Brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

Donald Danister Hewagama (1926-2009) 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 lawyer. He was the Judge Advocate General of the

Sri Lanka Army ta, இலங்கை இராணுவம் , image = File:Sri Lanka Army Logo.png , image_size = 180px , caption = Emblem of the Sri Lanka Army , start_date ...

Early life and education

Born on 22 October 1926 in Payagala,

Kalutara Kalutara ( si, කළුතර, ta, களுத்துறை) or Kalutota is a major city in Kalutara District, Western Province, Sri Lanka. It is also the administrative capital of Kalutara District. It is located approximately south o ...

, to Arthur Hewagama and Mabel Alexandria Wijesinghe Jayewardene. His father was a grandson of Hewagamage H. Appuhamy and his mother was a cousin of

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 ...

, who would become President of Sri Lanka in the 1978. Hewagama was educated at Nalanda College Colombo, where he was a cadet in the school cadet platoon, member of College Literary Association and leader of the college debating team. Graduating from

University of Ceylon The University of Ceylon was the only university in Sri Lanka (earlier Ceylon) from 1942 until 1972. It had several constituent campuses at various locations around Sri Lanka. The University of Ceylon Act No. 1 of 1972, replaced it with the Unive ...

, he entered

Ceylon Law College Sri Lanka Law College (abbreviated as SLLC), formerly known as Ceylon Law College, is a law college, and the only legal institution where one can enroll as a attorney-at-law in Sri Lanka. It was established in 1874, under the then Council of Legal ...

to study law.Nalanda College Alumni (Sri Lanka Army)

Early legal career

Following his legal studies at the

, he apprenticed under H. W. Jayawardena, QC and A. C. Gunaratne before being called to the bar as an Advocate of the

Supreme Court of Ceylon The Supreme Court of Sri Lanka ( si, ශ්‍රී ලංකා ශ්‍රේෂ්ඨාධිකරණය, Sri Lanka Sreshthadikaranaya; ta, இலங்கை உயர் நீதிமன்றம், Ilankai uyar neetimanram) is th ...

in 1958. After qualifying as an advocate, Hewagama assisted his cousin J. R. Jayewardene in his parliamentary campaign in the

Kelaniya Electoral District Kelaniya electoral district was an electoral district of Sri Lanka between August 1947 and February 1989. The district was named after the town of Kelaniya in present-day Gampaha District, Western Province. The 1978 Constitution of Sri Lanka in ...

by managing his election funds. He joined the Legal Draftsmen Department in 1964 as an Assistant Legal Draftsman serving till 1967.

Military service

In 1967 Hewagama joined the Army Legal Services, succeeding Colonel Noel Jansz as the Judge Advocate General having been commissioned as a

lieutenant colonel Lieutenant colonel ( , ) is a rank of commissioned officers in the armies, most marine forces and some air forces of the world, above a major and below a colonel. Several police forces in the United States use the rank of lieutenant colone ...

. Serving as the Judge Advocate General from 1967 to 1981, he was promoted to the rank of

colonel Colonel (abbreviated as Col., Col or COL) is a senior military officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries, a colonel was typically in charge o ...

and then to

brigadier Brigadier is a military rank, the seniority of which depends on the country. In some countries, it is a senior rank above colonel, equivalent to a brigadier general or commodore, typically commanding a brigade of several thousand soldiers. In ...

. During 1971 JVP insurrection against then Sirimavo Bandaranaike Government, Lieutenant Colonel Donald D Hewagama was given an assignment to overlook the prevailing administration setup in the north central area of Sri Lanka and was sent with a convoy of armed military vehicles and on his way back from the destination he sighted a gathering of youth detained by the soldiers under emergency law in a road crossing near Warakapola area in the North Western province of the country. He immediately ordered his convoy to stop and got off from his car and held an inquiry on the spot. He found that some of these children who were not even in their teens have been used as scapegoats by the ruthless terrorists to carry their letters. He pardoned all of these children and brought them down to the Army Headquarters in Colombo to be rehabilitated and later released. He retired from the army on 22 October 1982.

Magistrate

Following his retirement from the army at the age of 55 years, he served as the

Colombo Harbour The Port of Colombo (known as Port of Kolomtota during the early 14th Century Kotte Kingdom) is the largest and busiest port in Sri Lanka and the Indian Ocean. Located in Colombo, on the southwestern shores on the Kelani River, it serves as an i ...

Magistrate The term magistrate is used in a variety of systems of governments and laws to refer to a civilian officer who administers the law. In ancient Rome, a '' magistratus'' was one of the highest ranking government officers, and possessed both judic ...

and functioned as the Judge at the trial of the then Member of Parliament for Hewaheta for the offence of smuggling gold bars to Sri Lanka.

Indo – Sri Lanka Peace Accord

When the Indo – Sri Lanka Peace Accord was signed by then Prime Minister of India and then President of Sri Lanka in Colombo on 29 July 1987, it was agreed to keep the Sri Lankan Armed Forces in their barracks and Indian Peace Keeping Force to disarm the insurgents who demanded a separate state within the sovereignty of Sri Lanka, the land which was shared by its inhabitants for the known history of time. Sri Lankans as a whole saw this as a foreign domination of their motherland than disarmament of insurgents. On 30 July 1987, Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi was assaulted by Leading Rate Vijitha Rohana at the Guard of Honour held for Gandhi in front of the Presidents House, when the Indian Prime Minister was hit with Rohana's rifle. Obvious instantaneous reaction of the world on this diabolical act was disgrace and dishonor. The sailor was apprehended and court-martialed. When the offender was brought in front of the grand panel of military judges no one was there to defend this helpless man who assaulted the commanding chief of one of the world's mightiest armies. The retired Brigadier Donald D. Hewagama who had a distinguished carrier in the Sri Lanka Armed Forces as the Judge Advocate General to the Sri Lankan Army, Navy and the Air Force had a different view. He thought "This feeble sailor armed with an unloaded rifle stood for his land of birth and for all of its people and symbolically defended it from foreign invasion." Brigadier Donald D. Hewagama volunteered to defend the sailor with the help of former speaker of the Sri Lanka Parliament, Hon.

Stanley Tillekeratne Stanley Tillekeratne ( Sinhala: ස්ටැන්ලි තිලකරත්න) was a Sri Lankan politician. He was the Speaker of the Sri Lankan Parliament The Parliament of the Democratic Socialist Republic of Sri Lanka (Sinhala: ශ්� ...

. He died on 18 December 2009.

References

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Hewagama, Donald Sri Lankan Buddhists Alumni of Nalanda College, Colombo People from Kalutara 2009 deaths 1926 births Sri Lanka Army General Service Corps officers Ceylonese advocates Sinhalese lawyers Alumni of Royal College, Colombo Sri Lankan brigadiers Sinhalese military personnel Indian Peace Keeping Force