Features

Death of Dudley Senanayake, Lake House scandal and PM Thatcher’s address to Parliament

Published

1 year ago

2025/02/16

Thilina Walpola

Prime Minister Bandaranaike at Dudley Senanayake’s bier.

(Excerpted from Memories of 33 year in Parliament by Nihal Seneviratne)

Mrs. Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s second term as Prime Minister from 1970-1977 was fraught with many problems including a youth uprising in 1971 and a downturn in the economy which led to food shortages. The government soon became unpopular, and its takeover of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon Ltd. (Lake House) group of newspapers worsened its standing in the public eye and strengthened the hand of her government’s opponents. The death of Dudley Senanayake in April 1973 and the unprecedented outpouring of public grief led to the Lake House scandal which cost the government heavily in the long run.

After Dudley Senanayake’s death on April 13, 1973, his remains were to be brought to the old Parliament building in Galle Face for the people to pay their last respects. Sam Wijesinha, the Secretary-General, was overseas and I had been appointed to act. Massive crowds entered Parliament Hall where the body was lying in state.

The queue that had built up to view the body ended past the Liberty Circus at Kollupitiya and more were continuing to join the queue. On the final day of viewing, at a conference with the Police, we decided to stop all people joining the queue by 10 a.m. as his remains were to be taken to Independence Square for cremation. By 3 p.m. that evening we decided to close the Parliament Hall doors to prevent new people from entering and allowing only those who had already stood in the queue to remain.

Huge crowds gathered outside Parliament made a strong protest at not being able to pay their respects to him and we had to call the Police to disperse the crowds who kept banging on the closed doors of Parliament building. I recall welcoming Mrs. Bandaranaike at the top of the steps leading to the Parliament Hall as she arrived to pay her last respects. Very regrettably a small section of the crowd gathered outside on the road began to jeer her, but she calmly walked inside, paid her respects to the late Mr. Dudley Senanayake, and took her seat beside the coffin.

A few minutes later the body was carried out with Cabinet Ministers and leading Members of Parliament accompanying the hearse to Independence Square where the cremation was due to take place as a state funeral with full honours. The Lake House newspapers gave very wide publicity to the funeral of Mr. Dudley Senanayake for several days.

The Government of the day was rather concerned and disturbed about the publicity given and began to wonder if the Lake House Group were actively seeking to bring the United National Party to power. With this thinking foremost in the Government’s mind they contemplated a takeover of the Lake House Group of Newspapers which actually happened in 1973 with the passing of the Associated Newspapers of Ceylon, Limited (Special Provisions) Law (No. 28 of 1973).

This was triggered off largely as a result of a debate in Parliament around that time. It was alleged the owners of Lake House, especially the members of the Wijewardena family, who were the Directors of Lake House Group, had in violation of the law transferred out of the country large sums in Sterling Pounds to foreign accounts. A Mr. Aelian Nugera who was the manager of the Lake House branch in London and correspondent there had disclosed to Members of the Opposition, viz. Dr. N.M. Perera and Dr. Colvin R. de Silva that he had been instructed by some Directors of Lake House to transfer amounts to a few private bank accounts.

He had even provided photocopies of the letters sent to him by the Directors. Both MPs read from those photocopies and requested they be included in the Hansard. On an Adjournment Motion, demanded by the Opposition, a full debate took place. Speaking very vociferously on this occasion were Members of the Lanka Sama Samaja Party, especially Dr. N.M. Perera, Dr. Colvin R. de Silva and Mr. Leslie Goonawardena who sought to substantiate their arguments with documentary proof both from UK and Sri Lanka. Following the disclosure that moneys were siphoned out of the country to UK, a heated debate ensued. A full day debate continued, and the Bill was passed by the House setting in motion the takeover of the newspaper company.

Margaret Thatcher addresses Parliament

In mid-April 1985, on the invitation of President JR. Jayewardene and Minister of Mahaweli Development Gamini Dissanayake, the Prime Minister of United Kingdom, Margret Thatcher, visited Sri Lanka. Soon after her arrival, she visited the Victoria Project, ceremonially opened the Victoria Dam and simultaneously donated a massive sum of 100 million pounds sterling as the British Government’s contribution to the construction of the Dam and the Mahaweli Project.

An invitation was extended to her by the then Speaker of the House E.L. Senanayake, to address the Members of Parliament. She accepted the invitation and addressed the House on April 13, 1985. In welcoming the British Prime Minister, Speaker Senanayake said, “It is my happy privilege to welcome to our House of Parliament the Rt. Hon. Margret Thatcher, the first lady Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. You, Madam Thatcher, have been elected for a second term of office as Prime Minister, the highest post to which one can be elected in your country. We gracefully appreciate your visit, and we are honoured by your presence here.”

