{"id":106964,"date":"2020-09-24T16:16:48","date_gmt":"2020-09-24T23:16:48","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=106964"},"modified":"2020-09-24T16:16:48","modified_gmt":"2020-09-24T23:16:48","slug":"the-killing-of-edward-henry-pedris","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/09\/24\/the-killing-of-edward-henry-pedris\/","title":{"rendered":"The Killing of Edward Henry Pedris"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Impressions<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edward Henry Pedris\nis one of Sri Lanka\u2019s least recognized National Heroes.  He was killed by the British more than 105\nyears ago in Welikada Prison, on the charge of Treason. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

True a statue of him\nwas unveiled by the Prime Minister Premadasa in 1987, and a playground and a\nstadium were named after him on that same day; very little national level commemoration\nof this Great hero takes place in the country. There is scant discourse about\nhis heroism among the populous and his brave life story has been taken away\nfrom school history books. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Is this because he\nwas never a politician and did his struggles against the British on his own,\nsolitarily? Also, that the Pedris family has not sought publicity about their\ndead member?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedris was charged\nwith Treason, Shop breaking, Attempted murder and Wounding with\nintent to Murder. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

An incident happened on 1 June 1915,\nnear Pedris\u2019 shop in Main Street, Pettah, where a Muslim gang had advanced\ntowards him to attack him or set fire to his shop.  During this time the Sinhala \u2013 Muslim riots\nhad erupted\nin many parts of the country. Pedris had come out of the shop with a gun and\nhad fired six shots into the crowd. No Muslims were killed or injured except the\nPolice Constable Senevirathne who was injured in the head. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There had been absolutely no other\ninvolvement of Pedris in the riots though allegations were made in the trial\nthat he had instigated a mob to travel from Peliyagoda to Colombo to attack\nMuslims.  Pedris in his defence stated that\nhe as a Commissioned Officer settled certain disputes between the Sinhalese and\nthe Muslims.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The riots had been very brutal with over\n100 Muslim deaths mainly in Gampola, Kandy and Mathale. The Police and the\nmilitary had shot dead over 100 Sinhalese who were accused of killing Muslims\nand looting Muslim shops.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To Pedris\u2019 utter misfortunate during\nthis time he and his family had come to the adverse attention of the British\nauthorities. Pedris had left an arrogant lifestyle and the British and their\nSinhalese cohorts fiercely despised him. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedris was a young man born into an\nelite Sinhala Buddhist family.  His\nfather, Duenuge Disan Pedris, a native of Galle was a very wealthy businessman,\nwho among other business ventures had shops in Pettah. Pedris was educated at\nRoyal and St Thomas\u2019 colleges. He represented both Royal and St Thomas\u2019 at\ncricket.  He must be the only person to\nhave represented both schools in Royal- Thomian cricket matches.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young Pedris was an excellent marksman\nand he was enlisted as a commissioned officer of the Colombo Town Guard. At the\ntime of the riots he held the rank of Captain. \nPrior to his death he was de-commissioned by the British rule in Sri Lanka.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedris excelled in horse riding too. He had\na wide knowledge about horses. A Russian Prince from the Tsar dynasty  had presented him a horse named Rally\u201d.  Pedris rode this horse with the composure of a\nPrince, and the British and their Sinhalese cohorts hated this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There had been several clashes of young\nPedris with the British hierarchy. In one incident, at a Cinema Hall a white\nman had demanded that Pedris gave him his seat. \nPedris had refused and belittled the British saying that he had paid for\nhis seat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is fair to infer that news about young\nPedris had reached Governor Sir Robert Chalmers.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chalmers, a racist, was an introvert and a recluse.  He was ruthless\nin eliminating enemies.  Under his\ncommand, Brigadier Malcolm went on a killing spree of Sinhalese in areas where the\nriots took place \u2013 notably in Colombo and the upcountry.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chalmers was basically scared that the\nSinhalese would use the riot to overthrow the colonial administration.\nDuring this time the World War 1 was in full swing. The\nBritish suspected that there were prominent Sinhalese businessmen in Colombo\nwho had close trade links with Germans. It is believed Pedris family was\none.  Over the riot, two of Pedris’\ncousins – Albert and Edwin Wijesekera, who were leading businessmen, were taken\ninto custody and were imprisoned in<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jaffna. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the riot occurred, the German cruise\nship  ‘Emden’ had berthed in Colombo and\nColombo businessmen had conducted trading \nwith it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It is believed that Sir Solomon Dias\nBandaranaike, the Maha Mudaliyar, father of SWRD Bandaranaike, was not in good\nterms with the Pedris family and he may have had a part in creating the ill feeling\nbetween the British administration and Pedris family.  Except hearsay, there is no concrete evidence\nto prove this. Bandaranaike was the Chief Advisor and Chief  Native Interpreter to the Governor.  Basically, he held the highest native\nposition under the British administration. Prior to him his father and\ngrandfather had also held the same or similar positions for the British\nadministration.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Governor Chalmers and the Inspector\nGeneral of Police, Herbert Layard Dowbiggin, were adamant that Henry Pedris\nmust die.  They wanted to use Pedris to\nteach other national leaders a lesson. Pedris was seen as an easy, soft target.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A military court, comprised of three\nmilitary judges was convened and Pedris was tried on 1 July 1915; a death\nsentence was passed on him on the same day. \nHe did not have appeal rights.  A\nrequest for clemency was made to King George V by the family and several others\nbut that was rejected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

