A function was held at Temple Trees to commemorate the 96th Birthday of the former Member of Parliament and the popular and veteran politician S.D.Bandaranaike under the patronage of President Mahinda Rajapakse.
Mr. Bandaranaike who was born in 1917 was a pioneer of left politics in Sri Lanka. He was one of the 9 MPs elected from the Sri Lanka Freedom Party in 1952 General Election. S.D.Bandaranaike is the only person living out of the 9 MPs. He made a great contribution to establish relations between Sri Lanka and China, and Russia. He became the General Secretary of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party 1956 and made an enormous contribution in establishing the party’s youth league. The president said that S.D.Bandaranaike made a great dedication to guide the youth to the correct political path.
S.D.Bandaranaike became well known among the Sri Lankan population as the “Imbulgoda Weeraya” for his daring act of interrupting the foot walk organized by the former President J.R.Jayawardene against the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayagam Pact. It was this foot walk that espoused communal riots throughout the country in 1958 killing several people
The President said that S.D.Bandaranaike is an honest politician, and among the political leaders who indulged in politics by selling their own properties S.D.Bandaranaike and the late Prime Minister S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike are individuals who occupy a special place Therefore, these are the politicians whom we should respect, the President further said. He said that they were respected in the past and they are being respected in the contemporary period as well. The President further added that it is this kind of persons who should indulge in politics in this country.
The Parliamentarian J.R.P.Sooriyapperuma who delivered the key note address at this function said that the present generation is enjoying the benefits of international relations established by S.D.Bandaranaike in the past. He said that in the past there wasn’t a Chinese embassy in Sri Lanka and the government at that time was working under the Western agenda of disregarding countries such as China and Russia.
Minister Maithripala Sirisena also spoke at this function. Ministers Basil Rajapaksa, Susil Premajayantha, Deputy Minister Pandu Bandaranaike and the governor of the Western Province Alawi Moulana also attended the function. The function was held under the title “Jana Prasadini”, and a memorabilia was presented to S.D.Bandaranaike by the President.
Courtesy: Government Information Department