Mrs. Margret Thatcher in her address said: “Mr. Speaker, there are a few privileges for a British Prime Minister to avail that of being invited to address the legislature of a fellow Commonwealth country. I thank you for the honour which you do me and through me, the people, and Parliament of the United Kingdom.

“Over 300 years ago, a sturdy British traveler, Peter Mundy, wrote that Sri Lanka was ‘the fruitfullest, the most pleasant, and the most delicious island that is in all these parts of the world’. Even my brief visit has shown me enough to know how well this verdict still stands.

“The remains of an ancient civilization are visible in many parts of your island. Two thousand years ago, your irrigation system far exceeded in scale and sophistication anything existing in Europe. That great chronicle, the Mahavamsa, has passed down to us the story of your island’s development. Your history brought you into contact with Portugal, with the Netherlands and finally with Britain.

“It is a source of pride to us that today many of your institutions and so much of your legal system are fashioned on those of the United Kingdom. Seven centuries ago, a Sri Lankan king, Parakramabahu said no drop of water should be allowed to reach the ocean without being made use of by man. The Victoria Dam is the experiment in concrete of steel of that idea.”

It was left to Montague Jayawickrema to propose the vote of thanks as the Prime Minister was out of the country. He ended saying; thus, “Madam Prime Minister each one of us seated here, we ourselves and the Hon. Members are the mirror of the electorate. Each one of us is also the mirror of the country. Therefore, let me quote in conclusion the sound of Robert Burns; “O wad some Power the giftie gie us, To see ourselves as others see us!”

It was Anura Dias Bandaranaike as Leader of the Opposition who seconded the Motion. He said, “Hon. Speaker, today it is not enough to talk about policy, we must recognize personality. In the long march from Grantham to Whitehall, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom has amply demonstrated that talents and capability can prevail against the tyranny of tradition. Her ascent from professional life to political life through a progressing trail as the first woman leader of the Conservative Party and the first woman leader of the Opposition prepared her to be the first woman Prime Minister of a major Western power although we in Sri Lanka were two decades ahead.”

His speech was so well received that I distinctly recall Government MPs crossing the floor of the House to congratulate Anura. It was truly a great speech. The day ended with the Speaker inviting a few Ministers and Members to tea on the lawn of Parliament.

I wish to add a semi personal note here. When I knew that Mrs. Thatcher was due to visit us, I inquired from the British High Commission, what she would like to drink and received the answer, “She only drinks Perrier water”. I was quite taken aback as I did not know where “Perrier water” could be found. After frantic calls, I found a few bottles available at Whiteaways Ltd. and soon dispatched an officer to purchase them. How truly glad I was that I did this as during her address to Parliament, she coughed more than once and asked for some water. Two glasses of Perrier water were served, and she continued her address. Looking back , I can say we did not let the side down.

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Features

Proactive peacemaking becomes a paramount need

Published

13 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Wasting wars: Some war-displaced people in Lebanon. BBC

It may be some time before the full impact of food inflation is felt in the West. Until such time the world would continue to keep itself in suspense over whether the Trump administration is in earnest when it seeks to convey the impression that it is backing a negotiated solution in West Asia.

As is usually the case, consumer stress would be one of the final determinants of political change. To the degree to which the average US consumer somehow ‘muddles through’ and puts the food on the table, to the same extent would the Republican sections of the US public in particular be tolerant of the Trump administration’s inconsistent handling of the West Asian war and the main issues stemming from it. That is, there would be no grave popular disaffection and a demand for political change in the short term.

However, the indications are that the Trump administration’s support base is suffering some erosion in the wake of the current economic crisis. While reports indicate that Democratic sections are firming-up their opposition to the political centre, Republican support for Trump is also showing signs of waning, we are given to understand.

The above developments are probably why Trump is on record as having given Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu a ‘dressing down’ recently on his seeming intransigence on the question of giving negotiations a chance in West Asia. The show of displeasure could be really aimed by Trump at containing the impatience of the American public.

However, the current ground situation in the Middle East, particularly the uncontained bloodshed, is likely to impress on the thinking sections of the world that more than temporary political change is needed in West Asia and the US.

A well thought out political solution that addresses all the contentious issues at the heart of the Middle East conflict is what enlightened opinion would demand, and very rightly. Right now, the ‘peace efforts’ initiated by the Trump administration give the impression of being piecemeal solutions at best.

