Caluadewage Cyril Mathew (30 September 1912 – 17 October 1989) was a

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), ...

member of

parliament In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...

, representing the Kelaniya electorate, and served as the Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs 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 ...

(1977–1986). Mathew who joined the

was appointed its joint general secretary in 1956 and served till 1967, when he resigned after falling out with the party leader

Dudley Senanayake Dudley Shelton Senanayake ( Sinhala: ඩඩ්ලි ශෙල්ටන් සේනානායක: ta, டட்லி சேனநாயக்கா; 19 June 1911 – 13 April 1973), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as Prime Mi ...

. Mathew was elected to the

House of Representatives of Ceylon The House of Representatives was the lower chamber of the parliament of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1947 by the Soulbury Constitution. The House was housed in the old State Council building in Galle Face Green, Colombo and met for the ...

in the 1960 March general elections from Kolonna from the United National Part and was re-elected in the 1960 July general elections. He contested the 1965 general elections from

Bandarawela Bandarawela ( Sinhala : බණ්ඩාරවෙල, pronounced ; Tamil: பண்டாரவெல) is the second largest town in the Badulla District which is away from Badulla. Bandarawela is away from Colombo and about away from Kandy, ...

and was defeated by R. M. Appuhamy. He was elected at the 8th parliamentary elections, held on 21 July 1977, representing the Kelaniya electorate for the United National Party. He was known for his hard-line position against the

Tamil Tamil may refer to: * Tamils, an ethnic group native to India and some other parts of Asia **Sri Lankan Tamils, Tamil people native to Sri Lanka also called ilankai tamils **Tamil Malaysians, Tamil people native to Malaysia * Tamil language, nativ ...

's political aspirations. He was appointed as the Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs in July 1977. He is widely regarded as one of the key ministers responsible for instigating the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983, which subsequently resulted in the outbreak of a 26-year civil war. Mathew was expelled from the cabinet and the governing United National Party by

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) *President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Automobiles * Nissan President, a 1966–2010 Japanese ful ...

J. R. Jayewardene Junius Richard Jayewardene ( si, ජුනියස් රිචඩ් ජයවර්ධන, ta, ஜூனியஸ் ரிச்சட் ஜயவர்தனா; 17 September 1906 – 1 November 1996), commonly abbreviated in Sri Lanka as ...

in 1984 after publicly criticizing a conference called by Jayewardene to redress grievances of the Tamil minority. Jayewardene's successor,

Ranasinghe Premadasa Sri Lankabhimanya Ranasinghe Premadasa ( si, රණසිංහ ප්‍රේමදාස ''Raṇasiṃha Premadāsa'', ta, ரணசிங்க பிரேமதாசா ''Raṇaciṅka Pirēmatācā''; 23 June 1924 – 1 May 1993) was t ...

, subsequently reinstated Mathew's party membership. He died of a heart attack on 17 October 1989. Mathew was the author of the book ''Sinhalese! Rise to Protect Buddhism'', which urged

Sinhalese Sinhala may refer to: * Something of or related to the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka * Sinhalese people * Sinhala language, one of the three official languages used in Sri Lanka * Sinhala script, a writing system for the Sinhala language ** Sinha ...

to stand up for their rights and protect their values. He also issued a pamphlet ''Who is the Tiger'', a collection of his inflammatory speeches made in 1979. His son

Nanda Nanda may refer to: Indian history and religion * Nanda Empire, ruled by the Nanda dynasty, an Indian royal dynasty ruling Magadha in the 4th century BCE ** Mahapadma Nanda, first Emperor of the Nanda Empire ** Dhana Nanda (died c. 321 BCE), last ...

was also a member of the parliament and later held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Sports and Youth affairs, under successive UNP government

He was later appointed by President

Chandrika Kumaratunga Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( si, චන්ද්‍රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග, ta, சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க; born 29 Ju ...

and President

Mahinda Rajapaksa Mahinda Rajapaksa ( si, මහින්ද රාජපක්ෂ, ta, மஹிந்த ராஜபக்ஷ; born Percy Mahendra Rajapaksa; 18 November 1945) is a Sri Lankan politician. He served as the President of Sri Lanka from 2005 to ...

as Governor of the

Uva Province Uva Province ( si, ඌව පළාත, Uva Paḷāta, ta, ஊவா மாகாணம், Uvā Mākāṇam) is Sri Lanka's second least populated Provinces of Sri Lanka, province, with 1,259,880 people, created in 1896. It consists of two dis ...

References

External links

UTHR report on 1983 riots
1912 births 1989 deaths Members of the 4th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 5th Parliament of Ceylon Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka Industries ministers of Sri Lanka United National Party politicians Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan Buddhists Sinhalese politicians {{WesternLK-politician-stub

See also

References

External links