Gaasinather Gangaser Ponnambalam ( ta, காசிநாதர் காங்கேசர் பொன்னம்பலம்: 12 August 1938 – 5 January 2000; known as Kumar Ponnambalam) was a Sri Lankan lawyer and politician. Leader of the
All Ceylon Tamil Congress, he was a
presidential candidate in 1982. He was shot dead in January 2000 in an assassination many suspect to be ordered by President
Chandrika Kumaratunga.
Early life and family
Ponnambalam was born on 12 August 1938.
He was the son of
G. G. Ponnambalam, a leading Tamil politician and lawyer, and Rose Alagumani Clough.
He was educated at
St. Patrick's College, Jaffna and
Royal College, Colombo
Royal College, Colombo is a selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academy by Sir Robert Wilmot-Horton in Janua ...
.
After school he studied at Aquinas University College, Colombo before joining
King's College London
King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public research university located in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of King George IV and the Duke of Wellington. In 1836, King's ...
, graduating with a
LL.B.
Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...
degree.
He then proceeded to the
University of Cambridge
, mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts.
Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge.
, established =
, other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...
, graduating with a
MA degree.
He was a contemporary of leftist politician
Vikramabahu Karunaratne
Vikramabahu Karunaratne ( si, වික්රමබාහු කරුණාරත්න, translit=Vikramabāhu Karuṇāratna; ta, விக்கிரமபாகு கருணாரத்தின, translit=Vikkiramapāku Karuṇāratt ...
at Cambridge.
Ponnambalam married Yogalakshmi, a surgeon and eldest daughter of T. Murugesapillai, a former Additional Government Agent for Jaffna.
They had a daughter (Mirinalini, a doctor) and a son (
Gajendrakumar, lawyer and politician).
Career
Law
Ponnambalam was
called to the bar
The call to the bar is a legal term of art in most common law jurisdictions where persons must be qualified to be allowed to argue in court on behalf of another party and are then said to have been "called to the bar" or to have received "call to ...
at
Lincoln's Inn
The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn is one of the four Inns of Court in London to which barristers of England and Wales belong and where they are called to the Bar. (The other three are Middle Temple, Inner Temple and Gray's Inn.) Lincoln ...
in 1974.
Returning to
Ceylon
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 ...
, he started
practising law as an advocate.
He was a successful lawyer and became very rich as a result.
He learned
Sinhala so he could argue his cases in that language.
Ponnambalam became involved in human rights activism in the 1970s and co-founded the Civil Rights Movement.
He would represent ''
pro bono
( en, 'for the public good'), usually shortened to , is a Latin phrase for professional work undertaken voluntarily and without payment. In the United States, the term typically refers to provision of legal services by legal professionals for pe ...
''
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 ...
youths who had been victims of
human rights abuses
Human rights are moral principles or normsJames Nickel, with assistance from Thomas Pogge, M.B.E. Smith, and Leif Wenar, 13 December 2013, Stanford Encyclopedia of PhilosophyHuman Rights Retrieved 14 August 2014 for certain standards of hu ...
.
He opposed the Criminal Justice Commission as it violated the rule of law and the right to a fair trial and two parallel systems of justice.
He also opposed the
1982 referendum on extending the life of Parliament by six years.
He addressed the
United Nations Commission on Human Rights
The United Nations Commission on Human Rights (UNCHR) was a functional commission within the overall framework of the United Nations from 1946 until it was replaced by the United Nations Human Rights Council in 2006. It was a subsidiary body of ...
in Geneva in 1997 and 1999 and the
European Parliament
The European Parliament (EP) is one of the legislative bodies of the European Union and one of its seven institutions. Together with the Council of the European Union (known as the Council and informally as the Council of Ministers), it adopts ...
in 1998 on the grievances of Sri Lanka's Tamil population.
He was involved in the
Krishanti Kumaraswamy
Krishanti Kumaraswamy ( ta, கிருஷாந்தி குமாரசுவாமி), also spelled Krishanthi Kumaraswamy, was a Tamil woman in Sri Lanka who was raped and murdered on 7 September 1996 by 6 Sri Lankan Army soldiers; the e ...
case and was instrumental in bringing attention to the
Chemmani mass graves.
He was noted for his appearances, ''pro bono'', on behalf of Tamil youth detained by the state under the
Prevention of Terrorism Act and
emergency regulations.
He even took on unpopular work such as defending those accused of the
Central Bank bombing
The Central Bank bombing was one of the deadliest attacks carried out by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) during the separatist civil war in Sri Lanka between the government and the Tamil Tigers.
Incident
The attack took place on 31 ...
.
Politics
Ponnambalam joined his father's
All Ceylon Tamil Congress (ACTC) in the 1960s and became president of its youth wing in 1966.
