View source for Lalith Athulathmudali

{{Short description|Sri Lankan politician and statesman (1936–1993)}}
{{More footnotes needed|date=November 2020}}
{{EngvarB|date=August 2014}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2014}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix = [[The Honourable|Hon.]]
| name             = Lalith Athulathmudali
| honorific-suffix = [[President's Counsel (Sri Lanka)|PC]] 
| image            = Lalith Athulathmudali.jpg
| caption          = Lalith Athulathmudali
| office1          = [[Ministry of Education (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Education]]
| president1       = [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]]
| primeminister1   = [[Dingiri Banda Wijetunga]]
| term_start1      = 1990
| term_end1        = 1991
| predecessor1     = 
| successor1       = 
| office2          = [[Minister of Agriculture (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives]]
| president2       = [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]]
| primeminister2   = [[Dingiri Banda Wijetunga]]
| term_start2      = 1989
| term_end2        = 1990
| predecessor2     = Dingiri Banda Wijetunga
| successor2       = [[R. M. Dharmadasa Banda]]
| office3          = [[Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)|Minister National Security and Deputy Minister of Defence]]
| president3       = [[J. R. Jayewardene]]
| primeminister3   = [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]]
| term_start3      = 1984
| term_end3        = 1989
| predecessor3     = 
| successor3       = 
| office4          = [[Ministry of Ports and Shipping (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Trade and Shipping]]
| president4       = [[J. R. Jayewardene]]
| primeminister4   = [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]]
| term_start4      = 1977
| term_end4        = 1984
| predecessor4     = [[Wimala Kannangara]]
| successor4       = [[Abdul Razak Munsoor]]
| constituency_MP5 = [[Colombo Electoral District|Colombo District]]
| parliament5      = Sri Lankan
| majority5        = 235,447 Preferential Votes
| term_start5      = 15 February 1989
| term_end5        = 1 November 1991
| constituency_MP6 = [[Ratmalana Electoral District|Ratmalana]]
| parliament6      = Sri Lankan
| term_start6      = 21 July 1977
| term_end6        = 15 February 1989
| birth_date       = 26 November 1936
| birth_place      = [[Colombo]], [[Ceylon]]
| death_date       = {{death date and age|df=yes|1993|04|23|1936|11|26}}
| death_place      = [[Kirulapana]], [[Colombo]], Sri Lanka
| death_cause      = [[Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali|Assassination]] by gunshot
| nationality      = Sri Lankan
| party            = [[United National Party]]
| otherparty       = [[Democratic United National Front]]
| spouse           = Perin E. Captain <br> [[Srimani Athulathmudali]]
| partner          = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married -->
| children         = Serela Athulathmudali
| relations        = Sujaee Athulathmudali Tinto (Sister) <br>Dayanthe Athulathmudali (Brother)
| residence        = 
| alma_mater       = [[Harvard University]] <br>[[Jesus College, Oxford]] <br>[[Royal College, Colombo]] <br>[[St. John's College Panadura]]
| occupation       = 
| profession       = [[Barrister]]
| signature        = 
| website          = [https://lalithathulathmudali.com '''Lalith Athulathmudali Official Website''']
| footnotes        = 
}}

'''Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali''', [[President's Counsel (Sri Lanka)|PC]] ({{Langx|si|ලලිත් ඇතුලත්මුදලි}}; 26 November 1936 – 23 April 1993), known as '''Lalith Athulathmudali''', was a [[Sri Lanka]]n politician. He was a prominent member of the [[United National Party]], who served as [[Ministry of Ports and Shipping (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Trade and Shipping]]; [[Ministry of Defence (Sri Lanka)|Minister National Security and Deputy Minister of Defence]]; [[Minister of Agriculture (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives]] and finally [[Ministry of Education (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Education]]. Following a failed impeachment of President [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]], he was removed from the UNP and formed his own party, the [[Democratic United National Front]]. He [[Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali|was assassinated]] under mysterious circumstances in 1993.

