56-419: Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga ( Sinhala : චන්ද්රිකා බණ්ඩාරනායක කුමාරතුංග ; Tamil : சந்திரிகா பண்டாரநாயக்க குமாரதுங்க ; born 29 June 1945), commonly referred to by her initials CBK , is a Sri Lankan politician who served as the fifth president of Sri Lanka from 12 November 1994 to 19 November 2005. She previously served as the prime minister from August to November 1994 and the chief minister of
112-821: A BA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from Somerville College , University of Oxford . She worked as a researcher in the Minority Rights Group and the Overseas Development Institute and held the post of Coordinating Secretary to the Prime Minister of Sri Lanka during her mother's tenure. She currently chairs the Sunera Foundation, a NGO which works with differently abled youth and adults. Sunethra has been married twice. Her marriage to Kumar Rupesinghe lasted four years and her second marriage
168-783: A supposed former abundance of lions on the island. According to the chronicle Mahāvaṃsa , written in Pali, Prince Vijaya of the Vanga Kingdom and his entourage merged in Sri Lanka with later settlers from the Pandya kingdom . In the following centuries, there was substantial immigration from Eastern India, including additional migration from the Vanga Kingdom (Bengal), as well as Kalinga and Magadha . This influx led to an admixture of features of Eastern Prakrits. The development of Sinhala
224-653: A Dravidian origin for this word. ), dola for pig in Vedda and offering in Sinhala. Other common words are rera for wild duck, and gala for stones (in toponyms used throughout the island, although others have also suggested a Dravidian origin). There are also high frequency words denoting body parts in Sinhala, such as olluva for head, kakula for leg, bella for neck and kalava for thighs, that are derived from pre-Sinhalese languages of Sri Lanka. The oldest Sinhala grammar, Sidatsan̆garavā , written in
280-623: A course in the French language and culture. In 1968, she went on to study at the Institut d'Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po) graduating with a diploma in political science in 1970. She thereafter enrolled in a PhD program in development economics at the École Pratique des Hautes Études, Paris, where she studied from 1970 to 1973. She is fluent in Sinhala , English and French . She returned to Ceylon in 1972, where her mother had become prime minister for
336-514: A number of Communist states. He also made Sinhala the country's only official language, thus marginalizing the Tamils as well as members of the middle-class educated elite whose first language was English. He was subsequently assassinated in 1959 when Chandrika was fourteen. Following the assassination, Bandaranaike's grieving widow took over the leadership of the SLFP and led it to an election victory making her
392-722: A period of prior bilingualism: "The earliest type of contact in Sri Lanka, not considering the aboriginal Vedda languages, was that which occurred between South Dravidian and Sinhala. It seems plausible to assume prolonged contact between these two populations as well as a high degree of bilingualism. This explains why Sinhala looks deeply South Dravidian for an Indo-Aryan language. There is corroboration in genetic findings." In addition to many Tamil loanwords , several phonetic and grammatical features also present in neighbouring Dravidian languages set modern spoken Sinhala apart from its Northern Indo-Aryan relatives. These features are evidence of close interactions with Dravidian speakers. Some of
448-527: A press conference held by the country's opposition coalition, following weeks of speculation regarding her involvement in the coalition's decision-making. She successfully endorsed Maithripala Sirisena as the common candidate of the opposition in the 2015 presidential election, who defeated Mahinda Rajapaksa . In the same year, Kumaratunga supported the United National Party in the general elections to avoid Rajapaksa becoming prime minister. In 2015 she
504-509: Is a Sri Lankan philanthropist and socialite . A member of the Bandaranaike family , she is the eldest daughter of former Prime Ministers S.W.R.D. Bandaranaike and Sirimavo Bandaranaike and sister of former President Chandrika Bandaranaike Kumaratunga and former Speaker of Parliament Anura Bandaranaike . Sunethra Bandaranaike was born on 27 July 1943. Bandaranaike completed her schooling at St Bridget's Convent, Colombo , and received
560-481: Is a conspicuous example of the linguistic phenomenon known as diglossia . Sinhala ( Siṁhala ) is a Sanskrit term; the corresponding Middle Indo-Aryan ( Eḷu ) word is Sīhala . The name is a derivative of [[[:wikt:सिंह|siṁha]]] Error: {{Transliteration}}: transliteration text not Latin script (pos 9) ( help ) , the Sanskrit word for 'lion'. The name is sometimes glossed as 'abode of lions', and attributed to