On 14 May 1972 the ACTC,
Illankai Tamil Arasu Kachchi,
Ceylon Workers' Congress, Eelath Thamilar Otrumai Munnani and All Ceylon Tamil Conference formed the
Tamil United Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප ...
, later renamed
Tamil United Liberation Front
The Tamil United Liberation Front ( ta, தமிழர் ஐக்கிய விடுதலை முன்னணி, translit=Tamil Onrupattatu Viduthulai Munnai, si, ද්රවිඩ එක්සත් විමුක්ති ප ...
(TULF). The TULF failed to select Ponnambalam as one of its candidates for the
1977 parliamentary election.
As a result, Ponnambalam stood 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
Jaffna
Jaffna (, ) is the capital city of the Northern Province of Sri Lanka. It is the administrative headquarters of the Jaffna District located on a peninsula of the same name. With a population of 88,138 in 2012, Jaffna is Sri Lanka's 12th mo ...
but was defeated by the TULF candidate
V. Yogeswaran
Vettivelu Yogeswaran ( ta, வெற்றிவேலு யோகேஸ்வரன்; 5 February 1934 – 13 July 1989) was a Sri Lankan Tamil lawyer, politician and Member of Parliament.
Early life and family
Yogeswaran was born 5 Febr ...
.
In 1978 Ponnambalam re-registered the ACTC as a separate political party. The ACTC contested elections thereafter but with little success.
Ponnambalam was the ACTC's candidate at the
1982 presidential election. He came fourth after receiving 173,934 votes (2.67%) though he did come first in
Jaffna District, the heartland of the Sri Lankan Tamil population.
Ponnambalam was one of the ACTC's candidates in Jaffna District at the
1989 parliamentary election but the ACTC failed to win any seats in
Parliament
In modern politics, and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: representing the electorate, making laws, and overseeing the government via hearings and inquiries. Th ...
.
Initially Ponnambalam did not support the
separatist agenda espoused by
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups
Sri Lankan Tamil militant groups rose to prominence in the 1970s to fight the state of Sri Lanka in order to create an independent Tamil Eelam in the north of Sri Lanka. They rose in response to the perception among minority Sri Lankan Tamils t ...
and worked closely with the Sinhalese politicians, co-authoring
Sirimavo Bandaranaike
Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike ( si, සිරිමා රත්වත්තේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක; ta, சிறிமா ரத்வத்தே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கே; 17 April 191 ...
's
manifesto
A manifesto is a published declaration of the intentions, motives, or views of the issuer, be it an individual, group, political party or government. A manifesto usually accepts a previously published opinion or public consensus or promotes a ...
in 1988.
But as the
Sri Lankan Civil War progressed he grew disillusioned and distrustful of Sinhalese politicians and took a more
nationalistic
Nationalism is an idea and movement that holds that the nation should be congruent with the state. As a movement, nationalism tends to promote the interests of a particular nation (as in a group of people), Smith, Anthony. ''Nationalism: T ...
stance.
Ponnambalam contested the
1994 parliamentary election as part of 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 ...
group in
Colombo District but the group failed to win any seats in Parliament.
Thereafter Ponnambalam became more radical, a vociferous supporter of the militant
Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE; ta, தமிழீழ விடுதலைப் புலிகள், translit=Tamiḻīḻa viṭutalaip pulikaḷ, si, දෙමළ ඊළාම් විමුක්ති කොටි, t ...
(LTTE) and an ardent critic of the
Sri Lankan government
The Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) ( si, ශ්රී ලංකා රජය, Śrī Lankā Rajaya; ta, இலங்கை அரசாங்கம்) is a parliamentary system determined by the Sri Lankan Constitution. It administers the isl ...
and moderate Tamil political parties such as the TULF whom he branded "
quisling
''Quisling'' (, ) is a term used in Scandinavian languages and in English meaning a citizen or politician of an occupied country who collaborates with an enemy occupying force – or more generally as a synonym for ''traitor''. The word ori ...
s" and "collaborators".
Ponnambalam travelled the world to promote the LTTE and its cause.
Ponnambalam was very critical of President
Chandrika Kumaratunga and tried unsuccessfully to field a Tamil candidate against Kumaratunga at the
1999 presidential election.
The day after the presidential election Kumaratunga gave a victory speech in which she warned LTTE supporters living in the south (the Sinhalese areas) to be aware.
A few days later Ponnambalam wrote an
open letter
An open letter is a letter that is intended to be read by a wide audience, or a letter intended for an individual, but that is nonetheless widely distributed intentionally.
