Women on the throne.. Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the first female ruler in modern times

Former Sri Lankan President Sirimavo Bandaranaike is a figure that history will remember for a long time. She is the first woman in the world to assume the presidency of a country without a hereditary system in the modern era. She led Sri Lanka during difficult times in its history, and had many orientations and many enemies and opponents. She was followed by a number of women who were able to assume the presidency in their countries.Birth and upbringing

Sirmavo Bandaranaike was born on April 17, 1915, to a noble family, most of whose members worked in politics and government. Her mother was a famous doctor, and her father was a well-known politician. Her relatives included provincial governors and prominent figures within the Sinhalese community. While Sirmavo Bandaranaike was the eldest of four brothers and one sister.

The family always lived in luxurious palaces, as Sirmavo Bandaranaike initially lived in a palace owned by her grandfather, and then moved with her family to their own palace, which gives you an impression of her life at an early age, where knowledge and reading books were easy in a poor society that did not enjoy such luxury.

As for education, she received her basic education at Fergusson High School, and then was sent to a boarding school in Colombo to learn English fluently. Despite the Catholic system that governed these schools, the girl managed to maintain her Buddhist rituals throughout.Life of Sirmavo Bandaranaike

The life of an educated girl began with going out into the community and participating in social work through several efforts in establishing rural industries; to improve the conditions of women and distribute food and medicine to the poor in the jungle villages, in addition to organizing treatment campaigns and clinics to help the sick, which made her a familiar and beloved face in the Sinhalese community.

Sirmavo Bandaranaike became the treasurer of the social service due to her great activity until 1940, while the family had another activity to do, which was searching for a suitable husband for the girl, as the family rejected more than one suitor; because they did not rise to the level of the noble family, but the family eventually agreed to the marriage of Sirmavo Bandaranaike to (Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike), an Oxford-educated lawyer, then became a politician, and held the position of Minister of Local Administration before marrying the ambitious girl with ancient roots in Sri Lanka.The Road to Government

In 1948, the island nation of Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon, was granted self-government and became a parliamentary government headed by a prime minister. The first prime minister of Ceylon was Dudley Senanaike. These circumstances allowed Solomon Bandaranaike to rise to major political roles and become the country's prime minister. This gave his wife, Sirimavo Bandaranaike, the opportunity to participate in decision-making, as she served as an assistant or advisor to her husband during his rule, which gave her significant political experience.

In 1956, Prime Minister Solomon Bandaranaike passed a law making Sinhala the official language of the country, which led to a major conflict between Tamils ​​and Sinhalese, which made the Prime Minister allow Tamil to be dominant in some areas of the country in order to calm the revolution, but within three years there were major protests against the Prime Minister's policy, which led to his assassination in 1959 by a Sinhalese Buddhist priest, and thus the position of Prime Minister became vacant, which represented a historic opportunity for Sirimavo Bandaranaike, who was able to become Prime Minister in 1960.Sirimavo Bandaranaike Prime Minister

After becoming the first woman to hold the office of Prime Minister in a non-hereditary government in modern history, she made several attempts to implement economic and social reforms in the country. She aimed to implement a socialist system and transform the island into a socialist republic. She nationalized a number of sectors such as media, industry, trade and education. She then issued orders to change the administrative language used in the country. English was the dominant language, and Sinhala was implemented, which angered many Tamil citizens who did not speak Sinhala. Consequently, this law made them lose their sense of citizenship.

