D. A. Rajapaksa memorial oration on Friday

COLOMBO: The D. A. Rajapaksa memorial oration to mark the 39th death anniversary commemoration of MP D. A. Rajapaksa will be held at the BMICH, Colombo at 4.30 p.m. on Friday under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapaksa.

Deshamanya Prof. J. B. Disanayaka will deliver the memorial oration on the theme Wenas Wana Gamaka Saradharma (Ethical Values in a Changing Village). Prof. Kapila Gunasekara will preside.

The main D. A. Rajapaksa commemoration ceremonies were held in Tangalle on November 5, 6 and 7. The programme which began with an all-night pirith ceremony on November 5 concluded with a Sanghika Dana on November 6 and a floral tribute at the D. A. Rajapaksa statue on November 7.

Born in November 1905, D. A. Rajapaksa was elected uncontested to the State Council in 1945.

D. A. Rajapaksa who represented the people of Ruhuna in the State Council and the Parliament was elected to the first Parliament as member for the Beliatta seat in 1947.

Rajapaksa who represented the Beliatta seat until 1956 was a leader of Ruhuna who showed a keen interest towards the development of agriculture.

He rendered a valuable service towards the uplift of the agri economy of the rural folk by rehabilitating tanks and introducing new irrigation schemes in Ruhuna.