Open letters usually take the form of a letter addressed to an indiv ...
to Kumaratunga saying that he was "an unalloyed, unrepentant supporter of the political philosophy of the LTTE", condemning "the naked threats that dot
ed umaratunga's victoryspeech" and concluding that "a political solution to the Tamil Problem is in the hands of the Tamils themselves and only in their hands and that the Sinhalese and Tamils can continue to live in this island and in peace only if they live in two definite and distinct compartments each minding their own business unfettered by the other". The letter is regarded as an
epitaph
An epitaph (; ) is a short text honoring a deceased person. Strictly speaking, it refers to text that is inscribed on a tombstone or plaque, but it may also be used in a figurative sense. Some epitaphs are specified by the person themselves be ...
to Ponnambalam's commitment to the struggle achieve equality and freedom for Sri Lanka's Tamils.
Assassination
On the morning of 5 January 2000, around 9.05 am, a female suicide bomber blew herself up in front of the
Prime Minister's Office on Sir Ernest de Silva Mawatha (Flower Road) in Colombo, killing 13 and injuring 29.
Afterwards there was tension in Colombo as Tamils feared reprisals.
Ponnambalam had been planning to view a
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz (), commonly referred to as Mercedes and sometimes as Benz, is a German luxury and commercial vehicle automotive brand established in 1926. Mercedes-Benz AG (a Mercedes-Benz Group subsidiary established in 2019) is headquartere ...
car with his son but on hearing about the suicide bombing they stayed at home.
At around 10 am a man called "Shantha", who spoke fluent Sinhala, arrived at Ponnambalam's house, Gitanjali, on Queens Road in Colombo, and was shown inside.
Ponnambalam and Shantha spoke for about thirty minutes before the pair left in one of Ponnambalam's Mercedes-Benz.
Ponnambalam dispensed with his chauffeur and drove himself whilst Shantha sat in the front passenger seat.
Ponnambalam told his servants that he was going out but didn't say where he was going.
Ponnambalam seemed comfortable with Shantha but had removed his watch, gold chain and other jewellery before leaving.
About an hour later passers-by found Ponnambalam's car parked at Ramakrishna Terrace in
Wellawatte
Wellawatta is a neighbourhood of Colombo, Sri Lanka. It lies immediately south of Bambalapitiya and is classified as zone 6 within the Colombo Municipal region. The town begins at the old Dutch canal just before the Savoy Cinema and extends so ...
with Ponnambalam slouched in the driver's seat.
He had been shot twice, once in the head and once in the chest, at close range.
The driver's window had been lowered and it is believed that it was through this that the killer(s) shot Ponnambalam.
The gun used to kill Ponnambalam is believed to be a
Browning 9 mm and is presumed to have had a
silencer as no one in the neighbourhood heard any shots.
There was no sign of Shantha though according to the police another person had been sitting in the rear seats of the car.
According to Ponnambalam's family Shantha had been speaking to Ponnambalam on the phone since November 1999.
Ponnambalam had told his family that he was discussing a
case with Shantha.
Ponnambalam was
assassinated in the same area as MP and newspaper publisher Nadarajah Atputharajah (alias Ramesh) was assassinated in November 1999.
Atputharajah assassination was blamed on the
Eelam People's Democratic Party
The Eelam People's Democratic Party (EPDP) is a political party and a pro-government paramilitary organization in Sri Lanka. It is led by its founder Douglas Devananda.
Background
Douglas Devananda was one of the founding members of the Eelam ...
, a government backed paramilitary group. An unknown group calling itself National Movement Against Tigers claimed responsibility for Ponnambalam's assassination and threatened to kill others who helped the LTTE, directly or indirectly.
It is widely believed that the assassination was sanctioned by Kumaratunga.
According to ''
The Sunday Leader
''The Sunday Leader'' was an English-language Sri Lankan weekly newspaper published by Leader Publications (Private) Limited. It was founded in 1994 and is published from Colombo. Its sister newspapers are the '' Iruresa'' ('' Irudina'') and the ...
'' Ponnambalam's killing was organised by Baddegana Sanjeewa, a member of Kumaratunga's Presidential Security Division.
Acting on Sanjeewa's instructions Reserve Police Constable Sugath Ranasinghe, posing as Shantha, became friendly with Ponnambalam.
On the day of the killing Shantha lured Ponnambalam to Wellawatte where
gangster
A gangster is a criminal who is a member of a gang. Most gangs are considered to be part of organized crime. Gangsters are also called mobsters, a term derived from ''mob'' and the suffix '' -ster''. Gangs provide a level of organization and ...
s M. A. Kalinga (alias Moratu Saman) and Tharawatte Ajith (alias Sujeewa) were waiting to kill Ponnambalam.
