On September 25, 1959, the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike was seated on the front verandah at his private residence at 65 Tintagel, Rosemead Place, Colombo.
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There were about 20 persons inside the verandah. Around 9 am, a Buddhist priest Talduwe Somarama Thero who had been waiting to see the prime minister took a seat on a chair at the verandah and kept a file on a stool next to his chair. He was a lecturer at the Government College of Ayurveda and had stated that he wanted to meet the prime minister on the requirements for the college.
Soon, Somarama Thero was announced and he approached the prime minister who in turn also stood up and came forward showing respect to the priest in the customary form. The prime minister asked what he can do for Somarama. The latter said that certain improvements were needed at the college. The prime minister responded that he would get Health Minister A P Jayasuriya to attend to it if he were to submit the requirement in writing.
Around 9.45 am Somarama fumbled with the file, as if to pull out a memorandum and as the prime minister got ready to receive it, Somarama instead pulled out a .45 Webley Mark VI revolver concealed in his robes and fired twice at point-blank range hitting Bandaranaike in the chest and abdomen. Bandaranaike made a loud sound and fell down.
Another priest Ananda Thero from Polonnaruwa who had been sitting on a chair close by got up. Somarama pointed his gun at Ananda. Ananda shouted but Somarama turned around and fired four shots emptying the chambers of the revolver. One bullet hit Bandaranaike's hand and another a school teacher who had come to see the prime minister. The two other shots had hit a glass pane on a door and a flower pot breaking it.
The police constable on duty at the gate came running in having been alerted by the sound of gunshots. The constable fired at Somarama wounding him in the groin. He was quickly surrounded and overpowered. Bandaranaike ordered restraint and mercy towards Somarama who was arrested and taken to the Harbour Police Station under armed guard while the prime minister was rushed to the Colombo General Hospital.
The Prime Minister underwent a five-hour surgery by Dr M V P Peries, Dr P R Anthonis, Dr L O Silva and Dr Noel Bartholomeusz and was transferred to the Merchants Ward. He regained consciousness and requested clemency towards his assassin and dictated a message to the nation. However, his situation deteriorated overnight and he died 24 hours later. The death was recorded by Colombo Coroner J N C. Tiruchelvam, JP, UM at the inquest, stating that the death was "due to shock and haemorrhage resulting from multiple injuries to the thoracic and abdominal organs".
BACKGROUND
Mapitigama Buddharakkitha (1921−1967) was the chief conspirator of the assassination of the fourth Prime Minister of Ceylon (later Sri Lanka), S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike. He served as the chief incumbent (chief priest) of the Kelaniya Raja Maha Vihara, one of the most sacred Buddhist temples in Sri Lanka, from 1947 to 1959. He was a political kingmaker and played an important role in bringing S W R. D Bandaranaike to power in the 1956 parliamentary elections.
He was the driving force behind the Eksath Bhikku Peramuna or the United Bhikku Front. Later, he attributed Bandaranaike's failure to aggressively pursue the nationalist reforms as the sole motive to assassinate him. Immediately after shooting Bandaranaike, Somarama uttered the words, “Country, race and religion.” Political analysts believed the reason behind the murder was the Bandaranaike-Chelvanayakam pact, which he signed to appease the Tamils. It was at that time seen detrimental to the Sinhala Buddhists.
But it was later revealed that the real motive was because of the Prime Minister's refusal to award business deals, in particular, a government contract for the construction of a sugar factory and government concessions for a shipping company that Buddharakkitha planned to set up.
So, it turned out that the Bandaranaike was murdered because of greed.
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(Published in The Martyrs' Supplement, The New Indian Express, South India & New Delhi along with The Morning Standard, January 30, 2019
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