Peri Sundaram - patriot, freedom fighter and workers’ champion - Part II

The Labour portfolio - ‘the greatest challenge’

M.P.S.

The Donoughmore Commission recommended reforms which introduced universal adult suffrage for the first time and internal self government in all spheres except external affairs, finance and the administration of law and justice. Elections were held under the Donoughmore Constitution in 1931 and Peri Sundaram was returned un-opposed for the Hatton Constituency in the first State Council.

The new Constitution provided for seven Executive Committees responsible for specific functions of government and the chairman of each Executive Committee was to have the rank of minister. Peri Sundaram was elected chairman of the Executive Committee for Labour, Industry and Commerce and thereby became the first Minister of Labour, Industry and Commerce of Ceylon for a term of five years.

The Labour portfolio presented Peri Sundaram with the greatest challenge of his career. Under a colonial administration workers were treated no better than serfs and the basic right to organize and to bargain collectively was ‘Pie in the sky’ for Ceylonese labour. An abundant supply of cheap ‘captive’ labour to work the plantations and to maintain roads, railways and the port of Colombo to transport and ship the cash crops was the order of the day and the question of workers’ rights did not figure in the colonial equation. This state of affairs was an abomination to Peri Sundaram inspired by the progressive ideas of Rousseau, Hobbs and Bentham, the liberalist changes sweeping across Britain and the historical declaration of Philadelphia - the bedrock of the International Labour Organization.

Social legislation

The tragedy of workers left destitute by injuries and death caused by occupational accidents with no provision for compensation and no guarantee of a minimum daily wage spurred him into a action to remedy this parlour situation. The Commissioner of Labour - the Head of the Department of Labour was an expatriate English Senior Civil Servant charged with the important responsibility of ensuring uninterrupted production and maintaining communications which meant in practical terms that labour had to be kept in bondage.

After the changes introduced under the Donoughmore Constitution the Commissioner of Labour who had hitherto had a free hand and was answerable to the Governor only was required for the first time to accept a ‘native’ Minister of Labour as his boss.

Peri Sundaram’s exposure to the British way of life during his sojourn in the UK, high educational qualifications and strong motivation enabled him to mastermind and have enacted social legislation of a radical nature considered highly advanced for colonial territories in that day and age. The files of the Department of Labour during the period 1931-1936 abound with high level exchanges with the Commissioner of Labour which reveal Peri Sundaram’s professionalism, authority, knowledge of the subject and grasp of detail. With consummate skill and authority he overcame opposition to his radical legislative proposals which resulted in the enactment of the Trade Union Ordinance, the Workmen’s Compensation Ordinance and the Minimum Wages Ordinance.

Soulbury constitution

These legislative landmarks not only gave new heart to workers but gave them important legal rights to form their own organizations, engage in trade union activities, obtain compensation for death and injuries resulting from occupational accidents and be paid a guaranteed minimum wage. These ordinances which embody the basic rights of Sri Lankan workers to this day are a lasting tribute to his pioneering efforts to free them from their bondage and enable them to ‘across the Ribican’ in their struggle for social justice. This was Peri Sundaram’s finest achievement and a realisation of a long cherished ambition.

Peri Sundaram submitted his proposals to the Soulbury Commission which visited Ceylon in 1944 to report on constitutional reforms which he supported at the sitting of the Commission. The Soulbury Constitution of 1946 provided for a bi-cameral legislature and in that year he was elected to Ceylon’s first Senate and was also elected its deputy president.

Prime Minister D. S. Senanayake congratulated Peri Sundaram in writing on his election to the Senate and requested his cooperation with the members of the Lower House “in bringing a measure of happiness and prosperity to Lanka which it has never had before,” Peri Sundaram in replying thanked him and said “I am so glad you mention cooperation. Co-operation should be the key to the solution of all our political problems. Co-operation begets co-operation. We should all cooperate in all reasonable ways to bring a measure of happiness and prosperity to Lanka and to those who have contributed and are contributing to Lanka’s well-being.”

This was Peri Sundaram’s reminder to the Prime Minister that the happiness and prosperity of the plantation workers who had been dis-enfranchised and rendered stateless three years earlier merited the highest consideration of the government.

Peri Sundaram’s political and legislative experience, legal knowledge and maturity enabled him to make a major contribution to the debates in the Senate and as Leader of the Opposition his careful and sober analysis of Government Bills were well receive and helped to raise the quality of the debates.

Inspiring example

He was elected Vice-President of the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (Ceylon Branch) 1950 and was re-elected to the Senate for a further period of five years in 1951. In 1952, he functioned as Acting Principal of the Ceylon Law College and in the same year was elected President of the Ceylon Indian Congress and the Ceylon Workers’ Congress (the erstwhile CICLU). He passed away in 1957 on Sri Lanka’s Independence Day.

Peri Sundaram had no truck with communalism and chauvinism which have ravaged the country with such devastating effect since his death. They were totally alien to his liberal thinking and his vision of a united Sri Lanka with equality of opportunity for all in a truly multi-lingual, multi-cultural and multi-ethnic society. His impressive record of achievement is a vindication of his ability, patriotism and integrity in public life and should serve as an inspiring example to the people of Sri Lanka who have suffered the trauma of sectarian violence on an unprecedented scale and an alarming fall in national standards and need more than ever before to dedicate themselves to Peri Sundaram’s cherished values in order to usher in an era of national reconciliation, peace and prosperity, for the greater glory of Sri Lanka.

Concluded