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{{Use dmy dates|date=August 2018}}
{{Use Indian English|date=August 2018}}
{{Infobox officeholder
|honorific-prefix =
|name = S. C. C. Anthony Pillai
|native_name =
|native_name_lang =
|honorific-suffix =
|image = S. C. C. Anthony Pillai.jpg
|imagesize =
|office1 = Member of the [[Lok Sabha]] for [[Madras North (Lok Sabha constituency)|Madras North]]
|term_start1 = 1957
|term_end1 = 1962
|predecessor1 =
|successor1 = [[P. Srinivasan]]
|office2 = Member of the [[Madras State Legislative Assembly]] for Choolai
|term_start2 = 1952
|term_end2 = 1957
|predecessor2 =
|successor2 =
|birth_date = {{Birth date|1914|04|27|df=yes}}
|birth_place = [[Jaffna]], [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]]
|death_date = {{Death date and age|2000|08|16|1914|04|27|df=yes}}
|death_place = [[Chennai]], India
|citizenship =
|nationality =
|party =
|otherparty =
|spouse = [[Caroline Anthonypillai]]
|partner =
|relations =
|children =
|residence =
|alma_mater = {{Ubl|[[Ceylon University College]]|[[King's College London]]}}
|occupation =
|profession =
|religion =
|website =
|footnotes =
|blank1 = Ethnicity
|data1 = [[Tamils|Tamil]]
}}
'''Sebastian Cyril Constantine Anthony Pillai''' (27 April 1914 – 16 August 2000) was an Indian trade unionist, politician and Member of Parliament.

==Early life and family==
Anthony Pillai was born on 27 April 1914 in [[Jaffna]] in northern [[British Ceylon|Ceylon]].<ref name="HBL170800">{{cite news|title=Trade union leader Anthony Pillai dead|url=http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2000/08/17/stories/141744rf.htm|work=[[Hindu Business Line]]|date=17 August 2000}}</ref> He was the son of S. Anthony Pillai.<ref name="MIA">{{cite web|title=Encyclopedia: An|url=https://www.marxists.org/glossary/people/a/n.htm|publisher=Marxists Internet Archive}}</ref> His family were Roman Catholics whose ancestors came from [[Tirunelveli District]] in [[British India|India]].<ref name="MIA"/> Anthony Pillai was educated at [[St. Patrick's College, Jaffna]].<ref name="MIA"/> After school he studied history at the [[Ceylon University College]].<ref name="MIA"/><ref>{{cite book|title=Ceylon University College Prospectus 1936–37|year=1936|publisher=[[Ceylon University College]]|url=http://noolaham.net/project/66/6594/6594.pdf|page=41}}</ref> He later studied at [[King's College London]] where he was a member of the India League and a Marxist [[study group]] of Ceylonese students.<ref name="MIA"/>

Anthony Pillai married to [[Caroline Gunawardena]], daughter of Don Jacolis Rupasinghe Gunawardena, in 1939.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309">{{cite news|last1=Erwin|first1=C. W.|title=The Ceylonese who stirred Madras Labour|url=http://madrasmusings.com/Vol%2018%20No%2023/the-ceylonese-who-stirred-madras-labour.html|work=[[Madras Musings]]|date=16 March 2009}}</ref> They had four sons (Mahendran, Ranjit, Nalin Ranjan and Suresh Kumar).<ref name="HBL170800"/><ref name="MM160309"/>

==Career==
Anthony Pillai was one of the founding members of the [[Lanka Sama Samaja Party]] (LSSP) in 1935.<ref name="MIA"/> He rejoined the LSSP after returning to Ceylon from the UK in 1938.<ref name="MIA"/> The LSSP leadership had high hopes about Tony, as he was known, but as he could not speak [[Sinhala language|Sinhala]], the main language of Ceylon, LSSP leader [[Philip Gunawardena]] suggested that he get lessons from his sister Caroline.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208">{{cite news|last1=Ervin|first1=Charles Wesley|title=Tribute to a 100-year-old pioneer socialist|url=http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-opinion/tribute-to-a-100yearold-pioneer-socialist/article1392937.ece|work=[[The Hindu]]|date=11 December 2008}}</ref> The pair fell in love and married.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/>

