{"id":107232,"date":"2020-10-02T15:02:40","date_gmt":"2020-10-02T22:02:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/?p=107232"},"modified":"2020-10-02T15:02:56","modified_gmt":"2020-10-02T22:02:56","slug":"an-important-chapter-in-sls-history","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/2020\/10\/02\/an-important-chapter-in-sls-history\/","title":{"rendered":"An Important Chapter in SL\u2019s History"},"content":{"rendered":"

A note from the history<\/em><\/span><\/h2>\n\n\n

Sixty-one years ago on\nSeptember 25, 1959 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (SWRDB) the Prime\nMinister of Sri Lanka known as Ceylon then was shot and seriously wounded by a\nBuddhist monk. Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike succumbed to his injuries and passed\naway the following day. Therefore September 26, 1959 got etched as an important\ndate in the post-independence history annals of Sri Lanka. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
\n \n SWRD\n Bandaranaike<\/strong>\n <\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table>\n\n\n\n

 The\nimpact of that single assassination was tremendous at that time. The murder of\na prime minister was sensationally shocking news. It was the first major\npolitical assassination experienced by the Island nation in the\npost-Independence era. In later years, political assassinations became a\nregular feature in Sri Lanka.. The death was an event of great historical\nimportance too as it was the first ever assassination of a major political\npersonality in the Island nation at that time. Thereafter September 26, 1959\ngot etched as an important date in the post-independence annals of Sri Lanka.\nIt is against this backdrop that this column delves into what happened six\ndecades ago relying to a very great extent on earlier writings in this\nregard.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SWRD Bandaranaike as\nPremier was officially ensconced in the Prime minister\u2019s official residence\nTemple Trees\u201d at Galle Road, Kollupitiya. Bandaranaike also divided his time\nbetween the ancestral manor at Horagolla Walauwe and his private residence\nTintagel\u201d on 65 Rosemead place, Colombo 7. SWRDB was at Tintagel\u201d on the\nfateful Friday he was shot.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Buddhist monk named\nVen. Talduwe Somarama Thero was among those who came to meet Bandaranaike on\nthe morning of September 25,1959. It was a Friday. The monk was a lecturer at\nthe Government College of Ayurveda or indigenous medicine in Borella. Somarama\nThero also had an Ayurvedic eye clinic in Borella.The ostensible reason for the\nmonk wanting to meet the PM was to appraise him of requirements for the\nAyurveda College.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talduwe Somarama\u2019s\nname at birth was Talduwe Ratugama Rallage Weris Singho. He was born on August\n27, 1915 to Ratugama Rallage Dieris Appuhamy and Iso Hamy. Weris Singho was\neducated at the Talduwe Ihala school and in Dehiowita. He donned the yellow robes\non January 20, 1929 at the age of fourteen. Somarama was ordained in Kandy on\nJune 25, 1936 at the age of twenty-one.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The premier of the\nnation was in the front verandah of his house meeting people who had come to\nsee him. One batch of people was accommodated inside while others stood in line\noutside awaiting their turn to go in. Talduwe Somarama also waited patiently in\nthe queue for his turn and then was admitted in. There was a group of about 20\npersons inside and a queue of around 40 outside.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talduwe Somarama Thero<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talduwe Somarama Thero\nsat on a chair at one corner of the Verandah. He had placed a file and a\nhandkerchief on a low stool by his side on his left. Seated on his right was\nanother Buddhist monk from Polonnaruwa named Ananda Thero. The Polonnaruwa monk\naccompanied by some farmers had come to see the Prime Minister on a matter\nconcerning the appointment of a cooperative society manager. Ananda Thero was\nlater to prove to be a key witness at the trial.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As each person\u2019s name\nwas announced he or she walked up to the Prime Minister, paid obeisance and\narticulated their woes and views. However when Somarama Thero stood up as his\nname was announced, Prime Minister Bandaranaike himself got up respectfully,\nwalked up to him and bowed reverentially as was the custom in greeting a\nBuddhist monk.   <\/p>\n\n\n\n

He then asked the monk\nwhat he could do for him. Somarama \u2013 who seemed tensed up according to Ananda\nThero \u2013 told the PM that certain improvements were needed at the Ayurveda\nCollege. Bandaranaike then replied that he could get the Health Minister A.P.\nJayasuriya to attend to it if the venerable monk stated the requirements in\nwriting and submitted it to him.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The time then was 9.45\nam. Somarama Thero sat down and fumbled with the file on the stool by his side\nas if he was going to pull out a memorandum to be given to the Prime Minister.\nAs the Prime Minister was getting ready to receive what he may have thought\nwere some papers, the Buddhist monk took out a pistol concealed in his robes and\nfired twice at point blank range hitting Bandaranaike in the chest and\nabdomen.The Prime minister made a loud sound like a gasp or moan and went down.\nHe then got up slowly and with great difficulty tried to stagger back inside\nthe house.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