There have been, of course, numerous initiatives in the past aimed at bringing permanent peace to the Middle East. These failed mainly because they did not address in full the root causes of the conflict.

At bottom the Middle East conflict is mainly about race and religious hate bred by socio-economic and material inequalities. For instance, if the Palestinian people were not displaced and deprived of land occupied by them at the time of the founding of the Israeli state, ethnic enmities would not have grown to the current unmanageable proportions.

When addressing the above questions, though, it must be remembered that the Israelis too were a displaced people who were entitled to land and a state of their own in the Middle East. Basically, out of these seemingly irreconcilable and conflicting demands have grown the Middle East imbroglio.

Middle East peace is considerably about reconciling these demands and arriving at a solution that would ensure the creation of two states that would opt for peaceful co-existence thereafter.

As long as the US does not see the need for a non-partisan solution that addresses the needs of both ethnicities and religions and goes all-out, as it were, to have it implemented, the Middle East would continue to bleed.

However, staunching the blood flow through the creation of two states would be only half the job done, though a very important part of it. More pernicious, pervasive and difficult to remedy are the inter-ethnic and inter-religious hatreds that have been unleashed over the decades.

However, if substantial, long-lasting peace is to be fostered in the region the latter ‘demons’ would need to be exorcised from the hearts and minds of the communities concerned. No doubt an uphill task but one that must be undertaken by those who wish the region well.

The UN would need to put its ‘best foot forward’ in such undertakings but it is time that it dawned on the international community and other caring quarters that Middle East peace, and all other such uphill challenges, require proactive peacemaking on the part of all civilized sections for their effective management. That is, public involvement in peacemaking too is a must.

Since hatreds are harboured in the human consciousness the enmities embedded in the latter need to be managed and defused judiciously alongside other undertakings in a peace process. In the case of West Asia, such enmities could be even spread globe-wide besides being multi-dimensional. For instance, it ought to be thought-provoking that Iran is insistent on a peace initiative that would also include Lebanon.

Besides security considerations it is also ethnic and religious affiliations that account for Iran making this demand. For instance, the Shias are a numerically important religious community in Lebanon and they provide a significant number of Hizbollah fighters, who are in a vital sense carrying out a ‘proxy war’ for Iran. It also needs to be factored in that Iran is a Shia-majority country.

Thus trans-border religious affiliations could add to the complexities and enormity of ethno-religious conflicts. However, the task of managing centuries-long enmities needs to be launched and prodded on with by peacemakers since a downing of arms alone would not guarantee substantive peace.

It is not realized sufficiently that the process of ending hatreds begins with mutual apologies by antagonists to a conflict for the harm inflicted on each other. This would be anathema in some ears but there is no getting away from the requirement. It is the vital first step to permanent peace anywhere.

In fact there could be no reconciliation worth speaking of without such mutual apologies. It is a point worth re-iterating in these times when even the government of Sri Lanka is voicing the need for national reconciliation. Well, without the words, ‘I am sorry’, there could be no permanent end to enmities – they would do well to remember.

The above requirements may not go down very well with governments, but they resonate in the hearts and minds of most people, since they are inheritors of religious traditions of some kind.

This is a principal reason why peacemaking works well when publics too are involved in them. The effectiveness of such campaigns increases several fold when they have a Mahatma Gandhi or a Jawaharlal Nehru at their helm. A strong proactive involvement by the public in peace could lead to the emergence of such leaders at some point in these campaigns.

Features

Dialog Brings Sri Lanka’s Largest Digital Vesak Experience to Matara

Published

13 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

From left to right: Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, and Lasantha Theverapperuma experience the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered VR tours.

Official Digital Partner of the 2026 ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone

Dialog Axiata PLC, Sri Lanka’s #1 connectivity provider, collaborated with the Ministry of Buddha Sasana, Religious and Cultural Affairs to bring one of Sri Lanka’s largest and most technologically advanced Vesak experiences to the ‘Dakshina Prabha’ National Vesak Zone. The three-day celebration, in Matara attracted more than hundred thousand visitors, who engaged with a series of innovative digital activities powered by Dialog 5G Ultra, including Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Virtual Reality (VR) experiences, digital pandols and a Data Dansala. The opening ceremony was attended by Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development and Hon. Saroja Savithri Paulraj, Minister of Women and Child Affairs, along with distinguished guests and Dialog’s senior management.

