January 10, 2024 (LBO) - President Ranil Wickremesinghe was the chief guest at the commemoration event of the 100th death anniversary of Sir Ponnambalam Arunachalam.
At the event the President heralded Sir Arunachalam as a leader who championed the concept of a Ceylonese identity as opposed to today's political rhetoric focused on division.
Known as one of Sri Lanka's most notable civil servants, in 1913 a new phase in Arunachalam’s work began.
He joined as a prominent member of the independence movement, demanding self-governance for the people of Ceylon. He is remembered for a historic lecture he delivered titled: ‘’Our Political Needs.” The lecture, given at the insistence of newspaper magnate D.
R. Wijewardene, crystalized the arguments for self-government.
Among Arunachalam family members present at the commemoration event were former Cabinet Minister D. M. Swaminathan and Prashan Nagendra, CEO of software exporter Efutures.
![](https://www.lankabusinessonline.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/01/Arunachalam-Statue.jpg)
For more detail on the life of Sri Ponnambalam Arunachalam see prior LBO article: