George Rosario Motha (22 November 1892 – 1950) was a Ceylonese politician, lawyer and Tamil activist.[1][2]
Motha was elected to the first Parliament of Ceylon in 1947 representing the Ceylon Indian Congress as the member for the Maskeliya electorate.[3] He was strongly opposed to Ceylon Citizenship Act No 18 of 1948, whereby Indian Tamils were legally denied Ceylon citizenship, speaking and voting against the Act. Motha stating in parliament that not only would many Indian Tamils be unable to prove their paternal genealogy but also the Sinhalese community would be automatically recognised effectively discriminating against the Indian Tamil population.[citation needed]
Motha died in 1950 and his seat representing the Maskeliya electorate was filled by Abdul Aziz, following a by-election in March 1950.[4]
References
edit- ^ "Hon. Motha, George Rosairo, M.P." Directory of Past Members. Parliament of Sri Lanka. Retrieved 18 September 2017.
- ^ Peebles, Patrick (2015). Historical Dictionary of Sri Lanka. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 47. ISBN 9781442255852.
- ^ "Result of Parliamentary General Election 1947" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
- ^ "Results of the Parliamentary By Elections held between 1947 - 1988" (PDF). Department of Elections, Sri Lanka. Retrieved 10 July 2020.
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