Dr. Ajith C. S. Perera, The Humanitarian Polymath With The Midas Touch, Is No More

Dr. Ajith C. S. Perera

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody –

The humanitarian polymath with the Midas touch and multifaceted personality known for his decades long peerless and tireless activism on behalf of the rights of the disabled, Dr. Ajith Chrysantha Stephen Perera passed away on 29 October following a brief period of hospitalization for an illness.

Born on 29 February 1956, he was 64-years-old at the time of passing.

His remains will lie at a ground floor parlour of the Jayaratne Funeral Directors (Private) Limited, 2B, Elvitigala Mawatha, Colombo 08, from the morning of 2 November. The cortege will leave Borella at 4 p.m. on the same day for the General Cemetery, Mount Lavinia, A2, Dehiwala-Mount Lavinia, and the cremation will commence at 5 p.m.

After passing out of his alma mater, Royal College, Colombo, he pursued academic excellence, obtaining a Bachelor of Science (Honours) Degree from the University of Colombo and a joint Masters in Science from the University of Colombo and the University of Birmingham, England.

He then went on to train professionally in the field of analytical chemistry and became a Chartered Chemist, specializing in quality assurance. Having commenced his professional career in the academia as an Assistant Lecturer at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Colombo, Dr. Perera then went on to the multinational pharmaceutical manufacturing industry and the cosmetics and healthcare industry, in the capacity of a Production Executive, and later as both a Senior Manager and Director in charge of Quality Assurance, Analytical Control, Technical Services and Product Development.

Not satisfied with learning from “books and men” alone, he sought to “learn to play the game” as the School song of Royal College would have it, by parallelly training and eventually becoming a Test Match Panel Umpire of the gentleman’s game. Dr. Perera also held all offices of the Association of Cricket Umpires and Scorers, England.

It was at the peak of his dual careers, at this juncture, that a tragic accident that occurred when a large tree fell onto the vehicle he was travelling in, killed his driver, and instantaneously paralyzed him waist down, thus rendering him a wheelchair bound paraplegic for the rest of his life.

Undeterred from what might have easily spelled the end for most, and armed with the constant pain of personal experience, he then voluntarily took on the cause of disability rights. His achievements in this field, are many. Among them, being the sole petitioner and advocate in several landmark Court cases, stands out. Through the public interest fundamental rights applications – SCFR 221/2009 and SCFR 273/2018 – he sought, among other reliefs, redress for physically disabled persons to access all key parts of new public buildings. In these cases, the Supreme Court, whilst acknowledging other reliefs, held that all authorities empowered to approve building plans or issue certificates of conformity for public buildings should refrain from doing so in respect of any new buildings which were in violation of accessibility related legal requirements – laws and regulations, and that non-compliance constitutes a violation of the FRs of equality before the law and equal protection of the law, and the freedom of movement, while State agencies were obliged to ensure that those of them who are disabled or with restricted ability should be given every opportunity to integrate freely with the community.

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