P. Kandiah

Ponnambalam Kandiah was a Ceylon Tamil politician, Member of Parliament and one of the founders of the Communist Party of Ceylon.

Early life

Kandiah was born on 1 July 1914. He was the son of Ponnambalam from Puloly in northern province of Ceylon. He was educated at Jaffna Hindu College. He later graduated from Ceylon University College. He received a scholarship to study at University of Cambridge and after two years he graduated with a MA degree in economics. He then studied for a further two years at University of Oxford. On returning to Ceylon he served as a lecturer at Ceylon University College. He served as Deputy Librarian at University of Ceylon, Peradeniya for a period. He later taught at Manipay Hindu College.

Kandiah married Parameswari. They had a daughter - Radha.

Political career

Whilst at Cambridge Kandiah met leftist students from Ceylon including Pieter Keuneman and S. A. Wickremasinghe. He came under the influence of communism and Marxism. After returning to Ceylon he and the other young leftists founded the Communist Party of Ceylon (CPC). He became an active member. He was the CPC's candidate for Point Pedro at the 1947 and 1952 parliamentary elections but failed to get elected.^[1][2] He however won the 1956 parliamentary election and entered Parliament.^[3] A delimitation commission in the late 1950s created a new electoral district for Udupiddy from parts of Point Pedro. Kandiah stood as the CPC candidate in the new electoral district at the March 1960 parliamentary election but was defeated.^[4]

Death

Kandiah died in September 1960. He was only 46.

References

• Arumugam, S. (1997). Dictionary of Biography of the Tamils of Ceylon. p. 78. 
• Nakkawita, Wijitha (22 February 2009). "A man who belonged to the whole country". Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka. http://www.sundayobserver.lk/2009/02/22/rev20.asp.