Sirimavo R.D. Bandaranaike : Martyr in the cause of truth, democracy and justice
 

by Dr. T.C. Rajaratnam

Today, the portrait of the world's first lady Prime Minister would be unveiled in the portals of Parliament. Illustrious for her historic renown and for distinguished service to the people of this country she is worthy of this national commemoration. She is, Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike (1916-2000), Prime Minister of Sri Lanka (1960-1965, 1970-1977, 1994-2000).

Almost 25 years ago, this lady delivered her defense speech in Parliament that moved a nation. Soon afterwards she was politically martyred by the then government by a man who proclaimed himself Executive President and every organ of state danced to his tune. She survived the tragic ordeal, the disgrace and persecution.

She was touched by tragedies, exhilarated by challenges, strengthened by achievements by herself, her son and daughters. The Bandaranaikes stand as Sri Lanka's most distinguished family and have been loyal to the nation and their party by their blood, sweat and tears. I am glad that my family has stood by them from the turbulent times of the assassination of late S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike to date. Our friendship dates back three generations.

Power was bestowed upon them. They have the desire to forgive those who have harmed them. This is what every religion teaches.

Sirimavo Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike was a great lady, filled with courage and determination to serve the nation. She was victimized, persecuted and politically assassinated for the vile pursuits of a few.

It is noteworthy to cite the English text of the speech of Madam Sirimavo Bandaranaike, which is self-explanatory and speaks of her achievements, objectives, vision for the nation and the heart to forgive and expose the fraud, deceit and conspiracy of the persecutors, as reported in the Hansard (Parliamentary Debates) Official Report of 16th October 1980 Volume 11 No.15:

"This is the first occasion in the history of the Legislature of this country on which the support of the Honourable Members of Parliament has been sought for a terrible proposal which has its objectives, the removal from the political scene by the imposition of Civic Disabilities of an individual who is the Leader of a major political party in this country a Member of the Honourable House and Prime Minister of 12 years by vote of the people freely exercised. The right I am to be deprived of is fundamental amongst the fundamental rights and basic amongst human rights.

This attempt politically to destroy me is based on a recommendation of a Commission of Inquiry so called and is motivated solely by the egocentric political ambitions of a vicious few who are the focus of power in the government of the day. The deed that is to be done today by a power -hungry minority in the ranks of the United National Party is a political assassination without precedent at home or abroad, in recent times or in the past.

If I may make a prognostication on behalf of all right-thinking peoples who have to be helpless onlookers when they should have been the makers of any decision which is the subject matter of this resolution, there will come a time when they the people would be the judges and the political assassins of today would be prisoners at the bar of electoral justice. I am to be guillotined today, but my assassins will in time to come which should not be too long in coming, be carried in the tumbrils driven relentlessly by the democratic political processes of a free country.

"The people of this country are shocked at what is to be imposed on me today. At the same time, a series of important legal questions have been posed before the courts of this country which we respect even though the leaders of the country do not.

Countless people in this country and in other lands have been astounded by the crime that is to be committed against the people of Sri Lanka, against my party, against myself and against every principle of right action. It is my duty, therefore, to demonstrate to this Honourable House and through this Honourable House to the world, the true causes which have motivated the resolution before this House today and the consequences that would necessarily flow from the decisions taken today.

"Mr. Speaker, I have been a Member of the Legislature for full 20 years. I have been Prime Minister for 12 of those years. If the evil intentions of those tyrannical rulers who are responsible for imposing on their own rank and file a proposal in violation of both rule and tradition, be fulfilled today, this would be the last speech I would make in this House.

"The shot that killed my husband who was Prime Minister before I held that office was fired on the 25th day of September, twenty one years ago. The hand of the assassin was directed by a group of conspirators. The political blow by which similar conspiratorial groups seeks to assassinate me politically, abusing governmental power was first dealt in this House this year also on the 25th of September.

"The innocent ordinary masses of this country could not be suppressed by murdering the late S.W.R.D.Bandaranaike. The plain intention of the conspiracy was to destroy democracy in this country and substitute for it a dictatorship. This was frustrated because I who had never been in politics before entered the political life of this country.

Although an attempt is made today to exile me from politics, our people will not be suppressed by this attempt. I give notice here and now, Mr. Speaker, through you, to those unprincipled rulers in the United National party and to those behind them that I will not permit the suppression of the people of this country through attempts to destroy me or by any other means.

"On 26th September 1959, my husband was assassinated. I was left with three orphaned children. I had no idea at this stage of taking to politics. As the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and her people had also been orphaned by the murder of my husband, responsible persons in the party and numerous persons of the public insisted that whatever my family responsibilities be at that tragic moment, I must yield to a larger duty and accept the leadership of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party.

It was a historic moment of the country and a decisive moment for me. My dilemma was whether to devote the entirety of my time and effort to look after my three orphaned children or to sacrifice the personal interests of my family for the principles for the country and for the party for which my husband gave his life. Acting according to conscience, I chose the latter and accepted the leadership of the party to serve within the limits of my capacity the masses of this country, it was not for love of office that I yielded to the appeals of my party.

