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22nd October 2000
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TRIBUTE

Sirimavo Bandaranaike : some reminiscences 

A legend ends but her ideals will live on

By M.S. Alif (Former Secretary to the Cabinet) 
The passing away of Sirimavo Bandaranaike marks the end of an era in Sri Lankan politics. She was the undisputed Mother of the Nation whose unparalleled stature and nature will forever symbolise her as one of the greatest leaders of our time. 

As I stood paying her my last respects last week scenes of her striding the national and international arena with matchless dynamism for four decades flashed through my mind. 

Sirimavo Bandaranaike with President Gamal Abdel Nasser at the Cario PlaceThough I had been away from public life for years, I thought of the milestones in my association with her, and in particular the treasured memories of 12 of the best years of my life, during which period I had the privilege and pleasure of working closely with her - 5 years in Opposition and 7 years in Government. 

My earliest recollections of the Bandaranaikes were in the early forties, when the newly wedded couple were our neighbours across the road at Guilford Crescent, Colombo when we were undergraduates residing at the University Union Hostel. Except for occasional student pranks, we left them alone in peace. Mr. Bandaranaike was quite friendly with us hostelers and sometimes used to stroll in on his own for a game of chess or a chat. I also remember seeing during the evenings two ladies, with dignity, poise and composure walking towards the Women's International Club for a game of tennis. It was Ms Bandaranaike accompanied by her relative Danton Obeysekera. When we met them face to face we used to pass them by with a silent and respectful bow which they would gracefully acknowledge. 

The irony of it all was how destiny worked its course and years later the good lady became the world's first woman Prime Minister, succeeding her worthy husband and I, one of those who masterminded some of the plots of teasing the Bandaranaikes had to end up under her as her Cabinet Secretary. Years went by since our 'Varsity' days until I joined the SLFP in 1954, a thing looked Hulftsdorp those days. Mr. Bandaranaike always remembered me as "one of our pre-1956 boys." The Legal Aid Scheme of the Law Society and the launching of the Asian African Legal Consultative Committee in New Delhi were two projects where I had the opportunity to interact often with Mr. Bandaranaike. 

On the tragic demise of Mr.Bandaranaike and with Mrs. Bandaranaike becoming the Leader of the Party and the Head of Government in 1960, I took on an assortment of assignments and had the opportunity of meeting her often and coming to know her better. 

An incident in the early sixties, when I was the Vice-Chairman of the Ceylon Transport Board clearly brought out some of her characteristics. One day a young man came in saying he was from Attanagalla sent by the Prime Minister and that his application to be a bus driver had been turned down for no reason. Calling for the files, I found that he was half an inch short of the required height. On my telling this to her later one day, she said "I never send anybody like that. Why didn't you tell him that mentioning my name could not make him half an inch taller". This was a clear signal from her that any officer could perform his duties without fear of interference. 

In 1965 a group of us whom she handpicked to be members of the Propaganda Committee at the next elections worked directly under her. This provided me with an opportunity to get an insight into her capacity for hard work, and her ability to easily switch her mind from one subject to another when handling the diverse problems that arose from time to time. 

In 1965 Ms. Bandaranaike was defeated at the polls. When elections are lost people always look for scapegoats. The night after the results, I received a call from Horagolla from her asking me whether I had seen that morning's "Daily Mirror". The front page news which she was referring to quoted her attributing the defeat to two of her senior ministers. T.B. Illangaratne and Badiuddin Mahmud. She was furious over this. She sensed mischief. She wanted an immediate denial to be issued. I went to Horagolla, and after getting her denial rushed back to Colombo in time to catch the City Edition. Thence I came to realize that here was a leader, who would not let down the people who had stood by her through thick and thin.

She took a few days to discern for herself the pattern of the election results and to diagnose the strength and the weaknesses of the SLFP. With determination and courage and with the unstinted support of her loyalists she took on the onerous task of reorganizing the party and launching a planned programme for the next Government. She set up several study groups under her personal supervision with me as the convenor. She also set up a top level committee of selected senior SLEP parliamentarians and officials who met her every week on Wednesdays. With the decision to bring in the LSSP and the CP, there was formed a Co-ordinating Council of the United Front, adding the top leaders of the other two parties to the Committee. The SLFP group met in the mornings at 9.30 and the United Front met at 10.30 regularly. I functioned as Secretary of both groups and kept minutes of both meetings. The venue was Rosmead Place. Mrs. Bandaranaike always took decisions on all issues first at the SLFP group and thereafter at the three party group. If there was any variation of decision, she would agree to it only after going back to the SLFP group. Such was her dedication and allegiance to her own party. That was her principled approach to politics. 

The effort that went into the drafting of the Common Programme and the Joint Manifesto of the United Front was colossal. Her contribution to the drafts was substantial. The programme was a confidential document for two years and the responsibility for maintaining secrecy was cast on me. At the end of each meeting, all the drafts including that of Mrs. Bandaranaike would be handed over to me for safe keeping. It was no easy task though Mrs. Bandaranaike would say jocularly "Don't worry, nobody can even peep into it. Alif will look after it like a Muslim girl in veil". Very often the press did a lot of kite-flying and published wild guesses. All members almost took an unsworn oath of secrecy and honourably stuck to it. So systematically was work done until she led the United Front to victory in 1970. 

