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Ossie
Asanga Abeygoonasekera
As Camus writes in his book The Rebel: An Essay on Man in Revolt, “Rebellion cannot exist without a strange form of love.” My father had a strange form of love for his fellow countrymen, which was deemed rebellious due to the political situation that existed during that time. Many of the political decisions he made at that time made him unpopular, but in such a volatile time I believe the decisions he made were the right thing to do.
Today marks the 63rd birth anniversary of my father, the late Ossie Abeyagoonasekera, and to commemorate his life I have initiated a foundation called “Diri Saviya.” The foundations slogan is “to empower your community” and our vision is to “create a harmonious society with dignity.” My late father’s dear friend Carlo Fonseka will launch the foundation and it will be my platform to carry out my work as a Young Global Leader (www.asanga.org.lk)
For those of you who have forgot or never heard of, let me remind you of some of my father’s political courage and rebellious character during his short life. At the time of the first provincial council elections in 1989, at a time of insurrection where the supporters of the 13th amendment were called traitors and gunned down, my father, Ossie led his party the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party, after the death of his dear friend Vijaya Kumaranatunga. There were 117 members who were assassinated from the Sri Lanka Mahajana Party and my father was targeted many times, one example was the Kosgashandiya Kadawatha political rally’s where he was seated with Vasudewa Nanayakkara and Vikramabahu, narrowly escaping from the assassins bullets. During a time when people were afraid to talk about devolution, my father Ossie, spoke of the importance of it. My father, Ossie, at a time where the political climate was tense was not afraid to stand up for what he believed in, he was a fearless leader who
