Former Presidents Chandrika Kumaratunga and Maithripala Sirisena were seen presiding over a ceremony to mark the 126th birth anniversary of S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike in Colombo this week, a former Sri Lankan prime minister and architect of legislation that spurred decades of anti-Tamil violence.
Former Presidents attend commemoration for SWRD Bandaranaike pic.twitter.com/3240qY04IE
— DailyMirror (@Dailymirror_SL) January 8, 2025
The event took place at Galle Face Green, where a statue of Bandaranaike is located. The same statue was blind folded by protestors during the Aragalaya demonstrations in 2022.
The incident was blamed on an article published in the Tamil Guardian at the time. The General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) called for Sri Lankan police to open an investigation after a statute of SWRD Bandaranaike was temporarily blindfolded by protestors, claiming a Tamil Guardian article had inspired the move.
Bandaranaike oversaw two anti-Tamil pogroms that killed hundreds and was the architect behind the 1956 Sinhala Only Act, a piece of legislation that spurred decades of more racist violence.
His introduction of the Sinhala Only Act in 1956 made Sinhala the sole official language, sidelining Tamil, which alienated the Tamil population and led to widespread unemployment and disenfranchisement in government sectors. His promotion of Sinhala Buddhist nationalism, along with the prioritization of Sinhala Buddhism as a central element of national identity, further exacerbated the sense of exclusion felt by Tamils.
These divisive policies set the stage for future conflict, with Bandaranaike's government refusing to address Tamil grievances in any meaningful way. In 1958, anti-Tamil pogroms erupted across Sri Lanka, partly as a result of the Sinhala Only Act. Although Bandaranaike signed the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam Pact in 1957, which promised to address some Tamil demands, it was quickly abandoned under pressure from Sinhala nationalists, intensifying Tamil disillusionment.
Read more: Why Sri Lanka’s protestors must topple the statue of Bandaranaike in Colombo