Kothandarama Natesa Iyer or S. K. Natesa Iyer
/ref> (1887 - 7 November 1947) was a Sri Lankan journalist, trade union leader and politician of Indian Tamil origin, had pioneered the labour movement in the plantations in the early 1930s.

Early life

Natesa Iyer was a

Tamil Brahmin Tamil Brahmins are an ethnoreligious community of Tamil-speaking Hindu Brahmins, predominantly living in Tamil Nadu, though they number significantly in Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and Telangana in addition to other regions of India. The ...

from

Thanjavur Thanjavur (), also known as Thanjai, previously known as Tanjore, Pletcher 2010, p. 195 is a city in the Indian state of Tamil Nadu. It is the 12th biggest city in Tamil Nadu. Thanjavur is an important center of southern Indian religion, art ...

who spent his early life as a clerk in Madras city. In 1920, moved to Ceylon in order to edit a Ceylonese Tamil newspaper ''Desanesan'' owned by Arunachalam and E. V. Rathnam of the Ceylonese National Congress.

Political activities

Natesa Iyer joined the Ceylon Labour Union and soon became its Vice-President. He was elected to the Ceylonese Legislative Council and served as its member. However, soon afterwards, disputes broke out between the Tamil and Ceylonese members of the Ceylon Labour Union and

A. E. Goonesinha Alexander Ekanayaka Goonesingha (1 May 1891 – 1 August 1967) was a Sri Lankan trade unionist and politician. A pioneering trade union leader, known as the "Father of the Labour Movement", he was the founder of the Ceylon Labour Party, Sri La ...

, the President of the Union accused Indian Tamils for all the country's ills. Natesa Iyer quit the party in protest against Goonesinghe's attitude. After quitting the Ceylon Labour Union, Natesa Iyer founded the All Ceylon Estate Labour Federation and started an English-language journal called "The Indian Estate Labourer". In 1936, Natesa Iyer was elected to 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 ...

from the

Hatton Hatton may refer to: Places England * Hatton, Cheshire West and Chester, a former civil parish * Hatton, Derbyshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, Lincolnshire, a village and civil parish * Hatton, London, in the London Borough of Houn ...

assembly constituency and served as a member of the council from 1936 to 1947. He was the first member of the Indian Tamil community to be appointed to the council.

References

* *

External links

*India/Pakistan Asia Time

*Malayaga Tamilarin Aanma Natesa Iyer - By R.Kurinjivendan http://www.dinamani.com/edition/story.aspx?SectionName=Tamil%20Mani&artid=154736&SectionID=179&MainSectionID=179 1887 births 1947 deaths Emigrants from British India to Sri Lanka Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka Sri Lankan journalists Tamil politicians Indian Tamil trade unionists of Sri Lanka Members of the Legislative Council of Ceylon Members of the 2nd State Council of Ceylon People from Thanjavur district Sri Lankan Hindus Workers' rights activists Sri Lankan people of Indian Tamil descent {{Worker-activist-stub