Speaking on the Condolence Motion on Kadirgamar in Parliament yesterday, he said: "More than 30 years separates me from the generation of Lakshman Kadirgamar whom we honour today. He was actually my father's friend.

They had been together in the Law Faculty of Peradeniya, and they met again when they worked in Switzerland.

It was there, when I was a child, that I first met Lakshman. I could not have imagined that in 30 years, we would be colleagues together in this House; nor that his brilliant career would end in tragedy.

Lakshman Kadirgamar was eminently qualified to be Minister of Foreign Affairs.


Outstanding academic careers at Peradeniya and Oxford equipped him perfectly with both a knowledge of his own country, and the ways of the foreigner.


He was able to move with confidence among his own people, as well as with his political colleagues abroad. An athlete of distinction, he contributed generously to the development of sport in our country.

Although in politics our paths diverged, and we had to agree to disagree on several issues, his commitment to democracy, and to dialogue on divisive issues, enabled him to rise above personal considerations and to place the good of the country above all.
He was a man of integrity and strict adherence to principle, an attribute for which, in the end, he paid with his life.

But we can learn from the tragedy that took him from us. It should give us cause for radical re-appraisal of ourselves and our values, and of our claim to be a nation guided by the lofty teachings of the Buddha, and of the founders of the other great religions.


How could we justify such a claim when, all too often, the response to opposition, whether in politics or in private life, is a simple one: violence. It is quick, effective, and today, far less expensive. Besides, in the end, no one will hold you to account.

Is this culture of violence with impunity one that satisfies our individual or collective conscience? Is it the culture we want to bequeath to future generations in our land? Is this to be a defining feature of Sri Lanka to the rest of the world?

I am confident that to everyone in this House such thoughts are anathema, and that both sides of this House are united in their resolve to exorcise these demons of violence and impunity from our midst.


Lakshman Kadirgamar has left us, but his passing has lessons for us that we would be foolish to ignore. In the words of the Dhammapada: "Those who have high thoughts are ever striving: they are not happy to remain in the same place. Like swans that leave their lake and rise in to the air, they leave their home for a higher home." (91)

And I close this brief message of condolence with a verse from the same source: "The traveller has reached the end of the journey! In the freedom of the Infinite he is free from all sorrows, the fetters that bound him are thrown away and the burning fever of life is no more." (90)