Posted on April 29th, 2021
KAMALIKA PIERIS
SWRD Bandaranaike was
assassinated in 1959. This was followed by two attempts to remove his successor,
Sirimavo. First, the failed coup of 1962
and second, the JVP insurgency of 1971. The 1971
rebellion was the first armed uprising against the state.
Mano
Ratwatte, son of Mackie Ratwatte, Private Secretary to Prime Minister Sirimavo,
recalls that in January 1966, at a political rally the Air Force guard had threatened to open fire
on Prime Minister Sirimavo and Dr. Baduiddin Mohammed.
The 1971 JVP
insurgency has been described as a romantic, innocent revolution, an unplanned
spontaneous attack. It was nothing of the sort. It was pre-planned and well
Posted on March 8th, 2021
KAMALIKA PIERIS
One of Philip’s great success stories was potato farming in Nuwara Eliya.
This had been tried before and failed.
The MEP government wrote off the debt on this failed attempt and tried
again with better seed potatoes. The trial was a complete success, and a potato
research station was established in Rahangala.
In
1957 Philip reported that sugar cane production was begun on a large scale in
Kantalai. This was the first time that lift irrigation on a large scale was
being used in Sri Lanka.
In 1958 Philip reported that the sugar factory was also coming up.
Posted on February 9th, 2021
KAMALIKA PIERIS
Peduru Hewage
William de Silva (1908-1988) was the only son of a wealthy professional family
of Batapola, near Ambalangoda. William studied at the Buddhist Mixed School in Batapola,
then at St. John’s, Panadura, later at Richmond College, Galle, and finally at
Ananda College from which he entered Ceylon University College. He had joined the Suriyamal movement when he
was a student at University College, Colombo. After one year, disenchanted
and bored, he left University College and went abroad for higher studies.
He
went to Oxford, then studied law in London and was called to the Bar in 1940. He was