It’s quite unfortunate that women are under-represented in the dictating world. That is in large part to the PATRIARCHY and male hegemony that dominates politics. In fact, it's so difficult to find a contemporary female dictator that the subject of this piece wasn’t REALLY a dictator.
I mean, sure, she ruled over her people for a really long time, used the law as an instrument of repression, and left a trail of economic destruction in her wake, but she just didn’t have...that thing. Of course in this context, “that thing” refers to a murderous instinct to hold onto power by any means necessary.
No, our heroine’s story is less about the unbridled pursuit of power than it is an example of how “old money” and family legacy can get you further in life than meaningless things like talent, drive, and work ethic can.
Sirimavo Bandaranaike (nee Ratwatte - but we’ll refer to her by the unfortunate moniker SB from now on) was born into the upper upper-class Ratwatte family, in the country of Ceylon.
“Wait, hang on. Ceylon? Like the tea? What the heck, that’s a country?!”
Well, yes. And yes. And not anymore.
You see, Ceylon was the name of the British colony that is now (for the most part) known as Sri Lanka. And interestingly, “Ceylon tea” refers to tea that is specifically grown in the highlands of Sri Lanka. The same way champagne that doesn’t come from the Champagne region in France is simply sparkling wine, tea that doesn’t come from Sri Lanka isn’t even worth drinking.
But I digress…
SB was the oldest of 6 kids. She attended English-speaking Catholic schools, developing the kind of accent that pretty much guarantees success in life. So cocooned and sheltered was SB’s upbringing that she spent the time just after finishing high school reclining on her luxury cotton couch swatting away men who congregated at her parents’ home in hopes of having the privilege of marrying her. Or at least taking her out on a date.
No compatible suitor could be found.
Eventually, a local matchmaker got in touch with SB’s parents about setting her up with a dude named Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike. And because that name is sooo long, we’ll just call him “SWRD” from here.
SWRD was an Oxford University-trained lawyer who had transitioned into politics, was serving as the Minister of Local Administration, and was totally beneath SB’s parents’ standards.
To be fair, it wasn’t so much him as it was his family that they didn’t approve of. You see, SB’s family was an aristocratic Kandyan family, which had inherited their service to the traditional royal family. The Bandaranaikes, on the other hand, well...were also a seriously wealthy family. But they came from the low-country and had had to do disgusting things like work, save and invest to obtain their fortune. Basically, this was the difference between royal money and old money.
Side note: if you’ve watched that new Netflix show “Indian Matchmaking”, this will make complete sense to you.
After a struggle, SB’s parents were convinced that being in-laws with multi-millionaire entrepreneurs wouldn’t be a total embarrassment. On the 2nd of October 1940, SB and SWRD were married in what was appropriately dubbed "the wedding of the century".
The newlyweds were to live happily and even though SWRD was initially dismissive of SB’s political opinions (her being a woman and all), he came to respect his wife’s judgment. In 1951, she persuaded him to form his own political party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (the SLFP).
In 1956 S.W.R.D ran as a candidate in the elections. SB campaigned for her man and due in no small part to her ability to connect with the people, SWRD won by a landslide and was duly elected the Prime Minister.
His time in office was, unfortunately, to be as short-lived as hope after a military coup toppling a geriatric dictator. In September 1959, SWRD was shot multiple times while chilling at home. By a freaking Buddhist monk.
And you know you’ve pissed him off if a Buddhist monk - whose whole schtick is being pacifist and having the Zen-like chill that prevented Marcus Bennett from going off the edge in Bad Boys 2 - shoots you. Buddhy apparently wasn’t happy with a whole bunch of SWRD’s policies including the lack of support for traditional medicine. I mean, sure, but that's surely no reason to SHOOT someone!
Anyway, SWRD was rushed to the hospital but succumbed to his injuries and died the very next day.
SWRD’s death threw the country into chaos. In the carnage and cutthroat power grabs that followed, several cabinet ministers were removed, while others were arrested under suspicion of being behind SWRD’s assassination. And to be honest, a political conspiracy is far more believable than a flipping BUDDHIST MONK murdering someone over some herbs.
In May 1960 - ahead of the next elections, the SLFP elected SB as the president of the party. She hadn’t campaigned for the position or anything but the party bigwigs probably thought having SWRD’s wife in charge would give the appearance of stability and continuation of his policies. SB had also given rousing speeches before and had connected with the voters on her husband’s behalf. Plus, she was a woman and would be easy to control.
SB immediately began her Meet the People tour. She would make emotional speeches, often bursting into tears (of the crocodile variety, according to the haters) as she promised to continue her late husband's policies. Her frequent crying earned her the nickname (from the haters of course), "The Weeping Widow".
