Caluadewage Cyril Mathew (30 September 1912 – 17 October 1989) was a Sri Lankan politician, member of parliament,[1] representing the Kelaniya electorate,[2] and served as the Minister of Industry and Scientific Affairs in the Jayewardene cabinet (1977–1986).
[6] He is widely regarded as one of the key ministers responsible for instigating the anti-Tamil pogrom of July 1983, where he was seen leading mobs to burn Tamil businesses.
[14] Mathew was expelled from the cabinet and the governing United National Party by President J. R. Jayewardene in 1984 after publicly criticising a conference called by Jayewardene to redress grievances of the Tamil minority.
[15] Jayewardene's successor, Ranasinghe Premadasa, subsequently reinstated Mathew's party membership.
His son Nanda was also a member of the parliament[16] and later held several ministerial posts, including Minister of Sports and Youth affairs, under successive UNP governments.