Thursday, May 14, 2009

Lalith Athulathmudali


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The Honourable
 Lalith Athulathmudali
Lalith Athulathmudali
In office
1977 – 1993
Born November 26, 1936
Colombo, Ceylon
Died April 23, 1993
Colombo, Sri Lanka
Nationality Sri Lankan
Political party Democratic United National Front
Other political
affiliations		 United National Party
Spouse Srimani Anoma Athulathmudali
Children Serela Athulathmudali
Alma mater Jesus College, Oxford,
Royal College, Colombo
Occupation Politician
Profession Barrister, University lecturer
Religion Buddhist

Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali (November 26, 1936 - April 23, 1993) was a Sri Lankan politician of the United National Party and former Cabinet Minister of Trade, National Security, Agriculture, Education and deputy minister of defence.

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[edit] Early life and teaching career

Athulathmudali was educated at the prestigious Royal College, Colombo. He then went on to read Jurisprudence at Jesus College, Oxford from 1955 and was President of the Oxford Union in 1958. He was the first Sri Lankan to be elected as the President of the Oxford Union.[1]

Lalith became a Barrister at Grays Inn. After which he went teach law as a lecturer at the University of Singapore, the Hebrew University in Israel, the University of Edinburgh and the University of Allahabad finally as a lecturer in Jurisprudence in the Ceylon Law College.

[edit] Political career

Lalith Athulathmudali was elected to Parliament in 1977 and went on to become the Deputy Minister of Defence and Minister of National Security under President J.R. Jayewardene during the 1980s. During this time, he organized several offensives against territories held by the LTTE including Vadamarachchi Operation. Upon Jayewardene's retirement in 1988, Athulathmudali tried to obtain the UNP's nomination for the presidential election, but was defeated by Ranasinghe Premadasa who went on to win the presidency.

Premadasa demoted Athulathmudali to Minister of Agriculture, then Minister of Education. He also tried to have Athulathmudali removed from his UNP party positions. Athulathmudali became disenchanted with Premadasa's leadership, especially after it was revealed that Premadasa had been sending weapons to the LTTE in order to fight the Indian Peace-Keeping Force in the north of the country[citation needed].

Athulathmudali and several UNP MPs brought forth a motion to impeach Premadasa. When that failed, he was expelled from the UNP, and began forming a new party, the Democratic United National Front. He announced his candidacy for the presidency, but was assassinated by a gunman on April 23, 1993 after an election rally . The government blamed the LTTE and produced the body of a Tamil youth named Ragunathan was found near the scene of the shooting the following day. He had apparently died from taking a cyanide capsule. However Jane's Information Group has stated that the assassination was carried out by the LTTE[2].

[edit] Legacy

Athulathmudali is considered as one of the few distinguished Sri Lankan statesmen of his time. He is still remembered by many in Sri Lanka as a gentlemen and as one of the few well educated politicians of that era. In his honor a staue and memorial has been erected in Colombo. His contribution to the education of the country is eminence, the Mahapola Fund he established has greatly contributed to the development of higher education and provides scholarships for needy students annually. The Lalith Athulathmudali Auditorium at the Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology and the Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Prize which is one of the prestigious prizes awarded annually at Royal College, Colombo (his alma mater) are named in his honor.


[edit] See also

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Old Members' Notes and News". Jesus College Record: 72–3. 1993/4.
  2. ^ Jane's Sentinel examines the success of the LTTE in resisting the Sri Lankan forces

[edit] External links

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