K. M. P. Rajaratne

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Ceylonese Parliament
for Welimada
In office
1956–1956
Preceded byM. B. Bambarapane
Succeeded byKusuma Rajaratne
In office
1960–1965
Preceded byKusuma Rajaratne
Succeeded byPercy Samaraweera
Personal details
Born(1927-10-22)22 October 1927
Died (aged 83)
Political party
National Liberation Front
SpouseKusuma
Alma materUniversity of Ceylon
ProfessionLawyer

Konara Mudiyanselage Podiappuhamy Rajaratne (22 October 1927 – January 2011) was a

Ceylonese lawyer, politician and parliamentary secretary
.

Early life and family

Rajaratne was born on 22 October 1927.

University of Ceylon, Colombo, graduating with a degree in history.[2][3]

Rajaratne married Kusuma Perera on 24 August 1950.[2][3] They had four children - Suhashan, Bhawanthi, Nalaka and Pramada.[2][3]

Career

After university Rajaratne worked as a teacher and lecturer.[2][3]

Rajaratne was an ultra-

chauvinist and anti-Tamil.[4][5][6][7] He was associated with the Sinhala Language Front (Sinhala Bhasha Peramuna) which sought to make Sinhala Ceylon's sole official language.[8] He was known as "Bhasha boy" whilst he and fellow nationalist F. R. Jayasuriya were known as the "Bhasha twins".[9][10]

Rajaratne stood as a candidate for

election expenses and fined him Rs. 100.[12]

Rajaratne stood as the

Prime Minister S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike removed the clause.[15][16][17][18][19]

On 5 June 1956 a group of Tamil activists and parliamentarians, led by

Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi (ITAK) MPs E. M. V. Naganathan and V. N. Navaratnam were thrown in the lake.[21][22] The mob had been led by Rajaratne.[5] Rajaratne resigned from the government and left the parliamentary group because of Bandaranaike's refusal to ban ITAK's march to Trincomalee in August 1956.[5]

On 1 October 1956 an election judge ruled that the 1956 parliamentary election in Welimada was void because Rajaratne had been disqualified from being a Member of Parliament for three years following his 1955 conviction.

Kotte.[29][30]

Rajaratne contested the March 1960 parliamentary election as the NLF candidate for Welimada. He won the election and re-entered Parliament.[31] He was re-elected at the July 1960 parliamentary election.[32] Rajaratne forfeited his seat in Parliament for a second time, on 25 May 1961.[23] He was however re-elected to Parliament in the ensuing by-election held on 28 June 1962.[33]

Rajaratne lost his seat at the 1965 parliamentary election.[34] After the election the NLF joined the United National Party (UNP) led seven party national government (hath haula) and Rajaratne's wife Kusuma, who had retained her Uva-Paranagama seat, was appointed as a parliamentary secretary.[35] Kusuma resigned from the government when it tried to bring in a law allowing Tamil to be used in government administration.[7][35] Rajaratne was later appointed to the Senate of Ceylon, serving until it was abolished.[2][7]

Rajaratne and his wife gave up politics and Rajaratne became an

National List candidates but the party failed to win any seats in Parliament.[7][36][37] Rajaratne died in January 2011.[2][38]

Electoral history

Electoral history of K. M. P. Rajaratne
Election Constituency Party Votes Result
1952 parliamentary[11] Welimada 3,327 Not elected
1956 parliamentary[13] Welimada MEP 12,336 Elected
1960 March parliamentary[31] Welimada NLF 6,539 Elected
1960 July parliamentary[32] Welimada NLF 7,557 Elected
1962 parliamentary by[33] Welimada NLF 8,352 Elected
1965 parliamentary[34] Welimada NLF 7,919 Not elected

Notes

  1. ^ Another source states that Rajaratne was born on 27 October 1928.[2]

