Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Cyril Pinto Jayatilake Seneviratne (23 April 1918 - 26 December 1984) was a

Sri Lanka Sri Lanka (, ; si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Śrī Laṅkā, translit-std=ISO (); ta, இலங்கை, Ilaṅkai, translit-std=ISO ()), formerly known as Ceylon and officially the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka, is an ...

n military officer and politician. He was the

Member of Parliament A member of parliament (MP) is the representative in parliament of the people who live in their electoral district. In many countries with bicameral parliaments, this term refers only to members of the lower house since upper house members of ...

for

Mahiyangana Mahiyanganaya is a town situated close to the Mahaweli River in Badulla District, Uva Province of Sri Lanka. It is said that Gautama Buddha visited Mahiyanganaya on the Duruthu full moon poya day in order to settle a dispute arose between Yakkas a ...

from 1960-1970 and 1977-1984 and served as the

Minister of Labour Minister of Labour (in British English) or Labor (in American English) is typically a cabinet-level position with portfolio responsibility for setting national labour standards, labour dispute mechanisms, employment, workforce participation, traini ...

in the

Jayewardene cabinet The Jayewardene cabinet was the central government of Sri Lanka led by Prime Minister (later President) J. R. Jayewardene between 1977 and 1989. It was formed in July 1977 after the parliamentary election and it ended in January 1989 when Jayewa ...

(1977-1984).

Education

Seneviratne attended school at

Gampaha Gampaha (Sinhala: ගම්පහ ; Tamil: கம்பஹா ) is an urban city in Gampaha District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is situated to the north-east of the capital Colombo. It is the sixth largest urban area in Western Province, ...

and 1942 he obtained a certificate as an instructor from the Physical Training Institute in

Ambala Ambala () is a city and a municipal corporation in Ambala district in the state of Haryana, India, located on the border with the Indian state of Punjab and in proximity to both states capital Chandigarh. Politically, Ambala has two sub-area ...

, India.

Military service

Following his return he gained a commission as an officer of Ceylon Engineers Corps. In 1947 Seneviratne was appointed a Captain of the Ceylon Pioneers and served with the Corps when they were sent to Malaysia to oversee the construction of the railway line from

Taiping __NOTOC__ Taiping, Tai-p’ing, or Tai Ping most often refers to: Chinese history * Princess Taiping (died 713), Tang dynasty princess * Taiping Rebellion (1850–1864), civil war in southern China ** Taiping Heavenly Kingdom (1851–1864), the re ...

to Port Weld (now known as Kuala Sepetang). While in Malayasia he played a leading part in the construction of Lankaramaya, the Buddhist Vihara in Singapore. Seneviratne claims that in 1949 he obtained a sapling of the Sri Maha Bodhi tree in

Anuradhapura Anuradhapura ( si, අනුරාධපුරය, translit=Anurādhapuraya; ta, அனுராதபுரம், translit=Aṉurātapuram) is a major city located in north central plain of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of North Central ...

, which he planted at Lankaramaya. He left the army in 1950.

Political career

Senerviratne contested the 4th parliamentary elections, held on 19 March 1960, in the newly created seat of

, representing the

United National Party The United National Party, often abbreviated as UNP ( si, එක්සත් ජාතික පක්ෂය, translit=Eksath Jāthika Pakshaya, ta, ஐக்கிய தேசியக் கட்சி, translit=Aikkiya Tēciyak Kaṭci), ...

. He was successful, polling 3,164 votes (36% of the total vote) defeating the

Sri Lanka Freedom Party The Sri Lanka Freedom Party ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා නිදහස් පක්ෂය, translit=Śrī Laṁkā Nidahas Pakṣaya; ta, இலங்கை சுதந்திரக் கட்சி, translit=Ilaṅkai Cutantirak Ka� ...

candidate by 359 votes. At the subsequent

parliamentary elections A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

in July 1960 he retained the seat receiving 4,811 votes (50% of the total vote). He won the seat again at the 6th parliamentary elections, held on 22 March 1965, increasing his vote to 51% of the total vote. At the subsequent

parliamentary election A general election is a political voting election where generally all or most members of a given political body are chosen. These are usually held for a nation, state, or territory's primary legislative body, and are different from by-elections ( ...

, held on 27 May 1970, he was defeated by the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, D. D. E. Wickremaratne, by 2,556 votes, only obtaining 43% of the total vote. Senerviratne however was successful in regaining the seat of Mahiyangana at the 8th parliamentary election, held on 21 July 1977, where he defeated the Sri Lanka Freedom Party candidate, Navaratna Banda Galketiya, by 8,801 votes (obtaining 70% of the total vote).

Death

Senerviratne died at the Colombo Hospital on 26 December 1984, whilst still serving as the Minister for Labour. Senerviratne's son,

Lakshman Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja (). ...

, was subsequently elected to parliament representing his father's seat of

at a by-election on 18 April 1985. His son is a current Minister and Member of Parliament for

Badulla Badulla ( si, බදුල්ල, ta, பதுளை) is the capital and the largest city of Uva Province situated in the lower central hills of Sri Lanka. It is the capital city of Uva Province and the Badulla District. Geography Badulla is ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Seneviratne, C. P. J. 1918 births 1984 deaths Sri Lankan Buddhists Sinhalese politicians Government ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 6th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Ceylon Engineer Corps officers Sri Lanka Army Volunteer Force officers

Education

Military service

Political career

Death

See also

References