The LSSP sent Anthony Pillai and Caroline to [[Nawalapitiya]] to [[Organised labour|organise]] [[Indian Tamils of Sri Lanka|Indian Tamil]] estate workers a LSSP union.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> This was dangerous work as the British plantation owners were known to use violence to suppress unions.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> When [[World War II]] broke out in September 1939 the LSSP opposed the "second imperialist war".<ref name="TI270102">{{cite news|last1=Fernando|first1=Meryl|title=Shunned power for principles|url=http://www.island.lk/2002/01/27/featur06.html|work=[[The Island (Sri Lanka)]]|date=27 January 2002|authorlink=Meryl Fernando}}</ref><ref name="DN190402">{{cite news|title=Birth Anniversary : Edmund Samarakkody - stormy petrel of revolution|url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2002/04/19/fea06.html|work=[[Daily News (Sri Lanka)]]|date=19 April 2002}}</ref> The LSSP played a major role in a wave of strikes in 1939/40 and consequently it was proscribed in 1940 and its leaders [[Colvin R. de Silva]], Philip Gunawardena, [[N. M. Perera]] and [[Edmund Samarakkody]] arrested in June 1940.<ref name="DN190402"/><ref name="TI050102">{{cite news|last=Fernando|first=Amaradasa|title=Edmund Samarakkody kept faith to the last|url=http://www.island.lk/2002/01/05/featur02.html|newspaper=[[The Island (Sri Lanka)|The Island]]|date=5 January 2002}}</ref><ref name="DN050111">{{cite news|last1=Botejue|first1=Vernon|title=Edmund Samarakkody's 18th Death Anniversary: Politician and trade union leader|url=http://archives.dailynews.lk/2011/01/05/fea06.asp|work=[[Daily News (Sri Lanka)]]|date=5 January 2011}}</ref> However, Anthony Pillai, Caroline and her brother [[Robert Gunawardena]] continued to organise strikes by bus, harbour and granary workers during 1940-41.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/>

In April 1942 the four LSSP leaders, aided by sympathetic prison guards, escaped from prison and whilst de Silva, Philip Gunawardena and Perera fled to India Samarakkody went into hiding in Ceylon.<ref name="TI050102"/><ref name="DN050111"/> In July 1942 the bulk of LSSP members, including Anthony Pillai, clandestinely crossed over to India in fishing boats.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Whilst most went to [[Bombay]], Anthony Pillai and a few other LSSP members went to [[Madurai]] where they joined the [[Bolshevik–Leninist Party of India, Ceylon and Burma]] (BLPI).<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Anthony Pillai was a member of the BLPI's central committee from 1944 to 1948.<ref name="MIA"/> When the [[Quit India Movement]] began in August 1942 Anthony Pillai and other BLPI members led the movement in Madurai.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/>

Anthony Pillai moved to [[Madras]] in 1943 and, after the Quit India Movement had quietened, sent for Caroline and their two sons.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> He became leader of the Madras Labour Union in 1944.<ref name="HBL170800"/> Anthony Pillai, his family and several Ceylonese BLPI members, including some who had fled Bombay, were living in a large, two-storey house at the Venus Colony in Teynampe.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> The group were still wanted by the police and as a result Anthony Pillai was living in disguise.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Realising that this environment wasn't conducive to bring up a family, Caroline and their two sons returned to Ceylon.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Anthony Pillai and other BLPI members then sought refuge in an outhouse behind Ambi’s Café but in 1944 they were recognised.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> The police arrested everyone at the refuge and Anthony Pillai and another Ceylonese BLPI member were sentenced to two years’ rigorous imprisonment for "possessing seditious literature".<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/>

