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| Sunday, 5 February 2006 |
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Junior Observer |  |
| News Business Features Editorial
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S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike: Champion of the common people It's only yesterday that Sri Lanka celebrated its Independence Day. So the time is still right to focus on our national heroes. Former Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike was one such prominent personality who played a leading role in Sri Lanka's political history.
He created a social revolution when he was elected Premier in 1956. He received the support of the 'Pancha Maha Balavegaya' comprising the Bhikkus, teachers, farmers, physicians and the working class, for his victory. Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike was born on January 8, 1899, at Horagolla, Nittambuwa. He received his early education at S. Thomas' College, Mt. Lavinia, and his higher education at Oxford University, England. He became the Secretary of the Oxford Union in 1923. He came back to Sri Lanka (then Ceylon) in 1925. Although he wasn't very proficient in Sinhala at the time, he became one of the leading orators in Sinhala. He travelled the length and breadth of the country, meeting people, and his oratorical skills were admired by friends and foes alike. 'SWRD', as he was popularly known, practised as a lawyer for some time, but his heart wasn't in the courtroom - it was with the common people. He gave up his practice and entered politics full time in 1926, by becoming a member of the Colombo Municipal Council. He became active in the United National Party, and from 1931 to 1951 served the party in legislative and ministerial posts. In 1951, Bandaranaike led his faction, the Sinhala Maha Sabha, out of the UNP, and established the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP). He had organised the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1937 to promote Sinhalese culture and community interests. He was the first to make a speech in Sinhala at the State Assembly. Winning the 1956 elections under the SLFP ticket, he became Prime Minister, which post he held till his death in 1959. Bandaranaike made Sinhala the official language of the country, and promoted socialist and non-Western policies that significantly changed the course of Ceylonese politics in the following decades. Some of his many contributions to the country include establishing a Ministry of Culture and Department of Ayurveda, turning the Vidyodaya and Vidyalankara Pirivenas into universities, abolishing British bases in Katunayake and Trincomalee, nationalising the bus service and the Colombo Port and making May Day a national holiday. He was also instrumental in a resurgence of Buddhism in the country. SWRD was assassinated in 1959 at his Colombo residence, plunging the entire nation into mourning. He was succeeded as Premier by his wife, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike, who became the first woman in the world to hold this position. He was the father of Sunethra Bandaranaike, former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga, and current Tourism Minister Anura Bandaranaike. Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan : A key player in the independence struggle Sir Ponnambalam Ramanathan was one of the prominent freedom fighters of the country's independence struggle. Sir P. Ramanathan was the second son of Ponnambalam Mudaliyar and Sellachi Ammaiyar, who was the daughter of Gate Mudaliyar Coomaraswamy. He was born on April 16, 1851. He had his early education at the Colombo Academy (now Royal College) and proceeded to Presidency College, Madras, for higher studies. On his return, he chose the legal profession and became an Advocate of the Colombo Bar in 1874. As a young advocate, he became prominent by editing the Law Reports of the previous 36 years. Subsequently, he was appointed Editor of the official Law Reports, which position he held for nearly ten years. In 1879, at the age of 28, he was chosen for the Nominated Unofficial Member seat in the Legislative Council, in preference to a senior Advocate C. Britto. This was his first step into the political arena. It was a very keen contest, with several public meetings being held in Jaffna. He secured the seat, which his distinguished grandfather had earlier occupied. He was later called to the English Bar (Inner Temple). At the age of 38, he was a Senior Barrister, with over fifteen years legal experience and was also the Unofficial Leader of the Legislative Council. He was invited by the Government to function as Solicitor General. He accepted and held that position from 1892 to 1908. When, in 1903, King's Counsels were appointed in Ceylon, Ramanathan was one of the first to receive the honour. His lectures on Hinduism and Hindu Philosophy, delivered in the United States, were published by his wife later. In 1911, he won the election for the Educated Ceylonese seat in the Legislative Council, defeating Dr. Marcus Fernando, a popular physician. He retained the seat for over ten years. He was very much in the forefront during the 1915 riots in Ceylon, when he battled for the release of the Sinhalese leaders who were held in detention. He even made a hazardous journey to England, during the First World War, to present their case personally. He won their release, and on his return, the supporters of the leaders showed their appreciation by carrying him in a palanquin from the landing jetty. Ramanathan was a lawyer, legislator, scholar, statesman and silver-tongued orator. He was knighted in 1921, when he was seventy years old, and became nominated Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council for 1922-1924. When territorial representation was introduced, he contested and won the Valikamam North Seat, in the Jaffna peninsula, which he occupied from l924, until his death on November 26, 1930, almost 80 years old. His monumental contribution to education was the establishment of two schools, the Ramanathan College for Girls, established at Chunnakam in 1913, and the Parameshwara College for boys, eight years later. The latter has since become the Jaffna University Campus. He rebuilt
the Hindu Sivan Temple, commenced by his father in Colombo, in granite
stone sculpture. |
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