Yogendra Duraiswamy

Yogendra Duraiswamy, SLOS was a Sri Lankan diplomat, who served in India, Myanmar, the United States (New York), Australia, Iraq, Italy, China and the Philippines.[1][2][3]

Early life and education

Born in 1923 in Jaffna to Sir Waithilingam Duraiswamy, a speaker of the State Council of Ceylon. Duraiswamy was educated at Jaffna Central College, Jaffna Hindu College and at the Royal College, Colombo from where he entered the University of Ceylon in 1944 and graduated with an Honours Degree in Economics.

Diplomatic career

In 1949 he joined the newly formed Ceylon Overseas Service in the first batch of six cadets, along with Vernon Mendis through a highly competitive examination and selection process. His first overseas appointment was in New Delhi where he later returned again as Secretary in charge of Public Relations. He opened the Sri Lankan consulate in Chennai.

During his career he served in the Ceylon's embassies in Rangoon, Canberra, Baghdad, Rome, Beijing and Manila. He was the Official Secretary of the Ceylon Mission to the United Nations in New York from 1956 to 1959, when he gained recognition as the spokesman for the Afro Asian Group. In 1970 he was the representative of Ceylon at the Sessions of the UN General Assembly. Duraiswamy participated in the first Non-Aligned Conference in Belegrade in 1961.

He had served as Ceylon's Head of Embassy or Charge d'affairs in Iraq, Italy and the Philippines. In Manila, he was conferred the Ancient Order of Sikatuna in recognition of his exceptional contribution to strengthening relations between Sri Lanka and the Philippines. In 1975 he retired prematurely. In 1979 President J.R. Jayewardene appointed him as District Secretary (Government Agent) of Jaffna that then included the Kilinochchi district. During his tenure of 3 years he implemented many infrastructure and employment generation development projects[4] . He later served as a lecturer at the Bandaranaike International Diplomatic Training Institute and participated in civic initiatives to help resolve the ethnic conflict in Sri Lanka and assist the war-affected population. He was active in the Hindu Council which supported grass-roots development interventions in Hindu villages in the Amparai, Batticaloa, Mannar, Trincomalee and Vavuniya districts.

Family

His wife Sivanandini Duraiswamy is the President of the Hindu Women's Society (Saiva Mangaiyar Kalagam) that is involved in several educational and development initiatives in Sri Lanka. She is also the Chairperson of the Sri Lanka Women's Conference.[5] His only son, Dr. Naresha Duraiswamy is a Senior Operations Officer at the World Bank

  1. ↑ Crusader against injustice
  2. ↑ Recollections of Yogendra Duraiswamy Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  3. ↑ Yogendra Duraiswamy - he served the cause of ethnic peace Archived June 5, 2011, at the Wayback Machine.
  4. ↑ Burning of the Jaffna Library: Tears and toil of a district secretariat
  5. ↑ http://www.ceylontoday.lk/thumb/epaper-images/60209.jpg


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