Kanthapillai Velupillai Nadarajah (6 July 1905 – October 2000) was a leading

Ceylon Tamil Sri Lankan Tamils ( or ), also known as Ceylon Tamils or Eelam Tamils, are Tamils native to the South Asian island state of Sri Lanka. Today, they constitute a majority in the Northern Province, live in significant numbers in the Eastern Pr ...

lawyer and Member of Parliament.

Early life and family

Nadarajah was born on 6 July 1905. He was the son of K. Velupillai and Atchikuddy. Nadarajah was educated at Jaffna Central College and

Parameshwara College, Jaffna Parameshwara College ( ta, பரமேஸ்வரா கல்லூரி ''Paramēsvarā Kallūri'') was one of the leading Hindu schools in Ceylon (now Sri Lanka). It was founded by Sir P. Ramanathan in 1921. His idea was to make the school a ...

. After school he joined Ceylon University College. He then entered

Colombo 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 ...

, qualifying as a proctor. Nadarajah married Gnanamani, daughter of P. S. Eliyatamby. They had a son (Bala).

Career

Nadarajah started practising law in

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 ...

in 1930. He continued practising in

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 ...

for 54 years. Nadarajah was a member of Badulla Urban Council for more than ten years. He contested the 1947 parliamentary election as an

independent Independent or Independents may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Artist groups * Independents (artist group), a group of modernist painters based in the New Hope, Pennsylvania, area of the United States during the early 1930s * Independ ...

candidate in Bandarawela and was elected to

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 ...

. Nadarajah was president of the Badulla Saiva Paripalana Sangam and managing trustee of the Kathir-velauthar Swami Temple in Badulla. He was the founder of first Tamil school in Uva and served as the manager of Badualla Saraswathi Minor and Maha Vidayalam for 30 years.

Later life

Nadarajah's family home in Pingarawa was burnt to the ground during the Black July anti-Tamil riots of 1983. Nadarajah fled to

Colombo Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...

with assistance of

J. C. T. Kotelawala James Cornelius Thomas "Jack" Kotelawala (16 December 1910 – 1992) was a lawyer and Ceylonese politician. Early life and education Kotelawala was born on 16 December 1910, in Hindagoda (Badulla District, Uva), the son of James Kotelawal ...

, the former MP for

References

External links

The Plea That Went Unheeded, Tamil Nation
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nadarajah, K. V. 1905 births 2000 deaths 20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers Alumni of Ceylon Law College Alumni of Jaffna Central College Alumni of Parameshwara College, Jaffna Alumni of the Ceylon University College Ceylonese proctors Local authority councillors of Sri Lanka Members of the 1st Parliament of Ceylon People from Northern Province, Sri Lanka Sri Lankan Tamil people Sri Lankan lawyers Tamil politicians