After being released from Alipuram in 1946 Anthony Pillai returned to Ceylon.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> However, shortly afterwards the family returned to India when Anthony Pillai was invited back to take over the leadership of the Madras Labour Union (MLU).<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> In early 1947 the MLU started preparing for strikes at the Buckingham and Carnatic Mills.<ref name="MM160309"/> As a result, Anthony Pillai was arrested on 10 March 1947 on government orders.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Tens of thousands of workers took part in hartals and demonstrations demanding the release of Anthony Pillai and other union leaders.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> The government, fearing that workers may try to free Anthony Pillai, transferred him to a prison in remote Andhra.<ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> The MLU was banned on 9 June 1947, its assets seized and members arrested.<ref name="MM160309"/> The MLU was forced to abandon the strikes at the mills.<ref name="MM160309"/>

Anthony Pillai served as the union's president from 1946 to 75 and also in 1983.<ref name="MIA"/> He was a member of the [[All India Trade Union Congress]]' general council and the Workers' United Front's executive committee in 1947.<ref name="MIA"/> He founded the Indian Overseas Bank Employees' Union in 1948 and served as its president.<ref name="MIA"/> He was elected president of the Madras Port Trust Employees' Union in 1948.<ref name="MIA"/> He was general-secretary and vice president of the All India Port and Dock Workers' Federation until 2000.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/> He was president of the All India Transport Workers' Union, vice president of the [[Hind Mazdoor Sabha]] (1952 and 1960–74) and president of the Tamil Nadu Council of Hind Mazdoor Sabha (1957 and 1968).<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/> He was a trustee of the [[Chennai Port Trust]] from 1954 to 2000.<ref name="HBL170800"/><ref name="MIA"/> He led several strikes at the [[Port of Madras]].<ref name="HBL170800"/> Anthony Pillai is believed to have led over 200 unions during his lifetime.<ref name="MIA"/>

In 1948 the BLPI merged into the [[Socialist Party (India)|Socialist Party]] (SP) and Anthony Pillai joined the SP.<ref name="MIA"/> He was a member of the [[Madras Municipal Corporation]] between 1948 and 1959.<ref name="MIA"/><ref name="MM160309"/><ref name="TH111208"/> Anthony Pillai led the opposition to the SP's merger with the [[Kisan Mazdoor Praja Party]], founding the breakaway Socialist Party (Loyalists) in 1952.<ref name="MIA"/> Anthony Pillai represented Choolai in the [[Madras State Legislative Assembly]] between 1952 and 1957.<ref name="HBL170800"/><ref name="MIA"/> He joined the Socialist Party (Lohia) in 1956.<ref name="MIA"/> He represented [[Madras North (Lok Sabha constituency)|Madras North]] in the [[Lok Sabha]] between 1957 and 1962.<ref name="MIA"/> Anthony Pillai then formed the SLP which merged into the [[Tamil National Party]] (TNP) in 1961.<ref name="MIA"/> In 1964 the TNP merged into the [[Indian National Congress]] (INC) and Anthony Pillai joined the INC.<ref name="MIA"/>
Anthony Pillai tried unsuccessfully to regain the Madras North at the [[1967 Indian general election]].<ref name="MIA"/> When the INC split Anthony Pillai joined [[K. Kamaraj]]'s [[Indian National Congress (Organisation)]].<ref name="MIA"/>

Anthony Pillai died on 16 August 2000 of cardiac arrest at a private hospital in [[Chennai]], India.<ref name="HBL170800"/>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{LSSP}}

{{authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Anthony Pillai, S. C. C.}}
[[Category:1914 births]]
[[Category:2000 deaths]]
[[Category:2nd Lok Sabha members]]
[[Category:Alumni of King's College London]]
[[Category:Alumni of St. Patrick's College, Jaffna]]
[[Category:Alumni of the Ceylon University College]]
[[Category:Politicians from Chennai]]
[[Category:Tamil Nadu municipal councillors]]
[[Category:Indian National Congress politicians from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Trade unionists from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Lanka Sama Samaja Party politicians]]
[[Category:Lok Sabha members from Tamil Nadu]]
[[Category:Members of the Tamil Nadu Legislative Assembly]]
[[Category:People of British Ceylon]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan Roman Catholics]]
[[Category:Tamil politicians]]
[[Category:Tamil trade unionists]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan people of Indian descent]]
[[Category:Indian people of Sri Lankan descent]]
[[Category:Sri Lankan trade unionists]]

S. C. C. Anthony Pillai - Revision history

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