Regardless of the hate, she managed to win the elections of July 1960 and was sworn in as the first female Prime Minister in the world. Incidentally, she was also the first woman in modern history to become head of government through an election and not inheriting the position from a father. A most unfortunate fact.
A key tenet of SB’s policies, once she got into power, was nationalization. This honey nationalized pretty much anything that could be nationalized and maybe some stuff that shouldn’t have been too. Newspapers, banks, insurance firms, schools, the petrol industry, and foreign trade all came under state control.
More controversially, SB made Sinhala the official language of the land, replacing English. This didn’t go down well with the Tamil people, who felt that they were being marginalized. Sufficiently peeved off, Tamil groups began a campaign of civil disobedience across the country.
SB responded with the heavy-handedness we’ve come to know and love from the heroes and heroines in these pieces. She declared a state of emergency and sent in armed troops to “restore peace”.
While she was putting out fires on one front, an inferno was blazing on the other. SB’s nationalization policies led to high inflation and crippling taxes. Fed up, the trade unions instituted nationwide strikes to make the grievances of workers heard. One such strike completely immobilized the transport system. Unimpressed, SB did what she knew best: she nationalized the transport board.
Despite problems at home, SB was a gracious diplomat. She managed to strengthen the country's relationship with China and maintained good relationships with both India and Russia. At the same time, she kept ties with Britain and the USA going, at a time when East-West tensions were at an all-time high. SB even condemned South Africa's apartheid policy and established relationships with other African countries.
All this wasn’t enough to paper over the cracks in her domestic policy though. In fact, the haters accused her of spending too much time cozying up to unsavoury regimes like China and not enough time actually developing some kind of economic development plan. Indeed, by 1964 the economic crisis had deepened and the SLFP’s had lost most of their popular support.
SB’s government was comprehensively beaten at the polls in the 1965 election and she was booted out of office.
The next government wasn’t too much of an improvement though. They were arguably worse. By 1970, SB and the SLFP had recaptured the people’s imaginations and as part of a coalition, the United Front, regained power.
In her second go as prime minister, SB doubled down and became even more radical: more nationalizations, more land reforms, and more state control. The government also published a new constitution that created the role of executive president and made Ceylon into a republic named Sri Lanka.
You know that saying about insanity being doing the same thing and expecting different results? This phrase could very well have been used to describe SB’s second term as Prime Minister. And to be fair, SB’s socialist policies did reduce wealth inequalities. But that was likely because most people became poorer as a result of her actions.
It also didn’t help that SB continued to alienate the Tamil minority. Again.
No surprise, then, that in the next election, SB was booted out of power. Again.
This time, there was a groundswell of criticism even after she left office. Allegations of corruption and the ensuing investigation led to the Sri Lanka parliament stripping her of her political rights and banning her from ever running for political office again.
Tough.
While all this was going on, SB’s kids had grown up, gotten educated, and now were major players within the SLFP. Son, Anura was the leader of the SLFP’s right-wing faction, while daughter, Chandrika, held left-wing views. The two were at odds with each other as they vied for ultimate leadership and control of the party.
Mumsy, somewhat surprisingly, favoured Chandrika. For her part, Chandrika was probably an ideal candidate. She had first been active in the party before she married a celebrity film actor. Her husband (like her dad) was assassinated after which she entered politics (like her mum). She soon came to head the left-wing group of the party, which led the SLFP to win the parliamentary elections of August 1994.
Chandrika was duly appointed Prime Minister. In November 1994, she won the separate presidential election and in the process followed her mum’s footsteps and became the country’s first female president.
Chandrika appointed her mum to the familiar role of Prime Minister for the third time. The “new” government once again marginalized the minority Tamil population. Well, they did a bit more than that. SB and friends launched a military campaign against Tamil insurgents who were trying to form a separate country.
Sadly, SB’s health began to fail. It got so bad that she finally had to resign from her post in 2000. Just after voting in the October 2000 parliamentary elections, SB suffered a heart attack and died.
She left behind a mixed legacy. I mean on one hand, she was the first female Prime Minister which is pretty impressive given the time and place when she was appointed. She also established great international relationships and its even arguable that she genuinely cared about the welfare of her people. Maybe.
On the other hand, SB’s policies were misguided and given the opportunity to change, she didn’t. She’s also been criticized for not doing more to uplift women. Sure, Sri Lanka had a female Prime Minister and President after her, but that was her daughter, so should that really count? And besides, having a female Prime Minister is meaningless if women who aren’t in privileged positions still don’t have access to resources and opportunities to better their lives.
I guess the moral of this story is that its always good to check ones privilege. Oh, and it helps to learn from one’s mistakes - else you’re just insane.
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