SILMIYA YOUSUF
COLOMBO : The 111th death anniversary of national hero Edward Henry Pedris, fell on 7th July 2026.
To mark this day, author of the book ‘Edward Henry Pedris – the National Hero who awakened a Nation’, Charnika Imbulana Munasinghe presented the book to Minister of Mass Media, Health and Chief Government Whip, Dr. Nalinda Jaytissa.
Senior Journalist, Charnika Imbulana Munasinghe who was commissioned to write a book on the national hero’s short but exceptional life story by the Edward Henry Pedris Memorial Society to mark the 100th death anniversary of the national hero in 2015, was published by Sarasavi Publishers (Pvt.) Ltd.
Edward Henry Pedris was executed by the British military court-martial under the terms of the Army Act, on July 7th 1915 during the British colonial rule wrongly implicating him, on a false charge that convicted him of treason, rioting and inciting violence, without an appeal hearing and bypassing the local legal system. He was shot at dawn on 7th July 2015 by a firing squad, the 17th Punjab Regiment of the British Indian Army.
His execution was later identified as unjust and found to be the result of a plan carried out by the senior officers who administered the country at the time. Historical consensus indicates the charges were trumped up to intimidate the local elite, suppress the active temperance movement he supported, and exert strict control under martial law.
Each year, since the book launch, the author presents a book on July 7th as part of a programme to ensure her ultimate aim, which is to provide a book to every media institution’s library and every school library in the country.
