Jehan Perera, in The Island, 18 April 2024 ….. https://island.lk/dr-a-t-ariyaratne-the-most-important-person-for-all-time/ … with emphasis inserted by The Editor, Thuppahi
The government’s decision to conduct the funeral of Dr A T Ariyaratne with state honours is a recognition of the contribution that the founder of the Sarvodaya Movement made to the country over the past 65 years when he set up the organization. Today, the concepts he pioneered, such as Shramadana (donation-of-labour), Gramodaya (village-awakening) and Sarvodaya (the wellbeing of all) are now part and parcel of the mainstream of Sri Lanka’s civil and political life. His creative use of traditional practices and belief systems enabled the Sarvodaya Movement to become an organic part of the country’s development process. The great contribution that Dr Ariyaratne made was to mainstream not only traditional community-oriented practices like Shramadana, but also to infuse liberal values such as pluralism and equality into civil society that enabled its spread to the four corners of the country.