==Early life and education==
Born to a family of lawyers hailing from [[Kalutara District]], his father [[D. D. Athulathmudali]] was a member of the [[State Council of Ceylon]] and his mother was Srimathi Samarasekera Athulathmudali. He had two siblings, a brother Dayanthe who became an electrical engineer and a sister Sujaee who became a [[Physician]].<ref name="DN1">{{cite news |last1=Gooneratne |first1=Brendon |title=Lalith Athulathmudali : Brilliant visionary |url=http://www.dailynews.lk/2017/05/03/features/114812/lalith-athulathmudali-brilliant-visionary |access-date=3 May 2021 |work=Daily News}}</ref>

Athulathmudali received his primary education at [[St. John's College Panadura]] and [[Royal Preparatory School|Royal Primary School]]; before moving to [[Royal College Colombo]] from 1948 to 1955 for his secondary education, where he won the Steward Prize and excelled in athletics.<ref name="DN1"/>

He then went on to read [[jurisprudence]] at [[Jesus College, Oxford]], from 1955 to 1958. He graduated with a [[Bachelor of Arts|BA]] in 1958 and continued his post-graduate studies at Oxford. In 1959, his father died and he had to return due to a lack of funds. [[S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike]], the prime minister at the time and a close friend of his late father, on hearing his case, provided him with a Ceylon Government Scholarship having passed it through parliament. He gained a [[Bachelor of Civil Law|BCL]] and [[Master of Arts (Oxbridge and Dublin)|MA]] in 1960 from Oxford winning the Lord Sanky Prize in 1959. While at Oxford, Athulathmudali joined the [[Oxford Union]], where he served as President between 1957-58. In 1962 he entered [[Harvard Law School]] on scholarship and graduated from [[Harvard University]] with an [[LL.M.]] in 1963. He was fluent in [[Sinhalese language|Sinhalese]], [[English language|English]], [[German language|German]] and [[French language|French]].<ref>[http://www.hi.lk/lalith.html A trailblazer in Sri Lankan politics Lalith Athulathmudali]</ref><ref name="DN1"/>

==Academic and legal career==
Athulathmudali was admitted to the bar as a [[barrister]] from the [[Gray's Inn]] in 1959. From 1960 to 1962 he served as a law lecturer at the [[University of Singapore]]. In 1963 he became the Associate Dean of the legal faculty of the University of Singapore. From 1960 to 1964 he had served as a visiting lecturer at the [[Hebrew University]] in Israel, the [[University of Edinburgh]] and the [[University of Allahabad]]. Returning to Ceylon in 1964, he took oaths as an [[advocate]] and started his legal practice. From 1967 to 1974, he was the lecturer in jurisprudence at the [[Ceylon Law College]]. In 1985 he was appointed a [[President's Counsel (Sri Lanka)|President's Counsel]].

==Political career==
===Minister of Trade and Shipping===
Lalith Athulathmudali entered politics in the early 1970s. He joined the policy planning committee of the [[United National Party]] in 1973. He contested the [[1977 Sri Lankan parliamentary election|1977 general election]] from the [[Ratmalana Electoral District|Ratmalana electorate]] and was elected to Parliament. [[Junius Richard Jayewardene|J.R. Jayewardene]] appointed him to his cabinet as Minister of Trade. In 1978, he received the additional portfolio of shipping, as Minister of Trade and Shipping, which he held till 1984. During this time, as Minister of Trade, he introduced Intellectual Property Law; established the Sri Lanka Export Development Board and the Ports Authority. He established the [[Mahapola Higher Education Scholarship Trust Fund|Mahapola Trust Fund]] in 1981 to provision of financial assistance to students undertaking higher education.<ref>{{cite book|last1=Roberts|first1=Adam|title=Democracy, Sovereignty and Terror: Lakshman Kadirgamar on the Foundations of International Order|date=2012|publisher=I.B.Tauris|isbn=9781848853072|page=38|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=KwNkXmQHjQ4C&pg=PA39}}</ref>

