Peri Sundaram:

Patriot, freedom fighter and workers’ champion

M.P.S.

Peri Sundaram was not born with the proverbial silver spoon in his mouth nor did he belong to the feudal Sri Lankan clan which enjoyed the privileges of wealth and the patronage of the colonial administration. He could lay no claim to a patrician upbringing nor did his parents belong to the charmed circle of hand picked and well rewarded members of the indigenous establishment that sustained the British Raj.

He saw the light of day on Nillomally Estate - a tea plantation in Madulkelle - in the home of Head Kangany Periannan and Meenatchiammal as their first born. It is a wonder that mother and child survived the rigours of child birth considering that maternity and childcare facilities on the plantation were conspicuous by their absence and the infant and maternal mortality rates on the plantations were the highest in the island.

The first gaze of infant Peri Sundaram must no doubt have focussed on the majestic spectacle of undulating hillsides covered by a vast expanse of luscious green carefully nursed tea bushes crowned by the hilltop mansions of the British managers starkly contrasted by the primitive ill-ventilated one roomed back to back hovels sans light, piped water and toilets which housed the producers of the ‘Black Gold’ - mainstay of the economy of the country and the colonial administration. This paradox of visible prosperity existing check-by-jowl with human misery and degradation endured by a captive labour force left an indelible impression on his young and fertile mind.

Peri Sundaram’s financial resources being meagre it seemed inevitable that he would have to make do with the limited educational opportunities that the colony could offer, but the young man who had emerged from the back water of a plantation by ‘pulling himself up by his bootstraps’ was not to be denied.

Cambridge University

He was of the firm conviction that he needed to acquire high educational qualifications in order to be in the vanguard of the struggle for national liberation and economic and social reform. Considering that English was the official language. British colonies a liberal in the English education was of tremendous value to national leaders in the conduct of high level parleys for constitutional reform and the transaction of business in the state legislative bodies.

England - the citadel of the British Empire - was universally acclaimed at the time as the ‘Mecca’ of English learning and culture. The Universities of Oxford and Cambridge had cradled and nurtured generations of men of outstanding talent who had straddled the world’s stage with great distinction. It was tantamount to an attempt to pass through the needle’s eye for a ‘native’ of the colonies to entertain the ambition of entering this ‘sanctum sanctorum’ and particularly for those who could ill-afford the prohibitive cost of this luxury.

Peri Sundaram knuckled down to the unenviable task of gaining admission to a recognised British university and acquiring the funds needed to cover the cost of his travel, tuition fees and expenses in the UK. While pursuing his law studies in Colombo he used his spare time profitably tutoring students and by supplementing his savings with loans and contributions obtained from friends and relatives was able to realize the amounts required.

He succeeded in gaining admission to Emmanuel College, Cambridge and set sail for the UK in 1913 via the Cape of Good Hope shortly before the Suez Canal was opened. It was the year in which Sylvia Pankhurst, the notable suffragette was jailed in England, Mahatma Gandhi (then known as Mohandas Gandhi, a British educated lawyer) was jailed for refusing to pay a fine for defying a law prohibiting Indians from Natal entering Transvaal in South Africa and the Nobel prize for literature was awarded for the first time to an Asian-Rabindranath Tagore, the Indian poet.

At Cambridge University, Peri Sundaram, the undergraduate, did not let the ‘grass grow under his feet’. He had come at great expense to imbibe at the world famous fountain of learning and be enriched by its hallowed traditions. It was a time when the winds of change were sweeping over the UK, liberal principles taking root in the country and an awareness of the need to protect and promote the liberty of the

individual was growing. It was Peri Sundaram’s chance of a lifetime and he was determined to make the most of it. He threw himself with great vigour and enthusiasm into the corporate life of the university.

In recognition of his talent and popularity he was elected to the important positions of President, Cambridge Ceylon Society, President, Indian Majilis, Vice President, Emmanuel Law Society and was twice elected a Committee Member of the Cambridge Union Society. He graduated in 1916 and obtained the degrees of Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Laws (BA, LLB) and in the same year qualified as a Barrister-at-Law (Grey’s Inn) and was called on to the English Bar.

It was no mean achievement that Peri Sundaram obtained his high academic and professional qualifications in the UK in the relatively short period of 33 months and is a pointer to his resolve to return to his native land to accomplish his life’s mission.

While in the UK he had the opportunity to exchange views and forge personal relationships with personalities within the country and from colonial territories notably India who were either in sympathy or actively involved with the agitation for independence from British rule. He commenced a close relationship in the UK with the late Sri V V Giri, who later functioned as the Indian High Commissioner in the UK and President of India.

Freedom struggle

On his return to Sri Lanka in 1916 he was admitted to the Sri Lankan Bar as an Advocate of the Supreme Court and started the practice of his profession. His first priority was the struggle for national liberation and social reform reinforced and renewed by his exposure to progressive developments in the UK and the Western world particularly in regard to human rights and civil liberties.

Peri Sundaram lost no time in translating his patriotic fervour into practical action. He joined the national leaders of the day - notably the brilliant siblings and much respected legal luminaries and statesmen Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam, Sir Baron Jayatilleke, E W Perera and D S Senanayake - in founding the Ceylon National Congress in 1919 with the declared objective of winning independence for the country.

The colonial regime had introduced and supported a system which ensured that the myth of white superiority was firmly entrenched and perpetrated in order to continue the subjugation of the colonies. This was achieved by a variety of measures such as white men’s clubs and segregation on the trains.

It was a form of apartheid which Peri Sundaram found most objectionable and contrary to the rule of law and British justice. Fortified by his legal education in the UK and his crusading spirit of fighting against injustice he resolved to challenge the iniquitous system.

It was taboo for ‘a native’ to share the same railway carriage with his imperialist master. Peri Sundaram with great deliberation purchased a first class railway ticket and sat in a carriage occupied by an Englishman who promptly ordered him to leave the carriage. Peri Sundaram stood his ground. On returning to Colombo he instituted legal proceedings and applied to the court for declaration of his rights. The case attracted considerable public attention at the time and was a ‘cause celebre’. Peri Sundaram’s case was argued with great skill and he obtained a sensational judgement in his favour which endeared him to the people as a doughty fighter against colonialism.

First workers’ organization

He was deeply concerned at the plight of Sri Lankan workers who were unorganized and had no legal protection against exploitation and unfair labour practices having had first hand experience of the sub-human conditions of work and life of plantation workers. In July 1919, formed the first labour union - The Workers’ Welfare League - of which he was founding Secretary. He also founded and became the first Secretary of the Ceylon Workers’ Federation. These were the first shots in Peri Sundaram’s crusade to win legal recognition for workers’ organizations and protection under the law for trade union activities by creating in the workers an awareness of the importance of forming their own organizations in order to improve their working and living conditions.

The golden era

The pressure kept up by the Ceylon National Congress and other nationalist groups in conjunction with the political developments in India struck a responsive cord in the Colonial Office and a Commission headed by Lord Donoughmore was appointed in 1928 to report on the desirability of introducing constitutional reforms for Ceylon. At that time the Legislative Council was the only body which featured the representatives of the indigenous population who were elected on a communal basis on a limited franchise based on educational and property qualifications resulting in the majority of the population being ineligible to vote.

To be continued