616-645: Is a member of the Council of Women World Leaders and the Global Leadership Foundation . In November 2009, Kumaratunga was appointed to the 12-member board of directors of the Club de Madrid . She is a frequent panelist and member of the Clinton Global Initiative and advisor to its annual meeting held every September. Kumaratunga noted in 2007: ″I sincerely tried to reach a political consensus to solve
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#1733086173138672-535: Is an Indo-Aryan language primarily spoken by the Sinhalese people of Sri Lanka , who make up the largest ethnic group on the island, numbering about 16 million. Sinhala is also spoken as the first language by other ethnic groups in Sri Lanka, totalling about 2 million speakers as of 2001. It is written using the Sinhala script , which is a Brahmic script closely related to the Grantha script of South India. Sinhala
728-531: Is an overall lack of freedom and an atmosphere of fear prevails in the country. The basic rights of the people and media freedom are restricted in Sri Lanka." In February 2017, Kumaratunga accepted an invitation to join the eminent international Council of Patrons of the Asian University for Women (AUW) in Chittagong, Bangladesh. On 21 November 2014 Kumaratunga formally announced her return to active politics at
784-479: Is divided into four epochs: The most important phonetic developments of Sinhala include: According to Wilhelm Geiger , an example of a possible Western feature in Sinhala is the retention of initial /v/ which developed into /b/ in the Eastern languages (e.g. Sanskrit viṁśati "twenty", Sinhala visi- , Hindi bīs ). This is disputed by Muhammad Shahidullah who says that Sinhala Prakrit branched off from
840-412: Is one of the official and national languages of Sri Lanka, alongside Tamil . Along with Pali , it played a major role in the development of Theravada Buddhist literature. Early forms of the Sinhala language are attested as early as the 3rd century BCE. The language of these inscriptions, still retaining long vowels and aspirated consonants, is a Prakrit similar to Magadhi , a regional associate of
896-448: The Battle of Mullaitivu in 1996 and Battle of Kilinochchi in 1998. Her government thereafter launched Operation Jayasikurui which soon bogged down with heavy casualties. Her government, led by Foreign Minister Lakshman Kadirgamar increased the recognition and acceptance of Sri Lanka on the international stage, which had been greatly affected by the riots and suppression of insurgency in
952-805: The Communist Party of Sri Lanka , the Lanka Sama Samaja Party , and the Nava Sama Samaja Party . Although it was well organized, it lacked votes. Fearing for her life, she soon fled the country in 1988, seeking refuge in the United Kingdom. There she worked for World Institute for Development Economics Research at the United Nations University. Following the end of the second JVP insurrection , Chandrika began visiting Sri Lanka in 1990 and re-engaging politics. In September 1991,
1008-700: The Middle Indian Prakrits that had been used during the time of the Buddha . The most closely related languages are the Vedda language (an endangered, indigenous creole still spoken by a minority of Sri Lankans, mixing Sinhala with an isolate of unknown origin and from which Old Sinhala borrowed various aspects into its main Indo-Aryan substrate), and the Maldivian language . It has two main varieties, written and spoken, and
1064-616: The People's Alliance lost the parliamentary election to the UNP , and her political opponent, Ranil Wickremasinghe , became Sri Lanka's new prime minister. She continued as president of Sri Lanka although her relationship with the Wickremasinghe government was a strained one. In February 2002 Wickremasinghe's government and the LTTE signed a permanent ceasefire agreement, paving the way for talks to end
1120-557: The Tamil Tigers , at her final election rally at Colombo Town Hall premises on 18 December 1999. She managed to defeat Ranil Wickremasinghe in the election held on 21 December and was sworn in for another term the next day. Her second term saw the civil war aggravating with her government suffering major defeats against the LTTE such as the Second Battle of Elephant Pass and Bandaranaike Airport attack . In December 2001, her party
1176-576: The UNESCO National Commission of Ceylon According to Wilhelm Geiger , Sinhala has features that set it apart from other Indo-Aryan languages. Some of the differences can be explained by the substrate influence of the parent stock of the Vedda language . Sinhala has many words that are only found in Sinhala, or shared between Sinhala and Vedda and not etymologically derivable from Middle or Old Indo-Aryan. Possible examples include kola for leaf in Sinhala and Vedda (although others suggest
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#17330861731381232-451: The University of Bristol became a veterinary surgeon. Sinhala language Sinhala ( / ˈ s ɪ n h ə l ə , ˈ s ɪ ŋ ə l ə / SIN -hə-lə, SING -ə-lə ; Sinhala: සිංහල , siṁhala , [ˈsiŋɦələ] ), sometimes called Sinhalese ( / ˌ s ɪ n ( h ) ə ˈ l iː z , ˌ s ɪ ŋ ( ɡ ) ə ˈ l iː z / SIN -(h)ə- LEEZ , SING -(g)ə- LEEZ ),