When a shocked Ananda\nThero got up from his chair, a thoroughly excited Somarama stood up and pointed\nhis gun at the priest from Polonnaruwa. An agitated Ananda Thero shouted Ammo\u201d\n(mother). Somarama then turned around and followed Bandaranaike, shooting at\nhim wildly. He fired four more shots thus emptying the magazine. One bullet\ninjured the Prime minister\u2019s hand. Another hit a school teacher named Gunaratne\nwho had also come to see the Prime minister on that morning. A third shot\nsmashed the glass pane on a door. The fourth struck a flower pot breaking it.\nSomarama Thero had used a  .45 Webly Mark VI revolver to fire the six\nshots including the fatal ones.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile there was\npandemonium as the people on the verandah started scattering here and there in\nfear. Ananda Thero ran out and shouted to the policeman on duty at the gate\nthat a monk was shooting at the prime minister. The Policeman who had already\nstarted running towards the house upon hearing the shots came inside and fired\nat Somarama Thero injuring him in the thigh.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Country, race and\nreligion\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Realising what had\nhappened, enraged people surrounded Somarama who was shouting excitedly that he\nhad done so for the country, race and religion\u201d. After a scuffle in which\nSomarama was manhandled by the people, the monk was formally arrested. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The bleeding\nBandaranaike lying on the floor had urged the people not to harm the monk in\nany way. The apprehended monk was taken away by the police to the Harbour\nPolice station amidst tight security. SWRD Bandaranaike was rushed to the\nGeneral Hospital at Borella and taken to the operating theatre .  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tragically,\nBandaranaike never suspected any threat to his person and was unbelievably\nunconcerned about security. Given the levels of security available to VVIP\u2019s\ntoday it is mind boggling to know that only a police sergeant was in charge of\nthe Prime Minister\u2019s security then. Even the sergeant-in-charge was not on duty\nthat morning. Only a constable had been at the gates.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Parliament was in\nsession at Galle Face when news of the assassination attempt reached the house.\nEducation Minister Dr. W. Dahanayake who was to later succeed Bandaranaike as\nPrime minister later wanted Parliament to be adjourned but the majority of the\nhonourable members disagreed. Opposition leader Dr. N.M. Perera stated there\nwas no need to panic\u201d. Several Ministers and MP\u2019s from both the Government and\nopposition left the house and made a bee-line to Borella to see how the premier\nwas faring.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sir Oliver\nGoonetilleke<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Governor General\nof the time was Sir Oliver Goonetilleke. When news reached him of the shooting\nincident Sir Oliver was at Queens House\u201d swearing in the new Italian\nAmbassador Count Paolo di Michelis di Sloughhello. Sir Oliver stopped the\nceremony and rushed to Rosmead Place. Thereafter he sent a message to Parliament\nthat it continue to function in a business as usual\u201dmanner.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Governor-General\nknown and respected for his political wisdom and statesmanship took the\ninitiative of declaring a state of emergency as a precautionary measure. It may\nbe recalled that it was Sir Oliver who acted decisively and declared emergency\nin May 1958 when anti \u2013Tamil violence erupted in a situation where Prime\nMinister Bandaranaike vacillated.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

A state of emergency\nwas declared at 11 a.m. on September 25 by Governor-General Sir Oliver\nGoonetilleka and the Army, Navy and Air Force units including volunteers were\nmobilised and placed in readiness throughout the island. Later events\ndemonstrated that Sir Oliver\u2019s anticipation of trouble and declaration of\nemergency was indeed commendable.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