With the multifarious functions I had to perform, she also found it legally necessary to expand the powers of the Cabinet Secretary in the new Constitution of 1972. Until then the duties were restricted only to summoning Cabinet meetings and managing the Cabinet Office. Thereafter the duties of the Cabinet Secretary were extended by her to include "any other functions assigned to him by the Prime Minister and the Cabinet" which enabled me to perform a variety of additional tasks locally and internationally. This amendment was verbatim repeated in subsequent Constitutions. 

Ms Bandaranaike was a person not merely interested in her image in the country as a charismatic political leader, but she was even more keen in maintaining her model feminine attributes moulded in the tradition of Sri Lankan womanhood. Her exemplary way of thinking in this respect sets a golden guideline of modesty and dignity for any female participating in public life. 

In this context it may be not out of place for me to quote from one of her personal letters sent to me, which reflected her genuine concern for the image of her unblemished character and her respect for traditional moral values. 

It was as usual a very nice long and interesting letter she sent from London dated 01.07.1966 which I very dearly preserve. In this letter she gave me a hard knock but with a velvet glove. The incident occurred in 1966 when she went for her treatment to Yugoslavia accompanied by her daughter. It also happened that a well-known bachelor politician also travelled in the same plane for a conference in Belgrade. A news item appeared in our own political newspaper 'The Nation' co-edited by Hector Abhayawardane and me which referred to her departure. I quote from the letter " By the way I saw the Nation of 04th June which had published about my departure in the front page. I think two of the sentences or paras which I have underlined could have been avoided or at least they might have added 'accompanied by the daughter'. No mention is made of her going with me at all in this, which will give the impression to the people that I went with (name withheld). When our enemies are only waiting to say ugly things about us, we must not leave room for them to talk. We have to be extra careful what we write in our papers. We are not responsible for what they write in their papers as they have said the most foul things about me at various times. I am sure you hadn't seen this before it went to print. If you did, probably it wouldn't have been there. I am writing this so that we can be careful after this". 

That speaks itself. 

I remember with deep appreciation the special consideration extended to me when working with her during the month of Ramadhan. Whenever meetings were held in the evenings at Rosmead Place, " Temple Trees" or in Parliament she would always see to it that my share of snacks were kept aside for my breaking fast. Once in Parliament, when I went for my snacks I saw my plate polished clean. I asked the peon as to what had happened. He pointed out at the gentleman walking out with a broad and innocent smile at me, not knowing that he had caused me to starve. This person was later to be an important Minister. Mrs. Bandaranaike was the sincerest friend from any non-Arab country the Arab world could have ever had. She was guided by the path chartered by her late husband. 

As promised in the Election Manifesto of 1970 she did not lose time to sever relations with Israel. This won the gratitude of the entire Arab and Muslim world. I recall on her visit to Cairo the unprecedented throngs, exuberant with jubilation which lined the highways of Cairo to welcome her. She was a guest not merely of President Nasser but also of every man, woman and child in the street. Son Anura, one of her senior deputies Illangaratne and I, who were the other members of her entourage were eyewitnesses to this unbelievable spectacle. Even the lift boy had devised his own techniques of expressing his feelings. I noticed that every time we wanted to go to the ground floor, he would go up a few floors higher and then come down again. I was so annoyed at this behaviour I called him to a side to tell him off. He confessed " Yes Sir, Pardon me. I do it to be with Mrs. Bandaranaike a little longer." 

Not only Egypt but all Arab countries had expressed their gratitude towards her gesture. In 1974 when she sent Badiuddin Mahmud and me as her Personal Emissaries to Saudi Arabia and the other Gulf States they were highly appreciative of our difficulties and responded most favourably and promptly. Her words to us before we left on the mission were "Do not give the impression that we supported them in their hour of political need and now we have come to rake the pay off". That was typical of her concerns for her and the country's self-respect. 

During the days of the insurgency in 1971 she was a tower of strength to the entire cabinet. I remember the days of gloom and insecurity that gripped the cabinet including the other party leaders. When she arrived unruffled with a broad smile and with a cheerful word or two she brightened up the spirits of all the men and at the end of the meeting all were infused with hope and confidence. Behind her pleasant ways and good humour, was inbuilt a strict disciplinarian and a stickler for perfection and precision. She had a sharp eye for deficiencies and dealt with all matters of state, small or big, with the same meticulous attention. She was always concerned with public funds which she dealt with the same caution, as her own. She was generally against perks of all kinds. (more than necessary) which sometimes brought her to the brink of unpopularity with her Ministers, MPs and officials. A great legend has departed beyond the world of tears and grief but the lofty and exemplary ideals she lived and worked for will ensure her place in history. 

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