1288-624: The Western Province from 1993 to 1994. She is the country's first and only female president to date and the country's second female prime minister . She was the leader of the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) from 1994 to 2005. The longest-serving Sri Lankan president, she was elected in 1994 , when she defeated UNP candidate Srima Dissanayake in the largest landslide victory in Sri Lankan history, winning 62% of all votes cast. She
1344-644: The election held on 2 April 2004 the UPFA formed a government with Mahinda Rajapaksa as prime minister. This marked the first time in history that the JVP became a partner in a Sri Lankan government. However, in June 2005, the JVP left Kumaratunga's government over a disagreement regarding a joint mechanism with LTTE rebels sharing foreign aid to rebuild the tsunami -devastated Northern and Eastern areas of Sri Lanka. Kumaratunga's six-year term ended that year in 2005. She argued that since
1400-464: The 13th century CE, recognised a category of words that exclusively belonged to early Sinhala. The grammar lists naram̆ba (to see) and koḷom̆ba (fort or harbour) as belonging to an indigenous source. Koḷom̆ba is the source of the name of the commercial capital Colombo . The consistent left branching syntax and the loss of aspirated stops in Sinhala is attributed to a probable South Dravidian substratum effect. This has been explained by
1456-664: The 1980s. She succeeded in having the LTTE banned internationally; with the United States and the United Kingdom proscribed the LTTE on 8 October 1997 and 28 February 2001 respectively, thereby depriving that organization of a primary source of funding. Her government re-established formal diplomatic ties with Israel in 2000, which had become a major supplier of weapons to the island. In October 1999, Kumaratunga called an early presidential election . She lost vision in her right eye (permanent optic nerve damage) in an assassination attempt , by
1512-404: The 1999 election had been held one year early, she should be allowed to serve that leftover year stating that she had a secret swearing-in for her second term a year after her formal swearing-in. The Supreme Court rejected this stating that her term ended in 2005. In the presidential elections that followed, Mahinda Rajapaksa gained 50.29% and succeeded her as president, leading all 25 parties in
1568-700: The Eastern Prakrits prior to this change. He cites the edicts of Ashoka , no copy of which shows this sound change. An example of an Eastern feature is the ending -e for masculine nominative singular (instead of Western -o ) in Sinhalese Prakrit. There are several cases of vocabulary doublets , one example being the words mæssā ("fly") and mækkā ("flea"), which both correspond to Sanskrit makṣikā but stem from two regionally different Prakrit words macchiā (Western Prakrits) and makkhikā (as in Eastern Prakrits like Pali ). In 1815,
1624-682: The Gampaha District in August 1994. Achieving a slim majority in parliament by gaining the support of the Ceylon Workers' Congress , the PA formed a government with Chandrika as prime minister with her mother as a minister in the cabinet on 19 August 1994. She also succeeded her mother as the leader of the SLFP. Soon thereafter presidential elections were called for in November. Prime Minister Kumaratunga backed by
1680-505: The PA contested against Gamini Dissanayake, who was the leader of the opposition backed by the UNP. However, Dissanayake was soon assassinated by a LTTE suicide bomber and his widow Srima Dissanayake took over his nomination. Chandrika won the presidential election in 1994 gaining 62.28% of the vote. Becoming the first female president of Sri Lanka in November 1994, she appointed her mother to succeed her as prime minister. Her government continued
1736-557: The SLFP in the periods between elections; Bandaranaike became the Leader of the Opposition in 1952 and prime minister in 1956. As prime minister, he was responsible for putting forth significant reforms such as the nationalization of bus companies and the Port of Colombo, a prohibition on caste-based discrimination, the removal of British military bases, and the establishment of diplomatic missions with
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1792-406: The UPFA. She was listed 25th by Forbes magazine in its "100 most powerful women" in 2005. In 2006, having remained the leader of the SLFP after leaving office, she "temporally" stepped down from the party leadership citing "continuous harassment she has faced after Mahinda Rajapaksa took office as president" and soon after left the country for self-imposed exile in the United Kingdom. Kumaratunga
1848-585: The United Nations till 1979. In 1978, she married Vijaya Kumaratunga a leading actor, and LSSP turned SLFP political activist. She supported his election campaign in the by-election in Mahara in 1983, where he lost in the recount. She left the SLFP in 1984 when Vijaya Kumaratunga formed his own party the Sri Lanka Mahajana Pakshaya (SLMP) supporting his political activities against the policies of