One of the key attractions at the venue was the Dialog 5G Ultra-powered Virtual Reality (VR) experience, which attracted more than 35,000 participants. The activation enabled devotees to virtually visit and pay homage to sacred Buddhist sites, including the Jaya Sri Maha Bodhi in India and the Atamasthana in Anuradhapura, directly from the Vesak zone in Matara.

Visitors receive complimentary mobile data through Dialog’s QR-powered Data Dansala.

Dialog also conducted an AI Digital Vesak Greeting Card Competition from 21 May to 01 June 2026, attracting numerous entries from across the country. The shortlisted designs were showcased across 20 large LED screens throughout the venue and across Matara City, and were also made available for download via mobile devices. Further, through the use of AI, traditional Jathaka Katha were reimagined in a digital format, demonstrating how technology can be used to preserve and enhance cultural and religious heritage. Together, these initiatives blended traditional Vesak celebrations with emerging technologies, offering visitors a unique and immersive way to engage with Vesak traditions.

Extending the spirit of Vesak through connectivity, Dialog conducted a special Data Dansala powered by its QR Reload platform, enabling visitors to receive complimentary mobile data by scanning QR codes placed across the venue. In addition to the Matara National Vesak Zone, similar Data Dansala activations were also conducted at the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones in Colombo.Visitors also had the opportunity to create personalised Vesak-themed digital photos through an AI Photo Booth, generating AI-enhanced portraits using their own photographs and adding a contemporary digital element to the Vesak celebrations.

Visitors watch AI-generated Jathaka Katha

Commenting on the initiative, Hon. Sunil Handunnetti, Minister of Industry and Entrepreneurship Development, said, “The 2026 Dakshina Prabha Vesak Festival marked the first time AI-powered digital innovations were incorporated into a National Vesak Festival in Sri Lanka. Presenting Buddhist stories and teachings through technology created a new and engaging way for visitors to connect with these traditions. We thank Dialog for supporting this initiative and for working closely with us to bring our vision to life. Their contribution played an important role in making this first-of-its-kind event a reality.”

Lasantha Theverapperuma, Group Chief Marketing Officer of Dialog Axiata PLC said, “We thank the Government of Sri Lanka for the opportunity to support the 2026 Dakshina Prabha National Vesak Festival and for embracing technology as part of this year’s celebrations. As the Official Digital Partner, we were privileged to contribute through our Dialog 5G Ultra and AI capabilities, creating new ways for visitors to engage with Vesak traditions while preserving their cultural significance for future generations.”

Beyond supporting the National Vesak Zone in Matara, Dialog also enhanced the Gangaramaya and Bauddhaloka Vesak zones through a range of digital activations during the Vesak season. The company additionally continued its sustainability initiatives, including the Thirasara Aloka Poojawa, which illuminated rural places of worship through solar-powered lighting solutions.

Features

Beauty, elegance and talent…for women

Published

13 hours ago

2026/06/4

Sahan Weerasooriya

Universal Woman is an international pageant focused on “beauty, elegance, and talent” for women, positioning itself as a platform to shape global ambassadors. The 2026 edition will be held in Cambodia, and Sri Lanka will be there, as well.

According to reports coming my way, contestants, at the international event, will work with industry trailblazers, under international standards.

Sri Lankan supermodel, runway and pageant trainer Chulpadmendra Kumarapathirana, is the National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026.

With over two decades in the industry, Chula was crowned Miss Sri Lanka 2006, and has since shaped the next generation of titleholders through her Colombo-based Chulpadmendra Catwalk Studio, widely regarded as one of the country’s leading modelling academies.

The team behind Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026

A former host of Derana Miss Sri Lanka for Miss World 2008 and a judge for Miss Universe Sri Lanka 2025, Chula now serves as National Director for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026, leading the franchise’s search for Sri Lanka’s delegate to the international final in Cambodia.

Applications for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 are being taken, via WhatsApp: 077 659 4994, says Chula.

The judging panel for Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 includes Senaka De Silva, Pageant Aesthetic Advisor & Chairperson of the Judging Panel, Angela Seneviratne, Caroline Jurie, Rozelle Plunkett, and Suraj Mapa.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka 2026 officially began its journey with a first round of auditions, held in Colombo, marking the start of an exciting new chapter in Sri Lanka’s pageant industry.

Launching the first round of auditions

The platform aims to empower women while selecting an intelligent, confident, and inspiring representative to compete at the Universal Woman International Pageant 2026 in Cambodia, this September.

Universal Woman Sri Lanka now moves forward with the vision of creating one of the country’s most prestigious and empowering pageants while preparing to crown a queen who will proudly represent Sri Lanka on the international stage.