KM de Silva’s New Book on Sri Lanka’s Political History

The author of this monograph believes that Sri Lanka lacks a comprehensive political history of the whole or parts of its post-colonial existence. Professor de Silva’s aim in this monograph is to provide the beginnings of such a political history; indeed it could be treated as the first volume of a comprehensive political history of Sri Lanka. While it is based on years of research in the Public Record Office in London and also the Sri Lanka National Archives in Colombo, but principally at the Public Records Office in London, the author has conducted interviews with persons with a knowledge and practical experience of the conflicting issues in Sri Lanka’s public life; and he has reached out to other sources in Sri Lanka, including scarce official papers, private letters and newspapers.

 Sir Ivor Jennings

CONTENTS

Abbreviations and Glossary                                                                                 vii

Statistical Tables and Maps                                                                                   ix

Preface and Acknowledgments                                                                            xi

PART ONE: D.S. SENANAYAKE’S CAREER: A BRIEF INTRODUCTION

I              D.S. Senanayake: The Early Years                                                            1

II             D.S. Senanayake and the Transfer of Power                                          15

III           March 1952: The Death of D.S. Senanayake                                           31

PART TWO: S. W. R. D. BANDARANAIKE, THINGS FALL APART

IV           S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike                                                                             37

V             Bandaranaike, Legislator: 1931-35                                                             53

VI           Minister, 1936-47                                                                                              63

VII          From Leader of the House to Leader of the Opposition, 1947-56          87

VIII        Prime Minister, 1956-59                                                                                   95

 Buddharakkhitha 

 Vimala Wijewardene

PART THREE: THE ASSASSINATION OF S.W.R.D. BANDARANAIKE

IX           The Assassination of the Prime Minister, September 1959                 115

X             Prosecution of the Conspirators                                                          121

XI           The Political Legacy of Bandaranaike                                                   131

PART FOUR: RE-ASSERTION OF FAMILY POWER AND INFLUENCE

XII          Mrs Bandaranaike in Power: The First Phase,

1960 to 1964-65                                                                          137

XIII        The Recovery of the UNP                                             145

XIV        The Short but Important Career of R. Premadasa   149

XV          Mrs Bandaranaike in Power: The Last Phase         151

XVI        Caste in Sri Lankan Politics: An Introductory Survey    155

XVII       Mrs Bandaranaike’s Political Career, 1960-77: An Assessment      159

PART FIVE: THE TAMIL PROBLEM AND ITS COMPLEXITY

XVIII     The Tamil Minority in Sri Lanka                                            167

PART SIX: EPILOGUE

XIX        The Transformation of the Polity                                        175

XX          Epilogue                                                                               183

BIOGRAPHIES                                                                               187

BIBLOGRAPHY                                                                              189

About the Author: Professor K.M. de Silva was Professor of Sri Lanka History at the University of Ceylon (later the University of Peradeniya) from 1969-95. He has been Smuts Visiting Fellow in Commonwealth Studies and Visiting Fellow of Clare Hall, Cambridge; Commonwealth Professor in the Department of Government at the University of Manchester and Visiting Professor of South Asian History at Bowdoin College, Maine; and a fellow at the Woodrow Wilson Center, Washington DC, USA. He is the author of several books including A History of Sri Lanka (Hurst, London & University of California Press – 1980 and Penguin, India – 2005), and Regional Powers and Small State Security, India and Sri Lanka 1977-90, Woodrow Wilson Press, Washington DC, USA (1995) and The Johns Hopkins University Press, Baltimore MD, USA and London.

He was the principal founder of the International Centre for Ethnic Studies (ICES), Kandy/Colombo, Sri Lanka in 1982 and is presently a Director of the ICES.

ALSO NOTE