1904-406: The disputing opposition parties to form a coalition. During the 2018 Sri Lankan constitutional crisis , Kumaratunga remained silent and she later claimed that she was not invited to the special convention of the SLFP on 4 December 2018. Kumaratunga endorsed Sajith Premadasa for the 2019 Sri Lankan presidential election . Chandrika married actor and politician Vijaya Kumaratunga in 1978, who
1960-457: The ethnic question, and tried to introduce a pluralistic constitution that would cater to the political aspirations of the Tamil people without dividing the country.″ In September 2009, Kumaratunga, on a personal visit to Kerala, India told reporters "I too care for my life. Even though the current government is a government of my party (Sri Lanka Freedom Party) I don't feel safe." She continued, "There
2016-538: The features that may be traced to Dravidian influence are: ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නවා dannavā know ඒක අලුත් කියලා මම දන්නවා ēka aḷut kiyalā mama dannavā it new having-said I know "I know that it is new." ඒක ēka it අලුත් aḷut new ද da Q කියලා kiyalā having-said මම mama I දන්නේ Sunethra Bandaranaike Sunethra Bandaranaike ( Sinhala : සුනේත්රා බණ්ඩාරනායක ; born 27 July 1943),
2072-472: The first female prime minister in the world, in 1960. Therefore, Chandrika was involved in politics from a young age along with her siblings as she was the second of three children in the family. Her elder sister Sunethra Bandaranaike became a socialite and her younger brother Anura Bandaranaike joined active politics, going on to become a cabinet minister and Speaker of the Parliament of Sri Lanka as well as
2128-709: The governing United National Party which had been dominating the political landscape was greatly weakened when Lalith Athulathmudali and Gamini Dissanayake left the UNP and formed the Democratic United National Front following a failed impeachment against President Ranasinghe Premadasa . DUNF soon mobilized the opposition against the Premadasa government. Having returned permanently in 1991, Chandrika rejoined SLFP and got actively involved in politics. In 1993, Athulathmudali and Premadasa were assassinated. Following Athulathmudali's assassination, Chandrika became
2184-590: The island of Ceylon came under British rule . During the career of Christopher Reynolds as a Sinhalese lecturer at the School of African and Oriental Studies, University of London , he extensively researched the Sinhalese language and its pre-1815 literature. The Sri Lankan government awarded him the Sri Lanka Ranjana medal for his work. He wrote the 377-page An anthology of Sinhalese literature up to 1815 , selected by
2240-511: The long-running conflict. In December, the government and the rebels agreed to share power during peace talks in Norway. President Kumaratunga believed Wickremasinghe was being too lenient towards the LTTE, and in May 2003 she indicated her willingness to sack the prime minister and government if she felt they were making too many concessions to the rebels. On 4 November 2003, while Prime Minister Wickremasinghe
2296-599: The mainstream parties. She served as the vice president of the SLMP. This resulted in her falling out with her mother and brother who were leading the SLFP at the time. On 16 February 1988, Vijaya Kumaratunga was assassinated in front of his home in Narahenpita by gunmen in the presence of his wife. Chandrika Kumaratunga briefly took over the leadership of her husband's party, and formed the United Socialist Alliance with
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2352-465: The ongoing civil war . These overtures failed, when the LTTE broke the cease-fire and blew up two Sri Lanka Navy gunboats known as SLNS Sooraya and SLNS Ranasuru on 19 April 1995. She thereafter pursued a more military-based strategy against them launching several major offensives such as Operation Riviresa which captured the Jaffna peninsula from the LTTE. However, she suffered a major set back due to
2408-494: The open economic policies of the UNP, with an increase in the major revenue earners; the apparel industry, foreign remittances from migrant unskilled labor, and tea exports. Much of her major economic projects failed and the country was in recession by 2001. She privatized several state corporations such as Sri Lanka Insurance Corporation , State Distilleries Corporation , Air Lanka among others which were found to be controversial with Kumaratunga accused of taking large bribes for
2464-417: The opposition personally such as the leader of the opposition, Ranil Wickremasinghe . Her administration was criticized for its attacks and intimidation of journalists; rigged elections and in 2000 in the run-up to the elections tried to arrest and imprison her main political opponent Wickremasinghe. Early in her term, she made conciliatory moves toward the separatist Tamil Tigers (LTTE) in an attempt to end
2520-571: The principal opposition candidate in the Western provincial council election, in which she was elected as the Chief Minister of the Western Province on 21 May 1993. With general elections called for in 1994 , she became the de facto leader of the SLFP forming a coalition called the People's Alliance , which contested the general elections. In the election, Chandrika was elected to parliament from
