Murugeysen Tiruchelvam: A Great Hindu Leader

By Ram Balasubramaniyam –November 24, 2015

Ram Balasubramaniyam

The 39th Death Anniversary of Senator M Tiruchelvam, QC, a former Cabinet Minister and Solicitor-General of Ceylon.

The Hindus of Sri Lanka suffered colonialism longer than any other Hindu society. After 450 years of Christian rule, the Hindus became victims of a vicious ethnic conflict. Many Hindus perished due to an ethnic schism contrived by the Christians on both sides of the divide.

One should not ignore the Hindus who shone brightly in the darkness. The former Cabinet Minister Murugeysen Tiruchelvam QC was a selfless Hindu leader. He sacrificed much for the greater good of the Hindus and the country.

Tiruchelvam was born in 1907 in Jaffna and moved to British Malaya at the age of three months. His father Mr. Vishwanathan Murugeysen was the Post Master of the Kuala Lumpur Telegraph Officer. After the Great War ended in 1918, Murugeysen sent his two elder sons Tiruchelvam and Rajendra to St. Thomas College in Ceylon.

Senator M Tiruchelvam QC

Murugeysen’s decision to send his sons was prompted by the son of one of his friends – SJV Chelvanayakam. Chelvanayakam’s father Mr. JV Velupillai was a friend of Murugeysen. Chelvanayakam, who later became a King’s Counsel and a political leader, was then a young man of promise. He was an old Thomian who was pursuing a legal career in Colombo. S. Thomas was better than any institution in Malaya. St. Thomas College had an exalted reputation as the Eton of the East.

Tiruchelvam and his brother Rajendra excelled at S. Thomas. They both entered the University College in Colombo, where they received degrees from the University of London. Tiruchelvam took two BAs in History and Law.

He joined the government’s legal service in the 1930s. He soon rose through the ranks as a district magistrate and a crown counsel.

In 1947, Tiruchelvam served as Sir Alan Rose’s (Legal Secretary under the Donoughmore Constitution and later Chief Justice) junior in drafting the Soulbury Constitution. Rose accepted the junior’s prompting on the need for minority protection.

Tiruchelvam’s Hindu consciousness was apparent when Ceylon got independence in 1948. The newly independent country was discussing a national flag. The Hindu leaders favoured a flag with the Nandi image. The Nandi is the sacred bull of Lord Shiva. It was also the symbol of the Jaffna Kingdom. This proposal was vetoed in favour the Lion Flag.

According to Prof. AJ Wilson, Tiruchelvam was defiant. “On Independence Day, 4 February 1948, Tiruchelvam boldly had the Nandi flag flying in his car, not paying attention to the consequence that could visit him. As one of the crown’s most skilled lawyers, he did not seek to conceal his nationalism for petty gain or rapid promotion.”

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