On 7 July 2015 Pedris was killed by a\nfiring squad.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even immediately prior to his death,\nPedris showed bravery.    <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After he was sentenced to death, he\ndemanded that he should be shot by a Punjabi firing squad, and not by a white\nBritish firing squad.  He stated that Punjabi\nsoldiers were Non-Christian and Asian. His request was granted.  A Punjabi firing squad was rushed to Sri\nLanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When blindfold was afforded to him,\nPedris rejected it.  He faced death\nwithout any fear.  Until he was twice\nshot to death, he held his head high. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A remarkable incident took place at the\ntime of the execution. The Additional District Judge of  Colombo, Arthur Charles Allnut, a graduate of\nthe Oxford University and a member of the Ceylon Civil Service had ordered that\nthe 86 Sinhala Buddhist nationalists who were detained in Welikada Prison at\nthat time (over the Sinhala\/Muslim riots) should witness the shooting of\nPedris.  Thus they were lined up in the\nverandah outside of the  L-Hall of Welikada\nPrison, and were compelled to watch Henry Pedris being shot to death.  Among the inmates were DS Senanayake, DR\nWijewardane, FR Senanayake, Edwin Wijeyeratne, DB Jayathilaka, Dr Cassius\nPereira, Dr WA De Silva, ET De Silva, FR Dias Bandaranaike, Dr CA\nHewavitharana, H Amarasuriya, AH Molamure and AE Goonesinghe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the Sinhala\/Muslim\nRiots, the British had also detained Anagarika Dharmapala the Great, in a\ndifferent location (he had nothing to do with the riots; when the riots\nhappened he was in India).  Until early\n1920s, Anagarika Dharmapala the Great was held under house arrest in Calcutta.  He was the longest held political prisoner\nover the riots. The objective was to teach him a lesson so that he will curtail\nhis anti-imperialist struggle\/rhetoric and that he will be psychologically\ndrowned (Anagarika Dharmapala the Great was Sri Lana\u2019s Mahatma Gandhi).   The British were partly successful in achieving\nboth these objectives. The writer has elaborated the altercation that Anagarika\nDharmapala the Great had with Governor Chalmers in a previous article (see \u2018<\/em>Why Anagarika Dharmapala is important to India, particularly\nto the Indian Buddhist?<\/em> \u2013<\/em> Chanaka Bandarage, \u2018New Buddhist\u2019, India July 2015 edition, pp\n23 -28; <\/em>reproduced in Lankaweb, <\/em>July 29, 2015)<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The cream of the country\u2019s nationalist\nleaders were arrested. This is evidence that the British were using the Sinhala\n\u2013 Muslim riot as a pretext to punish them. \nFurthermore, the immense fear that the British had that attempts may be made\nduring that time to overthrow their regime.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Even a person with no legal knowledge\nwould realise that Pedris had done nothing to commit Treason.  Basically, he had done no offence to deserve\nsuch a harsh punishment \u2013 the death sentence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedris was buried in Borella Kanaththa.\nThe father, who owned several burial plots in Borella Cemetery managed to bury\nhim one of those plots.  The British was\nunaware of this. Later, the family built a large commemoration plaque in his\nmemory. It exists to this day. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pedris\u2019 father died as an extremely\ndejected man. His main hope was that his son would take over his vast business\nempire one day.  That dream was\nshattered.  He lost his two sons-in laws\nas they were also incarcerated in Welikada and Jaffna jails. The parents out of\ntheir own money built Isipathanarama Viharaya in Colombo 5 and offered it to\nMaha Sangha. They did many other meritorious  constructions in memory of young Pedris including\nthe Pilgrims Rest in Polonnaruwa. The mother, Mallino,  died as a Dasa Sil Upasikawa. In 1920 she\ngifted valuable land to Mallikarama Temple in Dematagoda.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Young Pedris was only 27 when he was mercilessly\nkilled by the British.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chanaka Bandarage Impressions Edward Henry Pedris is one of Sri Lanka\u2019s least recognized National Heroes.  He was killed by the British more than 105 years ago in Welikada Prison, on the charge of Treason. True a statue of him was unveiled by the Prime Minister Premadasa in 1987, and a playground and a stadium were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[88],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-106964","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-chanaka-bandarage"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106964","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=106964"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/106964\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=106964"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=106964"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=106964"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}