W Karunajeewa – his life was exemplary

Andrew Scott

It is with profound sorrow that I pen these lines on the recent demise of my childhood friend and nieghbour, W Karunajeewa, who served as the chairman of the People’s Bank at the time of his death. I came to know him best as one of the most promising students in our immediate neighbourhood at Peradeniya Road, Kandy almost opposite to Kingswood College. I came in contact with him as a young schoolboy way back in the mid 1950s when he and his parents came to live as our neighbours.

Born on September 10, 1946 in the Southern Province he was the only son of a family of six sisters. After his primary schooling he entered Dharmaraja College, Kandy to do his Advanced Level studies and really it was this educational institution steeped in Buddhist traditions that became the nursery for his political, religious and social activities. Since entering the prestigious University of

Peradeniya he blossomed out as a deeply dedicated student leader and along with a few others pioneered the formation of an SLFP students branch at this university which was really a formidable task at that time. Before long, through his persuasive ways and oratorical skills, he was able to make this branch a powerful political power to be reckoned with both in and out of the Peradeniya University. From those early formative years he was a visionary and showed the qualities of an exemplary leader who became more and more popular as the years rolled by.

My family and I had the unique privilege of knowing W Karunajeewa as a young schoolboy, as an active university youth, as a dynamic student leader and later as a visionary stalwart of the SLFP particularly under the leadership of the late Premier, Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, in whose regime he was the ever popular Administrative Secretary of the SLFP at a time during which this party had to brave many a political crisis.

Legal profession

His academic and political achievements are many. After graduating from the University of Peradeniya, he embarked on his professional career as a teacher for a brief period, at the Peradeniya Maha Vidyalaya. Later passing out as an Attorney-at-Law he entered the legal profession. \He was the co-ordinating officer of Minister Hector Kobbekaduwa and subsequently he was elected as a member of the Kandy Municipal Council.

Until his demise he was an active and respected member of the SLFP Central Committee.