C. Suntharalingam | |
|---|---|
செ. சுந்தரலிங்கம் | |
 | |
| Minister of Trade and Commerce | |
| In office 1947–1948 | |
| Succeeded by | H. W. Amarasuriya |
| Member of theCeylonese Parliament forVavuniya | |
| In office 1947–1960 | |
| Succeeded by | T. Sivasithamparam |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Chellappah Suntharalingam (1895-08-19)19 August 1895 |
| Died | 11 February 1985(1985-02-11) (aged 89) Vavuniya, Sri Lanka |
| Political party | Unity Front of Eelam Tamils |
| Alma mater | University of London Balliol College, Oxford |
| Profession | Academic |
| Ethnicity | Ceylon Tamil |
Chellappah Suntharalingam (Tamil:செல்லப்பா சுந்தரலிங்கம்; 19 August 1895 – 11 February 1985) was aSri Lankan Tamil academic, politician,Member of Parliament and government minister.
Suntharalingam was born on 19 August 1895.[1][2][3] He was the son of Chellappah and Meenachchi fromUrumpirai in northernCeylon.[1] He was educated atSt. John's College, Jaffna andSt. Joseph's College, Colombo.[1] In 1914 he entered theUniversity of London from where he graduated with aB.Sc.honours degree in mathematics.[1] He then went on toBalliol College, Oxford from where he was awarded adouble first inmathematics tripos.[1]
Suntharalingam hailed from a distinguished family and had four eminent brothers:C. Nagalingam, aSupreme Court judge, was actingGovernor-General of Ceylon in 1954; C. Panchalingam was a medical doctor; C. Amirthalingam was Director of Fisheries; and C. Thiagalingam was a leading lawyer.[2][4]
Suntharalingam married Kanagambikai Ambal, daughter of M. Kanagasabi.[1] They had two sons (Gnanalingam and Sathyalingam) and four daughters (Lingambikai, Lingavathy, Lingamani and Lingeswari).[1]
Suntharalingam was selected by theIndian Civil Service but chose instead to join theCeylon Civil Service in 1920.[1] He resigned from the civil service to become vice principal ofAnanda College.[4][5][6] He then joinedCeylon University College as professor and first chair of mathematics.[1][4][7] He wascalled to the Bar fromGray's Inn in 1920, becoming an advocate and practising law in Ceylon.[1]
Becoming interested in politics, Suntharalingam retired in 1940 and entered politics.[1] He tried unsuccessfully to enter theState Council during by-elections in 1943 and 1944.[1] He stood as anindependent candidate inVavuniya at the1947 parliamentary election. He won the election and enteredParliament.[8] He was persuaded to join theUnited National Party ledgovernment and on 26 September 1947 he was sworn in asMinister of Trade and Commerce.[1][9][10] He supported the controversialCeylon Citizenship Act of 1948 which deprived citizenship to 11% of the Ceylon's population but whendivision was called on the second reading of theIndian and Pakistani Residents Citizenship Bill on 10 December 1948, Suntharalingam walked out of Parliament.[2][4][11]Prime MinisterD. S. Senanayake asked for an explanation but Suntharalingam resigned from his ministerial position instead.[2][4][12] Suntharalingam became a champion for the rights of Ceylon'sIndian Tamils who had been madestateless anddisenfranchised bySinhalese dominated governments after independence.[2][4] He observed that "if theBuddha were to come to the country today, he himself would be deported" (Buddha was from India, the Sinhalese were Buddhists).[2][13]
Suntharalingam resigned from Parliament in 1951 as a protest against the adoption of the Sinhala kodiya (flag) as thenational flag.[12] He was the only candidate in the ensuing by-election and consequently returned to Parliament.[12][14] He was re-elected at the1952 parliamentary election.[15] Suntharalingam vehemently opposed the attempts to makeSinhala thesole official language of Ceylon, stating during the June 1955throne speech that, if the changes went ahead, Tamils would demand "a separate independent autonomous state of 'Tamil Ilankai' composed of Tamil speaking peoples in Ceylon".[2][16] He boycotted Parliament from August 1955 in protest against the Sinhala Only Act.[16] After three months of absence he forfeited his seat in Parliament.[16] He won the ensuing by-election and returned to Parliament.[14][16] He was re-elected at the1956 parliamentary election.[17]
Suntharalingam founded theEela Thamil Ottrumai Munnani (Unity Front of Eelam Tamils) in 1959.[4][5][18] At theMarch 1960 parliamentary election Suntharalingam, contesting as an independent as the Eela Thamil Ottrumai Munnani wasn't a registered party, was defeated byT. Sivasithamparam, another independent candidate.[19]
Suntharalingam publishedEylom: Beginning of the Freedom Struggle; Dozens Documents in 1963 in which he became one of the first Ceylon Tamils to call for an independentTamil state, which he calledEylom:[20][21]
I propose to invite those Eyla [Eelath Thamils] Thamils who accept the policy that the time has come for the partition of Ceylon and for the restoration of the Thamil state that existed before theTreaty of Amiens of 1802, to come forward and join the fight for the Freedom and Independence of the Eyla Thamil Nation.
Suntharalingam contested the1965 parliamentary election as an independent candidate but was defeated by theAll Ceylon Tamil Congress candidate T. Sivasithamparam.[22] He contested the1970 parliamentary election as an independent candidate inKankesanthurai but was defeated by theIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi candidateS. J. V. Chelvanayakam.[23]
Suntharalingam spent his later years inVavuniya where he died on 11 February 1985.[1][4]
Only high caste Hindus had been allowed to worship in the temple.[24] In 1968 several hundred low caste Hindus, mainlyPallar andNalavar, staged a non-violent protest outside the temple gates but were met with violence from a group of high caste Hindus.[25] In June 1968 low caste Hindus stormed the temple.[26] They were given access to the temple following the intervention ofIllankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK, Federal Party).[27]
Suntharalingam, who had led the high caste resistance to opening the temple up to the "low" castes, was prosecuted under thePrevention of Social Disabilities Act and finedRs. 50 by theSupreme Court.[28] This act, which had been brought in as aprivate member's bill by ITAK in 1957, made the denial of entry into a place of worship on grounds of caste an offence.[27][28]
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