2576-515: The sales and years later the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka annulled several such sales. She was fined by the court a sum of three million rupees for unlawful land acquisition and subsequent sale of such land for the Water's Edge development project. She further followed a policy of strong prosecution of UNP, by appointing presidential committees to investigate actions of the UNP tenure and leading members of
2632-553: The second time in 1970 and launched a wide-ranging programme of socialist reform, and faced a violent communist insurrection in 1971. After returning she enrolled in and became active in the SLFP which had been founded by her father and now led by her mother. In 1974, she became an executive committee member of its Women's League. She was appointed as an Additional Principal Director in the Land Reforms Commission (LRC) which acquired nearly 228,000 hectares of private land to
2688-646: The state under the Land Reform Law, which imposed a ceiling of twenty hectares on privately owned land. Leaving the LRC in 1976, she became the chairman of the Janawasa Commission, which established collective farms from land acquired by the LRC. Following the defeat of her mother's SLFP government in the 1977 general election , she left government service and acted as a consultant to the Food and Agriculture Organization of
2744-620: The youngest leader of the opposition. Chandrika was educated at the St Bridget's Convent, Colombo , and enrolled at the Roman Catholic Aquinas University College , Colombo to study for a law degree. However, in 1967, she left Aquinas for France without completing her law studies, on a scholarship from the Institute of French Studies. There she spent one year at the Institut d'études politiques d'Aix-en-Provence following
2800-647: Was an Oxford educated barrister who was the Minister of Local Administration at the time of her birth. A nationalist and left-wing politician, who had by the time built up a strong following known as the Sinhala Maha Sabha . He was the only son of Sir Solomon Dias Bandaranike , the Maha Mudaliyar , the chief Ceylonese representative and advisor to the Governor of Ceylon . Her mother Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike,
2856-430: Was appointed as the chairperson of office for national unity and reconciliation to overlook national unity in Sri Lanka. In the aftermath of the 2018 Maldivian presidential election it was revealed that Kumaratunga was instrumental in forming the opposition alliance against the incumbent President Abdulla Yameen . Kumaratunga coordinated with opposition leaders both in the Maldives and in Sri Lanka bridging trust between
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#17330861731382912-443: Was assassinated on 16 February 1988, outside his residence in the presence of Chandrika and their two children, then aged five and seven. Their daughter, Yasodhara Kumaratunga born in 1980 and educated at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge and at St George's, University of London became a medical doctor and married Roger Walker a consultant medical practitioner from Dorset. Their son, Vimukthi Kumaratunga born in 1982 and educated at
2968-425: Was her father's constituency. Her early years saw her father's rising political career as he became the first Cabinet Minister of Health and Local Government when Ceylon gained its independence in 1948 and his dramatic departure from the governing party to form his own party, the Sri Lanka Freedom Party (SLFP) with his follows of the Sinhala Maha Sabha in 1951. Contesting the elections that followed and strengthening
3024-399: Was on an official visit to the US, Kumaratunga prorogued Parliament and took over Defense, Interior, and Media ministries herself. Her opponents criticized her, calling her behavior dictatorial. Kumaratunga's PA and the leftist Janatha Vimukthi Peramuna or JVP (People's Liberation Front) formed the United People's Freedom Alliance (UPFA) in January 2004 and dissolved Parliament. Having won
3080-432: Was reelected in 1999 , beating UNP candidate and Leader of the Opposition Ranil Wickremesinghe . Chandrika Bandaranaike was born on 29 June 1945, at Wentworth in Guildford Crescent, Colombo to Solomon West Ridgeway Dias Bandaranaike and Sirima Ratwatte Dias Bandaranaike . The family moved the year later to a mansion at Rosmead Place, Colombo purchased by her paternal grandfather. Her father S. W. R. D. Bandaranaike
3136-426: Was the daughter of Barnes Ratwatte Dissawa , Rate Mahatmaya of Balangoda during British colonial rule, who was descended from Ratwatte Dissawa, Dissawa of Matale , a signatory on behalf of the Sinhalese to the Kandyan Convention of 1815 . Young Chandrika grew up in the comfort of the wealthy Bandaranaike family at their mansion at Rosmead Place in Colombo and at their family seat of Horagolla Walauwa , which
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