‘It was around the end of 1956. Bandaranaike set off a bomb in our heads…’
Sirimavo said. He came home early that day. I felt that he was in some worry. He told me to put aside my household chores and come upstairs to discuss an important issue with him. Normally, that is not something I am used to.
There is a big rumour that Sir John is going to dissolve Parliament. He probably thinks that he needs a mandate to implement his programme for another five years. He is completely wrong. But that is not the issue. We are not ready to start our fight. With what weapons will I fight? How will I win? Where will I get the funds? What resources do I have?
You know how much I paid for my father’s estate after his death. How much did I spend on the 1952 elections? We have land. But how can we make money from them instantly? We do not have wealthy businessmen or moneylenders. All the people who help me are poor. If I make them candidates, how will they find money for the election? I understood what he was saying. But I didn’t have the answers. I was just listening. I didn’t have a solution in mind for his question. He suddenly came up with a solution.
We have to mortgage this house,’ he said. I was shocked and surprised.
‘This house…?’
I asked in confusion.
My parents had taught me that the most unfortunate thing in the world is debt. That’s why I couldn’t agree to his proposal.
‘How can you even think of such a thing? Your father gave you this house. What will happen to our children? Do you want them to inherit debt? Do you want them to inherit property?
I told him.
‘How can I earn money…?’
He said helplessly.
‘This is not an easy decision. I will save the house by paying instalments in 25 years….’
He said with determination. I agreed to it. So our Rosmead house was mortgaged to the Bank of Ceylon for two hundred thousand.
This is a story recorded in a book titled ‘Sirimavo’ published by Maureen Seneviratne in 1975.
In fact, after Bandaranaike was assassinated, the Rosmead mortgage payments were stopped. After the defeat in the 1965 general election, then Prime Minister Sirimavo had no home to live in Colombo. The bank foreclosed on the Rosmead house. Her children Sunethra, Chandrika and Anura had to go to school in Colombo from the Horagolla Walawwa.
In 1965, the Prime Minister Dudley allowed her to continue living in Temple Trees on humanitarian grounds. But she pushed away Dudley’s mercy and went to Horagolla. She told Maureen, who wrote the book ‘Sirimavo’ in 1975, that she was still paying the Rosmead mortgage.
While paying the Rosmead Walawwa loan instalments, she got her government to bring in the Land Act of 1970-77 and gave thousands of acres of her land to the government. Eventually, her parents’ estate, the Balangoda Ratwatta Walawwa, was reduced to a small plot of land that was transferred to the government.
Not only Bandaranaike and her husband, but also Sri Lanka’s first Prime Minister D.S. Senanayake, entered politics by selling their land. They lost their plantation companies and eventually his son, Dudley, who later became Prime Minister, acquired Woodlands Walawwa and Bothale Walawwa in Borella.
Woodlands Walawwa, which extended all the way to Borella Junction, was sold, and Woodlands Walawwa was finally reduced to a small plot of land. At the time of his death, Dudley had only Rs. 234 in his bank account.
In 1953, Sir John Kotelawala, who succeeded Dudley as Prime Minister, donated his property, the Kandawala Walawwa and estate, for a defence university after the then Army Commander G.E.D. Perera visited him and pointed out the lack of a university for the defence forces of Sri Lanka.
Sir John immediately decided to donate his Walawwa and the Kandawala estate to a defence university. The deed for this was signed on 11 July 1979. He was against the university being named after him. The university was named after him after his death. It was the Kotelawala Defence Academy.
J.R., who became Prime Minister and President after D.S., Dudley, Sir John, Bandaranaike, and Sirimavo. His family’s mansion, Vaijanta, was sold to the Chinese Embassy long before he became Prime Minister and President. Later, China decided to move its embassy to Bauddhaloka Mawatha and gave that house back to J.R.
J.R. donated that house to the government to house valuable artefacts and his books and documents received during his presidency, called the J.R. Jayewardene Centre. Today, it is known as the J.R. Jayewardene Center.
He presented the Birmar house, which belonged to his wife, where he moved from the Vaijanta house, first to the Income Tax Department, then to the National Institute of Basic Studies, and then to the Department of Archaeology.
Later, it was handed over to the government and became part of the Jayewardene Centre. Neither his Vaijanta house nor the Birmar house belonged to his son Ravi Jayewardene. He donated that valuable property to the public. Today, I have not heard of Jayewardene’s grandchildren being shocked about it.
D.S., Dudley, Sir John, Bandaranaike, Sirimavo and J.R. are considered the elites of Sri Lanka. JVP theorists say that the 76-year rule of these elites is a curse to the country. The non-elite JVP has overthrown the elite rule and taken power to end the curse of the elite. These days, when the asset lists of so-called non-elite JVP MPs and Ministers are being released on social media, it is worth remembering how the elite leaders donated their assets to the public.
By Upul Joseph Fernando
