SWRD Bandaranaike's SLFP died on the 16 January,2015

A Reply to Kautilya

Kautilya, before you hasten to reply to my article , you should have understand what I said. I said that SWRD Bandaranaike’s SLFP died on the 16 January,2015, when the then President of the SLFP - the President Mahinda Rajapakse thrust the Presidency of the SLFP on the President elect Maithripala Sirisena.  In other words when the President Sirisena became the President of SLFP,   it was no more the SLFP of SWRD Bandaranayake.

Why ?

Because  when SWRD  left UNP, it was never to come back to the UNP fold again. SWRD disagreed with the political ideology of the UNP as being a party which is a stranger to Sri Lanka’s religious, cultural and social values. Which is  amply evident today from the actions being taken by the UNP Prime Minister  with a UNP dominated Cabinet with an aggressive pro Western capitalist Agenda.

I really cannot understand what nonsense you keep writing contradicting what you write in one paragraph with what you write in the next. You write there was   no reason for SWRD to leave the UNP in 1952,  and you follow up with,

“SWRD realized that the UNP was  not breaking the sickles after gaining independence. Sri Lanka failed to follow the pattern of India. It continued with the same colonial politics  The only change being that the country was not ruled from Britain.”

You just write without trying to reply to what I wrote in my article, therefore it’s best ignore what you have written  and expand what I meant when I said SWRD’s SLFP died when its leadership was handed over to Maithripala Sirisena.

For many politicians in Sri Lanka being a politician is like being a boutique keeper. Just run the business. For them there is no philosophy in it. But SWRD coming from a rich and a distinct family, who had studies at Oxford where he had a brilliant education, he inherited a clean comfortable “job” reserved for him in political  boutique keeping.  But he was different. He came back after his studies with certain political philosophies , ideologies. He was not made to silently sit in the State Council  with his political buddies, and do politics as the rest of them.

He knew that was all he could do with them . But he had a greater vision for his country, which was to make it an Independent Sovereign Nation,  like England, France, Italy, Spain, China, Russia and even India. A Nation which is named after its majority, with its historical, cultural, religious values safeguarded and making them the Identity of  the Sovereign Nation with  one flag, one language and one National Anthem.   The 75 percent of the Sinhala were after all the majority in  his country., and therefore Sri Lanka is a Sinhala country, as England is English, France is French, Germany is German, China is Chinese and India would be Indian.

But the 12  percent or so of Tamils then stood against him demanding equal rights with the Sinhala, as the Tamils continue to do today. SWRD was faced with something he did not expect. But the political vision he expressed in launching the SLFP was to give the rightful place for the pancha maha bala vegaya, and through it unite the country to bring about a united nation of Sri Lankans with all communities sharing in its future prosperity, peace and security.

SWRD could not understand this Tamil opposition to a greater Sovereign Nation of Sri Lankans. But, unfortunately his great ambition for his country was stopped by a foolish man’s bullet. That ended the hope for an Independent Sovereign Sinhala Nation. There was nothing wrong in that, it is not racism,  but it was raising back to its feet a nation that was brought down by colonialism.

People try to argue that things have changed and that we are in the 21^st century. But has Sri Lanka reached the 21^st Century as a true and Independent sovereign State, or are we being pushed backwards by those who gave us independence from colonialism, to the status of an undeveloped colony of the West ?

SWRD’s dream was integrated in the political party he organised- the SLFP, until its leadership  was thrown on the 16^th January,2015,  to Maithripala Sirisena, who was not even a member of the SLFP,  having left it rejecting the ideology of SWRD on his own, to join the UNP and the right wing political groups.

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike as the leader of the SLFP carried out lot of political changes to the country along with the policies of SWRD embedded in the SLFP, but her taking Felix Dias Bandaranayake into its fold may not have been in keeping with SWRD’s political revival.

But SLFP  under  Chandrika’s leadership failed to retain her father’s vision. There was a lot expected from her,  but she failed to give the people and the country what  was expected of her. She had not only the Tamils creating problems, but also the Muslims failed to give her the required political support. The vicious and cruel  anti Sinhala UNP without  any positive vision for the country was a barrier to Chandrika, hemmed between Tamil terrorism and Western agitations to do much for the  development and progress of Sri Lanka

Today the things are no better, Ranil Wuckramasinghe, Ravi Karunanayake, Chandrika Kumaratunga, Mangala Samaraweera, Karu Jayasuriya, Ajith Perera,  are all Agents of the USA and the West doing evry thing to please them.

Maithripala Sirisena is entrenched in a deep gratitude to Ranil Wickramasinghe and Chandrika  for taking him away from SLFP to make of him a President. His allegiance to those who gave him what was beyond his imagination will never make of him a real leader of  the  SLFP with SWRD’s political ideologies entrenched within it.

President Mahinda Rajapakse on the other hand was no political boutique keeper. He had his own political visions and extended further  the political ideologies of SWRD. He took over the leadership of the Country and the SLFP with definite political views, first to eliminate terrorism, then to end  the  thirty years of suffering of the Sri Lankan people , and give bring to the country and the people much needed peace and security. He had to fight against not only the Tamil terrorism , but also Tamil politicians, UNP and other ambition political parties, and the West.

It is a pity that Mahinda Rajapakse  was not re-elected as President  in 2015, to finish the work he had yet to finish. Of course there will always be those who will continue to accuse him without any evidence for every fault under the sun, though he has done none of them as his ambition had been to free the country of terrorists, and then  unite the three Communities to make Sri Lanka an Independent Sovereign Nation,  as SWRD himself wanted it to be.  For a politician the family is his “political tool bag” . It may be a hindrance, a great help, or both.

There may be lot of political analysts, “objective” journalists, and others who will argue against this, but Kautilya that is what I believe- the SLFP under Maithripala Sirisena’s leadership is not the SLFP of SWRD Bandaranaike. Just forget about it and join the “Sri Lanka Podujana Peramuna”  that replaces the SLFP which died on the 16^th January,2015.