Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam’s birth anniversary:

A life of distinction, dedication and devotion

Chelvatamby Maniccavasagar

Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam belonged to an illustrious family and whose birth anniversary falls tomorrow, September 14, 2012. He is the son of Gate Mudaliyar A Ponnambalam from Manipay. His eldest brother Ponnambalam Coomaraswamy had a distinguished career as a proctor and was the nominated Tamil member of the Ceylon Legislative Council from 1893.

Academic excellence

His next eldest brother Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan, an advocate, succeeded their uncle Sir Muthu Coomaraswamy as the nominated Tamil representative, serving from 1921 to 1924. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan was also elected to the Legislature as Member for the Northern Province (Northern Division) seat and occupied it from 1924 till his death in 1930. He also held the position as Solicitor-General from 1893 to 1906 for a period of 13 years and acted as Attorney-General on several occasions and retired in 1906.

Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam were educated at the Colombo Academy (now Royal College) and then at Presidency College, Madras. Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam won the English University scholarship in 1870 and entered Christ College, Cambridge. He took with him a reputation as a student of exceptional merit.

While at Cambridge Arunachalam distinguished himself in both Classics and Mathematics. In the records of Christ College he is referred to as a brilliant Mathematician and an able Classics scholar.

Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam had qualified for the Bar and was looking forward to a legal career, but on his return to Ceylon in 1875, his uncle Sir Muttu Coomaraswamy persuaded him to sit for the Civil Service Examination. He did so and his talent and academic excellence ensured that he was the first Ceylonese to enter the Civil Services through open competition. Arunachalam was appointed as Government Agent in Colombo and then to series of judicial posts as District Judge, Police Magistrate and Commissioner of Requests. In fact, his personal qualities and his judicial competence attracted the favourable attention of acting Chief Justice Sir John Budd Phear, who specially commended his work to the Governor, Sir James Longdon and the Secretary of State for the Colonies in London.

Sir Arunachalam spent a great part of his career as a Judge. His main aim was to reduce the civil law into a consolidated and systematic digest. It was Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam who advised various political organizations like the Ceylon National Association, the Ceylon Reform League, the Chilaw Association, the Jaffna Youth Association to unite into one body and made a joint appeal for political reform.

In 1906, Sir Arunachalam was appointed to the Legislative Council. In 1912, Governor Sir Henry McCallum nominated him to the Executive Council as a personal appointment and on his retirement from the public service in 1913, he was knighted in recognition of his distinguished service to the country.

In 1913, a new phase in Arunachalam’s life began. In this year, he joined a political movement demanding self-governance for the people of Ceylon. In a historic lecture entitled ‘Our Political Needs’ given at the insistence of D R Wijewardene, Sir Arunachalam crystallized the arguments for self government.

In 1915, he was elected the first President of the Ceylon Social Service League for the uplift of the poorer classes in Ceylon. In 1917, he founded the Ceylon Reform League and in 1919, he delivered an address to a Sinhalese Conference under the patronage of F R Senanayake for the purpose of organizing People’s Associations throughout the Sinhalese Districts of the island for political, social and economic improvement. This movement directly gave birth to the ‘Lanka Mahajana Sabha’.

On December 11, 1919, the Ceylon National Congress was inaugurated with the unanimous election of Arunachalam as its first President. After he resigned from the Presidency of the Ceylon National Congress, he formed the Ceylon Tamil League mainly as a Cultural Organization for Tamil speaking people. By then, he was an exhausted and tired individual, perhaps very illusioned and disappointed yet one who understood human nature and became more forgiving and gracious.

Towards, the end of 1923, he undertook a pilgrimage to visit sacred shrines in India. In the midst of his devotions at Madurai in South India, he passed away on January 9, 1924 leaving behind him memories of a noble life well spent in the service of his country and its people.

Independent judgment

When the news of his sad and untimely death reached Ceylon, Professor Marrs, first Principal of the University College, summoned the students to the main hall and addressed them as follows:- He said that “Sir Arunachalam was responsible for the formation of the Ceylon University Association in 1906, the father of the University Project in Ceylon”. He further said, “Sir Arunachalam’s gifts were many, but they are nothing compared with the gift of his time, energy and thought to the furtherance of the university project.

The day after his death the ‘Ceylon Daily News’ described him in an editorial as ‘the most powerful personality in Ceylon’ and the Times of London described him as a Founder of Modern Ceylon.

Undoubtedly, Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam was an example of certain human qualities as moral courage, independent judgment and single minded pursuit of the ideal. Indeed, to a world lost in error, beset by illusions of time and overpowered by the forces of darkness of ignorance and arrogance, trials and tribulations, conflicts and contradictions, his life of distinction, dedication, devotion and commitment will enable thousands to deviate from the path of violence and tension to lead a peaceful, useful and purposeful life.