He came to power on the twin platforms of making Sinhala the official language and Buddhism the state religion. The Tamil minority groups felt like foreigners in their own country. Large-scale riots ensued. 
Faced with Tamil opposition, Bandaranaike attempted compromise solutions, but the forces of reaction that he unleashed devoured him. On September 25, 1959, he was assassinated by a Buddhist monk in his residence. The assassin represented powerful forces – Buddhist monks, teachers and disgruntled politicians. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the “weeping widow” as she was called, came to power on a racist platform and went further in her acts of discrimination against the Tamils.
The assassination of President Premadasa, on May 1, 1993, while he was controlling the May Day procession, at the hands of the Tigers, was another turning point in Sri Lankan politics. The first non-Goigama leader to occupy the highest political position, Premadasa was opposed to the India-Sri Lanka Accord and the induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. The common opposition to India brought the hitherto two antagonistic forces – Premadasa and Prabhakaran – together. Colombo not only financed LTTE, it also provided the much-needed weapons to the Tigers. The “temporary honeymoon” lasted only for a short interval. As soon as the IPKF withdrew from Sri Lanka, the differences came out into the open and soon the Second Eelam War commenced. What distinguished Premadasa’s reign was the unbridled violence that the Sri Lankan armed forces unleashed against the Sinhala youth, who rallied round the flag of the JVP. Sri Lankan writers refer to this period as Bhishana Samaya or days of terror. More Sinhalese youth were massacred during these two years than the total number of Tamils killed during the first three Eelam Wars. The two rivers of exquisite beauty in southern Sri Lanka – Kelaniya Ganga and Mahaweli Ganga – were clogged with dead bodies and foamed with blood.
During those horrible days of gross violation of human rights, a young SLFP member of Parliament escaped from the island and spent sleepless nights in the office of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. Two human rights activists – one a Sinhalese called Vasudeva Nayanakkara and second a Tamil, Tissainayagam, assisted him with excellent documentation of violation of human rights. The Sinhalese leader pleaded in vain for UN intervention for protection of human rights in Sri Lanka. That Sinhalese leader was none other than the present President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Tissanayagam, his close comrade in arms, has been sentenced for two decades of rigorous imprisonment recently for alleged support to the Tigers.
Sri Lanka today is fast degenerating into a fascist state. The opposition has been silenced, those who dare to tell the truth are getting assassinated and the press has been muzzled. Today, the Tamils are at the receiving end but tomorrow it will be the turn of the Sinhalese. The poignant words of Pastor Niemoeller come to my mind:
In Germany, they first came for the Communists, And I did not speak up because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, And I did not speak up because I was not a Jew.
Then they came up for the trade unionists, & I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics And I did not speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came up for me And by that time no one was left to speak up.
Faced with Tamil opposition, Bandaranaike attempted compromise solutions, but the forces of reaction that he unleashed devoured him. On September 25, 1959, he was assassinated by a Buddhist monk in his residence. The assassin represented powerful forces – Buddhist monks, teachers and disgruntled politicians. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the “weeping widow” as she was called, came to power on a racist platform and went further in her acts of discrimination against the Tamils.The assassination of President Premadasa, on May 1, 1993, while he was controlling the May Day procession, at the hands of the Tigers, was another turning point in Sri Lankan politics. The first non-Goigama leader to occupy the highest political position, Premadasa was opposed to the India-Sri Lanka Accord and the induction of the Indian Peace Keeping Force (IPKF) in Sri Lanka. The common opposition to India brought the hitherto two antagonistic forces – Premadasa and Prabhakaran – together. Colombo not only financed LTTE, it also provided the much-needed weapons to the Tigers. The “temporary honeymoon” lasted only for a short interval. As soon as the IPKF withdrew from Sri Lanka, the differences came out into the open and soon the Second Eelam War commenced. What distinguished Premadasa’s reign was the unbridled violence that the Sri Lankan armed forces unleashed against the Sinhala youth, who rallied round the flag of the JVP. Sri Lankan writers refer to this period as Bhishana Samaya or days of terror. More Sinhalese youth were massacred during these two years than the total number of Tamils killed during the first three Eelam Wars. The two rivers of exquisite beauty in southern Sri Lanka – Kelaniya Ganga and Mahaweli Ganga – were clogged with dead bodies and foamed with blood.
During those horrible days of gross violation of human rights, a young SLFP member of Parliament escaped from the island and spent sleepless nights in the office of the UN Commission for Human Rights in Geneva. Two human rights activists – one a Sinhalese called Vasudeva Nayanakkara and second a Tamil, Tissainayagam, assisted him with excellent documentation of violation of human rights. The Sinhalese leader pleaded in vain for UN intervention for protection of human rights in Sri Lanka. That Sinhalese leader was none other than the present President of Sri Lanka, Mahinda Rajapaksa. Tissanayagam, his close comrade in arms, has been sentenced for two decades of rigorous imprisonment recently for alleged support to the Tigers.
Sri Lanka today is fast degenerating into a fascist state. The opposition has been silenced, those who dare to tell the truth are getting assassinated and the press has been muzzled. Today, the Tamils are at the receiving end but tomorrow it will be the turn of the Sinhalese. The poignant words of Pastor Niemoeller come to my mind:
In Germany, they first came for the Communists, And I did not speak up because I was not a Communist.
Then they came for the Jews, And I did not speak up because I was not a Jew.
Then they came up for the trade unionists, & I did not speak up because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for the Catholics And I did not speak up because I was a Protestant.
Then they came up for me And by that time no one was left to speak up.
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