"On the results of the general elections held in July 1960, my party was returned with a large majority, and I became Prime Minister. Everybody knows that during the period of government of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party that commenced after this election we implemented policies directed towards the common men and against the exploitation of men and resources by a privileged few.

The tremendous economic power vested in a minority of foreign and local interests was broken by the transfer to public ownership of resources, enterprises and institutions which provided the foundation for that power. Agriculture and industry were developed though not to the extent of resolving all the problems of this country. In accordance with our deliberated policies, this development benefited the large masses and not a wealthy minority.

Our social and economic policies were implemented so as to eliminate as far as possible the unchecked consequences of disparities of incomes. What they sought to end largely succeeded in giving our people the opportunity of living with respect. They improved the quality of life of the rural and urban poor.

When the large mass of people in a poor country such as ours so benefit from the policies of a government, there follows necessarily an abridgement or elimination of social and economic privileges hitherto enjoyed without scruple by certain local and foreign interests. It should be no cause for surprise that such interests would rise to oppose and if possible destroy a regime which would not permit exploitation of the country by then.

History teaches us that when such interests are adversely affected they act to destroy parties and leaders who genuinely represent the people and also that the methods they adopt are conspiratorial and unscrupulous, I have already said that the people could not be suppressed by assassinating the Prime Minister, Mr. Bandaranaike in 1959. It is now well known that in 1962, those interests that I referred to earlier tried to overthrow by violent means the Government of which I was head and both my party and myself. Several persons who were party to this act of treason were tried in our courts, convicted and sentenced. They were later acquitted in the Privy Council but only on a question of law.

"Although these convicted conspirators were acquitted on a point of law, the facts against them were proved and that proof has not been shaken. If anybody would like to know whether there were elements in the United National Party connected to this conspiracy and who those were, they need only to make inquiries from the leader of the United National Party.

"With the failure of the attempted coup-d'etat in 1962, the frustration of those who would destroy the duly elected Government increased and their plans did not abate. At the end of 1964, some members of the then government Parliamentary Group were got at to vote against the government. The consequences of this was the defeat of the government on an important vote in the House of Representatives by a majority of just one. How this was arranged is a matter well within the knowledge of the leader of the United National Party, the present President of Sri Lanka.

"Mr. Speaker, I have now to emphasize a matter of great importance. The objectives of the attempted coup-d'etat were the destruction of the democratic system of government in this country and the establishment of a dictatorship. The method adopted to achieve these objectives was the overthrow by violent means the government of which I was head.

The entire country knows that, despite the great odds that I faced , new to government and politics as I was, it was I who protected democracy and saved this country from a set of megalomaniacs. Many are the instances of such situations being used by the intended victims already in power to impose authoritarian rule.

What I did was to do all I could to protect the democratic system of government. This honourable House and the country are today the beneficiaries of the course I adopted then. However, I am forced to conclusion now, that if the unprincipled leadership of the present government were in a similar situation there can be no doubt that the situation would be exploited as a cover to establish dictatorial rule. I believe that I have the right to expect that this House would not forget how in those dark days, I saved the civic rights of the entire nation, when these honourable members decide today whether or not my civic rights should be destroyed and whether I should be expelled from this House.

"In 1970 I became Prime Minister with a mandate which gave me a majority of more than two thirds of the members of the House of Representatives . Although our government was elected with such a mandate from the people, what happened before the government was one year old ? For the first time in history of this country there was an armed insurrection against a democratically elected government.

A group of conspirators persuaded several thousand young men and young women to rise in arms against the duly constituted government of which I was Prime Minister . This was the result of another plan which was a part of a series of conspiracies which have been a feature of opposition to the Sri Lanka Freedom Party and its leaders whether we were in power or in the opposition.

The conspiracy which led to the insurrection struck at the foundation of our society. Young people who were of an age when they would be seeking to feel independent of parents and when they would not yet have stabilized themselves by marriage and by having their own children were persuaded that, in the logic of things they owed no loyalties to their families.

They were persuaded in their immaturity to believe that religion was a reactionary concept which should be rejected. Having thus undermined the social and cultural foundations of our young people, the conspirators persuaded them to make an attempt to overthrow the duly constituted government by violent means, assassinating me in the process. That there has been an established pattern on the part of power hungry elements to destroy me by conspiracy and arms is quite clear.

"Mr. Speaker, I now state in this Honourable House that this Motion introduced to deprive me of civic rights today is also none other than the result of a conspiracy. I ask the Honourable Ministers of this Government and the Honourable Members of the ruling party to examine their conscience and decide whether or not this is so. Consider the manner in which allegations were made against me ex-parte before the Special Presidential Commission.

