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“Shelly Aiya”: Courageous Politician with Enlightened Principles

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“Shelly Aiya”: Courageous Politician with Enlightened Principles “Shelly Aiya”: Courageous Politician with Enlightened Principles Shelton’s foray into parliamentary politics came in 1960 when he was elected MP of the newly carved out Senkadagala constituency. Although his family circle was staunchly UNP, Shelton contested on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ticket in the July 1960 elections thus incurring the displeasure of several relatives He gave much of his time for social work and free legal aid. In 2001, Shelton served in the panel of the Human Rights Commission in Kandy without receiving any payment. He inquired into over 100 complaints within a period of eight months but when he discovered that recommendations made after the inquiry were not being implemented, he resigned from this panel Shelton Ranaraja was a distinguished alumnus of Trinity College, Kandy and S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia (with a stint at STC Gurutalawa also I believe). He was an outstanding sportsman and won colours in Athletics, Cricket, Boxing and Swimming. Shelton continued to play cricket when he entered Law College and captained the team By D. B. S. Jeyaraj Shelton Ranaraja known to many as “Shelly Aiya” passed away on August 11, 2011. Shelton or Shelly Aiya was a politician for whom I have the greatest respect. The lawyer who represented the Senkadagala constituency in the Sri Lankan Parliament for more than fifteen years was arguably the conscience- keeper of the Nation in his own modest way. My regard and admiration for Shelton Ranaraja is mainly due to the fact that the former Deputy Minister of Justice was a courageous politician with enlightened principles. It is indeed a rare politician who is prepared to stand up against the majority of his or her political party for what one believes to be right. Shelton was such a person. This article is intended to honour and pay tribute to his memory on the occasion of his tenth death anniversary. Punchi Banda Ranaraja Shelton Ranaraja was born on November 3, 1926, at Ranwala in Kegalle. Shelton’s father, Punchi Banda Ranaraja was a land owner who took to politics and the law. PB Ranaraja contested the State Council elections during British rule and was elected from the Galagedara constituency in 1934. He lost in 1936. PB Ranaraja contested on the United National Party (UNP) ticket from Dambulla at the 1952 elections. He lost, polling only 2,897 votes. Thereafter he gave up electoral politics but served two terms as a UNP nominated Senator in the upper house. Interestingly PB Ranaraja took up legal studies late in life and qualified as a lawyer. In what is perhaps a unique record both Punchi Banda Ranaraja and his son Shelton Ranaraja took their oaths as lawyers together in 1949. The father as an advocate and the son as a lawyer. General Information Shelton Ranaraja was a distinguished alumnus of Trinity College, Kandy and S.Thomas’ College, Mount Lavinia (with a stint at STC Gurutalawa also I believe). He was an outstanding sportsman and won colours in Athletics, Cricket, Boxing and Swimming. Shelton continued to play cricket when he entered Law College and captained the team. After passing out from Law College, Shelton established a successful legal practice in Kandy. He was well-known for his sartorial elegance. He was regarded as the most smartly dressed lawyer in Kandy. Ranaraja captained the Kandy lawyers’ cricket XI for many, many years. In later life he turned to Golf from Cricket. During the twilight years of his life he kept fit by walking around the picturesque Kandy Lake. Senkadagala constituency Shelton’s foray into parliamentary politics came in 1960 when he was elected MP of the newly carved out Senkadagala constituency. Although his family circle was staunchly UNP, Shelton contested on the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) ticket in the July 1960 elections thus incurring the displeasure of several relatives. Noel Wimalasena of the UNP had won the March 1960 poll. The July 1960 election was a straight fight between Wimalasena of the UNP and Ranaraja of the SLFP. Initially Ranaraja squeaked through with 30 votes. Subsequently a challenge was mounted leading to a recount of votes. Shelton continued to retain his seat after the recount but his tally had decreased by five from 30 to 5. A liberal democrat to the core, Shelton Ranaraja was most unhappy with the SLFP--LSSP government’s attempt to muzzle the press by taking over Lake House in December, 1964. CP de Silva crossed over with a group of 14 SLFP MP’s to the opposition and voted against the Bill. Shelton was not among these 14 MP’s. Instead of planning beforehand and crossing over to the other side, Shelton dropped a bombshell by remaining on the treasury benches and voting