Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam Remembered

The death anniversary of Sri Lanka's distinguished statesman and scholar Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam was commemorated on January 9th with a garlanding of his statue opposite the Presidential Secretariat.

The chief guest was Minister of Tourism Development and Christian Religious Affairs John Amaratunga.

The guest of honor was Minister of Prison Reforms, Rehabilitation, Resettlement and Hindu Religious Affairs D.M. Swaminathan. Arunachalam was the youngest son of the three sons of Gate Mudaliyar, A. Ponnambalam. He was born in Colombo on 14th September 1853 and departed this life on 9th January 1924.

The father of the Ceylon University Movement, and the first Ceylonese to agitate for the elective principle, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam merged all the principal political organizations under one banner and formed the Ceylon National Congress to make the British to agree to their programme of reforms.