1956 Social Revolution:

Empowering the marginalised

by Javid yusuf

The full implications and lessons of the social revolution of 1956 ushered in by the late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike is often only partly understood by us.

Founder of the SLFP, S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike (biography.com)

In an era where we tend to paint a political scenario as either black or white, the victory of the Bandaranaike-led MEP coalition in 1956 is either described as all good or all bad. As in most cases, the truth lies in between.

When Sri Lanka gained independence in 1948, power was transferred as was inevitable to the country's elite and the ordinary people had little or no say in governance and the affairs of state.

The gap between the ruling class and the people of the time is best exemplified by the interaction between Prime Minister Sir John Kotelawala and the Swabasha Trained Teachers' Association.

Sinhala Only

In response to the Swabasha Trained Teachers' long-standing demand for equal pay with the English-trained teachers, Sir John Kotelawala dismissed the demand of the Swabasha Teachers with the remark that the English-trained teachers needed higher salaries because they ate ham and bacon whereas the Swabasha teachers did not.

The changes that followed the 1956 election are often looked at from the perspective of the 'Sinhala Only' cry and its impact on the events that followed.

However, it is not often recognised that the although the Sinhala Only slogan was couched in linguistic terms, it was in reality, a slogan designed to empower the vast mass of the people who were marginalised and were not enjoying the benefits of independence in as much as English was the language of administration to the exclusion of both Sinhala and Tamil.

It was never intended to inflict dominance over the Tamil community by the Sinhalese community.

Where Bandaranaike erred was in not making Tamil the official language along with Sinhala.

However, he soon realised this and sought to engage in course correction by negotiating the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact in which he addressed the grievances of the Tamil community.

However, he was compelled to go back on this attempt, when racist forces virtually intimidated him into tearing up the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact. But the consequences of his action was not lost on him when he told his detractors that he was tearing up the Pact due to their pressure but he would not be responsible for the consequences on the country.

Era of equality

The common man's era as the post 1956 period was called, also ushered in a period of social and economic reforms aimed at restructuring society to benefit the poor and the marginalised. But a discussion on that subject cannot be done in a meaningful way in a short article of this nature.

Another sphere that Bandaranaike's victory yielded positive results was the international arena. In foreign affairs, the Leftist parties were aligned to the Soviet bloc while the UNP gravitated to the West.

Bandaranaike steered the country to a policy of non-alignment while maintaining the best of ties with the two power blocs that dominated the world at the time.

He was an articulate defender and advocate of non-alignment in the international arena and took great pains to clearly set out the values that underpinned such a policy.

Justice and freedom

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly in 1956, Bandaranaike said: "We are supposed to be uncommitted nations. I strongly object to the word. We are committed to the hilt.

We are committed to preserve decency in dealings between nations. We are committed to the cause of justice and freedom as anyone is. That briefly is our position in Asia."

It was in pursuance of these values that he made a sterling address in support of the Arabs at the United Nations during the Suez crisis.

Youth rebellions

Looking back at the changes that followed in 1956, there is a lesson for politicians and political leaders alike. A political leader must never lose control of the forces that he gathers together.

Else these very forces that propelled him to power can take the country in a direction that was never intended or, what is worse, such political leadership can be engulfed and destroyed by those very forces.

It is also likely that if the changes of 1956 did not take place the youth rebellions of 1971 and 1988 may have come earlier. The cry of the rural people for their due place resonated in the cry Colombata kiri, apata kekiri.

The Revolution of 1956 hastened the process of Government turning its attention towards them. Bandaranaike was probably aware of his role in addressing these issues. This may have been what prompted him to describe his role in the following words: "I am performing a caesarean operation on the womb of time."