===Minister of National Security===
[[File:Hon.Sirimavo Bandaranaike with Hon.Lalith Athulathmudali.JPG|thumb|right|260px|From left: [[Anuradha Dullewe Wijeyeratne]], [[Sirimavo Bandaranaike]], [[Mervyn De Silva]], Lalith Athulathmudali and Almon Peiris]]
In 1984, he was appointed Minister of National Security and Deputy Minister of Defense. He started reforms in both the police and army. During his tenure the armed forces were expanded and reequipped, with the army increasing from 6,000 to 24,000. The most controversial of his measures was to call for Israeli assistance.<ref>{{cite news|last1=United States. Foreign Broadcast Information Service, United States. Joint Publications Research Service|title=Near East/South Asia Report Page 177|agency=Foreign Broadcast Information Service|issue=85128|date=1985}}</ref> He organised several offensives against territories held by the [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam|LTTE]] including the [[Vadamarachchi Operation]] and was apposed to the [[Indo-Sri Lanka Accord]].

He was severely wounded in a [[1987 grenade attack in the Sri Lankan Parliament|grenade attack]] inside the Parliament complex in 1987. The biggest debacle of his political career came in May 1988 when he declared a truce with the rebellion JVP. The main brokers of the so-called truce were a lawyer called Kelly Senanayake and Fr Thissa Balasooriya who later found had no mandate to represent JVP. He received the portfolio of Trade and Shipping again in 1988. His status in government changed upon Jayewardene's retirement in 1988, he tried to obtain the UNP's nomination for the [[1988 Sri Lankan presidential election|presidential election]], but was defeated by [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]] who went on to win the presidency.

===Minister of Agriculture and Education===
In 1989, he was appointed UNP chief organizer for the [[Colombo Electoral District|Colombo electorate]] and was elected to parliament in the [[1989 Sri Lankan parliamentary election|1989 general election]]. Premadasa retained Athulathmudali in his cabinet, but demoted him by appointing him as [[Minister of Agriculture (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Agriculture, Food and Cooperatives]]. In the following year, he was appointed [[Ministry of Education (Sri Lanka)|Minister of Education]], in which capacity he remained until 1991.

===Conflict with Premadasa===
Athulathmudali became disenchanted with Premadasa's leadership and soon ran into conflict with Premadasa. Premadasa tried to have Athulathmudali removed from his UNP party positions and accused him of being one of the cabinet ministers behind the [[Burning of Jaffna library]] in 1981. Athulathmudali resigned his cabinet position in August 1991 and in September 1991 he and several UNP MPs brought forth a motion to [[impeach]] Premadasa. The impeachment which was supported by members of the UNP and other parties in the opposition failed as Premadasa adjourned Parliament and the Speaker Mohamed dismissed the impeachment stating a lack of signatures.<ref>[http://archives.dailynews.lk/2013/01/09/fea04.asp Unsuccessful Impeachments and legal arguments]</ref> Premadasa expelled Athulathmudali and [[Gamini Dissanayake]] from the UNP.

Athulathmudali together with Dissanayake formed a new party, the [[Democratic United National Front]] with both serving as joint president in November 1991. Under the DUNF, Athulathmudali handed over his papers to contest the 1993 Provincial elections seeking the [[Chief Minister (Sri Lanka)|chief ministership]] of the Western Province Council.