against the Bill. The Bill was defeated by one vote leading to dissolution of Parliament and fresh elections in 1965. Shelton Ranaraja along with the other MP’s who voted against were expelled from the SLFP Shelton did not contest the March 1965 poll. Noel Wimalasena of the UNP was elected Senkadagala MP. Ranaraja then bade “au revoir” to active politics for a while and concentrated on his legal practice. But when JR Jayewardene took over the party in 1973; after the death of Dudley Senanayake, an invitation was extended to Shelton to return to politics and work in the UNP. He accepted and was appointed organizer for Senkadagala. In the 1977 elections, Shelton’s formidable rival from the SLFP was Anuruddha Ratwatte, kinsman of the Bandaranaikes. Ranaraja polled 17,972 (57.53%) to Ratwatte’s 12,381(39.63%). The UNP led by Junius Richard Jayewardene swept the polls in July 1977 winning 141 of 168 seats. With the SLFP being reduced to eight seats, the Tamil United Liberation Front (TULF) having secured 18 seats became the chief opposition party. Shelton Ranaraja was appointed deputy minister of justice, first under K.W. Devanayagam as minister and later under Nissanka Wijeratne. Shelton however served as Acting Justice Minister on several occasions. No-Confidence Motion Shelton Ranaraja’s fierce independence and political courage came to the fore in 1981 when he voted against the no-confidence motion brought in July 1981 against the then opposition leader Appapillai Amirthalingam of TULF by Govt MP’s. The TULF had given notice in Parliament of a vote of no- confidence against the government. The UNP regime retaliated by giving notice of a vote of no- confidence against the leader of the opposition. The proposal mooted by the then Panadura MP Dr. Neville Fernando was signed by 36 UNP parliamentarians. It was widely believed and subsequently General Information confirmed by Dr. Fernando that the no-confidence motion project had the approval of President Jayewardene himself. President J. R. Jayewardene was regarded as all powerful then. Although there were many decent, learned persons in the UNP parliamentary group, none dared to defy the “almighty” JR. Hence the UNP to its eternal shame went along with what was perhaps an all-time low in parliamentary annals. The no- confidence motion by members of the Government against the leader of the opposition was taken up in Parliament on July 23 and 24, 1981. At the outset, Amirthalingam wanted to explain his position and rose to his feet. Pandemonium erupted. Dr. Neville Fernando objected to Amirthalingam making a personal statement saying that he could do so only with the indulgence of the House. The Speaker Bakeer Markar upheld Dr. Fernando’s objection and refused to let Amirthalingam speak. At this point the TULF walked out in protest. Thereafter SLFP deputy leader and Medawachchiya MP Maitripala Senanayake raised a point of order and submitted three reasons for the Speaker to rule the no-confidence motion out of order. The Speaker Bakeer Markar evaded the issue and said Senanayake’s point of order had been raised too late. Therefore he could not stop the no-confidence motion being debated he said. The lone Communist party MP from Kalawana, Sarath Muttetuwegama chided the speaker saying that he was letting the Government MP’s run Parliament. The SLFP and CP members also walked out in protest. Thus Sri Lanka witnessed the bizarre event of the Government conducting a solo performance of debating a no-confidence motion against the Leader of the opposition while the entire opposition had walked out in protest. Then followed a disgusting relay of speeches by UNP parliamentarians uttering dire threats of punishment to Amirthalingam and other TULF traitor-MP’s. No minister or deputy minister from the UNP spoke but the backbenchers had a field day. The only minister who spoke during that debate was Saumiyamoorthy Thondaman, the minister of rural industrial development in the JR regime. Thondaman speaking in his capacity as leader of the Ceylon Workers Congress (CWC) was very critical of the no-confidence motion. Finally it was voting time on July 24. Thondaman abstained. There were 121 votes supporting the no- confidence motion with one solitary vote against the motion. The man who voted against the UNP motion was none other than the honourable member for Senkadagala, Shelton Ranaraja. By doing so he not only demonstrated that he was an honourable person but also helped salvage a little bit of honour at least for his party. Shelton “Nadaraja” The “ginger group” of the UNP backbenchers was annoyed and furious. All sorts of remarks like traitor and Tamil-lover were made. One that still lingers in memory was the cheap pun on his name. There were shouts of Shelton “Nadaraja”. The first four letters of his surname were being replaced by four others to make his name sound Tamil as “Nadaraja” instead of the Sinhala “Ranaraja”.
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