1948 in Sri Lanka

← 1947 1946 1945 1948 in Sri Lanka → 1949 1950 1951
Decades:	1940s
See also:	Other events of 1948 Timeline of Sri Lankan history

The following lists notable events that took place during 1948 in Sri Lanka . 1948 saw Sri Lanka, then known as British Ceylon, regain its independence from the British Empire, thus establishing the Dominion of Ceylon.

Incumbents

British Ceylon (until 4 February)

Main article: British Ceylon

• 
  Governor
  Henry Monck-Mason Moore (Until 4 February)
• 
  Prime Minister
  D. S. Senanayake
• 
  Speaker of the Parliament
  Alexander Francis Molamure
• 
  Chief Justice
  John Curtois Howard
• 
  Leader of the Opposition
  N. M. Perera

Dominion of Ceylon (from 4 February)

Main article: Dominion of Ceylon

• 
  Governor-General
  Henry Monck-Mason Moore (from 4 February)
• 
  Prime Minister
  D. S. Senanayake
• 
  Speaker of the Parliament
  Alexander Francis Molamure
• 
  Leader of the Opposition
  N. M. Perera

Events

February

• 4 February – British Ceylon is disestablished as Sri Lanka gains its independence as the Dominion of Ceylon.
• 23 February – The film Kapati Arakshakaya is released.

March

• 19 March – The Australian cricket team stops by in Ceylon, en route to England during their 1948 tour of England, where they played a one-day single-innings match—not limited overs—against the Ceylon national team at the Colombo Oval. ^{[1] [2] [3]}

May

• 22 May – The film Divya Premaya is released.

June

• 4 July – Several Ceylonese individuals are included in the list of British 1948 Birthday Honours.

July

• 29 July–14 August – Ceylon competes in the 1948 Summer Olympics for the first time in London, sending 7 athletes.
• 31 July – Ceylonese athlete Duncan White wins the silver medal in the Men's 400 metres hurdles, becoming the first Ceylonese athlete to win an Olympic medal.

August

• 20 August – The controversial Ceylon Citizenship Act is passed in parliarment. ^[4]

November

• 15 November – The Ceylon Citizenship Act becomes law, qualifying only about 5,000 Indian Tamils for citizenship. More than 700,000 people, about 11% of the population, are denied citizenship and rendered stateless. ^[5]

December

• 3 December – The film Veradunu Kurumanama is released.

Births

Lakshman Kiriella

Nirj Deva

Rukman Senanayake

Suminda Sirisena

February

• 2 February – Lakshman Kiriella, lawyer, politician
• 21 February – Sumana Amarasinghe, actress (d. 2022)

April

• 13 April – Arul Pragasam, activist, rebel (d. 2019)
• 24 April – Gangodawila Soma Thero, Buddhist monk (d. 2003)

May

• 11 May – Nirj Deva, Sri Lankan-British politician ^[6]

June

• 8 June – D. A. M. R. Samarasekara, admiral
• 12 June – Jayalath Manoratne, actor (d. 2020)
• 21 June – Rukman Senanayake, politician

July

• 4 July
  • Wimal Kumara de Costa, actor (d. 2016)
  • Suminda Sirisena, actor (d. 2023)
• 11 July – Duleep De Chickera, Anglican Bishop of Colombo
• 17 July – Cletus Mendis, actor
• 22 July – Chandran Rutnam, filmmaker, entrepreneur
• 24 July – K. Sri Dhammaratana, Buddhist monk

October

• 23 October – M. H. M. Ashraff, lawyer, politician, founder and leader of the Sri Lanka Muslim Congress (d. 2000)

Unknown date

• Sabaratnam Arulkumaran, physician
• Maru Sira, criminal (d. 1975)

Deaths

• 6 February – Bernard Henry Bourdillon, 64, British colonial administrator (b. 1883)

References

1. Donaldson, Michael (3 October 2002). "Jailbirds swell crowd at Colombo Test". ESPNcricinfo. Australian Associated Press. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
2. "The Don's Island connection - Indian Express". Indian Express. 24 July 2010. Retrieved 2020-12-19.
3. "Ceylon v Australians". CricketArchive. Retrieved 1 October 2009.
4. Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999 Archived 2009-12-12 at the Wayback Machine , International Centre for Ethnic Studies
5. Ethnic Conflict of Sri Lanka: Time Line - From Independence to 1999 Archived 2009-12-12 at the Wayback Machine , International Centre for Ethnic Studies
6. "Sri Lankan History". OnThisDay.com.