 1980s, specially
after 1983. "The Indian embassies abroad became centers of support
for the terrorists and separatist groups," he says.

He maintains that the Indian campaign caused reluctance on the part
of some Western powers to supply arms and other aid to Sri lanka.
"They were all anxious not to offend India," he claims.

                CHANGE IN INDIAN POLICY

He says that the first time India imposed restrictions on Sri Lanka
Tamil terrorists operating from Indian territory was when the LTTE
refused to accept the peace formula adopted by Rajiv Gandhi and
himself at Bangalore in November 1986.

This was "nullified by the Tamil Nadu government's non-corporation
in these moves. Attempts were made by the central government to
prevent the LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran from leaving India
for Jaffna, unsuccessfully."

The Tiger's non-corporation, the former President writes, did not
leave his government any alternative but military action, and India
was much perturbed by the turn of events. He says public expression
of displeasure from New Delhi strained relations between the two
countries from February 1987.

Bilateral relations hit an all-time low, he maintains, with India
violation of Sri lankan airspace in June 1987, but close
corporation was established later with signing of agreement the
following month.

The spirit of Buddhist compassion, clarity and conspicuous honesty
and independence of thought are the distinctions of this work of
autobiographical recollections and reflections by Junius Richard
Jayewardene, the first Executive President and undoubtedly the most
respected elder statesman of Sri Lanka.

An autobiography of a man with a rich and distinguished political
contribution to the birth and growth of a free and democratic Sri
Lanka as well as the South Asian international affairs, this book
is a record of men who were the architects of the new South Asian
world with all its turmoils, triumphs and tantalizing agencies and
challenges in this twentieth century.

Basically reflecting the hopes and aspirations of his own island-
nation, its perceptions, problems and positions on both national
and international affairs, it is an account of events and
personalities by a man who has been one of the key participants in
the making of modern Sri Lanka and the present South Asian
political ethos.

None has dared tell the truth with such dispassionate honesty about
controversial phases of Sri Lanka's triumphs and troubles and about
Indo-Sri Lanka relations of mutual love and suspicion, as the man
who has now voluntarily decided to retire from active politics but
live in active retrospection and reflection on men and memories.

For those who want to understand the Sri-Lanka perceptions on
crucial issues like the Indo-Sri Lanka Accord, the role of the IPKF
is Sri Lanka, the island nation's long drawn and difficult battle
against ethnic strife, militant terrorism of varied shades and
ideological complexions, and secessionism, this work provides rare
insights.

Jayewardene said he completed the 186 page book, Men and Memories,
in 30 days. 

This book is available from Teleprime Inc., 667 Lincoln
Avenue, Grayslake, IL 60030. The price is $24 including postage.
Newsgroups: soc.culture.tamil,soc.culture.sri-lanka