Tribute to a friend

Ananda Jaysena SNR SP (Rtd), my good friend of almost four decades is no more. He passed away on Wednesday night after a brief illness. I came to know him when he came in mid 1970s as HQI Moratuwa. He was a down-to-earth man who led a simple life.

He was very choosy about his selection of friends, this was more so with regard to his Moratuwa life. Moratuwa being a mixed bag where the richest as well as the poorest, the educated as well as the illiterate, the law abiding as well as the criminal, peaceful as well as the violent co-existed. Ananda, probably understanding these inherent contradictions of that society, maintained his balance and kept away from cultivating friends there. He preferred to remain poor rather than going for ill-gotten riches.

His beloved wife Prema ideally suited his lifestyle. She was his unfailing friend till the last. He had been a regular contributor about his long experience in the Police to several journals by way of recalling famous cases he handled. Of late I have been associating him in preparing them.

He was a great admirer of late Fr Merceline Jayakody for whom he had rendered yeomen service when Ananda was OIC Wellawatta.

With his demise we have lost a true and a sincere friend and the Police Service a respected Officer who belonged to the ‘Old Guard’ who always stood by it.

May he attain the Supreme Bliss of Nibbana!

Lionel Fernando