Former MP and Southern Provincial Councillor Ven. Baddegama Samitha Thera passed away in Matara yesterday. He was 68.
Ven.Samitha Thera had been first treated for COVID-19 at the Galle Karapitiya Teaching Hospital where had recovered and had returned to his residential temple in Baddegama.
However he had developed some post COVID complications and had been admitted to a private hospital where he succumbed.
Ven.Baddegama Samitha was a popular politician who was admired for his revolutionary role in politics as a leading Buddhist monk since his career in academia.
He was venerated by the people of all faiths and communities for his magnanimous endeavor in upholding religious and communal harmony.
Born in Baddegama, Ven.Samitha Thera obtained his formal education at Sri Rathanasara Vidyalaya, Baddegama and his Pirivena education at Baddegama Sri Rathanasara Vidyarathna Pirivena.
The Thera entered the Kelaniya University in 1976, and was involved in student politics becoming an active member of the Left Wing student politics there. He also served as the President of the Student Wing.In 1978 his university studentship was suspended due to a clash in the university. He was not allowed to complete his degree at the Kelanya University.
As a leading socialist activist he attended many international seminars. In 1986 he attended a seminar on third world development in Germany and subsequently to England where he received a scholarship to the Lancaster University. There he read “Comparative religions and third world development” for his degree. Even in the overseas university he got involved in the fight against apartheid. After completing his degree he returned to Sri Lanka in 1988.
In 1991 he entered mainstream politics when he contested the Local Government elections through the Nava Sama Samaja Party and was elected a Pradeshiya Sabha member. Thereafter he was elected as the Deputy Chairman of the Pradeshiya Sabha in 1996 and 2006 respectively.
In 1994 along with Vasudeva Nanayakkara, (now Water Supply Minister), he joined the Lanka Sama Samaja Party. In 1997, he was elected as a member of the Southern Provincial Council and was re-elected to the Council in 2000, 2009 and 2014.
In 2001 Ven.Samitha thera was elected an MP and he created Sri Lankan Parliamentary history as the first monk to become an MP. He contested the Parliamentary election in 2019 under Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna and was unsuccessful.
The last rites of the Thera was conducted at the Baddegama Town Hall with limited participation and cremated at the Baddegama Crematorium yesterday evening.