==Assassination==
{{main|Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali}}
Athulathmudali was shot dead on 23 April 1993 after an election rally at [[Kirulapana]]. While the Sri Lankan police initiated an investigation, the government also invited a team of experts from the [[Scotland Yard]] to carry out an independent investigation. A body of a youth named Ragunathan alias Appiah Balakrishnan, a member of the LTTE was found near the scene (down Mugalan road).<ref name=":0">{{Cite book |last=Fernando |first=Prof. Ravindra |title=Lalith Athulathmudali's Assassination: The Whole Truth About (includes the Scotland Yard Report) |publisher=Vijitha Yapa |year=2017 |isbn=9789556653366 |edition=1st |location=Sri Lanka |language=English}}</ref> He had one non-fatal gun shot wound on his back and had also ingested [[cyanide]] via a capsule ([[Suicide pill]]- Potassium Cyanide necklace worn by LTTE cadres).<ref name=":0" /> The deceased youth also had a gun in his possession which was lying next to him. Forensic evidence collected by both the government analyst and medical experts from the Scotland Yard,  showed that Ragunathan was indeed the assassin of Athulathmudali, as the gun he had with him when he was found matched with the only bullet that was found in Athulathmudali’s body.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1">{{Cite web |last=Bresnik |first=Sam |title=Unravelling the mysteries of Athulathmudali's murder |url=https://www.dailynews.lk/2017/05/24/features/116753/unravelling-mysteries-athulathmudali%E2%80%99s-murder |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Daily News |language=en}}</ref><ref name=":2">{{Cite web |author=United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees  |title=Sri Lanka: Copy of the Scotland Yard report on the assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali on 23 April 1993 |url=https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ab8758.html |access-date=2022-08-02 |website=Refworld |language=en}}</ref> Forensic evidence also showed that Athulathmudali's armed bodyguard Tilak Shantha shot the assassin as Tilak's gun matched with the bullet found in Ragunathan's back.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /> Evidence shows that the bullet had skidded off a near by surface and hit the assassin, thus being non-fatal.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":2" />

A [[Presidential Commission of Inquiry|Presidential Commission]] carried out by the Sri Lankan Government alleged that Sri Lankan President [[Ranasinghe Premadasa]] was responsible for the assassination.<ref name=":0" /><ref name=":1" /><ref name=":2" /> However, their conclusion was based on a collection of controversial circumstantial evidence while ignoring all the forensic evidence.<ref name=":0" />

==Family==
Athulathmudali's was first married to the [[Parsi]] Perin E. Captain.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2001/pix/PrintPage.asp?REF=/2007/03/09/fea02.asp|title={{!}}{{!}} Daily News Online Edition - Sri lanka :: Print Page|website=archives.dailynews.lk|access-date=2020-02-29}}</ref> She was the president of the Sri Lanka Cancer Society. He met his second wife [[Srimani Athulathmudali|Srimani De Seram]] in March 1978, when she was attached to [[UNCTAD]] in [[Switzerland]]. She was a friend of his brother Dayantha Athulathmudali. They got married in December 1981 in [[Geneva]]. They had one daughter, Serela Athulathmudali.<ref>[http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/04/23/features/79577 Trailblazer of recent times]</ref>

== Historical reputation and legacy ==
[[File:SLIIT Lalith Athulathmudali Auditorium Commemorative Plaque.jpg|thumb|right|260px|[[Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology|SLIIT]] Lalith Athulathmudali Auditorium Commemorative Plaque.]]
Athulathmudali is considered one of the most distinguished Sri Lankan statesmen in recent history. He is still remembered by many in Sri Lanka as a gentlemen and as one of the few well educated politicians of that era. In his honour a statue and memorial has been erected in Colombo. His contribution to the education of the country is eminence, the Mahapola Fund he established has greatly contributed to the development of higher education and provides scholarships for needy students annually. The ''Lalith Athulathmudali Auditorium'' at the [[Sri Lanka Institute of Information Technology]] and the ''[[Lalith Athulathmudali Memorial Prize]]'' which is one of the prestigious prizes awarded annually at [[Royal College, Colombo]] (his alma mater) (awarded for the Most Outstanding Royalist (Student of [[Royal College Colombo|Royal College]]) of the Year are named in his honour.

