Edward Walter Perera (11 December 1875 – 15 February 1953) was a Ceylonese (Sri Lankan) barrister, politician and freedom fighter. He was known as the "Lion of Kotte" and was a prominent figure in the

Sri Lankan independence movement The Sri Lankan independence movement was a peaceful political movement which was aimed at achieving independence and self-rule for the country of Sri Lanka, then British Ceylon, from the British Empire. The switch of powers was generally kn ...

, served as an elected member of the

Legislative Council of Ceylon The Legislative Council of Ceylon was the legislative body of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka) established in 1833, along with the Executive Council of Ceylon, on the recommendations of the Colebrooke-Cameron Commission. It was the first form of repre ...

and the

State Council of Ceylon The State Council of Ceylon was the unicameral legislature for Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), established in 1931 by the Donoughmore Constitution. The State Council gave universal adult franchise to the people of the colony for the first time. It re ...

Early life and education

Edward Walter Perera was born on 11 December 1875 at

Unawatuna Unawatuna is a coastal town in Galle district of Sri Lanka. Unawatuna is a major tourist attraction in Sri Lanka and known for its beach and corals. It is a suburb of Galle, about southeast to the city center and approximately south of Colomb ...

, Galle the son of Edward Francis Perera (a

Proctor Proctor (a variant of '' procurator'') is a person who takes charge of, or acts for, another. The title is used in England and some other English-speaking countries in three principal contexts: * In law, a proctor is a historical class of lawy ...

of Colombo) and Johana Matilda, daughter of Mudliyar William David Perera Jayawickrema Seneviratne of Thalpaththuwa, Galle. Raised as a devoted Christian, Perera was educated at

Royal College, Colombo Royal College, Colombo is a Single-sex education, selective entry boys' school located in Cinnamon Gardens, Cinnamon Gardens, Colombo, Sri Lanka. Started as a private school by Rev Joseph Marsh in 1835, it was established as the Colombo Academ ...

and was the first editor of the Royal College Magazine. He served as a sub-editor of the newspaper ''Examiner'' while studying law at the

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 ...

and 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 ...

as an

Advocate An advocate is a professional in the field of law. Different countries' legal systems use the term with somewhat differing meanings. The broad equivalent in many English law–based jurisdictions could be a barrister or a solicitor. However ...

in May 1900. Having gone to England for further studies in the

Middle Temple The Honourable Society of the Middle Temple, commonly known simply as Middle Temple, is one of the four Inns of Court exclusively entitled to call their members to the English Bar as barristers, the others being the Inner Temple, Gray's I ...

, he became a Barrister in 1909. Perera was a member of the first Reform Deputation in 1910.

Role in the Sri Lankan independence movement

During the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...

, in 1915 commercial and ethnic rivalries erupted into riots throughout British Ceylon by Buddhists and Christians against Muslims. Fearing an possible uprising, the inexperienced

Governor of Ceylon {{Use dmy dates, date=November 2019 The Governor of Ceylon can refer to historical vice-regal representatives of three colonial powers: Portuguese Ceylon * List of Captains of Portuguese Ceylon (1518–1551) * List of Captain-majors of Portuguese ...

Sir Robert Chalmers declared

martial law Martial law is the imposition of direct military control of normal civil functions or suspension of civil law by a government, especially in response to an emergency where civil forces are overwhelmed, or in an occupied territory. Use Martia ...

on 2 June 1915 and on the advice of Inspector General

Herbert Dowbiggin Sir Herbert Layard Dowbiggin (26 December 1880 – 24 May 1966) was the eighth British colonial Inspector General of Police of Ceylon from 1913 to 1937, the longest tenure of office of an Inspector General of Police (IGP). He was called the 'Fa ...

began to suppress the riots by issuing orders to the colonial police and military to summarily execute anyone they deemed to be a rioter. Many prominent Sri Lankans such as D. S. Senanayake, D. R. Wijewardena,

Arthur V. Dias Arthur Vincent Dias (10 February 1886 – 31 July 1960), commonly known as Arthur V. Dias, was a philanthropist, temperance movement member and an independence activist of Sri Lanka (then known as Ceylon). A planter by profession, he is known f ...

, Dr. Cassius Pereira, Dr. W. A. de Silva, F.R. Dias Bandaranaike, H. W. Amarasuriya and A.H. Molamure were imprisoned and

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

D.E.Henry Pedris, a militia commander, was executed on the charge of

mutiny Mutiny is a revolt among a group of people (typically of a military, of a crew or of a crew of pirates) to oppose, change, or overthrow an organization to which they were previously loyal. The term is commonly used for a rebellion among memb ...

