Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan (1851- 1930): The First Member for Ceylon

Excerpted from Selected Journalism by HAJ Hulugalle)

In 1911 Sir Ponnambalan Ramanathan was elected to the educated Ceylonese seat in the Legislative Council at the age of sixty. The seat was so named because, even as late as 1910, the Governor did not think that Ceylonese in general were fit to exercise the vote. Ramanathan was elected to the seat largely by the votes of the Sinhalese. Admittedly, he was a brilliant speaker and had held the high office of Solicitor-General. He defeated Sir Marcus Fernando, a distinguished physician and a man of rare ability in many fields.

The 125th Anniversary of the birth of Ramanathan will fall on Friday April 16, 1976. As a young man he was a hard-working lawyer who was nominated a member of the Legislative Council at the age of 28 to succeed his uncle Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy as the ‘Tamil member’. He had to give up his seat when he was appointed Solicitor-General.

The late Sir Gerard Wijekoon has written, referring to this period: “When he was pitted against Fredrick Dornhorst who was then the leader of the unofficial Bar. and a strong advocate, there were great encounters of forensic eloquence. Both have a commanding appearances. Dornhorst was powerful and eloquent. Ramanathan was suave in manner and polished in diction. He was never ruffled and was at his best when he re-examined a witness whose evidence had been damaged by defending counsel”.

Ramanathan had acted as Attorney General but was never confirmed. The Chief Justice, Sir Charles Layard, did not like him. It was no doubt fortunate for the country that he did not find a place on the Supreme Court bench himself. He lived to become a fearless politician and a tribune of the people.

He had mastery of the English language, a beautiful voice and a rare felicity of phrase.

When I first became a journalist in 1918, he was still the leading politician in the Island. His reputation for courageous action has been enhanced by the untiring fight he put up for the Sinhalese Buddhists who were badly treated by the Government over the religious riots of 1915. Many of their leaders

were unjustly punished on false evidence. Ramanathan stood up for justice and took their appeal to England at a time when the seas were infested with German submarines.

No one who saw him in those days could forget the lithe and graceful figure in his sixties in a well-tailored tunic which went down to his knees and a shapely turban to cover his head. A contemporary paid him this tribute.

“There could be no question of Mr. Ramanathan’s usefulness and qualifications as a Councilor. He mastered every subject under discussion. He was a keen and merciless critic of Government and his criticism was generally just and fair.”

“He was fearless in debate and always kept cool and unruffled. Governors and Colonial Secretaries stormed at him, but in vain. He kept his head packed in ice. G.T.M. O’Brien, the great Colonial Secretary had tried to squash him but in vain.”

“Ramanathan was received in London as the greatest Unofficial of Ceylon and sported a bejewelled turban and magenta shawl much to the vexation and amusement of the Colonial Englishman. Sir Arthur Gordon poked fun at him and asked in the Council: “Why do we not see that gorgeous turban and magnificent shawl”?

It was not becoming for a Governor to hold up to ridicule the personal appearance and dress of one of the Legislative Councilors and Ramanathan administered a dignified rebuke which compelled a sort of apology”.

All three grand-sons of Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy were in due course in the Legislative Council. Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy, Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam were different types. The first had much talent but little ambition. He was warm-hearted and enjoyed life. Arunachalam was able, methodical and public-spirited. He wrote books, and books have been written about him. He won scholarships, imbibed the traditions of Cambridge University and exchanged letters with the Earl of Crewe and Edward Carpenter. He built the structure of Ceylon’s Reform Movement step by step.

In a well-documented book Ramanathan wrote on the Riots of 1915, he published a statement by a future Prime Minister of Ceylon (D.S. Senanayake) in which the latter said: “on the fifth of

August 1915, after 46 days of incarceration under as unpleasant circumstances as one could imagine, I was let out on my entering into a bail-bond. The conditions of this were that I would not leave Colombo for a period of one year, and that I should appear before any Commissioner if called upon. I was also to deposit Rs. 10,000 in cash and enter into personal bail for Rs.50,000″.

The years mellowed the fiery radical in Ramanathan. He came to the conclusion that education was more important than constitutional reform and scorned what he called “the freedom of the wild ass”. The noisy political caravan moved on while he sat in his study devising his own plans for the government of the Island. From under his very nose someone stole a secret memorandum which he had inspired and it was published in the newspapers.

The seeker after truth and commentator on the Christian gospels found solace and refreshment in the Upanishads. A long life had brought him all that a public man could desire: wealth, fame, the triumphs of the legal forum and the political arena, respect, recognition, the pleasures of the intellect and tranquility of the spirit. With his snow-white beard he was referred to in his later years in the Legislative Council as the “venerable knight”.

There is a photograph of him taken in June 1930 in Buckingham Palace gardens during a reception in which he is seen in conversation with the British Prime Minister Ramsay Mac Donald. He died on November 26 of that year.

First published in April 1976

https://island.lk/sir-ponnambalan-ramanathan-1851-1930-the-first-member-for-ceylon/

About editor 3145 Articles
Writer and Journalist living in Canada since 1987. Tamil activist.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply