I take pride in writing this appreciation in respect of a leader who was the father of Sri Lanka’s Revolutionary Communist Movement.  Nagalingam Sanmugathasan was a leading trade unionist of yesteryear committed to propagating the reality of communist concepts via his trade union movement, Ceylon Trade Union Federation (CTUF).

While being president of CTUF, he fought till the end for the rights of the working members of the union, either negotiating with the employers for their rights or representing them at the Labour Tribunal against unlawful dismissals or non-payment of wages or gratuities lawfully entitled to the workers.

Nagalingam Sanmugathasan also represented the Union at the Labour Department in any agreement to be reached between employers and workers, and for any negotiations with the employers to be streamlined by the Labour Department.

After leaving my practice in Hatton, when I came to Colombo, I started working with Shan, as he was commonly called, and assisted him in his Labour Tribunal appearances while learning a great deal about labour laws. He was identified as the person responsible for the landmark judgment in the case of United Motors Engineering Workers’ Union Vs. Walkers Limited, where he assisted advocate N. Satyendra, son of famous Senator S. Nadesan QC.

In the Privy Council, which gave Judgement in favour of the Union on the argument placed before Privy Council that the Labour Tribunal President did not enjoy Judicial powers since he was only performing Administrative Functions since he was not appointed by the Judicial Service Commission then. 

Comrade Shan was the only person who had the opportunity to meet, sit, and talk to none other than Chairman Mao Tse-tung. As recounted by Dr. Dayan Jayatilleka, his father, the well-known journalist Mervyn de Silva, christened Shan as ‘Mao Tse-Shan’ because of his commitment to the Chinese brand of communism at that time, which was absolute and remained so until the end of his life.

I too, can proudly say that Shan was probably one of the few communists who had conversed with Chairman Mao. Not even Charu Muzumdar, the founder leader of India’s Maoist movement, best known as the Naxalites, ever met Mao. 

Today, we find the true concept of communism and the party has virtually lost its identity in propagating the true ideals of communism with the birth of splinter unions boasting of communist ideals.

Shan was born on 20 July 1920. His 105th birthday was observed at an event organised by Sanmugathasan Centre for Marxist Studies, in Colombo Tamil Sangam on 6 July, 2025.  Incidentally, on Shan’s birthday in 1943, the Ceylon Communist Party was officially formed. He passed away on the 8th of February 1993 in Birmingham, England.

I felt that it is fit and proper to write this appreciation, remembering him as the only committed leader who acted for the sake of communism with conviction, honesty and pride till the time of his death. It can undoubtedly be stated that we will never again get a leader with such qualities

who did not give up his cry for the dignity of workers in this country and who kept on fighting for their rights without getting sold himself for the whims and fancies of the employers.

In every situation, there is room for individual freedom, responsibility, and agency. N. Sanmugathasan belonged to a generation of Left leaders who took it upon themselves to be agents for change and for emancipation.

In the space he occupied, Shan played a unique role as a Tamil, Sri Lankan, and Marxist.

Shan, may you Rest in Peace.