References

  1. ^ "Directory of Past Members: Konara Mudiyanselage Podiappuhamy Rajaratna". Parliament of Sri Lanka.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i Marasinghe, Sandasen; Mudalige, Disna (25 June 2011). "Condolence Messages: 'K M P Rajaratne had many positive humane qualities'". Daily News (Sri Lanka).
  3. ^ a b c d e f Ratnakara, Sriya (22 July 2007). "A born fighter who stood up for her principles". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  4. ^ Akurugoda, S. (31 December 2014). "Open and secret pacts". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  5. ^
    ISBN 0-8047-4924-8
    .
  6. ^ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 16: 'Honorable wounds of war'". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2001-12-15. Retrieved 2017-01-21.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  7. ^ a b c d "Merry-go-round - Mr. Rajaratne rides again". Daily News (Sri Lanka). 24 November 2001.
  8. ISBN 9789555520560
    .
  9. ^ Kurukularatne, Buddhika (6 March 2005). "How Ranjan Wijeratne saved my life". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  10. ^ Godage, K. (7 May 2009). "Dr. Wijeweera's constructive response to Manohara De Silva". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  11. ^ a b "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1952" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  12. ^ a b "New Law Reports: K. K. N. M. Punchi Banda, Petitioner, and K. M. P. Rajaratne, Respondent". LawNet.[permanent dead link]
  13. ^ a b "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1956" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  14. ^ Abeygunawardhana, J. (31 August 2008). "Was SWRD the architect of the Sinhala only legislation of 1956?". The Nation (Sri Lanka). Archived from the original on 6 March 2016. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  15. ^ Urugodawatte, Savimon (31 July 2007). "Approaching Ethnic Problem as Terrorist is like Catching Cobra by its tail". federalidea.com. Archived from the original on 2 February 2017. Retrieved 21 January 2017.
  16. ^ Urugodawatta, Savimon (5 September 2009). "Constitutional amendments and Elections Ordinance". The Island (Sri Lanka).
  17. ^ Sri Kantha, Sachi. "A. Amirthalingam's Historic Speech in the Sri Lankan Parliament". Ilankai Tamil Sangam.
  18. ^ Jayatilaka, Tissa (14 February 2010). "An early voice for integration". The Sunday Times (Sri Lanka).
  19. ISBN 0-8047-4924-8
    .
  20. ^ Wilson, A. Jeyaratnam (1994). S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947–1977: A Political Biography. C. Hurst & Co. p. 80.
  21. ^ Jeyaraj, D. B. S. (3 October 2006). "Peaceful protests of Tamil Parliamentarians". transcurrents.com. Archived from the original on 27 September 2007.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  22. ^ "5 June 1956". Peace and Conflict Timeline. Archived from the original on 16 February 2015.
  23. ^ a b Wickramasinghe, Wimal (18 January 2008). "Saga of crossovers, expulsions and resignations etc. Referendum for extention [sic] of Parliament". The Island (Sri Lanka).[dead link]
  24. ISBN 978-1-84331-791-3
    .
  25. ISBN 9781400879083
    .
  26. ^ Wilson, A. Jeyaratnam (1994). S. J. V. Chelvanayakam and the Crisis of Sri Lankan Tamil Nationalism, 1947–1977: A Political Biography. C. Hurst & Co. p. 89.
  27. ^ Vittachi, Tarzie (1958). Emergency '58 the Story of the Ceylon race Riots. André Deutsch. p. 55.
  28. ISBN 0-8047-4924-8
    .
  29. ^ Vittachi, Tarzie (1958). Emergency '58 the Story of the Ceylon race Riots. André Deutsch. p. 91.
  30. ^ Rajasingham, K. T. "Chapter 17: Assassination of Bandaranaike". Sri Lanka: The Untold Story. Archived from the original on 2015-09-24. Retrieved 2017-01-21.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  31. ^ a b "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-03-19" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  32. ^ a b "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1960-07-20" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  33. ^ a b "Summary of By-Elections 1947 to 1988" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  34. ^ a b "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1965" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  35. ^
    The Daily Mirror (Sri Lanka)
    .
  36. ^ "Sihala Urumaya national list nominees". The Island (Sri Lanka). 7 November 2001.
  37. ^ "Results of Parliamentary General Election - 2001" (PDF). Election Commission of Sri Lanka.[permanent dead link]
  38. ^ "In Brief". Sunday Observer (Sri Lanka). 30 January 2011.
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