A memorandum was drafted at a secret meeting held at Perera's residence, initiated by Sir

James Peiris Sir James Peiris (20 December 1856 – 5 May 1930) was a prominent leader in the Sri Lankan independence movement, the first elected Vice-President of the Legislative Council of Ceylon and the first native Governor of Ceylon (Acting).

with the participation of Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan. Before presenting it to the

His Majesty's Government ga, Rialtas a Shoilse gd, Riaghaltas a Mhòrachd , image = HM Government logo.svg , image_size = 220px , image2 = Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom (HM Government).svg , image_size2 = 180px , caption = Royal Arms , date_est ...

, the support of the

British members of parliament In the United Kingdom, a member of Parliament (MP) is an individual elected to serve in the House of Commons of the Parliament of the United Kingdom. Electoral system All 650 members of the UK House of Commons are elected using the first-past ...

and the press in England had to be obtained. Travelling to England by sea was dangerous due to the presence of German submarines in the region. Abandoning a promising career at the Bar, Perera undertook the task of going over to England by obtaining permission saying he was going to do some research in the

British Museum The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence. It docum ...

. To his advantage, the British treated him as a scholarly Christian Barrister rather than a independence activist. He was accompanied by George E. de Silva. In England, he was joined by Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan and later by Sir D.B Jayatilaka and they presented the memorandum to the

Secretary of State for the Colonies The secretary of state for the colonies or colonial secretary was the British Cabinet minister in charge of managing the United Kingdom's various colonial dependencies. History The position was first created in 1768 to deal with the increas ...

, pleading for the repeal of

and describing the atrocities committed by the Police led by Dowbiggin. The mission was a success. The British government ordered the release of the leaders who were in detention. Several high officials were transferred. A new Governor, Sir John Anderson was sent to replace Sir Robert Chalmers with instructions to inquire and report to His Majesty's Government. Perera's effort was greatly appreciated and he was thereafter referred to as the ''Lion of Kotte''. It was also Perera who with the help of D. R. Wijewardena, the press baron (grandfather of former Prime Minister of Sri Lanka Ranil Wickramasinghe) traced the location of the banner of last King Sri Vikrama Rajasinghe, the last king of the

Kingdom of Kandy The Kingdom of Kandy was a monarchy on the island of Sri Lanka, located in the central and eastern portion of the island. It was founded in the late 15th century and endured until the early 19th century. Initially a client kingdom of the Ki ...

to the

Royal Hospital Chelsea The Royal Hospital Chelsea is a retirement home and nursing home for some 300 veterans of the British Army. Founded as an almshouse, the ancient sense of the word "hospital", it is a site located on Royal Hospital Road in Chelsea. It is an ...

, where it had been kept since the surrender of the Kingdom to the British in 1815. The recovered banner became a focal point in the independence movement and it became the flag of the

Dominion of Ceylon Between 1948 and 1972, Ceylon The Sri Lanka Independence Act 1947 uses the name "Ceylon" for the new dominion; nowhere does that Act use the term "Dominion of Ceylon", which although sometimes used was not the official name. was an independent ...

upon its independence in 1948. Tribute to the men who gave us the National Flag
/ref>

Political career

He was a member of the

, first as member from Western Province BH Division (1920) and then representing the

Kalutara District Kalutara District ( si, කළුතර දිස්ත්‍රික්කය; ta, களுத்துறை மாவட்டம் ''Kaḷuttuṟai Māvaṭṭam'') is one of the 25 districts of Sri Lanka, the second level administrative d ...

(1924). As President of the

Ceylon National Congress The Ceylon National Congress ( Sinhala: ලංකා ජාතික කොන්ග්‍රසය ''Lanka Jathika Kongrasaya'') (CNC) was a Nationalist political party which was formed in Ceylon on 11 December 1919. It was founded after national ...

, he led its delegation before the Donoughmore Commission in 1926/27. Sincere to his convictions, he opposed the granting of universal adult suffrage and broke with his colleagues in the Congress. He agitated for full freedom and formed the All-Ceylon Liberal Association with Sir James Peiris. However, he was elected Member of the

for the

Horana Horana ( si, හොරණ, , ta, ஹொரணை) is a town in Kalutara District, in the Western Province of Sri Lanka. It is on the A8 highway between Panadura and Ratnapura, away from Ratnapura and away from Panadura. Horana is connected ...

seat (1931) by a majority of 12,432 votes and served till 1935. He contested the 1943 Kelaniya by-election following the resignation of incumbent D. B. Jayatilaka and was defeated by

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 ...

Later life

He was a scholar and wrote several books. He died on 15 February 1953 at the age of 79.

References

External links