What happened was that\nBandaranaike after surgery was admitted to the Merchants\u2019 Ward. He issued a\nmessage to the nation from his hospital bed in the Merchants\u2019 Ward. In the\nmessage the Prime Minister was extremely magnanimous towards the man who had\nshot him. Instead of referring to him directly as a Buddhist priest, SWRDB\ndescribed him as a foolish man dressed in the robes of a monk\u201d. The premier\nalso called upon the government and authorities to show compassion to this man\nand not try to wreak vengeance on him\u201d.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This well-intentioned\nmagnanimity may have had unintended, dangerous consequences but for the prompt\naction of Sir Oliver Goonetilleke who had declared emergency before the\nstatement was issued. Anticipating another round of 1958 type of violence the\nGovernor-General issued strict instructions to the police to be vigilant\nagainst any sign of violence erupting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Given the prevailing\npolitical atmosphere of the time where anti-Tamil feelings were running high\nthe immediate suspicion was that the assassin was a Tamil. News began spreading\nthat the name of the man who shot the premier was Somaraman\u201d. A Tamilised\nversion of Somarama. So when Bandaranaike spoke of a man dressed in the robes\nof a monk\u201d rumours started to circulate that a Tamil had dressed up as a\nBuddhist priest and shot the Prime Minister.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tamils in Colombo were\nvery nervous then but thanks to the police being vigilant nothing untoward\nhappened. Thanks to Sir Oliver the media was advised\u201d to reveal very clearly\nwithout delay that the assassin was not a Tamil. The anti-Tamil feelings began\nsubsiding. A replay of the 1958 anti-Tamil violence was averted at that point\nof time.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Surgery for five hours<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the top\ndoctors in Colombo performed surgery on Bandaranaike for more than five long\nhours. Dr. M. V. P. Peries, Dr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. L. O. Silva and Dr. Noel\nBartholomeusz were the doctors in the operating theatre. Dr. L.O. Silva was\nquoted by the media later as observing that the first 24 hours after the\noperation was very crucial.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

 The Prime\nMinister had recovered consciousness a few hours after the operation and was\ncheerful. He had joked with the doctors and nurses around his bedside. He had\nasked one of the nurses How am I doing?\u201d She replied You are doing fine,\nSir\u201d. Yes I am an old man and have undergone a five hour stomach operation but\nI still have guts,\u201d the PM had declared. He had also dictated a message to the\nnation from the hospital.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Things however took a\nturn for the worse in the early hours of the morning. Three senior doctors \u2013\nDr. P. R. Anthonis, Dr. T. D. H. Perera and Dr. M. J. A. Sandrasagara were on\nhand doing their best but there was no improvement. The fourth Prime Minister\nof Independent Ceylon passed away on September 26, 1959 exactly twenty-two\nhours after he had been shot.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The official bulletin\nissued after his death stated as follows The condition of the Prime Minister\nsuddenly took a turn for the worse about 7 a.m. There was a sudden alteration\nof the action of the heart and his condition deteriorated very rapidly. He\npassed off peacefully about 8 o\u2019 clock.\u201d It was signed by Dr. P. R. Anthonis,\nDr. T. D. H. Perera and Dr. M. J. A. Sandrasagara.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Subsequently a verdict\nof homicide was recorded by the City Coroner J. N. C. Tiruchelvam, J. P. U. M.\nat the inquest. He said death was due to shock and haemorrhage resulting from\nmultiple injuries to the thoracic and abdominal organs.\u201d  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sanga, Veda and Guru\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The tripartite forces\nwho campaigned effectively for Bandaranaike in 1956 were Buddhist priests,\nAyurvedic medical practitioners and teachers. It was said that Sanga, Veda and\nGuru\u201d were responsible for installing Bandaranaike as Prime Minister. The\nbitter irony was that Bandaranaike\u2019s assassin was a three-in-one\u201d personality\nrepresenting all three. Somarama was a Bhikku, an Ayurvedic doctor and a\nlecturer in the Ayurvedic College. The tripartite forces who brought SWRDB\nto power were now personified in the man who killed him.  <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

After Bandaranaike\u2019s\ndeath, the Education Minister Wijayananda Dahanayake had been sworn in as Prime\nMinister. Detectives from Scotland Yard in Britain were brought down to assist\nthe Ceylon Police in the investigations. The then DIG-CID, D.C.T. Pate, SP\nRajasooriya, S.S.I.K. Iyer ASP, IP Abeywardena, IP A.M. Seneviratne and IP\nTyrell Goonetilleke were responsible for the intensive Police\ninvestigation.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

November 26, 1959 saw\nseven persons being charged in the chief magistrate\u2019s court of Colombo on a\ncharge of conspiring to murder SWRD Bandaranaike. They were  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1. Mapitigama Buddharakkitha\nThero  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