=== Monuments and memorials ===
The statue of Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali is located at {{Coord|6|54|21.7|N|79|51|33.2|E}} in Colombo, Sri Lanka.<ref>{{cite web|title=The photograph of the statue of Lalith William Samarasekera Athulathmudali, July 2018|url=https://independent-travellers.com/sri_lanka/colombo/miscellaneous/101.php|website=Independent Travellers|publisher=independent-travellers.com|access-date=December 12, 2018}}</ref>

== Further reading ==
*{{cite magazine|title=I fear more bloodshed: Lalith Athulathmudali|url=https://www.indiatoday.in/magazine/neighbours/story/19850915-tamils-had-no-threat-till-they-started-these-terrorist-attacks-lalith-athulathmudali-801961-2014-01-04|date=1985-09-15|first=Chitra|last=Subramaniam|authorlink=Chitra Subramaniam|magazine=[[India Today]]}}

==See also==
*[[Assassination of Lalith Athulathmudali]]
*[[List of political families in Sri Lanka]]
*[[Notable assassinations of the Sri Lankan Civil War]]
*[[Sri Lankan civil war|Sri Lankan Civil War]]
*[[Ranasinghe Premadasa]]
*[[List of members of the Sri Lankan Parliament who died in office]]

==References==
{{reflist}}
<!-- Reference in Sinhala:  http://www.rivira.lk/2011/04/24/rivinetha2.htm  -->

==External links==
* [http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~lkawgw/gen3053.htm The Athulathmudali Ancestry]
* [http://sadaharita.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/lalith_wa/ Article for Lalith Athulathmudali on Sadaharita]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20080418182701/http://www.unp.lk/portal/ Official Website of United National Party]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20020917085415/http://atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/DH31Df01.html Sri Lanka: the Untold Story]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20060220032138/http://www.liberal-international.org/editorial.asp?ia_id=1036 Obituary at Liberal International]
* [https://archives.sundayobserver.lk/2007/04/22/fea03.asp ''Lalith Athulathmudali epitome of a pragmatic politician'']
* [http://www.sundaytimes.lk/071125/Plus/plus00010.html He shared his views but never interfered in military matters]
* [http://www.sundaytimes.lk/971130/news3.html Athulathmudali memorial lecture by Anura Banadaranaike]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604163558/http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/11/26/fea02.asp We must not give up resolve to fight the LTTE’]
* [https://web.archive.org/web/20110604163648/http://www.dailynews.lk/2008/11/27/fea04.asp Time to revisit Athulathmudali approach]
* [http://www.dailynews.lk/?q=2016/04/23/features/79577 Trailblazer of recent times]
* [http://www.divaina.com/2008/12/15/mano06.html Lalith Athulathmudali in Sinhala]
* [http://sadaharita.wordpress.com/2009/11/29/lalith_wa/  Lalith Athulathmudali in Sinhala]

{{Sri Lankan Agriculture ministers}}
{{Members of the Sri Lankan Parliament from Colombo}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Athulathmudali, Lalith}}
[[Category:1936 births]]
[[Category:1993 deaths]]
[[Category:Ministers of education of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Members of the 8th Parliament of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan academics]]
[[Category:Sinhalese people]]
[[Category:President's Counsels (Sri Lanka)]]
[[Category:United National Party politicians]]
[[Category:Deaths by firearm in Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Assassinated Sri Lankan politicians]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan terrorism victims]]
[[Category:Alumni of Royal Preparatory School]]
[[Category:Alumni of Royal College, Colombo]]
[[Category:Alumni of St. John's College, Panadura]]
[[Category:Alumni of Jesus College, Oxford]]
[[Category:Harvard Law School alumni]]
[[Category:Presidents of the Oxford Union]]
[[Category:Members of Gray's Inn]]
[[Category:Academic staff of the National University of Singapore]]
[[Category:Academics of the University of Edinburgh]]
[[Category:Members of the 9th Parliament of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Trade ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Agriculture ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:People killed during the Sri Lankan civil war]]
[[Category:20th-century Sri Lankan lawyers]]
[[Category:Deputy ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Higher education ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Shipping ministers of Sri Lanka]]
[[Category:Asian politicians assassinated in the 1990s]]
[[Category:Politicians assassinated in 1993]]