Her policy of discrimination between Sinhalese and Tamils ​​was clear, and the Prime Minister did not hide this trend, which caused a lot of unrest and protests against her. A group of individuals attempted to carry out a coup against her in 1962, but she survived and managed to remain in office. In 1971, a group of young men rebelled in a failed attempt to kill her and overthrow the government, which gives you an idea of ​​the country’s conditions during Sirimavo Bandaranaike’s reign, a difficult period in terms of the social and economic conditions of the island, which suffered from inflation and taxes, and depended on aid to feed the population, in addition to the high unemployment rate, all of this in addition to discrimination between the population. In 1972, the Prime Minister began drafting a new constitution for the next stage in which she sought to form the Republic of Sri Lanka. In 1975, Sirimavo Bandaranaike established a Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs in Sri Lanka, and appointed a woman to oversee this ministry, making her the first woman to hold a ministerial position in the country. But the situation in Sri Lanka did not improve, as the Prime Minister’s efforts were not enough to create opportunities and develop the society that suffered from many problems, while the Iron Lady distinguished herself in foreign relations, and was a well-known leader in international politics and at the level of non-aligned countries.Sirmavo Bandaranaike's departure from power

In 1977, Sirmavo Bandaranaike was removed from her position as Prime Minister and stripped of her civil rights. The Iron Lady experienced the most difficult period in her life after leaving power, as she was accused of violating her authority and rights during her rule, and was sentenced to a seven-year ban from public work, which made her withdraw and stay away from public life for a period of time. In contrast, Sri Lanka witnessed many problems, and the country entered a long civil war.

In 1986, Sirmavo Bandaranaike returned to participate in public work again, jumped to the leadership of the party, and tried to return to lead the country, but failed in 1988, and was satisfied with the role of leading the opposition in Parliament from 1989 to 1994, where events witnessed a new surprise.In 1993, the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam assassinated then President Ranasinghe Premadasa, which prompted a general election in the country, which was won by the People's Alliance coalition led by the Freedom Party, thus assuming the leadership of the country in the next phase. The good news for Sirmavo Bandaranaike is that her daughter Chandrika is the head of the Freedom Party, which leads the ruling coalition, and thus became the country's president.

Return to power

With her daughter assuming the presidency in 1994, she appointed her mother as Prime Minister; Sirmavo Bandaranaike remained in the position she loved and sought until 2000, a period that witnessed a number of fierce battles and major attacks by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in several areas of Sri Lanka.Sirmavo Bandaranaike Awards and Honors

The Sri Lankan Iron Lady received a number of awards and honors during her life and after her death, most notably:

She was awarded several medals by the socialist countries she visited, due to her bias towards the socialist system.

A number of important projects and facilities in Sri Lanka were named after her.

Her name was immortalized through an annual ceremony in which awards are distributed to distinguished schools named after Sirmavo Bandaranaike.

A number of stamps bearing the image of former President Sirmavo Bandaranaike were issued in Sri Lanka.

A film inspired by her life also won the Best Documentary Award at the 21st Dhaka Film Festival in the Women's category, which made many people recognize the exceptional woman Sirmavo Bandaranaike.

From Sirmavo Bandaranaike's Sayings

- History is full of examples of the disastrous consequences that befell such countries that changed their constitutions by giving one man too much power.

- I think it is time for me to quietly withdraw from the hustle and bustle of political life to a more peaceful and calm environment.

- The Tamil people must accept the fact that the Sinhalese majority will not allow themselves to surrender their rights.

- There was no personal glory for me when I assumed the leadership of the party at the request of its leaders.

- I have known firsthand the suffering and joy of farmers.

- As a woman and a mother, I appeal to the nations of the world to refrain from violence in their dealings with each other.Sirmavo Bandaranaike's Death

The Iron Lady Sirmavo Bandaranaike was involved in politics and government, and lived most of her life in an official capacity until her death on August 10, 2000, just two months after retiring from office, at the age of 84, and after becoming the first woman to hold the position of head of state in modern history.

The famous Sri Lankan historian De Silva said about her: (Mrs. Sirmavo Bandaranaike's legacy after the death of her husband was great, a lot of confusion and a party on the verge of collapse, and she was an untested leader, but she not only survived but supported the party and the family in politics).

The poet Yasmin Gunratne said about her: (She is the strongest and most attractive leader the country has ever seen).

In the end, we leave it to history to judge the competence and integrity of Mrs. Sirmavo Bandaranaike, who in this article we have tried to shed light on her most important personal and political stations, which we hope have provided you with enjoyment and addition.