2. Hemachandra Piyasena\nJayawardena  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

3. Pallihakarage Anura de Silva  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

4. Talduwe Somarama Thero  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

5. Weerasooriya Arachchige Newton\nPerera  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

6. Vimala Wijewardene  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

7. Amerasinghe Arachchige Carolis\nAmerasinghe  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In addition to this\nSomarama Thero the fourth accused was also charged with commitment of murder.\nIncidently Somarama Thero had confessed to committing the murder in his\nstatements to the Police and to the chief magistrate. However he changed his\nposition at the Supreme court trial. I did not shoot the Prime Minister. It is\nuntrue that the 1st and 2nd accused or either of them requested me to do so. If\nI said so to the Magistrate, it is false. My statement to the Magistrate was\nnot made of my own free will. I am not guilty,\u201d stated Somarama in the Supreme\nCourt later.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Within a short time\nthe seventh accused A.A.C. Amerasinghe (Kolonnawa urban councillor) received a\nconditional pardon in terms of section 283 of the Criminal procedure code and\nthereafter became a witness for the prosecution. Non-summary proceedings began\nand after a long magisterial inquiry, the sixth accused Vimala Wijewardene was\ncleared of all charges of conspiracy and deemed innocent of any complicity. She\nwas discharged on July 15, 1960. Vimala Wijewardene was the first woman cabinet\nminister of the country and had served as Minister of Health in SWRD\nBandaranaike\u2019s Government.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Magisterial\nInquiry under Colombo Chief Magistrate N.A. de S. Wijesekara went on for 124\ndays with 193 witnesses testifying. The Chief Magistrate committed the first\nfive accused to stand trial before Supreme Court on charges of conspiracy and\nmurder.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Supreme Court Trial<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Supreme Court\ntrial began against the five accused on  February 22, 1961 before Justice\nT.S. Fernando QC OBE. The foreman of the seven member English speaking jury was\nD.W.L. Lieversz snr. Ninety-seven witnesses testified and were cross examined.\nThe Solicitor-General A.C. Alles along with deputy solicitor-general A.C.M.\nAmeer conducted the case on behalf of the prosecution with senior crown\ncounsels R.S.Wanasundara and R.I. Obeyesekera assisting.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The third accused\nAnura de Silva was acquitted with the jury voting unanimously in his favour.\nThe fifth accused Newton Perera was acquitted on a divided verdict with five\nvoting in favour of the accused and two against. The trial concluded on May 12,\n1961 after fifty-five days of hearing. The proceedings were well publicised and\nextensively reported in the media. Within five days the Jury returned its\nverdict.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jury found the\nfirst accused Buddharakkitha Thero, second accused H.P. Jayewardena and fourth\naccused Somarama Thero guilty by a unanimous verdict. Death sentence was\npronounced on all three of them. All three faced death by hanging. During the\ntrial Somarama had stopped wearing the yellow robes when appearing in Courts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

All three convicted\npersons appealed against their death sentence to the then Court of Criminal\nAppeal. The five-judge bench presided over by Chief Justice Hema H. Basnayake\ncomprised \u2013 Justices M.C. Sansoni, H.N.G. Fernando, N. Sinnetamby and L.B. de\nSilva.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was argued on\nbehalf of Buddharakkitha and Jayewardena that the maximum punishment for the\noffence of conspiring to commit murder was rigorous imprisonment for life.\nE.G.Wickremanayake, QC, submitted that the Act which re-introduced the death\npenalty for murder did not in specific terms re-introduce such penalty for conspiracy\nto commit murder.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Criminal Appeal\ncourt concurred with the submission.The appeal of all three were dismissed but\ncourts amended the sentences imposed on Buddharakkitha and Jayewardena from\ndeath to rigorous life imprisonment. Thus both of them were saved from the\ngallows due to this legal loophole.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Hanged in Welikada<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Talduwe Somarama Thero\nprepared himself to face death. He thanked in open court his counsel Lucian G.\nWeeramanthri who had appeared free for him I thank my counsel who defended me\nat this trial like a true lion.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Weeks before his\nexecution Somarama was converted to Christianity and was baptised in his cell\nby a Priest.<\/strong>He was hanged in the\nWelikada gallows on July 6, 1962 at the age of 48. The hanging was undertaken\nby State executioner Lewis Singho and his assistant Subatheris Appu. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A note from the history Sixty-one years ago on September 25, 1959 Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike (SWRDB) the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka known as Ceylon then was shot and seriously wounded by a Buddhist monk. Prime Minister SWRD Bandaranaike succumbed to his injuries and passed away the following day. Therefore September 26, 1959 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-107232","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-politics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107232","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=107232"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/107232\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=107232"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=107232"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lankaweb.com\/news\/items\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=107232"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}