Glimpse of History from ANCL Archives :

Sirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike - an outstanding stateswoman

To mark International Women's Day on March 08 :

by Indeewara Thilakarathne

With Prime Minister Indira Ghandhi

Opening of the Commonwealth Prime Ministers' meeting in Australia(Mrs Bandaranaike in a chat with Australian Prime Minister Robert Menzies and Nkrumah of Ghana

The stamp in honour of the World's First woman Prime Minister

In Conversation with German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt

Before casting her vote

Sirima R.D Bandaranaike

SIRIMAVO R. D. BANDARANAIKE (Born April 17, 1916) was the world's first elected woman Prime Minister, and a founder leader of the Non Aligned Movement (NAM).

Apart from becoming the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka three times, she was also an illustrious stateswoman who had not only signed the historic Sirima-Shasthri pact to find a political solution to the problem of Tamils of Indian origin but also effectively intervened to solve the Sino-Indian dispute. She represented Sri Lanka at various international fora including the United Nations Organisations and the Non-Aligned Movement.

She also brought a resolution before the UN asking that the Indian Ocean be made a Peace Zone. She had the rare distinction of rubbing shoulders with outstanding world leaders like Indira Gandhi of India, Anwar Sadat of Egypt and Marshall Tito of Yugoslavia.

Before becoming the Prime Minister in 1994 she took her oaths as the Minister without Portfolio on August 19, 1994, and donated her salary to the Treasury. She worked as an advisor to the Cabinet of Ministers of her daughter's government.

Indian Prime Ministers Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi had very close family connections with the Bandaranaike family and as a result the Indo-Sri Lanka relations during her rule was unique.

Her friendly and cordial approach helped to find solutions to festering problems. Such as the Sirima-Shasthri agreement between Mrs. Bandaranaike and Lal Bahadur Shasthri which helped to sign an accord with India. It was solely due to her efforts that an amicable settlement favourable to Sri Lanka was reached on the question of Kachchativu, a tiny island between the South Coast of India and Sri Lanka's North Coast . Now the island belongs to Sri Lanka.

Once when border issues between India and China showed signs of corruption, Mrs. Bandaranaike separately met the leaders and brought pacification.

She ruled the country from July 1960 to March 1965 and then from 1970 to 1977. For nearly 12 years Mrs. Bandaranaike ruled the country. During the height of terror in 1988 she polled 2,289,868 votes (44.9 per cent) as the presidential candidate at the elections held on December 19, 1988. Former President Ranasinghe Premadasa who won the election polled only 50.4 per cent. Mr. Ossie Abeyagoonasekera received 4.5 per cent votes.

As the daughter of Barnes Ratwatte Dissawwa and Ratwatte Kumarihamy, she received her education at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo.

In 1940, she married Mr. S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike the then Minister of Local Government and Health, who later became Prime Minister of the country in 1956 and continued till September 1959, when he was assassinated.

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike was appointed Prime Minister (as a member of the Senate) and contested her first seat in Parliament in March 1965 from the electorate of Attanagalle - and was returned by a majority of votes and later became the Leader of the Opposition.

She had given leadership to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP), the party founded by her late husband both in good times and bad times.