Two distinguished Sri Lankans honoured

Two distinguished Sri Lankans, Judge Christopher Weeramantry and Dr. A. T. Ariyaratne were conferred the country’s highest honor, Sri Lankabhimanya, by President Mahinda Rajapaksa at an investiture held at Presidential Secretariat at 11 a.m. today (December 01, 2007).

The Sri Lankabhimanya (Pride of Sri Lanka) honor which is conferred to those who have render exceptionally outstanding and most distinguished service to the nation can be held by only five Sri Lankans contemporaneously. The other holders of this honor are President D. B. Wijetunga, Sir Arthur C. Clarke and Dr. Lester James Peiris.  

Judge Christopher Weeramantry was recently awarded the Right Livelihood Award considered the alternate Nobel Prize. A distinguished jurist, he was a former judge of Supreme Court of Sri Lanka and a member and later Vice President of the International Court of Justice.

Dr. A.T. Ariyaratne is the founder of the Sarvodaya Movement which he has led for nearly five decades. He pioneered the Shramadana Movement in Sri Lanka and is a follower of the Gandhian Principle of Ahimsa. Dr. Ariyaratne has received many international accolades for his work on peaceful coexistence and adherence to Gandhian Principles. These include the Ramon Magsaysay Award for community leadership, Philippine (1969), the Mahatma Gandhi Peace Prize, India (1996) and the Herbert H. Humphrey Award, USA (1996).     

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Last Updated Date: December 01, 2007 - 6.50 GMT