After the killing, the killers are alleged to have gone to the office of a deputy minister and shown the murder weapon, which belonged to
Mahendra Ratwatte
Mahendra Ratwatte was a Sri Lankan politician and former Mayor of Kandy, from 2011 to 2015. He is the current Basnayake Nilame of Sri Maha Vishnu Devalaya of Kandy & Dedi Munda Devalaya of Aluthnuwara.
Early life
He is the second son of General ...
, Kumaratunga's
second cousin
Most generally, in the lineal kinship system used in the English-speaking world, a cousin is a type of familial relationship in which two relatives are two or more familial generations away from their most recent common ancestor. Commonly, ...
and son of a deputy defence minister
Anuruddha Ratwatte
General Anuruddha Leuke Ratwatte (14 July 1938 – 24 November 2011), frequently referred to as Anuruddha Ratwatte, was a Sri Lankan soldier and politician. He was a Cabinet Minister and Deputy Minister of Defence.
Early life
Born in Kandy ...
, and Ponnambalam's mobile phone as proof.
According to ''The Sunday Leader'' Kumaratunga tried to protect Ponnambalam's killers after the assassination. In February 2002 ''The Sunday Leader'' published a transcript of a telephone conversation between Ranasinghe and
OIC Nuwan Wedasinghe of the Criminal Detective Bureau (CDB) which further implicates Mahendra Ratwatte in Ponnambalam's killing.
''The Sunday Leader'' has claimed that it has received a sworn
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a statemen ...
from CDB director
SSP Bandula Wickremasinghe that Mahendra Ratwatte was involved in Ponnambalam's killing.
Ranasinghe, Moratu Saman and Sujeewa were eventually arrested by the police after which Ranasinghe implicated in Mahendra Ratwatte in Ponnambalam's killing. According to the police the three detainees had confessed to killing Ponnambalam and ''Satana'' editor Rohana Kumara on a
contract
A contract is a legally enforceable agreement between two or more parties that creates, defines, and governs mutual rights and obligations between them. A contract typically involves the transfer of goods, services, money, or a promise to tran ...
from a private party/patriotic group. Sanjeewa was shot dead on 2 November 2001, allegedly by Dhammika Perera, a member of the Sri Lankan
mafia
"Mafia" is an informal term that is used to describe criminal organizations that bear a strong similarity to the original “Mafia”, the Sicilian Mafia and Italian Mafia. The central activity of such an organization would be the arbitration of d ...
.
His body was found slumped in the driver's seat of his
Nissan Serena
The is a minivan manufactured by Nissan, joining the slightly larger Vanette. It was also marketed by Suzuki as the between 2007 and 2022. The car was engineered by Nissan's Aichi Manufacturing Division and launched in 1991 as a compact pass ...
, with six shots in Pagoda Road, Colombo.
Notorious gangster Moratu Saman was shot dead on 18 May 2003 in
Moratuwa by gangster Thoppi Chaminda. Ranasinghe was shot dead on 20 August 2003 in Moratuwa as he returning from Moratuwa Magistrates's court in a
rickshaw
A rickshaw originally denoted a two- or three-wheeled passenger cart, now known as a pulled rickshaw, which is generally pulled by one person carrying one passenger. The first known use of the term was in 1879. Over time, cycle rickshaws (also ...
.
On 8 January 2000 the LTTE conferred the title
Maamanithar
Maamanithar or Maamanithan ( ta, மாமனிதர் ''Māmaṉitar''; great human being or supremely great man) was an honour awarded by the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in Sri Lanka. The honour was usually awarded to civilians p ...
(great human being) on Ponnambalam. His funeral was held on 9 January 2000 at Kannate Hindu cemetery.
Ponnambalam was one of Colombo's wealthiest residents, owning a fleet of Mercedes-Benz cars.
Following his death his sister Vijayalakshmi got into legal disputes with his widow and children over ownership of property and companies in the United States and Singapore.
No one had been brought to justice for Ponnambalam's killing.
Electoral history
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ponnambalam, Kumar
1938 births
2000 deaths
All Ceylon Tamil Congress politicians
Alumni of King's College London
Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna
Alumni of Royal College, Colombo
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Assassinated Sri Lankan activists
Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians
Ceylonese advocates
Maamanithar
Members of Lincoln's Inn
People from Colombo
People killed during the Sri Lankan Civil War
People of British Ceylon
Kumar
A coin, around 200 BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya">Yaudheyas.html" ;"title="BCE, of the Yaudheyas">BCE, of the Yaudheyas with depiction of Kumāra Karttikeya
Kumar (; Sanskrit language, Sanskrit: wikt:कुमा ...
Sri Lankan Hindus
Candidates in the 1982 Sri Lankan presidential election
Sri Lankan Tamil activists
Sri Lankan Tamil lawyers
Sri Lankan Tamil politicians
Sri Lankan terrorism victims
Terrorism deaths in Sri Lanka