President Commemorates Sir Arunachalam on 100th Death Anniversary

January 10, 2024 (LBO) – President Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief guest at the commemoration event of the 100th death anniversary of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.

At the event the President heralded Sir Arunachalam as a leader who championed the concept of a Ceylonese identity as opposed to today’s political rhetoric focused on division.

Known as one of Sri Lanka’s most notable civil servants, in 1913 a new phase in Arunachalam’s work began.

  He joined as a prominent member of the independence movement, demanding self-governance for the people of Ceylon.  He is remembered for a historic lecture he delivered titled: ‘’Our Political Needs.” The lecture, given at the insistence of newspaper magnate D.

R. Wijewardene, crystalized the arguments for self-government.

Among Arunachalam family members present at the commemoration event were former Cabinet Minister D. M. Swaminathan and Prashan Nagendra, CEO of software exporter Efutures.

For more detail on the life of Sri Ponnambalam Arunachalam see prior LBO article:

https://www.lankabusinessonline.com/sir-ponnambalam-arunachalam-1853-1924/