Solomon WRD Bandaranaike

A politician in the early period of Sri Lankan independence. After studying in the colonial power Britain, he returned to Sri Lanka in 1925 and participated in the Sri Lankan independence movement through the Ceylon National Congress. In February 1948, at the same time as Sri Lanka's independence, Bandaranaike founded the new Sri Lanka Liberal Party, breaking away from the moderate line that had led from the Ceylon National Congress to the United National Party. As a result of the third general election (1956), the Liberal Party won by a landslide, and Bandaranaike became the new Prime Minister. The new Prime Minister concretely implemented groundbreaking policies in both foreign and domestic affairs, laying the foundation for Sri Lankan independence. In foreign relations, a non-aligned policy was adopted instead of the previous policy of following the West, and the British military bases in Sri Lanka were removed. In domestic affairs, buses were nationalized, Colombo Port was nationalized, and the Rice Cultivation Protection Act was introduced in succession. In addition, Sinhala was made the official language of the country. These innovative policies included the promotion of industrialization, but the implementation of these "radical" policies left the country dissatisfied, and in 1959 he was assassinated by a Sinhalese Buddhist who felt threatened by his policies. His death has been compared to that of Mahatma Gandhi in India. After Bandaranaike's death, his wife Sirimavo RD Bandaranaike (1916-2000) served as prime minister twice (1960-1965, 1970-1977) as the supreme leader of the Liberal Party, and tried to realize her late husband's aspirations. After that, in November 1994, when her second daughter, Kumaratunga, became president, she became prime minister for a third time (until 2000).

[Heiji Nakamura]

Source: Shogakukan Encyclopedia Nipponica About Encyclopedia Nipponica Information | Legend

スリランカ独立初期の政治家。植民地時代に宗主国イギリスに留学したのち、1925年に帰国し、スリランカ独立運動にセイロン国民会議派を通して参加した。1948年2月、スリランカ独立と同時にバンダラナイケは新しくスリランカ自由党を結成し、セイロン国民会議派から統一国民党へと連なる穏健路線に決別した。第3回総選挙（1956）の結果、自由党は圧勝し、バンダラナイケ新首相が誕生した。新首相は外交と内政の両分野で画期的な方針を具体化し、スリランカ独立の土台を築いた。対外関係では従来の西側追従政策にかわって非同盟政策が採用され、スリランカの英軍基地は撤去された。内政面では、バスの国有化、コロンボ港の国有化と稲作保護法が続けざまに導入された。また、シンハラ語の公用語化が断行された。これらの革新的な諸政策は工業化の促進も含んでいたが、その「急進的」な政策の実践は国内に不満を残すことになり、1959年には首相の政策に危機感をもった仏教徒シンハラにより暗殺された。その死はインドのマハートマー・ガンディーの死に対比されている。バンダラナイケの死後、その妻シリマボ・バンダラナイケSirimavo R. D. Bandaranaike（1916―2000）が自由党の最高指導者として首相の座に2回（1960～1965、1970～1977）つき、亡夫の志を実現しようとした。その後、1994年11月二女のクマラトゥンガの大統領就任とともに三度目（～2000）の首相に就任した。

［中村平治］

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