Consider the manner in which the proceedings were conducted. On what date was the report printed and available ? Did the Honourable Ministers sitting as a Cabinet have the opportunity to read the report, analyse it, consider the findings and recommendations as any responsible body should have had? What were the circumstances in which the report was presented to the Members of the Cabinet? I wish to make one thing clear at this point. Article 81 of the constitution adopted in 1978, requires a resolution introduced consequent to the recommendations of a Special Presidential Commission of Inquiry to have been first approved by the Cabinet of Ministers.

The Cabinet does not have to approve the introduction of such a resolution merely because a Commission has made a recommendation. Indeed each and every member of the Cabinet has a grave constitutional duty apart from his political responsibility to consider fully the report of a Commission and decide whether a resolution should be introduced. If the Ministers or Honourable Members have been informed otherwise , let them read and understand Article 81. The Cabinet has politically and constitutionally to consider every word of a Report of a Commission.

Has that duty been discharged. I Say NO.

"Mr. Speaker, we all know that the Honourable Members of this House who vote on my Civic Rights today have themselves not been given the opportunity of coming to their own solemn conclusion as to whether the findings and recommendations of the Commission are acceptable. They are not allowed to decide whether they should vote to destroy me politically or whether they should act with that basic sense of justice our culture, if not their leaders have endowed them with. Quite apart from the injustice to me, are not the coercive attitudes of the megalomaniac mentality a gross injustice to the members of the United National Party themselves?

"Mr. Speaker, I make no allegations of injustice or conspiracies against the large majority of U.N.P. Members of Parliament, the majority of the members of the UNP and the broad masses who have voted for the UNP in the expectation of good government. I know it for a fact that most UNP members of this House , several Ministers and the vast majority of the UNP voters, particularly those loyal to the memory of the truth of the founders and of the true leaders of that party, do not approve of the action by which a vicious minority seeks to eliminate me from the political scene and to destroy the one party which could give this country an alternative democratic government.

The majority prefer to decide on this motion in accordance with the principles of justice, human rights and according to the tenets of the religions they revere. But not so the victims of megalomania. The action now proposed against me is a political crime, not hereto-fore even thought of in this country that claimed to be democratic. It is sponsored and forced upon the majority by a group that has as its goal the subjection of our country and our people now to a tyranny and later perhaps to a reign of terror.

"Mr. Speaker the present move to destroy me politically would be welcome also to money-makers from overseas and perhaps to certain foreign governments whose aims to exploit countries such as ours are only too well known. It is reasonable to conclude that the foreign policy I adopted when I was Prime Minister and the actions I took in foreign affairs have moved certain foreign interests to ensure that I do not head a government in this country ever again.

As Chairman of the Conference of Non Aligned Nations, I had opportunities to seek solutions to several problems the less developed countries had. When I had such an opportunity I did not hesitate to take it. I believe to sleep tonight the sleep of the just, their hands and voices must obey their conscience and naught else. I was able to be of help in resolving several issues arising at international levels acting always in accordance with the principles of the Non Aligned Movement. I initiated moves to make the Indian Ocean a Peace Zone. I took action to have the rights of this country acknowledged in respect of a zone up to 200 mile limit off our shores.

"Mr. Speaker, the problems of persons of Indian origin living and working in our estate sector had been one which no government before my time had been able to resolve. Whether I be politically dismembered by resolution in this House today or not, it is with pride that I place on record the solution to the problem of stateless persons reached by the act entered into between late Lal Bahadur Shastri and myself. I was able to resolve the dispute relating to Kachchaitivu island by friendly discussions with Shrimati Indira Gandhi, Prime Minister of India. Today Kachchaitivu is part of our territories.

"All this I did for the service of my motherland and in the interests of all mankind."

"Yet Mr. Speaker, at a time like the present , when economically and socially our country is once again being betrayed to foreign interests, my policies(or the policies I would adopt if I were to return to power again) must be anathema to those who betray the national interest. Today this government, is creating once again in this country a foreign elite and genuflecting before it with social subservience, while reducing our fellow countrymen to the level of second class citizens in their own homeland. Those who implement these policies who by betraying this country hope to make inordinate financial gains in quick time, know very well that if I remain a force in politics, I would permit no betrayal of our people."

"The entire country knows that when my party and I return to power again our people will regain their rightful place and that there would be no sell out of the national interest to so-called foreign investors or to foreign regimes or to international lending institutions.

I therefore ask the Honourable Members of this House , who sit today as judges to examine their conscience before they decide to inflict on me the terrible injury that would rob me of my electoral franchise. Whatever the High Command of the United National Party might say, Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members of this House are sitting here today as the High Court of Parliament. A court must act according to conscience. A court must not be dictated to.

This House is not today, debating government legislation, or a financial measure, or a proposed of government policy. It is sitting today to decide whether or not a citizen and member of this House who has been a Prime Minister of this country and who has not been found guilty of any offence known to law should or should not be disenfranchised and expelled from this House. There can be no question of a Party Whip being applied in such a Parliamentary situation.

(The writer is the Co-Ordinating Secretary to the Chief Government Whip of Parliament & a foreign correspondent)

To be continued