S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike | |
|---|---|
| සොලොමන් වෙස්ට් රිජ්වේ ඩයස් බණ්ඩාරනායක சாலமன் வெஸ்ட் ரிட்ஜ்வே டயஸ் பண்டாரநாயக்கா | |
| 4th Prime Minister of Ceylon | |
| In office 12 April 1956 – 26 September 1959 | |
| Monarch | Elizabeth II |
| Governor General | Oliver Ernest Goonetilleke |
| Preceded by | John Kotelawala |
| Succeeded by | Wijeyananda Dahanayake |
| 2nd Leader of the Opposition | |
| In office 9 June 1952 – 18 February 1956 | |
| Prime Minister | Dudley Senanayake |
| Preceded by | N. M. Perera |
| Succeeded by | N. M. Perera |
| Leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party | |
| In office 2 September 1951 – 26 September 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | C. P. de Silva |
| 3rd Leader of the House | |
| In office 26 September 1947 – 12 July 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | D. S. Senanayake |
| Preceded by | D. S. Senanayake |
| Succeeded by | John Kotelawala |
| Minister of Health and Local Government | |
| In office 26 September 1947 – 12 July 1951 | |
| Prime Minister | D. S. Senanayake |
| Preceded by | Position established |
| Succeeded by | Dudley Senanayake |
| Member of the Ceylon Parliament for Attanagalla | |
| In office 14 October 1947 – 26 September 1959 | |
| Preceded by | Constituency established |
| Succeeded by | James Obeyesekere |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 8 January 1899 Colombo, British Ceylon (present-day Sri Lanka) |
| Died | 26 September 1959 (aged 60) Colombo, Ceylon |
| Manner of death | Assassination |
| Political party | Sri Lanka Freedom Party (1951–1959) |
| Other political affiliations | United National Party (1946–1951) |
| Spouse | Sirima Ratwatte (m. 1940) |
| Children | Sunethra Chandrika Anura |
| Parent | Solomon Dias Bandaranaike (father) |
| Relatives | Panini Ilangakoon (cousin) James Peter Obeyesekere II (cousin) |
| Education | Christ Church, Oxford (BA) Inner Temple (LPC) |
| Website | Official website |
Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (8 January 1899 – 26 September 1959), also known as "The Silver Bell of Asia" (ආසියාවේ රිදී සීනුව), was a Sri Lankan statesman who served as the fourth Prime Minister of the Dominion of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), serving from 1956 until his assassination in 1959. The founder of the left-wing and Sinhalese nationalist Sri Lanka Freedom Party, he was elected the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon after creating a powerful coalition called the Mahajana Eksath Peramuna and contesting on the lines of Sinhalese nationalism and democratic socialism. He achieved a landslide victory over the ruling United National Party in the general elections in 1956.
His tenure saw some of the first left wing reforms instituted by the Freedom Party in Sri Lanka such as the nationalizing bus services and introducing legislation to prohibit caste based discrimination. Bandaranaike further consolidated Sri Lanka's newly gained independence by formally abrogating the 1947 United Kingdom–Ceylon Defence Agreement and establishing diplomatic missions with a number of communist states. He implemented a new language policy, the Sinhala Only Act, making Sinhala the sole official language of the country, creating much controversy.
On 25 September 1959, Bandaranaike was shot at his town house in Colombo and died of his wounds the day after. A Buddhist monk named Ven Talduwe Somarama was arrested, convicted and hanged for the murder of Bandaranaike. Minister of Education and the acting leader of the house, Wijeyananda Dahanayake was appointed caretaker prime minister by the Governor General and was confirmed by Parliament.
Bandaranaike's widow Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike led the Freedom Party to gain a majority in parliament and was elected the first female prime minister in the world. She expanded on her husband's left-wing reforms in her two terms as prime minister from 1960 to 1964 and from 1970 to 1977. In 1994, Bandaranaike's daughter Chandrika Kumaratunga headed a coalition led by the Freedom Party to be elected prime minister and thereafter president serving from 1994 to 2005 and Bandaranaike's son Anura Bandaranaike served as Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka from 2000 to 2001.